J

DEPOSITED BY THE

LINONIAN AND BROTHERS LIBRARY

Greater London:

A NARRATIVE OF

Its History, its People, and its Places.

BY

EDWARD WALFORD, M.A.,
JOINT-AUTHOR OF " OLD AND NEW LONDON.''

IILUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.

VOL. I.

CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited
LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK

[ALL EIGHTS RESERVED.

"By* 2
6ari,

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY. CHAPTER I.
_._ CHISWICK, TURNHAM GREEN, ACTON, STRAND-ON-THE-GREEN.
— — " * " """""^ p-
--^raduaL-E^lejasioja^gfJIjfln fl nitf^Horticul tural Fetes at Chiswick— Eminent Residents at Chiswick— Royal Visits— Corney House— Fairfax
House — Grove Park— Sutton Court— Turnham Green— Bedford Park — Acton Green— Professor Lindley— Acton — Its Early History —
Berrymead Priory— Lady Dudley's Bequest— Acton a Stronghold of the Puritan Party — The Rev. Philip Nye — Richard Baxter and Sir
Matthew Hale — Other Distinguished Residents — An Anecdote of Sir Walter Raleigh — Ancient Manors and Houses — Lord Ferrers'
Coach — Clergy Orphan Schools— The Village of Acton— The Parish Church — The Registers — Charitable Bequests— A Centenarian — The
Steyne — Skippon, the Parliamentary General — South Acton— Acton Wells— Acton Races— Friar's Place Farm — The Goldsmiths' Alms
houses — Strand -on- the- Green ... 

CHAPTER II.
GUNNERSBURY, EALING, AND HANWELL.
Gunnersbury — Descent of the Manor — The Princess Amelia a Resident here — Horace Walpole a frequent Guest — The Property bought by the
Rothschilds — The Gardens and Grounds — Gunnersbury House — Ealing — Extent and Nature of the Soil — The Manor — The Parish
Church — Sir John Maynard — John Home Tooke — John Oldmixon — Christ Church — St. John's Church — Seats and Mansions — Dr. John
Owen — Dr. William King and other Eminent Residents— Ford Hall — Castle Bar Hill — Princess Helena College — The Old Cross House
— The Town Hall — Ealing Great School — Ealing Common — Mrs. Lawrence's Gardens — Fordhook House, and Henry Fielding the
Novelist — The " Old Hat " Tavern— Hanwell— The Grand Junction Canal— The Parish Church— Jonas Hanway— The Town of Han-
well — The Central London District Schools — Charitable Institutions — Hanwell Lunatic Asylum — The Cemeteries— Electric Telegraphy
in its Infancy  17

CHAPTER III.
BRENTFORD.
Traffic through Brentford in the old Coaching Days — Government of the Parish — Old Bridge of the Brent— The Priory of the Holy Angels — >
Inundations — Fondness of George III. for Brentford — The Dangers of the Road — Early History of Brentford — The Soil and the
Pleistocene Deposits — Murder of King Edmund — The Battle of Brentford — Visit of the Grand Duke of Tuscany — The "Two Kings of
Brentford " — The Dirt and Squalor of Brentford — How the Duke of Wellington nearly came to grief here — Ancient Hostelries — Old (East)
Brentford Church — New (West) Brentford Church — St. Paul's Church — The Town-hall and Market-house — Manufactories and Grand
Junction Waterworks — Grand Junction Canal — Drinking Fountain— Bear Baitings — The Old Market-place — The Elections for Middlesex
— " Wilkes and Liberty ! " — A Brentford Elector — The Manor of Bordeston — Boston House — Sion House Academy — Wyke Farm — "Old
Gang Aboot"— The Pitt Diamond— Mrs. Trimmer— Extracts from the Parish Register  29

CHAPTER IV.
HESTON, ISLEWORTH, AND SION HOUSE.
Osterley Park — Sir Thomas Gresham visited by Queen Elizabeth — Lord Desmond— The Manor of Heston — Heston Church — The Soil— Sir
Joseph Banks and Anthony Collins residents here — Isleworth — Its Etymology — The River Cran — Sion House — Vicissitudes of the Nuns
of St. Bridget — The Rule of the Order of St. Bridget — Early History of the Monastery— The Wardrobes of the Nuns — The Duties of the
Abbess, Cellaress, &c. — Dissolution of the Monastery — Touching History of the Sisterhood — Remains of the Monastery — Katherine
Howard a Prisoner here — Funeral of Henry VIII. — Building of Sion House— The Family of Percy, Dukes of Northumberland— The

GREATER LONDON.

l'AGO
Princess of Denmark at Sion House— Description of the Building— The Gardens and Grounds— The Parish of Isleworth— Descent of
the Manor— The Parish Church— Charitable Institutions— Church of St. John the Baptist— Brentford Union— Gumley House— Kendal
House— Lacy House— Royal Naval Female School— Silver Hall— Gordon House— Sir Clipesby Crewe— Worton Hall— Syon Hill —
Honnor's Home — London International College— Spring Grove   • 4*

CHAPTER V.
HOUNSLOW AND HANWORTH.
Situation of Hounslow — A Priory founded here — Martyrdom of Archbishop Scrope — Markets and Fairs — Remains of the Conventual
Buildings — Holy Trinity Church — The Manor House — Hounslow in the Old Coaching Days — Present Condition of the Town — The
Churches of St. Stephen and St. Paul — Salvation Army Barracks — Hounslow Heath — Military Encampments — Knights of the Road —
Site of the Gibbets — A Bishop Counterfeiting the Highwayman — The Gallant Highwayman — The Highwayman Outwitted — Horse-
racing, &c. — Gunpowder Mills — Cavalry Barracks — Whitton Park— Hanworth Park — Hanworth House— The Parish Church . . . OO

CHAPTER VI.
TWICKENHAM.
Derivation of the Name of Twickenham — Situation and Extent of the Parish — Early History of the Manor — The Manor House — Arragon
Tower — Eel-pie Island — The Parish Church — Holy Trinity Church — St. Stephen's Church — Charitable Institutions — Curious Easter
Custom — The Metropolitan and City of London Police Orphanage — Fortescue House — Royal Naval Female School — The Town Hall —
Perryn House— Economic Museum — " Bull Lands" — Extracts from the Parish Register — An Amusing Anecdote of Sir James Delaval . 7°

CHAPTER VII.
TWICKENHAM (continued).
Twickenham Park— The Naval School— Cambridge House— Richard Owen Cambridge— Mr. Bishop's Observatory— Marble Hill— The Witty
Bishop Corbett — Ragman's Castle — Orleans House— Mr. Secretary Johnstone — Sir George Pococke — The Duke of Orleans — The Due
d'Aumale— The Orleans Club — York House— The Hon. Mrs. Damer— Sir Alexander Johnson— A Learned Brahmin— The Comte de Paris
—The Grove— The Duke of Wharton— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu— Twickenham House— Earl Ferrers — Fielding— Other Noted
Residents— Twickenham Common— Whitton— Kneller Hall— The Normal Training School  80

CHAPTER VIII.
TWICKENHAM (continued)- POPE'S VILLA.
Parentage and Birth of Alexander Pope— His Education— His Early Admiration for Dryden— His first Essays Poetic Effusions— Is
introduced to Sir W. Trumbull and Wycherley— His Friendship with the Misses Blount— Translates the " Iliad "—Takes up his
Residence at Chiswick — Publication of the "Odyssey" — Pope's Narrow Escape from Drowning -Publication of the "Miscellanies,"
" The Essay on Man," and other Poems— Death and Burial of Pope— Pope's Skull— Character and Temperament of Pope— His
Personal Appearance— His Popularity— His Visitors— His Fondness for Animals— His Love of Economy— His Rank as a Poet— His
Will — An Account of Pope's Villa and Grotto— Sale of the Villa to Sir William Stanhope— Its subsequent History  95

CHAPTER IX.
TWICKENHAM (continued)— STRAWBERRY HILL.
' Strawberry Hill Shot "— Colley Cibber a Resident there— Other Tenants— Lease of the House by Mrs. Chenevix— The Property purchased
by Horace Walpole— His Description of the Place in 1747— Enlargement of the House by Walpole— Description of the Building, and
particulars of some of its Principal Contents— The "Chapel" in the Gardens— The Earl of Bath's Panegyric— Biographical Notice of
Horace Walpole— Macaulay's Estimate of his Character— Strawberry Hill Bequeathed to Marshal Conway— The Hon. Mrs. Damer—
The Waldegrave Family— Sale of the Contents of Strawberry Hill in 1842— Subsequent History of the Building— Little Strawberry
Hill and Mrs. Clive — The Misses Berry — Alderman Matthew Wood— " The 3achelors" .....

CHAPTER X.
TEDDINGTON AND BUSHEY PARK.
Situation and General Appearance of Teddington— Rise and Progress of the Village— Upper Teddington— Etymology of Teddington— Earlv
History, and Descent of the Manor — " Queen Elizabeth's Hunting-Box "—The Manor House — The Parish Church  TV c„.u-_ tt 1

[istory, and Descent of the Manor — " Queen Elizabeth's Hunting-Box "—The Manor House — The Parish Church  Dr. Stephen H 1
-" Peg " Woffington— Extracts from the Parish Register— The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul— Recent Improvements ia Teddin
-The River Thames — " Swan-upping " — Bushey Park — The Ranger's Lodge — A Village Patriot ...

123

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XI.
HAMPTON.
PAGE
Situation and Boundaries of the Parish— Early History of the Manor— It passes into the hands of Cardinal Wolsey— The Parish Church— The
School of Industry — The Grammar School — Princess Frederica's Convalescent Home — Lady Bourchier's Convalescent Home — Noted
Hostelries— Hampton Racecourse — Boxing Matches— Hampton Bridge— Thames Angling— Southwark and Vauxhall, and the Lambeth
Water Companies — David Garrick and his Villa — Sir Christopher Wren's Residence at Hampton Court Green — Holland the Actor —
Lord Sandwich— Sir Andrew Halliday— Sir Richard Steele— Hampton Wick— Abbs Court .  I32

CHAPTER XII.
HAMPTON COURT PALACE.
Wolsey Lord of the Manor— Terms of the Lease— Reconstruction of the House— Biographical Sketch of Wolsey— Hampton Court Presented
to Henry VIII.— Grand Doings in Wolsey's Time— Henry's Wives at Hampton— The Fair Geraldine— A Woman's Promise— Queen
Elizabeth at Hampton— The Maids of Honour— The Hampton Court Conference— Oliver Cromwell— Dutch William— His Alterations
to the Building — The Georges at Hampton Court— Miss Chudleigh— An Application from Dr. Johnson— Later Inmates . . . H2

CHAPTER XIII.
HAMPTON COURT PALACE (continued).
Early Reminiscences of Hampton Court Palace— Description of the Building— The Principal Entrance— Wolsey's Courts— The Clock Tower
Court — A Curious Timepiece— The Great Hall— Theatrical Entertainments given here— The Withdrawing Room— The Kitchen Court—
The Fountain Court— Sir Christopher Wren's Alterations and Additions to the Palace— The Chapel— The State Apartments— The
" Beauty " Room— The Tapestry Gallery— The Cartoons of Raffaelle— The Gardens— The Wilderness and Maze— The Home Park—
The Royal Stud House— A Narrow Escape of the Palace  IS°

CHAPTER XIV.
FELTHAM, SUNBURY, AND HALLIFORD.
Situation, Etymology, and General Appearance of Feltham— Population, &c— Notice of the Parish in Domesday Book— Descent of the Manor
 The Parish Church— Death of Miss Frances Kelly, the Actress— Middlesex Industrial School— The Convalescent Home— Sunbury—
Its Etymology — History of the Manor — Col. Kenyngton, otherwise Kempton — A Royal Palace — Kempton House— Kempton Park Race
course— Sunbury Common— Sunbury Parish Church— Roman Catholic Chapel— The Village of Sunbury— Sunbury Place— The Pumping
Stations of the London Waterworks Companies— Thames Angling Preservation Society— The Manor of Charlton— Halliford . . . I72

CHAPTER XV.
SHEPPERTON, AND THE VALLEY OF THE THAMES.
Situation and General Appearance of Shepperton— The River Exe— The Village and its Surroundings— Population— Early History and
Descent of the Manor— The Manor-house— The Parish Church— The Rectory— Waterside Taverns— Thames Angling— House-boats on
the Thames  River Scenery — Shepperton Green and the Railway Station — A Singular Story — Lower Halliford — Discovery of an Ancient
Canoe and other Antiquities— The Valley of the Thames— The Wall Closes— Coway Stakes— Littleton  177

CHAPTER XVI.
LALEHAM, ASHFORD, AND STAINES.
Situation and "General Description of Laleham— Remains of a Roman Castramentation on Greenfield Common— Mention of Laleham in
Domesday Book— Descent of the Manor— The Parish Church— Laleham House— Dr. Thomas Arnold and his Residence here— The Village
of Laleham— Population— The River Thames at Chertsey Bridge -Chertsey Meadows— Laleham Burway— Ashford— Descent of the
Manor— The Village of Ashford— The Common— Population— The Parish Church— The Parish Registers— The Welsh Charity School-
The West London District Schools— The Town of Staines— The Roman Road and Roman Antiquities— The Eoundary Stone of the
Thames Conservancy— The Ancient Forest of Middlesex— The Notice of Staines in Domesday Book— A Benedictine Abbey— The Parish
Church— An Ancient Guild— The Town of Staines— Markets and Fairs-Population— Inns and Taverns— The Thames and the Water
Supply— The Bridge— Duncroft House— Staines Moor— Yeoveney— Runnymede— Magna Charta Island— Ankerwyke— Egham— Cooper's
Hill and Sir John Denham   • l°2

vi GREATER LONDON.

CHAPTER XVII.
STANWELL, BEDFONT, AND CRANFORD. PAGE
Situation and General Aspect of Stanwell— Stanwell Heath formerly a Rendezvous for Middlesex Elections— The Domesday Book Notice of
Stanwell — The Forced Exchange of the Manor, temp. Henry VIII.— Subsequent Descent of the Manor— The Village of Stanwell— The
Old School-house— Population— The Parish Church— Staines Moor, Stanwell Moor, and Poyle Park— West Bedfont— East Bedfont— The
Parish Church — The " Peacccks "—Discoveries of Antiquities— Descent of the Manor of Bedfont — Spelthorne Sanatorium — Middlesex
Industrial School for Girjs— The "Black Dog "—Population of Bedfont— Cranford— Census Returns— The Village— Descent of the
Manor— The Park— Cranford House— Cranford le Mote— The Parish Church— The Vicarage .  J92

CHAPTER XVII I.
HARLINGTON AND HARMONDSWORTH.
Situation of Harlington— The Village and Population— The Manor— The Parish Church— Dr. Trapp— The Yew Tree in the Churchyard— The
Local Charities— The Earldom of Arlington— Dawley Court— Lord Bolingbroke— Harmondsworth, Situation and Nature of the Soil-
Its Etymology— Harmondsworth Priory— The Manor— An Ancient Bam— The Parish Church— The Village— Census Returns, &c. -
Heath Row— A Roman Encampment — Sipson — Longford — Colnbrook  19^

CHAPTER XIX.
WEST DRAYTON AND HAYES.
Situation and Boundaries of West Drayton— Its Vegetable Products, Fishing, &c— Its Etymology— Descent of the Manor— The Old Manor-
house — Burroughs, formerly the Seat of General Arabin— The Parish Church— The Burial-ground— The Village of West Drayton—
Population— The Catholic Church of St. Catharine— Thorney Broad— The Race-course— Yiewsley— Hayes— The Grand Junction Canal —
Census Returns— Boundaries of the Parish— Its Nomenclature— Condition of the Parish in Tudor Times- Acreage of the Parish— Descent
of the Manor— The Village of Hayes— Yeading Manor— Botwell— Cotman's Town— Wood End Green— The Parish Church— The
Rectory— Distinguished Rectors— Schools and Charities— Extracts from the Parish Registers  . . 205

CHAPTER XX.
NORWOOD, SOUTHALL, ETC.
The "Precinct " of Norwood — Situation and Boundaries of the Parish — Census Returns — Early History of the Manor — The Village— The Parish
Church — Schools, &c. — Southall — The Church and Vicarage — The Manor House — The Grand Junction Canal and the Paddington Canal
—The Metropolitan Workhouse School— Dorman's Well— Southall Park— Southall Market— Northolt, or Northall— General Description
of the Locality— The Parish Church— Greenford— Its Etymology— The Soil, and Census Returns— The Parish Church— The Rectory and
Advowson — Distinguished Rectors — Chemical Works at Greenford Green — Horsington Hill and Wood — Perivale — Extent and Population
—Descent of the Manor— The Parish Church— West Twyford— Descent of the Manor— Twyford Abbey— The Chapel— Willesden Junction
Station — Boundaries and Extent of the Parish of Willesden — Railway Communication — The River Brent — Sub-division of the Manor of
Willesden— The Parish Church— Church End— Willesden Green— The " White Hart " and " Spotted Dog " Taverns— Brondesbury— The
Jewish Cemetery — Warwick Dairy Farm — Harlesden — Cricklewood — Neasdon — The Metropolitan Railway Carriage Depot — Sherrick
Green and Dollis Hill — Stonebridge Park  21$

CHAPTER XXI.
COWLEY AND HILLINGDON.
Situation and Boundaries of Cowley— Cowley Peachey — Cowley Church— Graves of Dr. Dodd and the Rev. John Lightfoot — Barton Booth, the
Actor— Census Returns — Cowley House— Cowley Grove — Hiliingdon — The Cedar House — Etymology of Hillingdon — Hillingdon Heath
—Dawley Court— The Manor of Colham— The Church of St. John the Baptist— Tomb of John Rich, the Actor— The Church Library—
The Parish Registers— An Old Engraving— Charities— The Village of Hillingdon— The Cemetery— Census Returns— The " Red Lion "
Inn— Flight of Charles I. from Oxford  ....  226

CHAPTER XXII.
UXBRIDGE.
Etymology of Uxbridge — Meeting of the Royalists and Roundheads— Public Reception of the Treaty — The Treaty House— The "Crown" Inn
— The Colne and the Grand Junction Canal — The Bridge — The "Swan and Bottle" — Early Fortifications — Roman Roads and Anti
quities—Chief Streets of Uxbridge— Census Returns — The " Chequers " — Trade and Commerce— Fairs and Markets — Condition of the
Roads — The Parish Church — The Curfew Bell — Parish Registers — The Rev. John Lightfoot— The Lecturer's House — St. Andrew's
Church — St. John's Church — Nonconformists' Meeting-houses — Charities — Recreation Ground — Hillingdon House — Hillingdon Court 
Martyrs for Conscience' Sake — Anecdotes— Milton's Favourite Stream— Denham  230

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXIII.
ICKENHAM, RUISLIP, AND HAREFIELD. PAGE
' The Chestnuts " — Ickenham— Census Returns— The Village Green and Pump— The Parish Church— Descent of the Manor— Swakeleys— Visit
of Samuel Pepys— A Curious Baptismal Register — Crab, the English Hermit — Ruislip — Boundaries and Population— Outlying Hamlets —
Agricultural Produce, &c. — Extract from the Domesday Survey— Ruislip Priory— The Manor Farm— The Vicarage — The Parish Church
— Charities, &c. — The Parish Records— Primitive Condition of the Inhabitants of Ruislip— Schools— The Grand Junction Canal Com
pany^ Reservoir — Ruislip Parle— Eastcott— Northwood — How Theodore Hook obtained a Dinner without paying for it— Harefield, its
Situation and Extent — Its early History — Descent of the Manor— Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Harefield— Lord Keeper Egerton, and the
Countess of Derby— The Newdigate Family— The Parish Church— Moor Hall— Breakspears  2 jo

CHAPTER XXIV.
PINNER AND HARROW.
Situation of Harrow, and Nature of the Soil— The Village of Pinner— Population— The River Pin— Miss Howard's Charity— Market and Fairs
—The Parish Church— Centenarians— A Curious Custom— Schools and Cemetery— Pinner Hill House— Pinner "Wood— Pinner Place-
Pinner Grove — Pinner Park — Pinner Green, and Wood Hall— Woodrisings— Death of Mrs. Horatia Ward— The School of the Commercial
Travellers' Society — Headstone, or Manor Farm— Etymology of Harrow — Domesday Book Record of the Parish — The Manor — Flam-
bards— A Loyal Lady— Extent and Boundaries of Harrow— The Parish Church— Prior Bolton takes Refuge at Harrow— " Byron's
Tomb"— The View from Harrow Hill— The Town and Public Institutions of Harrow ... . 249

CHAPTER XXV.
HARROW (continued)— THE SCHOOL, ETC.
The Distinction between Harrow and Eton as a Public School— The Foundation of Harrow School—" Orders, Statutes, and Rules of the
Government of the School" — Extract from the Founder's Will — Directions as to Children to be Educated — Terms of Admission-
Government of the School — Forms and Divisions — Number of Scholars — Cost of Board and Education — Prizes and Scholarships —
Description of the School Buildings — Athletic Sports and Recreations — Lines in Honour of John Lyon, the Founder — The Practice of
Archery — Shooting for the Silver Arrow— Head Masters and Eminent Harrovians  . 259

CHAPTER XXVI.
HARROW WEALD, KINGSBURY, ETC.
Rural Aspect of the Locality— The Hamlet of Greenhill — Harrow Weald— Remnants of the Great Forest of Middlesex — Grime's Dyke— All
Saints' Church — Weald Park — Daniel Dancer, the Miser— Roxeth— Sudbury — St. John's Church — The Girl's Home, &c. — Wembley-
Descent of the Manor— The " Green Man," Wembley Hill — Kingsbury : its Rural Character, Boundaries, &c— Kingsbury Reservoir—
The " Welsh Harp " — Kingsbury Races — The Parish Church— A Supposed Roman Encampment— Fryern Farm and Kingsbury Green
— Oliver Goldsmith's Residence— The Hamlet of the Hyde— Kenton  . .269

CHAPTER XXVII.
HENDON.
Extent and Boundaries of the Parish— The Brent River and Silk Stream— The Old Watling Street— Etymology of Hendon— Mention of the
Parish in "Domesday Book'' — Descent of the Manor — A Singular Immunity from Tolls— The Manor House — Hendon Place — The
Parish Church— Almshouses— Brent Street, Golder"s Green— Mill Hill— The Grammar School— Roman Catholic Missionary College—
St. Mary's Franciscan Nunnery — St. Margaret's Industrial School — Littleberries — Highwood House — Sir Stamford Raffles — Visit of
Baron Bunsen— William Wilberforce the Philanthropist ... .  ... 277

CHAPTER XXVIII.
EDGWARE AND LITTLE STANMORE.
Situation and Boundaries of Edgware— General Appearance of the Town — The " Chandos Arms " Inn — The " Harmonious Blacksmith " — Ety
mology of Edgware — The Descent of the Manor — The Manor of Edgware Bois — Edgware Market — Curious Local Customs — Death of
Cosway the Artist — The Parish Church — Almshouses — Population, &c. — Edgware Races — Little Stanmore or Whitchurch — Acreage and
Population — Early History of the Manor — Canons— The Family of the Lakes — James Brydges, afterwards Duke of Chandos— He Re
builds the Mansion of Canons in a magnificent and costly manner— The Parish Church— Handel as Organist here— The " Harmonious
Blacksmith"  .... ... . . . 2°4

viii GREATER LONDON.

CHAPTER XXIX.
GREAT STANMORE AND ELSTREE. PAGE
Great Stanmore— Brockley Hill, the supposed Site of Sulloniaca:— Discovery of Roman Antiquities— The Great Forest of Middlesex— The
Domesday Notice of Stanmore— Descent of the Manor— The Village— Population— The Bernays Memorial Institute— The Church—
Stanmore Park— Bentley Priory— The Property purchased by Lord Abercorn— Queen Adelaide— Sir John Kelk — Elstree— Situation and
General Appearance of the Village— The Manor— Parish Church— Burial Places of Martha Ray and William Weare— Female Orphans'
Home — Elstree Hill House — Elstree Reservoir — Watercourses — Pudding-stones . ...  297

CHAPTER XXX.
BUSHEY, ALDENHAM, AND RADLETT.
Bnshey Heath— The Scenery described— Bushey Manor— The Parish Church— St. Peter's Church— Bushey Hall— Hartsbourne Manor House
— Census Returns— Oxhey— Watford— Almshouses of the Salters' Company— Aldenham— Acreage and Population— Descent of the
Manor— Kemp Row— Tibhurst Manor— Kendall Manor— Pickets, or Newberry— Aldenham House— Penn's Place— The Parish Church—
The Grammar School— Discovery of Roman Remains— Radlett— Christ Church— Gill's Hill— The Murder of William Weare— Medburn
— Village Schools and Improved Dwellings   3®5

CHAPTER XXXI.
SHENLEY, COLNEY, RIDGE, AND SOUTH MIMMS.
Extent and Population of Shenley— Descent of the Manor— Shenley Hall, or Salisbury — Newberries— Old Organ Hall— Porters— Holmes,
otherwise High Canons — The Village of Shenley— The Chapel-of- Ease —The Parish Church — Colney House— London Colney—
Tittenhanger — Colney Heath — Ridge — The Parish Church — South Mimms— Census Returns — General Appearance of the Village — The
Old North Road — The Manor of South Mimms — The Church — Almshouses — Potter's Bar — Dyrham Park — Wrotham Park— Destruction
of the Mansion by Fire — Hadley Common — Christ Church  ... . 312

CHAPTER XXXII.
HIGH BARNET.
Situation and Extent of Barnet— Its Etymology— The Manor— General Appearance of the Town— Census Returns— Markets and Fairs—
The Parish Church— The Grammar School— The old " Crown Inn "—Jesus Hospital— Almshouses and Charitable Institutions— The
Town Hall— Barracks — Chapels and Meeting-houses — Ravenscroft Park— The " Physic Well " — Historical Associations — Inns and
Taverns— The Battle of Barnet— The Obelisk  .  319

CHAPTER XXXIII.
HADLEY, EAST BARNET, AND TOTTER1DGE.
Etymology of Monken Hadley— Descent of the Manor — Hadley Green— The Village and Common— Hadley Wood— Gladsmore Heath, or
Monken Mead— Dead Man's Bottom— Hadley Church— Two Historic Trees— Almshouses— Noted Residents— Population— East Barnet
— Lyonsdown— Census Returns— The Parish Church— The Boys' Farm Home— The Clock House— Cat's Hill— Oak Hill Park-
Belmont — Totteridge — Its Etymology — Descent of the Manor — Census Returns— Condition of the Roads — The Church— Yew-trees
in Churchyard— The Priory— Pointer's Grove— Copped Hall— Totteridge Park— Wykeham Rise  . 327

CHAPTER XXXIV.
WHETSTONE, FRIERN BARNET, AND FINCHLEY.
Situation of Whetstone — The Parish Church— Census Returns— Oakleigh Park — George Morland and the Chimney-sweep — General Appearance
of the Village — The Manor of Friern Barnet — The Church — Almshouses — Finchley — Situation and Extent — Descent of the Manor 
The Old Manor-house— Xoted Residents— Church End— Census Returns — Races — The Parish Church — Christ's College— National
Schools — East End — The Church, &c. — The " Dirt House " — Cemeteries for Marylebone and St. Pancras and Islington Parishes  North
End — Christ Church — The Congregational Chapel — Finchley Common — Encampments and Reviews — Highwaymen — Turpin's Oak 
The "Green Man" Tavern— Capture of Jack Sheppard — The Life of a Highwayman  t 33c

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXV.
COLNEY HATCH AND SOUTHGATE.
PAGE
Rapid Exteiision of Colney Hatch, or New Southgate— Its Situation and Etymology— Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum— St. Paul's
Church— The Pumping Station of the New River Waterworks— Wood Green— The Drinking Fountain— Nightingale Hall —
St. Michael's Church — The Printers' Almshouses — Fishmongers' and Poulterers' Asylum— Fullers' Almshouses— Royal Masonic Institution
for Boys— Clock and Watchmakers' Asylum- -The Great Northern Cemetery— Southgate— The Village Green and " Cherry-tree" Inn—
The Church — Arnold's Court, now Arno's Grove— Minchenden House— Bromefield Park — Bowes Manor— Bowes Park— St. Michael's
Church— Culland's Grove— Grovelands— Palmer's Green— Southgate Village Hall— Winchmore Hill— The Church, &c— Bush Hill Park
—Sir Hugh Myddelton and the New River  342

CHAPTER XXXVI.
ENFIELD.
General Description of the Parish— Situation and Boundaries— Parochial Divisions— The Town and Principal Streets— Enfield Court— The
New River— Railway Stations — Census Returns— Historical Reminiscences — The Barony of Enfield — Descent of the Manor — Fairs and
Markets— Site of the Old Manor House— Camlet Moat— Oldbury— Edward VI. at Enfield— The Palace— Dr. Uvedale— The Market
place — The Parish Church — The Free Grammar School— Schools of Industry — John Keats's Schooldays — Charitable Institutions — Old
Park — Chase Park — Chase Side House— Enfield Green — Little Park — Beycullah Park — Enfield Races — Churches and Chapels — The
Cemetery — Forty Hall— Elsynge Hall — Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth — Anne Countess of Pembroke — Myddelton House
— Gough Park— Distinguished Residents — Beautiful Women of Enfield  .*.... 347

CHAPTER XXXVII.
ENFIELD CHASE,
General Description of a Chase— Form and Extent of Enfield Chase— Its Early History— The Last of the Staffords, Dukes 01 Buckingham
—Drayton's Description of Enfield Chase— Its Present Condition— The Princess Elizabeth as a Hunter — James I. at Enfield Chase
— A Portion of the Chase added to Theobalds— Seizure of the Chase by the Commonwealth — Sale of Different Portions of it —
Macaulay's Account of Enfield Chase — Evelyn pays it a Visit — The Chase Re-stocked with Deer by Charles II. — The Chase used as
a Sheep-walk— Punishment for Cutting Down and Destroying Trees in the Chase — Its Final Enclosure— Officers belonging to the
Chase— Camlet Moat, the supposed Site of the Chief Forester's Lodge— Trent Park— Beech Hill Park— East Lodge— Chase Lodge-
Hill Lodge, Claysmore— The Roman Road— Cock Fosters— Dangers of the Roads in Former Times— White Webbs House— The
Gunpowder Plot—" The King and the Tinkler " . . . . . .  - 3^3

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
ENFIELD HIGHWAY, PONDER'S END, AND THE RIVER LEA.
Position and Extent of Enfield Highway— Population, &c— The Lower North Road— Mr. Spencer and his Bride— Matthew Prior and John
Morley— St. James's Church — Ponder's End— St. Matthew's Church — Lincoln House— Durants— The Manor of Suffolks — Enfield Wash
— The Story of Elizabeth Canning, " Mother Wells," and the Gipsy Squires— Roselands— The Manor of Elsynge — The River Lea —
Bull's Cross — Capels ... . .  - • . . . 37 *

CHAPTER XXXIX.
THEOBALDS.
Situation of Theobalds, and History of the Manor— The Estate Purchased by Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh— James I.
at Theobalds— Entertainment to Christopher IV., King of Denmark— Narrow Escape of King James— His Death— Description of
the Palace and Gardens— Demolition of the Palace— Present Condition of the Estate .  37°

CHAPTER XL.
CHESHUNT.
Situation and General Appearance of the Parish— Its Etymology— Supposed Site of a Roman Station or Camp -Discovery of Roman
Coins &c.  The Mound at Bury Green — A Curious Manorial Custom— Census Returns — The River Lea— A Disputed Landmark-
Early History and Descent of the Manor of Cheshunt— The Manor of Moteland, or St. Andrew's Ie Mote— The Great House—
—The Parish Church— The Cemetery, &c— Cheshunt College— Pengelly House— Cheshunt Park— The Cromwell Family— Other
Notable Residents and Seats— Waltham Cross— " The Four Swans" Inn— The Spital Houses— Holy Trinity Church— The
Benedictine Convent— GofTs Oak— St. James's Church  3"4

GREATER LONDON.

CHAPTER XL I.
NORTHAW
PAGE
Etymology of Northaw— Condition of the District at the Time of the Conquest— Disputed Ownership— Nynn House, and Manor— The
Hook — Northaw Place — Acreage and Population — The Village and Parish Church — A Chalybeate Spring . .... 394

CHAPTER XLII.
ENFIELD SMALL-ARMS FACTORY AND WALTHAM POWDER-MILLS.
The History of the Rifle— Situation of the Royal Small-arms Factory— Particulars of its Establishment— Extent of the Buildings, &c— Per
fection of the Machinery and Plant— The Government Powder Mills— Situation of the Buildings— Description of the Works— The
Composition of Gunpowder — Quantities produced . .   395

CHAPTER XLIII.
WALTHAM ABBEY.
Situation of the Town— Its Etymology — Foundation of the Abbey by Jovi— Its Re-foundation by Harold— The Legend of the Holy Cross —
Gifts bestowed on the Abbey — Harold's Tomb— The Church despoiled by William the Conqueror— Its Recovery under subsequent
Sovereigns — Disputes between the Abbot and Townspeople — Henry III. and the Abbot's Dinner — An Incident touching the Reformation
— Income of the Abbey at the Dissolution — Fuller, the Historian — The Conventual Estate passes into Secular Hands — Description of
the Abbey Church— Sale of the Church Bells— Present Condition of the Remains of the Abbey— Rome-Land— The Abbey Gateway and
Bridge   4°4

CHAPTER XLIV.
WALTHAM (continued) AND EPPING.
Extent of Waltham Abbey Parish — Census Returns — Rural Appearance of the Locality — Principal Seats and Mansions — Warlies — Copped
Hall — Ambresbury Banks — The Story of Queen Boadicea's Conflict with the Romans — Obelisks in the Neighbourhood — Highwaymen
and Footpads — The Village of Epping — Epping Church .  .,416

CHAPTER XLV.
EPPING FOREST.
Primeval Condition of the Forest, as the Great Forest of Essex — Gradual Diminution of the Forest — Forest Charters of King John and
Henry III. — Laws for the Regulation of the Forest — A Quaint Oath — Lord Warden, Steward, and other Officers of the Forest — The
Swainmote Court and Court of Justice Seat— Extent of the Forest in the Middle Ages— Present Form of the Forest— Disposal of the
Crown Rights in the Forest — Encroachments by Lords of Manors — The Battle of the Commoners with the Lords of Manors^—
Parliamentary Scheme for the Preservation of the Forest — The Matter taken up by the Corporation of London — The Case Settled by
Arbitration — Dedication of Epping Forest to the "Free Use" of the People — The Science of Forestry — The Deer of the Forest —
The Present Condition and General Appearance of the Forest  . . 423

CHAPTER XLVI.
EPPING FOREST (continued)— SEWARDSTONE, HIGH BEECH, AND CHINGFORD.
Preliminary Remarks— Situation and Boundaries of Sewardstone— Seats and Mansions— High Beech Green— St. Paul's Church— Fairmead
Lodge — Sotheby and Tennyson — Residents at High Beech— Fairmead House — John Clare— High Beech Hill — The " Robin-Hood" and
" King's Oak" — " Harold's Oak "—Queen Victoria's Wood— Lappitt's Hill — Bury Wood and Hawk Wood — Situation and Etymology of
Chingford— Its Extent and Boundaries— The Manor of Chingford St. Paul— The Manor of Chingford Earls— Friday Hill— Buckrills —
A Singular Tenure— Census Returns— Chingford Old Church— The Ordnance Survey Obelisk— Queen Elizabeth's Lodge— The Royal
Forest Hotel — Connaught Water  435

CHAPTER XLVII.
EPPING FOREST (continued)— BUCKHURST HILL, LOUGHTON, AND THEYDON BOIS.
Recent Improvements in Epping Forest — Connaught Water and other Lakes— Buckhurst Hill— Its Etymology— Census Returns — The
Railway Station— St. John's Church— Congregational Church — Langford Place— The Essex Naturalists' and Field Club — The

CONTENTS. xi

PAGE

Epping Hunt— The "Bald-faced Stag"— The " Roebuck "—Situation of Loughton— Census Returns— Descent of the Manor-
The Hall— The Old Parish Church— A Memorial Church— St. John's Church-General Appearance of the Village— Staple Hill—
The "Lopping" Process— Loughton Camp— Debden Hall— Theydon Bois  44!

CHAPTER XLVIII.
CHIGWELL.
General Appearance of the Village of Chigwell— Its Etymology— Census Returns— Descent of the Manor— Rolls Park— Woolstons—
Lexborough— The Warren— Belmont— The Parish Church— Archbishop Harsnett— Local Charities— Club-room— The Grammar School-
The "King's Head" Tavern— Charles Dickens's "Maypole" Inn— Chigwell Row— Woodlands— Bowls— Gainsborough's Picture
of " The Woodman "—The Mineral Waters . .   449

CHAPTER XLIX.
WOODFORD AND WALTHAMSTOW.
Boundaries of Woodford— Its Etymology— Its Subdivision— Descent of the Manor— The Manorial Custom of "Borough English"—
Woodford Hall— Census Returns— Woodford Bridge— The Church— Claybury Hall— Ray House— Church End, Woodford— The
Parish Church— Woodford Hall— Mrs. Gladstone's Convalescent Home— A Pauper's Legacy— Woodford Green— Congregational Church
—The Union Church— Art and Industrial Society, and Social Institutions— Harts— Monkhams— The Firs— Prospect Hall— Woodford
Wells— "The Horse and Well "—Knighton House— The Manor House— Noted Residents— Walthamstow— Its Area and General
Appearance— Walthamstow Slip— Census Returns— Etymology of Walthamstow— Descent of the Manor— Highams— Salisbury Hall
—Chapel End— Bellevue House— The Parish Church— Almshouses— Walthamstow House— Benjamin Disraeli's School-days— Noted
Residents of Walthamstow— The Town Hall, and other Public Institutions— Hoe Street— Hale End— Marsh Street— St. James's— The
Reservoirs of the East London Waterworks Company— Geological Discoveries-An Old Bridge— St. Stephen's Church— Whip's Cross—
St. Peter's Church, Forest Side— Forest Grammar School .   458

CHAPTER L.
SNARESBROOK AND WANSTEAD.
General Appearance of the Locality— Snaresbrook— The "Rights" of Commoners— The "Eagle" at Snaresbrook and the Eagle Pond—
The Infant Orphan Asylum — Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum— Christ Church— Almshouses of the Weavers' Company— Area and
Population of Wanstead— Its Boundaries, &c. — Etymology— Traces of Roman Occupation— Descent of the Manor— The Earl of
Leicester and Queen Elizabeth— A "Spa" at Wanstead— Pepys' Opinion of Wanstead House— Visit of John Evelyn— Wanstead
Hquse Rebuilt by Sir Richard Child, afterwards Earl Tylney— Description of the House and Grounds— The Great Telescope— The
Maypole from the Strand — Death of Lord Tylney— Subsequent History of Wanstead House— Its Demolition— Wanstead Park secured
for the People by the Corporation of London — The Park, Gardens, and Grotto — Lake House, the Residence of Thomas Hood —
Cann Hall— The Parish Church— The Village of Wanstead— The George Inn— An Expensive Pie— Park Gate— Wanstead Flats—
The Princess Louise Home and National Society for the Protection of Young Girls — Dr. James Pound — The Maypole from the
Strand — James Bradley the Astronomer — Admiral Sir William Penn— William Penn, the Founder of Pennsylvania . . . 472

CHAPTER LI.
LEYTON AND LEYTONSTONE.
Extent and Boundaries of Leyton Parish— Walthamstow Slip — Census Returns — Discovery of Roman Remains and other Antiquities-
Ancient Earthworks — General Appearance of the Village of Leyton — Railway Stations — Park House — Ruckholt House — The Manor
House — Leyton House — Etloe House — The Parish Church — John Strype — The Vicarage — All Saints' Church — Schools and Charitable
Institutions — Lea Bridge, and the East London Waterworks — Temple Mills — Eminent Residents of Leyton— Leytonstone — Census
Returns — The Church of St. John the Baptist — Hohy Trinity Church — Congregational Church — Union Workhouse — Children's Home . 48 3

CHAPTER LII.
HAINAULT FOREST AND ALDBOROUGH HATCH.
Situation, Boundaries, and Extent of Hainault Forest — Its Etymology — Its Ownership by the Abbey of Barking — It passes to the Crown —
Subsequent Disposal — Is Disafforested — The Hamlet of Barking Side — Census Returns — The Church — Dr. Barnardo's Homes for
Friendless Children — The " Maypole " Public-house — Fairlop Oak and Fairlop Fair— Aldhorough Hatch . . . 4^9

CHAPTER LII I.
ILFORD.
Chadwell Heath— Chadwell Street— The Old Coach Road — Will Kemp's Dance from London to Norwich— Great Ilford— Census Returns
— Etymology — The River Roding — Ilford Church — Public Reading-Room and Library, &c. — Ilford Hospital — Cranbrook House —
Valentines — Discovery of an Ancient Stone Coffin — Elephants in Essex . ... . ... 495

xii GREATER LONDON.

CHAPTER LIV.
LITTLE ILFORD, WEST HAM, ETC. PAGE
Boundaries and Extent of Little Ilford— Census Returns— The Parish Church — Mr. Lethieullier's House at Aldersbrook— Ilford Gaol—
The " Three Rabbits "—West Ham— Its Division into Wards— Population— Market and Fairs— Chemical Works and Factories— The
Parish Church— A Curious Fresco— Upton Park— Forest Gate— Taverns and "Tea-Gardens "—Emmanuel Church- St. James's Church
— Extent and Population of Forest Gate — Pawnbrokers' Almshouses — Legg's Almshouses— Former Condition of Stratford — The Abbey of
Stratford-Langthorne— Pumping Station of the Metropolitan Drainage Works— St. John's Church— Christ Church— St. Paul's— St. Francis
of Assisi Congregational Church— Town Hall— Stratford New Town— Vegetable Market— Old Ford— Bow Bridge— Roman Roads . S01

CHAPTER LV.
PLAISTOW AND EAST HAM.
Flat and unattractive Appearance of Plaistow — Its Sedate Aspect in Former Times— Its Sources of Wealth— The Destitute Children's Home—
The Metropolitan Main Drainage Works— Census Returns— Silver Town, Canning Town, and Hall Ville— Plaistow Church— St.
Andrew's Church — Congregational Church — East London Cemetery — Poplar Small-pox and Fever Hospital — Chemical Works and other
Manufactories— The Royal Victoria and Albert Docks— North Woolwich— St. Mark's Church — St. John's Church — North Woolwich
Gardens — Distinguished Residents at Plaistow — Descent of the Manor of East Ham — St. Nicholas's Roman Catholic School — A Curious
Manorial Custom— Situation and Extent of the Parish— The Parish Church— Emmanuel Church— St. John the Baptist— Plashet
House— Greenstreet House— Anne Boleyn's Tower— St. Edward's Reformatory— The High Level Sewer— Beckton Gas and Coke Works S°9

CHAPTER LVI.
BARKING.
Situation and Extent of the Parish — Census Returns — Etymology — Early History and Foundation of Barking Abbey — The Abbey Burnt by
the Danes — Rebuilt by King Edgar— William the Conqueror takes up his Abode there — The Importance of the Abbey in Saxon Times
— The Convent Damaged by an Overflow of the Thames— Curious Entries of the Revenues of the Abbey— Dissolution of the Abbey—
The Abbey Gateway— Extent of the Original Buildings— Noted Abbesses— Manorial Estates of the Abbey— The Parish Church— The
Rural Deanery of Barking — The Manor of Barking — The Story of Osborne's Leap — The Manor of Clayhall — Malmains — Bifrons —
Eastbury House — The Road to Tilbury — Barking Town — Barking Creek — The Outfall of the Main Drainage Works — Powder
Magazine, &c. — The Roman Entrenchment at Uphall  5^

CHAPTER LVI I.
DAGENHAM.
Ripple Side, Barking — Ripple Castle — Extent and Boundaries of Dagenham — Census Returns— The Village — Church — Parslowes — Valence —
Dagenham Breach — Discovery of a " Moorlog" — The River Walls of the Thames — Dagenham Lake — Its Proposed Conversion "into a
Dock — Failure of the Scheme — Origin of the Ministerial Fish Dinner   5^7

CHAPTER LVI 1 1.
MILLWALL, LIMEHOUSE, AND POPLAR.
Situation and Boundaries of Millwall— Origin of the Name of the Isle of Dogs— The Chapel House— Blackwall — Millwall— Acreage of the
Isle of Dogs— Fertility of the Soil— Geology— A Submerged Forest— The Manor of Pomfret— Inundations of the Marsh— How Samuel
Pepys. attended a Wedding Party— Ferries, and the Ferry House— Condition of the Isle of Dogs in the Last Century— Manufactories
and Shipbuilding Yards— Roman Cement and Terra-Cotta— The Great Eastern. Steam Ship— Cubitt Town— St. Luke's Church— Lime-
house — Poplar ....   .533

CHAPTER LIX.
THE EAST AND WEST INDIA AND MILLWALL DOCKS.
The Vastness of Trade and Commerce — Arrival of Coal-ships and other Vessels in the Port of London — Number of Barges and other Craft
required for Traffic in 1792 — Plunder carried on in the Lighters on the River — Institution of the Thames Police— Proposals for the Es
tablishment of Docks — Foundation of the West India Docks — The Opening Ceremony— Description of the Docks  A Curious Museum
New Dry Docks— The Wood Wharf— The Rum Quay— The South West India Dock— The Wool Warehouses— The East India Docks—
Millwall Dock — Insecurity of Merchandise before the Establishment of Docks or Institution of the Thames Police . . , 549

CONTENTS.

\ CHAPTER LX.
'. THE RIVER LEA.
PAGE
Etymology of the River Lea— Its Source— Luton— Brocket Hall— Hertford— Ware— Amwell and its Quaker Poet— Haileybury College— The
Rye House— Stanstead Abbots— Hoddesdon — Broxbourne — Cook's Ferry — Bleak Hall— The East London Waterworks — Lea Bridge —
Fishing on the Lea— Hackney Marshes and Temple Mills— The Navigation of the Lea— Conservancy of the River. . . . 559

\ CHAPTER LXI.
THE RIVER THAMES.
The Thames as a Political Boundary, and as a Eoundary of Counties — Tributary Rivers — Breadth of the River — Its General Aspect and
Character of Scenery — The Embankments — Shoals and Floods — Tides — The Thames as the Common Highway of London — Anecdote
of Cardinal Wolsey — Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth — Abdication of James II. — Funeral of Lord Nelson — Water Traffic in
the Time of Richard II. — The Conservancy of the Thames — Boating on the Thames . .  56°"

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Waltham Abbey. — Frontispiece.

PAGE
Coronation Stone, Kingston  I
Manor House, High Beech  I
Harrow Church  I
Bedford Park : Houses in South Parade ; a Porch ;
the Church ; the "Tabard " ; Gable of the School
of Art ; Houses in Bath Road .... 6
Sir Matthew Hale  7
Richard Baxter  7
Acton Church and Acton Town at the end of last
Century ........ 10
High Street, Acton  12
The Church, from the Rectory .... 12
Berrymead Priory .... . . 13
Gunnersbury House . . . . ¦ • . .18
Ealing Churches : St. John's ; St. Mary's (the Parish
Church); Christ Church . . . . 19
Ealing Green  24
The "Old Hat "in the Uxbridge Road ... 25
Brentford, from the River  30
The Stables of the " Three Pigeons," Brentford . . 31
Boston House  36
Mrs. Trimmer  37
Osterley Park  42
Heston .  43
The Old Stables at Sion House . . . 48
Sion House, from the South  49
Sion Abbey, from the South-West . . . -54
Isleworth Church .  55
The Powder Mills, Hounslow : Pellet House ; the
Storehouses and Mill Head ; The Sluice and
Mixing House  61
High Street, Hounslow ... . . -63
Whitton Park  66
Old Hanworth Church  67
Twickenham ... .... 72
Eel-Pie Island  72
A Plan of Twickenham, 1784  73
Sir Godfrey Kneller . . ... 78

Twickenham Park House .
Mr. Pitt's House at Twickenham
Marble Hill ....
Philip, Duke of Wharton .
Lady Suffolk ....
The Gardens of Orleans House, 1882
Kneller Hall ....
Pope 
Pope's House ....
Lady Howe's Villa and Pope's Grotto
The Obelisk to Pope's Mother .
" Pope's Villa " .
Strawberry Hill in Walpole's Time
Strawberry Hill, 1882
Horace Walpole
Little Strawberry Hill in 1813
The Queen's Barge .
The Anglery, Teddington Ferry
Hampton, from the River .
Garrick . . . .
Hampton House
Hampton Court Bridge
Cardinal Wolsey
Hampton Court, as finished by King Henry
Old Hampton Court
Approach to Hampton Court
Hampton Court, from the River .
Miss Chudleigh .
Hampton Court : The Chapel ; Interior of the Great
Hall 
Hampton Court : the First Court ; Fountain Court .
Hampton Court : Anne Boleyn's Gateway
Hampton Court ....
Hampton Court : Plan of the Maze .
Halliford ....
Sunbury Church ....
Shepperton, from the River
Shepperton Rectory ....

VIII.

PAGE 79
84859090
919497
102103108109114»5120121 .
126127133138 i39'44¦45
150 150
151 156
157162 163168 169171 174175 180 180

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

xv

PAGE
Laleham Church  186
Street in Staines  187
The City Boundary Stone  187
Bedfont Church  192
Stanwell Village Green  193
Harlington Church  198
" Bits" from Harlington Church : the Easter Sepulchre;
the Norman Door  199
The Old Barn at Harmondsworth .... 204
The Gatehouse, West Drayton  205
West Drayton  210
Font in West Drayton Church .... 210
Hayes : Hayes Church ; Hayes Village through the
Lych Gate  211
Southall Manor House  216
Interior of Perivale Church . . . . .217
Perivale Church, Exterior  219
Twyford Abbey  222
Willesden Church  223
Hillingdon Church about 1740 .... 228
The Treaty House, Uxbridge  231
Market House, Uxbridge  - 234
St. Margaret's, Uxbridge ; the Font . . . .235
Swakeleys  240
Ruislip  241
Harefield Place  246
Lady Derby's Tomb  247
Pinner, in 1828 .  252
Pinner Church, in 1800  253
Harrow Church, Interior  258
Harrow  259
The Fourth Form Room  264
Shooting for the Arrow  265
- Arms of Harrow School  266
Byron's Name, from the Fourth Form Room . . 268
Distant View of Harrow  270
The Welsh Harp and Reservoir  271
High House Farm  276
Hendon Village  277
Littleberries  282
Sir Stamford Raffles  283
Village of Edgware  288
The Duke of Chandos ...... 289
Canons : Elevation of the Original South Front . 291
Canons ......... 294
Whitchurch Church : the East End . . . .295
Bentley Priory ........ 3°°
Queen Adelaide  . 301
Bushey Church . . . . . ... .306
Aldenham House ....... 3°7
Shenley Church and Village  312
Tittenhanger  3*3
Sir T. Pope  3*3
Wrotham Park  3J8
High Street, High Barnet  3:9
Vews in Barnet : the Schools ; the " Red Lion " Inn . 324

Oak

Hadley Green (Site of the Battle of Barnet)
Hadley Church ....
Copped Hall ....
Lord Lytton ....
Alms Houses, Friern Barnet
Finchley Manor House and Turpin's
Colney Hatch ....
Arno's Grove, Southgate .
Enfield Church ....
Beach Hill circ. 1796
Myddelton House circ. 1 821
Queen Elizabeth's Palace, Enfield, 1568
The Palace, from the North
The Old Market House, Enfield
Forty Hall and the Old Gateway
Gough Park
View in Trent Park .
In Beech Hill Park .
Ponder's End .
Room in Mother Wells' Cottage
Old Theobalds Palace
The Maze at Theobalds
Cheshunt Church
Richard Cromwell
The Old Manor House, Cheshunt
Waltham Cross .
Enfield Small Arms Factory
The Powder Mills, Waltham
The Cattle Market, Waltham
On the Lea
Waltham Abbey — Interior : Nave, Crypt, Lady Chapel
Gateway and Bridge, Waltham Abbey
Copped Hall, near Epping
Ambresbury Banks ....
Map of Epping Forest
Views in Epping Forest : Connaught Water, Ching
ford ; A Glade at Theydon Bois ; On the way to
Copped Hall from Loughton ; High Beech .
Royal Forest Hotel, Chingford ....
Flowers from Epping Forest ....
Chingford Church 
Queen Elizabeth's Lodge . ...
The " Roebuck " 
The " Bald-Faced Stag "...
Theydon Bois 
Chigwell Grammar School
William Penn ... . .
Chigwell Church 
The " King's Head," Chigwell .
Churches at Woodford : The Old Parish Church ; All
Saints, Woodford Wells
Monkhams 
The " Horse and Well," Woodford Wells
Grammar Schools and Almshouses, Walthamstow
Churchyard .
Forest Grammar School

XVI

GREATER LONDON.

PAGE 474475
4S0 4814864S7

The " Eagle, " Snaresbrook ....
Wanstead House ......
Monument to Sir J. Child, Wanstead Church
Park Gate 
Monuments in Leyton Church ....
Leyton Vicarage ......
Portrait of Strype  487
Dr. Barnardo's Homes ... ... 492
Fairlop Oak, 1800  493
Valentines, near Ilford ..... 498
Ilford Hospital  499
West Ham Church ....... 504
West Ham Park  505
Royal Albert Docks : Looking East ; Looking West . 510
Anne Boleyn's Castle  511
Ancient Bell Tower, Barking Abbey . . . .516
Barking Creek . . . . . . .517

Eastbury House  522
Market House, Barking  523
Dagenham Marshes, looking East .... S2^
Walls of the Thames  529
The Thames from Ratcliffe to Woolwich, in 1588 . 534
Dagenham  535
Millwall Docks  54<>
Millwall, from the River  541
Launch of the Great Eastern  54<5
Limehouse Church  • 547
West India Docks  553
Vaults at the Docks  555
Entrance to the East India Docks . . . • 55^
Cook's Ferry  5^4
At Lea Bridge  565
The Thames, Barking Reach  57°
The Thames, Woolwich Reach . . . . • 571

W^m Greater London.

INTRODUCTORY.
GREATER LONDON!" What a vague and
ill-defined term ! We all know London
proper, comprising the City and Westminster, and
making up one metropolis. But "Greater London I"
What can the words mean ? What and where are
its limits ? and how far afield will it carry us ? Do
you mean the area ruled over by the Metropolitan
Board of Works, or by the authorities of the
Census Department, or by the Metropolitan Police,
or that which the Postmaster-General takes as the
limits of his suburban deliveries of letters?
The question is not very easily answered off
hand, for we are free to own that there are several
" Greater Londons," and that these are far from
being coincident. The district ruled over by our
Board of Works, though large, covers very little
ground that has not been already travelled by us
in "Old and New London," except in a single
direction— that of the estuary of the Thames, the

GREATER LONDON.

[Introduction.

very district in which we have stopped the shortest.
Again, the postal suburban limits are subject to
frequent changes ; and the Census authorities have
fixed on somewhat ill-defined and arbitrary bounds,
as to which it is impossible to say on what principle
they have been settled. It remains, therefore, that
we select, as open to the fewest objections, the
circle of the Metropolitan Police jurisdiction, which
extends, in every direction, about fifteen miles on
an average from the centre of modern London,
namely, Charing Cross. This embraces the whole
of Middlesex and a part of Surrey, together with
most of the suburban districts of Essex and Kent,
reaching from Dagenham in the east to Uxbridge
in the west, and from Colney and Cheshunt in the
north to Epsom and Warlingham in the south — an
almost perfect circle, some twenty-eight miles in
diameter. Greater London ! " The spread of material
London," it has been observed — " the London of
bricks and mortar and stucco — is becoming a
gigantic — one might almost say an appalling — factor
in our national existence. Every day it becomes
more difficult to- say where the limits of the capital
have been reached, and at what point the cockney
may fairly be said to begin his long-sought ' day in
the country.' Every week new building specula
tions absorb the green fields and hedgerows, and
the quiet little village station becomes a suburban
junction. To introduce some guiding principle
into this labyrinth, Sir Brydges Henniker, our
Registrar-General, has, in his returns, divided
London into two portions — an inner and an outer
zone. The inner zone comprises the fixed and
permanent city, spreading in a continuous mass
from Hampstead on the north to Norwood on the
south, and from Bromley on the east to Hammer
smith on the west. This area comprises, in round
figures, about 78,000 acres, and, with the exception
of parks and open spaces which have been saved
by Parliament from the ruthless grasp of the
builder, is already fully utilised for building
purposes  It must not be forgotten that
whilst there has been very considerable growth in
districts within the central area, but approaching
the outer zone, a process has been constantly at
work in all the most central parts of London
tending to drive further outwards the resident
population. We' may instance the construction of
the new terminus of the Great Eastern Railway in
Liverpool Street, and the lines of railway converg
ing at that point ; the construction of new thorough
fares by the various public bodies, all of which
have passed through densely-populated districts ;
and the vast number of dwelling-houses which

have been swept away from the heart of London,
upon the site of which now stand tall piles of
warehouses and offices."
But in truth, when we speak of " London," we
do not mean so much a city as a collection 01
gathering together of cities. Not only is our
metropolis many-handed, like Briareus, and many-
headed, like Cerberus : it is manifold. It is no
longer singular, but plural; it consists no longer
of one city, but of many. It has engulfed
gradually many cities, towns, villages, and separate
jurisdictions. Its present surface, as already inti
mated, includes large portions of four common
wealths, or kingdoms, those of the Middle Saxons,
of the East Saxons, of the " South Rie " (Surrey;
folk, and of the men of Kent. Taken in its widest
acceptation, as above shown, London — or rather,
the district which is under the rule of the Metro
politan Police — now embraces, not only the entire
cities of London and Westminster, but the entire
county of Middlesex, all the boroughs of South-
wark and Greenwich, the towns of Woolwich and
Wandsworth, the watering-places of Hampstead,
Highgate, Islington, Acton, and Kilburn, the
fishing-town of Barking, the once secluded and
ancient villages of Hanwell, Cheshunt, Harrow,
Croydon, Finchley, Twickenham, Teddington,
Chigwell, Sutton, Addington, and many others.
It will be seen,. therefore, that there is some truth
in the witty definition which has been given of
London, namely—" That world of stucco which is
bounded by Barnet on the north and Croydon on
the south; which touches Woolwich in the far
east, and Richmond and Twickenham in the far
west." "The growth of a great city," observes John
Timbs, " must be an interesting study to a larger
number of persons than we may at first imagine ;
its claims upon their attention are world-wide when
that city is London. It may seem like national
partiality when we speak thus; but it is only
philosophic reasoning when we remember that
no city of equal size and importance exists in the
world, or ever did exist. Babylon 'the Great'
was not so large, and imperial Rome was smaller
in its palmiest days; even when mistress of the
world it by no means rivalled modern London."
Of late years, the removal of dwellings in " Lon
don proper" for commercial purposes, and the
consequent erection of others in the suburbs and
outlying villages, has been rapid in the extreme.
Streets, terraces, and villas, of all shapes and sizes,
are springing up in all directions, and quite alter
ing the hitherto rural aspect of the spots encroached
upon. That this growth of London has not been

Introduction.]

AN OVERGROWN METROPOLIS.

one of a sudden and impulsive nature, consequent
on some great panic or mania for building that may
have seized on the commercial world — after the
fashion of the " railway mania " of forty years ago
— may be inferred when we state that Horace
Walpole thus writes to his friend Sir Horace Mann,
under date 1791 ; — "There will soon be one street
from London to Brentford ; aye, and from London
to every village ten miles round !" The era of which
he prophesied has long since arrived ; and not only
Brentford, but Hounslow, is now connected with the
metropolis by an almost unbroken row of bricks and
mortar, in the shape of cottages, shops, and villas.
The elder D'Israeli, in "The Curiosities of
Literature," mentions some remarkable features of
the dread which our countrymen entertained of an
overgrown metropolis : — " Proclamations warned
and exhorted ; but the very interference of a royal
prohibition seemed to render the metropolis more
charming ;" though for all this, from Elizabeth to
Charles II., proclamations continually issued against
new erections. James I. notices " those swarms of
gentry who, through the instigation of their wives,
did neglect their country hospitality, and cumber
the city : a general nuisance to the kingdom." He
once said — "Gentlemen resident on their estates
are like ships in port, their value and magnitude
are felt and acknowledged ; but when at a distance,
as their size seemed insignificant, so their worth and
importance were not duly estimated." The England
even of the present century is changed out of all
possible knowledge ; indeed, those are yet living who
can look back with a smile at the solemn county
balls, which were almost as difficult of access, and
as jealously guarded, as a Court presentation of
these days.
Nor were good reasons wanted for eschewing
London. Only two centuries ago a Sussex squire,
Mr. Palmer, was fined in the sum of j£,\, 000 for
residing in London rather than on his own estate
in the country, and that even in face of the fact
that his country mansion had been burned within
the two years before his trial took place ! We are
told that this sentence struck terror into the London
sojourners ; and it was followed by a proclamation
for them to leave the city, with their " wives and
families, and also widows." And now we have no
difficulty in understanding why there are so many
large mansions in small country towns. The habit
of making the best of a hard lot influenced the
gentry even long after it would have been safe to
have followed Mr. Palmer's example ; and so we
find, up to the Hanoverian period, large old-
fashioned houses in some small country towns,
that look, as Dickens says, as if they had lost

their way in infancy, and grown to their present
proportions. The tendency of families to migrate
to the county town instead of London in the
" season," was partly owing to the difficulty of the
roads (for nothing now in England can give a&
idea of the undertaking of a journey of 200 miles
to London), but partly, also, to. a singular law,
which forbade, as far as possible, any country
gentleman who was not in Parliament from resid
ing in London. Railways, of course, have rapidly
and completely changed the scene. The old mo
ralist in Thackeray laments the change of times,
when a man of quality used to enter London, or
return to his country-house, in a coach and pair,
with outriders, and now his son " slinks " from the
station in a brougham.
Whether or not the architectural aspect of the
streets of London is being improved by the whole
sale demolition of its ancient buildings, and the
erection on their sites of huge warehouses and
commercial edifices, is not for us to say ; but a
great advance has certainly been made of late
years in the architectural appearance of the better
class of suburban residences. It is true that there
are many excellent specimens of house architecture
even of Queen Anne's reign in remote villages
within twenty miles of London. Many of these
houses are now turned into boarding-schools or vil
lage tenements, having been shouldered out of the
way as ugly and old-fashioned. But a reaction has
at last set in against the massive and tasteless style
so long characteristic of town and suburban build
ings, and houses of the Queen Anne type are being
erected in the suburbs on every side of London.
With all this, there are happily many places
round London still unbuilt upon, within the limits
of our present work, to which the cockney holiday
maker may take a day's excursion, where he will
find the fields still green, the hedgerows fresh, and
the forest-trees in summer-time in full leaf, and
waving bravely in the breeze. That portion of
the county of Surrey which will fall within the
scope of our peregrinations has, to a very large
extent^ up to the present time, kept clear of the
man of bricks and mortar. Indeed, it is not a
little remarkable that a county so near to the
metropolis should still contain so large an amount
of waste lands. At the beginning of the present
century it was reckoned that a sixth of its whole
acreage was in a wild and uncultivated state ; but
this condition of things has been greatly altered b>
enclosures. Still, however, near London there are
Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath, Wands
worth and Clapham Commons, Streatham, Tooting,
and Kennington Commons — in all, nearly 2,000

GREATER LONDON.

[Introduction.

acres. Farther afield are Bagshot Heath, Epsom,
Leatherhead, Ashtead, Weybridge, Epping Forest,
and other open spots, of many of which we shall
have occasion to speak.
This area, almost every nook and corner of
which — thanks to our railway system — may be
visited on the Saturday afternoon holidays in
summer, and most of them even in winter, con
tains, as we need hardly add, much that may
interest the ordinary visitor, should he care for
quiet and peaceful rural scenery, or the artist who
may be in search of choice " bits." It does not
include in its sphere a single cathedral, or castle,
or abbey, at all events with extensive buildings
above ground ; but there are breezy heights com
manding extensive views, mansions, and other
buildings possessing historical associations ; and
we have only to mention a few names of places
and persons who have been connected with it as
residents, or by the accident of birth or death, in
order to satisfy the reader that these five hundred
and odd square miles are not devoid of interest.
There are, for instance, Waltham Cross and Abbey,
the latter traditionally the grave of the unhappy
Harold; there is Chislehurst, with its memories
•of the antiquary Camden and the emperor Louis Na
poleon; there are Hayes and Keston, the favourite
haunts of Pitt and Wilberforce ; there is Isleworth,
with its monastery of Sion ; Harrow, with its school
and its memories of Byron's youth. At Hounslow
we shall find camps and footpads ; the latter also
at Finchley ; at Merton we shall come upon Lord
Nelson and Lady Hamilton ; at Stanmore we shall
visit the grave of Lord Aberdeen ; at Mortlake we
shall find Dr. Dee ; at Elstree we shall rub shoulders
with Thurtell and Hare ; at " princely " Canons we
shall be introduced to George Handel, and to his
patron, the Duke of Chandos; at Wanstead we
shall see the magnificent mansion of the Tylneys,
brought to ruin, alas ! by a Wellesley ; at Gunners
bury, at Kew, at Brentford, at Kingsbury, at Non
such, at Enfield, and in Hainault Forest, royal
memories will meet us; and we shall be over
whelmed by them when we come to Richmond
and Sheen ; Pope and Horace Walpole, Kitty
Clive, Gay, Thomson, and a host of children of
the Muses, will surround us at Twickenham; at
Barnet we shall view the battle-field which crushed
the hopes of the house of Lancaster ; at Bexley we
shall encounter the cavalcade of Chaucer's "Can
terbury Pilgrims," whom we left at the Tabard
in Southwark ; at Barking we shall walk over i

the site of perhaps the earliest convent for ladies
in England, full of sacred memories ; at Theo
balds we shall find King James, with all his
wit and pedantry; at Edmonton we shall shake
hands with Charles Lamb; at Croydon we shall
have much to talk about in the long roll of
primates who occupied the palace there till
Addington became their home ; at Epsom we shall
see "the quality" drinking the waters, and Lord
Derby and his friends inaugurating those races
whose name is not only national, but world-wide ;
at Beddington we shall find the Carews and Sir
Walter Raleigh; at Kew and Brentford we shall
run up against " Farmer George " taking his morn
ing rides; and at Kingston-on-Thames and at
Hampton Court we shall reconnoitre the spots on
which our Saxon kings were crowned, and our
Tudor sovereigns and their courtiers walked and
talked. In each and all of these places, and a
score of others, we shall try to bring our readers
face to face with the great men and women who
have added a light to the pages of English history,
and, we doubt not, greatly to the advantage of the
former, without doing harm to the latter, or calling
them up from their silent graves. In this way we
shall hope to render the history of our land more
full of enjoyment than heretofore, investing its
heroes and heroines with the interest which at
taches to personages who live and move amongst
us, and have been animated by like passions with
ourselves. Our notices of them, as a rule, can
not be more than brief, but that is the necessary
result of our plan, which may, indeed, be thought
open to the charge of being desultory, though we
hope that it will be acquitted of dulness and of
malice. With these few remarks by way of introduction
or preface, we once more beg the reader to take in
hand his pilgrim's staff, and to accompany us on
our pleasant pilgrimage.
We ended our sketches of "Old and New
London" near Chiswick Church and Turnham
Green, and therefore it would seem but natural
to begin again where we left off. Accordingly,
while the Scotchman — if we may believe Dr. John
son — always travels south, and never looks behind
him, we shall trudge along in a westerly direction
for some days, and pursue our way leisurely up the
valley of the Thames, which, at all events, will
have much more to detain us now than it had in
those unreckoned ages when it was an estuary of
the silent sea.

Chiswick.]

THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

CHAPTER I.
CHISWICK, TURNHAM GREEN, ACTON,, STRAND-ON-THE-GREEN.
" Rus in urbet urbs in rare. "
GradualExtemionof Lqndon-Horticultural Fetes at Chiswick-Eminent Residents at Chiswick-Royal Visits-Corney Haase-Fairfax House
' ^r°Vei a ™ T™ Court-Tumham Green-Bedford Park-Acton Green-Professor Lindley-Acton-Its Early History-Berrymead
C^l ? ~rvTy ¦>. 7* B.ejluest-A<:ton » Stronghold of the Puritan Party-The Rev. Philip Nye-Richard Baxter and Sir Matthew Hale-
S^, tL" ™ Resrld.ents-An Anecdote of Sir Walter Raleigh-Ancient Manors and Houses-Lord Ferrers' Coach-Clergy Orphan
Pa^-Lrlr ge, « A"°"-The.Parish Chu^-The Registers-Charitable Bequests-A Centenarian-The Steyne-Skfppon the
Parliamentary General-South Acton-Acton Wells-Acton Races-Friar's Place Farm-The Goldsmiths' Almshouses-Strand-on-the-Green.

The gradual extension of London is sweeping
away, bit by bit, much of the rural aspect of its
surroundings. We have already seen in various
chapters of " Old and New London" how it has
affected Paddington and Bayswater, Stoke Newing-
ton and Hackney, Clapham and Camberwell.
Although Chiswick still retains many of its suburban
charms, still, the handiwork of the builder of , recent
times has already made a perceptible difference in
the look of the smiling village which stood here
half a century ago, before a part of the gardens of
Chiswick House first became the head-quarters of
the Horticultural Society, and the place began to
wear a fashionable appearance during the London
"season." Up to that time— for it must be
remembered that there was no such a thing as
railway conveyance in those days, and steamboats
to Chiswick and Kew had scarcely come into
existence — very few of the ordinary inhabitants of
London even thought of visiting the place ; but when
the horticultural fetes* were held here Chiswick
achieved great popularity with the "upper ten
thousand," and soon rose to be a place of popular
resort. The village, it is true, even as far back as the
last century, contained many good houses, and
could then, as now, boast of its " Mall " overlook
ing the river; and it has numbered among its
residents many men whose names have become
famous, such as Sir Stephen Fox, the friend of
Evelyn, who occupied the Manor House; Pope,
who lived for a time in Mawson's Buildings ; Lord
Heathfield, the defender of Gibraltar; Hogarth,
Zoffany, and Loutherbourg, the painters; and
Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland, who spent the
last few years of her, life here. The open-air
entertainments given in the grounds of Chiswick
House by the Duke of Devonshire formed a great
attraction for the upper circles during' the London
"season" in days gone by. The place, too, has

* The Horticultural Gardens here were first opened in 1818-19, for
the purpose of advancing the science of gardening in this country.

even had the advantage of visits from royalty, for
in 1 8 14 the Emperor Alexander I. of Russia, and
the other allied sovereigns, honoured the Duke of
Devonshire with their presence here, and in 1842
Her Majesty and the late Prince Consort visited
His Grace at Chiswick. Two years later the duke
gave here a magnificent entertainment to the
Emperor (Nicholas) of Russia, the King of Saxony,
and a large number of the nobility. Several of the
finest trees in the grounds of Chiswick House were
planted by royal hands, to commemorate the visits
of the Emperor Nicholas, Queen Victoria, and
other illustrious personages. More recently, the
house has been tenanted by the Prince of Wales,
as a nursery for his children ; and, later, by Lord
Bute. As stated in the foregoing remarks, we now set
out on our perambulation from the point where we
parted company in our narrative of Chiswick in
" Old and New London," namely, the grounds of
Chiswick House and Corney House, leaving on
our left the steam launch and torpedo manufactory
of Messrs. Thorneycroft, which covers part of
what once formed the grounds of Corney House,
the residence of Lord Macartney, and where several
scores of busy hands now find daily employment.
At Chiswick Church we turn sharp to the right, past
an old mansion, called Fairfax House, because at
one time it was tenanted by that general. Here
are preserved the kitchen clock and one or two
other relics of Hogarth, removed from his house.
On our right is the loftf stone wall which shuts out
from view the duke's villa ; on our left are broad
and level meadows, reaching down to the silver
Thames, which here makes a southward sweep.
The meadows are as green as ever; no history
attaches to them, and as yet they are not built
upon. Of late years the sewage of Chiswick has
been precipitated here, and utilised for the neigh
bouring market-gardens. Chiswick, evidently, is in
advance of the rest of the metropolis. A little
further to the north-west stands Grove House, a
mansion once inhabited by titled families ; it still

Houses in South Parade.
A Porch.

BEDFORD PARK.
3. The Church.
4. The "Tabard."

5. Gable of the School of Art.
6. Houses in Bath Road.

Turnham Green.]

A MODEL TOWN.

has a fine portico, but has been docked of a storey
in height, the late Duke of Devonshire not wishing
to 'have any "grand" neighbour. The estate
belongs to the duke, who has laid out Grove Park
for villa residences. A church, St. Paul's, has

SIR MATTHEW HALE.
been built, and a district formed out of Grove Park
and Strand-on-the-Green, of which latter place we
shall have more to say presently. The edifice con
sists of chancel, nave, and aisles, and is in the
Early Decorated style of architecture ; it was erected
chiefly at the expense of the ducal owner of the
estate, and at a cost of about ,£5,000. The Grove
Park estate adjoins the Chiswick station of the
South- Western Railway. A road from Grove Park,
called Sutton Lane, to Turnham Green, passes
Sutton Court, once the residence of the lord of the
manor, but now a school. Its grounds adjoin those
of the Duke of Devonshire. Sutton Court was at
one time the seat of the Earl of Fauconberg ; the
grounds attached to it had in them, two centuries
ago, a very pretty maze or wilderness, somewhat
after the fashion of that at Hampton Court.
A few minutes' walk brings us on to Turnham
Green, which is here separated by a branch of the
Metropolitan District Railway from another grassy
plot to the west, called Acton Green, which leads
on towards Gunnersbury.
According to Stukeley — whose word, however,
must always be taken with some little reserve — the
road from London to Regnum — possibly Ringwood,
or Chichester — went through Turnham Green and
Brentford. Of Turnham Green, and of the skirmish

of the Royalists with the Parliamentary army at the
" Battle of Brentford," we have already spoken at
some length ;* but we may be pardoned for adding,
on the authority of Whitldcke's " Memoirs," that
when the Parliamentary army was here, such was
the popular enthusiasm that the ladies of London
sent them all sorts of supplies in the way of wine
and good cheer, and even helped in throwing up
the trenches. John Evelyn tells us in his " Diary "
that he " came in with his horse and armes just at
the retreate," but adds no further details.
Sir John Chardine's gardens, at Turnham Green,
are mentioned more than once by John Evelyn as
being very fine, and full of exquisite fruit. Sir John
Chardine was a learned man and a great traveller,
and having returned from the East with a good
fortune, was made Paymaster of the Forces under
Charles II.
A few years ago Turnham Green was a lonely
and unlovely common, flat and dreary, and earlier
still a favourite resort for footpads and highway
men ; but now it has grown more civilised, and
the entire neighbourhood is putting on a more
artistic look. On the west of Stamford Brook
Green there has just sprung into existence a veri
table village, or rather, a little town, of "Queen
Anne's " houses. These are built in small groups,
or isolated, and stand in tiny patches of ground,
with gardens attached, in which sun-flowers, holly-

RICHARD BAXTER.

hocks, and other old-fashioned flowers predomi-'
nate. The land all around is level, and the houses
* See " Old and New London," Vol. VI., pp. 560-61.

8

GREATER LONDON.

[Acton.

suit the . surroundings. The resident ladies, and
even the very nursemaids and children as they
stroll about, seem to have an old-fashioned cut
about their dress which equally suits the houses.
The church — dedicated to St. Michael, though it
does not stand on an eminence — is also "pure
Queen Anne," and externally, therefore, most ugly,
for that style of architecture is secular, and not
ecclesiastical. There are "Queen Anne" stores
opposite, and a " Queen Anne " post-office, and
the inn at the corner of the Common, in exactly the
same style, rejoices in the sign of the Tabard.
Why, however, it is impossible to say, as the place
has no connection whatever with Chaucer or his
pilgrims, and "tabards," as articles of clothing,
are certainly of an older date than our last Stuart
queen. The district is called Bedford Park, as
having formed part of the estate of the Earls of
Bedford, who are mentioned by us in our account
of Chiswick * as having formerly lived at Corney
House, and one of whom built the churchyard wall.
Bedford Park stands chiefly in Chiswick parish, but
partly also in Acton.
Acton Green, or Acton Back, adjoining Turnham
Green and Bedford Park to the west and north-west,
is said to have been the scene of the skirmish be
tween the Royal and Parliamentarian armies (the
latter under the Earl of Essex) in November, 1642.
Here, in 1865, died Professor Lindley, F.R.S., the
eminent botanist, for many years editor of the
Gardeners Chronicle. Dr. Lindley was a native of
Catton, in Norfolk, and was born at the end of the
last century. After leaving school, he devoted him
self to botanical science, and at the age of twenty
published a translation of Richards's "Analyse du
Fruit," which was followed closely after by another
work, entitled, " Monographia Rosarum," in which
he described several new species of roses. About
the same time he contributed to the " Transactions
of the Linnsean Society " various papers on botanical
subjects. Some time afterwards he was appointed
Assistant Secretary to the Horticultural Society, and
was engaged by Mr. Loudoun to write the descrip
tive portion of his " Encyclopaedia of Plants." In
1829 he was appointed Professor of Botany at the
London University. Shortly after was published
his " Introduction to Systematic and Physiological
Botany, and a Synopsis of the British Flora," which
was followed by " The Natural System of Botany "
and " The Vegetable Kingdom." Dr. Lindley was
most diligently employed as a practical botanist in
describing new species, on which he wrote a large
number of papers, contributed to botanical publica-

* See "Old and New London," Vol. VI., p. 555-

tions. In 1 84 1 he became editor of the Gardener's
Chronicle, which he conducted with great ability.
In i860 he was appointed examiner in his favourite
studies in the University of London. He received
the medal of the Royal Society as a reward for his
services to botanical science.
Passing a little to the north-east, we arrive at
Acton, a large parish, which is bounded by Hammer
smith and Chiswick on the south and south-east,
by Shepherd's Bush on the east, by Ealing on the
west, and by Willesden on the north. As we learn
from Kelly's " Post Office Directory," it is in the
Kensington division of Ossulston Hundred ; it is
five miles from London on the road to Uxbridge,
and it has a population of about 1 2,000 souls. In
187 1 it numbered 8,360 residents, which was nearly
double of what it had contained ten years previously.
In the beginning of the century we are told (in the
" Beauties of England and Wales ") that the parish
comprised about 2,000 acres of land, " chiefly used
for farming purposes." The soil is a stiff clay to
the north, and towards the south a rich loam.
The name of Acton is but slightly altered from
" Oak-town," though it would seem now rather to
have deserved the name of" Elm-town," for the trees
which formed part of the Weald have mostly dis
appeared, except at Old-Oak Common, the name
of which itself suggests such a change, and tells its
own tale. In other parts the oak takes its turn in
the hedgerows with the ash and elm. The name,
however, is still appropriate enough to its northern
parts, as will be seen by a walk across the fields
towards Twyford Abbey, of which we shall have
more to say hereafter. There is no doubt that
in the Saxon times Acton was part of a large oak
forest, a portion of the " weald " which stretched
across Middlesex, north of London. One of the
first; notices of the parish is to the effect that the
Bishop of London, who lived at Fulham, regarded
it as pannage, or feeding for his pigs, which doubt
less throve on its acorns. The Briton, the original
tenant of the soil, had been driven out by the sword
of the Saxon invader, and had carried with him into
the far west not only his Druid worship, but such
Christianity and civilisation as he had learnt from
the Romans. Two things, at all events, remain to
prove the reality of the Roman occupation in this
part, and those are the two great roads which joined
at Acton.
The Saxons were worshippers of Thor and of
Woden, and their worship was chiefly carried on in
the forests. Consequently, it is easy to imagine
Ac-ton, the Oak Town, with its open-air temple,
surrounded by low wooden huts, occupied by the
priests and their attendants. Hither, perhaps, day

Acton.]

BERRYMEAD PRIORY.

by day came from the then distant Londinium many
worshippers to offer their sacrifices in the village
of the oak groves, to receive at the hands of the
priests the sprinkling of the victim's blood, to feast
on the pans of simmering horse-flesh, and to drink
from twisted horn-cups draughts of mead or ale.
Scarcely, however, had the Saxons been weaned
from this heathen worship by the great St. Augus
tine, when, as they had driven out the Britons, they
were themselves attacked by the Danish sea rovers,
and possibly the little Christian church had to wit
ness a revival of Pagan rites. Be this as it may,
the annals of Acton are a blank till after the Norman
conquest, when, possibly, a Norman castle was built
on its rising ground, to keep the Saxon serfs in awe
and subjection. The district now known as Acton,
along with Ealing, became part of the great manor
of Fulham, and was granted, or probably re-granted,
to the see of London. In the parish were several
lesser manors. " Peter, the son of Aluph," runs the
old chronicle, "in the year 1220, gave to Geoffrey
de Lucy, Dean of St. Paul's, in the City of London,
his manor of twenty acres at Acton. Moreover, the
dean bought three acres more from Walter de Acton,
and then with the whole twenty-three acres founded
a chantry in the said church of St. Paul's, for the
good of his soul," the rent being, doubtless, applied
to the payment of a priest to sing or say mass for
him daily. The Almoner of St. Paul's has still a
claim on some lands at Acton, and probably the
claim has its origin in this bequest.
We next find that Henry III. (a.d. 1216-72) had
here a mansion or palace, to which he often retired
from the strife of tongues and from the Court, and
from his turbulent nobles arrayed against him under
Simon de Montfort. From this date Acton is with
out a history until the first inscription on a brass
in the church — " Here lyeth Henry Gosse, and
Alice, his wyff, 1485."
That the Reformation did not at once take
full effect at Acton is clear from an inscription in
the church in 1542, in which John Boid, priest,
parson of Acton, begs the prayers of the faithful
for the repose of his soul. Two years later a large
part of Acton changed its owners, for Henry VIII.
seized on one of its manors, and gave it to John,
Lord Russell. It is probable that this manor con
sisted of the lands which had belonged to Berry-
mead Priory, and to another religious house which
must have existed at Friar's Place. From Lord
Russell these lands passed, probably by purchase,
into the hands of Herbert, Earl of Worcester.
From the rolls of the reign of Edward VI., it
appears that Acton contained 158 "houselyng
folk," i.e., heads of families who communicated at

Easter, a number which does not appear to have
increased very rapidly, for in 1670 there were only
88 houses "assessed towds the relief of maimed
soldiers." In the Record Office is a return, dated
August, 1 55 2, of the church plate and other treasures,
including pyxes, censers, bells, chrismatories, paxes,
and painted cloths for the (Easter) sepulchre.
After the break-up of the existing state of things
by Henry VIII., the village of Acton, being a plea
sant suburb, became the residence, of many families
of the upper class. Thus we read that Lord Con
way, afterwards Secretary of State to James I., had
a mansion here : his widow's benefaction to the
education of the poor still remains to perpetuate
the name.
Berrymead Priory, on the south side of the high
road at the entrance of Acton from London, was
formerly the seat of the Marquis of Halifax (who
died here in 1700), and afterwards of the Duke of
Kingston, in whose time George II. was a frequent
visitor at the house. The Priory, which is still
standing, is a picturesque Gothic edifice of the
Strawberry Hill type, and occupies the centre of
several acres of ground, which are planted with
fine trees and evergreens.
In 1640 Lady Dudley gave a carpet and some
communion plate to the church of Acton ; this is
still in use, and the flagon is of fine workmanship,
but scarcely of ecclesiastical design. The bills for
expenses incurred in bringing the plate from Lady
Dudley's house are to be seen in the parish ac
counts. The carpet has long disappeared.
In the reign of Charles I. Acton became a busy
place. It appears to have been a great stronghold
of the Puritan party, and was made one of the
head-quarters of Lords Essex and Warwick, at the
head of the Roundhead Parliamentarian army.
Accordingly, their cropped hair, high-crowned hats,
and broad collars, appeared in every street and
almost every house in the village. They turned
out the rector, Dr. Featley, in order to accommo
date Colonel Urry, one of the colleagues of Hamp
den and Holies, who encountered the king's troops
near Brentford. Hearing that the Doctor was a
" malignant," that is, a supporter of the king and
of the Book of Common Prayer (styled by them
"pottage"), they forced their way into the church,
and tore up and burnt the rails of the communion
table in order to prove their piety ; they also set fire
to the rector's barn and stables. The Doctor escaped
to Lambeth, but he died before the Restoration.
In the register there are several entries of the burials
of poor soldiers and troopers killed in various
skirmishes between Acton, Brentford, and Turn
ham Green.

10

GREATER LONDON.

[Acton.

The Rev. Philip Nye, the next rector appointed
by the Puritans, was a man of quite a different
stamp from Dr. Featley. He was a rigid and
austere Puritan, and was sent as a commissioner
to the king when a prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle.
He was very haughty and imperious, and wore a
long beard, of which he was very proud. Hence
the oft-quoted allusion in Butler's " Hudibras " —
" With greater art and cunning reared
Than Philip Nye's thanksgiving beard

Hampton Court. The Recorder also addressed
him in terms of high compliment, and he was con
ducted with great pomp along the road to London.
Nye had his reward, for in 1653 he was appointed
one of the committee of " Triers," i.e., those who
tested every clergyman on his appointment as to
whether he was for Calvinism, the Parliament, &c,
and would follow the new "Directory" of public
worship. In this post he seems to have behaved

Nye did not vouchsafe to live among his own r#wtf

ACTON CHURCH AND ACTON TOWN AT THE END OF LAST CENTURY.
(From old Prints in possession, of the Rector of Acton.)

people, but kept a house in town. If we may trust
a pamphlet entitled, " The Levites' Scourge," " he
rode to London every Lord's day in triumph, in a
coach drawn by four horses, to exercise them." It
is clear, therefore, that he had no mean opinion of
himself, and had not adopted the modern Sabba
tarian notions.
This Nye was rector when Cromwell, after his
" crowning mercy " at Worcester, was met at Acton
on his way back to London, by the Mayor and
Aldermen of London and a host of his Puritan
admirers, and a train of more than 300 coaches.
Nye doubtless delivered an address of welcome to
the Lord Protector before he turned aside to

neither better nor worse than many of his col
leagues. At the Restoration in 1660 the intruder had to
give place to a Royalist and loyalist. Nye was,
naturally enough, ejected, and exempted from the
general pardon. He spent his latter days in ob
scurity and retirement, nursing and displaying the
beard of which he was so proud. His successor
was Dr. Bruno Ryves, chaplain to the king, and
Dean of Chichester. In his loyalty he erased
from the registers and other parish books the titles,
such as "right honourable," bestowed on Crom
well's lords and their " ladies," under-scoring their
names with the words " traytor " and " knave." The

Acton.]

RICHARD BAXTER.

tomb and monument of Philippa, wife of Rous,
Provost of Eton College, and one of Cromwell's
lords, may be seen thus defaced on the wall of
the church ; and in the register the same is done to
the entry of a marriage, in April, 1655, between a
Mr. Richard Meredith and Susannah, daughter of
the " Right Honourable" Major-General Skippon,
which was performed by a layman — "Sir" John
Thorogood — Mr. Nye enlivening the occasion by
a discourse, to which it is to be hoped the young
people paid due attention.
But Puritanism still lived on at Acton in spirit.
The snake was only " scotched," not killed. Hence,
apparently, Richard Baxter came to live here on
refusing to subscribe to the Act of Uniformity in
1664. His first house was opposite the old church
door. Here he wrote his " Saint's Rest" Here,
whilst preaching in his house, he narrowly escaped
being shot by a stray Cavalier's bullet, and being
denounced by a female spy, who had found her way
into his conventicle as a " godly '' person. During
the Great Plague he left Acton, and went down
into Buckinghamshire, but found his family all
safe on his return. Baxter tells us that the Fire
of London was a very grand and terrific sight
as seen at Acton, and that the east wind carried
large flakes of burning books as far afield, and
farther. We get some pleasant reminiscences of Sir
Matthew Hale and Richard Baxter, as neighbours
at Acton, in the Rev. R. B. Hone's " Life " of
the former. He writes: — "In the year 1667 Sir
Matthew Hale took up his residence at Acton,
near London, and there commenced an acquain
tance with Mr. Baxter, who resided in the same
place, which proved agreeable to both parties, and
ripened into warm friendship." Baxter himself,
writing to another friend, gives us a few details of
the origin of the acquaintance between the neigh
bours : — " We sat next each other at church many
' weeks, but neither did he ever speak to me, nor I
to him. At last my extraordinary friend (tq whom
I was more beholden than I must here express),
Serjeant Fountain, asked me why I did not visit
the Lord Chief Baron ? I told him, because I had
no reason for it, being a stranger to him, and some
against it, viz., that a judge, whose reputation was
necessary to the ends of his office, should not be
brought under Court suspicion or disgrace by his
familiarity with a person whom the interest and
diligence of some prelates had rendered so odious
(as I knew myself to be with such), I durst not be
so injurious to him. The Serjeant answered — ' It
is not meet for him to come first to you ; I know
why I speak it ; let me intreat vou to go first to

him.' In obedience to which request, I did it, and
we entered into neighbourly familiarity. I lived
then in a small house, but it had a pleasant garden
and back side, which the honest landlord had a
desire to sell. The judge had a mind to the house,
but he would not meddle with it till he got a stranger
to me to come and inquire of me whether I was
willing to leave it. I told him I was not only
willing, but desirous ; not for my own ends, but for
my landlord's sake, who must needs sell it ; and
so he bought it, and lived in that poor house till
his mortal sickness sent him to the place of his
interment." Baxter says elsewhere that " the house was well
situated, but very small, and so far below the ordi
nary dwellings of men of his rank, as that divers
farmers thereabouts had better; but it pleased
him." The purchase was made in 1670.
Baxter did not leave Acton, but removed to
another house, the Chief Baron maintaining much
friendly intercourse with him, and finding his taste
for metaphysical subjects of study and conver
sation in accordance with his own. " I will
tell you" (writes Baxter to Sir Matthew's friend,
a • Mr. Stephens) " the matter and manner of
our converse. We were oft together ; and al
most all our discourse was philosophical, and
especially about the nature of spirits and supe
rior regions, and the nature, operations, and im
mortality of man's soul. And our dispositions
and courses of thought were, in such things, so
like, that I did not much cross the bent of his
conference." Baxter tells us what books Sir Matthew chiefly
read : — " All new or old books on philosophy," to
which he gave himself up " as eagerly as if he had
been a boy at the university ;" and he defends him
at needless length from the charge of being guilty
of "idle speculations." The judge was slow of
speech, and an excellent listener to Baxter's remarks.
They talked but little on controversies, or on the
then all-prevailing question of Conformity. " Once,"
writes Mr. Hone, " when Baxter advanced objec
tions to the wealth and distinction assigned to the
bishops, he gave no answer. He seems to have
thought silence the wisest course in those heated
times, and so to have trimmed his sails as not to
fall out with either the king or the Parliament He
used, however, to express his regret at the spiritual
neglect into which the country parishes were allowed
to fall, and his wish that both Baxter and Calamy
would accept bishoprics, or some high positions in
the Establishment, if ever an altered state of things
should come about. So far from being a High
Churchman of the school of Laud, it is remarked

GREATER LONDON.

[Acton.

by Baxter as singular that Sir Matthew did not bow
in church at the name of Jesus, and that he would
stand during the reading of the lessons. It appears,
however, from Baxter's own testimony, that in
essentials the two friends and neighbours were
one at heart, though the former, for a time, sus-

attended the church both morning and evening.
Sir Matthew Hale, it appears, approved of this
proceeding. "The judge told me," says Baxter,
" that he thought my course did the church much
service, and would carry it so respectfully at my door
that all the people might perceive his approbation."
But it is not to be won
dered at that the rector
regarded the plan as tend
ing rather to schism than
love; and perhaps, as he
had been persecuted and
plundered by the Presby
terians, he may on that
account have looked with

HIGH STREET, ACTON. m
THE CHURCH, FROM THE RECTORY. ¦

pected Hale of being too much given to |§
philosophy and doctrine, neglecting the 'p
more practical parts of Christianity. In
the end, however, Baxter was fully satisfied that
'he plied practicals and contemplations in their
season.'" The house into which Baxter moved when he
quitted that which Sir Matthew Hale had purchased
was commodious in size, and, like the former, near to
the parish church. Here he commenced a practice
of assembling in it on Sundays some of the inhabit
ants of Acton, and of preaching to them between
the services, always taking care, however, that they

a less favourable eye on Baxter's doings. Be that
as it may, he procured the issuing of a warrant for
Baxter's apprehension, and the judge gave him no
" counsel," though he showed his sorrow by tears—
"the only time," adds Baxter, "that I saw him
weep." Baxter was committed to prison for six
months ; but, by the advice of his friend Serjeant
Fountain, he moved for his release, and then " I
found," he says, " that the character which Judge

Acton.]

THE COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER.

13

Hale had given of me stood me in some stead, and
every one of the four judges did not only acquit
me, but said more for me than my counsel." But
this imprisonment, he afterwards relates, " brought
me the great loss of converse with Judge Hale, for
the Parliament in the next Act against conventicles
put into it divers clauses suited to my case, by
which I was obliged to go dwell in another county,
and to forsake both London and my former habi
tation, and yet the justices of another county were
partly enabled to pursue me." With this ends the

physician to Charles II. ; and Charles Fox, who>
gave a house and ground on the Steyne, on the
north of the church, as a site for the almshouses
still existing there.
Besides those already noticed, Acton can
show a good list of names of people more or
less celebrated in their day. Philip Thicknesse,
the eccentric author of "Memoirs and Anec
dotes," "The New Prose Bath Guide," &c.
who died in 1792, lived here. The Countess
of Derwentwater was living in the large house

connection of Baxter with Acton and Sir Matthew
Hale. From this time the local history of Acton is little
more than a list of distinguished persons who have
been resident within its bounds. Notably, Lord
Chief- Justice Vaughan, who died here in 1673 ; and,
soon afterwards, Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, one
of the seven bishops who were tried in Westminster
Hall for refusing to accept King James's "Indulgence
in Matters of Religion " ; Sir Charles Scarborough,

(Seep. 9.)
opposite the church at the time of her hus
band's execution for his share in the abortive
Scottish rising in 17 15. It is said that the iron
gates at the end of the garden have never been
opened since the day when her lord last passed
through them on his way to the Tower. Alder
man and Lord Mayor Gascoigne lived at Acton;.
so did Mrs. Barry, an actress under Sir William
Davenant at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields,
who gained some celebrity in her day as excelling
in the part of Roxana. Her last appearance was
in " Love for Love," performed for Betterton's
benefit, when she spoke the epilogue (1709). She
died in 17 13. In 1700 William, Marquis of Hali
fax, died at the Priory, which then passed into the
hands of the Duke of Kingston, whose crest is still

14

GREATER LONDON.

[Acton.

to be seen in one of the rooms.' He was often
visited here by George II. and his Court. Quite
in our own day, the Priory was tenanted by Sir
Edward Bulwer Lytton, who wrote within it one
at least of his many works. Whether the notorious
Judge Jeffreys ever lived at Acton is not quite
certain ; but at all events, Pennant tells us that he
saw at Acton House an original portrait of that
Judge, taken in 1690, when he was 82 years of age.
Acton may be said to have been' in some way
connected with Sir Walter Raleigh and tobacco.
Aubrey implies that on its first introduction tobacco
was regarded as a forbidden thing. He writes : —
" Sir Walter Raleigh, standing in a stand at Sir R.
Poyntz's park at Acton, took a pipe of tobacco,
which made the ladies quit it till he had done."
" Within these few years," he adds, " it was scan
dalous for a divine to take tobacco."
It is stated in the MS. additions to Norden's
" Speculum Britanniae " that King Henry III. had
a mansion-house, and lay often at Acton. But no
traces of its site are known, and the tradition is not
confirmed. Still, Acton in its time has possessed a
good many old mansions, though these are gradually
passing away. Mr. Brewer tells us, in the " Beauties
of England and Wales," that at the beginning of
the present century there were " vestiges of several
moated houses " here ; but some have disappeared.
Lysons writes in 1795 : — "About half a mile to the
north, in a field still called the ' Moated Meadow,'
is a deep trench, enclosing a parallelogram about
100 yards in length and 40 in breadth, supposed
by some to have been a Roman camp, but the name
of the meadow seems to imply no greater antiquity
than that of a moated farm-house or grange."
Near the Great Western Railway Station is an
old moated house, with part of the moat remaining,
called Friar's Place Farm. Another house, hard by, is
said to have once had Oliver Cromwell for its occu
pant for a time, but the tradition cannot be verified.
In the parish of Acton there are two manors,
one of which has belonged from time immemorial
(as already stated) to the see of London, the other
once belonged to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's,
but was seized upon by Henry VIII., who alienated
it. It has passed through various families : the Rus-
sells, Somersets, Lethuelliers, Fetherstonhaughs, &c.
One day in 1 760 Acton was astonished by the
arrival of a coach and six — it was the same in
which Lord Ferrers had driven to be executed at
Tyburn, and he had ordered it to be sent onward.
The carriage was kept in a shed at Acton till it
literally fell to pieces.
In 1749 the new Clergy Orphan Schools, since
removed to St. John's Wood, were erected here.

The High Street, nearly half a mile in length, is
quaint and irregular, large and small houses being
strangely intermixed. Many of the old red tiles
remain on the roofs. New streets have sprung up
between the railway station and the town ; these
are irregularly built, and in many of them trees are
planted. Altogether, from the quiet, out-of-the-way
village of half a century ago, Acton has now become
a very populous place, owing to the building of
villas, consequent on the opening of the railways.
It now possesses two or three churches; it has
Congregational, Baptist, Wesleyan, and other
chapels, a lecture hall, and also its Local Board
of Health, public library, and reading-room.
" At the entrance of the village from London,"
writes Mr. Brewer in i8rs, "is a public conduit,
built by Thomas Thorney in 161 2, and maintained
by a small endowment left by him for repairs. Its
use having been perverted, the right to its use was
recovered in the last century by a lawsuit, and it
has been superseded by a modern pump, erected
by a Mr. Antrobus in 181 9." The pump is now
chained up and walled in, a notice being added
that " the water is not fit for drinking purposes,"
probably in consequence of the opening of a new
cemetery in its rear. Why does no charitable
person revive the Acton pump, in the shape of a
metropolitan drinking fountain, obtaining a supply
from a fresh source ?
The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, as usual
marks the centre of the original village, for cottages
always sprang up round the manor-house and the
house of prayer which was its adjunct. Brewer
describes it in his day as of little interest — rebuilt
of brick in a homely manner. The present edifice
is built of red brick, with stone dressings. In
1766 the church tower was re-cased with brick ; the
oldest of the bells has the date 1583, the last was
hung in 18 10. In 1837 the church was enlarged,
and became, in the opinion of Bishop Blomfield,
the ugliest in the diocese. In 1865 the nave,
chancel, &c, were pulled down, and a handsome
Decorated building erected in its place, the old
tower, which had been " new. cased with brick " in
1766, being suffered to remain. This, however,
was pulled down in 1877, and an elegant new
tower erected in its place, as a memorial to two
members of the Ouvry family. The bells were
re-cast at the same time. It will be seen, therefore,
that there have been three churches in succession
since Her Majesty's accession ; for the very plain
structure of the last century was pulled down in
1838, and rebuilt in a still more hideous style, and
that was pulled down in 1865, when the present
handsome structure was built. It consists of a

Acton.]

ACTON WELLS.

iS

nave, chancel, and aisles, and many of its windows
are already filled with stained glass.
The registers commence in 1539. Skippon's
titles have been scratched out in the register, and
over the name of Sir John Thorogood, who officiated
at the marriage of Skippon's daughter, is written
the word "knave," the word " traytor " being also
twice written over the Major-General's name.
Cromwell created Skippon a peer, but it is
only fair to add that he refused to sit as one of
the king's judges. The Protectorate titles, too,
have been obliterated from the registers of " Lord"
and " Lady " Rous. The former was buried at
Eton College. In spite of being an author, Rous
is mentioned by Lord Clarendon as "a person
of very mean understanding " ; and A'Wood tells
us, in his "Athenae Oxoniensis," that he was
called " the illiterate Jew of Eton." His founda
tion of three fellowships at Pembroke College,
Oxford, is perhaps his best memorial. Rous's
house was styled in 1795 "The Bank House."
Bruno Ryves, who was appointed vicar by
Charles II., was a contributor to our national history.
He deserves to be remembered as the author of the
"Mercurius Rusticus," a narrative of the sufferings
of the Royalists in different parts of England.
Lady Dudley, whom we have mentioned in our
account of St. Giles's-in-the-Fields* was a great
benefactor to the parish and church, to which she
gave (as stated above) a carpet and the communion
plate. The ancient font is now all that remains of the
original church. All the ancient monuments
have been carefully preserved, though those in the
interior of the building have been mostly removed
to the west end and to the entrance under the
tower. Among them is one to Anne, Lady South
well. On each side of this monument hangs a
wooden tablet inscribed with panegyric verses,
in the quaint and conceited style of the period
(1636) :-
" The South wind blew upon a springing well,
Whose waters flowed, and the sweet stream did swell
To such a height of goodness, that," &c.
There are also monuments to Catharine, Lady
Conway, who was a great benefactor to the
parish; to Mrs. Elizabeth Barry, the actress
already mentioned in connection with Betterton
and Lincoln's Inn Theatre ; and to Mr. Robert
Adair, inspector-general of hospitals, and his wife,
Lady Caroline Adair, daughter of the Earl of
Albemarle. Inside the communion rails was a
* See "Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 198.

small brass commemorating John Byrde, who died
in 1542, having been fifty-three years vicar of Acton.
Among the charitable bequests is that of a Mr.
Edward Dickinson, who left a third part of the
interest of ^5,000 to be distributed annually among
three poor and industrious couples who had been
married at Acton in the preceding year. It is
satisfactory to the statistician to learn that this
charity has never lapsed for want of claimants.
Lady Conway's dole of bread, and loaves left by
other charitable persons, are still disbursed on
Sundays after service, at the west end of the nave,
where they are set out in a row, between two gilt
figures of wheatsheaves.
It is to be presumed that Acton is a healthy
parish ; at all events, it can boast it had at least one
"veritable centenarian" among its residents. In
the churchyard is buried William Aldridge, wheel
wright, who died in 1698, in the 115th year of his
age. A portrait of him when aged 112 may be
seen in Lysons' " Environs," and a copy of it hangs
in the vestry. Other centenarians' names appear
in the register.
The living is a good one in point of emolument,
and is still in the gift of the Bishop of London.
The rectory house, a solid and substantial building
north of the church, was built about 1725. The
then rector, Mr. Hall, died soon after, and his
successor, the witty Dr. Cobden, recorded the fact
in some Latin lines, which he scratched with a
diamond on a window-pane.
To the north of the church is a nearly square
piece of ground, about two or three acres, called the
Steyne. ' It appears as if it had been a village
green, and to have been dug out for gravel, or, if
that is not so, then terraces have been raised round
two sides of it. It is covered with modern cottages,
and fringed with some almshouses and schools.
Near the churchyard stood a house built by Sir-
Henry Garway in 1638, and which was, for a time,
the residence of Skippon, the Parliamentary general
mentioned above. It was afterwards used as a con
vent by the ladies of a religious order, who fled from
the Continent during the first French Revolution.
It was pulled down early in the present century.
Its successor is now called Derwentwater House ;
it is probable that Sir Matthew Hale was tenant
here. South Acton has been cut off, and formed into
a new ecclesiastical district, and a new church, of
florid Gothic style, and built of red brick, was con
secrated in 1872. It is dedicated to All Saints,.
and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, tower, and a
lofty spire. One part of South Acton, having been.
largely occupied by artisans' dwellings, is now

i6

GREATER LONDON.

[Acton.

known as Mill Hill, after a windmill which once
stood on it ; it has its own church, chapel, and
schools, and bids fair ere long to become a
separate ecclesiastical district.
We must now make a slight detour of a mile
eastwards to visit Acton Wells, before we take up
our pilgrim's staff en route for Ealing. We are, how
ever, rudely woke up from any dreams of the beauty
and fashion of the reign of the Georges by finding
ourselves within a " measurable distance " of the
new military prison erected on Wormwood Scrubs,
and soon after reach the line of the Great Western
Railway. A " spa *' which was discovered here in
the early part of the last century became very
fashionable as a place of resort about the year
1750, and its waters are mentioned along with
those of Hampstead, Cheltenham, Bath, &c, as
" on sale at Mr. Owen's original mineral water ware
house in Fleet Street" There were, in fact, three
wells of mineral water here, which once possessed
a fashionable name, and attracted to the neigh
bourhood many of the sick and gay. In Lysons'
" Environs " we find a minute description of the
waters, which were saline, and "supposed to be more
strongly cathartic than any other in the kingdom of
the same quality, except those of Cheltenham."
We have already seen at Hampstead * the
transitory nature of the celebrity obtained by
medicinal springs. " Acton," writes Mr. Brewer,
" had its share in the day of fashion. An assembly-
room was built, and for a few years East Acton
and Friar's Place, a small adjacent hamlet, were
thronged with valetudinarian and idle inmates, al
lured by the hope of remedy or tempted by the love
of dissipation. Both classes have long " (he writes
in 181 5) "abandoned the spot; and the assembly-
room has for many years been converted into a
private dwelling." Dr. Macpherson says that these
•wells were popular from the year 1750 down
to about' 1790, and that races were run for the
amusement of the company. The discovery of
these medicinal waters, and the consequent resort
of people to drink them, caused many pleasant
houses with gardens to spring up around Friar's, or
Prior's, Place, so called from having once belonged
to the Prior of St Bartholomew at Smithfield. The
" season " here was in the summer. The wells
went to decay before the end of the last century,
but their site is still to be made out in the kitchen
garden of a farmhouse near the Great Western
Railway, and close to " Old Oak Common." How
few of those who travel by the Great Western Rail
way at this point are aware that they are passing
* See "Old and New London,' Vol. V., p. 468.

over one of the fashionable resorts of the reign of
George III. No print of the wells here is known
to exist, and the place seems to have escaped
notice in the comedies and satires of the day.
Here is now a stud-farm, close to the old place
where fashionable dames disported themselves.,
Not far off here, the " People's Garden," a place of
Sunday amusement for the middle classes, was
opened under German auspices in 1870. It is
said to have the largest dancing platform in the
country, but it never attracted any of the upper
classes. Between West and East Acton, on the north side
of the London Road, are the Goldsmiths' Alms
houses for ten poor men and ten poor women, who
receive each a pension and an allowance for coals.
They were founded in 1656-7 by John Perryn, of
East Acton, and the houses were rebuilt in 181 1
or 181 2, at the cost of ,£12,000. They form three
sides of a quadrangle. In 1878 a church and
parsonage-house were built by the Goldsmiths' Com
pany on their estate in the rear of their almshouses.
In spite of its chalybeate attractions, East Acton
is described in the " Beauties of England and
Wales" (1815) simply as "a small hamlet or
assemblage of houses to the north of the London
road." Leaving Acton, and retracing our steps for a
mile southwards across Acton Green to Grove Park,
already mentioned, we find ourselves at a quaint
little old-fashioned waterside settlement, known as
Strand-on-the-Green. It is almost wholly inhabited
by fishermen, but partly occupied by malt-houses
and hostelries. The place is as little changed as
any spot within ten miles of London. Its low
small mansions and red-bricked river-side cottages
form a picturesque scene.
Down to the early part of the last century the
hamlet of Strand-on-the-Green was inhabited almost
wholly by fishermen, or by men whose daily avoca
tions were carried on by the river-side. On the
springing up of some better class of houses, however,
the place for a time became more popular, and
numbered among its residents one or two indivi
duals whose names have become famous. Here,
for instance, dwelt David Mallet, the poet; his
first wife, who died in 1742, is buried in the church
yard of Chiswick. Here, too, lived for many years
the facetious Joe Miller, whose tombstone is in
King's College Hospital. He died here in August,
1738. Zoffany, the painter, lived at Strand-on-the-
Green, and several of his fishermen neighbours sat
as models for his pictures; he died here on the nth
of November, 1810, and his remains were interred
in the neighbouring churchyard of Kew, on the

Ealing.]

PRINCESS AMELIA AT GUNNERSBURY.

i7

other side of the Thames. The house which
Zoffany inhabited is still shown. It faced the
river, in about the middle of the little terrace. We
shall hear of him again at Brentford.
Some almshouses were built at Strand-on-the-
Green in 1725, but they have been demolished.
The Kensington branch of the South-Western

Railway here crosses the Thames by a handsome
latticed iron bridge, which was built in 1869.
Opposite Strand-on-the-Green is an ait, or eyot,
used by the Thames Conservancy Board for manu
facturing and repairing purposes, and this forms
a pleasing foreground to the river-side view of Kew
Bridge from the east.

CHAPTER II.
GUNNERSBURY, EALING, AND HANWELL.
" Regumque palatia villis
Interfusa nitent."
Gunnersbury— Descent of the Manor— The Princess Amelia a Resident here— Horace Walpole a frequent Guest— The Property bought by the
Rothschilds— The Gardens and Grounds— Gunnersbury House— Ealing— Extent and Nature of the Soil— The Manor— The Parish Church-
Sir John Maynard— John Home Tooke— John Oldmixon— Christ Church— St. John's Church— Seats and Mansions— Dr. John Owen— Dr
William King and other Eminent Residents -Ford Hall— Castle Bar Hill— Princess Helena College— The Old Cross House— The Town
Hall— Ealing Great School— Ealing Common— Mrs. Lawrence's Gardens— Fordhook House, and Henry Fielding the Novelist— The
" Old Hat " Tavern— Hanwell— The Grand Junction Canal— The Parish Church— Jonas Hanway— The Town of Hanwell— The Central
London District Schools-Charitable Institutions— Hanwell Lunatic Asylum— The Cemeteries— Electric Telegraphy in its infancy.

Having arrived at the foot of Kew Bridge, where
the loop-line of the South Western Railway con
verges with that of the North London, we will
step aside from our westward path, and retracing
our way for a few yards towards West Acton, we
will pass up a lane to the left, which takes us to
Gunnersbury Park, in the parish of Ealing, though
on the borders of Turnham Green. A century
ago it was the residence of the Princess Amelia,
daughter of George II., and aunt to George III.
Here, while the young king lived at Kew, she
gave fashionable parties to the be-wigged gentle
men and be-hooped ladies of " quality," and,
indeed,, kept up a sort of rival Court. She seems
to have entertained very generously and hospitably,
and to have been very popular with her friends,
and at one time to have exercised some personal
influence with members of the Cabinet. But
sometimes her good-nature led her to do foolish
things. For instance, Lord Brougham tells us, in
his- " Lives of Statesmen," that when Lord Bute
had fallen from the favour of the king, the princess
invited him and her nephew, the king, on the same
afternoon, and caused them — quite accidentally,
of course — to meet in one of the shady walks
of her garden. Her stratagem, however, did not
succeed ; and the king was so offended and angry
at the liberty which she had taken, that he desired
such a trick might never be played on him again.
" His word was law," even with his aunt ; and the
ruse was never repeated. It is dangerous to trifle
with kings.
Gunnersbury stands on ground which may be
called high in comparison with the flat market

gardens which lie between it and the Bath road.
The name of Gunnersbury is probably derived
from Gunilda, or Gunylda, the niece of King
Canute, who resided here. It was a manor in
the parish of Ealing, but its manorial rights have
largely fallen into neglect and disuse. Little is
known of its descent ; but in the fifteenth century
it belonged to Sir Thomas Frowick, an Alderman
of London, and father of Sir Thomas Frowick,
Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. The
property was afterwards held by the knightly family
of the Spelmans, and in the middle of the seven
teenth century it passed by purchase into the
hands of Sir John Maynard, who was an eminent
lawyer under the Stuart kings, and who died here
in 1690. Gunnersbury remained for many years
in the occupation of his widow, who married
Henry, Earl of Suffolk. On the death of the
Countess Dowager, in 172 1, the estate became
the property of Sir John (afterwards Lord) Hobart,
by whom it was ultimately sold to a Mr. Furnese.
The place figures constantly in Bubb Dodington's
"Diary," 1749-50.
On the accession of George III., in 1760, the
estate was . purchased for the Princess Amelia.
Horace Walpole was one of the most frequent
guests at her parties. He writes to his friend, Sir
Horace Mann, in 1761, saying that he has been
there once or twice a week ever since the late king's
death ; and a month later again he writes to Mr.
Conway : —
"I was sent for again to dine at Gunnersbury
on Friday, and was forced to send to town for a
dress coat and a sword. There were the Prince

i8

GREATER LONDON.

;Ealing.

GUNNERSBURY HOUSE.
{Frojn a Water-colour Drawing; by Chatelain).

of Wales, the Prince of Mecklenburgh, the Duke of
Portland, Lord Clanbrassill, Lord and Lady Cler
mont, Lord and Lady Southampton, Lord Pelham,
and Mrs. Howe. The Prince of Mecklenburgh
went back to Windsor after coffee, and the Prince
and Lord and Lady Clermont to town after tea,
to hear some new French plays at Lady William
Gordon's. The Princess, Lady Barrymore, and
the rest of us, played three posts at commerce till
ten. I am afraid that I was tired, and gaped.
While we were at the Dairy, the Princess insisted
on my making some verses on Gunnersbury. I
pleaded being superannuated, but she would not
excuse me. I promised she should have an ode
on her next birthday, which diverted the Prince ;
but all would not do."
The verses here referred to are printed in H.
Walpole's " Letters," Vol. IX., p. 55, but they are
scarcely worth repeating here.
In the last century Gunnersbury was a sort of
rival of Strawberry Hill, as may be inferred from
the song — " Some cry up Gunnersbury,
For Syon some declare ;
Some say with Chiswick's Villa
None other can compare."

The Princess Amelia died in 1786, and soon
after that the mansion was pulled down, and the
land sold. A Mr. Copland, who bought the lion's
share, built a new house on the higher part of the
grounds, and this still stands as a puny rival of
the present mansion, which is in the Italian style.
It was bought about the middle of the present
century by the Rothschilds, and is now owned by
Sir Nathaniel Rothschild. It contains several
fine paintings and statues, and a fine collection of
china. The pictures in the principal rooms are'
chiefly portraits of the family and their friends. In
the billiard-room there is one painting of historic
interest — the introduction of the late Baron Lionel
Rothschild into the House of Commons, on his
first being allowed to take his seat for London, in
1858. He is walking up the centre of the House
between his sponsors, Lord John Russell and Cap
tain Bernal Osborne ; and among the occupants of
the front benches on either side are Lord Palmers-
ton, Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Gladstone, Sir G. Corne-
wall Lewis, Lord Stanley, and other celebrities of
the time.
The gardens and grounds are laid out with great
taste ; the latter extend to nearly a hundred acres.

EALING CHURCHES.
I. ST. JOHN S. x. ST. MARY'S (THE PARISH CHURCH). 3. CHRIST CHURCH.

GREATER LONDON.

[Ealing.

But the house is scarcely visible from any spot
outside, owing to a lofty stone wall which surrounds
the estate.
Of the house, as it was when occupied by the
Princess Amelia, there is a scarce print by Evans,
published in 1787. It was built by Webb, a son-
in-law of Inigo Jones, and would, seem to have
been a plain, square, solid edifice, in the Classical
or Italian style, of three storeys, and without wings.
It is represented as embosomed in trees, and having
a small lake or pond in front.
The windows in the centre of the first floor are
different in shape, but the house is substantially the
same as it was a century ago. The straight piece
of water or canal is now altered into a serpentine
form, and is called the Horseshoe Pond. There
are other pieces of water in the grounds, which are
made to curve in such a manner as to give an
idea of greater extent than they possess. The
cedars and other evergreens are very fine. Some
of the summer-houses in the grounds, especially
one called the Temple, bear the marks of Inigo
Jones's design.
The vineries, hothouses, &c, are very extensive
and most productive, and admirably arranged ; and
in the fernery are two gigantic trees of the fern
kind, which were brought from Tasmania by Sir
Charles Du Cane, and sent hither as a present.
Ealing — or, as it was sometimes written, Zealing,
Yealing, and Yeling — lies on the high road to
Uxbridge, and is about six and a half miles from
the Marble Arch by road, and five and a half
from Paddington by railway. It has two stations
on the Great Western Railway, one in the " Broad
way," and the other at Ealing Dean — known as
Castle Hill. Ealing is also the terminus of the
Metropolitan District Extension Railway, and the
parish will soon be connected with other parts of
London by a branch of the South Western line.
The parish is bounded by New Brentford, Acton,
and Chiswick on the south and east, by Greenford,
Perivale, and Twyford on the north, and by Han
well on the west. It extends from the river Brent
in the valley north of Castlebar Hill almost to the
Thames. Old Brentford is part of the ancient parish
of Ealing ; but now, with New Brentford (originally
part of Hanwell), it forms a- distinct township, and
will accordingly be more conveniently dealt with
hereafter. The name of Ealing does not occur in the
Domesday Book, so that apparently it had not
become strictly parochial at that date. According
to Lysons, it contains about 3,100 acres, about
half of which in his time were grass lands, and
about 1,220 arable, the rest being occupied by

market gardens or left waste. The manor of
Ealing has belonged to the see of London from
the earliest times, and its history before the six
teenth century is a blank.
At the end of the reign of Henry VIII., or at the
beginning of that of Edward VI., Bishop Bonner
leased the Manor of Ealing-Bury to the Protector
Duke of Somerset, after whose attainder, how
ever, the lands passed to the Crown. The Manor,
having passed through several intermediate hands,
came into the hands of the Penruddockes, and in
the eighteenth century to the Longs. In a sur
vey taken about the time of the Restoration, it is
described as "ruinated and lying open since the
plundering thereof in the beginning of the last
troubles," but the precise date and the extent of
this " ruination " are unknown.
The chief manor still belongs to the see of
London. It contains, three subordinate manors,
those of Gunnersbury, Coldhawe, and Pitshanger,
the descents of which, though recorded by Lysons,
have nothing of interest for our readers.
The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary.
Robert, Bishop of London in the reign of Henry I.,
gave the tithes of Ealing to augment the salary of
an officer of the church of St. Paul's, called the
" Master of the Schools," and a part of them was
isubsequently settled on the Chancellor of St. Paul's,
and on the Dean and Chapter, for the repairs of
the cathedral. The living is now in the gift of the
Bishop of London.
Robert Cooper, vicar in the reign of Charles I.,
was ejected by the Puritans during their ascendency,
but reinstated at the Restoration, which, however,
he survived only a few months. His successor
was the learned Dr. William Beveridge, afterwards
Bishop of St. Asaph. His portrait is in the
vestry room.
The old church having begun to sink in
1729, a new one was built under an Act of Parlia
ment, aided by a " brief," but it was not completed
for ten years. It was almost entirely rebuilt, and
considerably enlarged, between the years 1866 and
1872. The building is constructed of brick, and
consists of a nave and chancel, organ chamber,
ambulatories, and a square tower. The style of
architecture is Romanesque, and the reredos is a
striking feature of the interior.
The church is basilican in appearance, both out
side and within ; and its fine roof and handsome,
new-painted windows are much admired. A bap
tistery stands where one would naturally look for a
south transept. The monuments from the walls
of the former structure are mostly collected in re
cesses at the west end.

Ealine.]

EMINENT RESIDENTS OF EALING.

At the entrance to the chancel is a mural tablet
to "John Bowman, Batchelour of Divinitie and
Chancellour of St. Pawle's, parson of this parish,"
with the date 1629. Another tablet in the chancel
of " Jacobean " workmanship, and adorned with a
grim death's head and cross-bones over an hour
glass, records a Mr. Richard Taverner, who died
in 1638. On the north wall of the chancel, near
the vestry door, is a rather fine brass to the
memory of Richard Agmondesham (who is de
scribed as " Merchant of the Stapel of Calais "), his
wife and children, of the date of Henry VII.
Here, too, lies buried Sir John Maynard, the
eminent lawyer, who took the leading part in the
prosecution of Strafford and Laud. He died at
Gunnersbury not long after the Restoration of
1690. King William, noticing his great age when
he came to court, observed that he must have out
lived nearly all the men of the law who had been
his contemporaries ; he wittily replied, " Yes, sir ;
and if your highness had not come over here, I
should have survived even the law itself."
Here, in 1812, was buried John Home Tooke,
who died at Wimbledon, and desired to be in
terred there, but his wish was not carried out.
Sir Francis Burdett and other politicians of the
" advanced " school followed him to the grave. His
tomb is a railed slab just in front of the south porch.
It bears simply his name and the dates of his birth
and death, 1736 — 181 2, with thebrief addition, "con
tented and grateful." There are many monuments
to persons connected with the parish : one of them
commemorates the wife of Mr. Serjeant Maynard,
mentioned above.
In the old churchyard is buried John Oldmixon,
the' political writer of the last century, and the
author of a " History of England " and of " The
British Empire in America." He died in the year
1 742. He is thus satirised by Pope in the "Dunciad,"
Book ii. : —
" In naked majesty Oldmixon stands,
And, Milo-like, surveys his arms and hands."
The old churchyard has long been closed for
interments, and a parish burial-ground between
Ealing and Brentford has been in use for many
years. Sir William Lawrence, the eminent surgeon,
who died in 1867, is also interred here.
Whereas half a century ago there was one
church in Ealing, there are now four permanent
churches, besides two iron chapels, which here
after will doubtless blossom into churches.
Christ Church, which is situated in the Broad
way, on the Uxbridge Road, was built in the year
1852, at a cost of about ^10,000. It is in the
"Geometrical Decorated" style of architecture,

and was erected from the designs of the late Sir
Gilbert Scott. Some of the windows are filled with
stained glass.
St. John's Church, in Ealing Dean, was built in
1876. It is a brick structure, relieved with stone
and terra-cotta dressings, and in the Early English
style of architecture. St. Stephen's Church, near
Castle Hill, is a stone building of Gothic archi
tecture, and was erected in 1875.
There is a Wesleyan chapel at Ealing, with a
somewhat striking pointed spire ; and there are
also chapels for the Congregationalists, Baptists,
and Primitive Methodists. There is also a Pres
byterian church.
The parish of Ealing in former days contained
some fine gentlemen's seats, some of which are
still standing. Among them may be mentioned
Ealing House, once the abode of Sir James Mon
tagu, Baron of the Exchequer, and afterwards of
Nathaniel Oldham, the virtuoso and collector of
paintings, of William Melmoth, the author of " 4
Religious Life " and the translator of Cicero and
Pliny, and of Alderman Slingsby Bethell, Lord
Mayor of London; and Ealing Grove, the seat
successively of the Earl of Rochford and the Dukes
of Marlborough and Argyll. At Place House, in
Little Ealing, lived Sir Francis Dashwood, Sir
Richard Littleton, Lord Brooke, and Lord Robert
Manners. General Dumouriez also lived at Little
Ealing, an outlying cluster of houses between Great
Ealing and Brentford.
Amongst other residents of Ealing was Dr. John
Owen, whom Lysons styles " the most voluminous
and temperate among the Dissenters of the seven
teenth century." Though a divine, he was
returned as M.P. by the University of Oxford,
and was both Dean of Christ Church and Vice
Chancellor during Cromwell's usurpation. He died
at Ealing in 1683. Wood mentions him in his
" Athense Oxonienses " as affecting the layman, in
spite of his high position at Oxford. " Instead of
being a grave example, he scorned all formality,
undervalued his office by going in querpo like a
young scholar, with powdered hair, snake-bone band-
strings with very large tassels, lawn band, a large
set of ribands pointed at his knees, and Spanish
leather boots with lawn tops, and his hat mostly
cocked." Another resident of Ealing was Dr. William King,
author of " Recollections," and editor of South's
Sermons. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester, was brought
up at Ealing. Charles Dibdin wrote many of his
best sea songs at his house in Hanger Lane.
Ford Hall, in this parish, was formerly the seat

22

GREATER LONDON.

[Ealing.,

of Sir Alexander Denton, a judge of the Common
Pleas. At his residence at Hanger Vale, in this parish,
died at an advanced age, in October, 1863, Mr.
John Bowyer Nichols, F.S.A., well known as an
antiquary and a printer, and as the editor and
proprietor of The Gentleman's Magazine. Mr.
Nichols was the last surviving son of Mr. John
Nichols, F.S.A., the historian of Leicestershire,
and literary biographer of the eighteenth century,
the disciple and successor of William Bowyer, the
.learned printer, and one of the friends of Samuel
Johnson in his last days. The Duke of Kent lived
many years at Castle Bar Park. The House was
pulled down shortly after his death, which took
place in 1820.
The great Lord Heathfield, the hero of Gibraltar,
lived on Castle Bar Hill as General Eliott. At
Castle Bar Hill is the College of the Society for
Training Teachers of the Deaf, and for the diffu
sion of the " German " system in the United King
dom. The students of the institution here are
taught the art of teaching the deaf.
The Princess Helena College at Ealing was origi
nally located near the Regent's Park, but in 188 1-2
the new building here was erected and opened.
It was founded for the purpose of a training school
for governesses, and for educating the orphan
daughters of officers of the Army and Navy, and
of members of the Civil Service and clergymen.
The work of this institution, which was formerly
known as the Adult Orphan Institution, has been
carried on in a quiet and unostentatious way ; but
the good results which it has achieved have been
extensive and lasting. It has throughout its his
tory been specially patronised by the royal family.
It was founded in memory of Princess Charlotte,
was warmly encouraged by Queen Charlotte, and
for many years Princess Augusta was its president.
Since about 1876 her Royal Highness the Prin
cess Helena (Princess Christian), whose/name the
institution now bears, has held the office of presi
dent, and has taken a strong personal interest in
its welfare. It has been the aim of this institution
not only to impart to the pupils at the college a
sound education, but also to develop the mental
and moral character which is so essential in a
teacher; and to this laudable object the com
paratively small size to which the institution has
been confined has materially contributed. The
college provides instruction for about thirty foun
dationers or scholars, with about the same num
ber of paying boarders; and the college is so
designed that the class-rooms, &c.,can be enlarged
as the demand for greater accommodation may

arise. In connection with it is a high school
for girls.
The oldest part of the village is grouped quaintly
and pleasingly round the church, in a most irregu
lar fashion. On the north side the street opens
out very broad, and here probably once stood a
village cross. At all events, a tablet at the entrance
of the churchyard informs us that the vestry hall
(since re-constructed) was "built in 1840 out of
the proceeds of the sale of the old Cross House."
This Cross House stood on the west side of the
street, facing the tower of the parish church, ad
joining the old workhouse and other parochial
tenements. The house may have taken its name
from a village cross in the street adjoining, or from
standing near the place where four cross-roads
met ; and it may possibly once have been the
residence of the parson.
There was no Town Hall when Lysons wrote
his History in 1790, but a large building was
erected in 1877 for the use of the Local Board for
Ealing, and comprises the requisite offices for such
a body. In the main street, on the west side, is a large
private school, often called Ealing Great School,
which enjoyed in the last generation a high reputa
tion under Dr. Nicholas. It is now modernised
into a large and lofty Italian villa. Not many
private educational establishments can show a
longer or more worthy roll of scholars than could
its former master, Dr. Nicholas, who here edu
cated as boys Sir Henry Lawrence and his brother
Lord Lawrence, Bishop Selwyn, Charles Knight, Sir
Henry Rawlinson, William Makepeace Thackeray
(before he was sent to the Charterhouse), and
last, not least, Cardinal Newman, who mentions it
in his " Apologia." Charles Knight, in the first
chapter of his "Passages of a Working Life,"
speaks tenderly and lovingly of this school : —
" My school-life was a real happiness. My nature
bourgeoned under kindness, and I received unusual
favours from one of the masters, Mr. Joseph
Heath, of St. John's College, Oxford." He grate
fully records the fact that this gentleman intro
duced him to Mr. (afterwards Sir) Henry Ellis, of
the British Museum, from whom he derived his
earliest antiquarian and historical tastes. It is
stated that Dr. Nicholas's school was the largest
private school in England ; if so, it probably owed
some of its numbers to the attack made by Cowper
on our public schools in his " Tirocinium." The
unfortunate Dr. Dodd also kept a school at the
Manor House, since called Goodenough House-
He was taken prisoner here, and carried off hence
to Newgate to be tried for forgery. Here, too, a.

Ealing.]

HENRY FIELDING, THE NOVELIST.

23

school was established by the late Lady Byron in
i833- Ealing is well off, if not for parks, at all events
for open spaces. Besides the green and the com
mons, there are what are called the " Lammas
lands," part of which were bought in 1881 to be
devoted to the purposes of recreation for the in
habitants of the village.
Ealing Common lies to the east of the village,
between Ealing and Acton. It is now being planted
round the edges and made level, in order to fit it
for a recreation-ground. The house with walled
grounds at the south-west corner of the Common,
formerly the residence of the Right Hon. Spencer
Perceval, is now a Lunatic Asylum for Indian
soldiers. It was at one time called Hickes-on-the-
Heath, and afterwards Elm Grove, and was succes
sively inhabited by Sir William Trumbull, the friend
of Pope, and by Dr. Egerton, Bishop of Durham.
Some meadow land in the vicinity of the village
has also been, since 1865, occasionally used as a
race-course ; but the races which have taken place
here have never achieved the celebrity of those
at Hampton or Sandown, and other suburban spots
where such sports and pastimes have become popu
lar ; indeed, they have been generally voted more
of a nuisance than otherwise by the inhabitants of
this parish.
Near this part of the village was a small nursery
of the Horticultural Society of London, before
they obtained a lease of the grounds at Chiswick,
as already described by us.*
Much of the land in the neighbourhood of Ealing
is cultivated as market gardens. Mrs. Lawrence's
gardens at Ealing Park have in past times enjoyed
such a world-wide reputation, that we must not
omit to make mention of them here. They were
constantly frequented during the summer season
by all the rank and fashion of the metropolis, and
formed a counter attraction to Chiswick.
One of the most interesting houses in the parish
of Ealing is a building in the Uxbridge Road,
standing in its own grounds, and embowered in trees;
it is called Fordhook House, and is now the resi
dence of Captain Tyrrell. It was once the residence
of Henry Fielding, the novelist, who here wrote
"Tom Jones" and "Amelia;" but has largely
grown in size since it was the small cottage in
habited by Fielding, who has told us with what
regret he left it when he went abroad — to die at
Lisbon. The opening passage in the journal of
his journey has often been quoted, but it is too
pathetic not to bear repetition. Under date of
* See ante, p. 5.

Wednesday, June 26, 1754, he writes :— " On this
day, the most melancholy sun I had ever beheld
arose, and found me awake at my house at Ford-
hook. By the light of this sun I was, in my own
opinion, last to behold and take leave of some
of those creatures on whom I doated with a mother
like fondness, guided by nature and passion, and
uncured and unhardened by all the doctrine of
that philosophical school where I had learned to
bear pains and to despise death. In this situation,
as I could not conquer nature, I submitted entirely
to her, and she made as great a fool of me as she
had ever done of any woman whatsoever; under
pretence of giving me leave to enjoy, she drew me
in to suffer the company of my little ones during
eight hours; and I doubt not whether, in that
time, I did not undergo more than in all my dis
temper. At twelve precisely my coach was at the
door, which was no sooner told me than I kiss'd
my children round, and went into it with some
little resolution. My wife — who behaved more like
a heroine and philosopher, though at the same
time the tenderest mother in the world — and my
eldest daughter followed me; some friends went
with us, and others here took their leave ; and I
heard my behaviour applauded, with many murmurs
and praises, to which I knew I had no title : as
all other such philosophers may, if they have any
modesty, confess on like occasions." Fielding died
on the 8th of October following.
Fordhook was afterwards tenanted by Lady
Byron; and in 1835 the poet's daughter, "Ada,
sole daughter of my house and heart," was married
in its drawing-room, by special licence, to Lord
King, now Earl of Lovelace.
On the road towards Hanwell is a wayside inn,
" The Old Hat," the sign-board of which claims
for it three centuries of existence as a house of call
and entertainment. If this assertion be true — and
there is no reason for doubting it — what tales could
its bar and snug parlour not tell ! If neat and
modernised in its outside, " The Old Hat " is old-
fashioned enough in its interior arrangements. This
ancient tavern is apparently not mentioned in
Larwood's "History of Sign-boards," the author
of which work suggests that " The Hat " " was
the usual hatter's sign, although it may also be found
before taverns and public-houses ; in which case,
however, it is probable that it was the previous
sign of the house, which the publican on entering
left unaltered ; or it may have been used to suggest
a ' house of call ' to the trade."
The parish of Hanwell adjoins Ealing on the
west, and is bounded on the south by Norwood
and Heston, on the west by Southall, and on the

24

GREATER LONDON.

[Hanwell.

north by Greenford. Although it figures in the
Domesday Survey of William the _ Conqueror,
under the name of Hanewelle, where it is stated
that the manor " answers for two hides," and that
" there was a mill of two shillings and twopence,
pannage for fifty hogs," &c. ; and although it is on
record that the manse was given at a very early
period to Westminster Abbey, Hanwell seems to
be one of those fortunate places whose history is a
blank ; indeed, there is no allusion to it in any of

Catholics, the Congregationalists, Baptists, Wes-
leyans, &c, while the Established Church is repre
sented by two edifices.
The parish church stands far away from the
village, in the fields towards Greenford, on a knoll
almost surrounded by the Brent, which here winds-
its way, almost choked with water-lilies, rushes,
and reeds, its banks being lined with alders, the
grass lands sloping pleasantly down to the banks
of the stream. The present church is a poor

EALING GREEN.

Horace Walpole's " Letters," nor in any of the other
gossiping chronicles of bygone days, so far as we
can trace.
Hanwell lies on the Uxbridge Road, and partly
occupies a broad valley through which the Brent river
winds its course. The neighbourhood consists
mostly of pasture land, pleasantly undulated, and
affords much diversified and picturesque scenery.
Near the centre of the parish the valley of the
Brent is crossed by a lofty viaduct, nearly 700
feet in length, over whkh passes the Great Western
Railway, which has a station here. The Grand
Junction Canal also passes the village on its
western side, on its way to join the Thames at
Brentford. In the town there are churches and
chapels, of more or less merit, for the Roman

specimen of modern Gothic, with large galleries
and no chancel. It is a modern erection, having
been built in 1841, in the place of an older
structure, which had become too small for the
increasing population. It was designed by Messrs.
Scott and Moffatt, and is in the Early English
style of architecture. It is constructed of dark
flint and brick, with stone dressings, and consists
of nave, aisles, and transept, with a tower and spire
at the western end. Its predecessor was a mean
and uninteresting brick building, dating from 1782,
when it was erected on the site of a much more
ancient edifice. Its form or plan was an oblong
square, and its western end was adorned with a
turret and cupola. The old church was devoid of
monuments, with the exception, perhaps, of a

Hanwell.]

JONAS HANWAY.

25

single flat stone recording the decease of Sir John
Gierke, Bart, in 1727, and his mother, Dame
Catherine Clerke, who died in 1 741. Its church
yard covers ¦ part of the slope to the bank of the
river on the north, but it contains no tombs or
memorials of interest In the old graveyard was
buried Jonas Hanway, whose name was almost as
widely known as that of Captain Coram in the
¦middle of the last century as the joint-founder of
the Magdalen Hospital, and on account of many

the style of the period, and his face is strongly
marked with benevolence and good sense. The
early agenda books of the institution are religiously
kept, and in them are to be seen the autographs of
Hanway, of Mr. Benjamin D'Israeli (Lord Beacons-
field's grandfather), and other celebrities of the
reign of George II.'s day. The latter part of
Hanway's life was employed in supporting, by his
pen and personal exertions, a variety of charitable
and philanthropic schemes ; and he gained so high

other schemes of benevolence, and to whom we
are mainly indebted for that very useful article
of daily need, in our variable climate at least — the
umbrella.* Hanway was also a social reformer,
for it was mainly through his intercession that a
Bill was introduced into Parliament for the regu
lation of the infant poor of several parishes in the
metropolis. In the office of the Marine Society in
Bishopsgate Street may be seen a very fine full-
length portrait of this worthy philanthropist ; the
painter was no mean limner, but his name is not
recorded. Hanway is represented as seated at a
table, dressed in a blue suit, with ruffles, &c, in

* See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 471.

and honourable a name, that a deputation of the
chief merchants of London made it their request
to Government that some substantial mark of
public favour should be conferred on him. He
was in consequence made a commissioner of the
navy. Hanway was one of the great promoters of
schools for the poor.
An account of this good man and philanthropist
will be found in Dr. Smiles's " Self-Help." The
son of a storekeeper in the dockyard at Portsmouth,
he was brought up to a mercantile career, and made
a fortune by trading in Russia. That fortune he
spent in works of public utility and benevolence.
He improved the highways of the metropolis ; he
organised a volunteer body of marines ; he founded

3

2tl

GREATER LONDON.

[Hanwell.

the Marine Society (which is still one of the largest
and most important of London charities) ; he
largely re-modelled the Foundling Hospital; he
was one of the founders of the Magdalen ; like
Howard, he explored the fever-dens of the poorer
classes of London, and forced on the parochial
authorities a system of registration, in order to
protect infant life ; he got an Act passed for the
protection of climbing boys employed by chimney
sweeps ; and, strange to say, was rewarded by the
Government for his philanthropic efforts by being
. made a member of the Victualling Board. " His
moral courage," writes Dr. Smiles, " was of the
first order. It may be regarded as a trivial matter
to mention that he was the first who ventured to
walk the streets of London with an umbrella over
his head. But let any modern London merchant
venture to walk along Cornhill in a peaked
Chinese hat, and he will find that it takes some
moral courage to persevere in it. After carrying
an umbrella for some thirty years, Mr. Hanway
saw the article at length come into general use."
Jonas Hanway died childless, and he left his
fortune to those whom he had befriended in his
lifetime. Hanway was buried here, pursuant to his own
request, in the month of September, 1 786. Lysons,
in his " Environs of London," thus writes of him :
— "This valuable man, whose whole life was a
continued scene of active benevolence, was the first
promoter of various schemes of public utility,
which he lived to see realised and established as
permanent institutions. That useful charity the
Marine Society, in particular, may be said to have
owed its existence to him. His writings were
very numerous, and all bore the marks of the most
benevolent intentions, whether his object was to
secure the health, or improve the morals and
religion of his fellow-creatures, to abolish evil cus
toms, or recommend the most deserving objects
of charity. Besides the numerous treatises on
these subjects, he published an account of a
journey from Kingston to Portsmouth, and his
travels through Russia, Persia, &c." Mr. Hanway
was a commissioner in the Victualling Office from
1762 till 1783, and he frequently visited his friend
and relation, Dr. Henry Glasse, at the rectory
here. Dr. Glasse translated Mason's " Caractacus "
and Milton's " Samson Agonistes " into Greek,
and was also the author of " Contemplations from
Sacred History." There is no monument in the
church to the memory of Hanway, but one was
erected in Westminster Abbey.
The village of Hanwell mainly consists of a long
and wide High Street, which carries on the line of

houses from Ealing, and ends at a bridge at
the west end of the village, beyond which is
the County Lunatic Asylum. The houses and
shops are most irregularly built, and yet they
are far from being tasty or elegant. In fact, a
duller and plainer street is not to be found, even
in Middlesex.
The Central London District Schools are an ex
tensive range of buildings on Cuckoo Farm, about
a mile northward of the railway station.
Among the charitable institutions of Hanwell is
one founded by William Hobbayne, or Hobbyns,
in 1484, for the benefit of the poor, and for twenty-
four boys of the parish to be educated and pro
vided with a suit of clothes free of charge, in the
parochial school of Greenford Magna. There is
also a Catholic Convalescent Home fqr women
and children.
Standing on an eminence opposite to the church,
but actually within the parish of Norwood, is
the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum — one of the two
lunatic asylums for the county of Middlesex. This
asylum, since its first erection in 1829-31, has
been repeatedly enlarged and greatly improved,
and now affords accommodation for nearly 2,000-
inmates. It is a conspicuous object for a long
distance round, covering as it does a large space
of ground, and occupying an elevated site. The
general plan of the building is that of the letter
E, or, in other words, a centre, in which is the
principal entrance, with projecting wings at either
end, the wards set apart for male patients being
on the left of the entrance, and those for females-
on the right. Architecturally, the building is a
model of simple plainness. There are extensive
airing-grounds and gardens in the front and rear
of the premises, laid out with shrubberies, gravel-
walks, &c. ; and besides the wards of the asylum,
there are kitchens, sculleries, larder, dairy, wash-
houses, and laundries, bakehouse, brewhouse, and
general store-room. The wards are provided with
day-rooms, in which the patients take their meals,,
and where they spend the greater part of their
time. The wards have not less than two attendants
in each, in some there are three ; and on an
average about fifty convalescent patients are under
the care of two attendants, but in the refractory
wards two attendants have the charge of about.
twenty-five patients. The attendants have to pay-
strict attention to the directions of the medical
officers as regards the treatment, employment,
amusement, and exercise of the patients, and in.
every instance they are required to treat them with.
the greatest kindness.
This institution owes its origin to an Act of

Hanwell.]

HANWELL LUNATIC ASYLUM.

27

Parliament passed in the reign of George III.,
enabling the justices of the several counties to
erect asylums for the reception and maintenance
of the insane and lunatic poor> and to improve
and ameliorate the condition of lunatics, by rescuing
them from the neglect and inattention of the work
house, or the cupidity, ignorance, and cruelty too
often practised by those who farmed them in
private asylums.
Nothing can more strongly mark the progress
which society has made since the latter end of
the last century than the different aspect under
which the insane have been viewed, and the
different way in which they have been treated.
Formerly there was but little difference in the
treatment of the criminal and the insane. In
1792, an intelligent and noble-hearted Frenchman,
named Pinel, in the midst of surrounding horrors,
brought commiseration and kindness within the
walls of a lunatic asylum, and it is to his courage
and humanity that we owe the many beneficial
changes which have been brought about in this
country in the treatment of the insane. The change
of treatment, however, in this country was of slow
growth ; for long after the example which Pinel
had set, though there were isolated attempts to
introduce a humane system of management into
the asylums, they were the exceptions only.
Cruelties of the most revolting kind continued to
be practised by sordid, unprincipled men. Mr.
John Weale, in his " London Exhibited in 185 1,"
observes that "almost the first, and certainly the
greatest, benefit conferred upon the insane pauper
was the Act of the 9th George IV., cap. 40, which
was intended to facilitate the erection of county
lunatic asylums for the poor, and to improve the
¦condition of lunatics. Thenceforth, in those
counties that wisely took advantage of the Act, the
friends of the insane pauper could be assured of
that which the laws of society are bound to afford
— protection against cruelty and security against
neglect" On the completion of Hanwell Asylum, the
committee appointed Dr. William Ellis and Mrs.
Ellis to be the superintendent and matron, and
from their united efforts the institution derived
great benefit. Among the useful suggestions for
which the asylum was indebted to Dr. and Mrs.
Ellis was the extensive employment of the patients.
In his very first report, Dr. Ellis mentions that
•considerable amelioration had taken place in the
¦condition of the insane poor of the country, and
adds : — " But with even the greatest solicitude for
their comfort, the want of sufficient air and exer
cise, which can only be obtained in a large building

with ample grounds, presents the most formidable
obstacle to their cure." In December, 1832, Dr.
Ellis writes that the system of employing the patients
has been pursued most perseveringly in every
variety of work adapted to their respective quali
fications; and concludes by stating that "not a
single accident had occurred from the patients
having been trusted with the tools used in their
different occupations." These, among other less
formidable weapons, were spades, bill-hooks, and
scythes. The same earnest endeavours to employ
the patients in useful handicraft labour continued
to engage the mind of Dr. Ellis during the re
mainder of his career as superintendent at Hanwell.
During all this time the non-restraint system was
gradually making its way, by the exertions of
intelligent men, in two or three other public estab
lishments in the kingdom, and was to some extent
adopted in a few amongst the best conducted
private establishments. Long experience had taught
Dr. Ellis that the sufferings of the insane were
often frightfully augmented by undue coercion,
needless restraint, and the want of employment,
and that their malady by these means was increased
rather than alleviated. Well he knew that the
cries of poverty and sickness can make themselves
heard, while the voice of the mentally diseased
¦does not reach the ear. Thus was he stimulated
to try gentleness, employment, liberty (as far as
was prudent), and social intercourse. His perfect
success induced him to labour for the establishment
of such a system for the wealthy classes of the
insane, calling public attention to the subject by
a work which he published on " Insanity," and
taking every opportunity of influencing in private
those who might assist in furthering his scheme.
Dr. Ellis was knighted by William IV. soon after
his nomination to the governorship of Hanwell
Asylum. He resigned his appointment here in
1838, and died two years afterwards.
In their choice of a successor to Dr. Ellis, the
committee of visiting justices, with whom the
government of the asylum was placed, were not
fortunate, for in less than a twelvemonth it became
necessary to appoint another physician in his place.
The choice fell upon Dr. John Conolly, the author
of numerous works on insanity, and on the " Con
struction and Government of Lunatic Asylums,"
&c. To this gentleman the asylum is mainly
indebted for the full establishment of the humane
and rational system of non-restraint which had
been introduced by Dr. Ellis. In one of his
reports to the visiting justices, Dr. Conolly observes :
" The great and only real substitute for restraint
is invariable kindness. This feeling must animate

28

GREATER LONDON.

[Hanwell.

every person employed in every duty to be per
formed. Constant superintendence and care, con
stant forbearance and command of temper, and a
never-failing attention to the comfort of the patients,
to their clothing, their food, their personal cleanli
ness, their occupations, their recreations — these are
but so many different ways in which kindness
shows itself, and these will be found to produce
results beyond the general expectation of those who
persevere in their application." Caroline Fox in
her "Journals," June 22, 1842, writes: "Met
Colonel Gurney at Paddington, and reached Han
well in a few minutes. Were most kindly received
by Dr. Conolly ; he has had the superintendence
for two years, and at once introduced the system
of non-coercion in its fullest sense, though feeling
that it was a very bold experiment, and required
intense watching ; but he dared it all for the sake
of a deeply suffering portion of humanity, with the
most blessed result. All the assistants seem in
fluenced by his spirit, and it is a most delightful
and heartcheering spectacle to see madness for
once not treated as a crime."
The average number of patients at Hanwell
Asylum is close upon 2,000, of whom by far the
larger portion are females. The management of
the patients, as regards their classification, employ
ment, and treatment, is under the direction of two'
resident medical officers, one for the male, and the
other for the female department. There is a bazaar
upon the premises, for the sale of fancy and other
needlework, &c, the produce of the female patients
during the daytime who are desirous of amusing
themselves by the production of such articles. The
bazaar is under the care of a superintendent ; and
the profit arising from the sale of such work to
visitors is expended in little extra indulgences for the
patients. There is a school for the male patients,
and the schoolmaster occasionally gives lectures
in the evening on some amusing subject. The
amusements for the patients, in fact, are varied.

In the wards a good supply of books, bagatelle-
boards, cards, &c, is kept up ; and in some of the
wards there are also pianofortes, which have been
presented by visitors for the use of those patients
who are musically inclined. The male patients, and
such of the female patients as may be fit for manual
labour, may be seen from time to time labouring in
the gardens and fields which lie round the asylum,
and so contributing to the good of the institution,
whilst harmlessly and healthfully employed.
The previous chapels having proved insufficient,
a new chapel, in the Early English Gothic style,
was added to the asylum in 1880. The architect
was Mr. H. Martin, and it will seat about a
thousand worshippers. It is of brick, and has
a lofty tower and spire. Standing in front of the
main entrance, it forms a conspicuous and central
object in the general view of the place.
There are at Hanwell two cemeteries, one be
longing to the parish of St. Mary Abbots, Ken
sington, and the other to St. George's, Hanover
Square. In these days of electric telegraphy, when a message
can be sent from London to the uttermost comer of
the globe in almost less time than it would take to be
carried by hand from one end of the metropolis to the
other, it is somewhat interesting to read such a scrap
of intelligence as the following, which we cull from
The Mirror of December, 1839 : —
" Electro-Magnetic Telegraph of theGreat
Western Railway. — This telegraph, which is the
invention of Mr. Cook and Prof. Wheatstone, of
King's College, has been, during two months, con
stantly worked at the passing of every train between
Drayton, Hanwell, and Paddington. At the former
station it, for the present, terminates. As soon as
the whole line is completed, the telegraph will ex
tend from the Paddington terminus to Bristol ; and
it is contemplated that then information of any
nature may be conveyed to Bristol, and an answer
received in twenty minutes."

Brentford.]

THE PRIORY OF THE HOLY ANGELS.

29

CHAPTER III.
BRENTFORD.
" We will turn our course
To Brainford, westward, if thou says't the word." — Benjonson.
Traffic through Brentford in the old Coaching Days — Government of the Parish — Old Bridge of the Brent — The Priory of the Hoiy Angeis
Inundations — Fondness of George III. for Brentford — The Dangers of the Road — Early History of Brentford — The Soil and the Pleistocene
Deposits— Murder of King Edmund— The Battle of Brentford— Visit of the Grand Duke of Tuscany— The " Two Kings of Brentford "—The
Dirt and Squalor of Brentford — How the Duke of Wellington nearly came to grief here — Ancient Hostelries — Old (East) Brentford Church-
New (West) Brentford Church — St. Paul's Church — The Town-hall and Market-house — Manufactories and Grand Junction Waterworks —
Grand Junction Canal — Drinking Fountain— Bear Baitings — The Old Market-place— -The Elections for Middlesex — "Wilkes and Liberty ! "
— A Brentford Elector — The Manor of Bordeston — Boston House — Sion House Academy — Wyke Farm — " Old Gang Aboot " — The Pitt
Diamond — Mrs. Trimmer — Extracts from the Parish Register.
We now make our way in a south-westerly direc
tion, skirting the hamlet of Little Ealing, and
shortly find ourselves at Brentford, a long strag
gling village or town on the Hammersmith and
Hounslow road, and extending about a mile and a
quarter west from Kew Bridge, almost parallel
with the Thames. The chief road to the west and
south-west of England passed through Brentford
in the days of coaching and posting. Some idea
of the traffic along this road from London at the
end of the reign of William IV. may be formed
from the fact that the tolls of the Hammersmith
Turnpike Trust were let in 1836 for .£19,000 per
annum, and that 247 coaches and public conveyances,
and seven mails, passed through and returned to
town on this road daily. Nearly all this traffic must
have gone through Brentford. The road, at one
time bordered by hedgerows, and passing through
cultivated fields and market gardens, has been
within the last half-century considerably altered in
its appearance by the " demon of bricks and mor
tar;" indeed, Sir Horace Mann, writing under date
of 179T, observes that "there will soon be one street
from London to Brentford," and the era of which
he prophesied, as we have already remarked in our
opening chapter,* has long since arrived. Brent
ford is not included in any parliamentary borough,
nor is it a corporate town ; but it is governed by a
Local Board of Health. It is really a township in
the parishes of Hanwell and Ealing : West, or New
Brentford, being in the former parish, and East, or
Old Brentford, being in the latter. The west, how
ever, is really the older part of the town.
At the west end is a bridge of one arch over the
Brent, superseding that mentioned by Leland in
his "Itinerary." In his time it had three arches, and
close to it stood a hospital of brick ; but we are
not informed as to its character.
In the Gentle/nan's Magazine for 1802 is an
engraving of the seal of " The Priory of the Holy
Angels in the Marshlands, near Brentford." This is
* See ante, p. 3.

called by Bishop Tanner in his "Notitia Monastica,"
after Weever and Newcourt, a friary, hospital, or
fraternity of the nine holy orders of angels, con
sisting of a master and several brethren in a chapel
at the west end of Brentford, or, according to Stow,
" by the bridge." Lysons mentions it, and places it
"in Isleworth, at Brentford End." All Christian pas
sengers were free of toll on passing this bridge,
but Jews and Jewesses were forced to pay a half
penny if on foot, or a penny if on horseback.
Many centuries later, if we may trust Spence's
"Anecdotes," the Jews offered to LordGodolphin to
purchase the town, with all its rights and privileges
of trade, but that statesman declined the offer.
Its name explains itself*— the ford over the
Brent, a small tributary of the Thames, which rises
in Hendon, between the Hampstead and Stanmore
hills, and, flowing in a south-westerly course for about
eighteen miles, falls into the Thames at this point,
Its situation on the banks of the Thames and the
Brent being low and flat has been at times one of
great inconvenience, owing to inundations. In
1682 we read of a great flood here, when "boats
rowed up and down the streets, and the water got
into the pews of the church."
In January, 1841, great damage was occasioned
here by the rise of the waters of the Brent and the
Grand Junction Canal, owing to an unusually rapid
thaw and the bursting of a reservoir at Hendon.
Numbers of boats, barges, and lighters were torn
from their moorings and driven through the bridge
towards the Thames, several barges being sunk, and
many of the houses inundated.
" All the land to the south of the road passing
from Brentford, through Hounslow to Staines is so
nearly level as to have no more than a proper
drainage ; and much the greater part is less than
ten feet above the surface of the river at Staines
Bridge, and not more than from three to five feet
above the level of the rivulets flowing through this
district From Staines, through Ashford and

* See however; below, p. 31.

3«

GREATER LONDON.

[Brentford.

BRENTFORD, FROM THE RIVER.

Hanworth Common, to Twickenham, a distance of
seven miles and a half, it is a perfect level, gene
rally from ten to twenty feet above the surface of
the Thames."*
King George II— like his successor— it is well
known, preferred Kew to Windsor, and loved the
dead level of the neighbourhood. On the same
principle he was very fond of Brentford, because
its long low street reminded him of some of the
towns in his kingdom of Hanover. For this
reason he always ordered his coach to be driven
slowly through it, in order that he might enjoy the
scene. The road connecting this town with the metro
polis was, in the last century, much on a par with
xhe other great thoroughfares radiating from
London, so far as the dangers from highwaymen
and footpads were concerned. We read in the
Gentleman's Magazine for 1776, that in the
September of that year the then Lord Mayor of
London was stopped at Turnham Green, a mile
east of Brentford, in his chaise and four, in the
sight of all his retinue, and robbed by a single high
wayman, who swore that he would shoot the first
person that offered any resistance.
_ Cyrus Redding, in his "Fifty Years' Recollec
tions,' tells a strange story in connection with this
place : —
" I had a relative, who, not long before railways
were established, on stating his intention to come
up to town, was solicited to accept as a fellow-
traveller a man of property, a neighbour, who had

* Middleton, "View of the Agriculture of Middlesex," p. 23.

never been thirty miles from home in his life. They
travelled by coach. All went on well until they
reached Brentford. The countryman supposed he
was nearly come to his journey's end. On seeing
the lamps mile after mile, he expressed more and
more impatience. 'Are we not yet in London^.
and so many miles of lamps ? ' At length, on
reaching Hyde Park Corner, he was told they had
arrived. His impatience increased from thence to-
Lad Lane. He became overwhelmed with asto
nishment They entered the inn; and my rela
tive bade his companion remain in the coffee-room
until he returned, having gone to a bed-room for
ablution. On returning, he found the bird flown ;
and for six long weeks there were no tidings of him.
At length it was discovered he was in the custody
of the constables at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, his
nnnd alienated. He was conveyed home, came
partially to his reason for a short time, and died.
It was gathered from him that he had become
confused more and more at the lights, and
long distances he was carried among them ; it
seemed as if they could have no end. The idea
that he could never be extricated from such a
labyrinth superseded every other. He could not
bear the thought. He went into the street, in
quired his way to the westward, and seemed, from
his statement, to have got into Hyde Park, and
then out again into the Great Western Road, Walk
ing until he could walk no longer. He could
relate nothing more that occurred until he was
It is time now for us to speak of Brentford itself.

Brentford.]

JULIUS CAESAR AT BRENTFORD.

3i

In spite of the general opinion that Julius Caesar, in
his second invasion of England, crossed the Thames,
at the Coway Stakes, near Shepperton (as we shall
presently see), there are not wanting those who
consider that it is more probable that the scene of
that passage was much nearer to London, and the
Rev. Henry Jenkins, in the " Journal of the British
Archaeological Association " for June, i860, main
tains at some length his belief that it was at Old
Brentford that the emperor crossed his army.
We learn from Gibson's edition of Camden's

since it allowed the Britons more space to fortify
them with stakes, and, at the came time, afforded
the Romans a fairer opportunity of plying their
engines over the heads of their own men as they
entered the river, and of striking the enemy posted
on the topmost verge of the opposite side. Thus,
whilst the cavalry, sent in advance to cross higher
up the stream, were threatening the flank, the main
body of the legions pressing forward in front, and
sheltered, as it were, by the military engines, made
good the passage of the river. Caesar's words are

THE STABLES OF THE "THREE PIGEONS," BRENTFORD.
(From an Etching by W. N. Wilkins, 1848.)

(See p. M)

"Britannia," that at Old Brentford the Thames
was annually fordable with great ease, and was so
still in Bishop Gibson's time, as now, there being at
low ebb not above three feet of water in the bed
of the river. " Here," writes Mr. Jenkins, " on
many accounts, I am inclined to place the passage
of Caesar. Its British name, Brentford — i.e., Brenin-
ford — the king's road or way,* favours this supposi
tion ; for the name, even if it should not apply
personally to Caesar, establishes the fact that this
part of the Thames was known to, and used by,
the Britons as a ford. The height of the banks
also at this place is an important consideration,

* This derivation entirely sets aside the derivation given above, which
makes Brentford to have been so called from the ford across the Brent.
It is not usual for towns, which, of course, are after-growths, to give
names to rivers ; the converse is almost always the case.

prcemisso equitatu. By this I understand that
the cavalry were sent in advance to attempt pas
sage higher up the stream, at Kingston, Walton, or
elsewhere, in order to distract the enemy's atten
tion, and to draw off a part of his forces, whilst the
infantry pressed forward to the ford directly in their
front. The cavalry and infantry did not cross the
stream together and at the same place. Such a
plan would have caused inextricable confusion."
So far Mr. Jenkins, who considers that as soon
as the emperor had brought together all his forces
on the north side of the river at Old Brentford, he
marched straight east. " His first and chief object,
after he had crossed the Thames, must have been
to have led his army into Essex, and form a junction
with the Trinobantes ; " and this he did, keeping
between the river on his right and the forest on his

32

GREATER LONDON.

[Brentford.

left. In this case he would have passed across
what is now the north of London, passed the Lea
at Old Ford, and so on to Ilford and Barking, on
his way to head-quarters at Caesaromagus, which
Mr. Jenkins fixes at Billericay, near Brentwood.
A long, narrow strip of waste land, some two
acres in extent, forming an island in the Thames,
and known as " Brentford Eyot," adds not a little
to the beauty of the river scenery at this point. It
is overgrown with trees, and a suggestion has been
raised by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests
to sell it for the sake of the timber ; but the idea
has been strongly resented by the inhabitants.
The soil of Brentford is, or has been, very rich
in remains of extinct species of animals ; and in
digging out brick-earth and excavating for other
works, many of their bones have been found. In
1740 the skeleton of a "large beast of the bull
kind " was found here. Professor Phillips, in his
" Geology of Oxford and the Valley of the
Thames," says — " At Brentford the pleistocene de
posits above the London clay have been successfully
examined, long since by Mr. Trimmer, and sub
sequently by Morris. The paper of Mr. Trimmer,
referred to by Professor Phillips, was printed in the
Philosophical Transactions for the Year 18 13. In it
an account is given of many interesting discoveries
of bones of animals about ten feet below the
present surface of the ground There were found
teeth and bones of both the African and Asiatic
elephant, of the hippopotamus, and of several
species of deer. The remains of hippopotami were
so abundant that, in turning over an area of 120
yards, parts of six tusks of that animal were found,
besides a tooth and part of the horn of a deer,
parts of a tusk and a grinder of an elephant, and
the horns, with a small portion of the skull of an
ox." Many of these fossils are now in the
possession of Thomas Lay ton, F.S.A.
" Since the period referred to by Professor Phillips
and Mr. Trimmer," observes the Rev. T. E. Platten
in his "Memorials of Old Brentford," "various
¦excavations have been made for railway purposes
at Kew Bridge and near the present Gunnersbury
station. At Kew Bridge were found bones of
several species of deer, horns of reindeer and red-
deer, tusks of hippopotami, and remains of bisons."
At Gunnersbury, where the London clay was
reached, were discovered the remains of sharks, a
fossil crab and fossil resin (amber), fine specimens
of nautili, and other marine shells.
" If we could have looked on the place in those
days," continues Mr. Platten, "a strange scene
would have been presented to our eyes. The
Thames then probably spread its waters from the

Richmond hills on the south to the Harrow heights
on the north. In its shallow pools, and amid the
high thick rushes which lined its banks, the hippo
potamus made his lair and bathed his unwieldy
limbs. Here the elephant slaked his thirst at night,
and the huge Irish elk, the largest of the deer
species and now long extinct, took refuge from his
ferocious enemies, and stood at bay in the waters
of the friendly stream. It was a wilderness of waters
— an arm of the sea rather than a river. The beasts
held the land for their own, and reigned with un
disputed sway, revelling in the warmth and rich
luxurious vegetation of a tropical clime. Such is
the scene of the distant past which these discoveries
suggest. "The next period, the records of which have
been preserved by the river, is the stone age, carry
ing lis back to a time when men did yet not know
how to work the metals. In many parts of the
Thames between Sion House and Strand-on-the
Green during dredging operations interesting dis
coveries have been made of various stone imple
ments, known as celts — i.e., chisels and hammers
of stone, some of which have been found let into
bone or wooden handles. The stones are in many
instances carefully shaped to suit the purposes for
which they were required, but at the best they
could not be very efficient implements to work
with. To the stone succeeded the bronze age, and
that again was followed by the iron. Of the bronze
and iron ages, also, many relics have been found.
There have come to light a great many specimens
of bronze weapons, such as swords, spear-heads,
wedges, axes, and part of the boss of a shield.
Britons, Romans, and Saxons, from time to time,
must have fought many battles in this neighbour
hood, and these relics were probably the arms of
soldiers who perished in trying to cross the Thames
for attack or in flight. It seems probable," Mr.
Platten adds, "that for a considerable time the
river formed a boundary separating Britons from
Romans, for as a rule ancient British remains are
found along the left bank, while the Roman are
mostly confined to the south side of the Thames."
Brentford has figured in history on at least two
occasions : in the Saxon times, and again under the
Stuarts. It was here that Edmund Ironside defeated
the Danes in 1016, when many of the English were
drowned in the Thames. A few days later King Ed
mund was himself treacherously slain at Brentford. ' | )
Local tradition fixes the Red Lion Inn yard as the
scene of the murder. Here, in 1642, Prince Rupert
routed two regiments of the army of the Parliament,
underColonel Hollis, driving them out with consider
able loss. The importance of this engagement, and

Brentford.]

THE "TWO KINGS" OF BRENTFORD.

33

the number of the slain, both in the encounter and
in the skirmishing of the following day about Turn
ham Green, are probably much exaggerated. We
are told in Clarendon's "History of England,"
that the common soldiers taken prisoners by the
king's " army at Brentford were discharged on their
simple promise not to take up arms again ; but that
the Puritan camp chaplains declared that they
were not bound by such an oath, and absolved
them from the necessity of keeping it ! " We learn
also that after the battle great damage was done in
the neighbourhood by the Royalist soldiers, and
liberal collections in aid of the sufferers were rhade.
The Puritan John Lilburne was one of the pri
soners taken in the encounter; and Charles I.
rewarded the Scottish Earl of Forth for his share in
the engagement by creating him Earl of Brentford.
The earldom was renewed by William III. as the
second title of his favourite officer, the Duke of
Schomberg ; but it became extinct a second time
in 17 19. On the news of this repulse, the Parlia
ment at once ordered fortifications to be thrown
up, in order to prevent the king from pressing on
to London, and next day they sent out the Train
bands, under the Earl of Essex, who encamped on
Turnham Green; and after a day of irresolution
the king drew back to Kingston-on-Thames. On this
occasion, as we learn from Whitelock's " Memoirs,"
" the good wives and others, mindful of their hus
bands and friends, sent many cart-loads of provi
sions, and wines, and good things to Turnham Green,
with which the soldiers were refreshed and made
merry, and the more when they heard that the
king's army was retreated." Brentford must have
seen Oliver Cromwell pass in a sort of triumphal
procession through the town.
Samuel Pepys would seem to have been a fre
quent visitor here ; at all events, several notices of
the place occur in his Diary between the years 1665
and 1669. A Mr. Povy, who resided here at that
time, was one of his friends. He was evidently
a rich man, inasmuch as his stud of horses was,
according to Pepys' notion, " the best confessedly
in England, the king having none ' such." In
August, 1665, Mr. Pepys found that " the plague
was very bad round about here ;" and in the follow
ing month, one of his watermen (he seems generally
to have gone by water between London and Brent
ford) " fell sick as soon as he landed me in London,
when I had been all night upon the water, and I
believe he did get his infection that day at Brent
ford, and is now dead of the plague." A spot now
known as "Dead Men's Graves," near the north
end of Green Dragon Lane, is said to be the place
of interment of those who died of the plague. In

no suburb of the metropolis were the deaths from
this cause heavier than here.
Charles II. stayed a night here at an old house
which was taken to form the approach to St. Paul's
church, from the High Street. Nell Gwynne lived
for a time at Brent House, in the Butts.
Brentford figures also in the blacker pages of
English history, six persons having been burnt here
in 1558 for advocating the "new" opinions.
Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was
travelling in England in 1669, passed through
Brentford on his way to London. In the account
of his travels which he afterwards wrote, he calls
the place " a very large village," and adds that he
" dined there in company with all the gentlemen
who had been to wait upon him." His visit no
doubt caused a general commotion in the neigh
bourhood, for he further remarks that "a very
great number of people — men, women, and who
ever were curious enough to come — were allowed
to enter the dining-room."
Brentford was the capital of the kingdom of the '
" Middle Saxons," whose name survives in Middle
sex. The " two kings of Brentford " have passed
into a proverb. As to the precise date when they
reigned history is silent, but it must have been, if
ever, in the Saxon times. The Duke of Bucking
ham's Play, " The Rehearsal," was written as a
satire upon Dryden and the playwrights of his time,
who often made reference to two kings fighting for
a throne. "The Rehearsal" contains no regular
plot, but some of the scenes are amusing. The
scene of the play is Brentford. There are " two
kings " and " two usurpers," and the two kings are
represented as being very fond of each other. They
come on the stage hand-in-hand, and are generally
seen smelling at one rose or nosegay. Hearing
the bystanders whisper, they imagine that they are
being plotted against, and one says to the other : —
" Then, spite of Fate, we'll thus combined stand,
And, like true brothers, still walk hand-in-hand."
They are driven from the throne by the usurpers ;
but towards the end of the play " the two right
kings of Brentford descend in the clouds, singing,
in white garments ; and three fiddlers sitting before
them in green ;" upon which one of the usurpers
says to the other : —
"Then, brother Phys, 'tis time we should be gone."
The usurpers having disappeared, the first right
king thus expresses his sentiments : —
" So firmly resolved is a true Brentford king
To save the distressed and help to 'em bring,
That ere a full-pot of good ale you can swallow,
He 's here with a whoop, and gone with a holla."

34

GREATER LONDON.

[Brentford.

A dance is then performed before them, which is
said to be " an ancient dance of right belonging to
the kings of Brentford, but since derived, with a
little alteration, to the Inns of Court."
Cowper, in his " Task " (Book i), alludes to this
dual sovereignty, comparing it to a "settee," or
"'sofa." " United, yet divided, twain at once :
So sit two kings of Brentford on one throne."
There is also an old ballad by an anonymous
writer, commencing : —
" The noble king of Brentford
Was old and very sick ;
He summoned his physicians
To wait upon him quick.
They stepped into their coaches,
And brought their best physic."
Again, in Prior's " Alma," we read : —
" So Brentford kings, discreet and wise,
After long thought and grave advice,
Into Lardella's coffin peeping,
Saw nought to cause their mirth or weeping. "
The reference here would be obscure and unin
telligible were it not for the light thrown upon it
by the play of " The Rehearsal," above.
Brentford, however, has gained notoriety in
other ways than through its " two kings." In the
" Merry Wives of Windsor," Falstaff is disguised as
" the fat woman of Brentford ; " and the town is
referred to by Thomson, Gay, Goldsmith, and others,
chiefly on account of its dirt. "With its long,
narrow High Street, back slums, factories, and
rough river-side and labouring population," writes
Mr. J. Thome, "Brentford has always borne an
unenviable reputation for dirt and ill odours." He
also quotes the following story from Boswell : —
"When Dr. Adam Smith was expatiating on the
beauty of Glasgow, Johnson cut him short by
saying, Pray, sir, have you ever seen Brentford ? '
This, Boswell took the liberty of telling him, was
shocking. 'Why then, sir,' he replied, ' You have
never seen Brentford." No doubt he meant that
dirty as parts of Glasgow may be, Brentford is worse.
Gay speaks of
"  Brentford, tedious town,
For dirty streets and white-legged chickens known. "
Thomson, who lived at Richmond, as our
readers will remember, was a keen observer of
nature, and thus alludes to Brentford at the end of
his " Castle of Indolence " : —
"Ee'n so through Brentford town, a town of mud,
A herd of bristly swine is preeked along ;
The filthy beasts, that never chew the cud,
Still grunt and squeak, and sing their troublous song.
And oft they plunge themselves the mire among,
But aye the ruthless driver goads them on."

The readers of Oliver Goldsmith will not forget
the mention of this place in the " Citizen of the
World," where he describes a race "run on the
road from London to a village called Brentford,
between a turnip-cart, a dust-cart, and a dung-
cart." It was through Brentford, too, as readers of
Charles Dickens will remember, that little Oliver
Twist was made to tramp by Bill Sikes on his way
to the burglary at Shepperton, which had such an
effect on his subsequent career.
The long dreary High Street of Brentford is not
only dirty, but dull and monotonous, and quite
devoid of interest. Almost the only incident con
nected with it worth narrating respecting it is that
the Duke of Wellington, returning to Londqn from
Windsor Castle late at night in 1814, met with an
accident to his carriage, which might have proved
fatal to the future conqueror of Waterloo. Lord
William Lennox, who was with him as his
aide-de-camp, tells us that the townspeople, on
hearing who was the occupier of the chariot,
wanted to fasten ropes to it, and to drag it on
to town.
The inhabitants of this place seem to have been
regarded as vulgar, for Shenstone writes : — " There
are no persons more solicitous about the preserva
tion of rank than those who have no rank at all.
Observe the humours of a country christening ; and
you will find no court in Christendom so ceremonious
as ' the quality ' of Brentford."
Lying on the direct road to the west of England,
Brentford has long been famous for its hostelries.
Near to the old market house was an ancient tim
bered inn, " The Three Pigeons," mentioned by Ben
Jonson — " We'll tickle it at the Pigeons " — and the
scene of some of the " Merry Jests " of George Poole,
the early dramatist. It is known that many of Shakes
peare's friends were visitors here; and it is pro
bable that the immortal poet himself may have been
within its walls. The house was taken down
several years ago, and its low carved and panelled
chambers disappeared. Mr. Thorne says that
" at the Lion Inn, Henry VI., in 1445, assembled
a large party, and after supper created Alonzo
D'Almada Duke of Avranches, and next morning
held a Chapter of the Garter (the only instance of a
Chapter being held at an inn), at which he created
two knights." He gives, however, no authority for
the statement.
The "Wagon and Horses," near Kew Bridge,
probably occupies the site of a certain "inn 1
that goes down by the water-side," where the
genial old gossiper Samuel Pepys tells us that he
was entertained, and returned by water to London,
having attended service at Brentford Church,

Brentford.]

THE "TUMBLE-DOWN DICK.'

35

"where a dull sermon and many Londoners." —
(Aug. 20, 1665.)
Another noted hostelry here was the " Tumble
down Dick," a sign, by the way, which has given
rise to some little speculation as to its meaning.
" Tumble-down Dick," says the Advertiser, No. 9,
1752, "is a fine moral on the instability of great
ness and the consequences of ambition." As such,
it was set up in derision of Richard Cromwell, the
allusion to his fall from power, or " tumble down,"
being very common in the satires published after
the Restoration; and amongst others, Hudibras,
thus, Part III., canto ii., 231 : —
" Next him, his son and heir apparent
Succeeded, though a lame vicegerent,
Who first laid by the Parliament,
The only cratch on which he leant,
And then sunk underneath the State
That rode him above horseman's weight."
The same idea, and almost the identical words,
occur again in his " Remains," in the tale of the
Cobbler and the Vicar of Bray : —
"What's worse, old NoE is marching off,
And Dick, his heir apparent,
Succeeds him in the Government,
A very lame vice-regent.
He'll reign but little time, poor tool,
But sinks beneath the State,
That will not fail to ride the fool
'Bove common horseman's weight"
We meet with it also in the ballad, " Old England
is now a brave Barbary " — i.e., horse — from a " Col
lection of Loyal Songs " reprinted in 173 1, Vol. II.,
p. 32i =—
"But Noll, a rank rider, gets first in the saddle,
And made her show tricks, and curvate, and rebound ;
She quickly perceived he rode widdle-waddle,
And like his coach-horses,* threw his highness to ground.
" Then Dick, being lame, rode holding the pummel,
Not having the wit to get hold of the rein ;
But the jade did so snort at the sight of a Cromwell,
That poor Dick and his kindred turned footmen again."
"Tumble-down Dick" furnished the theme of
many an old song, and it was also the name given
to a dance in the last century.
In 1 7 1 8, as we learn by a report in the Original
Weekly Journal, a most brutal murder was com
mitted at the above inn.
Old (East) Brentford Church, dedicated to St.
George, is perhaps the ugliest of all the ugly
churches which were built in the darkest period

» In allusion to Cromwell's accident in Hyde Park in October, 1654,
when his coach-horses ran away, and his highness, who was driving, fell
from the box between the traces, and was dragged along a considerable
distance.— See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 382.

of architectural science, the first decade of George
III. It is literally a square box of bricks pierced
with apertures for windows, and nothing more.
It is be-pewed and be-galleried to the utmost
possible extent. Its only redeeming feature is a
painting over the communion-table, representing
the Last Supper. It was painted for this church
by Zoffany, who lived (as we have already stated)
at Strand-on-the-Green. It is said that the faces
of the apostles were all taken from local fisher
men, except that of St. Peter, which is a portrait
of Zoffany himself; his own black slave is also
introduced. Zoffany, it may be added, was a
native of Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and was born in
1735. Early in life he went to Italy, where he
studied painting for some years. After his return
to Germany, he practised for a few years as an
historical and portrait painter at Coblentz on the
Rhine, from which place he came to England a few
years before the foundation of the Royal Academy,
as he was elected one of its first members in 1768.
In England Sir Joshua Reynolds and Garrick be
came valuable patrons to him, and he painted
the latter in several of his characters. He also
painted portraits of George III. and other mem
bers of the royal family. About 1781 Zoffany
went to India, and lived for some time at Luck-
now, where he met with the greatest success, and
painted many large pictures of Indian life. He
returned to London about the year 1796 with a
large fortune, and afterwards settled at Strand-on-
the-Green. New (West) Brentford Church, at the other end
of the town, is not quite so monstrous a building,.
though its body dates from about the same period
The old tower still stands. It is dedicated to St
Lawrence, whose festival was the day of Brentford
Fair. This church was built originally on account
of the springing up of a large river-side population,
who could not go two miles to " hear masse " at
their own parish church. The edifice was rebuilt
in 1762. John Home Tooke was minister* here
before he threw up his orders and entered Parlia
ment. In the tower of this church is an ancient bell,
supposed to be one of the earliest cast in England.
The register, which dates from 15-70, contains the
names of two centenarians, one of them a surgeon
in practice in the town. Apparently he took good
care of his own health. In the year of the Great
Plague the burials here were 103, the annual aver
age being about 36.
This church contains some fine monuments ir>
* " Brentford, the Bishopric of Parson Home." — Mason.

36

GREATER LONDON.

[Brentford.

stone and alabaster, including one in the chancel
to Noy, the Attorney-General of Charles I., whose
name figures in history in connection with the
question of " ship-money." Noy's house, with its
quaint barge-board roof, still stands close by the
vicarage. Among other persons buried here were Luke
Sparks, a comedian of Covent Garden, and a
friend of Quin — he spent his last years here,
and died in 1768; Henry Giffard, and his wife
Anna Mascella, who died in 1772 and 1777. He

1867-8, and is in the Early Decorated style of
architecture, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles,
tower, and a lofty spire.
The town-hall and market-house is a commo
dious building, and was erected in 1850.
Brentford is well stocked with works of various
kinds, giving employment to a large number of
hands. Here, for instance, are the gas-works, some
extensive breweries and malt works, a large soap
manufactory, a pottery, the Great Western Railway
docks, spacious timber-yards and saw-mills.

BOSTON HOUSE. (See page 39.)
(From an old Print of 1799.)

was proprietor of the theatre in Goodman's Fields
when Garrick first appeared as one of his com
pany. Weever, in his " Funeral Monuments," mentions
here the tombs of William Clavet, who died in
1496 ; Christopher Caril, Norry king-at-arms
(1510); Richard Parker, "servant in the butlery
to Henry VIIL," and his wife Margaret, " servant
to the Lady Mary's Grace." There are also monu
ments to the Clitherows and Spencers.
Maurice de Berkeley was a great benefactor to
this parish, and the arms of Berkeley are preserved
in stone on the walls of the church. Brentford, in
fact, is well endowed with charities, schools, &c.
St. Paul's Church, in Old Brentford, was built in

At the entrance to the town from Ealing is a
tall chimney, erected for the Grand Junction Water
works ; its height is nearly 200 feet, and it forms a
conspicuous object from whichever side it is seen.
There are six engines, by whose united power
12,000,000 gallons of water are propelled daily
thence to the main reservoir at Paddington. Both
the town and the neighbourhood are supplied from
these works. The Grand Junction Canal is here
brought into contact with the Thames ; it passes
the grounds of Osterley Park, and runs through a
rich corn district near Hanwell, Norwood, Harling
ton, West Drayton, Cowley, and Uxbridge, to Hare
field, not far from Rickmansworth, where it leaves
the county. Its rise of level from Brentford to

Brentford.]

MIDDLESEX ELECTIONS.

37

Harefield is a little over a hundred feet. This
canal was established by Act of Parliament, passed
in 1793; it incorporates the Brent, rendering it
navigable for upwards of a mile before it joins the
Thames. The canal connects the metropolis with
Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Lancashire.
Opposite Kew Bridge is a handsome drinking-
fountain, opened by the Duchess of Teck in 1879.
Brentford in former times was among the places
celebrated for its "bear-baitings." It is to this

knight relates the chapter of accidents which there
befel him : —
" And though you overcame the bear,
The dogs beat you at Brentford fair,
Where sturdy butchers broke your noddle."
In the second part of the same poem is told, in
doggrel verse, the story of Hudibras and a French
mountebank at " Brentford Fair."
Down to little more than a quarter of a century
ago Brentford had a quaint old wooden market-

mrs. trimmer. (Seepage 40.)
(From a Portrait in the possession of the Family.)

place, probably, that Butleralludes inhis "Hudibras,"
Part I., cant. 1, 677 : —
" In western clime there is a town,
To those that dwell therein well known,
*****
To this town people did repair
On days of market or of fair,
And to crackt fiddle and hoarse tabor
, In merriment did trudge and labour.
But now a sport more formidable
Had raked together village rabble :
'Twas an odd way of recreating,
Which learned butchers call bear-baiting."
At all events it is probable that Brentford, to the
"west " of London, is meant, especially when we
remember the lines in Part II., cant 3, where the
4

place, with a clock-tower and a roof of high pitch,
like those with which we meet in the West of
England. Edward I. granted a weekly market and
an annual fair on St. Lawrence's Day. After the
Reformation, the profits of the market and fair were
held under the Crown, but they subsequently passed
into private hands. The market-place stood in the
Butts, which was also the scene of the elections for
Middlesex. The market-day is now on Tuesday,
and fairs are held three days in May, and also three
in September. The elections for Middlesex were
held on Hampstead Heath till the year 1701,
when they were transferred hither. They appear
generally to have been conducted in a very riotous
fashion, one of the most disorderly being that of
1768, when Mr. John Glynn and Sir W. B. Proctor

38

GREATER LONDON.

[Brentford.

were the candidates. " The remembrance of the
famous contests of 1768 and 1769, when party
feeling ran so high in favour of the popular can
didate, is still kept up," writes Lysons, "by the
sign of Wilkes's Head and No. 45."
Brentford is still conventionally regarded as the
chief town of Middlesex for election purposes, a
fact which strongly attests our innate conservatism.
The nominations of the county members have taken
place here " from time immemorial," and all sorts
of good stories and jokes are extant respecting
these elections.
Bubb Dodington writes, under date March 8th,
1749 : — " The election for the county of Middlesex.
Sir Francis Dashwood, Messrs. Furnese, Breton,
and I, went in Sir Francis's coach at eight o'clock
to Mr. Cooke's in Lincoln's Inn Fields. A great
meeting there. We set out with him about nine
— my coach following — and went through Knights-
bridge, Kensington, by the Gravel Pits, to Acton,
and from thence to Stanwell Heath, which was the
general rendezvous. From thence to Brentford
Butts, which was the place of poll. It began about
one. I polled early, and got to my coach, which
was so wedged in that, after much delay, I found
it impossible to make use of it, so that Mr. Breton
and I were forced to take two of my servants'
horses, with livery housings, and ride without boots
ten miles to Lord Middlesex's at Walton, to meet
their Royal Highnesses at dinner. . . . Mycoach
did not arrive till nine. . . . Poll for Mr. Cooke,
1617 ; for Mr. Honywood, 1201. We carried it
by 416."
Paul Whitehead thus refers to the election at
Brentford : —
" Now, nearer town, and all agog,
They know dear London by its fog ;
Bridges they cross, through lanes they wind,
Leave Hounslow's dangerous heath behind ;
Through Brentford win a passage free
By shouting 'Wilkes and Liberty !'"
The cry of "Wilkes and Liberty!" held its
ground for many a long day. Was it in order to
furnish an example of the meaning of this cry that,
in the election riots of 1769, when Wilkes was a
candidate, the mob destroyed the poll-books, and
killed one person at the hustings ?
Colonel Luttrell and Wilkes were standing to
gether on the hustings at Brentford, when Wilkes
asked his adversary, privately, " whether he thought
there were more fools or knaves among the large
crowds of Wilkites below ? " " I'll tell them what
you say, and so put an end to you at once," said
the colonel. Wilkes was unmoved ; and on Luttrell
asking him why he felt no fear at such a threat, he

replied quietly, " Because I should tell them that
it was a fabrication, and they would put an end to
you, and not to me."
Mr. J. T. Smith, in his " Book for a Rainy Day,"
prints the following letter from Lord North to Sir
Eardley Wilmot, under date of 1st April, 1769,
having reference to the candidature of Colonel
Luttrell and Wilkes : —
"My friend Colonel Luttrell having informed me that
many persons depending upon the Court of Common Pleas
are freeholders of Middlesex, &c, not having' the honour of
being acquainted with you himself, desires me to apply to
you for your interest with your friends in his behalf. It is
manifest how much it is for the honour of Parliament, and
the quiet of this country in future times, that Mr. Wilkes
should have an antagonist at the next Brentford election,
and that his antagonist should meet with a. respectable sup
port. The state of the country has been examined, and
there is the greatest reason to believe that the Colonel will
have a very considerable show of legal votes, nay, even a
majority, if his friends are not deterred from appearing at the
poll. It is the game of Mr. Wilkes and his friends to in
crease those alarms, but they cannot frighten the candidate
from his purpose ; and I am very confident that the voters
will run no risk. I hope, therefore, you will excuse this ap
plication. There is nothing, I imagine, that every true friend
of this country must wish more than to see Mr. Wilkes dis
appointed in his projects ; and nothing, I am convinced, will
defeat them more effectually than to fill up the vacant seat
for Middlesex, especially if it can be done for a fair majority
of legal votes. I am, Sir, with the greatest truth and respect,
your most faithful, humble servant, "North."
The judge, in his answer, dated on the following
day, observed, " It would be highly improper for
me to interfere in any shape in that election."*
The author of the work above quoted mentions
several humorous ballads on this subject, par
ticularly "The Renowned History and Rare
Achievements of John Wilkes." The chorus ran
thus : — "John Wilkes he was for Middlesex,
They chose him knight of the shire ;
And he made a fool of Alderman Bull,
And called Parson Home a liar."f
The popularity of Wilkes was carried to so great
an extent, that his friends in all classes displayed
some article on which his effigy was portrayed,
such as salad or punch bowls, ale or milk jugs,
plates, dishes, and even heads of canes. The squib
engravings of him, published from the commence
ment of his notoriety to his silent state when
Chamberlain of London, would extend to several
volumes. Hogarth's portrait of him, which by the
collectors was considered a caricature, is recom-

* See the Wilmot Letters, in the British Museum.
t " Parson Home," of course, is Mr. Home Tooke

Brentford.]

GEORGE III. AND "OLD GANG ABOOT."

39

mended as the best likeness by those who knew
him personally.
In his personal appearance Wilkes was exceed
ingly ill-favoured, as a glance at his portrait will
show ;* and the peculiar squint which he unfortu
nately possessed gave rise to the epigram in " Wine
and Walnuts," beginning —
" The d  1 at Lincoln climbed upon the steeple,
As Wilkes did at Brentford to squint at the people."
Macfarlane, the author of the " History of George
III.," was killed by the pole of a coach during one
of the election processions of Sir Francis Burdett,
at the entrance-of the town. In fact, as the Annual
Register of 1802 informs us, to such a state of
turbulence had the inhabitants of Brentford arrived
on these occasions that " it is impossible for any
but those who have witnessed a Middlesex election
to conceive the picture it exhibited : it was a con
tinued scene of riot, disorder, and tumult."
A good story is told of one of the inhabitants
of Brentford in the last century. Happening to
be travelling in Germany, where " Electors '' are,
or were, not uncommon, he was called on, as he
entered the gates of a town, to describe himself,
after the usual manner of strangers. "I am an
elector of Middlesex," he replied. The German
officials, knowing that an Elector was inferior only
to a king or a prince, but knowing nothing of the
meaning of the term in England, immediately or
dered the guards to be called out, and received
him with military honours.
The only manor in this parish, according to
Lysons, is that of Bordeston, or Burston, commonly
called Boston, which formed part of the posses
sions of the convent of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate.
Edward VI. granted it to the Duke of Somerset, on
whose attainder it reverted to the Crown. Queen
Elizabeth granted it to Robert, Earl of Leicester,
who sold it in the same year to Sir Thomas Gresham.
Having passed through several intermediate hands,
it was bought in 1670 by James Clitherow, Esq.,
a merchant of London, of which he was Lord
Mayor and a representative in Parliament, and in
whose family it still remains. Boston House stands
on gently rising ground, a little less than a mile
north-west of the town. It was built partly by
Lady Reade, and partly by Mr. Clitherow.
Sion House Academy, near Brentford, was the
first school to which the poet Shelley was sent as
preparatory for Eton at1 ten years old, and where he
astonished his master and his schoolfellows by his
intellectual precocity. Even here he showed that
* See " Old and New London," Vol. I., p. 42a

he was something of a philosopher, and that he
had his own views on most subjects upon which
boys are generally disposed to accept the opinions
of others.
Wyke Farm, between Brentford and Osterley
Park, was the residence of John Robinson, who
rose by the favour of Lord Lonsdale from the
position of a foot-boy at Lowther Castle to be
M.P. for Appleby and for other places, and
ultimately Secretary to the Treasury under Lord
North's administration. A good story about this
place is told by Mr. Serjeant Atkinson : — " King
George III., in returning from the chase to Kew
Palace, was obliged to ride across Wyke Farm.
One day, on riding up to one of the gates, he found
it locked. The king hailed a man who happened
to be close by to open the gate, but the fellow was
too lazy or too stupid to go out of his way to oblige
a stranger. ' Come, come,' said the king, ' open
the gate, my man ! ' ' Nae, ye maun gang aboot,'
was the reply. 'Gang aboot, indeed!' said
His Majesty. 'Open the gate at once; I'm the
king ! ' ' Why, may be,' said the chap, ' ye may be
the king, but ye maun gang aboot for all that' And
sure enough His Majesty was obliged to ride
round nearly the whole enclosure of Osterley Park.
In the afternoon Mr. Robinson, who had been
away in London, returned home, and heard of the
king's disappointment. He at once ordered his
carriage, and drove over post haste to Kew to offer
his apologies. He was admitted without ceremony,
as usual, and the king, in answer to his apologies,
merely replied, ' Ah ! I wish I had such fine honest
fellows in my pay as your old " gang aboot." • Tell
him from me that I like his honesty, and shall be
glad to see him here some day.' Mr. Robinson
was at once put at his ease ; and as for the man,
he soon found out a more direct way than all
round Osterley Park to Kew, where he was kindly
received by the good-natured king. It is said that
His Majesty never saw Robinson afterwards without
making tender inquiries after ' Old Gang Aboot' "
Among the former residents of Brentford was
Mr. Pitt, the grandfather of the first Earl of
Chatham. He is said to have been the son of a
tradesman in a small way here, and his son's name
is handed down to us by Pope in connection with
what was known as the " Pitt diamond."
Pope is supposed to allude, in a well-known
passage in the third epistle on his "Moral Essays,"
to this diamond, a gem brought to this country
by Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras, about 1700.
Mr. Pitt purchased this celebrated diamond, which
goes by his name, for ^20,400, and sold it to the
King of France for more than five times that sum.

4o

GREATER LONDON.

[Brentfora.

It was then reckoned the largest jewel in Europe,
and weighed 127 carats. When polished it was
as big as a pullet's egg ; the cuttings amounted in
value to eight or ten thousand pounds. It was
placed among the crown jewels of France, and
afterwards adorned the sword of state of Napoleon.
The report that Mr. Pitt had obtained this diamond
by dishonourable means was very general ; and he
was at last induced to publish a narrative of the
circumstances connected with its purchase. The
affair of the Pitt diamond may have suggested the
incident of the stolen gem to Pope; but the whole
episode appears fanciful, and the history of Sir
Baalam and his family is highly improbable.
At Brentford lived for many years Mrs. Trim
mer, so well known by her writings for young
persons in the time of our parents and grand
parents. She helped largely the thread of educa
tion here. This lady was the daughter of a Mr.
Joshua Kirby, of Ipswich, and was born in 1741.
Her father was a clever draughtsman, and held for
some time the appointment of " tutor in perspective"
to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George III.
Miss Kirby was married at the age of twenty-one
to Mr. Trimmer. Her literary labours commenced
about the year 1780, the first of her published
works being a small volume entitled " An Easy
Introduction to the Knowledge of Nature." She
died in 18 10, very suddenly, in the arm-chair
which she used generally to occupy in her study
in the house in Windmill Lane, where she had
resided for many years.
The parish rates of Brentford, it is said, in
former times, were mainly supported by the profits
of public sports and diversions, especially at Whit
suntide. If this story be true, the good people of
Brentford, in spite of the dull situation of their
town, must have been a jolly set of good fellows.
Among the sports here referred to were such
amusements as "hocking" and "pigeon-holes."
These are constantly mentioned among the entries
in the " chapel-wardens' " account books of the
seventeenth century. At a vestry meeting held
here in 1621, several articles were agreed upon
with regard to the management of the "parish
stock" by the chapel-wardens. The preamble,
which is quoted by Lysons, states that " the in
habitants had for many years been accustomed
to have meetings at Whitsuntide, in their church-
house and other places there, in friendly manner,
to eat and drink together, and liberally to spend
their monies, to the end neighbourly society might
be maintained ; and also a common stock raised
for the repairs of the church, maintaining of
orphans, placing poor children in service, and

defraying other charges ; " which stock not having
been properly applied, it was ordered that a par
ticular account should be given from year to year
oftheir gains at those times, and the manner of the
expenditure. In the " accoumpts for the Whitson-
tide ale, 1624," the "gains " are thus set forth : —
Imprimis, cleared by the pigeon-holes . £4. 19 o
„ „ by hocking . . . 7 3 7
„ „ by riffeling . . . 200
„ „ by victualling . . . 802
^22 2 9
The " riffeling " here mentioned is synonymous
with " raffling." The hocking occurs almost even'
year till 1640, when it appears to have dropped.
It was collected at Whitsuntide.
1618 Gained with hocking at Whitsuntide . ^16 12 3
Other curious entries in the account books,
evidently bearing upon the public sports and pas
times of Brentford, are as follows : —
1620 Paid for 6 boules  ,£008
„ for 6 tynn tokens . . . . 006
„ for a pair of pigeon-holes . . 016
1621 Paid to her that was Lady at Whitsontide
by consent . . . . . 050
„ to Goodwife Ansell for the pigeon-holes 016
,, for the games  I I o
1623 Received for the maypole . . . 140
1628 Paid for a drumbe, stickes, and case . o 16 o
,, for 2 heads for the drumbe . . 028
1629 Received of Robert Bicklye for the use
of our games  020
„ of the said R. B. for a silver bar
which was lost at Elyng . . . 036
1634 Paid for the silver games . . . o u 8
1643 Paid to Thomas Powell for pigeon-holes 020
Among other articles of church furniture in the
hands of the chapel-wardens in 1653 was " one little
collar, a bell, one little bowl, and a pin of silver."
There are other singular entries in the account-
books, as follows : —
1621 Paid for a beast for the parish use . . £2 6 8
, , Given to the French chapel by consent . 100
1625 For a coffin to draw the infected corpses . 088
1633 Given to a Knts. son in Devonshire, being
out of meanes  006
,, Paid for a. book of sporting allowed on
Sundaies . . . . . . o O 6
1634 Paid Robt. Warden, the constable, which
he disbursed for conveying away the
witches  o II o
1688 Paid for a " Declaration of Liberty of
Conscience "  010
,, For a form of prayer for the Dutch not
landing  o I O
,, For a thanksgiving for deliverance from
Popery  010
The two last entries immediately follow each
other.

Heston.3

OSTERLEY PARK.

AT.

CHAPTER IV.
HESTON, ISLEWORTH, AND SION HOUSE.
Osterley Park — Sir Thomas Gresham visited by Queen Elizabeth — Lord Desmond — The Manor of Heston — Heston Church — The Soil — Sir
Joseph Banks and Anthony Collins residents here — Isleworth — Its Etymology — The River Cran — Sion House — Vicissitudes of the Nuns of
St. Bridget— The Rule of the Order of St. Bridget— Early History of the Monastery— The Wardrobes of the Nuns— The Duties of the Abbess,
Cellaress, &c. — Dissolution of the Monastery — Touching History of the Sisterhood— Remains of the Monastery — Katherine Howard a Prisoner
here — Funeral of Henry VIII. — Building of Sion House — The Family of Percy, Dukes of Northumberland — The Princess of Denmark at Sion
House — Description of the Building — The Gardens and Grounds — The Parish of Isleworth — Descent of the Manor — The Parish Church —
Charitable Institutions— Church of St. John the Baptist — Brentford Union— Gumley House — Kendal House — Lacy House — Royal Naval
Female School — Silver Hall — Gordon House — Sir Clipesby Crewe — Worton Hall — Syon Hill — Honnor's Home — London International
College— Spring Grove. in the night sent for workmen to London, who so
speedily and so silently performed their task, that
before morning the wall was finished, to the great
surprise of the queen and her courtiers, one of
whom, however, observed that it was no wonder
that he who could build a Change should so soon
change a building ; whilst others (reflecting on some
known differences in this knight's family) affirmed
that any house is easier divided than united."
From certain minutes in the Privy Council books
of the period, it appears that some of Gresham's
park-paling at Osterley was burned while the queen
was there; that Her Majesty being very much
offended, commanded that the offenders should be
searched out and punished ; and that shortly after
four individuals were committed to the Marshalsea
prison, charged with the offence. The same indus
trious investigator has further discovered that
Gresham's great enclosure at Osterley was very un
popular, and that complaints were laid against him
by sundry poor men for having enclosed certain
common ground, to the prejudice of the poor.
The author of the " Life of Sir Thomas Gresham,"
in Knight's "Weekly Volumes for all Readers,"
observes that " it is not wealth that always makes
the best temple for the household gods, and neither
wealth nor caution could keep sorrow and sickness
and fears out of this splendid mansion. In the
year 1570 one of Gresham's servants fell sick of
the plague in Osterley House, upon which the
knight and his family fled in great dismay into
Sussex." In most of his places Gresham would seem to
have sought, with more success than most persons,
how to unite his profit and his pleasure. At
Osterley he had within the circuit of his park both
oil-mills and corn-mills, and also a paper-mill — the
latter, it is said, being his own device of the first
mill of that kind set up in this country. And
besides this, he made himself useful to his royal
mistress in a variety of ways, acting occasionally as
one of Her Majesty's gaolers, or keepers of State
prisoners ; for as money was saved by such an
arrangement, it became a common practice with

A little to the north-west of Brentford, in the
parish of Heston, lies Osterley Park. The estate,
which now belongs to the Earl of Jersey, was
formerly the property of Sir Thomas Gresham, the
great merchant of Elizabeth's reign, and founder
of the Royal Exchange. He began to re-build the
manor-house about the year 1570, when the estate
was granted to him by the Crown. Norden, who
published his " Survey of Middlesex" in 1596, says,
in the quaint language of the period : — " Osterley,
the house nowe of the Lady Gresham, a faire and
stately building of bricke, erected by Sir Thomas
Gresham, knight, citizen, and marchant adventurer
of London, and finished about anno 1577. It
standeth in , a parke by him also impaled, well
wooded, and garnished with manie faire ponds, which
affordeth not only fish and fowle, as swanes and
other water-fowle, but also a great rise for milles, as
paper milles, oyle milles, and corn milles, all which
are now decayed, a corn mille only excepted. In
the same parke was a faire heronrie, for the increase
and preservation whereof sundry allurements were
devised and set up, fallen all to ruin."
Gresham had no fewer than four or five stately
mansions in Norfolk ; but of these his favourite and
chief residence was Intwood House, or, as he always
called it, his "poor house at Intwood." Besides
these, he had in his latter years this estate of
Osterley, a magnificent old place (Mayfield) in
Sussex, arid apparently one or two houses in other
parts of the kingdom, in which he occasionally
resided. In 1578 Queen Elizabeth visited Sir Thomas
Gresham at Osterley Park, and was there enter
tained in a very sumptuous manner. " The Devises
of Warre, and a Play at Awsterley, her Highness
being at Sir Thomas Gresham's," is the title of a
pamphlet mentioned by Lysons as having been
published by Churchyard ; Lysons adding that it is
" not known to be now (1795) extant." Fuller tells
the following story of Queen Elizabeth's visit to
Osterley : — " Her Majesty having given it as her
opinion that the court before the house would look
better divided with a wall, Sir Thomas Gresham

42

GREATER LONDON.

[tieston.

Elizabeth thus to quarter her State prisoners, or
those whom she wished to keep under her own con
trol, upon her nobles and the richer gentry, making
them personally answerable in case of their cage-
birds escaping. Thus it appears that the Lady
Mary Grey, the sister of Lady Jane, was for some
time an inmate of Osterley Park. Upon one
occasion, the knight and his wife would fain know
what they are to do with my Lady Mary, " trusting
that nowHer Majesty would be so good as to remove
her " — that is, send her to some other gentleman.
But all was in vain; the queen seems to have
thought that her captive could not be in safer or
better keeping, and — sometimes in the London

herself in her captivity and grief with reading. As
some of her books were French, and one or two
Italian, it may be presumed that she knew those
languages, and that, like her eldest sister, the Lady
Jane Grey, she was an accomplished person.
Sir Thomas Gresham died in the following year
(1579), and on the decease of his wife, to whom it
had been left, the property was inherited by Sir
William Read, her son by a former marriage. Soon
after Lady Gresham's death, Lord Chief Justice
Coke (then Attorney-General) appears to have been
a resident at Osterley. One of his children was
christened in the chapel there on the 3rd of January,
1597. George, Earl of Desmond, and his Countess

OSTERLEY PARK.

house, and sometimes at Osterley Park — the Lady
Mary continued to reside with the Greshams from
the month of June, 1569, to the end of 1572.
It should be explained that, alarmed at her
sister's sufferings for having contracted a match with
one of the highest nobles in the land, the Lady
Mary had privately married a plebeian youth, named
Keys ; and that for this offence, and for this only,
the unfortunate lady was detained in custody by the
jealous queen, who apparently would allow of no
marriages, whether high or low, among her kinsfolk
and acquaintance. The poor woman died in 1 5 7 8,
in the parish of St. Botolph, Aldersgate, having
outlived her husband only seven years. In Osterley
she enjoyed a splendid residence, at once a palace
and a prison ; but she finished her days in poverty,
leaving little behind her, except a few trinkets and
a score or two of books. She appears to have
been very fond of her books, and to have solaced

(who was one of the co-heirs to the estate) resided
at Osterley for several years. Lysons, in his
" Environs of London," tells a very remarkable
story of this couple, on the authority of the " Straf
ford Letters :"—" Young Desmond (says Mr.
Garrard, writing to Lord Wentworth), who married
one of the co-heirs of Sir Michael Stanhope, came
one morning to York House, where his wife had
long lived with the duchess during his two years'
absence beyond the seas, and hurried her away,
half-undressed, much against her will, into a coach,
and so carried her away into Leicestershire. At
Brickhill he lodged, where she, in the night, put
herself into milkmaid's clothes, and had likely to
make her escape, but was discovered. Madam
Christian, whom your lordship knows, said that my
Lord of Desmond was the first that ever she heard
of that ran away with his own wife. Modern times,
however, have furnished a parallel. Lady Desmond's

Heston.)

HESTON CHURCH.

43

adventure was in 1635. It was about four years
afterwards that she and the earl came to Osterley,
where she bore him a numerous family."
After a few more changes of ownership, the
manor was sold about the year 1655 to the famous
Parliamentary General, Sir William Waller, who
was resident at Osterley in the year 1657, and who
died in 1668. Later on, the property belonged to
Mr. Francis Child, the banker of Fleet Street, who
rebuilt Osterley House, with the exception of the
old turrets, and from whom it passed to his

The staircase of the house, as left by Mr. Child,
was ornamented with a fine painting, by Rubens,
of the Apotheosis of William III., Prince of
Orange, brought from Holland by Sir Francis
Child. The picture-gallery is forty yards in
length, and contains some choice works. The
mansion formerly contained a large and valuable
collection of books, Mr. Child having pur
chased the whole library of Mr. Brian Fairfax,
and a printed catalogue of the same was drawn
up by Dr. Morell in 17 71. , In 1879 the

HESTON.

brother Robert, who completed the work, and fitted
up the interior with great taste and magnificence.
Mr. Robert Child's granddaughter, Lady Sarah
Sophia Fane, daughter of the tenth Earl of West
moreland, conveyed the estate in marriage to the
fifth Earl of Jersey, grandfather of the present earl,
who does not, however, reside here.
Osterley House is a large, square, red-brick
building, and stands in an extensive park, in which
is a lake covering several acres. Lady Ducie, a
former occupant of the mansion, established in the
garden a menagerie, containing a large collection
of rare birds, which was, however, dispersed on
the death of her ladyship. At the end of the last
century an artist at Southall published in monthly
numbers a series of coloured prints of the rare and
curious birds from this menagerie.

building was greatly damaged by an outbreak
of fire.
The village of Heston, about half a mile westward
from Osterley Park, is situated on the cross-road
between the main roads leading from London to
Uxbridge and Staines. • It was in ancient times
apnexed to the manor of Isleworth; and it appears
by an inquisition taken after the death of Edmund,
Earl of Cornwall, in the year 1300, that he died
seised of that manor. The parish church, dedicated
to St. Leonard, is a modern edifice, having been
built in 1866. It is a stone structure, consisting of
nave, aisles, and chancel, and was erected in the
place of an ancient edifice, the tower of which
alone was left standing, and which, although very
old, is in a fair state of preservation. ^ The old
church, which was built principally of flints, com-

44

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth.

prised a nave and two aisles, and a double chancel.
There were in it a few ancient monuments, but none
of any public interest.
The church of Heston was given at a very early
period to the monks of St Valerie, in Picardy, to
whom it was confirmed by Henry II. In 1391 the
Prior of St. Valerie granted the rectory and ad-
vowson to the Warden and Fellows of Winchester
College, whose successors surrendered it to the
Crown in 1544. Queen Elizabeth, however, granted
them to Bishop Grindall and his successors in the
see of London. The parish registers date back to
1560, but during the last century they were very
imperfectly kept up. From the entries of burials in
1665, it appears that the effects of the Great Plague
of London were felt as far westward as Heston, for
no less than thirteen persons are said to have died
of the plague in this parish during that year.
The soil of this parish is, in general, a strong
loam, and is noted for producing wheat of a very
fine quality — the finest, at all events, in Middlesex.
Camden speaks of it as having, long before his
time, furnished the royal table with bread ; and
Norden, who bears the same testimony to its superior
quality, says it was reported that Queen Elizabeth
had " the manchets for her highness's own diet "
from Heston.
Among the persons of eminence who have lived
at Heston may be mentioned the learned and
accomplished philosopher, and founder of the
Linnsean Society, Sir Joseph Banks, of whom a bio
graphical sketch will be found in the pages of Old
and New London.* He lived for some time at
Smallbury Green, in this parish, probably in order
to be near Kew, Chiswick, and Ealing. Anthony
Collins, a deistical writer of some note in the seven
teenth century, was born at Heston in 1676.
Isleworth adjoins Heston on the south; the
boundary line between the two parishes, however,
has not always been clearly defined, possibly from the
bounds not having been beaten as regularly as they
might have been ; at all events, Lysons, in his
" Environs," gives an account of a fray and dispute,
which arose between the parishioners of Isleworth
and of Heston in "beating the bounds" on a
Rogation Day. Heston and Isleworth now, for
educational and drainage purposes, together form a
Local Board district, which includes the town of
Hounslow. Isleworth is a large parish on the
banks of the Thames, immediately westward of
Brentford. It is a place of great antiquity, being
mentioned in Domesday Book as " Ghistelworde."
The name was afterwards spelt in various ways, as

* See Vol. III., p. 191.

Yhistelworth, Istelworth, and Thistleworth, the
last-mentioned spelling being in vogue in Queen
Elizabeth's time, and even used by Pope; but
for the last two centuries it has been usually spelt
Isleworth. Lysons suggests that Skinner's derivation of the
etymology of Islington, from Gisel, a hostage, and
tun, a town, might more justly, with the alteration
of tun for worth, a village, be applied to this place ;
for it does not appear that Islington in any ancient
record is called Giselton, or Gistelton, but Isendune.
" The most general idea of its derivation," he adds,
"has been suggested by the modern name Isle
worth; but I think that the constant usage of Istel
worth for so many centuries leads one to seek for
some other etymology, though perhaps it might be
difficult to find one which would be entirely satis
factory." Might not its derivation be found in Ise,
or Isis, which was a common Celtic name for a
river, and worth, which in Anglo-Saxon is said to
denote a nook of land between two rivers ? Gibson,
however, regards worth as signifying a farmhouse.
When scholars disagree, who is to decide ?
It was by Saxon husbandry and labour that Isle
worth, Twickenham, &c, were reclaimed, enclosed,
and improved. Before the reign of Henry III., the
site now covered by Isleworth and its adjacent towns
was part of the forest, or warren, of Staines. It
extended from the river Brent to Staines, and even
to the banks of the Coin, a little further west. It
was disafforested in 1227. Very slight mention
of this village is made in English history. It is,
however, recorded that in 1263 Simon de Montfort
and the other refractory barons pitched their tents
in Isleworth Park ; and that four centuries later —
namely, in August, 1647 — General Fairfax fixed his
head-quarters here at the head of the Parliamentary
army. The river Cran, or Crane, which rises in the
neighbourhood of Harrow, falls into the Thames at
this place, having been augmented by an artificial
cut from the Colne, made in bygone times by the
abbess and convent of the monastery of Sion, for
the convenience of their water-mills.
Sion, or Syon House, the seat of the Duke of
Northumberland, occupies the site of the above-
mentioned monastery, and is situated at the south
eastern angle of the parish. The monastery — the
original site of which appears to have been in the
adjoining parish of Twickenham — was founded by
King Henry V. in 141 5, for the accommodation of
sixty sisters and twenty-five brothers belonging to
the order of St. Bridget, a modified branch of the
order of St Augustine. This religious house, to
gether with its twin monastery at Sheen — for such

Isleworth.]

THE MONASTERY OF SION.

it really was — is the subject of an allusion by
Shakespeare in his play of Henry V., where the
king says: —
" Five hundred poor have I in yearly pay,
Who twice a day their withered hands hold up
Towards heaven to pardon blood ; and I have built
Two chantries, where the sad and solemn priests
Sing still for Richard's soul."
The dedication stone was laid by the king in
February, 1416. The dimensions of the premises
on which the convent stood are thus stated in an
ancient record, quoted by Lysons: — The length,
towards the river, 2,820 feet; towards Twickenham
Field, 1,938 feet ; the breadth on one side was 980
feet, and on the other 960 feet. The building
itself would appear to have been very small, and
insufficient for the accommodation of the inmates ;
for within eighteen years of the foundation of
the monastery — namely, in 1431 — permission was
granted to the abbess and the holy community
to remove to a more spacious edifice, which they
had built upon their demesnes within the parish of
Isleworth. The Rev. J. H. Blunt, in his Introduction to
" The Myroure of oure Ladye," formerly belonging
to the ladies of this convent, and written specially
for its use, states that Sion was the most important
monastery founded in England during the 180 years
preceding the Reformation. Be this, however, as
it may, there can be no doubt that it stood at the
head of convents for females, both in respect of
its wealth, its learning, and its piety, and that for
at all events a century and a quarter it enjoyed an
" exceedingly prosperous " existence. When it was
suppressed by Henry VIII. its net annual income
was assessed at a sum equivalent to about ^20,000
of our money, an income exceeded by only West
minster, Glastonbury, Clerkenwell, St. Alban's,
Gloucester, Croyland, and Pershore, and larger
than that of the great Benedictine monasteries of
Canterbury, Durham, or Winchester. Cobbett, in
his " History of the Reformation," gives the value
of this house, at the Dissolution, as ^1,944, and
reckons that in the middle of the present century
it would have been worth ^38,891.
It was the custom with our sovereigns, soon after
their accession, to found one or more religious
houses for the benefit of the souls of their pre
decessors — and their own at the same time. In
pursuance of this custom, Henry V. gave up part
of his manors of Sheen (Richmond) and Isleworth
for the foundation of a house of Carthusian monks
at the former place, and of a house of nuns of the
order of St. Bridget at the latter. The order of
St. Bridget, according to Mr. Blunt, was founded

45

by that Swedish princess and saint at Watstein, in
the diocese of Lincopen, about the year 1344, and
it owed its introduction into England to the
marriage of Eric XIII. of Sweden with Philippa,
daughter of our Henry IV., some of the Swedish
sisters having been sent over for that purpose in
141 5. In the March of the following year a
charter in their favour was signed by the king,
defining their duties : " to celebrate Divine service
for ever, for our healthful estate while we live, and
for our soul when we shall have departed this life,
and for the souls of our most dear lord and father,
Henry, late King of England, and Mary, his late
wife, our most dear mother ; also for the souls of
John, late Duke of Lancaster, our grandfather, and
Blanche, his late wife, our grandmother, and of
other our progenitors, and of all the faithful de
parted." It was also decreed that the house should
be called " the Monastery of St. Saviour and St.
Bridget of Syon," but the name of St. Mary was
commonly inserted subsequently between those of
the Saviour and St. Bridget. " The buildings there
and then commenced," we are told, " were situate
near Twickenham, occupying a site which stretched
for about half a mile along the river's bank, and
about a third of that distance into the meadows."
The " Monastery," as stated above, was to con
sist of eighty-five persons : sixty sisters — of whom
one was to preside as abbess — and twenty-five
professed brothers. Of the latter, thirteen were
to be priests, four deacons, and eight lay brothers,
employed as sextons, gardeners, &c. The priests
were to say and sing mass daily in the chapel for
the nuns, and were to take turns with them also in
saying the "offices," each seven times daily, so
that the voice of praise and prayer was hardly ever
silent within its walls. The choirs of the chapel
were double, the two aisles being screened off from
each other by a thick screen, or parclose, and there
was no access from the one to the other, except
only for the priests on their way to say mass at the
altars. The monks and the sisters each also occupied
a separate court.
"This double community," writes Mr. Blunt,
" was in reality a combination, for purposes of
Divine service, of two separate bodies, each of
which had its own conventual buildings separately
enclosed. Their two chapels were under the same
roof, being, in fact, a double chancel, each with its
separate stalls, and opening into each other by a
' grate,' or ' grille,' the gate of which was unlocked
only for the entrance and departure of the clergy
when they said mass at the altar of the sisters'
chapel. The only other door of communication
was one used at the profession of novices, which

46

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth.

was in the sisters' cloister. To this there were two
keys, differing from each other, one kept in a chest
on the brothers' side, and the other in a similar
chest on the sisters' side. To each of these chests
there were three keys, none of the keys being
alike, and these were kept by the abbess and two
' sistres that have drede of God on the one side,
and by the Confessor-general and two brothers on
the other, that so al occasion of sclaunder be
vtterly take away both outwarde and inwarde ' by
means of such precaution."
The rule of St. Bridget was, as above stated, a
modified form of the Augustinian rule, to which
that saint gave the name of the Saviour, in the
belief that it had been communicated to her by
our Lord Himself. We have fortunately this rule
in existence, a translation of it into English by
Richard Whitford, who styles himself in all humility
"The Witch of Syon,'' having been printed by
Wynkyn de Worde in 1525. It will be found in
extenso in Aungier's " History of Isleworth." It is
the most valuable record of monasticism that has
come down to us, and it shows us the inner work
ing of cloistered life. Additions to the rules of
the monastery of Sion are preserved in the library
of St. Paul's Cathedral. They were found some
few years ago by the Rev. R. H. Barham, the well-
known author of the " Ingoldsby Legends." The
copy in the British Museum is imperfect.
We find an interesting sketch of Sion in Pro
fessor Burrows's " Worthies of All Souls." From
this book we learn that it was founded by Henry V.,
by the advice of Archbishop Chicheley, afterwards
the founder of All Souls College at Oxford. At
its opening Chicheley officiated, as archbishop.
The convent was endowed, like All Souls, by the
Crown, out of the estates of suppressed alien
priories, and as it was one of the latest mediaeval
foundations, so also it was one of the most aristo
cratic. Its monastic life under the rule of St.
Austin (as then lately reformed by St. Bridget,
Queen of Spain), its royal patronage, its great
wealth, its beautiful position on the Thames at
Isleworth, as well as its vast staff of eighty-five
" religious," in honour of the thirteen apostles and
the seventy-two disciples, made it a natural ally of
the favoured college at Oxford so munificently dedi
cated by Chicheley to the memory of the princes
of the House of Lancaster. " No doubt scholars of
the one became chaplains of the other, and no
doubt many a nun of Sion was to be found as
a pilgrim making her offerings at the glittering
shrine of All Souls. . . . But now, under
Henry VIII., the crash came. While the college
was spared, the nunnery of Sion found its way into

the hands of the Dukes of Northumberland, with
whom it has ever since remained, and the nuns
set forth on their toilsome wanderings abroad.
The stout English spirit in their gentle blood
forbade them to give way without a struggle, and
their struggle was one of the most gallant and
prolonged on record. It lasted three hundred years.
After the failure of their fond attempts to settle
near their own land in the Low Countries and in
France, they eventually found a home at Lisbon,
still keeping their English nationality through all
vicissitudes. In the seventeenth century their
convent was destroyed by fire, but that did not
daunt them. They diligently begged for alms, and
re-built their nest. Again their new abode was
levelled to the ground in the famous earthquake of
the seventeenth century, and again it was re-built.
But what fire and earthquake had failed to effect
was brought about by the Peninsular War. When
Lisbon became the head-quarters of our army, the
convent became the English hospital, and the
forlorn relic of the sisterhood, consisting of nine
English ladies, made their way back to their own
land once more in 181 o." We learn from Bandinel's
edition of Dugdale that in 1825 two or three of
them were still alive in the vicinity of the Stafford
shire Potteries.
But to return to the early history of the house.
The royal charter having been supplanted by a
papal bull from Martin V. in a.d. 141 8, the first
profession of novices took place in the new building
before Archbishop Chicheley, on April 21st, 1420.
It would seem that some of the first sisters, and
also of the brethren, were very naturally Swedes.
Shortly before his death, in 1422, their royal founder
conveyed to his favourite convent the whole of his
manor of Isleworth, which had previously belonged
to the Duchy of Cornwall ; and his successor en
riched them with broad lands in half the counties
of England, chiefly from the spoils of the alien
priories. Thus enriched, the community began to
find their original quarters too narrow, and therefore
obtained from the Crown a licence to erect new
buildings a little further to the east on their demesne,
the site, as already shown, being that of the present
palace of the Duke of Northumberland. Here
their new chapel was begun in 1426, the first stone
being laid by the Regent John, Duke of Bedford,
who gave a "cramp-ring" to each sister, and a
handsome set of office-books for the use of the
new chapel.
Five years later, in 1431, the sisters received
from Henry VI. letters patent, giving them full
licence to remove to their new abode without
hindrance to their original rights and privileges.

Isleworth.]

DUTIES OF THE ABBESS.

47

They made their removal on November nth, the
feast of St. Martin, when their new chapel was
consecrated, in the presence of Humphrey, Duke
of Gloucester.
"From this time forward," writes Mr. Blunt,
" the ' Daughters of Syon ' appear to have remained
in tranquil possession of their beautiful river-side
home and of their lands, which were distributed
over the country, from St. Michael's Mount to
Windermere." He adds that if their income
reached a sum representing the present value of
^20,000 a year, this would give ^250 for each
member of the community. " How this large
income was expended there is no evidence to show,"
he continues ; " but the character of the Sion com
munity suggests that it would neither be wasted
nor spent in self-indulgence ; but one longs for the
discovery of their account-books."
The abbess, as the superioress was styled, was a
dignified female ecclesiastic, and was called in her
house the " Reverend Mother." She was elected by
the sisters alone ; and if they were unanimous, the
election was said to be by the Holy Ghost. The
choice was, however — whether divinely sanctioned
or not — subject to the confirmation of the Bishop
of London. The title of " sovereign," given to
the abbess in the formal rule of the house, shows
that, although elective, her power was somewhat
absolute ; and it is on record that she administered
a variety of punishments to her novices and to the
professed sisters, in case of rebellion or wilful
contempt of the regulations of the house. A
list of the abbesses from the foundation of the
convent down to its dissolution and its final dis
persion will be seen in Mr. Blunt's book. Agnes
Jordan, who was the last but one, is commemorated
on a brass in Denham Church, near Uxbridge,
where she lies buried. Catherine Palmer, the last,
who held the office under Mary, lived till 1576.
Figures of these brasses are given in Aungier's
" History," already quoted.
Next to the abbess was the prioress, and under
her, again, the treasuress and under - treasuress,
who had charge of the " temporal goods." On
this subject a writer observes: — "They had a
great chest, with two different locks and keys,
each one keeping a key, so that nothing could
be put into the chest or taken therefrom with
out the knowledge and consent of both. This was
' to put away all affection of covetousness and all
occasion of suspicion of evil.' Another of their
duties, in the absence of the abbess, was to attend
to all such business as involved interviews with
strangers, farmers, and others. We can well imagine
what important personages these two sisters would

become in the estimation of the rest of the com
munity. Separated from the outer world, but not
without some interest in it — for had they not fathers
and brothers ? — the treasuress would be the means
of communication between them and what was
passing in England during the stormy years of
Henry VI., Edward IV., and onward to the end.
The estates of the monastery were scattered over
the country, from St. Michael's Mount to Winder
mere. Its annual income amounted to over twenty
thousand pounds of our money, so that the ' farmers
and other persons ' who had business to transact
with the recluses of Isleworth would come from al"
parts, and would bring details of the sanguinary
encounters at Barnet or Towton, or Wakefield oi
Bosworth ; while others, nearer home, would no
doubt convey whispers of dark deeds said to have
been committed in the Tower and elsewhere during
the terrible War of the Roses. And then, when
Henry VIII. began to be worried by ' domestic
troubles,' we can easily understand how these good
sisters, in their hours of recreation, would sit round
and chat about Queen Catherine, Queen Anne,
and the rest of the queens of that generation,
and how some would sympathise with one, and
some with another. Happy sisters ! they were
spared all the active sorrows of that troublous
time, but were, no doubt, vexed with other, if
minor, cares."
The chamberess had duties peculiarly of a
feminine nature, having charge of the "clothes,
lynin, laces, poyntes, nedelles, threde, and the
sewing and repairing of them, and keeping of them
from wormes."
From an ancient record, quoted by Mr. Blunt we
obtain a curious insight into the wardrobes of the
" Daughters of Syon." It is confirmed by another
document, preserved in the Record Office, namely,
the "Account of Dame Bridget Belgrave," who
was chamberess in 1536-7, and who appears not
only to have provided all articles of apparel for
the sisters, but to have bought no less than twenty-
three pairs of spectacles — doubtless for the use of
those whose eyesight was not as perfect as it once
was — besides large supplies of " pynnes of dyuerse
sortes " and " tagging of poyntes," and to have
paid for the grinding of razors for the brethren.
Among the articles mentioned in her account are
"russettes, kerseys, soope (soap), holand and other
lynen cloth, bristelles, nedilles, thymbilles, cappes,
shethes, coverlettes," &c. Another important per
sonage in the monastic community was the
cellaress, whose duty it was to provide the sisters
with such inward comforts as they might require,
" the meat and drink for sick and whole, and for

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth.

the servants who lived in the house, as well as
for those who lived outside, and for the stran
gers who not unfrequently stayed as guests at the
monastery." It is pleasant to note that in all
their arrangements, both of kitchen, cellar, and
treasury, there was a desire to live sensibly and
soberly, neither despising the good things of this
life nor yet abusing them ; and in all these were
the care and refinement suitable to those who

list of the live-stock belonging to the sisterhood.
The list includes the following "catall"— 2 bulles,
20 keen (kine), 6 oxen, 4 heyfers, 5 wayners,
122 shepe, wedders (wethers), ewes, 5 lambes.
The swyne were as follows — 6 boores, 12 sowes,
25 hogges, and 21 wayners. The cellaress, it
appears, was authorised to charge for " expences
at London," "rewardes to the servantes at Criste-
mas with their aprons," " sede " for the garden,

THE old stables at SION HOUSE. (Seep. SO.)
(From Aungier's "History of Isleworth.")

did not cease to be English ladies when they
became "Daughters of Syon," as they were usually
designated. The duties of the cellaress, however, would
appear not to have been limited, to the cellar of
the house. She acted as purveyor-general, and
not only bought and purveyed very many of the
stores necessary for her fifty-nine sisters, but sold
much of the produce of the estate. In the
" accompte " of Dame Agnes Merett, cellaress in
the year before the Dissolution, occur entries of
" calve - skynnes " and " felles solde," besides
" woode " — which seems to have fetched a good
price. This account, which may still be seen in
the Public Record Office, is interesting as giving a

"cover-lettes," sack-cloth, "cord," and "candill
rushes." The general superintendence of the sisters was
in the hands of the prioress and four assistants,
called " serchers," who are ordered to " have a good
eye about " the house, and to see that order and
silence are kept. The sisters of Syon, like those of
most other religious orders, used to administer
the discipline, not only to offenders against the
rules of the house, but to each other at stated
times, for their spiritual good. " Such exercises
of those who live a cloistered life," remarks Mr.
Blunt, "must not be criticised too closely by
those whose life moves in a less narrow circle."
" The arrangement of the sisters' meals was that

SION HOUSE, FROM THE SOUTH.

¦M

5=

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworlh.

of a high table and side tables, such as were then
and long after common in the halls of bishops
and great houses in the country, and such as may
still be observed in colleges and public schools
and inns of court. They were waited on by
lay-sisters, or servitors, and there was a care and
refinement about the arrangement of meals, such
as befitted those who had not ceased to be ladies
when they became nuns." The viands consisted
of soups or "potages," sundry "metes, of flesche
and of fysche, one fresche, another powdred
boy led, or rosted, or otherwise dyghte after her
discrecion, and after the day, tyme and nede
requyreth, as the market and purse wyll stretche."
Their drink was on some days water, on others
ale, and the dinner was garnished with "two
maner of froytes (fruits) at leste, yf it may be,
that is to say, apples, peres, or nuttes, plummes,
chiryes, benes, peson, or any such other." Some
few trifling luxuries were allowed to those in weak
health ; and the Rules of the Saviour and of St.
Austin were read aloud during meals by one of
the sisters who acted as legister. It was the
practice of the house — though its inmates were
women — to keep silence, except at specified times,
in every part of it.
A munificent endowment was provided for the
monastery of Sion, the king, its founder, granting
for its sustentation a thousand marks out of the
revenues of the Exchequer, until other revenues
should be provided; and at the dissolution the
income of Sion amounted to the then considerable
sum of ^1,731 per annum.
Thomas Stanley, the second Earl of Derby, was
buried within its precincts in 152 1, a few years
before its dissolution, which happened in 1532.
Sion was one of the first of the larger monas
teries that was suppressed, the convent having been
accused of harbouring the king's enemies, and of
being in collusion with Elizabeth Barton, the
" Holy Maid of Kent." Henry VIII., indeed, is
said to have selected this convent as an object of
especial 'vengeance, as it was accused of afford
ing an asylum to his " enemies." It was through
the confessor of the convent at Sion that the
monks of the Charterhouse in London were led
to subscribe to the supremacy of Henry VIII.,
many of them having for a time refused to sub
scribe to the King's supremacy. Be this as it
may, however, one of the monks of Sion, and
also the Vicar of Isleworth, suffered at Tyburn
along with Houghton, the prior of the Charter
house. After the dissolution the lands of the Sion sister
hood were sold or granted away by the Crown, but

the house and its immediate domain were retained
as the property of the sovereign.
The subsequent history of the sisterhood is
touching and sad. They retired at first to a
Bridgetine convent at Dermond, in Flanders. For
two short years, at the end of Queen Mary's reign,
they returned to their ancient home ; but on the
accession of Elizabeth, their sufferings recommenced.
They again had to fly for refuge abroad, and found
again a home with their Flemish sisters. After
many changes of residence, and after undergoing
great poverty, they were at last established in a
new Sion, on the banks of the Tagus, at Lisbon,
in the year 1594. Here they still remain after the
lapse of nearly three centuries, restricting their mem
bership entirely to English sisters, and still retaining
the keys of their old home in the hope, never yet
abandoned by them, of eventually returning to it.
It is said that some half century or more ago, when
they were visited at Lisbon by the then Duke of
Northumberland, they told his Grace the story of
having carried their keys with them through all
their changes of fortune and abode, and that they
were still in hopes of seeing their English home
again. " But," quietly remarked his Grace, " the
locks have been altered since those keys were
in use." A full account of the wanderings of the
sisters from Flanders to Rouen, and from thence
to Lisbon, and their subsequent history, will be
found in Aungier's " History and Antiquities of
Isleworth." It may be said, however, that though several in
effectual attempts have been made to revive the
life of the Bridgetines in England — as at Peckham,
in Surrey ; at Newcastle, in Staffordshire ; and at
Spettisbury, in Dorsetshire—the " Sion " of Lisbon
remains the real and legitimate representation of the
" Sion " of Isleworth.
The nuns reckoned among their most remark
able treasures the original Martyrologium of Sion ;
the Deed of Restoration, signed by Queen Mary
m i557> and endorsed by Cardinal Pole; some
curious seals and a silver bell ; and a manuscript
account of their wanderings in Flanders and
Portugal. No general view and but very few details of the
original monastic buildings of " Sion " have been
handed down to us; nor has its successor— the
immediate predecessor of the present Sion House
—fared much better. That it was a large and
imposing structure there can be no doubt, 'con
sidering the date of its erection. A doorway, of
the Perpendicular period, highly ornamented,
figures on the title-page of Aungier's work above
quoted. The old stables, probably as old as the

Isleworth.]

THE NUNS OF SION.

5i

early Tudors, were mostly taken down about
1790. There is a view of them in Aungier's book
(p. 136) ; where will be also seen a map of the
domain. The convent was probably renowned not only
for its buildings, but for its furniture and fittings,
and even for the vestments of its priests. In 1861
there was exhibited, under the auspices of the
Archaeological Institute, a magnificent cope from
Sion, probably of the second half of the thirteenth
century, which had been carried abroad by the
sisters at the dissolution, and was presented by
their successors to the Earl of Shrewsbury, who
had given them a home in Staffordshire. It is
described as " quite a storied vestment." On the
higher part of the back is the Assumption and
Crowning of the Virgin Mary ; beneath is the
Crucifixion ; lower down is the Archangel Michael
overcoming the dragon ; high up on the right are the
death of the Virgin, the doubting of St. Thomas,
St. James the Less holding a club, another apostle
with book and spear, St. Paul, St James the
Greater, the burial of the Virgin Mary, St. Mary
Magdalen and our Lord, St. Philip, St. Bartholo
mew, St. Andrew, ten cherubim winged, and figures
of religious persons holding scrolls. The hood,
which was hung by three loops, is lost ; the
orphreys are two broad bands, bearing shields
charged with the armorial bearings of several noble
English houses ; and the whole is surrounded by
a narrower rim or fringe of shields, of somewhat
later date than the rest. The dimensions of the
cope are ten feet by four feet eight inches. The
heraldic portions, about sixty in number, are pro
bably woven, but the figures are all worked by the
needle. Another article of great value exhibited was a
Mariola, or wax image of the Virgin Mary with
the Saviour in her arms, probably the work of
an English artist towards the close of the thir
teenth century. This, too, was one of the Lares
and Penates which the sisters carried with them
abroad, and was also presented to John, Earl of
Shrewsbury. Both of these in all probability were
gifts to the convent at its first foundation. Another
article exhibited at the rooms of the Archaeological
Institute in 1862 was a fine pectoral cross of solid
gold of the sixteenth century, very probably a gift
to the convent on its re-establishment by Queen
Mary ; and also a manuscript " Processionale ad
usum Ecclesiae de Syon," differing considerably
from that in use at Salisbury. This was inscribed
with the name of a sister named Slight, one of the
inmates scattered by King Henry VIII., and
brought back again by Queen Mary.

From the following extract from a letter of
Thomas Bedyll, one of the " visitors " of the
monasteries at the time of the dissolution, to
Secretary Cromwell, under date of July 28th, 1534,
it will be seen how the nuns of Sion were forced
to acknowledge the king's supremacy. Bedyll
writes: — "I have also been at Syon sith your
departing with my lord of London, where we
have found the lady abbas and susters as con
formable in everything as myght be devised. And
as towching the father confessor and father Cur-
sone (whiche be the saddest men ther and best
learned), they shewed thaimselfes like honest men ;
and I think the confessor wol now on Sonday next
in his sermon make due mension of the kinges
title of supreme hed, acording as he is commaunded.
What towardnes or intowardnes we have seen in
som other of the brethern there, I wol informe
you at youre retorne to Londone, and omitte it
now bicause I have som hope that by the wisdome
of the father confessor and father Cursone the
residue shal shortly be brought to good conformite.
And if not, there be two of the brethern must be
weded out, whiche be somewhat sediciose, and
have labored busily to infect thair felowes with
obstinacy against the kinges said title."
Later on, under date of 17th December, Bedyll
thus writes to Cromwell, touching a visitation to
Sion : — " As for the brethern, they stand stif in
thair obstinacy as you left thaim. Here wer on
Tuesday Doctor Buttes and the quenys amner
to convert Wytford and Litell ; and on Wensday
here wer Doctor Aldrigge, Doctour Curven, Doctor
Bawghe, and Doctor Morgan, sent by the kinges
grace for that purpose, but they nothing proficted.
I handled Whitford after that in the garden, bothe
with faire wordes and with foule, and shewed him
that throughe his obstinacy he shuld be brought to
the greate shame of the world for his irreligious
life, and for his using of badd wordes to diverse
ladys at the tymes of thair confession, whereby (I
seyed) he myght be the occasion that shrift shalbe
layed downe throughe England. But he hath a
brasyn forehed, whiche shameth at nothing. One
Mathew, a lay brother, upon hope of liberte, is
reformed. We wolde fanye know your advise
what we shal do with Whitford and Litell, and a
lay brother, one Turnyngton, whiche is very sturdy
against the kinges title. We have sequesterd
Whitford and Litell from hering of the ladys
confessions, and we think it best that the place
wher thes frires have been wont to hire uttward
confessions .of al commers at certen tymes of the
yere be walled up, and that use to be fordoen for
ever, ffor that hering of utward confessions hath

52

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth.

been the cause of muche evyl, and of muche
treson whiche hath been sowed abrode in this
mater of the kinges title, and also in the kinges
graces mater of his succession and mariage. On
Wensday my Lord Wyndesore came hither, sent
for by Maister Leighton and me, and labored muche
that day for the converting of his suster and som
other of his kynneswomen here ; and yesterday
we had my Lord of London here in the chapiter
house of women, and the confessor also, whiche
bothe toke it upon thair consciences and upon the
perill of thair soulys that the ladys owght by Code's
law to consent to the kinges title, wherewith they
wer muche comforted ; and when we wylled al
suche as consented to the kinges title to syt styll,
and al suche as wold not consent therunto to
depart out of the chapter house, there was found
none emong thaim whiche departed. Albeit I' was
informed this nyght that one Agnes Smyth, a sturdy
dame and a wylful, hath labored diverse of her
susters to stop that we shuld not have thair convent
seal ; but we trust we shal have it this mornyng,
with the subscription of thabbes for her self and al
her susters, whiche is the best fassion that we can
bring it to. The persone whiche ye spak with at
the grate, covyteth very muche to speke with you,
seyng she hath suche thingefi whiche she wold utter
to no man but to you, and what they be I cannot
conject. We purpose this after none, or els to-
morow mornyng, to awaite on the king grace, to
know his pleasir in everything, and specially
towching the muring up of the howses of utter-
ward confessions. Maister Leyghton hath wreten
certen compertes unto you, and therefor I forber
to speke anything therof. The ladys of Sion
besecheth you to be good maister unto thaim, and
to thair house, as thair special trust is in you, and
that they all run not into obloquy and slander for
the mysbehavor of one person. A greate number
of the ladys desired me to speke unto you that
Bisshope and Parkere myght be discharged from
the house of Sion, and Bisshope and Parker desire
the same. I mervaile that they desire not like
wise to be discharged of the person with whom ye
talked at the grate, seing Bisshope's caus and that
is one." *
After the suppression of this religious house the
conventual buildings were retained in the posses
sion of the Crown during the remainder of the
reign of Henry VIII., and in 1541 its gloomy
walls were selected as the prison-house of the ill-
fated Katharine Howard, while the sentence was
being prepared which was to consign her to the

"Letters Relating to the Suppression of Monasteries,
T. Wright, Esq., for the Camden Society.

Edited by

scaffold. Seven years later the body of the king
himself rested here for a night on its way towards
Windsor Castle. The story was long current that
the swollen corpse burst and bled profusely, and
that the dogs licked up the blood of the wicked
monarch here, as other dogs in their day had
licked up the blood of Ahab in Samaria.
In the first year of the reign of Edward VI., the
monastery of Sion was granted to the Lord Pro
tector, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who
had already rented some premises at Isleworth
under the Abbess and convent; and it was this
nobleman who founded, on the ruins of the
monastic building, the magnificent edifice which
ultimately became the seat of the Northumberland
family, and the shell of which, though in part
considerably altered, still remains. The works
carried out here by the Duke of Somerset were
very extensive, and executed at great cost, and the
grounds appear to have been laid out in a manner
rather superior to the fashion which then usually
prevailed. Here he had a botanical garden, formed
under the superintendence of Dr. Turner, who has
been often spoken of as "the father of British
botany;" and here were planted some of the
earliest, if not the very earliest, mulberry trees
introduced into England, many of which are still
green and flourishing. Here the Duke of Sorherset
was living when Allen, the conjuror and astro
loger, was brought before him, charged with prac
tising his art to the injury of the king, and was
committed to the Tower.
On the attainder of the Duke of Somerset for
high treason, the mansion reverted to the Crown,
and was shortly afterwards granted to John Dudley,
Duke of Northumberland, but became the residence
of Lord Guilford Dudley, the son of that nobleman,
who married Lady Jane Grey. It was from this
house that Lady Jane went forth on her way to the
Tower, to claim the throne of England, on the
death of Edward VI.
The estate was again forfeited to the Crown by
the attainder of the Duke of Northumberland, and
Queen Mary retained it in her possession till 1557,
when, as stated above, she was prevailed upon to
restore the convent of Sion. She endowed it with
the manor and demesnes of Isleworth, and with
sundry other lands; but its restoration was but
short-lived, for on the accession of Elizabeth this
monastery was again dissolved, and the queen held
the estate of Sion House in her own hands until
1604, when it was granted, together with the manor
of Isleworth, to Henry Percy, ninth Earl of North
umberland. This nobleman expended large sums
in the repairs and improvement of the mansion, the

Isleworth.]

THE HOUSE OF PERCY.

occupation of which he enjoyed but for a short
time; for, having been convicted by the Star
Chamber of complicity in the gunpowder plot, he
was stripped of all his offices, sentenced to pay a
fine of .£30,000, and to be imprisoned for life in
the Tower of London. To liquidate the fine he
petitioned the king to accept of Sion House, as
being the only property that he could part with,
the rest being entailed.
" The great house of Percy," observes a writer
in The Quarterly Review, " was strikingly unfor
tunate during the reign of the Tudors, and indeed
long before. Their ancestor, Josceline de Lovaine,
a younger son of the ancient princes of Brabant,
and brother of Adelieia, second consort of our
Henry I., married in 11 22 Agnes de Percy, the
heiress of a great northern baron seated at Top-
cliffe and Spofford, county of York, on condition
that the male posterity should bear the name of
Percy. Their son Henry was great-grandfather of
Henry Lord Percy, summoned to Parliament in
1299, whose great-grandson Henry, fourth Lord
Percy, was created Earl of Northumberland in
1377, at the coronation of Richard II. He was
slain at Bramham Moor in 1408. His son Henry
Lord Percy (Hotspur) had already fallen at Shrews
bury in 1403. Henry, second Earl, the son of
Hotspur, was slain at the battle of St. Albans in
1455. His son, Henry, third Earl, was slain at the
battle of Towton in 1461. His son, Henry, fourth
Earl, was murdered by an insurrectionary mob at
Thirske, in Yorkshire, in 1480. Henry, fifth Earl,
died a natural death in 1527, but his second son,
Sir Thomas Percy, was executed in 1537, for his
concern in Ask's rebellion. Henry, sixth Earl, the
first lover of Queen Anne Boleyn, died in 1537,
issueless, and the honours were suspended for
twenty years by the attainder of his brother, Sir
Thomas Percy, in 1537, during which time the
family had the mortification to see the dukedom
of Northumberland conferred on John Dudley,
Earl of Warwick. But this nobleman being attainted
in 1553, the Earldom was restored to Thomas
Percy, the son of the attainted Sir Thomas, who
became seventh Earl of Northumberland. He was
eventually beheaded in August, 1572. His brother,
Henry Percy, was allowed, in right of the new
entail, to succeed as eighth Earl of Northum
berland. In 1585 this Earl, still blind to his
family sufferings, entered into the intrigues in
favour of Mary Queen of Scots, and, being com
mitted to the Tower, committed suicide 21st
June." His son, Henry, ninth Earl, is the nobleman
to whom we have just referred as being charged
with complicity in the gunpowder plot.

By Algernon Percy, son of the above nobleman,
and tenth Earl of Northumberland, the buildings
of Sion were thoroughly repaired, under the direc
tion, it is believed, of Inigo Jones himself. In
1646 the House of Commons deputed to this
earl the care of the offspring of Charles I. — so
soon to pass on to the scaffold ; and it was from
Sion House that the young children were conveyed
to St. James's Palace, to take a last farewell of their
unhappy father — an affecting scene, which has
often been seized upon for pictorial representation.
From that time to the present the lords of Sion
House have continued to be the chiefs of the
illustrious house of Percy.
During the fatal year of the plague of London,
the business of the State appears to have been at
times transacted here ; at all events, we read in
John Evelyn's Diary, under date of July 7, 1665,
the following entry : —
" To London, and so to Sion, where his Majesty
sat at Council during the contagion (Great Plague).
When business was over, I viewed that seate, be
longing to the Earle of Northumberland, built out of
an old Nunnerie, of stone, and faire enough, but
more celebrated for its garden than it deserves ;
¦yet there is excellent wall fruite, and a pretty foun-
taine ; nothing else extraordinary."
In 1692 the mansion became the temporary
residence of the Princess of Denmark (afterwards
Queen Anne), during the misunderstanding which
existed between her Highness and the Queen,
occasioned by the influence of the Duchess of
Marlborough. And Sion House has since, at
various times, been graced by the presence of
royalty. William IV. paid a visit to it on July 31,
1832, and again he and Queen Adelaide were
entertained here in June, 1833.
We will say a few words concerning the building
itself, the general outline of which appears to
remain much the same as it was left by the Pro
tector Somerset. The house, it is stated, stands
on the spot where the church belonging to the
monastery formerly stood, and is a very large,
sombre, and majestic edifice. It is faced with
Bath stone, and built in a quadrangular form, the
centre being occupied by a flower-garden about
eighty feet square. The house is three storeys
high ; and although each of the four fronts is with
out ornament, the general character of the edifice
is rendered impressive by the dignity of its pro
portions and the massive solidity of its several
parts. The parapets are embattled, and at each
angle of the building is a square embattled turret.
The entrance to the house, from the principal
fronts, is by flights of stone steps. The house is

54

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth.

fronted by a lawn of some extent, terminated by
two stone lodges embattled in the same manner as
the house. Towards the Thames the lawn is
bounded by a lake, and a meadow which is cut
down into a gentle slope, so that the surface of
the water may be seen from all the principal apart
ments of the mansion, which are situated on the
ground floor.
The entrance to the mansion from the great
western road is through an elegant gateway built
after a design by Robert Adam. It consists of a
central arch, surmounted by the lion passant, the
crest of the ducal House of Northumberland, and

representing the "Raising of Lazarus," is especially
curious. In 1874 the famous lion which had for many
years surmounted the front of Northumberland
House was removed hither on the demolition of
that building, and now occupies a conspicuous
place on the top of the mansion facing the river.
"The head of the lion is placed towards London,
and the animal has been raised on a pedestal of
masonry sufficiently high to be seen from the road
way through the park at the back of the house, as
well as from the river." As already stated by us
in Old and New London, there is an apocryphal

SION ABBEY, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST. (See p. 50J
(From a Print by H. Bitch, 1737.)

is connected by colonnades with two lodges. The
principal doorway of the house is protected by a
porte-cochere, from which a flight of steps leads to
the great hall.
The great hall is paved with black and white
marble, and the ceiling richly ornamented with
stucco ; and it contains some antique statues, &c.
Adjoining the hall is the vestibule leading to the
dining-room and other state apartments, some of
which are of large dimensions, and fitted up in a
most luxurious and costly manner. Among other
objects of interest in the vestibule is a large vase,
which was brought from Northumberland House,
at Charing Cross. In original pictures Sion House
is anything but rich; but there are some good
historical portraits by Vandyke, Lely, and Kneller ;
and there are also a number of Dutch and Flemish
paintings by Van Eyck and others : one of these,

legend in connection with this noble brute, that
when he was at first deposited on Northumber
land House, his head was placed looking in the
direction of Carlton House and St. James's
Palace, but that afterwards, on the occasion of
some slight received by one of the Dukes of
Northumberland, the animal was turned round
with its face towards the Corporation of London,
—a position, therefore, which he has been allowed
to retain in his new quarters.
In Dugdale's "Monasticon" (edit. 1830), it is
stated that only a few scanty fragments in some
walls are remaining of the old conventual buildings
here. Some very ancient mulberry trees on the
lawn, their branches braced with irons, are believed
not only to have been planted, but to have been
in bearing growth, before the dissolution of the
monastery. One of them has upon it the date 1546.

Isleworth.]

THE GARDENS OF SION HOUSE.

55

Beyond are the out-offices, with their remains
of the monastic house, already mentioned. In
Aungier's "History of Isleworth and Sion'' it is
stated that " during some recent improvements in
the hall, two very rich and elaborate doorways of
Gothic workmanship were discovered ; they remain
in a very perfect condition, having been preserved
by a covering of plaster."
" The grounds of Syon," observes a writer in the
Illustrated London News of about twenty years ago,

worth Ferry, with the once notable gardens, had
received little attention since the early days of
Capability Brown, when the late Duke of North
umberland caused designs to be prepared for
remodelling the whole of the grounds, seventy-
five acres in extent. All the most interesting
botanical introductions since Brown completed the
gardens were then added to the collections of hardy
trees and shrubs ; whilst the most valuable ancient
trees were preserved prominently in the new plan.

ISLEWORTH CHURCH. (Sec p. 57.)

" are beautifully diversified with rare shrubby and
half-shrubby plants, and a double avenue of limes.
Near the side of the water are admirable groups of
deciduous cypress ; and in other parts of the park,
the old thorns have become trees. Picturesque groups
of the common acacia exist on the westerly side of
the park ; and there are some extremely beautiful
low-spreading horse-chestnuts and noble hop-horn
beams between the bridge and the entrance lodge.
In going towards the mansion is a majestic cedar,
one of the most venerable tenants of this truly fine
old place. The extensive pleasure grounds skirting
the Thames, from the middle of Brentford to Isle-

" Passing over the artificial rockery constructed
for alpine plants, the grand feature of the improve
ments is the range of plant-houses, with the substi
tution of metallic framework for the wood-framed
roofs and sides of the old school of hothouse
manufactures. " The range of plant-houses, four hundred feet
in length, designed by Mr. Richard Forrest, con
sists of nine divisions, so contrived that each can
be kept at its own independent temperature, suit
able to the health and beauty of its plants ; yet
the doors can, upon any special occasion, be
thrown open, giving the various climates of the

56

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth.

world with their various inhabitants. These plant-
houses take the form of a crescent; the centre
rising into a dome sixty-five feet high ; the two
end houses being broader and higher than the
intermediate part. The framework of the entire
roof is formed of light iron bars ; and the ends and
centre have stone pillars and cornices. The whole
range is filled with plate-glass. The metallic roof
ing was manufactured by Messrs. Jones and Co.,
of Birmingham ; it has stood some twenty years
without shrinking, and was the first metallic horti
cultural structure of any importance. The steam
wanning apparatus was fitted by Tredgold, the
eminent engineer; the cast-iron pipes being laid
beneath the pathways, and provided with valves
for the admission, when required, of vapour, so
conducive to the health of tropical plants ; the
whole being heated by one fire, three hundred feet
from the building. The contractors for the heating
apparatus were Messrs. Bailey of Holborn. Several
things have, we believe, fruited here which have
not borne fruit anywhere else in Britain; and
many plants, which here fruit profusely, are scarcely
ever to be seen in general collections. The houses
stand upon a raised stone basement, adorned with
elegant stone vases, sculptured with fruit and fo
liage, attributed to Gibbons. The end portions of
the building are used as conservatories for orange-
trees, camellias, &c, with a few showy flowers.
" In front of this range of plant-houses is a
flower-garden, with a basin and fountain ; and lines
of standard roses by the side of the walks. The
entire garden establishment is supplied with water
from an artesian well four hundred and sixty-five
feet deep.
" The kitchen-garden covers between three and
four acres ; and the forcing-houses have the roofs,
fronts, and ends mainly of iron, the bars of the
sashes being of copper. These, also, are the work
of Messrs. Jones. The principal range, for early
fruits, is four hundred feet long."
The late Dowager Duchess of Northumberland,
who resided at Sion, was a distinguished botanist,
and sometime gouvernante to our gracious Queen,
who, during her minority, occasionally occupied,
with the Duchess of Kent, the state apartments at
Sion. The Queen's observation of the horticultural
improvements here doubtless led to their originator,
Mr. Forrest, being subsequently employed in the
improvements at Frogmore, where he completed
one of the most extensive ranges of metal-framed
forcing-houses in the world, designed after that at
Sion. It may be added that the gardens and grounds
of Sion have long occupied a foremost place in the

horticultural world ; and for private gardens may
be said to be no mean rival to Kew.
Isleworth lies on the road from London to Sun
bury and Shepperton, as we know from Charles
Dickens, who makes Bill Sykes and little Oliver
Twist travel through it in a market-cart, on their
way to commit the burglary which ended so happily
for the fortunes of the latter. The parish extends
for about three miles along the north bank of
the Thames, between Brentford and Twickenham,
about a mile at the eastern end being taken up
by the grounds of Sion House. The village itself
almost surrounds the grounds of Sion, and with its
red-brick houses, its sheds for boat-building, and
its ivy-clad church tower, forms a pleasing break
in the landscape, as seen from the opposite bank of
the river at Kew. A considerable portion of land
in the parish, which extends back from the river
side for about two miles, is cultivated as market-
gardens and nurseries. There are also extensive
brick-fields and cement -works here. Norden,
writing at the commencement of the seventeenth
century, mentions some copper and brass mills at
Isleworth, where "workemen make plates both of
copper and brasse of all syces, both little and
great, thick and thyn, for all purposes ; they make
also kyttles." Lysons, in his "Environs" (1795),
says that " these copper-mills still exist ; " they
have, however, long since been done away with,
as also has another branch of industry, of more
recent introduction, the manufacture of pottery and
porcelain. Isleworth, it may be here remarked, must have
been a more important place than it is now in the
days when the Thames was the great " silent high
way." In a " Voyage up the Thames," published
in 1738, for instance, there is an account of a
public-house at Isleworth which was kept open all
night for the express accommodation of parties
travelling by the Thames, and the parties who
frequented it were often of a most diverting cha
racter. A few years later we learn casually from
Griffith's " Essay on the Jurisdiction of theThames,"
that the fare from London hither was 3s. 6d., for
a wherry that contained eight passengers. From
the same source we learn that the Windsor carriers
called here twice a week in the course of their
voyage up the river from Queenhithe. At that
time, too, doubtless, nearly all the produce of the
market gardens about this locality was sent by
water to the London market.
In the reign of Henry III., the manor of Isle
worth, being vested in the Crown, was granted to
the king's brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and
King of the Romans. The site of the ancient

Isleworth.]

ISLEWORTH CHURCH.

57

palace, or manor-house, is uncertain. Lysons says
it seems probable that it was " a spot of ground
behind the Phoenix Yard, called in old writings
the ' Moted Place.' " Mr. Aungier, in his " History
and Antiquities of Syon," places it near Isleworth
House. It is on record that in 1264 Sir Hugh
Spencer, " with a great multitude of the citizens of
London, went to Isleworth, where they spoiled the
manor-place of the King of the Romans, and de
stroyed his water-mylnes and other commodities
that he there had." From the description of this
manor in " Domesday Book," it will be seen that
it includes Heston and Twickenham ; and these
two latter places are mentioned in an inquisition
taken after the Earl of Cornwall's death as hamlets
within the manor of Isleworth. Lysons states
that in the parish chest at Twickenham is a small
illuminated deed of the abbey and convent of
Sion, with their seal annexed, and bearing date
22 Henry VI., whereby they discharge their tenants
in the manor of Isleworth of a certain annual tribute,
or payment of£2o. In 1 656 certain articles relating
to the customs and privileges of the manor of
Isleworth were agreed on between Algernon, Earl
of Northumberland, and the principal copyholders.
They were printed in the following year in the form
of a pamphlet, entitled " Isleworth — Sion's Peace."
Lands in this manor, observes Lysons, descend ac
cording to the strict custom of "Borough-English."
The parish church of Isleworth, dedicated to All
.Saints, is an attractive object from the river-side. It.
consists of a chancel, with nave and aisles, and the
tower at its western end is profusely covered with ivy.
Here, as is so often the case along the valley of the
Thames between London and Windsor, the tower is
the only old part of the church that is standing.
The body of the church, which was rebuilt in
1705, partly from the designs of Sir Christopher
Wren — whose plans were first of all laid aside as
too expensive to be carried out, but are said to
have been at last brought out and used, subject
to such modification and " improvement " as the
churchwardens thought fit to make — is a poor
structure, but since 1865 it has been considerably
improved by the alterations of windows, &c. The
materials of the old church were used in erecting
at the west end of the churchyard a substantial
mansion, the rent of which belongs to the poor.
A new chancel, of a correct ecclesiastical type,
laid down with encaustic tiles, was added in 1866.
The reredos represents the " Last Supper." The
windows have been filled with painted glass, the
roof heightened, and the old-fashioned pews made
to give place to open benches.
Here are several monuments of more than

ordinary interest ; among them, one to Sir Orlando
Gee, Registrar of the Admiralty, who died in 1705,
in which the knight is represented by a marble
bust to the waist, with peruke and long flowing
cravat ; another to Helena Magdalen, Countess
de Randwick, a refugee from Holland, who died
in 1797 ; another (a mural tablet) to Sir Richard
Downton, Colonel of the Middlesex Militia under
Charles II., who died in 171 1 ; another to a poor
woman who suddenly became enriched by a freak
of fortune, and died equally suddenly. The person
here commemorated was a Mrs. Anne Dash, better
known by the name of Tolson. She was a great
benefactress to the parish ; and her history, as re
corded in her epitaph, is very singular. She was
the daughter of Mr. George Newton, of Duffield,
Derbyshire, and having been twice married, first
to one Henry Sisson, and afterwards to a Mr. John
Tolson, was in her second widowhood reduced to
very narrow circumstances, and obliged to set up
a boarding-school as a means of procuring a liveli
hood ; but blindness having rendered her unfit for
that employment, she became an object of charity.
In the meantime, Dr. Caleb Cotesworth, a physi
cian, who had married a relation of Mrs. Tolson,
died in 1741, having amassed in the course of his
practice the sum of £150,000, the greater part of
which — namely, upwards of £120,000 — he left to
his wife, who, surviving him only a few hours, died
intestate, and her large fortune was divided between
Mrs. Tolson and two others, as the nearest of kin.
With a due sense of this signal deliverance, and
unexpected change from a state of want to riches
and affluence, she appropriated by a deed of gift
the sum of £5,000, to be expended after her
decease in building and endowing an almshouse
at Isleworth for six poor men and six women.
This lady died in the year 1750, aged 89, having
married, subsequent to this deed of gift, a third
husband, Mr. Joseph Dash, merchant.
In this church is a brass to Margaret Dely, one
of the sisters of Sion in Mary's time ; and a
palimpsest brass, with a Flemish inscription, was
to be seen some years since in the vestry.
The parish register, which dates from the middle
of the sixteenth century, contains a few interesting
entries. Among others there is recorded the bap
tism, in October, 161 7, of Waller's " Sacharissa "
— Dorothy, daughter of Sir Robert and Lady
Dorothy Sidney. It appears by this entry that
she was born at Sion House whilst her grandfather
was a prisoner in the Tower. From the following
extract from the parish accounts, it is clear that
she resided at Isleworth in her widowhood: — " 1655.
Received of the Countess of Sunderland, for her

) ,J

58

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth.

rate for the poor for half a year, 155-." " Dorothy,
the Lady and Countess of Northumberland, buried
Aug. 14, 16 1 9." She was " Sacharissa's " grand
mother, wife of Henry, Earl of Northumberland,
and daughter of Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex.
By this date of her burial, it appears that she did
not live to see her husband released from his confine
ment. The register also records the marriage, on the
27th March, 1679, of Henry Cavendish, Earl of
Ogle, son and heir of Henry, Duke of Newcastle, to
Lady Elizabeth Percy, daughter and heiress of Jos-
celine, eleventh and last Earl of Northumberland.
It also records the marriage of Lord Algernon
Percy, afterwards second Lord Lovaine, with Isa
bella Susannah, sister of Peter, first Lord Gwydir ;
the ceremony was performed at Sion House by Dr.
Thomas Percy, afterwards Bishop of Dromore.
Among the minutes of the vestry is entered a
licence, bearing date April 28, 1661, given by
William Grant, Vicar of Isleworth, to Richard
Downton, Esq., and Thomasine, his wife, to eat
flesh in Lent " for the recovery of their health,
they being enforced by age, notorious sickness,
and weakness to abstain from fish." These
licences were by no means uncommon at an earlier
date. After the Restoration, the keeping of Lent,
which had been neglected by the Puritans, who
entirely set aside the observing of seasons, was
enforced by a proclamation from the king, and an
office for granting licences to eat flesh in any part
of England was set up in St. Paul's Churchyard,
and advertised in the public papers, in 1663.
Nicholas Byfield, Vicar of Isleworth, 1615 — 20,
was a laborious or " painful " preacher of the Puri
tan school ; he was the father of Adoniram Byfield,
one of the few persons stigmatised by name by
Butler in his " Hudibras," and grandfather of Dr.
Byfield, the " salvolatile " doctor, who is said in his
epitaph to be " Diu volatilis, tandem fixus."
Dr. Cave, the learned author of the " Lives of
the Fathers," "Primitive Christianity," &c, was
Vicar of Isleworth from 1690 till his death in 17 13.
He is buried at Islington.
Aungier records the singular fact that Dr. Turner,
the herbalist and physician to Edward, Duke of
Somerset and Lord Protector, held the Deanery of
Wells, though only a layman, and had a licence to
preach at Isleworth against the errors of Pelagius.
He is mentioned in Wood's "Athense Oxonienses."
His lecture on this subject was answered in print,
and his reply, dedicated to Bishop Latimer in 1551,
was also published. The churchyard is spacious
and well laid out. In the centre of it are three yew
trees curiously linked together by a lych-gate, which
forms a rustic arbour.

Isleworth was not neglected by the charitably-
disposed in bygone times. Sir Thomas Ingram,
in 1664, founded an almshouse here for six poor
women, housekeepers of the parish ; and the late
Mr. John Farnell built and endowed a range of
almshouses for six poor men and six women. In
1 7 50 came the foundation of Mrs. Anne Tolson'salms-
houses, already mentioned ; these houses have lately-
been rebuilt. Other almshouses have also been
founded here by Mrs. Mary Bell and Mrs. Sermon.
The church of St. John the Baptist, in St. John's
Road, was built in 1857, on a site given by the
late Duke of Northumberland. It consists of
chancel, nave, and aisles, and is in the Early English
style of architecture. The are several meeting
houses and chapels for the various religious deno
minations in the village, besides schools and other
public buildings. The Brentford Union is situated
on the Twickenham Road, in the parish of Isle
worth. Among the residents of Isleworth, in the days ot
Queen Anne, was a large glass manufacturer named
Gumley, whose only child and heiress carried his
wealth into the Pulteney family by marrying the
Earl of Bath. She is mentioned by Pope in his
" Miscellanies," with a compliment at the expense
of her husband —
" But charming Gumley 's lost in Pulteney's wife."
Gumley House was built towards the end of the
seventeenth century ; and after the death of Mr.
Gumley it became the residence of the Earl of
Bath. The mansion subsequently became the pro
perty of General Lord Lake. It is now a Roman
Catholic convent school for young ladies.
Shrewsbury Place — so named from having been
formerly the residence of Charles Talbot, Duke of
Shrewsbury, Secretary of State to William III. and
Queen Mary — shared a similar fate to Gumley
House, and became devoted to religious purposes.
It is now a Roman Catholic school.
Not far from Gumley House, on the side of
the road from Twickenham to London, stood
another noted mansion, Kendal House, so called
from the Duchess of Kendal, the favourite mistress
of King George I., who resided there. The follow
ing story is related of her in the " Good Fellow's
Calendar:" — " This gracious sovereign once, wj}ile
doing the tender with the Duchess of Kendal, pro
mised her that if she survived him, and if de
parted souls were so permitted, he would pay her
a visit. The superstitious Duchess on . his death
so much expected the fulfilment of that engage
ment, that a large raven, or some black fowl, flying
into one of the windows of her villa at Isleworth,

Isleworth.]

KENDAL HOUSE.

59

she was fully persuaded it was the soul of her de
parted monarch so accoutred, and received and
treated it with all the respect and tenderness of
duty, till the royal bird or herself took the last
fiight." After the death of the Duchess (or the " May
pole," as she was irreverently called by the people)
the mansion was sold, and opened as a_ place of
public entertainment, and was frequently advertised
as such in the years 1750 and 1751.
The Daily Advertiser of April the 4th, 1750, con
tains the following announcement : — " For certain,
Kendal House, Isleworth, near Brentford, Middle
sex, eight miles from London, will open for break
fasting on Monday, the 16th inst. The long room
for dancing is upwards of sixty feet long, and wide
in proportion ; all the other rooms are elegantly
fitted up. The orchestra on the water is allowed,
by all that have seen it, to be in the genteelest
taste, being built an octagon in the Corinthian
order, above fifty feet diameter, having an upper
and lower gallery, where gentlemen and ladies may
divert themselves with fishing, the canal being well
stocked with tench, carp, and all sorts of fish in
great plenty; near which are two wildernesses,
with delightful rural walks; and through the garden
runs a rapid river, shaded with a pleasant grove of
trees, with various walks, so designed by nature,
that in the hottest day of summer you are screened
from the heat of the sun. The small but just
account of the place falls greatly short of its real
beauties. Great care will be taken to keep out all
disorderly people. There is a man cook, and a
good larder ; all things as cheap or cheaper than
at any place of the kind."
The Princesses Amelia and Caroline, daughters
of George II., who, in 1733, brought the well at
Islington Spa, then called the New Tunbridge
Wells, into fashion, by going thither to drink the
waters, were, doubtless, occasional visitors here.
At all events, this place appears to have enjoyed
an equal share of popularity with its Islington rival,
for, in a song called " Modern Diversions," pub
lished in the Universal Magazine in 1753, the
following lines occur : —
" To operas, assemblies,
Or else to masquerade,
New Tunbridge, or to Kendal House ;
And this shall be the trade.
We'll sally out to breakfast,
And hear the fiddlers play ;
And there we'll revel, feast, and dance,
And make a merry day.
For a roving we will go, will go,
Tor a roving we will go."
When the taste for amusements of this kind

died out, Kendal House was pulled down, and
its site devoted to building purposes.
In the British Museum may be seen a perspec
tive view of Kendal House, drawn by Chatelain
in 1756; it represents probably one of the grand
breakfast days for which the place was so cele
brated. A large orchestra, filled with musicians,
is " discoursing sweet music," while a number of
ladies and gentlemen, the former dressed in hoops
of monstrous size, are walking about, and some
are amusing themselves by fishing.
The rivulet which runs through the grounds of
Kendal House, rises on Norwood Common, and
at Osterley it is formed into a canal of fish-ponds.
Next it passes to Hounslow, whence it crosses
the road and finds its way hither.
Kendal House, however, was not the earliest place
of amusement in Isleworth ; for the General Evening
Post of May, 1734, contains an advertisement of
the " Isleworth Assembly " held in that and the
previous year at " Dunton House '' — a house which
it is now impossible to identify.
A large house, formerly standing near the river
side, and known as Lacy House, was built by
Mr. James Lacy, one of the patentees of Drury
Lane Theatre. It was at one time the residence
of Sir Robert Walpole, and of his daughter,
Mrs. Keppel, widow of Dr. Keppel, Bishop of
Exeter ; it was also some time in the occupation
of the Earl of Warwick, and of Richard Brinsley
Sheridan. At St Margaret's, towards the south-west end of
the village, is the Royal Naval Female School, an
institution founded "for the maintenance and
education of the daughters of naval and marine
officers." The house was built for the Earl of
Kilmorey, but never occupied by him; it was
purchased in 1856, and converted to its present
uses. The Marquis of Ailsa had a seat in this
part of Isleworth many years back, but that man
sion has long been demolished and the park built
over. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, one of
Horace Walpole's " Noble Authors," likewise had
a country seat here. His lordship was Secretary of
State to James I., and the original grantee and
founder, in 1729, of the city of Baltimore, the com
mercial metropolis of Maryland, in the United
States. Silver Hall, which formerly stood on the south
side of the Twickenham Road, was built in the
seventeenth century by John Smith, Esq., who was
created a baronet in 1694, and whose arms were
over the piers of the gate. The old building, which
was ultimately used as a school, was pulled down
some time ago, and a new mansion, called Silver

6o

GREATER LONDON.

[Isleworth,

Hall, now the residence of Mr. Francis H. N.
Glossop, erected on a different site.
Gordon House, in the Richmond Road, the seat
of the Earl of Kilmorey, is a modern mansion.
Isleworth House, close by, the residence of Mrs.
McAndrew, is a fine building, and is celebrated for
the beauty of its grounds and the views it affords
of the river and surrounding scenery. The house
was once the residence of Lady Cooper, who was
here visited by William IV., by whose command,
as Mr. Thorne tells us, in his " Environs of Lon
don," "the Syon vista in Kew Gardens was cut
in order to open a view of pagoda and observatory
to the front of the house."
Sir Clipesby Crewe was a resident of Isleworth
in the seventeenth century, as we learn from the
following entry in " Evelyn's Diary," under date of
February, 1648 : — "I went with my noble friend,
Sir William Ducy (afterwards Lord Downe), to
Thistleworth, where we dined with Sir Clipesby
Crewe, and afterwards to see the rare miniatures of
Peter Oliver, and rounds of plaster, and then the
curious flowers of Mr. Barill's gardens, who has
some good medails and pictures. Sir Clipesby has
fine Indian hangings, and a very good chimney-
piece of water-colours by Breugel, which I bought
for him."
Here, too, at one time, lived in a small house,
retired from business, George Field, a metaphysician
of the German school, and the author of some
practical works on Chromatics, having made his
money by preparing colours for painters. The
exact site of his residence is now unknown.
Worton Hall, in Worton Road, midway between
Isleworth and Hounslow, is a modern mansion, and
perpetuates the manor of Worton, once a royal
manor, which was granted by Henry VI. to the
Monastery of Sion. In some records it is called
the " Manor of Eystons " — thus perpetuating the

name of a family which for three generations in the
fourteenth century resided here, before they in
herited Hendred, in Berkshire, where they are still
located. The property now belongs to the Duke of
Northumberland. Syon Hill, a little to the south-east, a mansion
built by the Earl of Holdernesse, who died in
1778, was at the close of the last century the
residence of the Duke of Marlborough. The duke
had a small observatory in the grounds, and, as
Lysons observes, he " cultivated with much success
the science of astronomy." The house has been
taken down, and the park in part built upon.
At Spring Grove, in the north-eastern part of the
parish, are some almshouses, recently erected,
called " Honnor's Home." They were founded by
a Mr. Honnor, a member of the Saddlers' Com
pany, who are the patrons of the charity, and are
for the benefit of decayed freemen, freewomen, and
widows of freemen.
The London International College, founded
under the auspices of the late Mr. Richard
Cobden, is situated at Spring Grove. The institu
tion was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales in
1867, and the college was established for the
teaching of English, French, and German, side by
side with mathematics, classics, and natural science.
Spring Grove was formed into a separate ec
clesiastical district in 1856, out of the parishes of
Heston and Isleworth. The church, dedicated to
St. Mary, is a handsome building, consisting of a
chancel, nave, aisles, and tower with a lofty spire,
and stands on rising ground between the western
high road and Osterley Park.
Before continuing our journey westward along
the valley of the Thames, it will be as well to make
a short detour to the north, in order to explore the
classic regions of Hounslow, a portion of which
lies really within the parish of Isleworth.

CHAPTER V.
HOUNSLOW AND HANWORTH.
" Formidare males fures." — Horace. I., Sat. i. 77.
Situation of Hounslow— A Priory founded here— Martyrdom of Archbishop Scrope— Markets and Fairs— Remains of the Conventual
Buildings— Holy Trinity Church— The Manor House— Hounslow in the Old Coaching Days— Present Condition of the Town— The
Churches of St. Stephen and St. Paul— Salvation Army Barracks— Hounslow Heath— Military Encampments— Knights of the Road-
Site of the Gibbets— A Bishop Counterfeiting the Highwayman— The Gallant Highwayman— The Highwayman Outwitted— Horse-
racing, &c— Gunpowder Mills— Cavalry Barracks— Whitton Park-Hanworth Park— Hanworth House— The Parish Church.

The district which will form the subject of this
chapter lies to the west of Isleworth, and is one
which, considering its size and present condition,

is perhaps better known than any other in England
for the scenes of historical interest which it has
witnessed, and for the notoriety which it gained at

Hounslow.]

ARCHBISHOP SCROPE.

61

the hands of those "knights of the road" by
whom it was infested during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries.
The village, or town, of Hounslow, as stated in
the preceding chapter, is situated partly in the
parish of Isleworth; it is also partly in that of
Heston. The place was called in " Domesday

came a certain man of his household to the
house of the Holy Trinity at Hundeslaw for
refreshment, who confessed that he was " one of
three men who threw the corpse [of the king]
into the river between Barking and Gravesend,"
whilst it was being conveyed from Westminster
towards Canterbury for interment ; and adds, "but
the chest, covered with cloth of gold,' in which
the body had lain, we carried with great honour
into Canterbury, and buried it." Nevertheless,
in 1832, the royal tomb was opened
in the presence of the Bishop of
pdlfejfc. * - Oxford and others, and the re-
E3£ l • - , -- ~ m - J

is&K

av rf*- mains of the

THE POWDER-MILLS, HOUNSLOW. (See p. 68.)

Book " Honeslowe, and later on it was spelt
Hundeslawe and Hundeslowe. In the thirteenth
century a priory, dedicated to the Holy Trinity,
was founded here, the peculiar office of the
brethren being to solicit alms for the redemp
tion of captives. It is spoken of by Cobbett,
in his " History of the Reformation," as " a
friary." One Clement Maydestone, a friar of this house,
wrote a history of the martyrdom of Richard
Scrope, Archbishop of York, to whom he had
been a retainer, in which it is stated that within
thirty days after the death of Henry IV, there
6

king were found in his coffin. This at once,
of course, disposed of the story told by Mayde
stone. In 1296 a weekly market was granted to the
brethren of" this priory, to be held on Wednesday,
and an annual fair on the eve and feast of the Holy
Trinity, and to last a week. The market has long
been discontinued, but fairs are still held on Trinity
Monday, and on the Monday after Michaelmas
Day. At the dissolution the revenues of this priory
were valued at ^78 8s. 6d. In Cooke's "Topo
graphy of Middlesex," published early in the
present century, it is stated that " the only remain-

62

GREATER LONDON.

[Hounslow.

ing part of the conventual buildings is the chapel,
which exhibits evident traces of the architecture of
the thirteenth century. In the south wall of the
chancel are three ancient stone stalls, and a double
piscina, with narrow pointed arches, divided by a
column. The chapel consists of a chancel, nave,
and south aisle. In the nave is a small monument,
with the effigies of a man in armour and his wife,
kneeling; on the floor is a brass plate to the
memory of Thomas Lupton, who died in 15 12, and
his wife Alice. In the windows of the south aisle
there is some painted glass, representing the figure
of St. Katharine and some other subjects." Mr.
Brewer, in the " Beauties of England " (18 16), says
that " on one face of the exterior is a mutilated
escutcheon, with the arms and quarterings of the
Windsor family, who have been supposed, but, as
it would appear, erroneously, to have been the
founders of the priory."
This ancient chapel has now entirely disappeared,
and in its place — although perhaps not quite on
the same site — has arisen another church, dedicated
to the Holy Trinity. This was built in the upper
part of the main street about the year 1834; it is
constructed of white brick, and is a plain and ugly
edifice in the Italian style, of little or no architec
tural interest. It consists of a chancel, nave,
aisles, porch, and bell-turret, and is surmounted
with stone cupolas twelve in number. The build
ing was enlarged by the addition of a chancel in
1856. In the " Beauties of England " it is stated that
the manor and the site of the priory were an
nexed by Henry VIII. to the honour of Hampton
Court, but were both leased in 1539 to Richard
Awnsham, Esq. The property was for some time
vested in the Windsor family, long seated in
the neighbouring parish of Stanwell. In 1705
it was purchased by Whitlocke Bulstrode, Esq.,
the author of a "Treatise on Transmigration"
and of other publications, who enlarged the
manor-house, an ancient brick structure facing
the heath, at the western extremity of Hounslow,
and also repaired the chapel which contains his
monument. The town consists mainly of a long, uninterest
ing, and monotonous street, with scarcely one
picturesque or redeeming object on either side.
As far back as about 1650 it was noted for its
numerous inns and ale-houses, and later on it
became a great place for posting-houses. In the
" Beauties of England," it is stated that " the chief
dependence of" the place is on the immense tide of
road traffic, which rolls to and from the metropolis
with surprising vehemence and bustle. As this

hamlet is only one short stage from London, the
principal business of the inns consists in providing
relays of post-horses, and exchanges of horses for
the numerous coaches travelling the road. ^ All
here wears the face of impatience and expedition.
The whole population seems on .the wing of re
moval ; and assuredly the main street of Hounslow
is a place from which the examiner would wish to
remove with all the celerity familiar to the spot."
At the accession of Queen Victoria there were
as many as five hundred stage-coaches and one
thousand five hundred horses daily employed in
transit through the town. The " George Inn " was
particularly noted as a great posting-house. Its
several posting-houses were, in fact, very busy
and prosperous till the traffic was diverted by the
opening of the railways to Southampton and
Bath. For a long time after the coaching traffic of the
high road had ceased, Hounslow remained in a
very depressed condition ; but business in the
locality has, to a certain extent, revived, and the
place has of late years acquired a fair local trade,
whilst many of the new shops, public buildings,
and new schools, all attest the progress which the
town is now making.
In 1857 a Town Hall was erected. Here the
ordinary public business of the town is transacted,
and there is also a well-furnished reading-room
within its walls, with a library containing upwards
of a thousand volumes, for the use of the in
habitants. St. Stephen's Church, situate in Hanworth Road,
close to the London and South Western Railway
Station, was built in 1875-6, and is in the Early
English style of architecture. The ecclesiastical dis
trict to which it belongs was formed out of the
parishes of Isleworth and Heston by an Order in
Council, passed in 1877.
St. Paul's Church, which is in the Bath Road, near
the heath, was built in 1873-4, the ecclesiastical
district to which it is attached having been
formed out of the parish of Heston. The build
ing, like the one just mentioned, is in the Early
English style, and its spire, standing one hundred
and thirty feet high, is conspicuous for some distance
round. Among the latest additions to the town has
been the extension of the Metropolitan District
Railway hither, and the erection of a Salvation
Army barracks, bearing the strange and ominous
superscription — " Blood and Fire."
The celebrated Hounslow Heath adjoins the
town on the west, and extends into the parishes
and hamlets of Hounslow, Heston, Isleworth,

Hounslow.]

THE CAMP ON HOUNSLOW HEATH.

63

Brentford, Twickenham, Feltham, Harlington,
Cranford, Harmondsworth, Stanwell, Bedfont,
Hampton, and Teddington. According to a survey
made in 1546, it contained at that time four thou
sand two hundred and ninety-two acres ; but other
accounts made its area much greater, Rocque's
map setting it down as six thousand six hundred
and fifty-eight acres. It was estimated by Messrs.
Britton and Brayley, in 1810, to comprise about
five thousand acres. The soil was then thought
" very improvable," and accordingly, since then,

once it has been the rendezvous of the principal
military force of this kingdom.
In 1267 the Earl of Gloucester, leading the
Londoners against King Henry III., assembled
them on Hounslow Heath in order to give battle
to the king. The army of Charles I. is said to
have been entrenched here the day after the battle
of Brentford, in 1642 ; and in November of the
same year the army under the command of the
Earl of Essex was mustered here. Five years later
the heath witnessed a general rendezvous of the

-Ipf
IP1

much of it has
been brought into
profitable cultiva
tion under several
Acts of Parlia
ment,' which have
been passed for
enclosing different
parts, but it still remains one of the most un
productive parts of the county of Middlesex.
Cobbett, in his "Rural Rides," writes as fol
lows with regard to the general aspect of the land
in this locality : — " A much more ugly county
than that between Egham and Kensington would
with difficulty be found in England. Flat as a
pancake, until you come to Hammersmith, the
soil is a nasty, stony dirt upon a bed of gravel.
Hounslow Heath, which is only a little worse
than the general run, is a sample of all that
is bad in soil and villanous in look. Yet all
this is now enclosed, and what they call 'culti
vated.' "
As above stated, Hounslow has long enjoyed a
celebrity, in its way, in the annals of England.
Vestiges of camps— either British or Roman — were
visible on its surface down to a comparatively
recent date. It has been the scene of military and
other assemblies at different periods, and more than

Parliamentary forces under General Sir Thomas
Fairfax, when there appeared 20,000 foot and
horse, with a great train of artillery. The Perfect
Diurnal, August, 1647, gives the following account
of this rendezvous : — " There were present the
Earls of Northumberland, Salisbury, and Kent,
Lord Grey of Wark, Lords Howard of Escrick,
Wharton, Say and Sele, Mulgrave, and others, the
Speaker of the House of Commons, and above
100 of the members. The whole army was drawn
up in battalions, near a mile and a half in length.
The general, accompanied with the said lords and
commons, rode along the army from regiment to
regiment, and were received with great acclama
tion. Having viewed the army, they took leave
of the general, and some went to the Earl of
Northumberland's at Sion, and others to the
Lord Say and Sele's at Stanwell. Soon after
the Palgrave came into the field, who, with
the general and many gentlemen, viewed the
army." The encampment was attended by
Algernon Sidney and several other members,
and the leader was everywhere hailed with great
enthusiasm. In 1678 the army of Charles II. was encamped
on the Heath, a fact which is thus duly recorded
by John Evelyn, in his "Diary," under date June
29th of that year: — "Returned with my son by

64

GREATER LONDON.

[Hounslow.

Hounslow Heath, where we saw the newly-rais'd
army encamp'd, design'd against France, in pre
tence at least, but which gave umbrage to the
Parliament. His Majesty and a world of company
were in the field, and the whole army in battalia:
a very glorious sight. Now were brought into
service a new sort of soldiers called Granadiers,
who were dextrous in flinging- hand granados,
every one having a pouch-full ; they had furr'd
caps with coped crowns, like Janizanis, which
made them look very fierce, and some had long
hoods hanging down behind, as we picture fools :
their clothing being likewise pybald yellow and
red." In 1686 James II., resolving not to yield in his
struggle with his subjects, formed a camp of some
thirteen thousand men on Hounslow Heath. The
Londoners looked on it with terror, which, how
ever, was soon diminished by familiarity. The
camp was visited, as was only natural, by the
beaux and belles of the West End, who flocked
to it in such overwhelming crowds that, to use
Macaulay's words, " a visit to Hounslow became
their favourite amusement on holydays, and the
camp presented the appearance of a vast fair. In
truth," he adds, " the place was merely a gay
suburb of the capital." The king had hoped
that his army — or rather, the sight of it— would
overawe London ; but the result was quite dif
ferent, for the army instead took its cue from
London. Various tracts and pamphlets sprang
up out of the camp, and a hot controversy en
sued, which helped to bring about the events of
1688. Under date of June 2, 1686, Evelyn again
mentions the camp being located at Hounslow,
but being "forced to retire to quarters from sick
ness and other inconveniences of the weather."
Four days later he writes : — " The camp was now
againe pitch'd at Hounslow, the commanders pro
fusely vying in the expence and magnificence of
tents." ^During the time of the encampment in 1687,
there was in use here a curious tabernacle, or
chapel on wheels, which had been built by com
mand of King James, to accompany him in his
royal " progresses," in order that mass might be
celebrated in his presence by his chaplain. As
soon as the abdication of the king was known to
be a fact, this chapel was brought by road up to
London, and placed upon the site long occupied
by its successor, Trinity Chapel, on the south side
of Conduit Street, Regent Street. At the request
of Dr. Tenison — afterwards Archbishop of Canter
bury, but at that time Rector of St. Martin's-in-the-

Fields— this wooden structure was subsequently
used as a temporary chapel of ease, for the use
of the outlying portion of the inhabitants of his
then wide and scattered parish.
Every reader of English history, even Macaulay's
" schoolboy," is aware that James II. was with his
army here when the news of the acquittal of
the seven bishops was signalled from London.
" Nowhere," writes Macaulay, " had the acquittal
been received with more clamorous delight than at
Hounslow Heath. In truth, the great force
which the king had assembled for the purpose of
overawing his mutinous capital had become more
mutinous than the capital itself, and was more
dreaded by the Court than by the citizens. Early
in August, therefore, the camp was broken up, and
the troops were sent to quarters in different parts of
the country."
In the library of the Corporation of London,
at Guildhall, may be seen three different views of
the camp of James II. One is a woodcut, en
titled " An exact Prospect of the King's Forces
encamped on Hounslow Heath, 1686;"' another
woodcut is of the same date, but has a letter
press inscription ; the third is a copper-plate, en
graved by Harris, of about the same date. In
the first volume of " Poems on Affairs .of State,"
about the same date, is a very severe attack on
King James in connection with this camp and
heath ; but this is not mentioned by Mr. Wilkes
in his poem above on " Hounslow Heath."
Three years later, namely, in 1690, Queen Mary
reviewed her troops here in the presence of the
Duke of Marlborough. On the alarm of a French
invasion in aid of the Stuart cause, the whole
nation was stirred with a martial spirit, and, ac
cording to Macaulay, " two and twenty troops of
cavalry, furnished by Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire,
and Buckinghamshire, were reviewed by Mary at
Hounslow, and were complimented by Marlborough
on their martial appearance."
King George III. more than once held reviews
here, the troops inspected being furnished from the
ranks of both the regulars and volunteers.
The camp here seems to have been conducted
very much as our summer volunteer camp at
Wimbledon, the crowds of visitors including
many ladies of quality, and the hospitality of the
officers being so profuse as to add very seriously
to their expenses. It was constantly visited by
royalty; and in 1740 the list of distinguished
personages here included the " Butcher " Duke of
Cumberland, the Duke of Marlborough, the Earl
of Dunmore, and several other officers of the
highest rank. The Duke of Cumberland stayed

Hounslow.]

KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD.

(>5

here a week ®n this occasion, and gave more than
one grand entertainment under canvas.
The camp at Hounslow Heath was always
popular with the Londoners; and, in 1744 (as
we learn from the Daily Advertiser of March 13)
it formed the subject of a popular exhibition, at
the bottom of Hay Hill, Dover Street. It was
patronised by the Prince and Princess of Wales,
and the admission was a shilling. The following
is a copy of the bill : " To be seen, the whole
Prospect of the (late) Camp at Hounslow, repre
senting in proper order, both Horse and Foot,
every officer in his proper post, with the nicest
distinction of both their liveries and colours ; in
proportion and magnitude representing life nearer
than anything of the kind hitherto invented. The
train of Artillery in its proper decorum."
Hounslow Heath is the chief rival to Finchley
Common in the " Lives of the Highwaymen," and
is one of the "happy hunting-grounds" of the
" Newgate Calendar." It was in the seventeenth
century that the locality acquired its celebrity as
the haunt of highwaymen. The reason will be
obvious to readers of Macaulay, who writes in his
" History of England " :— "The peace (1 698) had all
over Europe, and nowhere more than in England,
turned soldiers into marauders  On
Hounslow Heath a company of horsemen, with
masks on their faces . . . succeeded in stopping
thirty or forty coaches (of the nobility), and rode
off with a great booty in guineas, watches, and
jewellery." Here General Fairfax was robbed by "Moll
Cut-purse," the noted highway-woman, who was com
mitted to Newgate for the offence, but managed to
escape from the gallows.
Here, in 1774, on his way to Cranford, Lord
Berkeley shot a footpad who wanted his money,
and who would have shot his lordship if he had
not been anticipated. An amusing, though pos
sibly somewhat poetical, account of the affair will
be found in Mr. Grantley Berkeley's "Life and
Recollections," and in the seventieth chapter of
Lord Mahon's (Stanhope's) "History of England."
His lordship, in relating it, adds some remarks
which tend to show the audacity of highwaymen,
and the terror which they inspired as late as the
reigns of our Hanoverian line. He writes in
1836 : — " Much less than a century ago the great
thoroughfares near London, and above all, the
open heaths, as Bagshot and Hounslow, were in
fested by robbers on horseback, who bore the
name of highwaymen. Booty these men were
determined by some means or other to obtain. In
the reign of George the First they stuck up hand

bills at the gates of many known rich men in
London, forbidding any one of them, on pain of
death, to travel from home without a watch, or
with less than ten guineas of money.* Private
carriages and public conveyances were alike the
objects of attack. Thus, Mr. Nuthall, the
solicitor and friend of Lord Chatham, returning
from Bath in his carriage .... was stopped
and fired at near Hounslow, and died of the
fright. . . . These outrages appear to have in
creased in frequency towards the close of the
American War. ... It is strange," he adds,
" that so highly civilised a people should have en
dured these highway robberies so long . . • . but
stranger still, perhaps, to find some of the best
writers of the last century treat them as subjects of
jest, and almost of praise. From such productions
as the 'Tom Clinch' of Swift or the 'Beggar's
Opera ' of Gay we may collect that it was the tone
in certain circles to depict the highwaymen as
daring and generous spirits, who ' took to the road,'
as it was termed, under some momentary diffi
culties : the gentlefolk, as it were, of the profession,
and far above the common run of thieves."
Mr. John Mellish, M.P. for Great Grimsby,
was shot by highwaymen on Hounslow Heath
as he was returning from hunting with the king's
hounds, in April, 1798. His daughter lived down
to 1880.
Charles Knight, in the commencement of his
"Passages of a Working Life," t tells us that he well
remembered as a child the murder of Mr. Mellish
by a footpad near the " Magpies," and the hanging
of these knights of the road on the common, the
scene of their misdeeds. " Between the two roads,
near a clump of firs, was a gibbet, on which two
bodies hung in chains. The chains rattled; the
iron plates scarcely held the gibbet together; the
rags of the highwaymen displayed their horrible
skeletons within."
Hounslow Heath was still a favourite haunt of
highwaymen even so late as the present century.
A Mr. Steele was murdered here in 1806. This
murder is remembered from the fact that at the exe
cution of the assassin thirty persons were crushed
to death in the crowd before the gallows.
Cyrus Redding writes thus of this spot in the
above-mentioned year : — " It was a cold night when
I crossed Hounslow Heath, about midnight, after
eighteen hours' travelling. All the coaches had
guards, and our's prepared his pistols and blunder-
buses soon after we left Reading : a paradoxical

* "Lettres d'un Frangais en Angleterre,'
t Vol. I., p. 40.

1745, Vol. III., p. 211.

66

GREATER LONDON.

[Hounslow.

mark that we were approaching the more civilised
part of the kingdom. An officer had been shot at
in his carriage by a highwayman while crossing the
heath a few days before."
The gibbets seem, from Rocque's map 01 Mid
dlesex, to have stood on the point of land formed
by the junction of the Bath and Staines roads.
Not far from them was Albemarle House, an
" Academy " for youths, who seem to have had this
humanising spectacle constantly before their eyes.

removed on account of the constant passing afld
re-passing of the royal family along this road on
their journeys between London and Windsor.
Crabb Robinson mentions in his " Diary " in 1819
crossing Hounslow Heath on a stage-coach, and
being told by one of his fellow-passengers that
forty years previously the road was " literally lined
with gibbets, on which were in irons the carcases
of malefactors blackening in the sun." He might
safely have written "twenty" for "forty."

WHITTON PARK. (Seep. 09.)
(From a Print by W. Woollett, about 1800.)

There is a print of this school in the British
Museum ; it shows the boys exercising as volun
teers, doubtless in expectation of the invasion of
the great Napoleon in 1804. In the "Asylum for
Fugitive Pieces,'' 1785, are the following coarse
and vulgar lines, addressed to the young gentlemen
of the Hounslow Academy : —
" Take notice, roguelings, I prohibit
Your walking underneath this gibbet ;
Have you not heard, my little ones,
Of Raw Head and of Bloody Bones ?
How do you know but that there fellow
May step down quick and up you swallow ? "
The gibbets could never have been a very agree
able or edifying sight ; and accordingly they were

The dangers of the road, in fact, were not at an
end till many years of the present century "had
passed away ; and, indeed, lasted very nearly down
to the introduction of railways, which gave the
"knights of the road " their final conge.
That the life of the " dashing " highwayman was
invested with a sort of sensational romance there
can be little doubt. " In the last half of the seven
teenth century," writes Mr. James Thorne, in his
" Environs of London," "it was no uncommon thing
for the gay young cavalier to take to' the road as
the readiest mode of mending his fortune by light
ening the purses of the well-to-do round-head
citizens he held in supreme contempt ; but even a
century later stories were credited of other than

Hounslow. )

CLAUD DUVAL.

67

vulgar footpads resorting at times to Hounslow
Heath. It is gravely related, for example, that
Twysden, Bishopof Raphoe, playing thehighwayman
there in 1752, was shot through the body, and died
from the wound at a friend's house, his death being
announced as from inflammation of the bowels."
This story is related on the authority of the Hon.
Grantley Berkeley, who tells it in his " Life and
Recollections.'' The readers of the " Beggar's Opera" will learn

No less a writer than DeQuincey has endeavoured
not merely to whitewash, but to throwa coulmr de rose
over the ideal highwayman. He followed " a liberal
profession, one which required more accomplish
ments than either the bar or the pulpit, since from
the beginning it presumed a most bountiful endow
ment of qualifications — strength, health, agility,
and excellent horsemanship, intrepidity of the first
order, presence of mind, courtesy, and a general
ambidexterity of powers for facing all accidents,

OLD HANWORTH CHURCH. (Seep. 70.)
(From a Print published 1795.)

from Captain Macheath how rapidly the informa
tion was circulated as to the wealth of intending
travellers along the great western road. That ithe
highwayman could at times be the " very essence
of politeness " is not to be wondered at if they
were made of such gentlemanly stuff. Claud
Duval, as Macaulay tells us, " took to the road, and
became captain of a formidable gang ; " he adds
that " it is related how, at the head of his troop,
he stopped a lady's coach, in which there was a
booty of four^ hundred pounds ; how he took only
one hundred, and suffered the fair owner to ransom
the rest by dancing a coranto with him on the heath."
This celebrated exploit has been made the subject
of a painting by Mr. Frith, and has been engraved.

and for turning to a good account all unlooked-for
contingencies." He considers that, beyond a doubt,
the finest men in England, physically speaking,
throughout the last century, the very noblest speci
mens of man, considered as an animal, were the
mounted robbers, who cultivated their profession on
the great leading roads. For the forger, and such
as he, De Quincey has no sympathy ; but he main
tains that the special talents which led to distinc
tion on the road had often no other career open to
them. When every traveller carried fire-arms, the
mounted robber lived in an element of danger and
adventurous gallantry, so that admiration for the
thief sometimes was extorted from the person
robbed. " If to courage, address, promptitude of

68

GREATER LONDON.

[Hounslow.

decision (writes Dutton Cook) he added courtesy
and a spirit of forbearing generosity, he seemed
to be almost a man who merited public encourage
ment." For it might be urged plausibly that if his
profession was sure to exist, and that if he were
removed, a successor might arise who would carry
on the business in a less liberal spirit. Indeed,
De Quincey seems to think that a shade of dis
grace had fallen upon England in a previous
generation, inasmuch as the championship of the
road had passed for a time into the hands of a
Frenchman like Claud Duval.
Notwithstanding the bold front which the high
wayman was in the habit of assuming, he was occa
sionally outwitted. " Stand and deliver ! " were the
words addressed to a tailor travelling on foot by a
highwayman, whose brace of pistols looked rather
dangerous than otherwise. " I'll do that with
pleasure," was the reply, at the same time handing
over to the outstretched hands of the robber a
purse apparently pretty well stocked; "but," con
tinued he, " suppose you do me a favour in return.
My friends would laugh at me were I to go home
and tell them I wa's robbed with as much patience
as a lamb ; s'pose you fire your two bull-dogs right
through the crown of my hat : it will look something
like a show of resistance." His request was acceded
to ; but hardly had the smoke from the discharge of
the weapons passed away, when the tailor pulled out
a rusty old horse-pistol, and in his turn politely re
quested the thunder-struck highwayman to give up
everything about him of value, his pistols not omitted.
The locality of Hounslow and its Heath is at
best anything but a haunt of the Muses ; but still
it has inspired at all events one poem, for the Rev.
Wetenhall Wilkes, who was minister of the Chapelry
in the reign of George the Second, dedicated to
the Duke of Argyll a poetical epistle, in verse,
after the style of Pope, entitled "HounslowHeath."
The lines are turgid and bombastical enough,
but they give us some particulars which would
else have escaped notice. And a modern reprint
of the poem, by Mr. W. Pinkerton, F.S.A., contains
some interesting notes, on which we have drawn
considerably. For instance, we learn that a
century and a half ago the Heath was a frequent
meet for the royal stag-hounds and fox-hounds,
and that the King, the Prince of Wales, and the
Princess Amelia were frequently seen here pur
suing the pleasures of the chase. In the early part
of the last century, horse-racing of a more plebeian
character was here indulged in ; to use the bom
bastic phrase of Mr. Wilkes in his poem,
" Near to the town behold a spacious course,
The scene of trial for the sportive horse. "

The site of Hounslow Racecourse is laid down
on Rocque's Map (1754)- It was on the left of
the road to Staines, a short distance from the Bell
public-house. Many notices of these races are to
be found in the newspapers of the time ; for in
stance, in the Evening Post of July 20 and 23,
1734, when seven horses started, and one broke
its leg in the last heat. The names of the horses
and of the owners are given ; but they evidently
were not of the same stamp as those of which we
read as figuring at Newmarket.
" Houses and inhabitants," writes the Honourable
Miss Amelia Murray, " now occupy that part of
Hounslow Heath where the grim gallows once
stood within my recollection ; " and Mason thus
celebrates the place —
" Hounslow, whose heath sublimer terror fills,
Shall with her gibbets lend her powder-mills.''
Large gunpowder-mills stand on the banks of a
small stream about two miles to the south of the
village. The powder-mills here, like those at
Faversham, in Kent, and at other places, have
been subject to accidental explo'sions at different
times. One of the most serious which has occurred
here took place on the 6th of January, 1772, when
damage to a very great extent was done, the effects
of the explosion being felt for many miles round.
In November, 1874, another explosion occurred
here, when five lives were lost. Every precaution
is now taken, by the separation of the buildings,
&c, to localise the effects of such accidents as far
as possible, should any occur. It is said that
the first gunpowder manufactured in England
was probably manufactured on Hounslow Heath ;
and at a very early date indeed ; for we are told
that one William of Staines was employed by
Edward III. in 1346 to make the gunpowder which
enabled him to gain the victory of Crecy, the first '
battle in which powder was used. We shall have
more to say on the subject of gunpowder manufac
tories when we reach Waltham Abbey.
In 1793 extensive cavalry barracks, capable of
accommodating above four hundred men, were
erected by the Government on that part of the
Heath which is in Heston parish. There is an
exercising-ground, about three hundred acres in
extent, which is used for reviewing troops. The
4th, or Royal South Middlesex Militia, has its
head-quarters here, and there is also an arsenal.
Mr. Wilkes celebrates in his poem the song-birds
of Hounslow, and also the .game which was to be
found in the neighbourhood. His " Philomele "
may still be heard here in summer nights; but
it is to be feared that his "Moorcocks," his

Hanworth.]

WHITTON PARK.

69

" Curlieus," his " Teal and Widgeon," his " Easter-
lings," and "Snipes," if they had any existence
beyond the poetical imagination of the writer,
have long since " flown to another retreat " upon
the Surrey Hills, further out of the way of Cockney
sportsmen. Mr. Wilkes writes in his poem already quoted : —
' ' Four large patrician elms behind the town,
True as a beacon to the traveller known,
Their lofty boughs with ancient pride display,
And to fair Whitton point the cheerful way."
According to Rocque's Map (1754), these elms
stood a few yards down the Bell Lane, on the
Whitton Road. Two of them still remain.
Whitton Park, on the edge of Hounslow Heath,
the seat of Colonel Gostling-Murray, was, in the
last century, the residence of the Duke of Argyll,
formerly known! as Lord Islay. The gardens were
especially well laid out, planted and cultivated,
and adorned with statuary. Among other orna
ments was a celebrated group in marble by Gabriel
Cibber: the figure of a Highland piper and his dog.
It represents the piper described by De Foe in
his " History of the Plague " as taken up for dead
and carried off to his burial in the dead-cart, but
awakening from his trance just as he was about to
be thrown into the pit, sitting up in the cart, and
playing on his pipes, after which it is said that he
recovered. This is certainly wonderful ; it would
be more wonderful, however, to find that, being
a Highland piper, and immortalised by the Duke
of Argyll, he was anything but a Campbell. The
group was afterwards to be seen in the flower-
gardens at Stowe. The gardens of Whitton Park
gave rise to the following epigram : —
" Old Islay, to show his fine delicate taste
In improving his gardens purloined from the waste,
One day bade his gardener to open his views
By cutting a couple of grand avenues ;
No particular prospect his lordship intended,
But left it to chance how his walks should be ended.
With transport and joy he beheld his first view end
In a favourite prospect — a church that was ruined.
But, alas ! what a sight did the next cut exhibit !
At the end of the walk hung a rogue on a gibbet !
He beheld it and wept, for it caused him to muse on
Full many a Campbell who died with his shoes on.
All amazed and aghast at the ominous scene,
He ordered it quick to be closed up again
With a lump of Scotch firs that would serve as a screen. "
Again, Mr. Wilkes writes grandiloquently —
"To sing those scenes where peace and grandeur dwell,
Whitton demands her verse ; the Nine conspire
To swell my numbers with poetic fire.
There nature's genial powers impregn the ground,
And all her fragrant sweets are spread around. "
* "Walpole's Letters," Vol. I.

Although the Duke of Argyll was contemp
tuously called a " tree-monger " by Horace Walpole,
the country is indebted to him for introducing many
foreign trees and shrubs which, by the beauty of their
forms and colours, have greatly contributed to the
pleasing effect of the English landscape. Almost
every tree at Whitton was raised from seed planted
by the duke in 1724. The grounds were all laid
out with careful precision, and included fish-ponds,
a bowling-green, orange walk, a Gothic tower, a
Chinese summer-house, aviary, &c. After the sale
of the property to Mr. Gostling, shortly after the
duke's death, the conservatory was converted into
the elegant villa now known as Whitton House,
upon the pediment of which is a bas-relief after the
antique, representing the destruction of the Titans
by Jupiter. There is a well-known print of the
gardens at Whitton, as they appeared, filled with
the " quality," in the time of the Duke of Argyll.
The southern portion of Hounslow, including the
neighbourhood of Whitton Park, has lately been
made into a separate parish under the name of Whit
ton, with a new church on a pleasant village green.
The mansion at one time occupied by Sir
Godfrey Kneller stands near this, but in the parish
of Twickenham, and consequently will be dealt with
in a subsequent chapter.
Three miles south-west from Hounslow lies the
village of Hanworth, the site of which was formerly
a royal hunting seat. Hanworth Park was at one
time a favourite resort of Henry VIII. One part
of the gardens still remains just as it was laid out
under the eye of Queen Elizabeth.
This was one of the jointure houses of the
Queen Dowager, Katharine Parr, widow of Henry
VIII. , and here Elizabeth resided, both before
and after the union of that lady with Lord Sey
mour of Sudley, whose loose conduct towards the
young princess — apparently encouraged, or at least
connived at, by his wife — was scandalous enough
to deserve being mentioned in the histories of the
time. If the " Burleigh Papers" are to be trusted,
" on one occasion the queen held the hands of
the young princess whilst the Lord Admiral
amused himself with cutting her gown into shreds;
and on another she introduced him into the
chamber of Elizabeth before she had left her bed,
when a violent romping scene took place (writes
Lucy Aikin), which was afterwards repeated in
the presence of the queen." It is clear, then, that
whatever merits Catharine Parr may have pos
sessed, the morals of this widow did not render
her a fit duenna to the future queen of England.
Happily, however, her stay at Hanworth did not
last long after this, for a violent scene took place

7o

GREATER LONDON.

[Hanworth.

between the royal stepmother and stepdaughter,
which ended, fortunately for the peace and honour
of Elizabeth, in an immediate and final separation.
About the middle of the sixteenth century the
manor of Hanworth was granted to Anne, Duchess
of Somerset, the widow of the Protector, and
mother of the Earl of Hertford. In 1578 Queen
Elizabeth was here on a visit to the duchess ; the
queen was here again in 1600, when she "hunted
in the park." The mansion was at that time leased
to William Killigrew, whose son, of the same name,
the friend and servant of Charles I. and II., and
a dramatic author of some note, was born here
in 1605.
In 1627 Hanworth became the property of Sir
Francis Cottington, who in the following year
was created Baron Cottington of Hanworth. His
lordship in 1635 here entertained Queen Henrietta
Maria and her Court. On the fall of Charles I.
Hanworth was confiscated, and given to President
Bradshaw. Hanworth was, however, recovered by
Lord Cottington's cousin and heir at the Res
toration; but in 1670 it was sold to Sir Thomas
Chamber, whose granddaughter conveyed it in
marriage to Lord Vere Beauclerk, who in 1750
was created Baron Vere of Hanworth — a title now
absorbed in the ducal house of St. Albans.
Gossiping Horace Walpole thus writes to his
friend, Sir Horace Mann, under date 1791: — "The
Duke of St. Albans has cut down all the brave
old trees at Hanworth, and consequently reduced
his park to what it issued from — Hounslow Heath ;
nay, he has hired a meadow next to mine for the
benefit of embarkation, and there lie all the good
old corpses of oaks, ashes, and chestnuts, directly
before your windows, and blocking up one of my
views of the river ! But, so impetuous is the rage
for building, that His Grace's timber will, I trust,
not annoy us long."

Old Hanworth House was destroyed by fire in
March, 1797, but the moat and a few vestiges of
the house may still be seen close by the western
end of Hanworth Church. The grounds known as
Queen Elizabeth's Gardens have retained to this
day much of their old-fashioned character, being
studded with fine specimens of pine and old yews,
and other trees.
The present Hanworth House stands on higher
ground than its predecessor, and is a well-built man
sion of the ordinary type. It was long the property
of Mr. Perkins, whose fine library, which was ex
tremely rich in MSS., was dispersed under the
hammer of Messrs. Gadsden, Ellis, and Co., in the
year 1873. The collector of these treasures was
Mr. Henry Perkins (of the firm of Messrs. Barclay
and Perkins, of Southwark), who bequeathed them
to his son, the late Mr. Algernon Perkins, who
died in 1873. Under the tuition of the cele
brated Dr. Parr, Mr. Henry Perkins acquired his
love for books, and the bulk of the library was
obtained between the years 1820 and 1830, from
the great English and Continental sales. Among
the treasures disposed of on that occasion were
several curious MSS. of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries ; two copies of the noted Mazarine Bible,
and a large number of ancient Bibles, Evangelaries,
Missals, Books of Hours, Pontificals, &c. ; there
were also many very choice works of legend and
romance, including Lydgate's "Siege of Troy," the
"Romance of the Rose," &c. The house passed
by sale into the hands of Mr. Lafone, a merchant
of London.
Hanworth Church, dedicated to St. George, is a
modern erection, having been built in 1865, on the
site of the former parish church.
At Hatton, between this and Hounslow, Sir
Frederick Pollock, many years Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, spent the last twenty years of his life.

CHAPTER VI.
TWICKENHAM.
" Meadows trim, with daisies pied,
Shallow brooks, and rivers wide."

-Milton.

Derivation of the Name of Twickenham— Situation and Extent of the Parish— Early History of the Manor-The Man'or House-Arragon
Tower— Eel-pie Island-The Parish Church— Holy Trinity Church— St. Stephen's Church-Charitable Institutions-Curious Easts'
Custom— The Metropolitan and City of London Police Orphanage— Fortescue House— Royal Naval Female School— The Town Hah—
Perryn House— Economic Museum—" Bull Land "—Extracts from the Parish Register— An Amusing Anecdote of Sir James Delaval

Twickenham lies on the road between Isleworth
and Teddington and Hampton Court, in a valley
between the higher ground of Strawberry Hill on the

north and Richmond Hill on the south, from which
latter it is separated by the river Thames and some
pleasant fertile meadows. It has long been a

Twickenha-m.]

ETYMOLOGY OF TWICKENHAM.

7i

favourite locality for the residence of a large
number of the aristocracy ; indeed, in the last
century it acquired much celebrity in the fashionable
world as the favourite haunt of Horace Walpole,
and in the literary world as the home of Alexander
Pope. Many of its noted houses, it is true, have
disappeared, but the halo shed over the spot by
their former inhabitants still remains. Although
the village and its surroundings have lost much of
their rural seclusion of late years by the formation
of a railway through its very centre, and the
rapid increase of modern dwelling-houses in all
directions, much of its sylvan beauties are still
.visible, and its river-side aspect is as attractive
as of old. Indeed, the locality is a particularly
favoured one by the followers of the "gentle
craft " which Izaak Walton did so much to popu
larise. Hofman, in his " British Angler's Manual"
(1848), writes thus of the place : —
" The neighbourhood of Twickenham is not
only singularly beautiful and rich in its adorn
ments of elegant villas and noble mansions, but it
abounds in memorials interesting to the historian,
the antiquarian, and the lover of literature and art.
The manor-house was, for a long period, the
jointure-house of the queens of England. Katharine
of Arragon and Henrietta of France have here
bewailed, in their day, a cruel and a martyred
husband. Queen Anne was born here, in York
House, and lost her promising son whilst inhabiting
the mansion now, or lately, the property of Sir
George Pocock, Bart., which was for some years
inhabited by the present King of France, when
Duke of Orleans. Strawberry Hill, the seat of the
celebrated Horace Walpole (Lord Orford), the
house where Lady Mary Wortley resided, that of
Earl Howe, and several others of great interest,
are all in view; and within a little distance is
Marble Hill, immortalised by Swift and Gay;
Ham House, the splendid seat of Lord Dysart ;
Twickenham Meadows House, once the property
of the celebrated Richard Owen Cambridge : these
met the admiring eye of the angler as he made his
way to the deep, where he now rests, and from
which he gazes, untired, on that spot of ground
which presents the most remarkable objects and
associations, endeared by time and taste. Here,
Pope wrote ' The deathless satire, the immortal
song,' which neither time, fashion, nor envy can
obliterate ; here, he entertained the most highly-
gifted men of his own, or, perhaps, any other time,
the most noble, influential, and amiable. The
grotto which he formed, and where he loved to sit
with his friends, is before us, as well as the garden
he planted; but which was much enlarged in

dimensions, as well as beauty, by his first successor,
as an inscription informs us : —
" ' The humble roof, the garden's scanty line,
111 suit the genius of the bard divine ;
But fancy now displays a fairer scope,
And Stanhope's plans unfold the soul of Pope.' "
The name of the parish, formerly spelt Twick-
nam, is said to be derived from its situation
between two brooks which run into the Thames,
one at each end of the parish. An alms-dish in the
parish church, however, has upon it an inscription
which runs thus : — " For the parish of Twitna-
ham." This alms-dish bears no date, but on a
paten, dated 1674, the name is spelt exactly after
the modern fashion. Norden says that " in several
very ancient records antecedent to the Conquest,
the name is written Twitnam, or Twittanham, or
Twicanham." Twittenham, or Twitnam, survived
as the common pronunciation of the name down
almost to the present generation ; in the last cen
tury it was a customary form of pronunciation,
even among the best educated. Horace Walpole,
who did so much to make Twickenham classic
ground, invariably wrote the name Twit'nam, at
least in his earlier works. In some verses of
his, called "The Parish Register of Twicken
ham," the name is constantly written in that
form : — " Where silver Thames round Twit'nam meads
His winding current sweetly leads :
Twit'nam, the Muses' fav'rite seat,
Twit'nam, the Graces' lov'd retreat ;
There polished Essex went to sport,
The pride and victim of a court ;
There Bacon tuned the grateful lyre
To soothe Eliza's haughty ire."
Pope, whose name is as closely associated with
the memories of the parish as that of Walpole,
spells the name " Twitenham " in most of his
writings ; and many other poets and men of letters
of the last century wrote it in a similar manner.
Thus, in Dodsley's collection of poems by various
hands, we read : —
" I saw the sable barge along his Thamea,
Beating in slow solemnity the tide,
Convey his sacred dust. Its swans expired j
Withered in Twitnam bowers the laurel botlgh.
Silent, the Muses broke their idle lyres,
Th' attendant Graces checked the sprightly dafice,
Their arms unlocked, and caught the startingHear,
And virtue for her lost defender mourned."
Thomson also, in his poem on "Richmond Hill,"
writes : —
" Here let us trace the matchless vale of Tharric'S)
Far winding up to where the Muses haunt,
To Twitnam's bowers."

72

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

And again, the Rev. T. Maurice, in a poem on the
same subject, dated 1807, writes: —
" Twitnam ! so dearly loved, so often sung,
Theme of each raptured heart and glowing tongue.''
The town is situated along the northern bank
of the Thames, and to the natural beauties and
advantages with which it is surrounded it owes
a great proportion of the renown which it has
possessed for the last three centuries, during which
period it has numbered among its residents those
who have occupied positions of eminence and
influence, owing either to their exalted station in
life, or to their literary, artistic, or political abilities.

ing date 1301, " Twykenham is entered as a hamlet
appendant to the manor of Isleworth." Another
record, dated 1390, says that the manor and hundred
of Isleworth had always been deemed of the same
extent. Lysons observes that this did not imply
any jurisdiction over the lands of religious houses,
which exercised manorial rights upon their own
estates. "The Brethren of the Holy Trinity at
Hounslow," he continues, "had a small manor
within the hundred, independent of that of Isle
worth. The monks of Christ Church had another
in this parish from very ancient times, as will
appear by the following account. Offa, King of the
Mercians, between the years 791 and 794, gave to

TWICKENHAM.
{From a Print published 1749.)

The extent of the parish is about three and a half
miles in length, by one and a half in breadth. It
contains-, according to the Ordnance Survey, rather
more than 2,415 acres; in the Isleworth Survey,
taken in 1635, by order of Algernon, Duke of
Northumberland, the number of acres is estimated
at about 1,850.
The climate has always been celebrated for its
pure and healthy influences, and in its vegetation
it is the same as that of most parts of the course of
the River Thames. Twickenham, in fact, with the
country adjacent to it, has always been distinguished
for the fertility of its gardens, which still send large
supplies of vegetables and fruit, especially straw
berries, to the London markets.
The parish is situated in the hundred of Isle
worth, and for the most part within the ancient
manor of Sion, of which the Duke of Northumber
land is lord. The name of the place is not
mentioned in "Domesday Book," for the simple
reason, no doubt, that it was included in the parish
of Isleworth. Lysons states that in a record, bear-

EEL-PIE ISLAND.
Athelard, Archbishop of Canterbury, among other
benefactions, thirty tributaries of land on the north
side of the river Thames, at a place called Twittan-
ham, for the purpose of providing vestments for the
priests who officiated in the church of St. Saviour
in Canterbury. Warherdus, a priest, by his will,
bearing date 830, gave to the church of Canterbury
eight hides of land, with the manor of Twitnam, in
Middlesex, which had been granted him by Ceol-
nothus, Dean of Canterbury (the same, it is pro
bable, who was a few years afterwards Archbishop).
In 941 Edmund the king, and Eldred his brother,

74

GREATER LONDON.

Twickenham.

and Edmund, the son of Edmund, restored to the
monks of Christ Church, in Canterbury, all the
lands which they had unjustly taken away from
them. Among these was the manor of Twittanham.
This restitution seems not to have been very
effectual, for it appears that King Eldred, by his
charter, bearing date 948, gave to the said monks,
as a small offering, for the love of God and the
benefit of his soul, the manor of Twiccanham, in
the county of Middlesex, situated upon the river
Thames, with all its appurtenances, exempting it
from all secular burdens, taxes, and tolls, excepting
contributions towards the building of bridges and
fortifications, and the king's expedition; his charter
concludes with the following bitter anathema against
any persons who should venture to infringe it —
' Whatever be their sex, order, or rank, may their
memdry be blotted out of the book of life, may
their strength continually waste away, and be there
no restorative to repair it.' I suppose this manor
to have been the same which, being then vested in
the Crown, was annexed by King Henry VIII. in
1539 to the honour of Hampton Court, between
1539 and 1541, granted to Edward, Earl of Hert
ford, and in the latter year surrendered by him to
the king. It remained in the immediate occupation
of the Crown till the reign of Charles I., by whom
it was settled, with other estates, as a jointure,
on his queen, Henrietta Maria. When the Crown
lands were put up to sale during the usurpation,
this manor was purchased (anno 1650) by John
Hemsdell, merchant, on behalf of himself and other
creditors of the State. . . After the Restora
tion the queen-mother resumed possession of her
jointure, and held it till her death. In 1670 this
manor was settled for life on Katharine, consort of
Charles II.; and in 1675 the king granted a
reversionary lease for 41 years, commencing after
the queen's death, or from the date of such leases
as the queen might have granted, to John, Earl of
Rochester. William Genew, Esq., in 1688, had a
lease of the manor for twelve years, to commence
in 1707. Lord Rochester's lease, which com
menced at the expiration of Genew's, becoming
afterwards vested in Lord Bolingbroke, it was for
feited to the Crown upon his attainder in 17 15."
The lease of the manor subsequently passed by sale
into the hands of different capitalists, whose names
would be of no interest to the general reader.
"The manor of Twickenham,'' as the Rev. R. S.
Cobbett informs us, in his " Memorials of Twicken
ham," ' ' extends through the parishes of Twickenham,
Isleworth, and Heston. The customs are primo
geniture, and fines arbitrary. , The other manors
are those of Isleworth Syon and Isleworth Rectory,

the former belonging to the Duke of Northumber
land, and the latter now to the Ecclesiastical Com
missioners, but formerly to the dean and canons
of Windsor."
The Manor House, a large red-brick building,
stood opposite the north side of the church. It
was for some time called Arragon House, from a
supposition that Katharine of Arragon retired
hither after her divorce from Henry VIII. This,
however, is but a doubtful tradition. Katharine
of Braganza, queen of Charles II., is said to have
inhabited the mansion for a time ; and it is
supposed also to have been part of the jointure
of Queen Katharine Parr, who may have used it
during her residence at Hanworth or Hampton
Court. In the early part of the seventeenth century
the house was in the occupation of Lady Walter,
widow of Sir John Walter, Lord Chief Baron
of the Exchequer, who, it is probable, had resided
in it also, for at his death in 1630 he left a
benefaction to the poor of Twickenham. In a
survey of the house and park which was taken
in 1650, mention is made of "two round rooms
in a brick turret," and also " a fair hall wain
scoted," in which was a screen of excellent
workmanship. Mr. Samuel Scott, an artist who
acquired some celebrity in his day as a painter of
river scenery, occupied the house for some time
prior to his death, in the year 1772, after which it
became the residence of his pupil, Mr. William
Marlow, F.S.A., who also became distinguished
as an artist.
The greater part of the Manor House was taken
down some few years ago, but a portion still re
mains, and is called Arragon Tower. Mr. Cobbett,
in his work above quoted, states that the house was
large, but possessed no features of peculiar interest.
"It was evidently a Tudor structure (a mantelpiece
in it indisputably belonged to that period), reno
vated in the time of William and Mary. In an
apartment which was used as a cellar was a carved
door of considerable antiquity, and several vacant
niches with an ecclesiastical look about them, simi
lar to those existing in the vicarage. A large
garden adjoined the house, in which was a magni
ficent walnut-tree, which, when cut down, was sold
for about ^80. The royal arms of England were
placed within, in the hall or over the entrance
door." Of the village — or, perhaps, more properly
speaking, the town— of Twickenham there is but
little to be said. At the western end, near
the riverside, stands the parish church. In the
river, nearly opposite the church, is an "ait,"
or eyot (island), containing about eight acres,

Twickenham.]

EEL-PIE ISLAND

75

chiefly laid out as pleasure-grounds, and known
as Eel-pie Island. The Eel-pie House has been a
noted place of resort for two centuries for fisher
men and for pleasure parties. The old house was
taken down in 1830. Church Street, a somewhat
narrow, old-fashioned thoroughfare, runs westward
from the church into King Street, the principal street
of the town. Some of the river-side approaches
here corresponded till quite lately to Pope's de
scription in his own days : — ¦
" In ev'ry town where Thamis rolls his tide,
A narrow pass there is, with houses low ;
Where ever and anon the stream is ey'd,
And many a boat, soft sliding to and fro.
There oft are heard the notes of infant woe,
The short thick sob, loud scream, and shriller squall.
How can ye, mothers, vex your children so ?

" And on the broken pavement, here and there,
Doth many a stinking sprat and herring lie ;
A brandy and tobacco shop is near,
And hens, and dogs, and hogs are feeding by ;
And here a sailor's jacket hangs to dry.
At every door are sun-burnt matrons seen,
Mending old nets to catch the scaly fry,
Now singing shrill, and scolding oft between ;
Scolds answer foul-mouthed scolds ; bad neighbourhood,
I ween.
" Such place hath Deptford, navy-building town,
Woolwich and Wapping, smelling strong of pitch ;
Such Lambeth, envy of each band and gown,
And Twick'nham such, which fairer scenes enrich,
Grots, statues, urns, and J  n's dog and bitch.
Ne village is without, on either side,
All up the silver Thames, or all adown,
Ne Richmond's self, from whose tall front are ey'd
Vales, spires, meand'ring streams, and Windsor's tow'ry
pride."
In 1882, however, the Thames front here was
ornamentally embanked.
At the eastern end of the parish, where it joins
on to Isleworth, a new district of villas has sprung
up, known respectively as Cambridge and Twicken
ham Parks ; while westward, in the neighbourhood
of the Common, the Heath, and Strawberry Vale,
building has been going on largely of late years.
The parish church, as stated above, stands near
the river-side, and is dedicated to St. Mary the
Virgin. With the exception of the tower, it is a
modern red-brick building, of the nondescript
order of architecture, and of little or no interest,
apart from the monuments which it contains. It
stands on the site of the original edifice, the body
of which fell to the ground on the night of the 9th
of April, 1 7 13. The church of Twickenham was
of old appropriated to the Abbey of St. Valery (or
Walerie), in Picardy. The date of its foundation

is unknown ; but " the style of the building, as
exemplified by the tower," Mr. Cobbett observes, in
his " Memorials of Twickenham," " must have be
longed to the age of William of Wykeham ; and
as the vicarages of Twickenham and Isleworth
were given to the Crown by that prelate, we may
conclude that the parish church was rebuilt under
his superintendence. Its date, in that case, would
be about the middle of the fourteenth century.
The ground plan of the church comprised at that
period a nave (with or without aisles), and the
still existing western tower. As far as can be
ascertained," Mr. Cobbett adds, " no old view or
engraving of it exists ; the best notion of what it
must have been like is supplied by the modern
church of St. John's, Isleworth."
At the time of the fall of the church, Sir Godfrey
Kneller was one of the churchwardens, and under
his auspices the present building was erected. Mr.
John James, who designed the church of St.
George, Hanover Square, was the architect. " As
a specimen of brick-work," writes Mr. Cobbett,
"it is confessedly inimitable ; a repetition of the
accident which had deprived Twickenham of one
church was at least amply provided against for
the future. The walls are of prodigious thickness ;
every detail is carried out conscientiously and tho
roughly, and in such respects it puts to shame many
more pretentious modern structures." What his
toric interest the interior of the church may have
possessed — from its association with the time of
Walpole, Pope, and their friends — was wholly swept
away between the years 1859 and 1871, during
which period the old galleries were lowered and re
arranged, and the high cumbersome pews were
made to give place to open benches. In lieu
of a chancel, a chorus cantorum was formed at the
east end ; a new vestry was erected on the south
side of the church, and the restoration of the tower
was effected. These alterations in the church pro
vided additional sittings for about 400 adults, and
a large increase of those for the school children.
The wooden bell-turret which formerly crowned
the tower, and is familiar to us in all old prints of
the place, was taken down when the church was
restored in 1859.
Apart from the parish registers, of which we
shall speak presently, the monuments and their
epitaphs are the only objects of interest to a
casual visitor which Twickenham Church now pos
sesses. Among these, the oldest is a stone slab
placed upright against the south wall by the vestry
door, and having upon it. a brass plate in memory
of Richard Burton, " chief cook to the king," and
dated 1443. The monument erected by Bishop

76

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

Warburton to the memory of Pope is upon the
north wall, and has upon it a medallion portrait of
the poet, together with the line from the pen of
Pope himself : " For one who would not be buried
in Westminster Abbey," and the verse — ¦
" Heroes and kings, your distance keep ;
In peace let one poor poet sleep,
Who never flatter'd folks like you :
Let Horace blush and Virgil too."
Why, however, Horace and Virgil should "blush"
any more than the bard of Twickenham is not
clear ; for were not all three courtier poets ?
On the east wall is a marble monument, erected
by Pope to the memory of his parents and " to
himself." In his " last will and testament " Pope
gave the following instructions concerning his
interment : — ¦" As to my body, my will is that it be
buried near the monument of my dear parents at
Twickenham, with the addition, after the words
filius fecit, of these only : ' et sibi : Qui obiit anno
17 — cetatis — ;' and that it be carried to the grave
by six of the poorest men of the parish, to each of
whom I order a suit of grey coarse cloth as
mourning." The blanks left for the insertion of
the date of the poet's death, and his age, have
never been filled up, as they should have been.
Below the above-mentioned monument is a tablet
inscribed to the memory of Mr. Richard Owen
Cambridge, of whom we shall have more to say
presently. Among the other monuments in the
church are those to Sir William Humble and Sir
Joseph Ashe ; to Lady Frances Whitmore, with an
epitaph by Dryden ; to John, Lord Berkeley, of
Stratton, who died in 1678 ; to Admiral Sir Chaloner
Ogle, Sir Thomas Lawley, Sir Richard Perryn,
and Louisa, Viscountess Clifden. Sir Godfrey
Kneller lies buried here ; but, singularly enough, his
monument is not here, but in Westminster Abbey,
where his epitaph may be read. It is from the pen
of Pope.
In the churchyard are a large number of tombs,
of which may be mentioned those of Lieutenant-
General William Tryon, sometime Governor of the
Province of New York, who died in 1788, and
Selina Countess Ferrers, who died in 1 762. Admiral
Byron, the author of the " Narrative of the Loss of
the Wager" who died in 1786, was buried here,
but there is no monument to his memory ; and the
searcher after quaint inscriptions may also look in
vain for the following, which in most books on
epitaphs is stated to be in Twickenham churchyard,
but is probably apocryphal: —
"Here lie I,
Killed by a sky-
Rocket in the eye."

There is, however, one epitaph on the chancel
wall which will rivet attention ; it is that to the
memory of Mrs. Catherine Clive — " Kitty Clive" —
who died in 1758. It has a long poetical in
scription, written by Miss Jane Pope, an actress,
and commencing : —
" Clive's blameless life this tablet shall proclaim,
Her moral virtues, and her well-earn'd fame. "
Dr. Charles Morton, F.R.S., sometime the prin
cipal librarian of the British Museum, who died in
1799, and Mr. Edward Ironside, the historian
of Twickenham, who died in 1803; lie in the new
burial-ground ; and in the graveyard in Royal
Oak Lane are monuments to Field Marshal Sir
Edward Blakeney, Governor of Chelsea Hospital,
who died in 1868, to the Rev. Charles Proby,
Vicar of Twickenham, who died in 1859, and
many others of the principal inhabitants of the
parish. Dr. Terrick, afterwards Bishop of London, was
Vicar of Twickenham in Horace Walpole's time.
He was succeeded in the vicarage by the " learned "
Rev. George Costard, who was also an astronomer
of some note in his time. He died in 1782, and
was buried in Twickenham churchyard, but no
memorial marks the place of his interment.
Holy Trinity Church, on Twickenham Common,
erected in 1840, is a poor specimen of architecture,
built of brick with stone dressings; transepts and
an apsidal chancel were added in 1863. Some of the
windows are filled with stained glass, and there are
tablets to the memory of Sir William Clay, M.P.,
and Lady Clay, late of Fulwell Lodge, on the road
to Hanworth. Attached to this church are some
schools, generally known as "Archdeacon Cam-
bridge's Schools." They were built by subscrip
tion as a memorial of Archdeacon Cambridge,
" and in grateful remembrance of his liberal contri
butions towards the erection and endowment of
the church."
St. Stephen's Church, East Twickenham, was
built in 1876, in place of Montpelier Episcopal
Chapel, which, never having been consecrated, is
now made to serve the purposes of a public hall.
The old building had been used for the service of
the Church of England for about 150 years. St.
Stephen's Church is a Gothic building, and is con
structed of Kentish rag and Bath stone.
Among the charities and institutions of Twicken
ham are almshouses founded in 1704 by a Mr.
Mathew Harvie, and in 1721 the Flon. Sarah
Greville bequeathed ^200 towards the expense of
erecting six additional almshouses. Bequests of
land have been made at different times bv the

Twickenham.]

THE ECONOMIC MUSEUM.

77

charitably disposed for the benefit of the poor,
some of which are distributed in money and some
in bread, and so forth.
It is said by Lysons that there was here " an
ancient custom of dividing two great cakes in the
church on Easter Day among the young people ; "
but that, being looked upon as a " superstitious
relic," it was ordered by the Parliament in 1645
that the parishioners should " forbear that custom,"
and instead of it should " buy loaves of bread for
the poor of the parish with the money that should
have bought the cakes." It adds, " it appears that
the sum of £1 per annum is still charged upon
the vicarage for the purpose of buying penny loaves
for poor children on the Thursday after Easter.''
Wellesley House, a large mansion in the Hamp
ton Road, is now the Metropolitan and City of
London Police Orphanage, an institution founded
in 1870 for the purpose of maintaining, clothing,
and educating destitute orphan children of the
police forces, and of " placing them out in situations
where the prospect of an honest livelihood shall
be secured." The orphanage is supported almost
entirely by the members of the force, aided by oc
casional subscriptions from the outside world. The
buildings will hold about 200 children.
Fortescue House, a somewhat heavy-looking
mansion near the centre of the town, has been long
devoted to charitable purposes. The house was at
one time the residence of a former Lord Fortescue,
who possessed in it a valuable collection of paintings
by the old masters. It was for many years used as
a ladies' boarding-school and for other educational
purposes, and served for some time as the orphanage
of the police before its transfer to Wellesley House.
It is now a Home for destitute boys.
The Royal Naval Female School at St. Mar
garet's was founded in 1840, mainly through the
bequest of Admiral Sir Thomas Williams, G.C.B.,
who gave ^1,000 to be invested in trust as the
basis of an endowment fund. In 1856 the present
building was purchased, and the school removed
hither from Richmond. The object of the insti
tution is " to provide at the lowest possible cost a
good education for the orphan and other daughters
of officers of Her Majesty's Army and of the Royal
Marines." The number of pupils is limited to
ninety, of which number twenty-six are received at
the annual payment of ^50; fifty-six are boarded
and educated at the entire cost to the parents
or guardians of £12 per annum; and five, whose
fathers died during the Crimean campaign, are
nominees of the Patriotic Fund, the establishment
defraying the larger amount of actual cost through
the means of voluntary contributions.

Among the most recent additions to the public
buildings of Twickenham is a Town Hall, erected
at the expense of Sir Charles Freake. It is a
handsome building of red brick, with stone dressings;
it contains a large assembly-room, which is used
for concerts, meetings, &c.
North of the railway station, at the junction
of the roads leading to Whitton and Isleworth,
stands Perryn House, so called from having been
formerly the residence of Sir Richard Perryn,
a Baron of the Exchequer, who died in 1803.
About the year 1835 tne property was sold to Mr.
Thomas Twining, a resident of the neighbourhood :
his son, of the same name, commenced in 1856
the formation of a permanent Educational Exhibition
of things appertaining to domestic and sanitary
economy, which, from its having been devoted
to the furtherance of what may be called economic
knowledge, took the name of the " Economic
Museum." In a certain sense, however, the idea
first took shape and form in one of the departments
of the Universal Exposition at Paris in 1855. It
was a collection of every possible description of
household treasures : in short, of all material things
needful to man. It included " marvels of cheap
ness," ingenious devices for the economy of space,
and specimens of food and clothing. Visitors
called it " the exhibition of cheapness," yet it was
something more than that — it was an exhibition of
prudence, of forethought, of cleanliness, and of
sanitary arrangement, which together form the
foundation of domestic economy. The building
stood in the grounds of Perryn House. Its con
tents included models or specimens of building
designs, intended as a guide to persons desirous of
improving the dwellings of the working classes ;
building materials, pictures, furniture, and house
hold utensils ; textile materials, fabrics, and cos
tumes ; food, fuel, and household stores ; sanitary
appliances, &c. Attached to the museum was a
valuable and comprehensive library of books,
pamphlets, and documents, both British and foreign,
selected and arranged for convenience of reference
in matters of domestic, sanitary, educational, and
social economy and practical benevolence. The
usefulness of the museum, and of the lectures
explanatory of the subjects of which it contained
examples, compiled by Mr. Twining, and delivered
by his agents in various parts of London and the
suburbs, gradually became felt and acknowledged
by many persons whose opinion was of great weight
and value. The museum and all its valuable
contents, including the library, however, were
totally consumed by fire in 187 1. It was calculated
that ,£10,000 would not replace the loss.

73

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.,

Before proceeding to describe other houses in
the parish, and to mention the many eminent in
habitants whose residence here has gone far
towards making Twickenham one of the most
popular suburbs of London, it will, perhaps, be
best to close this chapter with a few extracts from
the parish register, and to deal with one or two
other matters which have affected the rise and
progress of the town. The minutes of the vestry
and the churchwardens' accounts are, for the most
part, in good preservation, and date respectively
from 1618 and 1606. In the latter, "Strawberry
Hill" and the "Bull Lands"
are mentioned for the first
time. Of Strawberry Hill we
shall have occasion to speak at
some length presently. With
regard to the entry concerning
the " Bull Land," it may be
stated that from a copy of the
Court Roll of the Manor of
Isleworth Sion, dated Decem
ber 20th, 1675, it appears that
one Thomas Cole surrendered
four acres one rood of land,
lying in several places in the
fields of Twickenham, called
the parish land, anciently be
longing to the inhabitants of
Twickenham, "in trust for the
keeping and maintaining a
sufficient bull for the common
use of the said inhabitants."
Amongst the receipts for
1 63 1, and other years, are
sums, usually about six shil
lings and sixpence, paid by
other parishes, among which Teddington and Cran
ford are named, " for the loan of the parish pewter,"
as the sacramental plate was described. In 1652
the churchwardens made an inventory of the
parish goods, which they handed over to their
successors in office. It is as follows : — "A greater
silver and guilt cupp, with the cover, given by Mr.
Hollingsworth. A lesser silver cupp with a cover.
Two pewter flaggons. A greene velvett cushion
for the pulpitt. Greene carpett for the comunion
table. Blacke cloth for the ffuneralls. One joyned
chest. Two joyned stooles. One little chest
with two locks. One diaper table-cloth for the
communion table." That the " free " and open
seat movement was not thought of or dreamed
about in the seventeenth century may be easily
inferred from the following entry in the minutes of
the vestry, under date of May 2, 1659: — "That

SIR GODFREY KNELLER. (See p. 75.)
(From the Painting by Himself).

the little seat, on the back side of the one where
Gooddy Raynor sittes now in, and one on the
south side of the seate where Gooddy Barker now
sitteth in, shall be hereafter belonging to the house
which Mr. Peirce now hath by the water-side, in lue
of the seate which did formerly belong to the said
house." And again, under date of May 9, 1667 : —
" Ed. Gray having complained that ye Erie of
Clarendon's pew for his servants in the gallery had
been taken away from him by the churchwardens,"
it was ordered " that noe person should sitt in ye
said pew but by leave of my Lord Clarendon or his
servants." On September 20th,
1674, it was ordered that bells
were not to be rung "but
according to a declaration,
under my Lord Chief Justice's
hand, how he sayes they may
be legally ringed."
On April 17th, 1676, a
parish officer was appointed
"to secure the town against
vagabones, beggars, and
other persons harbouring in
barnes or out-houses, also to
prevent ' theefing' and robbing
houses and grounds." That
this precautionary measure did
not have altogether the desired
effect is pretty clear ; at all
events, there were highway
men busily plying their work
here a century later, for Mrs.
Kitty Clive writes to Garrick,
under date June 10th, 1776:
— "Have you not heard of
the adventures of your poor
friend? I have been rob'd (sic) and murder'd
coming from Kingston. Jimey and I in a post-
chey (sic) at half past nine, just by Teddington
Church, was stoppt. I only lost a little silver
and my senses, for one of them come into the
carriage with a great horse pistol to sarch (sic) me
for my watch, but I had it not with me."
In 1686 the parish authorities were ordered by
the deputy-lieutenancy of the county " to pro
vide coats, hatts, and belts for sixteene maimed
souldiers." A box was made to keep the articles
so contributed.
Two curious entries occur in the accounts for
1688. The first is as follows : — "Item : Paid to
the relief of a sick man brought naked out of the
camp, and passing him away, 1 is. 3d." James II.,
as we have already shown (see ante, page 64), had
his camp at this time on Hounslow Heath. The

Twickenham.]

EXTRACTS FROM THE PARISH REGISTER.

79

qrher entry is as follows : — " Item : To Mr.
ijuisbey, for curing Doll Bannister's nose, 3s."
On May nth, 1696, it was ordered that the
beadle should have 20s. per annum and the Cross-
hiuse rent free, " for to ward within and about this
parish, and to keep out all Beggars and Vagabonds
tint shall lye, abide, or lurk about the towne, and
to give correction to such that shall anyways stand
in Opposition contrary to the Statutes in that case
male and provided." In the accounts of 1698 is
thisientry : — " Item : Paid old Tomlins for fetching
home the Church-gates, being thrown into ye
Thanes in the night by Drunkards, 2 s. 6d."
MDecember, 1701, the parish allowed the Earl of
Bedford, with the consent of His Grace the Duke

But Twickenham had not only its "rogues in
grain," but its saints. At all events, at the end of
the last century several of the leading inhabitants
of the parish were staunch followers of the Wes-
leyan connection ; and it is recorded in the " Life
of Wesley '' that he dined with one of them here
less than a fort
night before his
deat

HP

wmmm
m

wMkm

¦E.AI

TWICKENHAM PARK HOUSE. (See p. 81.) -*¦-"' ^lgf70.

of Somerset, \to set up a pillar or column in the
middleof Twitenham,as his lordship should seefit."
On Deceirbr 5th, 1726, so many larcenies
having been c&mitted in the neighbourhood, and
the sufferers Qng unwilling to prosecute, on ac
count of expen, the vestry ordered that when
ever any larcentelony, or burglary was committed,
Mr. James Tayll of New Brentford, should be em
powered to mane the prosecution of the same,
and for his pairisbould be paid by a rate.
The churchwaUs here, as in other country
villages, were inhe habit of paying for the
destruction of ve\in. In their accounts for the

years 1773 and ^4, for instance,

are these
items : " Paid for 5'ledgehogs, 18s. ; " and " Paid
for 4 Pole-cats, is'd." Similar entries occur in
large numbers dowto quite recent times. On
the 4th of October^ go, it was ordered "that a
whipping-post be pup at the workhouse im
mediately." \

in Feb
ruary, 1 791.
It was probably
the last occasion of
his leaving home.
Still there was nothing specially austere in the cus
toms of the inhabitants. It is stated in the Mirror
for 1840 that " at the recent petty sessions here the
magistrates granted the request of some of the
inhabitants to enjoy the ancient right of playing
at football on Shrove Tuesday— a custom observed
in the principal suburban parishes of Middlesex
and Surrey from time immemorial."
Since the formation of a Local Board, the duties
of the parishioners, "in vestry assembled," have
been much lessened and curtailed. All the respon
sibilities attaching to the lighting of the parish,
the care of its roads and highways, and especially
the urgent question of drainage, devolve upon the
Board, and are now no longer managed by special

So

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham^

committees, elected for such purposes, as was the
case previous to the year 1868.
The roads in Twickenham and its immediate
neighbourhood were in former times mostly very
narrow and ill-kept, which sometimes made travel
ling along them in coaches or other vehicles
anything but easy or pleasant, and occasionally
led to awkward blocks, from vehicles coming in
opposite directions. An instance of this occurred
on one occasion to the carriages containing Sir
James Delaval and the Duke of Somerset. The
latter, who is known to historians as the "proud"
Duke of Somerset, was an inordinately arrogant
nobleman, who seemed in his conduct as if vested
with regal honours. His servants obeyed him by
signs, and were not allowed to speak, and scarcely
to appear, in his presence. His children obeyed
his mandates with profound and servile respect.
The story goes that the pleasant Sir James Delaval
laid a wager of ,£1,000 that he would make the
duke give him precedency; but that was judged
impossible, as his Grace was all eyes and ears on
such occasions. Delaval, however, having one
day obtained information of the precise time
when the duke was to pass a narrow part of
the road on his way to town, stationed himself
there in a coach, emblazoned for the day with
the arms, and surrounded by many servants in
the livery of the head of the house of Howard,
who called out, when Somerset appeared, "The
Duke of Norfolk ! " The former, fearful of com
mitting a breach of etiquette, hurried his postilion
under a hedge, where he was no sooner safely
fixed than Delaval passed, who, leaning out of
the carriage, bowed with a familiar air, and wished
his Grace a good morning. He indignantly ex
claimed, " Is it you, Sir James ? I thought it had
been the Duke of Norfolk ! " The wager thus won
was paid, and the town made merry with the
stratagem used by Sir James to gain it.

A map of Twickenham as it was in 1784, whij di
we give on page 73, shows the distribution I of
property as it stood a century ago. At the extrej ne
south-west is shown Strawberry Hill, marked simi ply
" Mr. Walpole." Between it and the main streell: of
the village are, on the river side of the road, Mthe
seats of Lord Sefton, Mr. Ellis (Pope's villa), M-Iiss
and Mr. Shirley, and Lord Poulett ; on the oither
side, the grounds of Mr. Briscoe, Sir F. Bassett,! Mr.
Gostling, Miss Holden, and Mr. Blake. On! the
south side of the road leading to Twickenham
Common stands the mansion of the late JfLord
Ferrers (the same who not long before had! been
executed at Tyburn). Fortescue House, Jit the
north of the village, appears as " the lata! Lord
Fortescue's." Around it lie the properties off several
nobodies; and, curiously enough, the sprot now
occupied by the South Western Railway Station is
marked " Staten " Field. To the east of tl/ie parish
church we note the mansions of Mr. Shakfcrly, Mr.
Whitchurch, and Mr. Condell, some rlf whom
doubtless knew Alexander Pope in the fljish. Be
tween the centre of the main street ' and! the river
stands the mansion of Lady Shelburnei enclosed
apparently within walls, adjoining Water Street,
which probably then was an important thoroughfare
as leading down to " the silent highway " of the
river. To the east of the map is /Sir George
Pococke's mansion, and beyond it Raginan's Castle
and Montpelier Row and Chapel, w/fh Mr. Har-
dinge's house by the river-side facing/a small eyot.
Between " Mow " Meadow, on the north, and the
extreme north-east of the map are two bridle roads
to Isleworth, on the one of which stands Mr. Nettle-
ship's, and on the other " Folly House." Across
the brook at the north, where ,Pope probably
narrowly escaped drowning, as we 1 shall see later,
are the grounds of Mr. Cole, wpose family was
connected with Twickenham for si>me two or three

CHAPTER VII.
TWICKENHAM (continued). \
" To Twitnam's mead the muse repairs.'' ,
Twickenham Park— The Naval School— Cambridge House— Richard Owen Cambridge— Mr. Bishop's Observatoif— Marble Hill— The Witty
Bishop Corbett— Ragman's Castle — Orleans House— Mr. Secretary Johnstone — Sir George Pococke — The puke of Orleans — The Due
d'Aumale — The Orleans Club — York House — The Hon. Mrs. Damer — Sir Alexander Johnson— A Learned Br.?111"" — The Comte de Paris—
The Grove— The Duke of Wharton— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu— Twickenham House— Earl Ferrers— Fie''>"£— Other Noted Residents
-Twickenham Common — Whitton — Kneller Hall— The Normal Training School.

There are few, if any, places within " a measurable
distance " of the metropolis where there have re
sided such a host of distinguished persons as
Twickenham. Among its former inhabitants have

been statesmen, poets, phipsophers, painters, au
thors, ecclesiastics, military /nd naval men, as well
as many women of eminence in the worlds of
society and of letters. It classic bowers, in fact,

Twickenham.]

TWICKENHAM PARK.

8 1

gained for it from Horace Walpole the name of
" The Baise of Great Britain." In the lapse of years
it would be difficult, perhaps, in every instance, to
point out exactly the residences and characteristics
of all these Twickenham worthies ; but still, enough
remains upon record, or lives in local tradition, to
identify a goodly list, with their respective homes.
First and foremost stand the names of Pope and
Horace Walpole; but of each of these there is
sufficient to form a separate chapter.
In 1722, De Foe wrote, in his "Tour through
England and Scotland " :— " Twittenham, a village
remarkable for abundance of curious seats, of
which that of Boucher, the famous gamester, would
pass in Italy for a delicate palace. The Earl of
Marr, the Earl of Strafford, the Earl of Bradford,
the Lord Brook, the Lord Sunderland, the Lady
Falkland, have each their pretty villas in this parish ;
but I think that of Secretary Johnstone, for the
elegancy and largeness of the gardens, his terrace
on the river, and the situation of his house, makes
much the brightest figure here." Horace Walpole,
in his letter to Bentley, about thirty years later,
writes of the place in much the same strain. He
observes that " Nothing is equal to the fashion of
this place : Mr. Muntz says we have more coaches
here than there are in half France. Mrs. Pritchard
has bought Ragman's Castle, for which my Lord
Lichfield could not agree. We shall be as cele
brated as Baise or Tivoli ; and if we have not such
sonorous names as they boast, we have very famous
people : Clive and Pritchard, actresses ; Scott and
Hodson, painters ; my Lady Suffolk, famous in her
time ; Mr. H— — ,* the impudent lawyer, that Tom
Harvey wrote against ; Whitehead, the poet ; and
Cambridge the everything." In dealing with the
annals of this parish, we have, fortunately, the
"Memorials of Twickenham," by the Rev. R. S.
Cobbett, to draw upon, and from this work we shall
have occasion to quote largely in this and one or
two succeeding chapters.
Commencing our survey of the houses at the
north-east corner of the parish, near the banks of
the river, and at the junction of the parish
with Isleworth, we shall commence with Twicken
ham Park, a spot which lays claim to being the
oldest among the Twickenham demesnes. It was
originally called Isleworth Park, and also the New
Park of Richmond. Honest John Stow, in his
"Annals," tells us that in 1263, during the disturb
ances in the reign of Henry III., "Simon de

* "This was Joseph Hickey, the 'most blunt honest creature' of
Goldsmith's ' Retaliation,' whose ' one only fault,' in Oliver's estimation
— though ' that was a thumper ' — was that he was a special attorney." —
Thomas " Environs of London "

Mountfort, with the barons, pitched their tents in
Isleworth or Thistleworth Parke." The site of the
encampment is in the parish of Twickenham. In
this park there stood from 1414 to 143 1, as stated
in a previous chapter,* the ancient monastery of
Sion. The Rev. Mr. Cobbett, in his " Memorials
of Twickenham," says that in the parish chest of
Twickenham are two deeds : one of them, dated
1444, is "a release from Matilda, abbess of the
monastery, to their tenants of Istelworthe, of a
certain yearly tallage of £20, which they were
held to pay to the said abbess and convent ; '' and
the other, bearing the same date, is a deed confirm
ing the grant of sundry manors to the abbess and
convent. One of these deeds had been lost sight
of for many years, and came to light again only on
the restoration of the parish church in 1859.
Robert Boucher was appointed keeper of
Twickenham Park in 1547 ; but the park, as such,
seems to have been soon after broken up ; for
Norden, in the manuscript additions to his " Specu
lum Britanniae," made towards the end of the six
teenth century, remarks that " Twyckenham Parke
is now disparked." In 1574 the estate was de
mised to Edward Bacon, third son of Sir Nicholas
Bacon, the celebrated Lord Keeper. In 1 581 it
was leased to one Edward Fitzgarret. Sir Francis
Bacon, whom Voltaire calls " the father of experi
mental philosophy," spent much of his time here
during the earlier period of his studious life ; and
in 1592 he somewhat suddenly took refuge here
with several friends, owing to " a pestilential dis
temper which broke out in London, and dispersed
the members of Gray's Inn — -a community to which
Bacon then belonged." At the end of that year he
was honoured by a visit from Queen Elizabeth, "at
his lodging in Twickenham Park," when he pre
sented her Majesty with a sonnet in praise of her
favourite, the Earl of Essex. Among the MSS. in
the British Museum is a paper entitled " Instruc
tions from the Lord Chancellor Bacon to his servant,
Thomas Bushell," in which is set forth a scheme
which he entertained for the purpose of exploring
abandoned mineral works. On the supposition
that such a project would meet with due encourage
ment, he says, "Let Twitnam Park, which I
sold in my younger days, be purchased, if possible,
for a residence for such deserving persons to study
in, since I experimentally found the situation of
that place much convenient for the trial of my
philosophical conclusions, expressed in a paper
sealed to the trust, which I myself had just in
practice, and settled the same by Act of Parlia-

* See page 44, ante.

82

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

ment, if the vicissitudes of fortune had not inter
vened, and prevented me."
In the seventeenth century the ownership or
lesseeship of Twickenham Park frequently changed
hands. In 1608 it was held by Lucy, Countess of
Bedford, whose memory has been preserved to
posterity by the verses of Dr. Donne, Dean of St.
Paul's, and by Ben Jonson, who wrote at her
request an epigram or two. In 1618 the estate
passed to Sir William Harrington, who, a few years
later, sold it to Mary, Countess of Home. In 1668
it was alienated to John, Lord Berkeley of Stratton,
who died here in 1678, and lies buried in Twicken
ham church. The estate was afterwards held by
the Earl of Cardigan, who in 1698 sold it to the
Earl of Albemarle ; and about four years later we
find it in the hands ot Thomas Vernon, who had
been secretary to the Duke of Monmouth. The
property was purchased of his heirs in 1743 by
Algernon, Earl of Mountrath, whose widow, Diana,
daughter of the Earl of Bradford, bequeathed it
by her will, dated 1766, in a somewhat curious
manner, "to the Duchess of Montrose during the
joint lives of the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle ;
but if the Duchess of Newcastle should survive
the duke, the Duchess of Montrose to quit pos
session to her; and if she should survive her, to
enjoy it again during her life. After the death of
the Duchess of Montrose, to remain (revert) to
Lord Frederick Cavendish and his issue ; on failure
of which, after his death, to Lord John Cavendish
and his issue, with remainder to Sir William Abdy,
Bart., and his heirs in fee." It is remarkable that,
except in the instance of Lord John not surviving
Lord Frederick Cavendish, everything happened
for which the countess thus singularly provided.
Lord Frederick Cavendish was owner of Twicken
ham Park House when Angus published his view
of that place, in 1795. From this it appears to
have been a large and roomy edifice of red brick
with stone dressings, and to have consisted of
three storeys above the ground floor, with eleven
windows in each, the centre having a portico and
pediment, and that and the wings slightly pro
jecting. In Angus's work the building is described
as " containing several handsome apartments, with
a noble staircase, painted in a similar manner to
that at Windsor Castle." Ironside, in his " History
of Twickenham," gives the following minute par
ticulars concerning this building : — " The house
stands in the two parishes of Twickenham and
Isleworth. In the hall, fronting to the south-west,
is laid in the mosaic pavement of black and white
marble a small iron cross, which divides the two
parishes, and in their perambulation of the bounds,

the parishioners of Twickenham direct a man to
enter a window at the north-west end of the house,
who proceeds to the centre, comes down-stairs, and
joins the company in the hall, where they sing the
hundredth psalm. He then goes up-stairs, and pro
ceeds to a south-west window, and comes down a
ladder on the outside, joins the company again,
and thus the ceremony ends."
Early in the present century the greatei part of
Twickenham Park was sold in lots for building
purposes. In 181 7 the old mansion was adver
tised for sale, and was eventually demolished;
on its site sprang up a row of " neat villas," which
has now culminated in almost a new town.
A large portion of the Twickenham Park estate
was purchased by Mr. F. Gostling, whose seat in
the parish of Isleworth adjoined it. The Earl of
Cassillis (afterwards Marquis of Ailsa) subsequently
built a house on part of the property. This, how
ever, was taken down by Lord Kilmorey, when he
lived in the large house which is now the Naval
School. Between Twickenham Park and Richmond
Bridge, pleasantly situated in Twickenham Mea
dows, stands a house, called, after its most cele
brated occupant, Cambridge House. It was built
in the early part of the seventeenth century by Sir
Humphry Lynd, whom Anthony a Wood describes
as a " zealous Puritan." After his death it became
the residence of Joyce, Countess of Totness, who
died there in 1636. Later on the property was
sold to Sir Joseph Ashe, whose son, Sir Windham
Ashe, built the west front and greatly enlarged the
mansion. In the middle of the last century it was
bought by Richard Owen Cambridge, the well-
known author of the mock-heroic poem of the
" Scribleriad," and who may be said to have here
realised the poetical delineation of Thomson, for
in the society of a few choice spirits, he was here
blessed with" An elegant sufficiency, content,
Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books,
Ease, and alternate labour. "

Mr. Cambridge must be well known to the
readers of Boswell's " Life of Johnson " as a man
of high literary attainments. Besides the " Scrib
leriad" mentioned above, he was the author of
some poems in the sixth volume of Dodsley's
collection, and one of the ablest contributors to
the periodical work called The World. He also
wrote an " Account of the War in India between
the English and French, on the Coast of Coro-
mandel, from the Year 1750 to 1760," &c. Mr.
Cambridge was born in London in 17 17, and
received his education at Eton and St. John's

Twickenham. ]

RICHARD OWEN CAMBRIDGE.

S3

College, Oxford. He was for some time a member
of Lincoln's Inn, but ultimately determined to
abandon the legal profession. He was living at
Twickenham when Pope first went to reside in
that neighbourhood, and he was on an intimate
footing with him, as well as with the most dis
tinguished characters in this country. Mr. Cam
bridge possessed great powers of conversation, and
abounded in choice anecdotes, which he always
told with peculiar neatness and point. His con
nection with The World gave rise to a bon mot,
which is related by his son, Archdeacon Cambridge,
who writes : — " A note from Mr. Moore requesting
an essay was put into my father's hands on a
Sunday morning as he was going to church. My
mother, observing him rather inattentive during
the sermon, whispered, 'What are you thinking
of?' He replied, ' Of the next world, my dear.' "
Mr. Cambridge wrote two epilogues, which were
spoken by Miss Pope and by a daughter of Mrs.
Pritchard at their respective " benefits." He died
in September, 1802, at the age of eighty-five. In
an obituary notice of him in The Gentleman's
Magazine, it is remarked that he "enjoyed an
advantage very rarely possessed by the poetical
tribe, for he had the ' elegant sufficiency ' which
Thomson represents as a desideratum in human
happiness, and was therefore enabled to follow the
bent of his genius, and only obey the inspirations
of the muse when she chose to be propitious.
One of his last literary amusements was a very
pleasant versification of the historian Gibbon's
account of his own life, with which Mr. Cambridge
used to entertain his friends in company, but would
not commit to paper."
In the year after his death the literary works of
Mr. Cambridge were collected, and published in a
quarto volume, with a memoir prefixed from the
pen of his son, who speaks of him as " an elegant
rather than a profound scholar. The liveliness of
his parts," he continues, "was more adapted to
quick discernment than deep thinking; he had,
therefore, but little inclination for abstruse studies
and those researches which demand laborious in
vestigation. . . His fondness for books served
to increase rather than diminish his study of human
nature. His insight into men was correct, judicious,
and acute ; he viewed with the eye of a philosopher
the influence of the passions, not only in the great
and leading points of human conduct, but in the
trifling incident of human life. The follies of man
kind excited his mirth rather than his spleen ; but
his vein of comic humour was ever regulated by
that native benevolence which would not allow
him voluntarily to inflict the slightest pain. . .

In his political as well as all other opinions, he
manifested that candour which arose from know
ledge as well as temper. His life and principles
w^re alike free from corruption; his purity and
independence equally untainted." Among his in
timate and valued friends may be mentioned Lords
Bathurst, Hardwicke, and Mendip, Sir Richard
Lyttelton, Horace Walpole, Lord North, Garrick,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson, Bishop Porteus,
Lord Hyde, and Admiral Boscawen. His residence
at Twickenham, in fact, became a favourite resort
of the most distinguished among his contemporaries.
Thus we find Boswell referring with unusual warmth
to Mr. Cambridge's " extensive circle of friends
and acquaintances, distinguished by rank, fashion,
and genius."
After the death of Mr. Cambridge, his villa de
volved on his son, the archdeacon, who, however,
subsequently removed to a smaller house, which he
built at a short distance southward. Cambridge
House then became the residence of Lord Mount-
Edgcumbe. About the year 1840 it became the
seat of Mr. Henry Bevan, and afterwards of his
daughter, Lady John Chichester.
Meadowbank, which is the name of the house
mentioned above as being built for Archdeacon
Cambridge, was for many years the residence of
Mr. George Bishop, who had here fitted up an ob
servatory, which has acquired a world-wide reputa
tion from the observations and discoveries made in
it under its distinguished superintendent, Mr. John
Russell Hind, F.R.S., who resides close by, in
Cambridge Park Gardens.
At a short distance westward from Meadowbank,
and near the river-side, is Marble Hill — or, as it
seems usually to have been called in former times,
Marble Hall. The house was built at the expense
of George II. for Mrs. Henrietta Howard, who
was then -a bed-chamber woman, but afterwards
Countess of Suffolk, and Groom of the Stole to
the queen. The building was designed by the
Earl of Pembroke ; and, as Swift writes, " Mr. Pope
was the contriver of the gardens . . . and the
Dean of St. Patrick's (Swift himself) chief butler
and keeper of the ice-house." "The intention of
the architect," observes Mr. Cobbett, in his " Me
morials of Twickenham," " was evidently to make
the rooms on the first floor of most imposing pro
portions, and to effect this, the height of the lower
and upper storeys has been somewhat unduly sacri
ficed. The staircase is made entirely of finely-
carved mahogany, and some of the floors are of the
same wood. . . The interior of the house is
plain in the extreme." Mrs. Howard, in a letter to
Gay, dated July, 1723, begs him not to mention the

MR. PITT'S HOUSE AT TWICKENHAM.
{Front ex, Print published by Boydell, 1753.)

Twickenham.]

MARBLE HILL.

85

plan which he found in her room, as it was neces
sary to keep the affair secret, although, as she
ventures to tell him, " the house was almost entirely
furnished to her satisfaction." The reason of
secrecy thus enjoined on Gay was probably the
fact that the king had extensively contributed to
its cost.
, Born a Hobart, the Countess of Suffolk— Pope's
"Chloe"— had for her first husband the Hon.
Charles Howard, and was appointed a Lady of the

Howard was looked upon as a very pattern of pro
priety." Lord Hervey tells us that Mrs. Howard had
£2,000 a year from the prince, and £3,200 a yeai
after he became king, besides several little ' dabs '
of money, both before and after. The final ' dab '
was ,£12,000 towards building Marble Hill. The
house was designed by Lords Burlington and Pem
broke ; the garden was laid out by Lord Bathurst
and Pope ; whilst Gay, Swift, and Arbuthnot, con
stituted themselves superintendents of the house-

MARBLE HILL. (See p. 83.)
(From a Drawing by P. De Wint, 1810.)

Bed-chamber to the Princess, afterwards Queen,
Caroline. She was noted for her sweetness of
temper and pleasant manners ; and Pope writes of
her — "Yet Chloe sure was formed without a spot."
Separated from her husband, she became mistress
to the prince, afterwards George II. All the wits
and poets of the day paid their court to her ; poor
Gay, for instance, was always trusting to her in
fluence for some appointment which would make
him happy, but it never came. " It is scarcely
possible," writes an annotator on Pope's works,
" to conceive anything more gross than the morals
of the English Court under the two first Georges,
as related by Walpole and Lord Hervey. Every
department was affected ; and among the maids of
honour, just as among the wits and divines, Mrs.
8

hold at large. The lady's husband lived long
enough to become Earl of Suffolk, and dying
opportunely, left her, at the age of a little
over forty-five, in a position to marry the Hon.
George Berkeley. They lived together very happily
for eleven years. After Mr.'Berkeley's decease, in
1746, she survived twenty-one years, gratifying her
neighbour, Horace Walpole, with Court anecdotes
long after all the actors in them had passed away."
"Lady Suffolk," says Walpole, "was of a just
height, well made, extremely fair, with the finest
light brown hair, was remarkably genteel, and
always well dressed with taste and simplicity.
Those were her personal charms, for her face was
regular and agreeable rather than beautiful; and
those charms she retained, with little diminution,
to her death."

86

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

It was from Lady Suffolk that Pope picked up
much of the Court scandal of the day. Warton
tells us that the poet being one day at dinner with
her, heard her give an order to her footman to
put her in mind to send to know how Mrs.
Blount, who was ill, had passed the night. This
incident, insignificant enough perhaps in its way,
gave rise to the following couplet in Pope's "Moral
Essays " : —
" Would Chloe know if you 're alive or dead ?
She bids her footman put it in her head."
Contemporary writers are unanimous in declar
ing that Lady Suffolk was gentle and engaging
in her manners, and much beloved by all who
knew her. Horace Walpole, who lived on terms
of the greatest intimacy with her in her later years,
and whose testimony to her personal charms we have
already quoted, says that "her mental qualifications
were by no means shining — her eyes and counte
nance showed her character, which was grave and
mild. Her strict love of truth and her accurate
memory were always in unison. She was discreet
without being reserved, and having no bad qualities,
and being constant in her connections, she preserved
no common respect to the end of her life, and from
the propriety and decency of her behaviour, was
always treated as if her virtue had never been ques
tioned." Her letters to and from her correspon
dents, which have been published, prove how much
she was respected and beloved. Lady Suffolk died
at Marble Hill in 1767, in her eightieth year. She
was sister of John, first Earl of Buckinghamshire,
who resided at Marble Hill for some time after the
death of the countess. Later on, the house was
occupied by Mrs. Fitzherbert, who had been pri
vately married to the Prince of Wales, afterwards
George IV., and subsequently it became the resi
dence of Lady Bath.
Marble Hill afterwards was the residence of the
Marquis Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Welling
ton; and on his quitting it, about the year 1824, it
became the property and seat of the late General
Peel, whose widow, Lady Alicia Peel, youngest
daughter of the first Marquis of Ailsa, now resides
there. Readers of Swift will not forget his witty
"Pastoral Dialogue between Marble Hill and
Richmond Lodge," across the river, on hearing the
news of the death of George I.
Marble Hill wittily complains that henceforth its
lady owner, Lady Suffolk —
"  will not have a shilling
To raise the stairs, or build the ceiling,
For all the courtly madams round
Now pay four shillings in the pound."

The poor mansion goes on to prophesy : —
" No more the Dean,* that grave divine,
Shall keep the key of my no — wine,
My ice-house rob as heretofore,
And steal my artichokes no more ;
Poor Patty Blount no more be seen
Bedaggled in my walks so green.
Plump Johnny Gay will now elope,
And here no more will dangle Pope.
# # # # #
Some South Sea broker from the City
Will purchase me, the more 's the pity ;
Lay all my fine plantations waste
To get them to his vulgar taste.
Changed for the worse in every part,
My master, Pope, will break his heart."
In the upper part of Twickenham, towards Isle-
worth, lived the witty and poetical Dr. Corbett,
Bishop of Norwich, whose house was a rendezvous
for poets and men of letters. His house stood
alone on a small common, and was a most secluded
retreat from the noisy world. Here he was visited
frequently by Daniel, the poet, and by Michael
Drayton, author of the " Polyolbion," and by other
choice spirits.
Another ancient house close by was in 1797 the
residence of the Duke of Montrose.
In this parish, in 1742, died, in poverty and of a
broken heart, Nicholas Amhurst, the author of the
once-celebrated satire on Oxford, " Terrce Filius?
and editor of the Craftsman, the most effective of
all the publications aimed at Sir Robert Walpole.
Mr. H. G. Bohn, the publisher, has lived for
many years at North End House, in the Richmond
Road, where he formed a valuable collection of
antiquities, rare books, china, and pictures.
Opposite the lane leading from Orleans Road
down to the river formerly stood a small house,
called " Ragman's Castle," at one time the residence
of Mrs. Pritchard, the actress, who " enlarged and
much improved the house, at a considerable ex
pense." The house in the later stages of its exist
ence was known as " Lawn Cottage." Its original
appellation has been variously accounted for : some
attribute it to the fact of its having been built by
an individual who had amassed a fortune in the
marine store, or "rag" and bone business, and
others say that on its site formerly stood an alehouse,
which was a favourite resort of bargemen, ragmen,
beggars, &c. However this may be, on the death
of Mrs. Pritchard, in 1758, the house became the
residence of the Earl of Cholmondeley, and sub
sequently of Sir Charles Warwick Bampfylde. About
1783, Mr. George Hardinge, who had been
• Swift.

Twickenham]

MR. SECRETARY JOHNSTONE.

*7

Attorney-General to Queen Charlotte, and after
wards a Welsh judge, took up his abode here.
Judge Hardinge was " a man of learning, a good
lawyer, and of infinite pleasantry and wit." He
was the father of that brave Captain Hardinge who
lost his life and his ship in fighting an American
frigate of far superior force. Mr. Justice Hardinge
died in 1816, and his speeches at the Bar and in
the House of Commons, with his miscellaneous
works, including a series of letters to Burke on the
impeachment of Hastings, have been collected and
published. " Ragman's Castle " was taken down by
Lord Kilmorey during his occupation of Orleans
House, near to which it stood.
Orleans House, so called from the late King of
the French, Louis Philippe, having lived in it
when Duke of Orleans, was built in the reign of
Queen Anne by Mr. Secretary Johnstone, a man
whom Pope satirised most bitterly. In one of these
attacks, already quoted on page 75 ante, Pope
refers with considerable spite to Johnson's "dog
and bitch." No commentator on Pope's works,"
writes Mr. Edward Jesse, in Once a Week (Vol. III.,
p. no), " has ever been able to discover what was
meant by a reference to these animals. I have,
however, been the means of making the discovery.
On each side of the lawn of Orleans House there
are walls covered with ivy. In the centre of each
wall the ivy appeared much raised above the rest.
A friend residing near, at my request, examined
these portions of the walls, and concealed in the
raised ivy he discovered on one wall a dog carved
in stone, and on the other a stone bitch."
Mr. Jesse narrates an anecdote of the poet con
cerning one of the old watermen who was employed
for many years in rowing Pope on the Thames.
Pope was in the habit of having his sedan-chair lifted
into the punt. If the weather was fine, he let down
the glasses ; if cold, he pulled them up. He would
sometimes say to the waterman (this is his own
account), " John, I am going to repeat some verses
to you; take care and remember them the next
time I go out." When that time came, Pope would
say, " John, where are the verses I told you of? "
" I have forgotten them, sir." " John, you are a
blockhead — I must write them down for you."
John said that no one thought of saying, when
speaking of him, " Mr. Pope," but that he < was
always called " Mr. Alexander." " It is certain,"
adds Mr. Jesse, " that when John punted the
poet up and down the river he could readily
see the anmals above referred to, and hence his
satire." Mr. Johnstone was very self-sufficient, and proud
of his post as Scottish Secretary of State. He

on.

lived to a great age, in the enjoyment of a pensi
to which Pope alludes : —
" Strike off his pension by the setting sun,
And Britain, if not Europe, is undone."

There was a house on this spot before Mr. John
stone bought the property. In the Parliamentary
Survey which'was taken in 1650, it is described as
a " pleasant and delightful tenement, about twenty
poles from the river, built partly with brick and
partly with timber, and Flemish walls, with comely
chambers ; the gardens not only rare for pleasure,
but exceedingly profitable, being planted with
cabbages, turnips, and carrots, and many other
such-like creatures." In that ancient house the
Princess of Denmark (afterwards Queen Anne)
resided for some time before her accession to the
throne, for the benefit of the air for her youthful
son, Prince William Henry, Duke of Glqucester,
who brought with him his regiment of boys, which
he used to exercise on the ayot opposite the
house. The ancient structure was removed by Mr. John
stone, who built the present house after the model
of country seats in Lombardy. At one end of the
house he constructed a large octagon room,
especially for the reception and entertainment of
Queen Caroline, consort of George II., who visited
him here. The queen, during her residence at
Hampton Court, was in the habit of coming down
the river early in the morning to visit Lady
Catherine Johnstone, and to breakfast in the
beautiful gardens, in which Mackay (in his "Tour
through England," which was published in 1720)
says that " Secretary Johnstone had the best collec
tion of most gentlemen in England ; that he had
slopes for his vines, from which he made some
hogsheads of wine a year ; and that Dr. Bradley,
in his ' Treatise on Gardening,' ranked him among
the first gardeners in the kingdom."
After the death of Mr. Johnstone, the property
was purchased by Mr. George Morton Pitt.* It
afterwards passed, through the marriage of that
gentleman's daughter, to the Lord Brownlow Bertie,
brother of the Duke of Ancaster. Shortly after
the death of Lady Bertie, the estate was purchased
by Sir George Pococke, K.B., who had married a
granddaughter of Mr. Pitt.
The Duke of Orleans took up his residence
here in 1800, on his arrival in England from New
York, and it was whilst living here, in 1807, that
he had the misfortune to lose his brother, the

* Ironside and other writers have stated that this gentleman was
known as "Diamond Pitt," confusing him with Thomas Pitt, Governor
of Madras, and grandfather of the Earl of Chatham.

88

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

Duke of Montpensier, whose epitaph on his tomb
in Westminster Abbey was the joint composition of
the Duke of Orleans and General Dumouriez.
The following anecdote concerning Louis Philippe
— when in after years, subsequent to his banish
ment from his kingdom, he was living again in
England — is still remembered by some of the in
habitants of Twickenham. The ex-king was stay
ing at the " Star and Garter " at Richmond, and
walked one day by himself to Twickenham, for the
purpose, as he said, of seeing some of the old
tradesmen who had served him when he resided
there. As he passed along that place, a rfian met
him, pulled off his hat, and hoped his Royal High
ness was well. "What's your name?" inquired
the ex-king. He was told it. " I do not recollect
it," said his Majesty. " What were you when I lived
here?" "Please your Royal Highness," replied
the man, "I kept the 'Crown'" (an alehouse close
to the entrance of Orleans House). " Did you ? "
said Louis Philippe. " Why, my good fellow, you
were lucky ; you did what I was unable to do.''
Among other good stories told here about Louis
Philippe is the following : — His Highness was
walking many years ago in a nursery-ground in the
neighbourhood, and was directing the attention of
a companion to a luxuriantly-loaded apricot-tree,
when the head gardener came up, and offered the
duke some remarkably fine Orleans plums. " I
thank you, sir," replied the duke ; " I have already
had a taste of that bitter fruit, and no longer relish
it." In 1827 Orleans House was sold to Mr. Alexan
der Murray, of Broughton, M.P. for the county of
Kirkcudbright; in 1846 it was purchased by Lord
Kilmorey, from whom it was again bought by the
Due d'Aumale, who considerably altered and im
proved the building by the erection of a large
picture-gallery and a commodious library. The
Due d'Aumale ceased to reside here when the fall
of the French Empire rendered possible his return
to France, and the house was subsequently for a
short time occupied by another royal exile, Don
Carlos. It was somewhat remarkable that the
Orleanist should be succeeded by the Carlist. Don
Carlos would, no doubt, have found more sympathy
from the Comte de Chambord than he would
receive from the Comte de Paris.
In 1876-7 Orleans House was offered for sale,
and having been purchased by a company, has
been converted into a club, called the Orleans
Club, and as such, combines in itself all the
advantages of a country house with the ordinary
social intercourse and facilities of a club.
The house, a very fine one, overlooks the river,

and the grounds, which are about forty acres in
extent, come down to the water's edge. They are
one of the prettiest sights on the river Thames
during "the season." An ornamental wall has
been built as a kind of embankment, which is
crowned with vases, wherein the duke used to
plant the loveliest flowers. A writer in the Gentle
man's Magazine, in 1802, thus describes the house
as it existed at the commencement of the present
century : — " It is a handsome building of brick ;
but the front has been spoiled by removing the
entrance, and throwing out a bow from the bottom
to the upper storey. Before this alteration, there
was a handsome door-case of Portland stone, with
a window over it suitably ornamented. The present
way into the house is in the centre of a wing added
to it, or a passage to an elegant octagon room at
the end, which was built on purpose for the recep
tion and entertainment of her late Majesty Queen
Caroline. These additional buildings make one
very long wing, which has an awkward appearance,
for want of somewhat to answer it on the other side
for the sake of uniformity. This passage to the
octagon is made use of as a music-room, in which
is a handsome organ." A roadway intersects the
lawn of the house from the river meadow, but there
are tunnels, rustic bridges, and happily-contrived
devices designed to obviate any objection which
might be raised to this pretty place calling itself a
river-side estate. The house was erected by a
sensible architect, and the gardens laid out with a
loving respect for nature. The deep shady re
cesses, the broad thick sashes dividing the panes,
the deep wide fire-places, the marble halls, the con
servatory corridors thickly planted with camellias,
the cosy bed-rooms looking out over Richmond
Hill, across the river, or back over the park to
Twickenham, the libraries, the billiard - rooms,
and the boudoirs, all are distinguished for
their substantial comfort; whilst the gardens,
lawns, and meadows, are so designed as to
combine the ease of retirement with the sense of
variety. The Orleans Club is not a man's club alone, a
mere dining place, a. dim solemnity, an excuse for
extravagance and play, but a social rendezvous,
where ladies can adorn the lawn, preside over the
drawing-room, and repose under umbrella tents,
whilst the men play lawn tennis, or devote thenv
selves to whatever form of violent exercise may
please them. With this object the Orleans Club'
was started. There is a "bachelor wing," and also-
a " married wing," with luxuriously-appointed bed
rooms. There are card-rooms and billiard-rooms
for the men ; there are drawing-rooms, pianos, and

Twickenham.]

YORK HOUSE.

89

boudoirs for the ladies ; and, above all, there is
that lovely garden, common to all. Here, under
the beautiful trees or reclining on the indolent
lawn, it will be possible to breathe the fresh air,
and to forget the ball-room, the opera, and the
perpetual park. It is not so much a question what
to do at the Orleans Club as what cannot be done.
There are lawn games in abundance; there are
flower gardens and conservatories ; there are boats
and steam launches, ready at a moment's notice for
a row to Moulsey or a long day to Windsor ; there
are stalls enough, too, in the stables to accom
modate the Four-in-Hand and Coaching Clubs
whenever they drive down from town ; and every
.arrangement has been made for giving as capital a
•dinner as can be eaten at the close of the summer
holiday. Near Twickenham Church, and on the banks of
the Thames, stands the building historically known
as York House, the reputed residence of James II.
when Duke of York, and for some time in the occu
pation of the Comte de Paris. The house- was for
many years the property of Sir Alexander John
stone, and it is associated with the name of Lord
Clarendon. The mansion, with other valuable presents,
appears to have been given by Charles II. to
Lord Clarendon, on the public announcement of
the marriage of his daughter with James II., then
Duke of York. The Chancellor was accustomed
to pass here the summer months; and when he
attended the king at Hampton Court he was in the
habit of coming home every night " to his own
house at Twickenham." From the reply of Lord
•Clarendon (as given by his biographer) to the
•courtiers, commissioned by King Charles II. to
inform him of the clandestine marriage of his
daughter Anne with the Duke of York (afterwards
James II.), it has been concluded that his lord
ship was either a very unnatural father or a very
great hypocrite. From his well-known affection for
his accomplished child, it is highly improbable that
he ever did officially advise her committal to the
Tower ; and from the tradition that " he actually
presented his Royal Highness with his favourite
"villa, York House, observing that it was already
named after him," it is probable he was aware of
the duke's affection for his daughter, but feared to
discover any knowledge or participation in an act
which he knew would be displeasing to the king.
Here the royal duke and his much-loved bride
passed some years in uninterrupted happiness;
here several of their children were born, and
.amongst them the Princesses Mary and Anne, suc
cessively Queens of England. The state-chamber,

which still bears the name of Queen Anne's Room,
presents the same appearance which it wore when
that monarch first saw the light, in February, 1665,
saving those changes which time — merciless time —
has inflicted on the perishable materials with which
it was adorned. Tradition also says that the great
Chancellor wrote some of his essays in the garden
walks. There is little difficulty in retracing the descent
of this interesting property from the date of its
original demise to T. Jermyn, in 1566, down to the
present proprietor. In 1661, York Farm, a parcel
of the manor, was granted to Lord Clarendon ; at
his lordship's death, in 1674, it passed to his
second son, Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester.
In 1740 it was sold to J. Whitchurch, Esq., and
by his representatives to Lieut-Col. J. Webber,
who disposed of the freehold to Prince Stahrem-
berg, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo
tentiary from the Court of Vienna. His Excellency
retained possession of York Villa during the whole
term of his ambassadorial attendance at St. James's,
and the cheerfulness and hospitality of his disposi
tion rendered it the scene of continued gaiety.
Having fitted up one of the wings as a private
theatre, dramatic representations were frequently
exhibited there, when the prince and princess,
their daughters, and several foreigners of distinc
tion, displayed their talents in the histrionic art.
The plays most frequently performed were the little
French pieces which were then so popular in
this country ; and the lists of the dramatis persona,
published at the time, establish this .fact, and
disclose the titles of the eminent foreigners, who
by their talents and accomplishments excited so
much interest, and afforded so much intellectual
amusement to the many families of distinction then
residing in the vicinity.
York House subsequently became the residence
of Dr. Cleaver, Archbishop of Dublin, who, from
mental disease, was unable to discharge the duties
of his see. In 181 7 the house was purchased by
the Hon. Mrs. Damer, of whom we shall have more
to say when we reach Strawberry Hill. Mrs. Damer
had acquired great reputation as a sculptress, and on
taking up her residence here, she fitted up one
wing of the house as a studio and gallery of art.
It was here that many of those able performances
which have conferred upon her an abiding celebrity
were designed and executed. Mrs. Darner's atten
tion was first called to this pursuit, so unusual
amongst ladies, by that celebrated philosopher,
David Hume, whilst he was private secretary to
her father, Field-Marshal Conway. Having ob
served the precocious ability of the young sculptor,

no

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

he exhorted her to cultivate it with her best ener
gies ; and it was by his advice, and at his pressing
instance, that Mrs. Damer devoted her talents so
entirely to the statuary art. Mrs. Damer towards
the close of her life espoused the cause of the
unfortunate Queen Caroline, whom she frequently
entertained here. She lived to a great age, re
spected and admired by the most eminent of her
contemporaries, and at her death in 1828 the
estate of York House passed by bequest to her

two Brahmins standing on the terrace at York
House, near the banks of the Thames, on the
relative merits of the religion, customs, and irianners
of the Hindoos, and the religion, customs, and
manners of the English. His design was to show
how much superior the latter were to the former, by
the wonderful progress which the English had
made in a knowledge of government, arts, and
sciences, while the Hindoos had remained
stationary for ages ; and to conclude by the pros-

PHILIP, DUKE OF WHARTON.
(Seep. 91.)

LADY SUFFOLK.
(Seep. 85.)

cousin, Lady Johnston, only daughter of Lord
William Campbell, son of the fourth Duke of
Argyle, on whose premature decease she had been
placed under the guardianship of her uncle, the
late Duke of Argyle. Afterwards, when she married,
the estate became vested in her ladyship's husband,
the Right Hon. Sir Alexander Johnston.
A frequent visitor to York House during its
occupancy by Sir Alexander Johnston was the
celebrated Brahmin and Oriental philosopher,
Ramohun Roy, who drew up a sketch of a work
while here, which, had he lived, he meant to have
published, upon the plan of the " Tusculan Ques
tions " by Cicero, and the " Minute Philosopher "
by Berkeley,* professing to be a dialogue between
* See the collected works of Berkley, Bishop of Cloyne,i843.

pects which are now held out, by the discovery
of steam navigation, and the constant use of
the route from England to India through Egypt,
that the Hindoos (from being brought by these
circumstances so much nearer to England than
they were before) would soon become equal to
the English in their knowledge of government,
and in all the different arts and sciences which
must raise their moral, intellectual, and political
character. Among the subsequent occupiers of York House
were the Dowager Duchess of Roxburgh and Lord
Lonsdale, the latter of whom died here in 1844. A
few years afterwards the mansion was sold to the
Due d'Aumale for his nephew, the Comte de
Paris, eldest son of the late Due d'Orleans, and
grandson of Louis Philippe, late King of the

Twickenham.]

THE DUKE OF WHARTON.

91

French. The Comte de Paris vacated the house
about 187 1, and some two years later the house
and grounds were submitted for sale by public
auction. The mansion, which occupies a pleasant position
on an elevated plateau overlooking the river Thames,
is built in what is now known as the "Queen Anne"
style of architecture, and consists of a centre and
wings, and the apartments are both numerous and
spacious. A grand staircase of oak with carved

" Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days,
Whose ruling passion was the lust of praise ;
Born with whate'er could win it from the wise,
Women and fools must like hira, or he dies.
Though wondering senates hung on all he spoke,
The club must hail him master of the joke.
Shall parts so various aim at nothing new ?
He'll shine a Tully and a Wilmot too.
Thus, with each gift of nature and of art,
And wanting nothing but an honest heart ;
Grown all to all, from no one vice exempt,
And most contemptible to show contempt ;

JWgBCi

A ... .*.-. ii •. ',. ; 

THE GARDENS OF ORLEANS HOUSE, 1882.

balustrade, &c, gives access from the hall to the
principal chambers in the upper storeys. From the
drawing-rooms and library windows open upon a
broad terrace walk, which extends the whole length
of the river front. The gardens and grounds,
about nine acres in extent, are admirably laid out,
and include a wilderness, fernery, flower-garden,
lawns, &c.
In a house, called The Grove, long since swept
away, but which stood in or near what is now King
Street, in the western part of the town, lived for
some time the witty and clever, but disreputable,
Duke of Wharton, whose character is summed up
by Pope in one of his " Moral Essays " in the fol
lowing often quoted lines : —

His passion still to covet general praise,
His life, to forfeit it a thousand ways ;
A constant bounty, which no friend has made ;
An angel tongue, which no man can persuade ;
A fool, with more of wit than half mankind ;
Too rash for thought, for action too refined ;
A tyrant to the wife his heart approves,
A rebel to the very king he loves.
He dies, sad outcast of each church and state,
And, harder still, flagitious, yet not great.
Ask you why Wharton broke through every rule?
'Twas all for fear the knaves should call him fool."
" It is difficult," remarks Horace Walpole, in the
"Royal and Noble Authors," "to give an account
of the works of so mercurial a man, whose library
was a tavern, and women of pleasure his muses. A

92

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham,

thousand sallies of his imagination may have been
lost, for he wrote for fame no more than he acted
for it." Perhaps Horace Walpole on this occasion,
as on many others, " hit the right nail on the head."
The duke must have been indeed " mercurial."
" Like Buckingham and Rochester, Philip Duke of
Wharton comforted all the grave and dull," says
Horace Walpole, " by throwing away the brightest
profusion of parts on witty fooleries, debaucheries,
and scrapes, which may mix graces with a great
character, but can never make one." Mr. Seward
observes that the character of Lovelace in ' ' Clarissa "
has always been supposed to be that of this noble
man; and the supposition is rendered the more
probable as Richardson printed the True Briton, in
which the duke wrote constantly.
Well and wittily is it remarked by Bolton, in his
" Extinct Peerage," that Philip, Duke of Wharton,
" succeeded his father, Thomas, in all his titles and
abilities, but in none of his virtues." And it is
indeed strange that the man who could give £2,000
as a present to a poet, and administer a witty rebuff
to an officious ambassador, could be guilty of such
a silly and unmeaning trick as knocking up his
guardian in the middle of the night, in order to
borrow a pin; or at another time, in France, serenad
ing respectable persons at their country chateaux,
one of whom very nearly killed him by a stray shot,
mistaking him for a robber.
Some interesting facts about the Duke are to be
found in a scarce work, entitled " Memoirs of the
Life of his Grace Philip, late Duke of Wharton,
by an Impartial Hand." It is prefixed to two
octavo volumes, published in 1732, entitled "The
Life and Writings of Philip, late Duke of Wharton,"
but which contain only the seventy-four numbers of
the True Briton, and the speech on the bill of
pains and penalties against Atterbury, the paging
of which is a continuation of that of the True
Briton, although it has a title-page of its own
dated 1724. There is another publication, in two
volumes octavo, without date, entitled " The Poeti
cal Works of Philip, late Duke of Wharton, and
others of the Wharton Family, and of the Duke's
Intimate Acquaintance, particularly Lord Boling-
broke, Dean Swift, Lady Wharton, Doctor Delany,
Lord Dorset, Major Pack, the Hon. Mrs. Wharton,
&c." These two volumes, however, appear to have
been all printed in 1727 (before the duke's death),
with the exception only of this general title-page
and a life of the duke, which is substantially the
same with that noticed above, and is here stated to
be " communicated by a person of quality, and one
of his grace's intimate friends." The first volume
contains very little that is even attributed to the

duke ; but in the second are some letters in prose,
addressed to Lady Wharton, his father's first wife,
and her poetical paraphrase of the " Lamentations
of Jeremiah."
The duke died at Tarragona, in Spain, in
1 73 1, and a vindication of his character is to be
found in a volume of scarce broadsides in the
British Museum. It bears no printer's name, but
only the date 1728; it was probably printed in
Dublin. During Pope's time the Grove was the residence
of his friend, the younger James Craggs, who
succeeded Addison in the post of Secretary of
State in 1718, and who, like his father, was ruined
by the South Sea scheme. Craggs was the friend
of Steele and Tickell, and the opponent of Sir
Robert Walpole in Parliament. The Grove, which
was pulled down many years ago, is said to have
been originally built by Inigo Jones for the Earl of
Rochester. Its site is marked by a solitary cedar,
with a pond near it.
At Twickenham the Duke of Wharton was the
neighbour and acquaintance of Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu, who wrote an epilogue for a tragedy
which he began on " Mary Queen of Scots." This
poem was never finished, and all of it that remains
is a brace of couplets preserved in a " Miscellany,"
like "flies in amber." They run as follows : —
" Sure were I free, and Norfolk were a pris'ner,
I'd fly with more impatience to his arms
Than the poor Israelite on the serpent gaz'd,
When life was the reward of every look."
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu lived at Saville
House, close by the Grove. She came to reside
there mainly through the persuasion of Pope, with
whom at one time she lived on terms of great inti
macy and friendship ; but they quarrelled, and hated
each other cordially for the remainder of their' lives.
Lady Mary died in 1762, and her successor here
was Lady Saville, from whom the house derived its
name ; she was the mother of Sir George Saville,
who, among many others, is said to have been
the original of Richardson's " Sir Charles Grandi-
son." Twickenham House, a fine old building, standing
on the south side of the main road, near the rail
way bridge, has a little history of its own, as having
been the residence of Sir John Hawkins, who
enjoyed the distinction, according to the poet, of
being buried " in his shoes and stawkings," and who
was described by the Earl of Rochford (then one
of the Secretaries of State) as " the best magistrate
in the kingdom." Sir John was a devoted fisher
man — a pastime in which his residence on the
banks of the Thames enabled him freely to indulge.

Twickenham.]

A FEW NOTED RESIDENTS.

He brought out, with notes, an edition of " Izaak
Walton's Complete Angler," and also " The History
of Music " and a " Life of Dr. Johnson." Hawkins
was one of the original members of the Literary
Club, and in the gardens of Twickenham House,
as we learn from Mr. Cobbett's "Memorials," there
is a building which was used for the meetings of
the club. Attached to the house is a circular
room with a domed roof, now used as a drawing-
room; this, Mr. Cobbett tells us, was originally
Sir John's concert-room. The grounds contain a
curious relic, consisting of a garden-fence, curi
ously wrought with sword-blades brought from the
field of Culloden. Twickenham House has been
long the residence of Dr. Hugh Diamond.
Nearer the town of Twickenham, on the site of
what is now Heath Lane' Lodge, stood in former
times a house which was the seat of more than one
Earl Ferrers. Mr. Cobbett, in his work above
mentioned, states that "tradition asserts that
Laurence, the ' mad ' Earl Ferrers, who shot Mr.
Johnson, his steward, was taken from this house to
execution." This statement, however, is very
doubtful. There was in the original house a
portrait of one of Lord Ferrers' daughters — the
lovely Lady Frances Shirley, who was one of
Pope's personal friends, and who was sung by
Chesterfield as " Fanny, blooming fair."
It will not be forgotten that Pope commemorates
the residence of Fielding in this place in his
" Parish Register of Twickenham " : —
" When Feilding met his bunter muse,
And as they quaffed the fiery juice,
Droll Nature stamped each lucky hit
With unimaginable wit."
The aristocratic owner ot Strawberry Hill has
not failed, as Scott observes in his " Lives of the
Novelists," to stigmatise the lowness of Fielding's
habits, and of the society which he kept.
Fielding, though sprung from a collateral branch
of the Feildings, Earls of Denbigh, did not care to
follow the latter mode of spelling his name. On
being asked why his father had departed from the
accepted orthography.he replied, somewhat cynically,
that "he supposed it was because he was the
first of his race who knew how to spell."
Another resident here was Paul Whitehead,
notorious as a venal politician and a second-rate
satirist. Dr. Doran, in his "Habits and Men,"
speaks of him as "one of the fine gentlemen of
his day, who associated only with the finest of that
class. At Twickenham he had not only his
country house, but a coruscant circle of wits around
him, whose brilliancy was not considered as tar
nished by the most mouldy blasphemy."

 93_
Dr. Donne, the poet, was also an inhabitant of
this place. He died in 1631, and has been im
mortalised by Isaac Walton. Here, too, lived
Mrs. Margaret Godolphin, perhaps the only virtuous
lady of the vicious Court of Charles II., the story
of whose "saintly life" has been told so well by her
friend and correspondent, John Evelyn.
Robert Boyle, the celebrated philosopher, at one
period of his life lived at Twickenham. His name
occurs in the parish register, but the exact locality
where he resided is unknown. He was the fifth
son of the great Earl of Cork, and died in 1691.
Mr. Boyle founded the lectures which bear his name.
Edward Stillingfleet, D.D., Dean of St. Paul's,
and afterwards Bishop of Worcester, may also be
numbered among the former residents of Twicken
ham; and so was the ReVi Dr. Waterland, the
author of many learned works, and sometime vicar
of the parish, who died in 1748.. Another cele
brated vicar was the Rev. George Costard, who
wrote and published several works on astronomy,
and contributed to the " Transactions of the Royal
Society," of which he was a member.
Andrew Stone, at one time preceptor to George
III., lived here in style, occupying a large old-
fashioned brick house near the river-side. He was
a brother of the founder of the bank of Martin,
Stone, and Co., at the sign of the " Grasshopper,"
Lombard Street. He was a friend of Horace
Walpole, who mentions him in one of his works.
He is buried in the north aisle of the nave of
Westminster Abbey.
Twickenham Common was till recent times an
open space, doubtless available as a playground
for the children of the poor, and as pasturage for
their donkeys and geese.
" But times are altered, trade's unfeeling train
Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain."
Here may be seen the house formerly occupied
by General Gunning, brother to those celebrated
beauties the Duchesses of Hamilton and Argyll
and Lady Coventry. The Marchioness of Tweed-
dale resided in it before General Gunning.
In Ailsa Park Villas lived Lord Beaconsfield's
sister Sarah. She was betrothed to a Mr.
Meredith, a gentleman of wealth, and of literary
repute as the patron of Thomas Taylor, the trans
lator of Aristotle. She died in December, 1859,
and is buried in the Willesden Cemetery.
Coming down to more recent times, we find that
here " Boz," in the first flush of prosperity caused
by the success of "Pickwick," took a cottage for part
of the summer of 1838. Here Talfourd, Thackeray,
Jerrold, Maclise, Landseer, Stanfield, Cattermole,

94

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

and Harrison Ainsworth, were among his visitors,
as narrated byForster, in his "Life of Dickens ;" and
here he indulged to the full in "the grand enjoyment
of idleness," abandoning himself to what must at
that time have been an inexperienced delight — the
luxury of laziness.
Montpelier Row was the last residence of Mr.
Augustus Mayhew, one of the " Brothers Mayhew,"
the author of " Paved with Gold," " The Greatest
Plague of Life," &c, who died at the close of 1875.

its builder and first occupant, Sir Godfrey Kneller,
who called it in his lifetime "Whitton House."
It was built in 17 10. The hall and staircase
were painted by La Guerre, under the direction
and with the occasional assistance of Sir God
frey. The house was made the artist's summer
residence. Sir Godfrey Kneller lives in the verses of half
the poets of his age ; few, however, paid him a
higher compliment than Matt Prior : —

KNELLER HALL. (Seep. 54.)

We must not omit to mention amongst the
celebrated persons who have resided at Twicken
ham the Lady Augusta Murray, the unhappy wife
of the late Duke of Sussex, and the mother of his
two accomplished children.
Mr. W. Andrews, in his "Book of Oddities,"
records a curious devise of property here as lately
as 1862, when Mr. Henry Budd left an estate,
called Pepper Park, to his son, on condition of his
not wearing a moustache ; in event of his doing
so, the property to pass to a brother.
On the north-eastern side of the parish, and
just within the boundary of the hamlet of
Whitton, stands a building of some interest and
importance, namely, Kneller Hall, so called after

" When Kneller's works of various grace
Were to fair Venus shown,
The goddess spied in every face
Some features of her own.
" But viewing Myra placed apart,
' I fear,' says she, ' I fear,
Apelles, that Sir Godfrey's art
Has far surpassed thine here.' "
Again, Dryden thus sings the praises of Sir
Godfrey : —
" At least thy pictures look a voice ; and we
Imagine sounds, deceiv'd to that degree,
We think 'tis somewhat more than just to see."
Sir Godfrey Kneller was a native of Lubeck, in

Twickenham.]

KNELLER HALL.

95

Germany, and was bom in 1648. ' Having evinced
at an early age talents of no mean order, he became
a pupil of Ferdinand Bol and of Rembrandt. He
subsequently visited Italy, studied at Rome under
Carlo Maratti, and came to England in 1674. He
was shortly after commissioned by the Duke of
Monmouth to paint a portrait of the king, and his
success as a portrait painter was at once established.
Sir. Godfrey received the appointment of portrait
painter successively to Charles II., James II.,
William and Mary, Anne, and George I. It was
not only royalty, however, that sat to Kneller;
indeed, there was hardly a person of note or
distinction in his day whom he had not painted.
Bishop Burnet, John Evelyn, the " Court beauties "
of his day, the Admirals at Hampton Court,
and the members of the Kit-Cat Club, are amongst
Sir Godfrey's most noted works. He was knighted
by King William, and created a baronet by
George I.
Among the anecdotes told of Sir Godfrey Kneller
is one to the effect that he painted so fine a
full-length picture of Lady Kneller, that, leaving
the door of his studio open, Lady Kneller's favourite
spaniel got access to it, and seeing, as he thought,
his beloved mistress, he jumped up at her likeness

and injured the picture, which had been taken
from the easel and placed against the wall.
Sir Godfrey's vanity displayed itself in his last
moments. Pope, who came over to visit him two
days before his death, observes that he had never
seen in his life such a scene. He was sitting up in
bed, and contemplating the plans which he was
making for his own monument !
Sir Godfrey died in 1723, and is said, but falsely,
to have been buried in the garden of Kneller Hall,
but of the place of his interment there is no trace
there, for he lies in Twickenham church. There
is a monument to his memory, with an inscription
by Pope, in Westminster Abbey.
Some time after the death of Sir Godfrey Kneller
the mansion became the residence of Sir Samuel
Prime ; and in 1847 it was purchased by the Com
mittee of the Council of Education, to be used as
a normal training school, and Dr. Temple, now
Bishop of Exeter, received the appointment of
Principal. In 1856 the establishment passed into
the hands of the War Department, and in the fol
lowing year a school of military music was opened
here. What with alterations and enlargements at
different periods, the house may be said to have
been almost entirely rebuilt since Kneller's time.

CHAPTER VIII.
TWICKENHAM (continued).— POPE'S VILLA.
" Pope, to whose reed beneath the beechen shade,
The nymphs of Thames a pleased attention paid."— Loed Lyttelton, " The Progress of Love?
Parentage and Birth of Alexander Pope — His Education — His Early Admiration for Dryden — His first Essays Poetic Efifusions — Is-
introduced to Sir W. Trumbull and Wycherley — His Friendship with the Misses Blount — Translates the " Iliad " — Takes up his-
Residence at Chiswick — Publication of the "Odyssey" — Pope's Narrow Escape from Drowning— Publication of the "Miscellanies,"
"The Essay on Man," and other Poems — Death and Burial of Pope — Pope's Skull — Character and Temperament of Pope — His
Personal Appearance — His Popularity — His Visitors — His Fondness for Animals — His Love of Economy — His Rank as a Poet — His
Will— An Account of Pope's Villa and Grotto — Sale of the Villa to Sir William Stanhope — Its subsequent History.

Apart from the name of Horace Walpole, there is
none that is more closely associated with Twicken
ham than that of Alexander Pope ; and it is mainly
owing to the memory of these two men that
Twickenham has been so long "the favourite
retreat of scholars, poets, and statesmen."
Alexander Pope was born in London in the
month of May, 1688. His parents were members
of the Roman Catholic Church ; his father, accord
ing to the poet's own account, was " of a noble
family ; " but according to some of his biographers,
he kept a linendraper's shop in the city; others
state that he was a mechanic, a hatter, and even
a farmer. In a foot-note in his " Moral Essays," it
is stated that Mr. Pope's father was of " a gentle

man's family in Oxfordshire, the head of which was
the Earl of Downe, whose sole heiress married the
Earl of Lindsey." His mother was the daughter
of William Turner, Esq., of York. She had three
brothers, one of whom was killed ; another died in
the service of King Charles ; the eldest, following
his fortunes, and becoming a general officer in
Spain, left her what estate remained after the se
questrations and forfeitures of her family. Be this,
however, true or not, Pope's father left London
during the childhood of his son, and retired first to
Kensington, and then to Binfield, on the borders of
Windsor Forest, and there, in his twelfth year, the
youthful poet joined him. Young as he was, Pope
here formed his first plans of study, and in the

96

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

seclusion of the country set himself vigorously to
read, and occasionally to write. He had received
the rudiments of his education in Latin and Greek
from the family priest, and he was for a short time
at a Roman Catholic school at Twyford, and also
at a school near Hyde Park Corner, in London.
His poetic abilities displayed themselves even at
that early age, for he is credited with having written
a play, based on certain events in the " Iliad," and
made up of the speeches in Ogilby's translation,
which was acted by the elder boys in the school,
the part of Ajax being sustained by the master's
gardener. Whilst he was living at Binfield Dryden
became the subject of his greatest admiration; and
it was to Wills' Coffee-house, in Russell Street,
Covent Garden, that Pope, when a mere child,
induced his friends to carry him, in order that he
might gaze on the great poet whose mantle he was
destined in after life so worthily to wear.* "Who
does not wish," writes Dr. Johnson, " that Dryden
could have known the value of the homage that
was paid him, and foreseen the greatness of his
young admirer ? " In later years Pope became a
constant frequenter of "Wills'," though not till
after the illustrious Dryden's death. "Pope had
now," again writes Dr. Johnson, " declared himself
a poet, and thinking himself entitled to poetical
conversation, began at seventeen to frequent
' Wills' ' . . where the wits of that time used to
assemble, and where Dryden had, when he lived,
been accustomed to preside."
At the age of twelve Pope wrote his " Ode to Soli
tude," which was followed soon after by a translation
of the first book of the " Thebais " of Statius, and
Ovid's " Epistle of Sappho to Phaon." Whilst liv
ing at Binfield young Pope formed the acquaint
anceship of Sir William Trumbull, by whom he was
introduced to Wycherley the dramatist; but his
friendship with the latter was but of short duration,
owing, it is said, to Pope's somewhat too free stric
tures on a volume of poems which Wycherley was
preparing for publication, and had submitted to
Pope for his revision. It was about this time that
the intimacy sprang up between Pope and Mr. and
the Misses Blount, who were living at Mapledur-
ham, near Reading. Pope was strongly suspected
by some of his friends in after life — among others
by Lepel, Lady Hervey — of being privately married
to his friend and correspondent, Miss Martha
Blount, the elder of the two sisters.
" There can be little doubt," observed a writer
in the Gentleman's Magazine, "that one of the
most faithful friendships of Pope's life was that
* See " Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 276.

with the fair-haired Martha Blount. It was an
early friendship, with a dash of sentiment about it,,
that might, under happier circumstances, have
ripened into love. And it was a perfectly intelligi
ble friendship. There may be, as Mrs. Oliphant
has well said, a love between man and woman
which does not point to matrimony, and there
seems no ground for the scandal that assailed the
life-long intimacy of Martha and the poet. . .
In his early days Pope seems to have felt an equal
affection for Teresa, the elder sister ; but at a later
period, from some doubtful cause, there was a
complete estrangement between them. . . Both
sisters, by the way, were considered beautiful in
their youth, but neither of them married. . . .
Martha Blount returned Swift's affection, and was,
as Pope told the dean, ' as constant to old friend
ships as any man ' ; and in another letter Swift is
told that she speaks of him constantly, and ' is one
of the most considerate and mindful of women in
the world towards others, the least so in regard to
herself.'" At the age of sixteen Pope composed his
" Pastorals," but they were not printed till some
five years later (1709), when they appeared in
" Tonson'3 Miscellany." He next wrote his " Essay
on Criticism," which was followed shortly after by
" The Rape of the Lock " and the " Temple of
Fame " ; " Windsor Forest " and " The Ode on St.
Cecilia's Day " were published in 1 7 13. In a letter
to Addison, written in this year, Pope speaks of his
passion for the art of painting, which he had studied
under Jervas, but the pursuit of which he was pre
vented from following up by the weakness of his
eyesight. The want of money led Pope about this time to
issue proposals for a subscription to a translation of
the "Iliad." The whole work was completed
between his twenty-fifth and thirtieth year. Con
cerning the writing of this work, an amusing story
is told by Pope himself in his correspondence. He
writes :—" When I had finjihed the first two or
three books of my translation of the ' Iliad,' Lord
Halifax desired to have the pleasure of hearing
them read at his house. Addison, Congreve, and
Garth, were there at the read. In four or five places
his lordship stopped me very civilly, and with a
speech each time, much of the same kind. ' I beg
your pardon, Mr. Pope ; but there is something in
that passage that does not quite please me. Be so
good as to mark the place, and consider it a little
at your leisure. I'm sure you can give it a little
turn.' I returned from Lord Halifax's (continues
Pope) with Dr. Garth, in his chariot ; and as we
were going along, was saying to the doctor that my

Twickenham.]

NARROW ESCAPE OF POPE.

97

lord had laid me under a good deal of difficulty by
such loose and general observations; that I had
been thinking over the passages ever since, and
could not guess at what it was that offended his
lordship in either of them. Garth laughed heartily
at my embarrassment, and said I had not been
long enough acquainted with Lord Halifax to know
his way yet ; that I need not puzzle myself about
looking those places over and over when I got
home. ' All you need do,' says he, ' is to leave
them just as they are ; call on Lord Halifax two or
three months hence, thank him for his kind obser
vations on those passages,
and then read them to
him as altered. I have
' known him much longer
than you have, and will
be answerable for the
event.' I followed his
advice; waited on Lord
Halifax some time after ;
said, I hoped he would
find his objections to
those passages removed;
read them to him exactly
as they were at first, and
his lordship was extremely
pleased with them, and
cried out, 'Ay, now they
are perfectly right ; no
thing can be better ! ' "
By the subscription list
for his translation of
Homer Pope's circum
stances were so materially
improved that he per
suaded his father to re
move from Binfield, and take up his residence nearer
London ; and, accordingly, we soon after find the
family settled in Mawson' s Buildings, Chiswick.*
Here Pope continued the " Iliad," and wrote the
"Epistle from Eloisa to Abelard." Pope sub
sequently took a long lease of a house and five
acres of ground at Twickenham, and at once set
about the work of improvement, as we shall
presently see.
From this time may be dated the most important
portion of the poet's career. "He was," writes
Mr. Cobbett, in his " Memorials of Twickenham,"
" one of the very few literary men who in his own
or any previous time acquired a competence through
their dealings with the booksellers." Happily he
escaped from the meshes of the Curlls and Stocks
* See ante, p. 5.

POPE. (Frojn a Contemporary Portrait?)

of his day, In 1726 Pope published a translation
of the " Odyssey," in which he had the assistance
of Broome and Fenton. Pope translated twelve
books, Broome eight, and Fenton four.
About this time an incident occurred — trifling,
perhaps, as it happened, but which might have
ended Pope's earthly career. It is recorded by
Carruthers, in his " Life of Pope," as follows : —
" The poet had been dining with Bolingbroke at
Dawley, and late at night the peer sent his friend
home in a stately fashion in a coach and six. A
small bridge about a mile from Pope's residence
was broken down, and
the postillion taking the
water, the coach came in
contact with the trunk of
a tree,and was overturned.
Before the coachman
could get to Pope's assis
tance the water had
reached the knots of his
periwig. The glass was
broken, and he was res
cued, but not until he
had received a severe
wound in his right hand,
which for some time dis
qualified him from writing.
Voltaire, who was on a
visit to Dawley, sent his
condolences in an English
epistle, stating that the
water into which Pope fell
was ' not Hippocrene's
water, otherwise it would
have respected him.' ' Is
it possible,' he added,
' that those fingers which have written the " Rape
of the Lock;' and the "Criticism," which have
dressed Homer so becomingly in an English coat,
should have been so barbarously treated ? ' "
The accident here referred to probably occurred
either at the north end of the village, near where
is a railway station now, or" else in the little river
Cran, which sweeps round to the east near the
Houndslow powder-mills, and runs parallel with
the road from Twickenham to Hanworth. In one
place on the road to Hanworth it is dammed up
so as to form a broad lake.
In 1827 were published two volumes of " Miscel
lanies " by Pope and Swift, to which Gay and
Arbuthnot contributed, and in these "Miscellanies"
was printed the piece of satire entitled " Martinus
Scriblerus ; " this was followed up in 1729 by the
publication of the first three books of the " Dunciad,"

98

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

in which he took summary vengeance upon cer
tain exasperating scribblers who were, or thought
they were, ridiculed in the " Miscellanies." In
1733 Pope published the " Essay on Man," and in
the following year appeared his " Characters of
Men; or, Moral Essays." These were preceded
and followed by imitations of Horace ; and in 1742
the list of Pope's poems is concluded with an addi
tional book of the " Durtciad." In the next year
Pope's health began to decline, and on the 30th of
May, 1744, he died here of asthma and decay of
nature. Pope was buried, as he directed, in Twickenham
Church, " in a vault in the middle aisle, under the
second pew from the east end." A stone inscribed
with the letter " P " marks the spot, which is now
hidden by the flooring of the seats.
By some of Pope's biographers it is asserted that
the head of the poet was abstracted from his coffin
during some repairs of the church. On this sub
ject Mr. Howitt, in his " Homes and Haunts of the
British Poets," writes as follows : — ¦" By one of
those acts which neither science nor curiosity can
excuse, the skull of Pope is now in the private
collection of a phrenologist. The manner in which
it was obtained is said to have been this : — On some
occasion of alteration in the church, or burial of
some one in the same spot, the coffin of Pope was
disinterred, and opened, to see the state of the
remains. By a bribe to the sexton of the time,
possession of the skull was obtained for the night,
and anather skull returned instead of it. I have
heard that fifty pounds were paid to manage and
carry through this transaction. Be that as it may,
the undoubted skull of Pope now figures in the
phrenological collection of Mr. Holm, of Highgate,
and was frequently exhibited by him in his lectures,
as demonstrating, by its not large but well-balanced
proportions, its affinity to the intellectual character
of the poet."
" Such statements," observes Mr. Cobbett, in his
work already quoted, "are hard to be disproved,
more especially when motives of interest support
them. It is fair, however, to the Rev. Charles
Proby (the vicar during whose time the alleged
theft was committed), and to the then officials of
the church, to give, as he communicated it to Mr.
Powell, his churchwarden, his unqualified denial of
each and every part of the story. Mr. Proby had
seen Mr. Howitt's paragraph, and desired, as he
was too old to enter into a paper war, that the real
facts which gave rise to the report should be pub
lished, if a new history of Twickenham were ever
written. Mr. Proby's statement is as follows : —
' Upon opening a vault some years ago in the

middle aisle of the church, adjoining Pope's, the
latter fell in, the coffin was broken, and disclosed
the skeleton, which was very short, with a large
skull. I was immediately informed of it, when I
directed my curate, Mr. Fletcher, to remain in the
church, and not to leave until the whole was restored
and built up. A cast of the skull was taken, with my
permission, by the mason employed, who well knew
how to accomplish it. I am quite sure that Mr.
Fletcher rigidly carried out my instructions. No
such abstraction could have been made.' "
Pope throughout his whole life never enjoyed
good health. A sickly child, of mild temper, with
a sweet voice which earned him the sobriquet of
" the little nightingale," his physical weakness de
termined the bent of his tastes and the nature of
his pursuits. In the churchyard at Twickenham
there is a stone raised by Pope himself in " grati
tude " to his " faithful servant," Mary Beach, who
nursed him in his infancy, and constantly attended
him for thirty-eight years. It is worthy of remark that
the peculiar make and conformation of Pope rendered
a faithful servant of inestimable value. Johnson
assures us that "he was so weak as to stand in
perpetual need of female attendance, and was so
extremely sensible of cold, that he wore a kind of
fur doublet under a shirt of very coarse warm linen,
with fine sleeves. When he rose he was invested
in stays made of stiff canvas, being scarce able
to hold himself erect till they were laced, and he
then put on a flannel waistcoat. One side was
contracted. His legs were so slender that he en
larged their bulk with three pairs of stockings, which
were drawn on and off by the maid : for he was not
able to dress or undress himself, and neither went
to bed or rose without help. His weakness made
it very difficult for him to be clean. His hair had
fallen almost all away, and he used to dine with
Lord Oxford privately in a velvet cap. His dress
of ceremony was black, with a tye wig and a little
sword. The indulgence and accommodation which
his sickness required had taught him all the un-
pleasing and unsocial qualities of a valetudinarian.
He expected that everything should give way to
his ease or humour, as a child, whose parents will
not hear it cry, has an unresisted dominion in the
nursery, ' C'est que 1'enfant toujours est homme
C'est que l'homme est toujours enfant ! '
When he wanted to sleep he nodded in company,
and once slumbered at his own table while the
Prince of Wales was talking of poetry."
In spite of living so much in the world of fashion
and of letters, Pope was, if not averse to society,

Twickenham.]

POPE LAMPOONED.

99

yet at all events fond of solitude; and this he
gained in his garden and grotto at Twickenham.
" As much company as I have kept, and much as I
like it, I love reading better, and I would rather be
employed in reading than in the most agreeable
conversation." Pope became the subject of unnumbered epi
grams, odes, references, and allusions, amongst the
literary circle of which he was the centre. One com
plimentary epigram will suffice as an example : —
" On erecting a, Monument to Shakespeare, under the
direction of Mr- Pope, Lord Burlington, &c.
" To mark her Shakespeare's worth and Britain's love,
Let Pope design, and Burlington approve :
Superfluous care ! When distant time shall view
This tomb grown old, his works shall still be new.''
Throughout his life his health was bad, and he
perhaps imagined it worse than it was. His faults
— if such they may be called — were in a great
measure consequent on this fact ; he was peevish,
capricious, and fretful, and demanded incessant
attention. His character, indeed, has been very
diversely represented by foes and by friends ; some,
as we have seen, called him " the nightingale," whilst
his enemies called him "the wasp" of Twicken
ham ; and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu went so
far as to style him "the wicked asp." But every
man, it would seem, has his good points ; for Lord
Bolingbroke, on the contrary, says that he " never
knew a man that had so tender a heart for his par
ticular friends, or a more general friendship for
mankind." But possibly, Lord Bolingbroke, the
" my St. John " of the poet, was not an impartial
witness. Sir Joshua Reynolds thus describes Pope from
personal acquaintance : — " He was about four feet
six inches high, very hump-backed and deformed.
He wore a black coat, and, according to the fashion
of the time, had on a little sword. He had a large
and very fine eye, and a long handsome nose ; his
mouth had those peculiar marks which are always
found in the mouths of crooked persons ; and the
muscles which ran across the cheek were so strongly
marked that they seemed like small cords."
Pope's diminutive and misshapen person was a
standing joke with his enemies, who caricatured
him as a monkey in a library or with books.
Macaulay, in his " Essays," speaks of him severely
as " the little man of Twickenham " — a softened
phrase, which means much in the way of disparage
ment. The following anecdote which has been
told respecting his personal appearance will bear
repeating : — " A gentleman and his little child were
walking with a friend through Twickenham, when
Pope met them. The child was alarmed at his

figure, and drew back. The friend told them it was
the great Mr. Pope. He wore an old soiled suit of
black stained with snuff, cocked hat, and looked
poor and mean."
Pope frequently assumed the nam de plume of
" Martinus Scriblerus " in writing his attacks on
those who criticised him adversely. One of his
numerous enemies founded on this the title of the
" Martiniad," a sort of answer, or counterblast to
his " Dunciad," giving the following portrait of
Pope's person, cruelly exposing its deformity : —
" At Twickenham, chronicles remark,
There dwelt a little parish clerk,
A peevish wight, full fond of fame,
And ' Martin Scribbler ' was his name :
Meagre and wan, and steeple-crown 'd,
His visage long and shoulders round ;
His crippled corse two spindle-pegs
Support, instead of human legs ;
His shrivelled skin's of dusky grain,
A cricket's voice and monkey's brains. "
And another lampooner in verse compared the
" Dunciad," in terms equally savage and cutting,
to the progeny of the fabulous " Pope Joan."
It is stated that Pope seldom or never laughed ;
that his sole passion was to acquire fame, his most
conspicuous weakness "inordinate self-conceit."
"He delighted in artifice, and attempted to gain
all his ends by indirect methods. ' He hardly drank
tea without - a stratagem.' Lady Bolingbroke said
that ' he played the politician about cabbages and
turnips.' " He was somewhat too much inclined to
indulge his appetite ; fond of highly-seasoned dishes,
conserves, and drams. So fond was he of lampreys,
that, if we may trust a statement made in the " Life
of Nollekens," he would leave off in the midst of
writing in order to cook them in a silver saucepan
on his own fire.
Like most invalids, even in his own house he
was irritable and fussy to a degree, and on account
of his temper constantly got into sad trouble with
the literary men of his day. For example, not long
after the publication of the " Dunciad," in 1728,
there appeared in the newspapers a fictitious
account — afterwards known to have been written
by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu — of a horsewhip
ping which the poet had received from two gentle
men at Ham. His sensitive nature was so touched
that he condescended to inset c in the Daily Post
of June 14th, in that year, the following advertise
ment : —
"Whereas there has been a scandalous paper
cried about the streets, under the title of 'A
Popp upon Pope,' insinuating that I was whipped
in Ham Walks on Thursday last ; this is to give
notice that, I did not stir out of my house at

IOq

GREATER LONDON,

[Twlpkpnham.

Twickenham all that day, and the same is a
malicious and ill-grounded remark. — A. Pope."
Pope, as we have already stated, had in former
years been on terms of the greatest friendship with
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. So intimate, indeed,
was he at one time with her, that it is difficult to
distinguish some of her writings from those of Pope,
to such an extent were they intermixed. For in
stance, " Roxana, or the Drawing-Room," and the
" Basset Table," though printed among Pope's
" Miscellanies," seem really to belong to Lady
Mary, and form part of her "Town Eclogues."
And yet these once friends lived to become, as we
have seen, the bitterest of enemies.
Notwithstanding Pope's fondness for repose and
quietude, he had many friends, and probably his
vanity was gratified by great people coming and
making him an oracle. According to Thackeray,
" Pope withdrew in a great measure from this
boisterous London company '' — that of club-house
life — " and being put into an independence by the
gallant exertions of Swift and his private friends,
and by the enthusiastic admiration which justly
rewarded his great achievement of the ' Iliad,' pur
chased that famous villa at Twickenham which his
song and his life celebrated, duteously bringing his
old parents to live and die there, entertaining his
friends within its walls, and making occasional visits
to London in his little chariot, in which Atterbury
compared him to ' Homer in a Nutshell.'" In ex
planation of the above remark, it should be stated
that Swift was most active and generous in pro
moting the subscription for Pope's "Iliad," and
that it was he who introduced its author to both
Harley and Bolingbroke ; and that it was out of the
profits of this literary venture, about ^5,000, that
he purchased his celebrated villa.
Swift, too, who rarely had a kind word to say of
any one, commemorates Pope as one —
"  whose filial piety excels
Whatever Grecian story tells. "
Yet even here, with his garden and his grotto, pur
chased with the proceeds of his pen though they
were, Pope was not happy. He thus comments on
his loneliness to Gay, who had congratulated him
on finishing his house and gardens : —
" Ah, friend ! 'tis true — this truth you lovers know —
In vain my structures rise, my gardens grow ;
In vain fair Thames reflects the double scenes
Of hanging mountains and of sloping greens :
Joy lives not here, — to happier seats it flies,
And only dwells where Wortley* casts her eyes.
What are the gay parterre, the chequer'd shade,
The morning bower, the evening colonnade,
* Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

But soft recesses of uneasy minds,
To sigh unheard into the passing winds ?
So the struck deer in some sequester'd part
Lies down to die, the arrow at his heart ;
He, stretch'd unseen in coverts hid from day,
Bleeds drop by drop, and pants his life away."
Though not sweet-tempered, Pope was so witty
and well-informed that he enjoyed a sort of popu
larity, and became the centre of a host of friends ;
but to this end, na doubt, his independence largely
helped. He has the merit of having been as
constant in his friendships as he was bitter in his
enmities. And notwithstanding the fact that he
had been brought up in the Roman Catholic faith,
his three most intimate friends were Bishop Atter
bury, a high churchman, Bishop Warburton, a low
churchman, and Lord Bolingbroke, an avowed
unbeliever. Pope took under his patronage Gay, who had
been one of the household of the celebrated
Duchess of Monmouth, and " taught him the art
of Aiming. " Gay is said to have written at
Twickenham his very successful play called " The
Beggar's Opera." " Pope," it has been observed by
a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, "soon
learnt to feel his own superiority to his early
patrons, and in the case of Wycherley expressed
it too bluntly. His genius, indeed, matured so
rapidly that a short time sufficed to place him on a
level with men who are still the greatest ornaments
of a great literary age — with Addison and Steele,
with Swift and Congreve, with Arbuthnot and
Bolingbroke. . . It may be doubted, however,"
he continues, " that Pope was a very genial host, for
Swift has a gentle sneer at him for stinginess about
wine, and observes that he was a silent, inattentive
companion. He said himself that, though he loved
company, he loved reading better than talk. More-
ever, he never laughed heartily ; and the man who
cannot laugh is not likely to enliven conversation."
Swift lived very constantly with Pope at Twicken
ham ; and here Pope was visited by Voltaire, who,
being invited to dine with the poet, talked at table
with so mucli indecency, especially with regard to
religion, that the poet's mother was obliged to
retire in disgust. Nevertheless, Voltaire was in
vited to Twickenham more than once subsequently.
On one occasion, walking in the garden, Pope con
fidentially told Voltaire that he .was himself the
author of a certain " occasional letter," which had
really been written by Lord Bolingbroke — such was
his vanity.
Pope numbered among his visitors even Frederick,
Prince of Wales, who in many ways showed much
deference to his taste and judgment. To his visits

Twickenham.]

POPE AND BISHOP WARBURTON.

101

Pope alludes with natural pride, when, after enu
merating other great and illustrious persons who
had honoured him with their regard and friendship,
he continued —
" And if yet higher the' proud list should end,
Still let me add no Follower, but a Friend."
On one occasion, when the Prince 01 Wales was
on a visit here, Pope, after expressing the most
dutiful professions of attachment, gave his Royal
Highness an opportunity of observing very shrewdly
that his (the poet's) love for princes was incon
sistent with his dislike of kings, since princes may
in time become kings. Said his Royal Highness :
" Mr. Pope, I hear you don't like princes." " Sir,
I beg your pardon." " Well, then, you do not like
kings." " Sir, I must own that I like the lion best
before his claws are grown." No reply could well
have been happier.
Warburton and Pope met for the first time in
Lord Radnor's garden at Twickenham, and Dods-
ley, the bookseller, who was present, told Dr.
Warton that he was astonished at the high compli
ments paid by Pope to Warburton. The acquaint
anceship soon ripened into the most intimate friend
ship, and not long afterwards we find Warburton
writing : —
"I passed about a week at Twickenham in a
most agreeable manner. Mr. Pope is as good a
companion as a poet, and, what is more, appears to
be as good a man." That his friendship with Pope
turned out to his own advantage will be easily
seen, when it is stated that through Pope's introduc
tion to Mr. Allen of Bath — humble Ralph Allen,
who " did good by stealth, and blushed to find it
fame " — Warburton gained a wealthy wife, and
ultimately the Bishopric of Gloucester. Pope,
when he died, left this fortunate prelate the pro
perty of his works, which was estimated at four
thousand pounds ! Whatever might have been
the motive of Warburton in thus officiously ad
vocating a man whom he once so much under
valued, certain it is that he met with an ample
reward. Spence, like Warburton, won the friendship of
Pope by praising his poetry; and his "Anecdotes"
of the poet are full of interest for all lovers of
literature. In Pope's translation of Homer beauty of senti
ment predominates, and this is particularly. the case
in his description of the " Dog of Ulysses," taken
¦ from the " Odyssey.'' This is communicated by
Pope in a letter to a friend, with an introduction
and conclusion which illustrate his happy talent for
epistolary composition, and which is quoted here

to show his fondness for animals. "Now I talk
of my dog," he writes, " that I may not treat of
a worse subject, which my spleen tempts me to.
I will give you some account of him (a thing
not wholly unprecedented, since Montaigne, to
whom I am but a dog in comparison, has done
the same thing of his cat). Die mihi quid melius
desidiosus agam 1 You are to know, then, that as
it is likeness that begets affection, so my favourite
dog is a little one, a lean one, and none of the finest
shaped. He is not much of a spaniel in his
fawning, but has (what might be worth any man's
while to imitate him) a dumb, surly sort of kind
ness, that rather shows itself when he thinks me ill-
used by others than when we walk quietly and
peaceably by ourselves. If it be the chief point of
friendship to comply with a friend's motions and
inclinations, he possesses this in an eminent degree ;
he lies down when I sit, and walks when I walk,
which is more than many good friends can pretend
to : witness our walk a year ago in St. James's
Park. Histories are more full of examples of the
fidelity of dogs than of friends, but I will not
insist upon many of them, because it is possible
some may be almost as fabulous as those of Pylades
and Orestes, &c. Homer's account of Ulysses'
dog Argus is the most pathetic imaginable, all the
circumstances considered, and an excellent proof of
the old bard's good-nature. Ulysses had left him
at Ithaca when he embarked for Troy, and found
him at his return, after twenty years ; you shall have
it in verse : —
" When wise Ulysses from his native coast
Long kept by wars, and long by tempests tost,
Arrived at last, poor, old, disguis'd, alone,
To all his friends and e'en his Quee7i unknown ;
Changed as he was, with age and toils and cares,
Furrow' d his reverend face and white his hairs,
In his own palace fore'd to ask his bread,
Scorn'd by those slaves his former bounty fed,
Forgot of all his own domestic crew —
The faithful Dog alone his rightful master knew !
Unfed, unhous'd, neglected, on the clay,
Like an old servant now cashier'd, he lay,
Touch'd with resentment of ungrateful Man,
And longing to behold his ancient lord again !
Him when he saw, he rose, and crawl'd to meet
('Twas all he could), and fawn'd, and kiss'd his feet,
Seiz'd wjth dumb joy — then, falling by his side,
Own'd his returning lord, look'd up, and died !
" Plutarch, relating how the Athenians were
obliged to abandon Athens in the time of Themis-
tocles, steps back again out of the way of his
history purely to describe the lamentable cries
and howlings of the poor dogs they left behind !
He makes mention of one that followed his master
across the sea t,o Salamis, where he r}iecl, and was.

102

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[Twickenham.

honoured with a tomb by the Athenians, who gave
the name of the Dog's Grave to that part of the
island where he was buried. This respect to a
dog in the most polite people of the world is very
observable. A modern instance of gratitude to a
dog (though we have but few such) is, that the
chief Order of Denmark (now injuriously called the
Order of the Elephant) was instituted in memory
of the fidelity of a dog, named Wildbrat, to one of
their kings, who had been deserted by his subjects.
He gave his order this motto, or to this effect,
' Wildbrat was faithful.'

love of economy, that he wrote most of his verses
on scraps of paper, and particularly on the backs
of letters.
Swift styles him " paper-sparing Pope ; '' but he
nevertheless apostrophises his friend in terms of
somewhat exaggerated praise : —
" Hail ! happy Pope ! whose generous mind
Detesting all the statesmen kind,
Contemning courts, at courts unseen,
Refus'd the visits of a queen.
A soul with every virtue fraught
By sages, priests, or poets taught,
Whose filial piety excels

POPE'S HOUSE. (From a Prin. dated 1785.)

" Sir William Trumbull has told me a story, which
he heard from one that was present. King Charles
the First being with some of his Court during his
troubles, a discourse arose what sort of dogs
deserved the pre-eminence ; and it being on all
hands agreed to belong either to the spaniel or
greyhound, the king gave his opinion on the- part
of the greyhound, because (he said) it has all the
good-nature of the other, without fawning ! A
good piece of satire upon his courtiers, with which
I will conclude my discourse on dogs. Call me a
cynic, or what you please, in revenge for all this
impertinence. I will be contented, provided you
will but believe me when I say a bold word for a
Christian, that, of all dogs, you will find none more
faithful than,— Yours, &c, A. P."
It has been mentioned, as a proof of the poet's

Whatever Grecian story tells :
A genius for all stations fit,
Whose meanest talent is his wit ;
His heart too great, though fortune little,
To lick a rascnl statesman's spittle :
Appealing to the nation's taste
Above the reach of want is placed ;
By Homer dead was taught to thrive, — -
Which Homer never could alive ;
And sits aloft on Pindus' head
Despising slaves that cringe for bread."
A supplementary volume, of the poet s works
was published, containing pieces of poetry not
inserted in the earlier editions, and also a collec
tion of sentiments, selected from his correspond
ence, arranged under the title of "Thoughts on
Various Subjects," which have often been quoted,
showing that Pope was — as a poet should be—

Twickenham.]

POPE AS A POET.

103

deeply versed in the hidden springs of human
nature. Pope's rank as a poet has been variously esti
mated, and doubtless there will always be great
difference of opinion ; in the judgment of some
he stands almost without a rival, others would
deny him the title of poet altogether, but his
popularity has always been great. In contrasting
Pope's earlier with his later poems, it has been
well remarked that his early gaiety of spirits must
have been heightened by the " voluntary vein '' of
the " Rape of the Lock," which established his re
putation, and by the success of his " Homer," which

the first playful effort of satire without ill-nature,
at once gay, elegant, and delightful :
' Belinda smiles, and all the world is gay.'
"The man of severer thought now appears in
the 'Essay on Man.' The same vein shows itself
in the 'Moral Essays,' but the investigation is
directed to individual failings, and mingled with
spleen and anger. In the later satires we witness
the language of acrimony and bitterness. The
' Dunciad ' closes the prospect, and we there behold
the aged bard among a swarm of enemies, who began
his career all innocence, happiness, and smiles."

LADY HOWE'S VILLA AND POPE'S GROTTO. (From a Drawing by G. Banet, 1882.)

rendered him independent in his circumstances.
Mr. Bowles has an interesting note, comparing the
succession of Pope's original productions with the
progress of his mind and character : — " In his
earliest effusion — the ' Ode on Solitude ' — all is
rural quiet, innocence, content, &c. We next see,
in his 'Pastorals,' the golden age of happiness,
while the — ' Shepherd lad leads forth his flock
Beside the silver Thame.'
" His next step, ' Windsor Forest,' exhibits the
same rural turn, but with views more diversified
and extended, and approaching more to the real
history and concerns of life. The warm passions of
youth succeed, and we are interested in the fate of
the tender Sappho or the ardent and unfortunate
Eloise. As the world opens, local manners are
displayed. In the ' Rape of the Lock ' we see

Dr. Johnson, in his "Life of Pope," writes as
follows with reference to the respective excellences
of Pope and his model and predecessor, Dryden.
"Dryden," he says, " knew more of man in his
general nature, and Pope in his local manners ; the
notions of Dryden were formed by comprehensive
speculation, those of Pope by minute .attention.
There is more dignity in the knowledge of Dryden,
more certainty in that of Pope. Dryden is some
times vehement, Pope always smooth; Dryden's
page is a natural field, Pope's a velvet lawn. If
the flights of Dryden are higher, Pope continues
longer on the wing. If of Dryden's fire the blaze
is brighter, of Pope's the heat is more regular and
constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and
Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with
frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual
delight." Thackeray says of the concluding verses of the

104

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

"Dunciad" that "no poet's verse ever mounted
higher." "In these astonishing lines," he writes,
" Pope reaches, I think, to the very greatest height
which his sublime art has attained, and shows
himself the equal of all poets of all times. It
is the brightest ardour, the loftiest assertion of
truth, the most generous wisdom, illustrated by
the noblest poetic figure, and spoken in words
the aptest, grandest, and most harmonious. It is
heroic courage speaking : splendid declaration of
righteous wrath and war. It is the gage flung
down, and the silver trumpet ringing defiance to
falsehood, tyranny, deceit, dulness, and superstition.
It is Truth, the champion, shining and intrepid,
and fronting the great world-tyrant with armies of
slaves at his back. It is a wonderful and victorious
single combat in that great battle which has always
been waging since the world began. . . In con
sidering Pope's, admirable career, I am forced into
.similitudes drawn from other courage and greatness,
and into comparing him. with those who achieved
triumphs in actual war. I think of the works of
young Pope as I do of the actions of young Bona
parte or young Nelson. In their common life you
will find frailties and meannesses as great as the
vices and follies of the meanest men ; but in the
presence of the great occasion the great soul flashes
out, and conquers transcendent. In thinking of
the splendour of Pope's young victories, of his
merit, unequalled as his renown, I hail and salute
the achieving genius, and do homage to the pen of
a hero."* " Although now regarded as by far the greatest
poet of the day," writes the Rev. T. Thomson,
in the " Comprehensive History of England,"
" neither place nor pension rewarded his (Pope's)
labours ; for being a Papist in religion and a Tory
in politics, every avenue of Court patronage was
closed against him. He was thus obliged to de
pend for recompense upon the patronage of the
reading public, as yet not numerous enough for a
poet's wishes and wants ; and therefore, at the age
of twenty-five, he commenced in earnest to write
for money, by undertaking a translation of the works
of Homer, which had long been a desideratum in
the literary world, and was so successful that he was
enabled, when not more than thirty years old, to
purchase his classical villa at Twickenham, on the
Thames, where he spent the rest of his life in study,
combined with gardening. . . In poetry, Pope
was a follower of Dryden, who was the founder of
what has been called the ' poetry of artificial life.
But he polished and perfected what the other had
* " English Humourists," pp. 380-90,

founded, and thus became the leader of the school,
in preference to Dryden. And here the comparison
which Johnson has drawn between the pair may be
alluded to, as the best estimate which has yet been
formed of their respective merits. To Dryden,
indeed, belonged a strength, majesty, and fervour,
which his successor never attained; but, on the
other hand, Pope exhibited a delicacy and ten
derness of feeling, and a sustained, well-balanced
dignity of thought and style, of which Dryden was
incapable. This distinction can be easily felt by a
comparison of ' Alexander's Feast ' and the ' Elegy
on Mrs. Anne Killigrew,' Dryden's best produc
tions, with Pope's ' Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard,'
his ' Elegy on the Death of an Unfortunate Lady,'
and the ' Rape of the Lock.' In the same manner,
as satirists, both were equally terrible, the one in
' Mac Flecno ' and ' Absalom and Achitophel,' the
other in the ' Dunciad ' and his ' Epistles ' ; but if
Dryden's satire was an iron mace, that shattered
and crushed while it killed, Pope's was the keen-
edged scimitar of the Eastern sultan, that with a
silent wave bereaved the shoulders of their head .or
the body of a limb. While both were thus poets of
the highest order, the superior polish and epigram
matic point, as well as better sustained and even
dignity of the poetry of Pope, have caused it to be
more universally quoted, and given it a greater in
fluence than the more energetic, but unequal, pro
ductions of the other. Indeed, with the exception
of Shakespeare, no writer throughout the whole
range of English poetry has ever been the source
of such frequent reference as the bard of Twicken
ham." In speaking of the illness and death of Pope,
Mr. Cobbett, in his " Memorials of Twickenham,"
says : — "Among his latest acts was one of kindness
to the talented and unprincipled poet, Savage. In
his illness he was patient and placid, viewing the
approach of death with magnanimity and resigna
tion. The infidel Bolingbroke is said to have been
disgusted at the firmness of Pope's Christian hope.
During a lucid interval in the course of a temporary
aberration of reason with which he was attacked, he
was found busily engaged early one morning on an
essay on the ' Immortality of the Soul.' Shortly
before his death he observed, ' I am so certain of
the soul's being immortal, that I seem to feel it
within me.' On the third day before his death he
desired to be brought to the table where his friends
were at dinner. All present noticed that he was
dying. Miss Anne Arbuthnot exclaimed involun
tarily, ' Lord have mercy upon us ! this is quite an
Egyptian feast ! ' Next day he sat for three hours
in a sedan-chair in his garden, taking his last look

Twickenham.]
H,J/J--" .......  ...„,.., ,,,., _ __ __ | — _
at scenes so dear to him, then in their early summer
beauty. To this occasion Dr. Johnson's incredible
statement about Martha, Blount appears to belong.
He says that one day, as Pope was sitting in the
air with Lord Bolingbroke and Lord Marchmont,
he saw his favourite, Martha Blount, at the bottom
of the terrace, and asked Lord Bolingbroke to go
and hand her up. Bolingbroke, not liking the
errand, crossed his legs and sat still ; but Lord
Marchmont, who was younger and less captious,
waited on the lady, who, when he came to her,
asked, ' What, is he not dead yet ? ' She is said,
continues the Doctor, ' to have neglected him with
shameful unkindness in the latter time of his
decay.' The improbability of the question," con
tinues Mr. Cobbett, "is seen on the face of it.
Could Martha Blount be possibly ignorant whether
Pope were alive or dead ? Or, if the question were
really put, it need not necessarily be construed
harshly — nay, it may have been so uttered as to
imply pity and tenderness for the lingering agonies
of the sufferer."
In the " Imitations of Horace," Pope has these
curious lines respecting himself: —
" Weak tho' I am of limb, and short of sight,
Far from a lynx, and not a giant quite ;
I'll do what Mead and Cheselden advise,
To keep these limbs and to preserve these eyes ;
Not to go back is somewhat to advance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance."
Speaking of his obligations to these great phy
sicians and to others of the faculty, he sayS, about a
month before his death, in a letter to Mr. Allen,
" There is no end to my kind treatment from the
faculty ; they are in general the most amiable com
panions and the best friends, as well as the most
learned men I know."
If we may believe Mallet, when Pope was in a
dying state Mallet went to see him. As he sat by
the bedside, the poet, in a delirium, said that he felt
his head open and Apollo come out of it, and
enter that of Mallet. For this story, however,
we have no authority except that of the person
whom, if true, it compliments so highly.
The will of Pope is so illustrative of his charac
ter and connections, that we may be pardoned for
quoting it in part : —
" The last will and testament of Alexander Pope,
of Twickenham, Esq., In the name of God, Amen.
I, Alexander Pope, of Twickenham, in the county
of Middlesex, make this my last will and testament.
I resign my soul to its Creator, in all humble hope
of its future happiness, as in the disposal of a being
infinitely good. As to my body, my will is that
it be buried near the monument of my dear parents

POPE'S WILL,

?°S

at Twickenham, with the addition, after the words
Filius fecit, of these only — et sibi, qut ob,ut anno
1 7 — , cetatis  , and that it be carried to the grave
by six of the poorest men of the parish, to each of
whom I order a suit of grey coarse cloth as mourn
ing. If I happen to die at any inconvenient dis
tance, let the same be done in any other parish,
and the inscription be added on the monument at
Twickenham. I hereby make and appoint my
particular friends, Allen, Lord Bathurst, Hugh,
Earl of Marchmont, the Hon. William Murray,
his Majesty's Solicitor-General, and George Ar
buthnot, of the Court of Exchequer, Esq. — the
survivors or survivor of them — executors of this my
last will and testament."
He leaves his MSS. to his "noble friend" Lord
Bolingbroke, or, in event of his death, to Lord
Marchmont. And then, after bequeathing indivi
dual books, busts, statues, and pictures, to different
friends, as Lord Mansfield, Lord Bathurst, and Mr.
G. Arbuthnot, he leaves his library to Ralph Allen
and Dr. (Bishop) Warburton ; other bequests, in
the way of money, to buy mourning-rings and
family pictures, he leaves to his sister-in-law and
sundry friends ; ^ioo to his servant John Searl,
^20 to the poor of Twickenham. He leaves
;£i,ooo and the furniture of his grotto, the urns in
his garden, his plate, household goods, chattels,
&c, to his friend Martha Blount, with a reversion to
his sister-in-law, Mrs. Magdalen Rackett. This
will, which is dated December 12th, 1743, is
witnessed by his neighbour Lord Radnor, the Rev.
S. Hales, minister of Teddington, and Dr. Joseph
Spence, Professor of History in the University of
Oxford. From speaking of the man we will now pass on
to an account- of the house which he made so
famous,. When Pope took the lease of the premises
here, consisting of a cottage and five acres of
ground, he at once set about the work of improve
ment. The house itself, except by its being freed
from contiguity with ten still smaller structures, was
not much altered.
The author of " Verses occasioned by Warbur-
ton's New Edition of Pope's Works" (1751) gives
us some information on the localities of Pope's
Villa :—
" Close to the grott® of the Twickenham bard,
Too close, adjoins a tanner's yard.
So verse and prose are to each other tied,
So Warburton and Pope allied."
The allusion is thus explained by Mr. J. B.
Nichols, in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1836 : —
" Pope's Villa in his time was, we believe, in the
neighbourhood of small mean houses; a tallow-

ie>6

GREATER LONDON.

[Twiokenhara,

chandler's was close to him, and we here find a
tanner's yard joining the grotto. The house itself
was old and in bad repair ; the grounds included
about half the present garden that fronts the
Thames." Mrs. Vernon, from whom the poet held his lease
for life, died about a year before Pope. He had
then some idea of purchasing the property (valued
at about ^1,000), if any of his " particular friends "
wished to have it as a residence. No such arrange
ment was made, and after the poet's death, the
house, as we shall presently see, was bought by Sir
William Stanhope. The name of Mrs. Vernon is
immortalised by the poet in his " Imitations of
Horace " : —

" Well, if the use be mine, can it concern one
Whether the name belong to Pope or Vernon ? "
In his "Imitations of Spenser," Pope speaksof the
place to which his long residence here had so much
attached him as a town " which fairer scenes
enrich." And such would seem to have been the
case ; for these five acres of land, Horace Walpole
tells us in one of his letters, Pope twisted, and
twirled, and rhymed, and harmonised, till they ap
peared " two or three sweet little lawns opening and
showing beyond one another, and the whole sur
rounded with thick impenetrable woods."
The house, or "villa"— a "villakin" Swift called
it — when it was occupied by Pope, consisted of " a
small body with a small hall, paved with stone, and
two small parlours on each side, the upper storey
being disposed on the same plan." Pope added
somewhat to the building; but his chief delight was
in laying out the gardens and grounds, and in the
formation of the grotto which is so familiar to every
reader of Pope's life. The grounds were laid out
on the principle of landscape gardening (for he had
ridiculed some years before, in a humorous paper
in the Guardian, the barbarous practice of cutting
trees into fantastic shapes, and designing the walks
after the stiff and formal rules imported from the
Continent), and in adorning his grotto, Pope used
his utmost ingenuity in producing a variety.
"To build, to plant, whatever you intend,
To rear the column, or the arch to bend,
To swell the terrace, or to sink the grot,
In all let Nature never be forgot :
Still follow sense, of every art the soul,
Parts answering parts shall slide into a whole."
Pope acted on the principles laid down by him
in these lines, and in his little grounds steered
clear of the Italian and Dutch styles of gardening.
In fact, in laying out his garden, Pope carried out
the precepts of his pen : —

" First follow Nature, and your judgment frame
By her just standard, which is still the same.
^f ^F "fF ^n*
Those rules of old discovered, not devised,
Are Nature still, but Nature methodised.
1 Nature, like Liberty, is but restrained ;
By the same laws whjch first herself ordained. "

A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, in 1801,
observes that " the far-famed willow came from
Spain, enclosing a present to the late Lady Suffolk,
who came over with George II., and was a favourite
of the king. Mr. Pope was in company when the
covering was taken off the present. He observed
that the pieces of sticks appeared as if there were
some vegetation in them, and added, ' Perhaps they
may produce something we have not in England.'
Under this idea he planted it in his garden, and
it produced the willow-tree that has given birth to
so many others."
The famous willow died in 1801. Cuttings of
it had been sent to St. Petersburg, at the request
of the Empress of Russia, in 1789. A correspon
dent of the Gentleman's Magazine writes, under
date of July 8, 1801 : — "Last month I went with
a friend to Twickenham for the amusement of
angling. My first care, however, was to visit the
sacred willow planted by the hand of Pope ; and
to my bitter grief, only two or three feet of the
trunk remain, the upper part having been cut
away." What was left of the trunk, it is said, was
converted into " Popeian relics " by an eminent
jeweller, who worked it up into trinkets and orna
ments of all kinds, which had an extensive sale.
In order that the view from his own garden
might not be hindered or obstructed, three walnut-
trees were, at Pope's request, cut down in the
garden of his neighbour. The fact is mentioned
in one of Pope's poems, where it is stated that
they belonged to a " lord." Warton says the peer
alluded to was Lord Radnor. The Countess of
Hertford, in her correspondence with the Countess
of Pomfret, says that the trees belonged to Lady
Ferrers, " wham, he makes a lord."
No sooner was the poet settled in his new abode
than, like one of the clients of the Muse, one of
that " Genus ignavum, somno quod gaudet et umbra,"
he set to work upon the erection of the above-
mentioned "grotto."
The grotto was (and is) a subterranean passage
constructed under the roadway, which separates
the two portions of the grounds, whicli lie on either
side of the high road from Twickenham to Straw
berry Hill and Teddington. The house stands
between this road and the river. The garden

Twickenham .

POPE'S GROTTO.

107

beyond the road and the lawn sloping down to
the banks of the Thames contain many large trees,
under which Pope doubtless used to sit, including
some of the finest and earliest planted cedars of
Lebanon in the neighbourhood of London. The
grotto was formed to obviate the necessity of cross
ing the high road every time the best part of the
gardens had to be reached. On either side of it
is a chamber, and these, together with the interven
ing passage, richly lined with felspar and Devon
shire and Cornish marbles, mostly the gifts of the
poet's friends, preserve the grotto to us much as it
was a century and a half ago, when he described
its beauties in his letters. Among the contributors
of natural specimens in the formation of this grotto
were Sir Hans Sloane, and Dr. Borlase the histo
rian of Cornwall. Some of the letters which Pope
addressed the latter gentleman are still preserved
at Castle Horneck, near Penzance, the seat of Mr.
John Borlase.
Addison suggests in his Spectator (No.' 632) that
the making of grottoes* is a work on which the
ladies might well employ their hands. " There is
a very particular kind of work which of late several
ladies in our kingdom are very fond of, and which
seems very well adapted to a poetical genius. It
is the making of grottoes. I know a lady who has
a very beautiful one, composed by herself, nor is
there one shell in it that is not Stuck up by her
own hands." And he apostrophises the fair
designer in the following lines, half in jest, half
serious : — " To Mrs.  on her Grotto.
" A grotto so compleat, with such design,
What hands, Calypso, cou'd have form'd but thine ?
Each chequer'd pebble, and each shining shell,
Se> well proportion'd, and dispos'd so well,
Surprising lustre from thy thought receive,
Assuming beauties more than Nature gave.
To her their various shapes and glossy hue,
Their curious symmetry they owe to you.
Not fam'd Amphioris lute, whose powerful call
Made willing stones dance to the Theban wall,
In more harmonious ranks cou'd make them fall.
Not ev'ning cloud a brighter arch can show,
Not richer colours paint the heav'nly bow.
" Where can unpolish'd Nature boast a piece
In all her mossy cells exact as this ?
At the gay parti-colour'd scene we start,
For chance too' regular, too rude for art.
Charm'd with the sight, my ravish'd breast is fir'd
With hints like those which ancient bards inspir'd ;
All the feign'd tales by superstition told,
All the bright train of fabled nymphs of old,
The enthusiastic muse believes are true,
Thinks the spot sacred, and its genius you."

* A similar grotto, at Amwell, in Hertfordshire, stands recorded as
haying been visited by Dr. Johnson.

"A grotto," remarks Dr. Johnson, "is not often
the wish or pleasure of an Englishman, who had
more frequent need to solicit than exclude the sun,
but Pope's excavation was requisite as an entrance
to his garden ; and, as some men try to be proud
of their defects, he extracted an ornament from an
inconvenience, and vanity produced a grotto where
necessity enforced a passage."
The best description of Pope's grotto, and of the
poet's satisfaction and pleasure in it, is contained
in an often-quoted letter of the poet to his friend
Edward Blount, dated June 2, 1725 : —
" I have put the last hand to my works of this
kind, • in happily finishing the subterraneous way
and grotto. I there found a spring of the clearest
water, which falls in a perpetual rill, that echoes
through the cavern day and night. From the river
Thames you see through my arch up a walk of the
wilderness, to a kind of open temple, wholly com
posed of shells in the rustic manner; and from
that distance under the temple you look down
through a sloping arcade of trees, and see the sails
on the river passing suddenly, and vanishing as
through a perspective glass. When you shut the
dbOrs of this grotto, it becomes on the instant,
from a luminous room, a camera-obscura, on the
walls of which all objects of the river, hills, woods,
and boats are forming a moving picture in their
visible radiations ; and when you have a mind to
light it up it affords you a very different scene. It
is finished with shells, interspersed with pieces of
looking-glass in angular forms ; and in the ceiling
is a star of the same material, at which, when a
lamp (of an orbicular figure of thin alabaster) is
hung in the middle, a thousand pointed rays glitter,
and are reflected over the place.
" There are connected to this grotto by a narrower
passage two porches : one towards the river, of
smooth stones, full of light, and open ; the other
toward the garden, shadowed with -trees, rough
with shells, flints, and iron ore. The bottom is
paved with simple pebble, as is also the adjoining
walk up the wilderness to the temple, in the
natural taste agreeing not ill with the little dripping
murmur and the aquatic idea of the whole place.
It wants nothing to complete it but a good statue,
with an inscription, like that beautiful one which
you know I am so fond of : —
" 'Hujus Nympha loci, sacri custodia fontis,
Dormio dum blandfe sentio murmur aquae.
Parce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora, somnum
Rumpere ; sive bibas, sive lavere, tace.'
" ' Nymph of the grot, these sacred springs I keep,
And to the murmur of these waters sleep ;
Ah ! spare my slumbers, gently tread the cave !
And drink in silence, or in silence lave.'

io8

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

" You '11 think I have been very poetical in this
description, but it is pretty near the truth. I wish
you were here to bear testimony how little it owes
to art, either the place itself or the image I give
of it."
At the entrance to the grotto was a stone, in
scribed with the following line from Horace : —
" Secretum iter et fallentis semita vita:."
In Pope's " Miscellanies," the following lines
are addressed as an apostrophe to the pilgrim
visitor : —
*' Thou who shalt stop where
Thames' translucent wave
Shines a broad mirror through
the shadowy cave,
Where lingering drops from
mineral roofs distil,
And pointed crystals break the
sparkling rill,
Unpolish'd gems no ray on pride
bestow,
And latent metals innocently
glow :
Approach. Great Nature stu
diously behold !
And eye the mine without a
wish for gold.
Approach : but awful ! lo ! the
vEgerian grot,
Where, nobly pensive, St. John*
sat and thought ;
Where British sighs from dying
Wyndham stole,
And the bright flame was shot
through Marchmont's soul .
Let such, such only, tread this
sacred floor,
Who dare to love their country,
and be poor ! "
On another occasion we
find him writing : —
" Know, all the distant din that
world can keep
Rolls o'er my grotto, and but
soothes my sleep.
There, my retreat the best companions grace,
Chiefs out of war, and statesmen out of place.
There St. John mingles with my friendly bowl
The feast of reason and the flow of soul :
And he, whose lightning pierced the Iberian lines,
Now forms my quincunx, and now ranks my vines,
Or tames the genius of the stubborn plain
Almost as quickly as he conquer'd Spain." f
Pope's fondness for and pride in his Twicken
ham villa — my "Tusculum," as he called it — is
expressed by him in letters and poems continually.
In a letter to his friend Mr. Digby, he writes : —
" No ideas you could form in the winter can

3W- — w'*'^-
THE OBELISK TO POPE'S MOTHER,

Lord Bolingbroke. t Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough.

make you imagine what Twickenham is in the
summer season. Our river glitters beneath an
unclouded sun, at the same time that its banks
retain the verdure of showers ; our gardens are
offering their first nosegays; our trees, like new
acquaintances brought happily together, are stretch
ing their arms to meet each other, and growing
nearer and nearer every hour; the birds are paying
their thanksgiving songs for the new habitations I
have made them ; my building rises high enough
to attract the eye and curiosity of the passenger
from the river, when behold
ing a mixture of beauty and
ruin, he inquires what house
is falling or what church is
rising ; so little taste . have
our common Tritons of
Vitruvius, whatever delight
the poetical god of the river
may take in reflecting on
their streams my Tuscan
porticos or Ionic pilasters."
In some verses, entitled
" The Cave of Pope : a
Prophecy," to be seen in
the third volume of "Dods-
ley's Collection of Poems,"
the curiosity of future visitors
and their pilfering of gems as
relics is duly prophesied as
follows : —
' ' When dark oblivion in her sable
cloak
Shall wrap the names of
heroes and of kings,
And their high deeds, submitting
to the stroke
Of time, shall fall amongst
forgotten things.
' Then, for the muse that distant
day can see,
On Thames' fair bank the
stranger shall arrive
With curious wish thy sacred grot to see ;
Thy sacred grot shall with thy name survive.
" Grateful posterity from age to age
With pious hand the ruin shall repair ;
Some good old man, to each inquiring sage,
Pointing the place, shall cry, ' The Bard lived
there.'
" Whose song was music to the listening ear,
Vet taught audacious vice arid folly shame.
Easy his manners, but his life severe, ,
His word alone gave infamy or fame.
" Sequestered from the fool and coxcomb wit i
Beneath this silent roof, the muse he found ;
'Twas here he slept inspired, or sat and writ ;
Here with his friends the social glass went round.

Twickenham.]

LORD MENDIP\

100

" With awful veneration shall they trace
The steps which thou so long before hast trod,
With reverend wonder view the solemn place
From whence thy genius soar'd to Nature's God.
" Then some small gem, or moss, or shining ore,
Departing each shall pilfer, in fond hope
To please their friends on ev'ry distant shore,
Boasting a relic from the cave of Pope."
It need scarcely be remarked that the above
prophetic lines have been amply fulfilled.
It is said that the original mansion, as left by

Horace Walpole, however, viewed the alterations
and enlargements made by Sir William Stanhope in
a very different light, and criticised them somewhat
severely in a letter which he wrote to his friend Sir
Horace Mann, in 1760.
On the death of Sir William Stanhope, the pro
perty passed to his son-in-law, the Right Hon.
Welbore Ellis (afterwards created Lord Mendip),
who seems to have had a special veneration for the
poet's memory, and to have guarded with reverence

' POPE'S VILLA." (Seep, no.)

Pope, was humble and confined, and that " venera
tion for his memory enlarged its dimensions." Upon
his decease the estate was sold to Sir William
Stanhope, brother of the Earl of Chesterfield. By
him the house was enlarged by the addition of
Wings, and the gardens were also extended by the
addition of a piece of ground on the opposite side
of the lane, connected with the premises by a
second subterraneous passage, over the entrance
to which were placed the following lines, from the
pen of Lord Clare : —
" The humble roof, the garden's scanty line,
111 suit the genius of the bard divine ;
But fancy now displays a fairer scope,
And Stanhope's plans unfold the soul of Pope.''
10

every memorial, and preserved the house, as far as
possible, in its original condition.
Lord Mendip was a worshipper of the muses,
and also well known in the political world ; and
during his occupancy of Pope's Villa the place
became celebrated for its fine statuary, marbles, and
Oriental vases.
A view of Pope's house (still so called) is given
in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1807. It is atalland
spacious mansion, and very different to the humble
dwelling of the poet ; and the dwelling represents
the building as consisting of a centre and wings,
whilst a large double flight of stone steps leads up
to the centre of the river front. The willow which
was planted by Pope figures in the foreground.

rto

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

After the death of Lord Mendip the estate was
sold to Sir John Briscoe, and on the decease of that
gentleman, in 1807, it passed by sale into the hands
of the Baroness Howe. Her ladyship's connection
with Pope's residence is soon told. She rased the
house to the ground, and with complete indifference
to its associations, as far as possible, blotted out
every memorial of the poet.
Miss Berry, in her "Journal," under the date
of November 21st, 1807, writes: — "We went into
Pope's back garden, and saw the devastation going
on upon his 'quincunx' by its now possessor,
Baroness Howe. The anger and ill-humour ex
pressed against her for pulling down his abode and
destroying his grounds are much greater than one
would have imagined."
Lady Howe built for herself a new mansion, not
on the site of Pope's house, but about a hundred
yards to the north of it. It was formed partly out
of a dwelling which had been erected by Hudson
the painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds's master. Lady
Howe was the daughter of the celebrated Admiral
Lord Howe, the "hero of the glorious 1st of June."
She was twice married — firstly to the Hon. Penn
Assheton Curzon, by whom she had a son, after
wards created Earl Howe ; and secondly to Sir
Jonathan Wathen Waller, Bart. The baroness and
Sir Jonathan were long remembered in the neigh
bourhood for their hospitality. The garden parties,
which were frequently attended by members of the
royal family, were held almost weekly during the
summer months, and the " 1st of June " was always
a red-letter day with them, being celebrated by a
rowing-match on the Thames, when a silver cup
was competed for. Mr. Brewer, in the " Beauties
of England and Wales," suggests that Lady Howe
may have been tempted by the chance of selling
the building materials of the old house, which were
worth, he estimates, about forty or fifty pounds ;
and adds, " If the baroness had been desirous of
constructing a more commodious residence than
that inhabited by Lord Mendip, she might, without
any great blot to the grounds or injury to the pros
pect, have suffered the central part of the structure
to remain, the portion once inhabited by Pope, and
so highly reverenced and carefully preserved by
Lord Mendip." But this hint, alas ! was given too
late. Probably Lady Howe did not want to be the
proprietor of a public exhibition ; she knew nothing
of Pope, and perhaps cared less ; and she was, no
doubt, annoyed by his admirers coming to view the
house and grounds which the poet had rendered
famous. Pope's house is stated to have stood
exactly over the entrance to the grotto, which
formed as it were a part of the basement.

The author of a " Tour of a Foreigner in Eng
land," published in 1825, writes as follows with
reference to a pilgrimage which he made to Pope's
residence : — " I reached Twickenham by an agreea
ble walk along the banks of the Thames, where at
every step the eye is greeted by a succession of
varied prospects and elegant structures. So many
splendid buildings may perhaps be displeasing to
the lovers of the wild or purely rural scenery ; but
one is soon reminded that among these villas once
arose the residence of Pope, the poet of civilisa
tion. There he modernised the sublime muse of
Homer, for whose simple dignity he indeed occa
sionally substitutes the meretricious graces of a
coquette. There, too, Pope applied the language
of poetry to philosophy, and composed satires and
epistles such as Horace would have written had
he lived at the Court of Queen Anne. In 1807,
Baroness Howe pulled down Pope's Villa, and built
in its stead a residence better suited to a lady of
rank, and, no doubt, infinitely more comfortable.
How many do the English sacrifice for that favourite
adjective ! The famous grotto, which Pope himself
adorned with shells and minerals, has been almost
entirely stripped by the 'pilgrims of his genius.'
The weeping willow which the poet planted with
his own hands is dead, and another bends its
branches over the remains of the withered trunk-
Farther on, in a more retired part of the grounds, is
the obelisk which Pope erected to the memory of
his mother, The best work he ever wrote could
not have afforded me so much pleasure as the sight
of this monument of filial affection. Happy the
son who can deposit a wreath of laurel on the
grave of the parent whom he has rendered proud
and happy by his well-earned fame ! "
In January, 1840, " Pope's Villa," as the new
structure was wrongly called, was advertised for sale,
and the building materials of the same shortly after.
In the end, the Baroness Howe's house was partly
taken down, its outside wings being demolished,
and the central portion cut up into two tenements.
Subsequently a scheme was set on foot for building
a new house, " exactly like Pope's," and for restoring,
as far as possible, the grotto to its original condition ;
but this idea was ultimately abandoned. A new
house, however, was built shortly after by a Mr.
Thomas Young, a tea merchant, who gave to it the
name of " Pope's Villa." It does not stand on the
site of the original residence of Pope, but is nearer
to it than was Lady Howe's. The building is a
" combination of an Elizabethan half-timber house
and a Stuart renaissance, with the addition of Dutch
and Swiss, Italian and Chinese features." Such is
the description of it given by the author of " Ram-

Twickenham,]

"STRAWBERRY HILL SHOT."

bles by Rivers," who adds that it was probably
designed when its architect was fresh from a diligent
study of the paintings in Lord Kingsborough's work
on " Mexican Antiquities." Some people, however,
have suggested more simply that its design was, in
the main, copied by the tea merchant who built it
from one of those elaborate Chinese ornamentations
which are to be seen on tea-chests.
In 1876 " Pope's Villa" and the grounds adjoin
ing were again advertised for sale by public auction,

and later on it became for a time the residence of
Mr. Labouchere, M.P. Whatever may be the
ultimate fate of that building is of no national
importance. Suffice it to say that, beyond his
tomb in Twickenham Church, the only memorials
of the poet now visible here are the gardens and
> the famous grove in which he took such great
delight, and also the grotto — or rather, the tunnel,
for it has been despoiled of most of its rare marbles,
spars, and ores, and is now a mere damp subway.

CHAPTER IX.
TWICKENHAM (continued)— STRAWBERRY HILL.
" Some cry up Gunnersbury,
For Syon some declare,
And some say that with Chiswick House
No villa can compare.
But' ask the beaux of Middlesex,
Who know the country well,
If Strawb'ry Hill, if Strawb'ry Hill,
Don't bear away the bell." William Pulteuey, Ear I of Bath.
"Strawberry Hill Shot "—Colley Cibber a Resident there— Other Tenants— Lease of the House by Mrs. Chenevix— The Property purchased
by Horace Walpole — His Description of the Place in 1747 — Enlargement of the House by Walpole— Description of the Building, and
particulars of some of its Principal Contents— The "Chapel" in the Gardens— The Earl of Bath's Panegyric— Biographical Notice of
Horace Walpole— Macaulay's Estimate of his Character— Strawberry Hill Bequeathed to Marshal Conway— The Hon. Mrs. Damer—
The Waldegrave Family — Sale of the Contents of Strawberry Hill in 1842 — Subsequent History of the Building — Little Strawberry
Hill and Mrs. Clive — The Misses Berry— Alderman Matthew Wood—" The Bachelors."

Not far from Pope's Villa, at the corner of the
Upper Road, leading to Teddington, is Strawberry
Hill, the celebrated villa of Horace Walpele (after
wards Earl of Orford). Everybody has heard of
Strawberry Hill, with its brick and mortar turrets,
its Gothic windows, and its lath-and-pla.ster walls.
It has been much, and perhaps deservedly, ridi
culed; but, although the mansion has been con
siderably altered and enlarged since Walpole's
time, its interior is not only fitted up with much
good taste, and even splendour, but contains many
articles of great historical interest.
The house stands on a piece of ground called in
old documents "Strawberry Hill Shot." It was
originally a small tenement, built towards the end
of the seventeenth century by the Earl of Brad
ford's coachman, and let as a lodging-house. This
cottage, says Mr. Cobbett, in his " Memorials of
Twickenham," was called by the common people
Chopped-straw Hall, as " they supposed that by
feeding his lord's horses with chopped straw he
had saved money enough to build his house."
Colley Cibber, we are told, was one of the first
tenants of the above-mentioned cottage, when he
was in attendance for acting at Hampton Court,
and one at least of his plays was written here,

namely, " The Refusal; or, the Lady's Philosophy."
In consequence of its pleasant and healthy situa
tion, the cottage became at different times the
summer residence of many great personages, among
others, of Dr. Talbot, Bishop of Durham, and of
Henry Bridges, Marquis of Carnarvon, son of
James, Duke of Chandos. It was afterwards hired
by Mrs. Chenevix, a noted toy-shop keeper of
Regent Street. After her husband's death, this
good lady sub-let the house to Lord John Sackville,
second son of Lionel, Duke of Dorset, who resided.
in it for about two years.
In May, 1747, Horace Walpole took over the
remainder of Mrs. Chenevix's lease, and in the
following year purchased the fee-simple of the
property by Act of Parliament, it being then in
the hands of three minors of the name of Mortimer.
Walpole, in a letter to Field-Marshal Conway,
gives the following particulars of the place shortly
after first taking possession of it. They have been
often quoted, but will bear repetition : —
"Twickenham, June 8, 1747.
" You perceive by my date that I am got into a new
camp, and have left my tub at Windsor. It is a little play
thing house that I got out of Mrs. Chenevix's shop, and is
the prettiest bauble you ever saw. It is set in enamelled
meadows, with phillagree hedges.

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

A small Euphrates through the place is rolled,
And little fishes wave their wings in gold.
Two delightful roads, that you would call dusty, supply me
continually with coaches and chaises ; barges as solemn as
Barons of the Exchequer move under my window. Rich
mond Hill and Ham Walks bound my prospects; but, thank
God, the Thames is between me and the Duchess of Queens-
berry. Dowagers as plenty as flounders inhabit all around,
and Pope's ghost is just now skimming under my window
by a most poetical moonlight. The Chenevixes had tricked
the cottage up for themselves. Up two pairs of stairs is
what they call Mr. Chenevix's library, furnished with three
maps, one shelf, a bust of Sir Isaac Newton, and a lunar
telescope without any glasses. Lord John Sackville prede-
cessed me here, and instituted certain games called cricketalia,
which have been celebrated this very evening in honour of
him in a neighbouring meadow."
At the time it passed into the hands of Walpole
the property consisted of the cottage and some
five acres only, but this was subsequently extended
by the purchase of outlying lands. Walpole soon
conceived the idea of enlarging the cottage, and at
once determined to adopt the Gothic style of
architecture, in order, as he informs us, to prove,
if he could, its adaptability to domestic buildings
and their decorations. " Walpole's experiments in
Gothic architecture" (writes Eliot Warburton),
" as exemplified in his various plans and improve
ments at Strawberry Hill, showed that he was
learning the art of building while he was practising
it. In the game of putting up and pulling down,
which he carried on for so many years, he was like
a tyro at chess,, who knows only the names of the
pieces and their appropriate positions  He
never became a first-rate architect. Nevertheless,
he contrived to put together a structure which will
outlast in interest buildings erected on more cor
rect principles, and constructed with materials
•much more durable and solid."
" The Castle," as Walpole chose to call it, " was
not entirely built from the ground, but formed at
different times, by alterations of and additions to
the old small house. The library and refectory,
or great parlour, were entirely new built in 1753 ;
the gallery, round tower, great cloister, and cabinet,
in 1760 and 1761 ; the great north bed-chamber
in 1770."
In spite of all his social pleasures, in September,
1774, Walpole bitterly complains of want of occu
pation. "What can I do?" he asks his cousin
Conway. " I see nothing, know nothing, do no
thing. My castle is finished ; I have nothing new to
read ; I am tired of writing ; I have no new or old
bits for my printers ; I have only backwoods around
me." This idleness, however, was partly affected ;
for in general Walpole complained of having too
much, not too little, on his hands. "He had

always," writes Eliot Warburton, u something to do ;
as a correspondent, as an author, as a connoisseur,
as a patron, as a politician, as a fine gentleman,
there was always plenty for him to employ his
thoughts upon."
That he still went on with the enlargement of his
"castle" is clear from the fact that in 1776 the
"Beauclerk tower" and "hexagon closet" were
added ; continual additions, in fact, were made to
the building, according as Walpole's stock of articles
of vertu — " knick-knacks," as they have been vul
garly called — increased. What the results of
Walpole's efforts as an architect were has been
variously estimated. To some critics the work has
appeared as possessing " the genuine appearance
of former times, without the decay ; " some have
approved, together with its possessor, of " the choice
selection of the best specimens of what is called
Gothic architecture ; " whilst others have not hesi
tated to stigmatise it as " the most trumpery piece
of gingerbread Gothic ever constructed : as a whole,
monstrous ; in detail, incorrect ; '* or to sum it up as
"a rickety, miserable, oyster-grotto-like profana
tion." The designs for different parts of the edifice
were collected from all quarters — at home and
abroad. The embattled wall by the road-side was
copied from a print of Aston House, Warwickshire,
in Dugdale's history of that county, whilst portions
of the ornamentations of tombs of bishops and
princes in various cathedrals were made to do duty
in the component parts of fire-places, doorways,
and windows. Most of the windows were filled with
painted glass. The general effect of the whole
has been poetically summed up in the following
lines by Maurice : — ¦
" At every step we take fresh raptures move,
Charm in the house and ravish in the grove.
Within, the richest silks of China glow,
Without, the flow'rs of both the tropics blow ;
What matchless colours in the solar beam,
Warm, vivid, varied, thro' the casements stream !
Here the deep ruby seems to blush in blood,
There the bright topaz pours a golden flood ;
With Heav'n's blue vault the beaming sapphire vies,
And emeralds glow with ocean's azure dyes ;
While thro' those casements to th' astonish'd sight, '
O'er hills and valleys ranging with delight,
A brighter, richer landscape shines display'd
Than ever Poussin sketch'd or Claude pourtray'd ! "
The entrance to the house has been considerably
altered. Originally, after entering by the north gate
into the grounds, the first noticeable object was an
"oratory," wherein were "vessels for holy water,
and an enshrined saint." An iron screen, copied
from the tomb of Roger Niger, Bishop of London,

Twickenham.]

CONTENTS OF STRAWBERRY HILL.

"3

in Old St. Paul's, parted off the " abbot's garden "
on the right. On the left, before the entrance to
the house was reached, a small cloister had to be
passed, in which were two objects of interest. The
first was a bas-relief in marble of the Princess
Leonora D'Este — " Dia Helionora " — with whom
Tasso was in love. This was sent to Horace Wal
pole from Italy by Sir William Hamilton, minister
at Naples. The second was the blue-and-white
china tub in which Walpole's favourite cat was
drowned. To the pedestal on which it stood was
affixed the first stanza of Gray's well-known ode on
the occasion : —
'"Twas on this lofty vase's side,
Where China's gayest art has dy'd
The azure flow'rs that blow ;
Demurest of the tabby kind,
The pensive Selima reclin'd,
Gaz'd on the lake below ! "
The hall, in its original condition, was small and
gloomy, being lighted only by two narrow windows
of painted glass. It was connected with the stair
case, in the well of which depended a Gothic
lantern. This latter, and also the balustrade, at
each corner of which is an antelope (one of Lord
Orford's supporters) holding a shield, were designed
by Mr. Richard Benfley, the son of the learned
Dr. Bentley, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.
On the left of the hall, approached through a
small passage, over the entrance to which is an
ancient carving in wood of the arms of Queen
Elizabeth, is the refectory or great parlour, " hung,"
says Walpole himself in his description of the build
ing, " with paper in imitation of stucco ! " This
apartment contained several portraits of members of
the family, most of which are still at Strawberry
Hill, although differently placed. Amongst them
may be mentioned Sir Robert Walpole, his two
wives and three sons ; an early production of Sir
Joshua Reynolds's, called " A Conversation," repre
senting George Selwyn, Lord Edgcombe, and G. I.
Williams, all intimate friends of Walpole's; and
the three beauties, the Ladies Laura, Maria, and
Horatia Waldegrave, by the same eminent master.
In the waiting-room was a bust of Colley Cibber,
formerly the property of Mrs. Clive the celebrated
actress, and after her death presented by her brother,
Mr. Rastor, to Lord Orford. There was also a
bust of Dryden, who was great-uncle to Catharine
Shorter, Horace Walpole's mother ; and a curious
emblematic picture of a man standing (small whole
length), with a bust of Charles II., seemingly
previous to his restoration.
The contents of the china-room adjoining were
much prized by the owner, and fill no less than

thirteen pages of his list. Among them were " two
Saxon tankards, the one ornamented with Chinese
figures, and the other with European." " These
tankards," wrote Horace Walpole, " are extremely
remarkable. Sir Robert Walpole drank ale : the
Duchess of Kendal, mistress of King George I.,
gave him the former ; a dozen or more years after
wards, the Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of King
George II., without having seen the other, gave
him the second ; and they match exactly in form
and size." The floor of this apartment has some
ancient tiles with armorial bearings from Gloucester
cathedral. The upper part of the chimney was
copied from the window of an ancient farm-house,
formerly called Bradfield Hall, belonging to Lord
Grimston, in Essex ; and the lower part from a
chimney at Hurstmonceaux, in Sussex; it was
adorned with the arms of Talbot, Bridges, Sackville,
and Walpole, the principal persons who have in
habited Strawberry Hill.
The chimney-piece in the Little Parlour is re
markable as having been taken from the tomb of
Thomas Ruthall, Bishop of Durham, in Westmin
ster Abbey. In this room, amongst other things,
was the original model in terra-cotta, by Mrs.
Damer, of two sleeping dogs, which she after
wards executed in marble for the Duke of Rich
mond. On the first landing of the staircase is a boudoir
formerly known as the Blue Breakfast Room, which
contained several portraits of the Digby family and
others. In this room was preserved the watch
given to General Fairfax by the Parliament, after
the battle of Naseby ; also a curious picture of
Rose, the royal gardener, presenting to Charles II.
the first pine-apple raised in England. This pic
ture was bequeathed by the grandson of Loudon, the
nurseryman, to the Rev. Mr. Pennicott, of Ditton,
who gave it to Walpole.
On the staircase was a suit of steel armour
which had belonged to Francis I. It was pur
chased in 1772 from the Crozat collection, on the
death of the Baron de Thiers, and realised^32o . 5s.
at the Strawberry Hill sale in 1842. Amongst
other articles here were an ancient curfew, or cover-
fire, and the top of a warming-pan which had be
longed to Charles II., with his arms and the motto
" Sarve God and live for ever."
The library contained a valuable collection of
about 15,000 volumes, chiefly of antiquarian and
historical subjects. The book-cases were modelled
from the choir of Old St. Paul's, as represented by
Dugdale, and the chimney-piece was copied partly
from the tomb of John Eltham, Earl of Cornwall,
in Westminster Abbey, and partly from that of

ii4

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham,

Thomas, Duke of Clarence, at Canterbury. The
most remarkable objects in the library were an old
painting representing the marriage of Edward VI •
a silver-gilt clock, richly chased, presented by
Henry VIII. to Anne Boleyn, on their marriage •
a screen of the first tapestry made in England,'
and the osprey eagle modelled life-size in terra
cotta by Mrs. Damer.
In the Star Chamber, so called from the adorn
ment of its ceiling with golden stars in mosaic,

actor, for twenty guineas. Among the treasures of
the library are Bentley's set of original designs in
illustration of Gray's poems. They are immor
talised by the latter in his "Stanzas to Mr.
Bentley " : —
" In silent gaze the tuneful choir among,
Half pleas'd, half blushing, let the Muse admire,
While Bentley leads the sister art along,
And bids the pencil answer to the lyre."
Though Bentley had been' very useful to Horace

STRAWBERRY HILL IN WALPOLE'S TIME
(From Contemporary Drawings by Paul Sandby.)

stood the famous bust of Henry VII., designed
for his tomb by Torregiano. The chimney-piece
in the Holbein Room was designed chiefly from the
tomb of Archbishop Warham, at Canterbury. A part
of the room is divided off by a screen, the pierced
arches of which were copied from the gates of the
choir of Rouen cathedral. Two highly interesting
relics were preserved in this room, among them
being "a very ancient chair of oak, which came
out of Glastonbury Abbey ;" and " the red hat of
Cardinal Wolsey, found in the great wardrobe by
Bishop Burnet, when clerk of the closet. From
his son, thejudge, it came to the Dowager Countess
of Albemarle, who gave it to Mr. Walpole." This
red hat was bought by Mr. Charles Kean, the

Walpole in putting Strawberry Hill together, yet lie
did not retain the great man's friendship for long,
for, as was the case with Walpole arid Lady Mary
Wortley Montagu, the Misses Blount, and others,
a quarrel arose between him and the lord of
Strawberry Hill, which put an end to their friendship.
The gallery, nearly sixty feet in length, was the
argest and most attractive apartment in the house.
The ceding is taken from one of the side aisles in
Henry VII.'s Chapel. The great door is copied
from the north door at St. Albans, and the two
smaller are parts of the same design. The side
recesses, which are finished with a gold network
over looking-glass, is taken from the tomb of
Archbishop Bourchier at Canterbury."

n6

GREATER LONDON.

[Twickenham.

Leaving the gallery by its great door, we reach
the new boudoir, drawing-room, and other rooms
added to the house by its present owner. This
new wing was built about i860, and though erected
to harmonise with the general edifice, is, it is almost
needless .to add, as solid and substantial as the
latter is fragile. The drawing-room contains a large
number of family portraits of the Waldegraves and
Walpoles, and also Magni's celebrated piece of
sculpture, "The Reading Girl," exhibited at the
London International Exhibition of 1862. In the
adjoining boudoir are a Madonna by Sasso Ferrato,
and a few other pictures. A wide staircase leads
from this room into the garden. The new dining-
room is enriched by a large number of pictures,
mostly from the old collection.
Returning to the original part of the bujlding, we
pass from the further extremity of the gallery into
the Round Drawing-room. The design of the
chimney-piece of this room was copied from the
tomb of Edward the Confessor; and executed in
white marble inlaid with scagliola. The ceiling
was taken from a round window in Old St. Paul's.
The " Tribune " is " a square room, with a semi
circular recess in the middle of each side, with
windows and niches, the latter taken from those on
the sides of the north door of the great church at
St. Albans. The roof, which is copied from the
chapter-house at York, is terminated by a square of
yellow glass." In this room was formerly preserved
the large collection of miniatures by Petitot and
other masters, and also a vast number of antiquarian
objects. Among the latter was one of the seven
mourning rings given at the burial of Charles I.;
the dagger of Henry VIII., which was purchased
by Mr. Charles Kean for ^£54 12 s. ; a pendant
golden heart-shaped ornament, richly jewelled and
enamelled, made in memory of the Earl of Lennox,
Regent of Scotland, who was murdered in 1572.
This jewel was purchased by the Queen at the sale
in 1842. Here, too, was a curious silver bell, made
for Pope Clement VII. by Benvenuto Cellini,
" with which to curse the caterpillars." The bell
came out of the collection of Leonati at Parma,
and was bought by the Marquis of Rockingham.
Walpole, who prized it very highly, exchanged for
it all his collection of Roman coins. It was pur
chased by Lord Waldegrave, at the sale in 1842, for
the sum of ^252.
The fireplace of the " Great. North Bedroom "
was designed by Walpole from the tomb of Bishop
Dudley in Westminster Abbey; the room itself
was originally hung with crimson damask, and
contained several interesting pictures, the most
noticeable of which were those of Henry VIII.

and his children, and the original sketch of "The
Beggar's Opera," with portraits of Walker as Mac-
heath, Miss Lavinia Fenton (afterwards Duchess of
Bolton) as Polly, Hippesley as Peach'em, and Hall
as Lockit. Among the curiosities preserved in this
room was the " speculum of cannel coal " used by
the famous impostor Dr. Dee in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. The " Beauclerk Closet," originally hung with blue
damask, is an hexagon in shape, and was built in
1776 on purpose to receive seven drawings by Lady
Diana Beauclerk, in illustration of Walpole's tragedy
of " The Mysterious Mother." A portrait of Lady
Diana, by Powell, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, which
formerly hung in this room, has been removed to
the billiard-room ; as also has a portrait of Mrs.
Clive, by Davison, which formerly adorned the
library over the Round Drawing-room, now a bed
room. So multifarious was the collection of Straw
berry Hill, that no less than 113 quarto pages are
devoted to the details of it in the second volume
of Walpole's printed works; and in order that
no visitor might be deceived as to its precise nature
and definite complexion, Walpole remarked, in a
letter to a friend : — " The chief boast of my collec:
tion is the portraits, of eminent and remarkable
persons, particularly the miniatures and enamels,
which, so far as I can discover, are superior to any
other collection whatever. The works I possess of
Isaac and Peter Oliver are the best extant; and
those I bought in Wales for three hundred guineas,
are as well preserved as when they came from the
pencil ! "
Walpole never allowed large parties to go over
Strawberry Hill ; he made an exception, however,
in favour of great people, as shown by the follow
ing letter to the celebrated actress, Mrs. Abing-
ton : —
"Madam, "You may certainly always command me and my
house. My common custom is to give a ticket for only
four persons at a time ; but it would be very insolent in me,
when all laws are set at nought, to pretend to prescribe rules.
At such times there is a shadow of authority in setting the
laws aside by the legislature itself; and though I have no
army to supply their place, I declare Mrs. Abington may
march through all my dominions at the head of as large a
troop as she pleases ;— I do not say, as she can muster and
command, for then I am sure my. house would not hold them.
The day, too, is at her own choice ; and the master is her
very obedient humble servant, "Hor. Walpole.
" Strawberry Hill,' June nth, 1780."
In the gardens Walpole in 177 1 erected a sham
chapel, but this has been demolished and removed.
It was built of brick, with a front of Portland

Twickenham.]

BIOGRAPHY OF HORACE WALPOLE.

117

stone, copied from the tomb of Bishop Audley in
Salisbury Cathedral. Fronting the door stood a
" shrine " of mosaic work, three storeys in height,
having on one side, in a recess, a figure of an
ancient king of France, and on the other side a
figure of the Virgin Mary in bronze. On a tablet
over the doorway of the chapel the following par
ticulars were given : —
" The shrine in front was brought in the year
1768 from the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore,
in Rome, when the new pavement was laid there.
The shrine was erected in the year 1256, over the
bodies of the holy martyrs, Simplicissa, Faustina,
and Beatrix, by John James Capoccio and his
wife, and was the work of Peter Cavalini, who
made the tomb of Edward the Confessor in West
minster Abbey. The window was brought from
the church of Bexhill, in Sussex. The two principal
figures are King Henry III. and Eleanor of Pro
vence, his queen, the only portraits of them extant.
King Henry died in 1272 ; and we know of no
painted glass more ancient than the reign of his
father, King John, of Magna Charta memory."
At the end of the winding walk in the garden
was placed a large seat in the form of a shell,
carved in an oak, which had a very pretty appear
ance. That Strawberry Hill and its varied contents —
its pictures, and statuary, and curiosities — should
have been made the subject of verse by the aspirants
for poetic fame at the end of the last century
is scarcely to be wondered at. Maurice thus
writes : —
" Hail to the Gothic roofs, the classic bow'rs,
Where, laurell'd Damer ! glide thy tranquil hours ;
Where the rude block, from Parian quarries brought,
Bursts into life, and breathes the glow of thought ;
While all the cherish'd Arts and Muses mourn
Round polish'd Walpole's venerated urn —
In one lov'd spot their blended charms combine,
And in their full meridian glory shine ! —
Of rarities, from many a clime convey'd,
O'er'many an ocean, to this hallow'd shade :
How bright ! the rich assemblage charms my eyes,
What prodigies of daring Art surprise !
In pictures, vases, gems of various hue,
And bring all Greece and Latium to my view !
While Albion's chiefs, of more sublime renown,
And ermin'd senators, in marble, frown,
Bright polish'd helms heroic times recall,
And gleaming corslets hang the storied wall ! "
The Earl of Bath's panegyric on his son's resi
dence is well known. The humorous composition
was completed by Walpole himself. The first
stanza is given as the motto to this chapter; of
the remainder, as here given, Lord Bath wrote only
the second stanza : — *,• -----i-

" Some love to roll down Greenwich Hill,
For this thing and for that,
And some prefer sweet Marble Hill,
Though sure 'tis somewhat flat ;
Yet Marble Hill and Greenwich Hill,
If Kitty Clive* can tell,
From Strawb'ry Hill, from Strawb'ry Hill,
Will never bear the bell 1
" Though Surrey boasts its Oatlands
And Clermont kept so jim,
And some prefer sweet Southcote's,f
'Tis but a dainty whim ;
For ask the gallant Bristow,J
Who does in taste excel,
If Strawb'ry Hill, if Strawb'ry Hill,
Don't bear away the bell ?
" Since Denham sung of Cooper's,
There 's scarce a hill around
But what in song or ditty
Is turn'd to fairy ground —
Ah, peace be with their mem'ries !
I wish them wondrous well ;
But Strawb'iy Hill, but Strawb'ry Hill,
Must bear away the bell !
" Great William || dwells at Windsor,
As Edward did of old ;
And many a Gaul, and many a Scot,
Have found him full as bold :
On lofty hills like Windsor
Such heroes ought to dwell ;
Yet little folks like Strawb'ry Hill,
Like Strawb'ry Hill as well ! "
In January 1772 the mansion of Strawberry
Hill suffered considerably from the effects of an
explosion at the powder-mills at Hounslow. Wal
pole thus amusingly makes mention of it in a letter
to the Hon. H. S. Conway : — " The north side of
the castle looks as if it had stood a siege. The
two saints in the hall have suffered martyrdom.
They have their bodies cut off, and nothing re
mains but their heads."
The career of Horace Walpole may be briefly
summed up thus : — Born in 17 17, he was the third
son of Sir Robert Walpole, by his marriage with the
daughter of a Mr. John Shorter, who had been
" appointed Lord Mayor of London by the special
favour of King James II." Mr. Walpole was
educated at Eton (where he commenced his friend
ship with Gray), and whence he proceeded to King's
College, Cambridge. In 1738 he was appointed to
a Government post, which he shortly after exchanged

* Mrs. Clive, the celebrated actress, lived near Strawberry Hill, in a
house which Walpole bought, and gave to her, and of which we shall
have more to say hereafter.
t Woburn Park, near Chertsey, the seat of Mr. Philip Southcote.
t William Bristow, Esq., brother of the Countess of Buckingham,
friend of Lord Bath, and a great pretender to taste.
II William, Duke of Cumberland, who defeated the rebels at Culloden
in 1746.

ii3

GREATER LONDON,

[Twickenham.

for the sinecure office of Usher of the Exchequer,
at a salary of ^3,000 per annum. Other posts
followed in quick succession, mainly through the
influence of his father, which brought the sum total
up to about ^17,000 per annum. In 1739 he
travelled abroad, in company with Gray, visiting
Florence, Venice, &c. On their return, Walpole
was elected M.P. for Callington, in Cornwall. He
afterwards sat for Castle Rising and for King's Lynn
in Norfolk. In Parliament he evinced his filial piety
by a spirited speech against a motion made by
Lord Limerick for an inquiry into his father's con
duct. But he was not fond of public life, and in
1767 he communicated to the Mayor of Lynn his
intention of abandoning his seat in Parliament.
Not long before his death he declared that "he
was once, forty years ago, at the late Duke of New
castle's levee, the only minister's levee, except that
of his father's, at which he was ever present."
He soon turned his attention to the fine arts
and literature. In 1753 he became one of the
fashionable contributors to the periodical paper
entitled The World ; and in 1757 he set up a print
ing-press at Strawberry Hill ; and between that date
and 1784, when he printed his "Description of
Strawberry Hill," a large number of works were
produced, including Walpole's " Royal and Noble
Authors," his " Anecdotes of Painting in England,"
and " The Castle of Otranto." Walpole, although
an author himself, held the profession of an author
in contempt ; for in one of his letters to Hume he
remarks: — "You know, in England (speaking of
writers) we read their works, but seldom or never
take any notice of authors. We think them suffi
ciently paid if their books sell, and of course leave
them to their colleges and obscurity, by which
means we are not troubled with their vanity and
impertinence." Walpole's fame as an author rests mainly upon
his " Letters." " He loved letter-writing," says
Lord Macaulay, who ranks his " Letters " above all
his other works, "and had evidently studied it as
an art. It was, in truth, the very kind of writing
for such a man : for a man very ambitious to rank
among wits, yet nervously afraid that while obtain
ing the reputation of a wit he might lose caste as a
gentleman." It cannot be said that Walpole was a patron of
men of letters. He has been much blamed in
regard to his conduct towards the unfortunate
Chatterton, who, having left a provincial attorney's
office, came to London to starve, and ultimately to
die by his own hand. He appealed in his penury
to Walpole, who is said to have turned a deaf ear
to his case. Walpole is stated to have gone to

Paris with the young poet's compositions— which
had been sent to him with Chatterton's request for
help— in his possession, to have neglected his
request for their return, and to have repudiated his
complaint of such conduct as an insolent piece of
presumption. On Walpole's return he found a very
resentful letter from Chatterton, peremptorily re
quiring the papers, and telling Walpole that "he
would not have dared to use him so had he not
been acquainted with the narrowness of his circum
stances." The following are the poor boy Chatter-
ton's verses to Horace Walpole : —
" Walpole ! I thought not I should ever see
So mean a heart as thine has proved to be :
Thou, nursed in luxury's lap, behold'st with scorn
The boy who, friendless, fatherless, forlorn,
Asks thy high favour. Thou mayst call me cheat —
Say, Didst thou never practise such deceit ?
Who wrote Otranto ? But I will not chide ;
Scorn I '11 repay with scorn, and pride with pride.
Still, Walpole, still, thy prosy chapters "write,
And flimsy letters to some fair indite ;
Laud all above thee ; fawn and cringe to those
Who for thy fame were better friends than foes ;
Still spurn the incautious fool who dares to plead,
And crave thy service in the hour of need.
Had I the gifts of wealth and luxury shared,
Not poor and mean — Walpole ! thou had'st not dared
Thus to insult. But I shall live, and stand
By Rowley's side when thou art dead and damned ! "
Of the struggles of poor Chatterton, from the
time of his arrival in London until his tragic end
by poison in a garret in Brooke Street, Holborn, we
have already spoken at some length in the pages of
Old and New London.*
Walpole gathered around him at Twickenham a
select social circle, which included Garrick, Mrs.
Pritchard, Kitty Clive, Paul Whitehead, the two
Misses Berry, General Conway, the Ladies Suffolk
and Diana Beauclerk, George Selwyn, Richard
Bentley, Gray, Lord Edgecombe and Strafford, and
Sir Horace Mann. The friendship of Walpole for
Hannah More did not commence till 1784, when
he was sixty-seven years of age ; and that with the
two Miss Berrys dates only from 1788, when he
met them with their father at the house of Lady
Hemes. At the age of seventy and more his heart
warmed towards them as it had never warmed
towards any woman before, and he never was
happy except when they were with him or when
they were corresponding with him. They both
outlived him some sixty years ! When they went
to Italy, the doting old beau wrote to them regu
larly once a week ; and when, on their return, they
* See Vol. II., p. 545.

Twickenham.]

DEATH OF HORACE WALPOLE.

no

anchored at the neighbouring villa — which, by the
way, they called Little Strawberry Hill, in his honour
— then and then only does he seem to be con
tented. His friendship for these two young ladies
reminds us in some of its details of that of Pope
for Martha and Teresa Blount.
Still, although he steered clear of the meshes of
matrimony, there was nothing that Walpole liked
better than acting as squire or cicerone to fine
ladies, and especially in a pleasant row on the
river Thames. But twice at least his gallantry
nearly cost him his life : on one occasion, in re
turning with Lady Browne from Lady Blandford's
in the ferry-boat, when the boat was carried down
the stream to Isleworth, and forced against the piers
of the new bridge ; and again, in 1778, when in a
boat with his two nieces, Miss Keppel and Lady
Bridget Tollemache, to see the Goldsmiths' Com
pany returning in their barges from a dinner alfresco
close to Pope's Villa, when their boat was run
down by some half-drunken cits, and the party were
much alarmed, though not actually upset. On this
Walpole remarks in one of his letters, that " Neptune
never would have had so beautiful a prize as the
four girls ! "
In 1 791, in his seventy- third year, Walpole suc
ceeded to the Earldom of Orford, on the death of his
nephew, an event which he himself commemorated
in a few lines, called an " Epitaphium vivi Auctoris,"
as follows : —
" An estate and an earldom at seventy-four !
Had I sought them or wished them, 'twould add one fear
more —
That of making a countess when almost four-score.
But Fortune, who scatters her gifts out of season,
Though unkind to my limbs, has still left me my reason ;
And whether she lowers or lifts me, I'll try
In the plain simple style I have lived in to die :
For ambition too humble, for meanness too high. "
Carrying out these principles in action, Horace
Walpole would never assume the earldom, and
seldom even signed his name as "Orford." He
amused himself to the last with adding to the
, treasures and decorations of Strawberry Hill, where
he was, in 1795, honoured by avisit from the queen
and royal family. He never even took his seat in
the House of Peers, but ended his days amidst his
books and art treasures, surrounded by his friends.
He died at his house in Berkeley Square on the
2nd of March, 1797, and with him died the last
survivor of the family of Sir Robert Walpole.
Of Walpole's personal appearance we have the
following particulars, written by Miss Hawkins in
1772 : — "His figure was not merely tall, but more
properly long, and slender to excess; his complexion,
and particularly his hands, of a most unhealthy

paleness. . . His eyes were remarkably bright
and penetrating, very dark and lively ; his voice was
not strong, but his tones were extremely pleasant,
and, if I may say so, highly gentlemanly. I do
not remember his common gait, he always entered
a room in that style of affected delicacy which
fashion had made almost natural : chapeau bras
between his hands, as if he wished to compress it
under his arm, knees bent, and feet on tiptoe, as if
afraid of a wet floor ! His dress in visiting was
most usually, in summer, when I most saw him, a
lavender suit, the waistcoat embroidered with a
little silver, or of white silk worked in the tambour,
partridge silk stockings and gold buckles, ruffles
and frill, generally lace. I remember when a child
thinking him very much undressed if at any time,
except in mourning, he wore hemmed cambric. In
summer no powder, but his wig combed straight,
and showing his very smooth pale forehead, and
queued behind; in winter powder."
" In everything in which Walpole busied him
self," writes Lord Macaulay, " in the fine arts, in
literature, in public affairs^ he was drawn by some
strange attraction from the great to the little, and
from the useful to the odd. The politics in which
he took the keenest interest were politics scarcely
deserving of the name. The growlings of George
the Second, the flirtations of Princess Emily with
the Duke of Grafton, the amours of Prince Fre
derick and Lady Middlesex, the squabbles between
Gold Stick-in-waiting and the Master of the Buck-
hounds, the disagreements between the tutors of
Prince George — these matters engaged almost
all the attention which Walpole could spare from
matters more important still : from bidding for
Zinckes and Petitots, from cheapening fragments
of tapestry and handles of old lances, from joining
bits of painted glass, and from setting up memorials
of departed cats and dogs. While he was fetching
and carrying the gossip of Kensington Palace and
Carlton House he fancied that he was engaged in
politics, and when he recorded that gossip he
fancied that he was writing history."
Burke, indeed, was not unjustly severe when he
characterised Walpole as an " elegant trifler," and
Strawberry Hill as a "Gothic toy." Dr. Aikin
has drawn his character in these words r — " Horace
Walpole, though forming his plan of life chiefly
upon a system of personal enjoyment, possessed
kind and social affections, and was capable of very
generous actions to his friends. He had seen too
much of the world to give easy credit to professions
and appearances- ; but he respected virtue, and had
warm feelings for the rights and interests of man
kind. As an author, if he does not merit a place

iaa

C-REAfER LdNf)oM.

tTwickenhahi.

in the higher ranks, he has done enough to preserve
his name from oblivion."
Crabbe, in his "Tales of the Hall," sums up
Walpole's taste for castle-building, as exemplified in
his work at Strawberry Hill, in the following mock-
heroic lines : —
" He built his castles wondrous rich and rare,
Few castle-builders could with him compare ;
The hall, the palace, rose at his command,
And these he filled with objects great and grand."
Walpole bequeathed Strawberry Hill and its
contents, in the first instance, to his cousin, Marshal
Conway, and to the Coun
tess of Ailesbury during
their lives ; then to their
daughter, the Hon. Mrs.
Damer, the sculptress, for
her life ; and after her, to
Lord Waldegrave.
Marshal Conway, who
was for many years a
Member of Parliament,
seems to have been one of
those many mediocrities
who found their way into
high official positionunder
the good old patronage
system which prevailed
through the first twenty
years of the reign of
George III.
Mrs. Damer made
Strawberry Hill her abode
for several years, most of
her time being occupied
in her favourite pursuit'of
sculpture. At a somewhat
early period of her progress Mrs. Damer attained
almost to perfection in the art, and acquired a
celebrity not only in her own country, but On the
Continent of Europe, her title to which will be
readily acknowledged when the number and excel
lence of her works are called to mind. They include
the following figures, statues, and designs :—
I. The Dog, for which she was so highly honoured by the
Academy of Florence.
2. An Osprey, formerly belonging to Horace Walpole, and
exhibited in his collection at Strawberry Hill, but afterwards
the property of Sir Alexander Johnston.
3. Charles James Fox, which she presented to the Em
peror Napoleon at Paris, on his return from Elba.
4. The colossal bust of Nelson, executed by her in marble,
shortly after he returned from the battle of the Nile, and sat
to her for it, and which she presented to the City of London,
whose officers placed it in the Council Chamber at Guildhall,
where it now stands.

HORACE
(From a Portrait by

5. A bust of Nelson, executed in bronze by her for the
King of Tanjore, and presented by her to His Highness.
6. A similar bust, presented by her to King William IV.
when Lord High Admiral, which is now at Windsor.
7. Heads of Thames and Isis, for the keystones of the
bridge over the Thames at Henley ; presented by her to the
Town of Henley, near which stood her father's country-house,
called " Park Place."
8. Two Dogs, executed in marble, and presented by her
to her sister, the Duchess of Richmond ; now at Goodwood.
9. Several pieces for Boydell's Shakespeare.
10. A bust of herself, presented by her to Payne Knight.
11. Her mother, the Countess of Ailesbury.
12. MissFarren (the late Lady Derby).
13. Miss Berry, editor of
Horace Walpole's works.
14. Prince Labomirthy.
15. Peniston Lamb, the
eldest son of the late Lord
Melbourne. 16. The second Lord Mel
bourne, when a child.
17. Sir Humphrey Davy.
18. Queen Caroline, consort
of George IV.
Finding, however, the
situation of Strawberry
Hill lonely when her
mother died, Mrs. Damer
gave up the house and
property, together with
the ^2,000 per annum
left to her by its founder
for its maintenance, to
Lord Waldegrave, in
whom the fee was vested
under the will, and re
moved to a mansion of
Lady Buckinghamshire, at
East Sheen.
Strawberry Hill has since continued in the pos
session of the Waldegrave family, though they did
not care to reside there. In 1842 the contents of
the house were sold by public auction. The sale
lasted from April 25th to May 21st, and realised
the sum of 4^33,468. It was conducted by Mr.
George Robins in a large temporary building erec
ted on the lawn for the purpose.
"The fate of Strawberry Hill," writes Eliot
Warburton, " was lamentable. For four-and-twenty
days the apartments sacred to Horatian pleasan
tries echoed with the hammer of the auctioneer.
Circumstances that need not be more particularly '
alluded to rendered this degradation unavoidable,
and it was only with difficulty that the most sacred
of the family possessions could be preserved from
the relentless ordeal of a public sale." The shrine
which had been visited with so much interest and

WALPOLE. Sir Joshua Reynolds?)

Twickeniia

REVIVAL OF' STRAWBERRY HILL

til

veneration was now overrun by a well-dressed mob,
who glanced at its treasures, and at the copious
catalogue in which they were enumerated, with a
like indifference. But doubtless, at the actual sale
this indifference changed to the most anxious desire
to obtain possession of some relic of the man
whose name was invested with so many pleasant
associations ; and the more interesting portion of
the thousand trifles created a degree of excitement

for the library. But above all, I should like to
have a little drawing or two by a certain amateur
artist, and trust, at all events, that they will not be
allowed to go into the hands of mere strangers.
Altogether, I suppose, they will bring a good deal
of money ; and so passes the glory of this world !
Vanity of vanities ! "
The treasures of Strawberry Hill made their way
into royal and private hands, and some found a

LITTLE STRAWBERRY HILL IN 1813. (From a Contemporary Sketch.)

which would almost have reconciled their former
owner to such a distribution."
Lord Jeffrey, in a letter to Miss Berry, written
at the time of the sale, gives his own "private
opinion" of the value of the collection in the follow
ing words : " I have been amusing myself lately,"
writes his lordship, "by looking over the catalogue of
the ' Strawberry Hill ' collections, and, as you may
suppose, have had you often enough in my mind as
I went through names and little anecdotes which
must be pregnant to you with so many touching
recollections. I should like, if I were rich enough,
to have some twelve or twenty of the pictures and
miniatures, but would really give nothing for the
china, furniture, and bijouterie, and not a great deal
n

refuge in other collections, which they still swell
and probably will continue to swell, until some
ducal, or at least noble, family is in difficulties, when
they will put -in an appearance at the rooms of
Messrs. Christie and Manson.
The house remained from the above date dis
mantled and neglected, and in a most forlorn and
desolate condition for some time, until it became
the property of its late possessor, Frances, Countess
of Waldegrave, who, having thoroughly renovated
and much improved and enlarged the building,
made it, from the sumptuousness of its interior
adornment, inferior to few of the mansions of the
nobility in the kingdom ; and under her rule Straw
berry Hill became famous for its reunions and

122

greater London.

tTwickenhatn;

garden-parties, at which royalty was often
present. Lady Waldegrave, the widow of the seventh
Earl, carried it in marriage to her second husband,
Mr. Chichester Fortescue, now Lord Carlingford.
She was the daughter of Braham the singer, and
was celebrated as one of the leaders of society in
London. After the death of the countess, Strawberry Hill
became once more unoccupied as the residence of
the AValdegrave family, and in 1881 it was again
offered for sale. The property still (Dec. 1882)
remains in the market ; it is rumoured that it
is about to be turned into an American hotel, but
as yet, happily, this is not true.
At the end of a verdant meadow bordering upon
the lower road to Teddington, and just on the con
fines of Twickenham parish, Walpole purchased a
comparatively small house, in which the celebrated
Kitty Clive, the actress, resided, and which is still
known as Little Strawberry Hill. He would con
stantly trip across that field, accompanied by his
pet spaniel, in order to enjoy the society of that
fascinating woman.
Born in 1711, Mrs. Clive made her first appear
ance in boy's clothes, in the character of Ismenes,.
the page of Ziphores, in the play of " Mithridates,"
at Drury Lane Theatre. In, 1732 she married a
gentleman of the law, a brother of Lord Clive ; but
the union was soon dissolved, being unproductive
of happiness to either party. During the year 1769
she quitted the stage, though to the last she was
admirable and unrivalled. Retiring to this spot,
she lived in ease and independence, and died, here,
beloved by her friends, and respected by the world.
No individual ever took a more extensive walk in
comedy — the chambermaid in every varied shape
which art or nature could lend her — characters of
whim and affectation, from the high-bred Lady
Fanciful to the vulgar Mrs. Heidelberg — country
girls, romps, hoydens, dowdies, superannuated beau
ties, viragos, and humourists — engaged her versatile
talents with an inimitable felicity. It was a saying
that " no man could be grave when Clive was
inclined to be merry." At the same time her
character throughout life was exemplary. Not only
Horace Walpole, but many other persons of rank
and eminence, courted her society, attracted by her
wit and drollery ; besides which, as old Pepys would
have said, " a mighty pretty woman she was too."
Mrs. Clive retired from the stage to this pleasant
retreat very soon after speaking her farewell
epilogue, written by Walpole, on her benefit night,
April 24th. " Kitty," in spite of all her attractive
ness, must have been a formidable person in her way.

The followinganecdote rests on Horace Walpole's
authority : — " When some persons in the neighbour
hood wanted to stop up a foot-road, the opponents
were very numerous, but they wanted a leader;
some one then suggested that Mrs. Clive should be
applied to ; and on the morning of the meeting,
Kitty — not ' the beautiful and young,' but the old
and red-faced — appeared on the scene, with so de
termined an aspect that the assailants laid down
their arms."
The " elegant trifler " wrote the following inscrip
tion for an urn to the memory of Mrs. Clive, which
is placed in the garden : — •
" Ye smiles and jests still hover round;
This is mirth's consecrated ground :
Here liv'd the laughter-loving dame,
A matchless actress, Clive her name.
The comic muse with her retired,
And shed a tear when she expired."
•Mrs. Clive died suddenlyon the 7th of September,
1785, at the age of seventy-five, and was buried at
Twickenham. A marble tablet on the outside of
the east end of the church bears an inscription to
her memory, by Miss Pope.
Miss Mary and Miss Agnes Berry afterwards
occupied the cottage, which was bequeathed to
them for life by Walpole. The Misses Berry first
took up their residence here after their return from
Florence in 1791, and the cottage continued to be
their residence for many years. " In the person of
these ladies," observes Mr. Cobbett, " the memories
of those who well recollect them are united to the
older and more celebrated days of Twickenham.
The elder of the two, born in the third year after
King George the Third's accession, lived to be in
her old age privately presented to Queen Victoria."
In 1 81 3 Little Strawberry Hill was taken on
lease by Mr. Matthew Wood, M.P., Alderman of
London ; during his occupancy the cottage enjoyed
a fair share of popularity. The author of " Ex
cursions through England," in describing Little
Strawberry Hill, says : — ¦" Hither have the citizens
of London made delightful aquatic excursions
during the summer season of the year. Indeed,
it is usual for the members of the Corporation to
indulge in these excursions under every mayoralty.
These sons of pleasure generally travel by land to
Kew, where they embark, and proceed to Hampton,
the accustomed spot of destination. Some, indeed,
have gone up as far as Oxford ; and a few have had
courage to penetrate the fountain-head, near Chel
tenham, in Gloucestershire ! The members of the
Corporation are accompanied by their wives, and
allowed to take a friend. These excursions in the
City barge are not unfrequent, and when the

Twickenham.]

THE MISSES BERRY.

heavens smile, impart no inconsiderable gratifica
tion. The entertainment provided is liberal, the
company disposed to please and to be pleased;
whilst a band of music, whose tones are reverberated
from the opposite banks, soothes the senses, delights
the imagination, and exhilarates the heart." The
City State barge, which was often to be seen during
the summer months on the reaches of the river
about Twickenham, was named the Maria Wood
after Alderman Wood's beautiful daughter.
One at least of the Miss Berrys must have been
a woman of taste, for she was the designer, and
apparently the engraver, of Mrs. Darner's book
plate. Both the Misses Berry died in 1852,
Agnes in January, and her elder sister in Novem
ber, at the age of ninety, and both lie buried
in Petersham churchyard, where an epitaph from
the pen of the Earl of Carlisle is inscribed to their
memory. However charming and attractive Strawberry
Hill may have been in the last century, in con
sequence of the literary and social circles of which
it formed the central point, the neighbourhood was
not without its drawbacks. For instance, owing

probably to the large extent of open and unenclosed
lands about Twickenham, the highwaymen and
footpads would try their skill on noble and gentle
travellers in their carriages. . Horace Walpole,
writing in 1782, complains that, "having lived there
in tolerable quiet for thirty years, he cannot now
stir a mile from his own house after sunset without
one or two servants armed with blunderbusses.''
Though Strawberry Hill still stands, and though
its grounds are as yet intact, yet probably they are
both doomed to destruction. " Coming events,"
they say, " cast their shadows before them ; " and
therefore it may be worth while to add that on the
opposite side of the road a large tract of land, ex
tending up to* the Strawberry Hill railway station,
has been taken in hand by a firm of London
builders, who are rapidly covering the green fields
with villas.
In Strawberry Vale, almost opposite to Little
Strawberry Hill, on the margin of the river, is a
row of suburban villas, the last of which, called
" The Bachelors," is a landmark familiar to rowing-
men ; this, too, is the last house in the parish of
Twickenham on the confines of Teddington.

CHAPTER X.
TEDDINGTON AND BUSHEY PARK.
" Hse latebrze dulces, etiam si credis, amcenEe.''— Horace.
Situation and General Appearance of Teddington— Rise and Progress of the Village— Upper Teddington— Etymology of Teddington— Early
History, and Descent of the Manor — "Queen Elizabeth's Hunting-Box "—The Manor House— The Parish Church— Dr. Stephen Hales—
" Peg " Woffington— Extracts from the Parish Register— The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul— Recent Improvements in Teddington—
The River Thames—" Swan-upping "— Bushey Park— The Ranger's Lodge— A Village Patriot.

Pursuing our pilgrim way in a south-westerly
direction, a road, skirting on the one side the
grounds of Strawberry Hill, and on the other the
greenest of Thames-side meadows and eyots, con
ducts us to the lower end of pleasant Teddington,
a place familiar to all anglers and boating-men, as
marking the first lock and weir upon the Thames,
and consequently, the ending of the tidal way —
though as a matter of fact the effects of the tide are
scarcely felt at all above Richmond and Twicken
ham. From this point, however, the mud banks
which more or less mark every tidal estuary dis
appear, and we see Father Thames flowing along
all the more full and brimming, but not the less
picturesque, because of the artificial means by
which his course is regulated.
But a few years ago — long since the accession of
Queen Victoria— Teddington was a quiet rural
village, with its two or three squires, its " Grove,"

its " Manor," its little waterside church, and its
broad expanse of open meadows. Now all is
changed : rows of spruce villas and " neat " terraces
have sprung up along the roads to Twickenham
and to Hampton Wick, and all over the upper end
of the village, which now must soon call itself a
town, with its grand "hotels" and magnificent
" stores," which have fairly driven out the keepers of
its hostelries, and threaten to swallow up the " small
trader" class. This growth of Teddington is in a
great measure owing to the introduction of the
railway. The district which is called Upper Teddington is
provided with a church, schools, a large hotel, and
shops of a more attractive and showy nature than
those in the older part of the village. A large
portion of the parish is still cultivated as market-
gardens. Teddington is situated on the left bank of the

m

GREATER LONDON.

[Teddington.

Thames, and adjoins the southern end of Twicken
ham. The main road from Richmond Bridge to
Bushey Park and Hampton Court passes through
the older part of the village, which possesses a few
good shops and public buildings. There is here
a station on the Kingston extension line, in con
nection with the South-Western Railway. The
village has long been a favourite spot for the dis
ciples of Izaak Walton, and three of its principal
inns — the " King's Head," the " Royal Oak," and
" The Anglers " — are largely patronised by the fish
ing fraternity. The river about Teddington and
Twickenham abounds in barbel, roach, and dace,
in such quantities as to induce many who delight in
angling to fix upon this spot for their summer " out
ing." Readers of Pope will not have forgotten
the following lines, descriptive of fishing in the
Thames : — ¦
" In genial spring, beneath the quiv'ring shade,
Where cooling vapours breathe along the mead,
The patient fisher takes his silent stand
Intent, his angle trembling in his hand —
With looks unmov'd he marks the scaly breed,
And eyes the dancing cork and bending reed.
Our plenteous streams a various race supply —
The bright ey'd perch, with fins of Tyrian dye,
The silver eel in shining volumes roll'd,
The yellow carp in scales bedropp'd with gold,
Swift trouts diversified with crimson stains,
And pikes, the tyrants of the wat'ry plains ! "
The Queen's state barge, though no longer used
on public occasions, is kept high and dry at Ted
dington. We have already mentioned this barge
in Old and New London. (See Vol. III. p. 309.)
It is of antique shape, with lofty bows, and is
said to date from 1600. Its form is familiar to all
who remember the engraving of Charles I. feeding
the swans on the river at Hampton Court. It has
not been used since 1849.
The parish of Teddington extends from the
river on the one hand — close by which stands the
parish church and the main portion of the mother
village — towards Twickenham on the other, and
stretches also westward in a very irregular manner
to the gates of Bushey Park.
Fortunately, in treating of the early history of this
parish, we are largely assisted by a most careful
series of papers which appeared in the local " Parish
Magazine " in 1875-76, from the pen of the ex-
vicar, the Rev. D. Trinder.
Teddington has been thought by casual and
superficial scholars to have been so named as being
the place at which the Thames ceases to be a tidal
river — "Tide-end-town"; but in all probability
that mode of spelling its name is not two centuries
old : at all events, there is no proof of its use

before the year 1700. Previously it was known as
"Todyngton," " Tuddington," or "Totyngton."
If it be true, as suggested by Mr. Trinder, that
"tot " means a small grove, and " ing " a meadow
or pasture, then the name of Totyngton was not
inappropriate to the place, but very descriptive of
it, being "derived from the beautiful meadow, as
older inhabitants remember it, sloping from the
manor-house down to the river-side, with ' The
Grove ' in the background — an attractive and pretty
spot, the choice of which does justice to the good
taste of our British and Saxon ancestors." But we
have our doubts as to the meaning above assigned
to the word " tot," which appears in such names as
To thill, Tottenham, Totham, Totteridge, Tooting,
&c, and which is generally believed to point to a
lofty beacon.*
There is no record as to the founder of Tedding
ton, whether he was a Briton, a Roman, or a Saxon.
No Roman remains have been found in situ ; and
probably the place grew gradually into existence as
a fishing station long before it obtained its Saxon
name of " Tuddyngton," or " Todyngton." As far
as appears from history and tradition, there was no
ford here, nor indeed any need of a ferry, because
there was little or no intercourse between the " Mid
Saxons" and the men of the "South Rey," or Surrey.
" Remote from thoroughfares, and lying in the
midst of an extensive forest, to which Bushey and
Richmond Parks originally belonged, the place was
reached only by the river— that silent highway.
But when reached, it presented good fishing ground
and fair pasturage, and these were just the advan
tages that the Briton of old times valued. Accord
ingly, it is scarcely unhistorical to assume that the
forerunner of our water-side population was some ,
ancient Briton, who paddled his cranky canoe on
the flood-tide to the first fall of the river, and re
joicing to find there plenty of fish and meadows
sloping to the river, built his clay and straw-thatched
hut somewhere between the old church and the
river, fenced round the meadow for his cows, and
set up his idols in the neighbouring grove for the
chance of some Druid passing that way."
" Centuries of quiet rolled over this retired fishing
station. The lordly Roman doubtless bought the
fish, revelling in the costly dish of lampreys ; and
perhaps in his hunting expeditions drank a bowl of
milk at the poor Briton's river-side hut, but took no
further notice of it, and passed on his way."
Teddington was in the Saxon times a " tithing"
in the Hundred of Spelthorne. As a tithing, it
must even then have been the abode of ten

See " Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 14,

Teddington.]

DESCENT OF TEDDINGTON MANOR.

125

families of freemen, for it was part and parcel of
the Anglo-Saxon constitution that every freeman
should belong to a tithing, a hundred, and a shire>
the members of each tithing being security for the
good behaviour of each other. Thus a mutual de
pendence of each man upon his neighbour was
established, and also along with it the principle of
self-government. The chief officer in the county
was the sheriff, or shire-reeve, who was assisted in
his judicial functions by the alderman (elder), who
was the supreme judge of the county court. The
court of the Hundred took cognisance of matters
too important for the tithing to decide ; and as
an alderman was chosen by each Hundred, so a
tithing man was appointed by each Tithing to collect
the king's dues and fines, and to preserve the peace.
In some places this right would seem to have be
longed to the manor court ; and it is only within
the last few years that the inhabitants of Tedding
ton have ceased to assemble in vestry at Easter to
appoint a head-borough or tithing-man, as their
Saxon ancestors did before them ten centuries ago.
In the times before the Conquest there was
doubtless here the usual complement of slaves and
ceorls, or churls, dependent on some Thane or
noble Saxon, whose flag they followed, and whose
leadership they acknowledged under the king. The
Thane would naturally erect near his manor-house
a chapel, or " bell-house ; " and this was done here.
The little " Bell HouSe " probably was dedicated
from the first to St. Mary. The monks of the Order
of St. Benedict at Staines had the charge of the
parochial duties here before the Conquest ; but in
all probability Teddington was annexed by gift of
Edward the Confessor to thcmore important Abbey
of Westminster.
Mr. Trinder writes in the magazine above men
tioned : — " It was not until the Saxon pirate, blue-
eyed, fair-haired, and keen as his own long sword,
swarmed upon the coast, explored the rivers, and
gave his name to the land of the South Saxons
(Sussex), those of the west (Wessex), those of the
east (Essex), and to that which lay below them
(Middlesex), that our name was heard. The place
took the fancy of the plunderer, and a Saxon village
with a Saxon name arose. Hence we have certain
wide limits between which the historical origin
of Teddington lies ; for the Kingdom of Middle-
six was founded a.d. 527, and in a.d. 838 a General
Council of the United Saxon Kingdom was held
by Egbert at the neighbouring town of Kingston-
on-Thames — an event which shows the importance
of the place, and the unlikelihood that any available
places in its neighbourhood, especially on the banks
Of the river, had remained, unoccupied,"

Though no mention of the place occurs in
Doomsday Book, yet authentic records show that
even before the Conquest Teddington was closely
connected with Staines, and that the Manor of Ted
dington was held by the abbot and convent of West
minster, King Edgar having granted to that body
" the monastery which is called Staines, and all that
belongeth to it, viz., Teddington, Halliford, Felt-
ham, and Ashford." Again, we find that early in
the thirteenth century the Manors of Teddington
and Sunbury were assigned for the support of one
Robert Papillon, who had been deposed from the
abbotship of Westminster. In 1223, some disputes
having arisen as to the question of patronage, it was
agreed that the Abbot of Westminster should
nominate and appoint the chaplain of Teddington.
In 1371, and again in 1427, "Todyngton" was
taxed at nine marks, equal to about £6, as its rate
able value, and was called upon to contribute
6s. 8d. to the service of the king. As the whole
Hundred of Spelthorne produced the sum of ^21,
the population of it would not probably exceed
1,300 adults. What proportion of this belonged
to Teddington may be inferred from the fact that
in the year of the battle of Agincourt, when Henry
V. required large supplies for his glorious, but fruit
less, campaign in France, the Hundred of Spelthorne
raised a tenth and a fifteenth, amounting to nearly
£$2, out of which Todyngton supplied 37s. 5 id.
Somewhat later — namely, in 1435 — trjis charge of a
tenth and a fifteenth was found to be in excess of
what this part of the country could bear, owing to
its having been " desolated, laid waste, destroyed,
or excessively impoverished;" the parish received a
remission of 8s., along with Sunbury and Staines,
whilst Feltham and Bedfont received each nearly
double of that amount.
In 1539, Abbot Boston, of St. Peter's, Westmins
ter, surrendered into the hands of his royal master
the manor and advowson of Teddington. The manor
then became part of a larger demesne, " the honour
of Hampton," which the king formed into a royal
hunting chase. Thenceforward the chaplain of
Teddington was appointed by the lord of the
manor, who was bound to provide a stipend of
£6 4s., a charge which has been continued to the
present day, though, owing to the change which
has taken place in the value of money since then,
it ought to be nearly £$0.
In 1603, James I. granted the reversion of the
manor to John Hill, whose son appears also in con
nection with it a few years later as Mr. Auditor
Hill ; he was probably, therefore, a nominee of Lord
Buckhurst, formerly Lord Treasurer. It would
seem that among the inhabitants of Teddington

l'26

GREATER LONDON.

[Teddington.

were several official personages, for the two monu
ments in the church belonging to the Stuart era
commemorate an " Escheator " for the county of
Somerset, and a "yeoman in ordinary" to Queen
Elizabeth. About the year 1670 the manor came by pur
chase into the hands of Sir Orlando Bridgman, who
succeeded, on the fall of Claren
don, as Lord Keeper of the Great
Seal. On his ceasing to hold this

THE QUEEN'S BARGE.
office, in 1672, he retired to Teddington, where he
relieved many of the clergy who had suffered during
the reign of the Puritan faction. He was buried
here two years later. In 1833, when the church
was altered, his coffin was found open, but his re
mains, having been embalmed, were almost perfect,
even to his pointed beard. It was this Lord
Keeper, an ancestor of the present Earl of Brad
ford, who settled on the church the slender endow
ment which it has enjoyed down to the present
time. It was only about the year 1850 that the " court-
leet " of the Manor of Teddington was last held.
The bailiff (a Norman official, who displaced the old

Saxon beadle, or rather, bedel) used to summon all
the tenants of the manor, whether copyholders or
freeholders; but this has now disappeared, the
manor having been sold, and the copyholders' lands
having been enfranchised.
The manor probably grew out of the first settle
ment in Saxon times, the proprietorship of the
Thane under the later Saxon kings having been
little different, save in name, from the seignoralty
of the Norman lord, and having gradually been
merged in it. It is probable that
the residence of the feudal lord stood
on or near the site of the present
Manor House, but it is not men
tioned in " Domesday " — nor, in
deed, as already stated, is the " vill "
of Teddington itself.
The " Old House " has been from
time immemorial styled "Queen
Elizabeth's Hunting-box," and there
is no doubt that the tradition is
genuine ; for the royal chase which
Henry VIII. had formed stretched
in every direction around Hampton
Court, and could not have stopped
short of the present boundary-wall
of Bushey Park, and probably it
extended even further. Outside of
it lay a large tract of unenclosed
waste, the common land of the
parish, leaving but a small portion
for private domains and farms. On
the other side of the river was
Richmond Park, running up to and
almost touching the old Deer Park,
near which stood the palace of
Sheene. Now, between these palaces
and scenes of royal sport no half
way house could be more conve
niently situated for a halting place,
where the virgin queen could rest
from the labours of the chase; and "the Old
House, in strict Elizabethan style, with its simple
construction and triple gables, bespeaks the pur
port of its erection, and justifies the tradition." In
all probability it was built early in Elizabeth's reign,
when the queen was young and devoted to the
pastime of the chase ; and Leicester dates a letter
from Teddington in 1570.
There was, indeed, in the parish another Eliza
bethan residence, namely, the Mana; House ; but
there is no proof that this was ever in the hands of
the queen or of members of her Court, except that
its reversion was granted in 1582 to Sir Amias
Paulet ; neither is there any proof that he ever lived

Teddington.]

TEDDINGTON CHURCH.

22V

there, and the fact that the arms of Lord Buckhurst
were found carved in one of its apartments would
seem to point to the conclusion that the house
dates its erection from the early part of the seven
teenth century. In the last century the old mansion
was for many years the residence of Viscount Dudley

rebuilt the house. Queen Elizabeth's hunting-
seat was pulled down recently to make room for a
new road.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a
brick-built structure, of little or no architectural
pretensions, though prettily situated in the meadows,

and Ward, who made great alterations in the house
and remodelled the grounds. Walpole, in a letter
to the Earl of Strafford, dated 28th July, 1787, says
that Lord Dudley here constructed "an obelisk
below a hedge, a canal at right angles with the
Thames, and a sham bridge, no wider than that of
a violin." All these things, however, were done
away with by a Captain Smith, who came into
possession of the property through marrying his
lordship's widow, and who also to a great extent

near the river. The south aisle doubtless formed
part of an earlier building, though patched and
coated over, and much altered in outward appear
ance. In the church still survives the original
chapel of the hamlet, but probably more than once
renewed and rebuilt.
On the south wall is a brass, asking the
prayers of the faithful for John Goodyere and
Thomasyne, his wife. The north aisle was built
about the middle of the last century, mainly at the

I2c

GREATER LONDON.

[Teddington.

expense of the then minister of the parish, Dr.
Stephen Hales, who also built the tower in the
following year. The chancel is a recent addition,
and is constructed of brick in the Decorated style
of architecture.
At the east end of the chancel is a mural monu
ment to Henry Flitcroft, the eminent architect
patronised by Lord Burlington. The oldest monu
ment is dated 1674, and comme.norates Sir Orlando
Bridgman, who was commissioner for Charles I. at
the treaty of Uxbridge, and after the Restoration
held successively the posts of Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal : from this
last-named office, however, he was dismissed in
1672, for refusing to sign the Declaration of Indul
gence. Paul Whitehead, the poet, who died in Henrietta
Street, Covent Garden, was buried in Teddington
churchyard in December, 1774; but his heart was
deposited in the mausoleum of his patron, Lord Le
Despencer, at High Wycombe, whence it was stolen
in 1839. Here, too, lies Richard Bentley, the
sometime friend of Horace Walpole, and his
adviser and draughtsman in the erection and
decoration of Strawberry Hill. There is also a
tablet here to the memory of Mr. John Walter,
the founder and principal proprietor of the Ti?nes.
He had a residence at Teddington, where he died
in 1812.
This church contains also the remains of Dr.
Stephen Hales, Clerk of the Closet to the Princess
of Wales (mother of George III.), and for upwards
of half a century incumbent of Teddington. Dr.
Hales was one of the most active Fellows of the
Royal Society, and a frequent contributor to its
" Transactions." He was the author of " Haemos
tatics," a treatise on the circulation of the blood,
and of a similar treatise on the " Sap in Vegetables."
To his practical turn the country was indebted
for some improvements in the ventilation of
prisons, hospitals, and ships of war, and these
very largely reduced the deaths by " gaol fever " in
Newgate. " Plain Parson Hale " (whose name has been de
prived of a letter by Pope by the inexorable laws
of rhyme) was this same Dr. Stephen Hales, who
was also one of the witnesses to Pope's will. Dr.
Hales seems to have been a simple, benevolent man,
delighting in his quiet village and pastoral duties.
He rebuilt the tower of Teddington church, as
stated above, and at a ripe old age he was interred
beside it, dying in 1761, in his eighty-fourth year.
Pope had a sincere regard for his amiable and
scientific neighbour ; but, according to Spence, he

looked with horror on some of his experiments.
" I shall be very glad to see Dr. Hales, and always
love to see him, he is so worthy and good a man.
Yes, he is a very good man ; only I'm sorry he has
his hands so much imbrued in blood. What! he
cuts up rats ? Ay, and dogs too ! Indeed, he
commits most of those barbarities with the thought
of being of use to man ! But how do we know that
we have a right to kill creatures that we are so
little above as dogs, for our curiosity, or even for
some use .to us? I used to carry it too far; I
thought they had reason as well as we. So they
have, to be sure : all our disputes about that are
only disputes about words. Man has reason enough
only to know what is necessary for him to know,
and dogs have just that too. ' But then they must
have souls, too, as unperishable as ours ! ' And
what harm would that be to us ? "
Here, in 1760, was buried the once popular and
charming actress, Margaret— or, as she was com
monly called, " Peg " — Woffington. She is said to
have been a native of Dublin, and, according'to
the inscription on her tomb, was born in 1720. Her
histrionic talent appears to have been displayed
even in childhood ; as in 1728, being one of Madame
Violante's Liliputian company, she obtained great
applause by enacting the part of Polly in the
Beggar's Opera. Her first speaking character
on the Dublin stage was Ophelia, which she per
formed on February 12th, 1737; and on November
6th, 1740, she made her debut in London, at Covent
Garden Theatre, in the part of Sylvia, in Far-
quhar's comedy of The Recruiting Officer. In the
following season she performed at Drury Lane
Theatre, and was pre-eminently distinguished in the
higher walks of comedy ; in some characters, par
ticularly in that of Mrs. Loveit, she surpassed Mrs.
Oldfield. In tragedy she had also considerable
merit, but had not the power of touching the pas
sions equal to Mrs. Cibber or Mrs. Pritchard.
Among her best characters were " Cleopatra,"
" Roxana," and the " Distressed Mother." Having
in her youth been taught by Madame Violante all
that a dancer of first-rate reputation could teach
her, she had accustomed herself to French society ;
and upon a visit to Paris, Dumesnil willingly im
parted to her all the manner she professed of the
dignified passion of the French drama, and this in
fected Mrs. Woffington with the prevailing pompous
mode of elocution which preceded Garrick's style,
and in which she was confirmed by Cibber, who at
seventy was delighted to fancy himself her gallant.
She maintained a decided preference to male
society, and is said to have more than once presided
at the meetings of the Beef-Steak QJub, Her act

Teddington.]

PEG WOFFINGTON.

129

ing in male attire, in which she was fond of display
ing herself, was unequalled ; and Sir Harry Wildair
was one of her most admired characters. In 1757,
being then engaged at Covent Garden, she rendered
her last acknowledgments to her friends in the
character of Lothario, for her benefit, and took her
farewell leave of the public on May 17 th as Rosa
lind, one of her most favourite parts, in male attire,
in which she at the close resumed the female
costume, just to " make curtesy and bid farewell."
While speaking the epilogue, she was seized with an
indisposition from which she never recovered,
though she retained the unrivalled beauties of her
face and person to the last. She died March 28th,
1760. Her monument, on the east wall of the north
aisle, near the pulpit, is of marble, and bears the
following inscription : — " Near this monument lies
the body of Margaret Woffington, spinster, born
October 18th, 1720, who departed this life March
28th, 1760, aged thirty-nine years." The arms on
the monument are, Or, three leopards' faces, gules.
On the lower compartment is another inscription,
as follows : — " In the same grave lies the body of
Master Horace Cholmondely, son of the Honour
able Robert Cholmondely and of Mary Cholmondely,
sister of the said Margaret Woffington, aged six
months." A reference to Sir Egerton Brydges'
" Peerage of England " shows " Master Horace "
to have been born February 18th, 1753, and bap
tised March 16th following at St. George's, Hanover
Square. The date of this sepulture, therefore, was
August, 1753.
The parish registers commence in Elizabeth's
reign, the first baptism and burial recorded being
dated 1558, and the first marriage three years
later. In 1635, one Matthew Rendall, curate of Ted
dington, as mentioned1 in Neal's " History of the
Puritans," was denounced by an aggrieved par
ishioner, and suspended by the bishop under the
High Commission for preaching long sermons !
Possibly many congregations would be glad if
such a penalty could be inflicted now for the same
offence. At the Reformation several acres of land which
had been left to the church for the maintenance of
services then voted superstitious were surrendered
to the king, who gave them out among his courtiers
or devoted them to the payment of his personal
debts. At this time there were seventy-two "housel-
ing people," that is, Easter communicants, and
" but one priest found to serve the cure " : words
which would seem to imply that the parish had not
gained by the recent changes in religion. .

John Coscns, DD., the author of " The Tears of
Twickenham," " CEconomics of Beauty," and other
poems, was Dr. Hales' successor in the incumbency
of Teddington.
The church of St. Peter and St. Paul, in Upper
Teddington, was partly erected in 1866, and com
pleted (with the exception of the tower and spire)
in 1873, under the incumbency of the Rev. Daniel
Trinder. The edifice is constructed of yellow brick,
with dressings of red brick ; it is in the Early English
style of architecture, and was built from the
designs of the late Mr. G. E. Street, R.A. Close
by is a commodious school -house, of similar
architecture, which was built in 1874. In 1875
a new school chapel was erected at Teddington
Wick. Lewis, in his " Topographical Dictionary" (1835,)
mentions here large bleaching-grounds and manu
factories of candles and of spermaceti ; but these
no longer exist.
That rapid strides have been made of late years
in the growth of Teddington and the number of its
inhabitants will be easily seen when it is stated
that in 1835 the population was given as 895,
whilst between the years 1861 and 1871 it had
increased from 1,183 t0 4)°63- The town — for
such it is — has now grown sufficiently large to
have its Mutual Instruction Society, which is well
supported, and also a working-man's club and
horticultural and building societies ; and will
shortly have its town hall.
Among the " eminent inhabitants " of Tedding
ton whose names have not already been mentioned
above was William Penn, the celebrated Quaker,
and founder of the colony of Pennsylvania. The
son of Admiral Sir William Penn, he was born
in London in 1644, and studied at Christ Church,
Oxford, but was expelled from the University in
consequence of the enthusiasm which he displayed
in the new doctrine of Quakerism, which had its
rise about that time. It was from Teddington, in
1688, that Penn dated the letter in which he
rebutted the charge of being a Papist which had
been brought against him. Francis Manning, the
author of a translation from the French of a " Life
of Theodosius the Great," lived here for many
years; and, according to an entry in Sir Joshua
Reynolds's pocket-book, quoted in Leslie and
Taylor's "Life of Reynolds," John Wilkes— of
whom we have already spoken at some length
in our account of Brentford (see page 38, ante) —
occupied for a short time "an out-of-the-way
lodging in the second turning past Teddington
Church" whilst still an outlaw, and during a sur
reptitious visit to England.

i3°

GREATER LONDON.

[Teddington,

In Walpole's time there lived here a gentleman
named Prescott, who used to beat his wife so un
mercifully that she ran away, aided by a groom,
and shortly afterwards " swore the peace " against
her husband. The case came before Lord Mans
field, who asked the groom if he had not helped
his mistress to escape. "Yes, my lord; and my
master has never yet thanked me for it ! " was the
cool reply. " Why should he thank you, my lad?"
asked his lordship. " Because, my lord, if I had
not done so, he would have murdered his wife,
and then he would have been hanged for it."
Lord Mansfield and the Court were so amused
that they acquitted the witty lad of all blame for
his share in the transaction.
The river Thames at Teddington, as we have
already observed, is a familiar friend to the
" brethren of the angle," who have long regarded
the neighbourhood and the "weir" as among the
pleasantest of all their river memories. " These
memories," writes Mr. S. Carter Hall, in his "Book
of the Thames," " are in truth very pleasant, for,
although it has ' fallen from its high estate,' and is
by no means as productive of sport as it used to
be, there is still plenty to be had in several
' pitches,' where abound all the various denizens
of the populous river, while enjoyment is ever
enhanced by associations of the past/' which are
suggested at every spot of ground beside which
the punt is pushed or moored. The venerable
and picturesque lock of Teddington — the first, by
the way, to be met with in the voyage up the
river, and one which has often been made the
subject of an artist's sketch — has given way before
the " march of improvement " to a new and more
substantial structure of masonry. In bygone times,
before the construction of bridges, locks, and other
obstructions, the tide, in all probability, ascended
much higher than Teddington. At the present
time it flows but feebly some way below this
parish, and high water here is nearly an hour and
a half later than at London Bridge, a distance of
nineteen and a half miles.
It may be interesting to know that the " intake "
of all the London Water Companies, as authorised
by the Metropolis Water Act of 1852, must be
above Teddington Lock. A Government Com
mission, consisting of Professors Graham, Miller,
and Hoffman, in 1852-4, reported that enormous
supplies of spring water were to be obtained at a
very small cost from the chalk strata surrounding
London ; but the companies, evidently led on
through a feeling of self-interest, persisted in still
having recourse to the Thames, though they were
forced to have their " intake " above Teddington

Lock, which still contains many particles of im
purity, and therefore seeds of disease, brought
down from the towns higher up the river.
In the pages of Old and New London* we
have spoken of the interesting ceremony called
" Swan-upping " on the Thames, a custom which
has been observed for upwards of four centuries.
As the duties of the " swan-upper," or market,
however, are confined principally to that portion
of the river which lies above Teddington Lock,
we may be pardoned for again reverting to
the subject. From Teddington to Oxford, ovet '
the whole hundred and odd miles of which old
Father Thames winds his silvery course, there is
perhaps no prettier sight than a herd of swans.
The royal bird, " floating double, swan and
shadow," sails up and down the long reaches,
and in and out among the eyots, a thing of
wonderful beauty and grace — a noble ornament
to a noble river. Poets of all ages and all
countries, from the mythical Orpheus of Thrace
down to our own poet laureate, have claimed
the creature as their own. Apart altogether from
his exquisite beauty and majesty, and the con
scious grace with which, "with arched neck
between his white wings mantling," he "proudly
rows his state with oared feet," tradition claims for
the bird of Apollo the divine gift of song, and tells
us how, when the swan seeks the waste, to die
there unseen and alone, "her awful jubilant voice,
with a music strange and manifold, flows forth on
a carol free and bold, as when a mighty people
rejoice with shawms, and cymbals, and harps of
gold." Nor is it poets alone who delight to honour
the noble bird, and to claim in him a special pro
perty. Ever since the lion-hearted Richard brought
back to England from the fair island of Cyprus
the first " cobs " and " pens " that ever floated on
the Thames, the swan has remained a royal bird,
guarded jealously by special statutes, and with a
royal swanherd deputed to watch over him. The
subject can only keep swans by special licence,
along with which he has also granted to him a
swan mark, or device, to be cut with a sharp knife
in the upper bill. But our swanholders have
sadly fallen off since the days of " good Queen
Bess," when " close upon a thousand corporations
and individuals " were privileged to keep " a game
of swans." A swannery is now as rare a sight as
even a heronry itself. Our old customs and insti
tutions are dying out, and swans, being fowl, must
go the way of all flesh. The Corporation of Oxford
has a swannery by prescription, although no swans

* See Vol. III., p. 30a,

Teddington.]

BUSHEY PARK.

131

are now reared, and it is doubtful whether the
privilege has not long since abated. The noble
Abbotsbury " game " is still kept up by the Earls
of Ilchester, in Dorset. And upon the Thames,
the Crown, conjointly with the Worshipful Com
panies of Vintners and Dyers, still sends out on
each 1 st of August an organised expedition of
"swan-uppers" to catch and "nick" the young
birds. But even thus, the numbers of our "games"
are sadly decreasing. Some century and a half
ago the Vintners' Company had no less than 500
cobs between London Bridge and Staines. There
are now little more than 500 birds, cobs, pens,
cygnets, and grey birds, all told,, between London
Bridge and Cricklade Weir. Of these, the Queen
owns 397, the Vintners' Company 55, and the
Dyers' Company 67.
Turning once more inland, we will now make
our way towards the historic region of Hampton
and Hampton Court.
At the extreme south-western end of Teddington
are the entrance-gates and lodge of Bushey Park.
The park is upwards of a thousand acres in extent,
and with its noble avenue of horse-chestnut trees,
more than a mile in length, forms a stately approach
to Hampton Court Palace.
Bushey Park, lying as it does on the confines of
both Teddington and Hampton, is actually in the
former parish, and forms a good connecting link
between them and the avenues, which were
planted by William III. in true Dutch fashion. The
principal avenue has four others on each side of it.
The breadth of these nine avenues is upwards of
560 feet, and they cover nearly seventy acres.
These avenues are perhaps unequalled for extent
and beauty in Europe. At nearly the farther
extremity of the avenue is a circular piece of
water, called the Diana Water, from a fine bronze
fountain of that goddess, seven feet in height,
placed in the centre of it. It stands on a block of
statuary marble, and is surrounded by small figures,
also of bronze.
Immediately to the right of the entrance to
Bushey Park stands the house formerly occupied
by William IV. He lived here for thirty-six years
like a country gentleman, superintending his farm
and entertaining his neighbours with great hospi
tality. His Majesty, whilst residing here, like a
true sailor, had a part of the foremast of the
Victory, against which Nelson was standing when
he received his fatal wound, deposited in a small
temple in the grounds, from which it was removed
to the upper end of the dining-room, where it
supported a bust of Nelson. Mr. Jesse tells us in
Jiis delightful "Gleanings" that a large shot had

passed completely through this part of the mast,
and that while it stood in the temple a pair of
robins had built their nest in the shot-hole, and
had reared a brood of young robins, to which
the king and Queen Adelaide were much at
tached. The original lodge was inhabited by Bradshaw
the regicide, in the time of Oliver Cromwell.
Charles II., it is on record, gave it to a keeper
who rejoiced in the name of Podger, and who had
shown his loyalty during the troubles of the Com
monwealth; and he afterwards partook of an enter
tainment from him at the lodge. On taking down
the old church at Hampton a few years ago,
Podger's tomb was discovered under the reading-
desk ; it is now put up in the new church. The
present building is a square, substantial brick
edifice; it was erected by Lord Halifax in the
reign of George II.
Lord North lived here while premier, and used
to gather around his hospitable and jovial table at
Bushey Park the distinguished men of all countries ;
and here he would spend his Saturdays and Sun
days among his children, throwing aside all the
cares of official life.
The great feature of Bushey Park is its splendid
avenue of chestnut-trees, already mentioned, which
forms a great attraction to Londoners and others
during the early summer months, when their
branches are heavily laden with the spiry flowers,
and the leaves are of their brightest colour. With
the exception of its avenue, Bushey Park is some
what scantily supplied with trees, though in the
open space behind the lodge there are some fine
oaks and thorns, survivors of the forest of Middle
sex. There are still several hundred head of deer in
Bushey Park. Norden, who wrote an account of
Hampton Court in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
describes the parks belonging to the palace, and
says that they were surrounded with brick walls',
except on the north side, which was protected by
the river. One park was a place for " deare," and
the other for " hares " — a distinction which is worth
noticing. Other writers have spoken of the " Old
Park," the " New Park," the " Middle" or "North
Park," and the "Hare Warren"; at present, how
ever, the royal demesne is known only by the
special names of the " Home Park" and " Bushey
Park." As there is most wood in the former, it is
probable that to it was originally applied the name
of the " Deer Park," and that Bushey Park — which,
no doubt, took its name from being dotted over
with bushes, and on that account made a capital
retreat for hares and rabbits — was known as the
" Hare Warren."

T3*

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton,

"Among the records preserved by the steward
of the manor of Hampton," observes Mr. Jesse, in
his " Gleanings in Natural History," " is a strong
remonstrance from the inhabitants of that place to
Oliver Cromwell, complaining of his having en
croached upon their rights by adding a part of
their common to Bushey Park. This remonstrance
seems to have had its effect, as a grant of some
land in the neighbourhood was made over to them
in lieu of what had been taken from them. The
ancient boundaries of Bushey Park are found in
several places."
There is a right-of-way, in the shape of a footpath,
through Bushey Park, which had been closed for
many years during part of the reign of George II.
This right-of-way, however, was re-established by
the energy and determination of an inhabitant of
the former place, one Timothy Bennet, who carried
on the humble avocation of a shoemaker, and who
was " unwilling," as was his favourite expression,
"to leave the world worse than he found it."
Brewer, in his " Account of Middlesex," sus
piciously intimates that this "village patriot" must
have been backed by some persons of wealth or
influence, else he would not have carried his point.
The story is that Timothy Bennet consulted an
attorney upon the practicability of recovering this
road for the public good, and the probable expense
of a legal process for that purpose. " I do not
mean to cobble the job," said Timothy, "for I
have seven hundred pounds, and I should be
willing to give the awl, that great folks might not
keep the upper-leather wrongfully." The lawyer
informed him that no such sum would be necessary
to try the right ; " then," said the worthy shoe

maker, " as sure as soles are soles, I'll stick to them
to the last." And Lord Halifax, the then Ranger
of Bushey Park, was immediately served with the
regular notice of action ; upon which his lordship
sent for Timothy, and on his entering the lodge,
his lordship said with some warmth, " And who are
you, that have the assurance to meddle in this
affair? " " My name, my lord, is Timothy Bennet;
shoemaker, of Hampton Wick. I remember, an't
please your lordship, to have seen, when I was a
young man, sitting at work, the people cheerfully
pass my shop to Kingston market ; but now, my
lord, they are forced to go round about, through a
hot sandy road, ready to faint beneath their
burthens, and I am unwilling to leave the world
worse than I found it. This, my lord, I humbly
represent, is the reason why I have taken this work
in hand." "Begone," replied his lordship, "you
are an impertinent fellow." However, upon mature
reflection, we are told, his lordship, convinced of
the equity of the claim, beginning to compute the
shame of a defeat by a shoemaker, desisted from
his opposition, notwithstanding the opinion of the
Crown lawyers, and re-opened the road, which is
enjoyed by the public without molestation to this
day. Honest Timothy died about two years after,
in the 77 th year of his age, and was followed to
the grave by all the populace of his native village;
and such was the estimation in which he was held
that a mezzotint portrait of him was published,
bearing an inscription which sets forth that this
man succeeded in putting the law of the land into
operation, to the furtherance of British liberty,
because " he was unwilling to leave the world worse
than he found it."

CHAPTER XI.

HAMPTON.
" Whose turf, whose shade, whose flowers among
Wanders the hoary Thames along
His silver-winding way." Gray.
Situation and Boundries of the Parish — Early History of the Manor — It passes into the hands of Cardinal Wolsey — The Parish Church— The
School of industry — The Grammar School — Princess Frederica's Convalescent Home — Lady Bourchier's Convalescent Home — Noted
Hostelries— Hampton Racecourse — Boxing Matches — Hampton Bridge — Thames Angling — Southwark and Vauxhall, and the Lambeth*
Water Companies — David Garrick and his Villa — Sir Christopher Wren's Residence at Hampton Court Green — Holland the Actor- ,-.
Lord Sandwich — Sir Andrew Halliday — Sir Richard Steele — Hampton Wick — Abbs Court,

The village of Hampton is somewhat irregular in
shape, having grown up as a sort of fringe round
the edge of Bushey Park. 'It occupies the outer

curve of a long reach of the Thames, and extends
from Hampton Wick on the east to Sunbury on
the west, including within its bounds the whole of

Hampton. |

HAMPTON CHURCH.

133

Hampton Court Palace and a portion of Bushey
Park. The place is mentioned in Domesday Book by
the name of Hamntone, and it is stated that the
manor in the reign of Edward the Confessor, be
longed to Earl Algar ; it is added that the sum of
" three shillings was payable as dues for fishing and
laying nets in the Thames;" and that "the whole
value of the manor was but forty shillings." In
121 1, Lady Joan Grey, of Hampton, left her manor
and manor-house there, with several thousand acres
of land, to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John

Innworth, Esher, Oatlands, together with the manors
within the limits of Hampton Court Chase, and
also the manors of Hampton, Hanworth, Feltham,
and Teddington, and even Hounslow Heath.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, at
the entrance of the village, is a plain, common
place edifice, dating its erection from 1830, when
it was built in the place of the old church, which
had become dilapidated. The old building was
constructed chiefly of brick, and, according to the
author of the " Beauties of England and Wales,"
"was evidently composed at various periods." The

UAM1TUN, FROM THE RIVER.

of Jerusalem. "In the year 1180 there was at
Hampton a ' Preceptory,' in which resided a sister
of the Order of St. John. She was removed, with
other sisters of the same order, from Preceptories
in various places, to a convent at Buckland, in
Somerset.* Of this estate Cardinal Wolsey obtained a lease
for ninety-nine years from Sir Thomas Docwra,
the last prior. On the suppression of the Order
of St. John, the Crown annexed it, and in 1540
the Parliament created Hampton Court a separate
"honour." Some idea of the vast extent of the
manor may be formed when it is stated that it
comprised within its bounds the lesser manors of
Walton-upon-Thames, Walton Legh, Byflete, Wey-
bridge, East and West Moulsey, Sandon, Weston,
* "Dugdale's Monasticon," voLii. vp .554.
12,

chancel bore marks of considerable antiquity, and
was partly formed of stone and flint. A somewhat
rough and coarse picture of the old church, painted
about a century ago by a local artist, shows a red
brick building of the conventional type, so common
along the Middlesex shore of the Thames, with a
heavy square tower, but no marks which would
help us to assign it to any particular era. In front
is a heavy-looking gate, from which stone steps lead
down to the river-side. The new church is con
structed of white brick, in the Perpendicular style
of architecture, and it consists of a nave and aisles,
and a square pinnacled tower at the western end.
The church contains several interesting monuments,
preserved from the old church. At the entrance
is one under a canopy, supported by Corinthian
columns, to Mrs. Sibel Penn, nurse to Edward VI. :
it comprises a tomb, with her effigy, arms, and a

134

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton.

long rhyming epitaph. Mrs. Penn died in 1652,
and the inscription on her monument, close to
the entrance, tells us that —
" To Court she called was to foster up a king
Whose helping hand long lingering sutes to spedie end did
bring."
Here is buried Richard Tickell, a political writer,
grandson of Tickell the poet. " He distinguished
himself," says Mr. John Fisher, in his "Environs of
London," "by publishing a political pamphlet,
called 'Anticipation,' in which the debate on the
king's speech at the opening of Parliament was so
successfully anticipated that some of the members
who had not seen the pamphlet are said to have
made use of almost the very words put into their
mouths." Tickell committed suicide in 1793.
According to a letter from Walpole to Miss Berry,
he "threw himself from one of the uppermost
windows of the palace at Hampton Court, an
immense height." Here, too, was buried Edward
Podger, whom we have mentioned in our account
of Bushey Park.* He was Page of Honour to
Charles I., Groom of the Bedchamber to Charles
II., and died in 17 14, according to Le Neve, "at
the age of 96, of the anguish of cutting teeth, he
having cut four new teeth, and had several ready to
cut, which so inflamed his gums that he died."
There is a memorial of David Garrick, nephew to
the great actor, with an inscription from the pen of
Mrs. Hannah Moore ; and another to the memory
of Richard, son of George Cumberland, the cele
brated dramatic writer. John Beard, a famous
singer, who died in 1791, lies buried here. He
left the stage on his marriage, half a century pre
viously, with Lady Henrietta Herbert, daughter of
James, Earl of Waldegrave, and widow of Lord
Edward Herbert; some years later, however, he
returned to the stage, and acquired great popu
larity. In 1759 he married, as his second wife, a
daughter of John Rich, the patentee of Covent
Garden Theatre, to the management of which he
succeeded on the death of his father-in-law.
The churchyard is old, and is full of most aris
tocratic corpses. Here lie Lord Charles Fitzroy,
Lady Emily Ponsonby, Lady Roberts, Lord and
Lady Munster, Lady Guillamore, and innumerable
Pagets, &c, who died at the palace, and whose
bodies were brought hither for interment.
Amongst the celebrities buried here are Thomas
Rosoman,t the well-known owner of Sadler's Wells
Theatre (1782), and his wife (1776), the latter with
a poetical inscription; the Rev. Dr. Mortimer,

" See ante, p. 131.
t His name is perpetuated in Rosoman Street, Clerkenwell.

late head master of the City of London School ;
Huntington Shaw, the artist (1710), who wrought
the fine iron gates at the entrance of Hampton
Court palace ; Dr. Smethurst (who was tried for
poisoning a lady), and also his first wife ; Thomas
Ripley, architect, who designed the Admiralty.
In a nameless grave near the public path, at the
north-east corner of the churchyard, lie the remains
of a woman who enjoys the unenviable reputation
of having stirred up mischief between Lord Byron
and his wife, and so having caused their sepa
ration. How she did so must for ever remain a
mystery. Her name, be it here recorded, was
Mary Anne Clermont. The mischievous old maid is
described in the register as " of Hampton Wick."
She died May nth, 1850, at the age of 77. It is
said that before living at Hampton Wick she re
sided at Walton-on-Thames. Our readers will
remember the scathing lines beginning —
" Born in a garret, in a kitchen bred."
In the street leading away from the river and
the church towards New Hampton is a School of
Industry, which bears on its front the date 1804.
The street consists of private houses in good and
large grounds, with here and there a shop between
them. The Grammar School, founded in the middle of
the sixteenth century, is well endowed, and has a
branch school at Hampton Wick. At one time the
village abounded in private schools ; at one of
thetfe Lord Dufferin and Sir Frederick Roberts
were brought up.
As might be expected from the number of
wealthy families who have lived within its borders,
Hampton is fairly well off for parochial charities ;
one of the most useful of these is the Princess
Frederica's Convalescent Home for Married Women
after Childbirth. Lady Bourchier has a Convalescent
Home here, at Hope Cottage, for four or five cases;
it was established in 1868, and is intended "for
female servants, needlewomen, &c, on payment of
a small weekly fee." At Tangley Park, in the im
mediate neighbourhood, is a Female Orphan Home,
which was instituted in 1855, and has done much
good work in the support and education of desti
tute orphan girls.
Hampton is within fifteen miles of London, and
has its railway-station on a branch of the London
and South-Western Railway, and also a station on
the Thames Valley Railway. It can boast of
several good inns and places of refreshment for
visitors, notably the " Red Lion," the " Greyhound,"
and the " Bell," the last-mentioned house being l
much frequented by anglers.

Hampton.]

THE "TOY" INN.

Here is another inn, bearing for its sign " The
Widow's Struggle," a sign which, as Mr. Larwood
says, in his " History of Signboards," " may pos
sibly be the romance of a life. Who knows ? "
Mr. Larwood tells us that the "Toy" Inn, at
Hampton — a name probably dating from the
frivolous age of the second Charles — used to be a
favourite resort with Londoners till 1857, when it
was pulled down in order to make room for the
erection of private houses. Tokens of this house
in the seventeenth century are in existence. Lysons
also tells us that "in the survey of 1653, in
the Augmentation Office, mention is made of
a piece of pasture-ground near the river, called
the Toying Place, the site probably of a well-
known inn near the bridge now called the Toy."
The " Toy " is said to have been built by Oliver
Cromwell, as a dormitory for his Roundhead
soldiers, of whom he was very fond — but at a
distance, for he did not like admitting them
into the palace.
What is called the Hampton Racecourse is on
the opposite side of the river, on an open common,
known as Moulsey Hurst (in Surrey), and is ap
proached by a ferry across the Thames. The
summer and autumn races here bring down a large
and motley assemblage of low betting-men from
London. This spot in former times was famous — or rather,
infamous — for " boxing matches," and at such
times was the resort of large numbers of the
votaries of " fisticuffs " and patrons of the " noble
art of self-defence." That the pugilists them
selves thought much of their performance on those
occasions may be inferred from the following
notice, which was printed in May, 181 7 :—
" Thomas Oliver begs leave to inform his friends
and the public that he regrets the disappointment of
his combat with Painter, not only as regards him
self, but that the amateurs should be disappointed.
Oliver having been taken by the authority of a
warrant, he is held in sureties to keep the peace.
In justice to himself and regard for his friends,
he begs leave to state that he is in good training,
and is ready to depart either for Calais or Water
loo, the field of English glory ! ! ! "
A bridge over the Thames connects Hampton
Court and East Moulsey. The first bridge here
was erected in pursuance of an Act of Parliament,
passed in 1750, in favour of one James Clarke, the
then lessee of the ferry under the Crown. It was
a light wooden structure, of eleven arches, or spans ;
the present structure is an iron girder bridge of
five spans, and was built in 1865.
"Many years since," says the "Book of the

Court," " a man named Feltham rented Hampton
Court Bridge, where he made several alterations.
As he was anxious to thrive by his tolls, he kept
the gate locked when nothing was passing. One
morning the royal hunt came across Hounslow
Heath to the bridge, where the stag had taken
water and swum across. The hounds passed the
gate without ceremony, followed by a large party,
crying ' The King ! ' Feltham opened his gate,
which he closed again after they had rushed
through without paying ; when a more numerous
and showy party came up, vociferating more loudly,
' The King ! ' He stood with the gate in his hand,
though menaced with horsewhips. 'I'll tell you
what,' said he, ' hang me if I open my gate again
till I see your money. I pay ^400 a year for this
bridge, and I laid out ^1,000 upon it. I've let
King George through, God bless him : I know of
no other king in England. If you have brought
the King of France, hang me if I let him through
without the blunt ! ' Suddenly the king himself
appeared among his attendants ; Feltham made his
reverence, opened his gate again, and the whole
company went over to Moulsey Hurst, where the
hounds were at fault. The king, chagrined for
the moment, sent back Lord Sandwich to know the
reason of the interruption. The man explained the
mistake, and added that when royal hunts passed
over this bridge a guinea had been always paid,
which franked all, and that this was ' his first good
turn.' Lord Sandwich returned to the king, but
his Majesty hastily desired him to pay for all his
attendants, who amounted to less than forty of the
whole party. The matter was eventually satisfac
torily explained to the king, who, crossing the
bridge some time afterwards, on a visit to the Stadt-
holder, then resident at Hampton Court, pulled
down the carriage window, and laughing heartily,
said to old Feltham, 'No fear of the King of
France coming to-day.' "
Hampton is a favourite place for pleasure-parties
on the water, and on fine afternoons in summer
quite a fleet of small yachts may be seen with their
white sails spread upon its long and open reach.
But it is even more famed as the head-quarters of
the disciples of Izaak Walton.
" Hampton," writes Mr. Thorne, in his " Hand
book of the Environs of London," " may be con
sidered the head-quarters of the Thames Angling
Preservation Society ; and here and a little higher
up on the Surrey side are the ponds and streamlets
made by the Thames Conservancy, and maintained
by the Society, for hatching and rearing fish ova —
chiefly salmon, grayling, and trout. The young
fish are kept in the streams for eight or nine months,

136

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton.

when, being considered able to take care of them
selves, they are turned into the river. About
50,000 fish are annually sent into the Thames from
these ponds ; and anglers acknowledge a decided
improvement in the fishing. The river here is
strictly preserved along what is known as Hampton
Deep, which extends from the lawn of Garrick
Villa to Tumbling Bay, 960 yards. From 20 lbs.
to 30 lbs. of roach or perch are accounted a good
day's fishing."
The Southwark and Vauxhall and the Lambeth
Water Companies derive their supplies from the
Thames above Hampton; but year by year the
drainage-ground or watershed of the Thames is
being more densely populated, and consequently a
larger quantity of pollution finds its way into the
river. So bad is the condition of the Thames
water, though artificially filtered, that the Commis
sioners appointed to inquire into the domestic
water supply of Great Britain recommended, in
their report to her Majesty in 1874, " that the
Thames should, as early as possible, be abandoned
as a source of water for domestic uses, and that
the sanction of the Government should be in future
withheld from all schemes involving the expendi
ture of more capital for the supply of Thames
water to London ; " and the press and many mem
bers of both Houses of Parliament have strongly
urged the necessity of acting on this recommen
dation. A large male otter, measuring forty-seven inches
from snout to tail, was shot in the Thames here
in January, 1880.
The western part of Hampton is called Thames
Street, because it extends along the river in the
direction of Sunbury. Its pleasant rural aspect is
much spoiled by the three gigantic reservoirs of as
many water companies — the West Middlesex, the
Grand Junction, and the Southwark and Vauxhall.
It is said that they take from the river upwards of
100,000,000 gallons of water daily; but this can
hardly be the case, as they do not supply anything
like the whole area of the metropolis. Their tall
shafts are anything rather than an ornament. Be
yond them is the new Grammar School, a building
of the domestic Tudor style.
At the northern extremity of the parish a con
siderable village, called New Hampton, has sprung
into existence within the last few years. The dis
trict was made into a separate ecclesiastical parish
in 1864. The church, dedicated to St. James,
consists of a chancel, nave, and north aisle, and is
a red brick building in the Early English style.
When we have said that the present church is
built of brick in the Gothic style of George IV., we

have really described it. It has no chancel, but
spacious galleries, and pointed windows without
mullions or bracery. In fact, it is simply an edifice
of the churchwarden style of art. The monuments
removed from the former structure adorn its walls,
but many of these are so " skied " as to be un
readable from the floor. On either side of the
communion-table are the Moses and Aaron of the
last century, and also two oak chairs elaborately
carved by the hands of Dr. Merewether, late Dean
of Hereford, a former curate of Hampton.
Among the vicars of. Hampton was Dr. Samuel
Croxall, Chancellor and Canon of Hereford, and
Archdeacon of Salop. This gentleman was the
author of an edition of "^Esop's Fables," a dra
matic piece called The Fair Circassian, and several
political pamphlets in the Whig interest, written
during the reign of Queen Anne.
Hampton appears to have been classic ground
as far back as the reign of Elizabeth ; at all events,
Ben Jonson, in his " Epigrams," speaks of his own
retirement —
" 'Mongst Hampton's shades and PhcEbus' grove of bays,"
At a short distance eastward from the church,
and close by the river-side, is a spot which has
long been held sacred by lovers of the Thespian
art — namely, " Garrick's Villa." The house, although
separated from the river by a lawn and the road
way, forms a prominent feature in the landscape
on approaching Hampton by water, its tall central
portico and pediment standing out boldly amid the
foliage of the surrounding trees.
Garrick purchased the house and grounds in the
middle of the last century, and made many altera
tions and improvements in them. To the house,
which was originally distinguished as Hampton
House, considerable additions were made from the
designs of Adam ; and several purchases having
been made by Garrick for the purpose of extend
ing his premises, the gardens were laid out with
much taste, and under his own direction.
Hampton House was thus described by a
local writer of Garrick's time :— " It stands in the
town of Hampton, but is quite concealed by a
high wall. Nothing can be neater or fitted up
with more decent elegance than this little box;
every room shows the true taste and genius of the
owner; the whole is like^a fine miniature picture,
perfectly well finished, though exceedingly small.
The drawing-room is, however, of a handsome
size, and may be called a large room ; 'tis hung
with canvas painted in all greens in the most
beautiful colours imaginable, and decorated with
carvings of the same colour. The garden is laid

Hampton.]

GARRICK'S VILLA.

137

out in the modern taste, with a passage cut under
the road to a lawn, where, close by the water-side,
stands the Temple of Shakespeare. This is a
brick building in the form of a dome, with a hand
some porch, supported by fine pillars. Opposite
to the entrance, in a niche, stands a statue of the
poet by Roubilliac, as large as life, at his desk in
the attitude of thought. The figure is bold and
striking ; the drapery finished in the most elegant
manner." The statue of Shakespeare was be
queathed by Garrick to the British Museum, and
now stands in the hall of that institution. Walpole
proposed to adorn the outside of the Temple with
a motto from Horace —
" Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est,"
along with the following English version, spun
out, as will be seen, into four lines : —
' ' That I spirit have and nature,
That sense breathes in every feature ;
That I please, if please I do,
Shakespeare, all I owe to you."
At Garrick's villa, Henry Angelo, when a boy
at Eton, spent one at least of his summer holidays.
He describes the house as "standing by the
roadside, and having (like Pope's villa at Twicken
ham) a short tunnel under the road, connecting
the, grounds with the classic summer-house by the
river-side which enshrined the bust of Shakespeare."
"A garden on a flat, it is said, ought to be
highly and variously ornamented, in order to
occupy the mind, and prevent its regretting the
insipidity of an uniform plan. The effect of such
a walk is admirably exemplified in Mr. Garrick's
polished ground at Hampton ; but surely it would
have been time enough to have represented
Shakespeare there in stone or marble when the
very genius of Shakespeare no longer presided." —
Cradock's " Memoirs."
Garrick first saw the light of day on the 20th
of February, 17 16, at the Angel Inn, Hereford, at
which city his father, Captain Peter Garrick, of the
Old Buffs, was then on a recruiting expedition.
His mother, whose maiden name was Arabella
Clough, was the daughter of one of the vicars of
Lichfield Cathedral. David received his early
tuition under the care of Mr. Hunter, master of
the Grammar School of Lichfield, and in 1735 he
became a pupil of Dr. (then plain Mr.) Samuel
Johnson, with whom, in March, 1736, he set out
for the metropolis. Shortly after his arrival in
London he entered himself on the rolls of the
Society of Lincoln's Inn, with the yiew of following
the profession of the law. On the death of his
father, however, he commence-d business as a wine

merchant, in partnership with his elder brother,
Peter Garrick. This partnership was soon dis
solved, and in 1741 David Garrick finally resolved
to adopt the profession of the stage, and, under
the assumed name of Lyddal, made his first ap
pearance at Ipswich as Aboan, in the play of
Oroonoko. So great was his success in that cha
racter, that he was induced by the manager of the
Ipswich Theatre to make his debut in London, at
the theatre in Goodman's Fields, of which he was
also the proprietor. Here, in the character of
Richard III., Garrick at once established his repu
tation as an actor.
His fame, indeed, was such, that Drury Lane
and Covent Garden were soon deserted. Quin
was jealous of his success, remarking, in his queer
way, that " Garrick was a new religion ; Whitfield
was followed for a time, but they would all come
to Church again ! " Garrick, who had a happy
talent in pointing an epigram, gave this reply : —
" Pope Quin, who damns all churches but his own,
Complains that Heresy corrupts the town ;
Schism, he cries, has turn'd the nation's brain,
But eyes will open, and to Church again !
Thou great Infallible, forbear to roar,
Thy bulls and errors are rever'd no more ;
When doctrines meet with general approbation,
It is not Heresy, but — Reformation ! "
At the close of the season, in May, 1742,
Garrick played for three nights at Drury Lane
Theatre, and then set off for Dublin, accompanied
by Mrs. Woffington. In Ireland he sustained his
reputation, and so great was the crowd at the
theatre that, in conjunction with the heat of the,
weather, an epidemic ensued which was called
"the Garrick fever.'' In the following October
Garrick returned to London, and commenced an
engagement at Drury Lane in Otway's tragedy of
The Orphan. In 1745 he was for a short time
joint manager, with Mr. Sheridan, of a theatre in
Dublin, but in 1746 he again returned to London,
and was engaged by Mr. Rich, the patentee of
Covent Garden Theatre. Qn the close of that
engagement, he purchased, in conjunction with
Mr. Lacy, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which
he opened in September, 1747, with the play of
The Merchant of Venice, Dr. Johnson writing a
prologue for the occasion,
In 1749 Garrick married Eva Maria Violette,
the daughter of a respectable citizen of Vienna.
She had been educated as a dancer, and had made
her first appearance at Drury Lane some three
years previously. Her real family name was
Veigel, but she assumed the name of Violette by
command of the Empress Maria Theresa,

138

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton.

Mrs. Garrick was said to be " the most agreeable
woman in England." Sterne, who saw her among
the beauties of Paris in the Tuileries Gardens,
declared " she could annihilate them all in a single
turn." Even Horace Walpole could forsake his
cynicism, and say of her that her "behaviour is all
sense and all sweetness." " During the twenty-
eight years of their married life," observes a writer
in Chafuber/s Journal, "David was not so much
the husband as the lover ; and his affection was
rewarded with a love as true and as constant as
his own. Mrs. Garrick
survived her husband
more than forty years,
and for at least thirty of
these she would not allow
the room in which David
died to be opened.
Buried, at her own re
quest, in her wedding
sheets, she occupies the
same grave with her hus
band at the base of
Shakespeare's statue, "un
til the day dawn and the
shadows flee away. Doubt
less a helpmate so at
tractive, and so congenial
and pure, greatly aided
the actor in striving to
attain his ideal."
In September, 1769,
Garrick put into execu
tion his favourite scheme
of the jubilee in honour
of Shakespeare, at Strat- garrick.
ford-on-Avon, and pro
duced a pageant on the subject at Drury Lane in
the following month. In June, 1776, having been
manager of Drury Lane Theatre for nearly thirty
years, Garrick took his leave of the stage in the
character of Don Felix in Tlie Wonder.
Garrick died at his house in the Adelphi on the
20th of January, 1779, in the sixty-fifth year of his
age, his disorder gradually increasing, and admit
ting of no remedy. His physicians knew not how
to designate his illness. Observing many of them,
the day before his death, in his apartment, he asked
who they were ; being told they were physicians,
he shook his head, and repeated these lines of
Horatio, in the Fair Penitent : ¦ —
" Another and another still succeeds,
And the last Fool is welcome as the former ! "
Few men have been the subjects of more epi

grams, repartees, and bon mots than David Garrick,
and few men living in the society of the witty and
the learned have had more poetry addressed to
them. Dr. Barnard, Dean of Derry, Johnson's
friend, for instance, thus apostrophises him : —
' ' The art of pleasing teach me, Garrick,
Thou who reversest odes Pindaric,
A second time read o'er ;
Oh, could we read thee backward too, ;
Last thirty years thou should'st review
And charm us thirty more !"
From the Gentleman's Magazine for 1761 we cull
the following : —
" Says Ganick, amongst
other sociable chat,
What could I without
Shakespeare do ? tfell
me that." \
It was replied — (
' ' Great connexions you have
with each other, 'lis true :
But, now — what can
Shakespeare do, sir,
without you ? "
The following colloquial
epigram appeared about
the same time : —
" Wilmot.
"You should call at his
house, or should send him
a card,
Can Garrick alone be so
cold? " Garrick.
"Shall I, a poor player, and
still poorer bard,
' Shall folly with Camden
make bold ?
What joy can I give him,
dear Wilmot, declare :
Promotion no honours can bring ;
To him the Great Seals are but labour and care.
Wish joy to your country and king."
Wishing Sir Joshua Reynolds to make one
of a party to dine with him at Hampton, and
finding some difficulty in persuading him to
come so far from Leicester Fields, Garrick said
to him, "Well, only come, and you shall choose
your dinner, though that is a favour I would not
grant to everybody with such an insatiable palette
as yours."
" David would indulge some few friends " — says
Charles Dibdin — " but it was very rare — with what
he used to call his rounds. This he did by standing
behind a chair, and converging into his face every
possible kind of passion, blending one into the
other, and, as it were, shadowing them with a pro
digious number of gradations, At one moment you

Hampton.]

GARRICK'S WITTICISM.

139

laughed, at another you cried ; now he terrified
you, and presently you conceived yourself some
thing horrible, he seemed so terrified at you. After
wards he drew his features into the appearance of
such dignified wisdom that Minerva might have
been proud of the portrait ; and then — degrading,
yet admirable, transition — he became a driveller.
In short, his face was what he obliged you to
fancy it — age, youth, plenty, poverty, everything
it assumed."
The following lines were written by Garrick to a

conversation with him said, " Dear sir, I wish you
were a little taller;" to which he replied, " My dear
madam, how happy should I be, did I stand higher
in your estimation."
"Will your figures be as large as life, Mr.
Foote?" asked a titled lady, when he was about
to bring out at the Haymarket his comedy of
The Primitive Puppet Show. " No, my lady,"
replied Foote, "they will be hardly larger than
Garrick." Garrick having a green-room wrangle with Mrs.

HAMPTON HOUSE.
(Fiom a Print published in 1787.)

nobleman who asked him if he did not intend
being in Parliament : —
"More than content with what my labours gain,
0{ pttblic favour tho' a little vain,
Yet not so vain my mind, so madly bent,
To wish to play tiaefool in parliament ;
In each dramatic unity to err,
Mistaking time and place, and character1.
Were it my fate to quit the mimic art,
I'd ' strut and fret ' no more in any part ;
No more in public scenes would I engage,
Or wear the cap and mask of any stage." *
Garrick's stature was slightly under the middle
size, but manliness, elasticity, ease, and grace,
characterised his deportment. A lady one day in

* Gentleman's Magazine, 1761.

Clive, after listening to all she had to say, replied,
" I have heard of tartar and brimstone, and know
the effects of both ; but you are the cream of one
and the flower of the other."
Garrick once gave at his- lodgings a dinner to
Harry Fielding, Macklin, Havard, Mrs. Cibber,
&c, and fees to servants being then much the
fashion, Macklin, and most of the company, gave
Garrick's man (David, a Welshman) something at
parting — some a shilling, some half-a-crown, &c,
whilst Fielding, very formally, slipped a piece of
paper in his hand, with something folded in the
inside. ¦ When the company were all gone, David
seeming to be in high glee, Garrick asked him how
much he got. " I can't tell you yet, sir,'' said Davy,
"here is half-a-crown from Mrs. Cibber, Got pless

14°

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton.

hur — here is a shilling from Mr. Macklin — here is
two from Mr. Havard, &c. — and here is something
more from the poet, Got pless his merry heart."
By this time David had unfolded the paper, when,
to his great astonishment, he saw it contained no
more than one penny ! Garrick felt nettled at this,
and next day spoke to Fielding about the impro
priety of jesting with a servant. " Jesting ! " said
Fielding, with a seeming surprise, " so far from it,
that I meant to do the fellow a real piece of service;
for had I given him a shilling or half-a-crown, I
knew you would have taken it from him ; but by
giving him only a penny, he had a chance of call
ing it his own."
A gentleman asked a friend who had seen
Garrick perform his first and last character if he
thought him as good an actor when he took his
leave of the stage at old Drury as when he first
played at Goodman's Fields, he gave for an answer
the following extempore : —
" I saw him rising in the East
In all his energetic glows ;
I saw him setting in the West
In greater splendour than he rose."
By the same, on his being told Wilson was thought
to be a better actor than Ned Shuter : —
"I've very often heard it said,
Nine tailors make a man ;
But can nine Wilsons make a Ned ?
No, bless me if they can."
It is related by a friend of Garrick that, in walk
ing up the stage with him, until the burst of ap
plause which followed one of his displays in Lear
should subside, the great actor thrust his tongue in
his cheek, and said in a chuckle, " Joe, this is stage
feeling." We have seen how that Garrick and Johnson
came up to London with the view of starting in
the "race for wealth." While the career of the
former was one long-continued success, that of
Johnson was anything but prosperous, the great
lexicographer being at times almost on the verge
of starvation. " Sudden prosperity had turned
Garrick's head," writes Lord Macaulay; "continued
adversity had soured Johnson's temper. Johnson
saw with more envy than became so great a man
the villa, the plate, the china, the Brussels carpet,
which the little mimic had got by repeating what
wiser men had written, and the exquisitely sensitive
vanity of Garrick was galled by the thought that
whilst all the rest of the world was applauding him,
he could obtain from one morose cynic, whose
opinion it was impossible to despise, scarcely any
compliment not acidulated with scorn,"

Mr. Cradock writes in his "Literary Memoirs":—
"The strongest likenesses of Garrick are best
preserved by Sir George Beaumont, who was inti
mately acquainted with him ; the two drawings of
Garrick, in " Richard," and " Abel Drugger," are
superior, in point of resemblance, to either of the
celebrated pictures, from which they are chiefly
taken ; the prints from them are just published by
Mr. Colnaghi."
Garrick's widow continued to occupy the villa
long after her husband's death, and she enter
tained her friends here nearly to the last. She
died in the Adelphi, in the year 1822, at the age
of nearly 100.
Old anglers who have fished in the Thames
about here will remember at the bottom of the
lawn two willows, rendered sacred by adjoining
the temple erected to Shakespeare. They were
planted by Garrick's own hand. In the midst
of a violent storm, which proved fatal to one
of them, Mrs. Garrick was seen running about,
like Niobe, all tears, exclaiming, " Oh, my Garrick !
my Garrick 1"
A fonder pair never lived than David Garrick
and his wife ; when alive they might easily have
claimed the Dunmow flitch of bacon.
Garrick's villa is still kept, so far as modern taste
will allow, in the same state in which it was when
occupied by its illustrious owner. The paintings
and the sculptures on the wall are still there ; their
colours have been slightly renewed where necessary,
and the modern furniture has been dressed in
Chinese patterned chintz to correspond. The
classical medallions, designed by Bentley .or Wedg
wood, still run round the walls below the cornices,
and the marble mantelpieces, with their slight and
slender carvings, remain in statu quo. The' eastern
wing and the central portion of the house are un
altered, or almost unaltered ; but the old dining-
room on the west of the entrance-hall is now made
to do duty as a billiard-room, a new dining-room of
lofty proportions having been added to the western
end. In order to add this room to the house, it
was found necessary to sacrifice four fine trees, under
which Garrick doubtless had often sat. The lower
room in the eastern wing is low, the height so gained
being thrown into the upper room, which was evi
dently designed for music, and is still used as the
chief drawing-room. Garrick's bed-room, on the
first floor, has a northern aspect, and it remains but
little changed.
The original statue of Shakespeare in the
octagonal temple in the garden was of marble;
a duplicate of it, worked in less ambitious stdtie,
still occupies the same post of honour. T

Hampton.]

CHRISTOPHER WREN.

141

walls of the temple are adorned with stuffed fish,
trophies of the rod, caught in the river adjoining.
It forms a large and pleasant summer-house. It is
overshadowed by a noble group of cedars, Scotch
firs, and lime-trees, and the land slopes deliciously
down to the river.
The villa was owned by Mrs. Garrick till her
death, in the year 1822 (as above stated), when it
was bought by a gentleman named Carr. He sold
it to a Mr. Philips, from whom it was purchased,
about 1864, by Mr. Edward Grove, whose widow
still occupies it, and feels a most praiseworthy
pride in the preservation of the fabric and all its
associations. The greater part of the village of Hampton
forms the margin of an extensive "green," on one
side of which is a broad roadway, and also a foot
path overshadowed by trees, known as the " Maids
of Honour Walk."
At the end of his long and active career, Sir
Christopher Wren retired in peace to his home at
Hampton Court Green, his spirit not embittered
by the ungrateful treatment which he had received,
and simply saying that henceforth he desired to
spend his days in tranquil study. Cheerful in his
solitude, and as well content to die in the shade as
in the blaze of his noontide fame, his son observes
of him, in his " Parentalia," that "the vigour of his
mind continued with a vivacity rarely found in
persons of his age till within a short period of his
death, and not till then could he quit the great
aim of his life — to be a benefactor to mankind."
The five last years of his life were spent here in
complete repose, returning to London occasionally
to superintend the repairs of Westminster Abbey,
his only remaining employment, and filling up his
leisure hours with mathematical and astronomical
studies. Time, though it enfeebled his limbs, left
his faculties unclouded to the last. His great
delight, to the very close of life, was to be carried
into the heart of the huge city to see his great
work, " the beginning and completion of which,"
says Horace Walpole, "was an event which one
cannot wonder left such an impression of content
on the mind of the good old man, that it seemed
to recall a memory almost deadened to every other
use." Wren's death was as calm and tranquil as
the tenor of his existence had been. On the 25th
of February, 1723, his servant, conceiving that he
slept after his dinner longer than usual, entered
his room, and found him dead in his chair.
Holland, the actor, who was buried at Chiswick,
was the son of a baker in this village. On the stage
he was an imitator of Garrick, who so much valued
him that he played the Ghost in Hamlet to aid

his benefit. Foote, who attended his funeral, re
garded him in another light, as may be gathered
from the fact that, after the interment was over, a
friend accosting him with, " So, Foote, you have
just come from my dear friend Holland's funeral,"
he replied, sarcastically and heartlessly, " Yes ; we
have just put the little baker into his oven."
Lord Sandwich(writesCradockinhis "Memoirs"),
as First Lord of the Admiralty, in 177 1-2, occupied
" a retired mansion belonging to Lord Halifax, on
the edge of Hampton Green."
Here, too, lived Sir Andrew Halliday, the eminent
physician, to whom we owe the first general move
ment in favour of the lunatic poor. When a poor
and unknown student at the University of Edinburgh,
he addressed a pamphlet on the subject to Lord
Henry Petty, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne,
then Chancellor of the Exchequer. A Parliamentary
inquiry was appointed, which led to the passing of
an Act in 1808 for the establishment of county
asylums. Not content with the town house in Bury Street
already mentioned,* Sir Richard Steele, on his
marriage with Mistress Scurlock in 1707, took for
his wife a country house here, which he called
" The Hovel," and to which he soon added a
chariot and pair, enjoying also the luxury of a
horse for his own riding, and going abroad like a
dandy of the time, in a laced coat and a large
black buckled periwig, which, Thackeray reckons,
must have cost somebody fifty guineas. He was
at this time a well-to-do gentleman, with the pro
ceeds of an estate in Barbadoes, and his twofold
office of gentleman-waiter on H.R.H. Prince
George and one of the writers of the Gazette.
" But," adds Thackeray, " it is melancholy to
relate that with these houses, and chariots and
horses, and income, Captain Steele was constantly
in want of money, for which his beloved bride was
asking as constantly. In the course of a few pages
we find the shoemaker calling for money, and some
directions from the captain, who has not thirty
pounds to spare. He sends his wife — ' the
beautifullest object in the world,' as he calls her —
. . . now a guinea, then half a guinea, then a
couple of guineas, then half a pound of tea ; and
again no money and no tea at all, but a promise
that his ' darling Prue ' shall have some in a day
or two ; with a request, perhaps, that she will send
over his nightgown and shaving plate to the tem
porary lodgings where the nomadic captain is
lying hidden from the bailiffs. To think that the
pink and pride of chivalry should turn pale before
* See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p, 202.

I Hi

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton.

a writ ! Addison sold the house and furniture at
Hampton, and after deducting the sums which
his incorrigible friend was indebted to him, handed
over the residue of the proceeds of the sale to
poor Dick, who was not in the least angry at
Addison's summary proceedings, and, I dare say,
was very glad of any sale or execution the result
of which was to give him a little ready money."
Hampton Wick is that portion of the parish
abutting upon the Thames at the foot of Kingston
Bridge. It was made into a separate parish for
ecclesiastical purposes, and the chapel of St. John
the Baptist, which was built in 1830, has become
the parish church of the district. It consists
almost entirely of detached villas, inhabited by

wealthy Londoners. In a map of 1823, a park on
the west side of the village of Hampton, away
from the river, appears as belonging to the late Sir
C. Edmonstone, Bart.
Near Hampton Court was a pleasant seat,
" Abbs Court," which belonged in Pope's days to
Edward Wortley Montagu, the husband of Lady
Mary Wortley Montagu, whose general avarice
and habit of selling his game is satirised (under
the name of Wordley) by Pope in his " Imitations
of Horace ": — -
"Delightful Abbs Court, if its fields afford
Their fruits to you, confesses you its lord.
All Wordly's hens, nay, partridges, sold to town,
His venison too, a guinea makes your own."

CHAPTER XII.
HAMPTON COURT PALACE.

1 Let any wight (if such a wight there be),
To whom thy lofty towers unknown remain,
Direct his steps, fair Hampton Court, to thee,
And view thy splendid halls : then turn again
To visit each proud dome by science praised,
' For kings the rest ' (he'd say), ' but thou for gods wert raised.' "
J. P. Andrews, after Grotius.
Wolsey Lord of the Manor — Terms of the Lease — Reconstruction of the House — Biographical Sketch of Wolsey — Hampton Court Presented
to Henry VIII. — Grand Doings in Wolsey's Time — Henry's Wives at Hampton — The Fair Geraldine — A Woman's Promise— Queen
Elizabeth at Hampton — The Maids of Honour — The Hampton Court Conference — Oliver Cromwell — Dutch William — His Alterations
to the Building — The Georges at Hampton Court — Miss Chudleigh — An Application from Dr. Johnson — Later Inmates.

In the preceding chapter we have seen how, early
in the reign of Henry VIIL, Cardinal Wolsey
acquired a lease of the manor of Hampton from
the prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, or
Knights Hospitallers. He had been induced to
fix upon this spot as the site of his residence by
certain physicians, whom he had asked to choose for
him the most healthy and pleasant site within an
easy distance of London, the springs of Coombe
Wood, in the immediate neighbourhood of Hamp
ton, affording water best suited to the requirements
of the cardinal, who was at that time suffering
from some internal complaint. In the Gentleman's
Magazine for January, 1834, is printed a copy of
the lease of the manor and manor-house, ex
tracted from the Cottonian Manuscripts as
follows : —
"This Indenture made between Sir Thomas Docwra,
Priour of the Hospitall of Seynt John Jerusalem, in England,
and his bredren knights of the same hospitall, upon that oone
partie, and the most reverend fader in god Thomas Wulcy,
Archebisshop of Yorke and primate of England upon that

other partie, Witnessith that the said priour and his bredren
with theire hole assent and auctorite of their Chapitur, have
graunted and letten to fferme to the said Archebusshop, their
manor of Hampton Courte, in the countie of Midd., with all
landes and tenements, medowes, leanes, and pastures, rentes,
and services, vewe of ffranciplegis, perquesites of courts,
ffishing and ffishing weres, and with the waren of conys, and
with all manner proufites and commodites, and other things
what so ever they be in any manner of wise to the forseid
manor belonging or apperteigning. To have and to holde
the foreseid manor with the appurtenaunces to the foreseid
most Reverend ffader in god Thomas Wulcy, Archebisshop
of Yorke, and to his assignes ffro the ffest of the Nativite of
Seynt John Baptist last past before the date hereof unto
thend and terme of Ixxxxix yeres than next following, and
fully to be ended, yielding and paying therefor yerely to the
seid priour and his successours in the tresoury of there hous
of Seynt John's of Clarkenwell beside London, fifty poundes
sterling at the ffestes of the purification of our Lady and of
Seynt Barnabe thappostle, by even porcions. And also
payeing and supporting all manner of charges ordinary and
extraordinary due and goying oute of the seid manor, with the
appurtenances during the seid terme. And the seid Arche
busshop and his assignes yerely during the seid terme shal
have allowance of the seid priour and his successors in the
paymentes of the rent and ferme of fifty poundes aforesaid

Hampton.l

LEASE OF HAMPTON COURT TO WOLSEV.

i43

iiijfi- xiijs- iiijd- sterling, at the ffestes aforeseid, by even
porcions, towards and for the exhibition of a preste for to
mynister divine service within the Chapell of the seid manor.
And the seid priour and his brethren for them and their
successors graunten the seid Archebusshop and his assignes
yerely during the seid terme shal have and take at their
libertie foure loades of woode and tymber able for pyles for
the reparacion and sustentacion of the were called Hampton
were, the same woodes and tymber to be felled and conveyed
at the costes of the seid Archebusshop, and his assignes at
their libertie at all tymes during the seid terme shall take
down, alter, transpose, chaunge, make, and new byeld at
theire propre costes any howses, walles, mootes, diches,
warkis, or other things within or aboute the seid manour of
hamptoncourte, with the appurtenaunces, without empeche-
ment of wast and without any payne or punysshment to be
or ensue to the seid Archebusshop and his assignes during the
seid terme. And the seid Archebusshop and his assignes
shall bere all manner of reparations of the seid manour
with the appurtenaunces during the seid terme, and in
thend of the seid terme all the same shall leve to the seid
priour and bredren and to theire successours sufficiently re-
pared. Ffurthermore, the seid Archebusshop and his assignes
shall leve the seid priour and his successours m1- couple of
conys in the waren of the seid manour, or elles for every
couple that shall want iiijd And moreover the seid priour
and his bredren graunted that the seid Archebusshop and his
assignes shall have and occupie during the seid terme all
suche parcells as be conteyned upon the bak of this enden-
ture, and in thend of the same terme all the same shall leve
and delyver to the seid priour and his successours, or the
value of the same. And if it happen the seid yerely fferme'
or rent of v11- during the seid terme of lxxxxix yeres, to be
behynde and not pade in part or in the hole after eny terme
of payment befor specified which it ought to be paid by the
space of two hole yeres, that then it shalbe lawful to the seid
priour and his successours to re-enter into the same manour
and othre the premisses dismised, and theym to have ayen
as in their first and pristinat estate, this endenture or eny
therin conteigned nolwithstandyng. And the seid priour
and his bredren promitte and graunte for theym and theire
successours, and theym bynde by thies presentes to the seid
Archebisshop, that when so ever the said Archebisshop or his
assignes at any oone tyme within the terme of this present leas
shall come to the seid priour and his bredren, or to their suc
cessours, and demaunde to have a newe graunte and lesse of
the saide manour of hamptoncourte with the appurtenaunces
to theym to be graunted under their commen seale of the seid
hospitall for the terme of other lxxxxix yeres next ensuying this
present terme, that then the seid priour and his bredren nowe
being or their successours than for tyme beyng for that oone
tyme shall graunte and make a newe leesse of the seid manour
of hamptoncourte with the appurtenaunces to the seid Arche
bisshop and to his assignes under the common seale of the
seid hospitall for the terme of othre lxxxxix yeres after the
forme, tenour, and effecte of the seid coVenauntes and agre-
mentes conteyned in this present endenture, the subs'taunce
thereof in nowise chaunged nor mynyshed. And at the
delyverie of the same new endenture this endenture to be
cancelled if it shall than rest and be in the keeping of the
seid Archebisshop or his assignes. And if the seid endenture
fortune to be lost, and be not in the keping of the seid
Archebisshop or his assignes, nor in the kepyng of any per
son or their uses, then the seid Archebisshop or his assignes,
before the seid newe graunte or lesse to be made, shall
surrendre and so promytte by thies presentes to surrendre

all suche title and interest as they or any of theym have or
may have, by reason of this formar lease at all tymes after
suche surrendre and newe lesse made utterly to be voide and
of no effecte. In witnesse whereof to the oone part of theis
presente endenturs towardes the seid Archebusshop re-
maynyng, the said priour and his bredren have put their
common seale. And to that othre part of the same enden
turs towardes the seid priour and his bredren remaynyng
the seid Archebusshop hath put his seale. Yeven in our
Chapitur holden in oure house of Seynt John's of Clarkenwell
beside London, the xj day of Januarie, in the yere of our
lord god a thousand fyve hundreth and fourteene, the sixt
yere of the reigne of our soveraigne lord king Henry the
Eight. " In the Chapel, First, a chalesse of silver, a pix of copur
for the sacrament, ij alter clothes, a corporaxe, ij candle-
stikes of laton, a massebook, a porteux, a pewter botil for
wyne, a crewet of pewter, a crosse of tynne, a paxbrede of
tree, an alter clothe of whyte and blue lyke unto armyn, an
ymage of our lord of tree, an ymage of our lady of tree, an
ymage of seynt John, an ymage of seynt Nicholas, an
ymage of the crosse paynted on a borde, ij alte clothes,
ij pewes with a chest of wynscott, an holy waterstok of
laton with a stryngel of laton, ij bells in the towre, one of
them broken. — Of bedsteddis in all xxa, ii towrned chyars. —
In the parlour, a table of Estriche bourde with ij tristells.
— In the haule, ij tables dormant, and oon long table with ij
tristells, a close cupbourde, iiij fourmes, iiij barres of yron
about the harthe. — In the kechey, a pot of bras cont. v
galons, a cadron sett in the foumace cont. xx.galons, a spyt
of yron, ij awndyrons, a trevet, ij morters of marbil, a
cawdron of iij galons, di. a stomer of laton, a flesshehoke,
a frying pan, ij pailes, a barre of yron in the kechen to
hange on pottes, a grete salting troughe, a steping fatte, an
heire of the kyln of xxiij yerdes, ij grate byunes in the
kechen, a byune in the buttry, a knedyng troghe. — In the
stable, a pitchfork, a dongfork, — A presse in the towre-
chambre, a great coffar in oon of the towre chambres ; a
parclose in the towre, a parclose in the parloure."
Wolsey had no sooner taken possession of the
manor than he set about rebuilding the manor-house
in a style of grandeur that was, perhaps, unsur
passed at that time by few mansions in England,
and upon a scale of unparalleled magnificence.
Of that building, however, there is now but little
or any portion left standing; for after tjhe cardinal's
"fall," Henry VIIL, with a view, no doubt, to
remove from the palace some portion of its founder's
prestige, demolished the great hall and chapel, and
replaced them with erections of his own. The
popular belief which attributes to the cardinal the
erection of the present hall is therefore incorrect.
The present hall was the work of Henry, and was
in all probability in no way superior, but rather the
contrary, to that of the cardinal, whose taste and
architectural skill were notorious. The design of
Wolsey's building appears to have comprehended
five distinct courts, the whole composed of brick,
and highly ornamented; and the interior was so
capacious that it is said to have been provided with
two hundred and eighty beds for visitors of superior

144

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton.

rank. Only two of the courts of Wolsey's palace
now remain, so that but little idea can be formed
of the extent of the building as he left it. Mr.
Jesse, in his work on Hampton Court, observes that
Wolsey " had evidently meant to construct at Hamp
ton such a splendid specimen of Grecian correctness
as might give a new bias to the architecture of this
island. It is probable that he was unable to con
tend with the still lingering relics of prejudice, and
therefore we have to regret that the Gothic and Gre
cian styles were blended in the cardinal's magnifi
cent building with equal bad taste and impropriety."
These ancient buildings — or, at least, such of
them as remain — are extremely interesting. Their

The clerk of the works received 8d. per diem, and
his writing clerks 6d. each.
In 1838, whilst removing one of the old towers
built by Wolsey, the workmen came upon a number
of glass bottles which lay among the foundation.
They were of a curious shape ; and it has been
suggested that they were buried to denote the date
of the building.
Here Wolsey lived in more than regal splendour;
and when it is considered that he had nearly one
thousand persons in his suite, we shall be less sur
prised at the vastness of his palace.
Before proceeding with a more detailed ac
count of the building, it will be best to give a

HAMPTON COURT ERTDGE. (From an Engraving by J '. C. Allen, after P. Dcbonit)

structure is of red brick, interlaced with dark-
coloured bricks in diagonal lines, the windows,
cornices, and dressings being of stone. Wolsey
appears to have employed the Warden and certain
members of the Freemasons as his architects in
building his palace, as he did also at Christ Church,
Oxford, originally called Cardinal's College. In
an article in the Edinburgh Review, by Sir F. Pal-
grave, on the " Architecture of the Middle Ages,"
are given some curious accounts of the expenses
of the fabric of Hampton Court Palace, extant
amongst the public records of London. The fol
lowing items are extracted from the entries of the
works performed between the 26th February, 27
Henry VIIL, to March 25th, then next ensuing : —
Freemasons.
Master, at 1 2d. the day, John Molton, 6s.
Warden, at 5s. the week, William Reynolds, 20s.
Setters, at 3s. 8d. the week, Nicholas Seyworth (and for
three others), 13s. 8d.
Lodgemen, at 3s. 4d. the week, Richard Watchet (and
twenty-eight others), 13s. 4d.

short biographical sketch [of Wolsey, and to deal
with the history of the palace since Wolsey's
time. Thomas Wolsey, afterwards "Archbishop of
York, Chancellor of England, Cardinal Priest of
Cicily, and Legate a latere," was born at Ipswich,
in Suffolk, in 147 1. He was descended, according
to some of our best historians, from poor' but
honest parents, and of good reputation ; the
common tradition is that he was the son of a
butcher. Feeling a stronger inclination for the dis
putations of the schools than for the business of
his father, he acquired the rudiments of grammar,
and received a learned education ; and entering the
University of Oxford at a very early age, he took
the degree of Bachelor of Arts when he was
fourteen years old, and in consequence was com
monly called the " Boy Bachelor." He was soon
after elected a Fellow of Magdalen College. His
next step was to have the care of the school ad
joining that college committed to him, and to

Hampton Court.]

WOLSEY IN THE STOCKS.

M5

receive as pupils three of the sons of the Marquis
of Dorset, who, in reward for the progress which
they made under his tuition, presented him to the
rectory of Limington, in Somerset, which happened
to be vacant at that time, and was in his lordship's
patronage. During his residence in that locality a
piece of ill-luck appears to have befallen " Mr."

was presented. In the early part of the reign of
Henry VIIL, Fox, Bishop of Winchester resolved to
introduce Wolsey to royal favour, and in a very
little time he obtained such a footing in Henry's
good graces that he was appointed to the most
trusty and confidential posts. Notwithstanding his
sacred calling, we are told that Wolsey participated

CARDINAL WOLSEY, (After Holbein.)

Wolsey. He was put in the stocks, as some say,
on a charge of drunkenness, by Sir Amias Paulet,
an affront which he is reported to have resented
somewhat unmercifully in after life, when Sir
Amias happening to come within his clutches, he
sentenced him to keep within the bounds of the
Temple for five or six years.
Wolsey was next appointed chaplain to Henry
VII., who employed him in a secret negotiation
for his proposed marriage with Margaret of Savoy.
His reward for the talent he displayed in that
business was the Deanery of Lincoln, to which he
13

in the dissipations of the youthful Henry, which
afforded him numerous opportunities " to introduce
business and State affairs, to insinuate those
political maxims and that line of conduct he
wished his monarch to adopt." In due course
Wolsey became a member of the Council, and sub
sequently sole and absolute minister. He was now
made almoner to the king, and other honours
flowed thick and fast upon him. In 15 13 he
obtained the Bishopric of Tournay, in Flanders,
and before the end of the year succeeded to that
of Lincoln.

146

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

In 15 15 he reached the height of his ambition,
being created a cardinal, by the title of "Cardinal
of St. Cecilia beyond the Tiber." He was also
Chancellor of England.
" And now," writes his biographer, "the splendour
of retinue and magnificence of living he so loved
began to distinguish his establishment, which might
be said to have been almost more than royal ; his
train consisted of eight hundred servants, many of
whom were knights and gentlemen ; some even of
the nobility put their children into his family as a
place of education, and, in order to ingratiate them
with their patron, allowed them to . bear offices as
his servants."
Of the pomp and state of the cardinal at this
time the following account is given by Mr. G.
Howard, in his " Wolsey and his Times " : — " The
cardinal rose early, and as soon as he came out of
his bedchamber he generally heard two masses,
either in his ante-chamber or chapel Returning
to his private apartments, he made various neces
sary arrangements for the day ; and about eight
o'clock left his privy chamber ready dressed, in the
red robes of a cardinal, his upper garment being of
scarlet, or else of fine crimson taffeta or crimson
satin, with a black velvet tippet of sables about his
neck, and holding in his hand an orange, deprived
of its internal substance, and filled with a piece of
sponge, wetted with vinegar ' and other confections
against pestilent airs, the which he most commonly
held to his nose when he came to the presses, or
when he was pestered with many suitors.' This
may account for so many of his portraits being
painted with an orange in the hand. The Great
Seal of England and the cardinal's hat were both
borne before him ' by some lord, or some gentleman
of worship right solemnly ; ' and as soon as he
entered the presence-chamber, the two tall priests,
with the two tall crosses, were ready to attend upon
him, with gentlemen ushers going before him bare
headed, and crying, ' On masters before, and make
room for my lord.' The crowd thus called on con
sisted not only of common suitors, or the individuals
of his own family, but often of peers of the realm,
who chose, or were perhaps obliged, thus to crouch
to an upstart — a character not in very great repute
in those days. In this state the proud cardinal
proceeded down his hall, with a sergeant-at-arms
before him, carrying a large silver mace, and two
gentlemen, each bearing a large plate of silver. On
his arrival at the gate, or hall door, he found his
mule ready, covered with crimson velvet trappings.
When mounted, his attendants consisted of his two
cross-bearers and his two pillar-bearers, dressed in
fine scarlet, and mounted on great horses capa

risoned in like colour, of four men on foot, with
each a pole-axe in his hand, and a long train of
gentry, who came to swell his triumph as he pro
ceeded to the Court of Chancery, where he generally
sat until eleven o'clock to hear suits and to deter
mine causes. With all this state he seems to have
affected some degree of familiarity ; for, previous
to taking his seat in the court, he generally stopped
at a bar made for him below the chancery, convers
ing with the other judges, and sometimes with
individuals of less apparent consequence. As soon
as his chancery business was over, he commonly
proceeded to the Star-chamber, where, as has been —
we hope truly — reported of him, ' hee neither spared
high nor low, but did judge every one according
to right.'"
Dr. Johnson has drawn the character of the
cardinal in the following energetic lines : ¦ —
" In full-blown dignity see Wolsey stand,
Law in his voice and fortune in his hand ;
To him the church, the realm, their powers consign,
Through him the rays of regal bounty shine ;
Turn'd by his nod, the stream of honour flows,
His smile alone security bestows !
Still to new heights his restless wishes soar,
Claim leads to claim, and pow'r advances pow'r ;
Till conquest unresisted ceas'd to please,
And right submitted left him none to seize !
At length his sovereign frowns, the train of state
Mark the keen glance and watch the sign to hate ;
Where'er he turns he meets the stranger's eye,
His suppliants scorn him and his followers fly ;
Now drops at once the pride of awful state,
The golden canopy, the glittering plate,
The regal palace, the luxurious board,
The livery'd army, and the menial lord !
With age, with cares, with maladies oppress'd,
He seeks the refuge of monastic rest ;
Grief aids disease, remember'd folly stings,
And his last sighs reproach the faith of kings ! "
Among the younger scions of the nobility who
were placed under the guidance of Wolsey was
the youthful Lord Percy, who, accompanying the
cardinal to court, had frequent opportunities of
seeing and conversing with the beautiful and un
fortunate Anne Boleyn, whose affections he gained,
and whom he privately agreed to marry. This
coming to the ears of the king, the cardinal was
forthwith charged to summon his pupil's father to
the presence of his royal master, and the contract-
was formally broken. The Lady Anne, as readers
of English history know, was soon after dismissed
the Court, and sent to one of her father's estates in
the country, the contract being dissolved by the
cardinal, as having been made "without the king's
or the young lord's father's knowledge," Earl Percy
soon after marrying a daughter of the Earl of
Shrewsbury.

Hampton Court.]

WOLSEY'S GREAT WEALTH, AND FALL.

147

" It has been conjectured, not without reason,"
writes Mr. J. F. Murray, in his " Environs
of London," "that upon this apparently unim
portant incident depended the future of the
cardinal's power, Anne never having forgiven
him for depriving her of Percy, though, to augment
her rising influence with the king, it was necessary
that she should dissemble, and she accordingly,
with womanly dissimulation, appeared to treat
Wolsey with the greatest external respect.
"The determination of Henry to repudiate
Katharine, his queen — the first fatal declension
from his position as king and father of his people
to that of a brutal and wanton tyrant — and the
honest opposition of Wolsey to that iniquitous
procedure, hastened the hour of his downfall.
Anne Boleyn, now recalled to Court, industriously
fostered the dislike to the cardinal which had
.grown up in the mind of Henry, and the crisis of
Wolsey's fate had arrived."
Long before this, however — namely, in 1526 —
Wolsey had thought it expedient to "present"
Hampton Court Palace to the king ; but it was a
gift not of love, but of despair.
It has been suggested that it was in a vault of
this palace that the incident occurred which opened
Henry's eyes to the wealth acquired by his favourite
cardinal. As the story goes, the king's fool was
paying a visit to the cardinal's fool, and the jocose
couple went down into the wine vaults. For fun,
one of them stuck a dagger or some other pointed
instrument into the top of a cask, and, to his surprise,
touched something that chinked like metal. The
meddlesome pair upon this set to work, and pushed
off the head of the cask, discovering that it was
full of gold pieces. Other casks, by their sounds,
gave indications that they held wine, and not gold.
The king's fool stored up this secret, and one day,
when Henry VIIL was boasting about his wine,
the fool said, satirically, " You have not such wine,
sire, as my Lord Cardinal, for he hath casks in his
cellar worth a thousand broad pieces each ; " and
then he told what he had detected. Whether this
be true or not, it is certain that Wolsey was so far
awake to the fact that he was so suspected by the
monarch as to deem it prudent to present him with
Hampton Court.
There was one memorable circumstance con
nected with Wolsey's palace, namely, that it did
not present to the beholder a moat, a drawbridge,
or loopholes, without which, up to that time, no
nobleman thought of erecting a mansion. What
Wolsey spent on Hampton Court can only be
guessed at. After the great lord cardinal died
Henry set himself to the carrying out of various

improvements ; and in return for the " present " of
his palace, Henry VIIL bestowed upon Wolsey the
manor-house of Richmond, an old and favourite
residence of his predecessor, Henry VII., and also
of Henry VIIL himself in the early part of his
reign; or, as Stow quaintly puts it, "in recompense
thereof, the king licensed him to lie in his manor
of Richmond at his pleasure, and so ' he lay there
at certain times."
Although the cardinal thus relinquished the
right of possession, he occasionally lived at Hamp
ton Court Palace at a subsequent period. In
1527, in obedience to the desires of King Henry,
Wolsey here feasted the ambassadors of the Court
of France. An account of this entertainment is
given in Cavendish's " Life of Wolsey," which, as
it is well calculated to convey an idea of the mag
nificence with which this palace was furnished on
State occasions, and is such an interesting feature
in the history of the building, we may be par
doned for quoting it in these pages : —
" Then there was made great preparation of all
things for this great assembly at Hampton Court ;
the Cardinall called before him his principal officers
— as steward, treasurer, controller, and clerk of his
kitchen — to whom he declared his mind touching
the entertainment of the Frenchmen at Hampton
Court, commanding them neither to spare for any
cost, expense, or travayle, to make such a trium
phant banquet, as they might not only wonder at it
here, but also make a glorious report of it in their
country, to the great honour of the king and his
realm. To accomplish his commandment, they
sent out caters, purveiors, and divers other persons,
my lord's friends, to make preparation ; also they
sent for all the expert cookes and cunnyng persons
in the art of cookerie which were within London
or elsewhere, that might be gotten to beautify this
noble feast. The purveiors provided, and my
lord's friends sent in such provision as one would
wonder to have seen. The cookes wrought both
day and night with suttleties and many craftie
devices, where lacked neither gold, silver, nor
other costly thing meet for their purpose; the
yeomen and groomes of the wardrobe were busied
in hanging of the chambers, and furnishing the
same with beds of silk and other furniture in every
degree; then my Lord Cardinall sent me (Mr.
Cavendish), being his gentleman usher, with two
other of my fellows, thither, to foresee all thing touch
ing our rooms to be nobly garnyshed : accordingly
our pains were not small nor light, but daily travel
ling up and down from chamber to chambers. Then
wrought the carpenters, joiners, masons, and all.
other artificers necessary to be had to glorify this

148

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

noble feast. There was carriage and re-carriage of
plate, stuff, and other rich implements, so that
there was nothing lacking that could be imagined
or devised for the purpose. There was also pro
vided two hundred and eighty beds, furnished with
all manner of furniture to them belonging, too
long particularly to be rehearsed ; but all wise men
do sufficiently know what belongeth to the furniture
thereof, and that is sufficient at this time to be
said. " The day was come to the Frenchmen assigned,
and they ready assembled before the hour of their
appointment, whereof the officers caused them to
ride to Hanworth, a place and parke of the Kinge's,
within three miles, there to hunt and spend the day
untill night, at which time they returned againe to
Hampton Court, and every one of them was con
veyed to their severall chambers, having in them
great fires, and wine to their comfort and relief,
remaining there untill their supper was ready. The
chambers where they supped and banquetted were
ordered in this sort : first the great wayting chamber
was hanged with rich arras, as all other were, and
furnished with tall yeomen to serve. There were
set tables round about the chamber, banquetwise
covered ; a cupboord was there garnished with
white plate, having also in the same chamber, to
give the more light, four great plates of silver set
with great lights, and a great fire of wood and
coales. The next chamber, being the chamber of
presence, was hanged with very rich arras, and a
sumptuous cloth of estate furnished with many
goodly gentlemen to serve the tables, ordered in
manner as the other chamber was, saving that the
high table was removed beneath the cloth of estate
toward the middest of the chamber covered.
Then there was a cupboord being as long as the
chamber was in breadth, with six deskes of height,
garnyshed with guilt plate, and the nethermost
desk was garnyshed all with gold plate, having
with lights one paire of candlestickes of silver and
guilt, being curiously wrought, which cost three
hundred markes, and standing upon the same, two
lights of waxe burning as bigge as torches to set it
forth. This cupboord was barred round about,
that no man could come nigh it, for there was none
of all this plate touched in this banquet, for there
was sufficient besides. The plates that did hang
on the walls to give light were of silver and guilt,
having in them great pearchers of waxe burning, a
great fire burning in the chimney, and all other
things necessary for the furniture of so noble a
feast. " Now was all things in readiness, and supper
tyme at hand; the principal officers caused the

trumpetters to blow to warne to supper; the
officers discreetly went and conducted these noble
men from their chambers into the chambers where
they should suppe, and caused them there to sit
downe, and that done, their service came up in
such abundance, both costly and full of suttleties, and
with such a pleasant noyse of instruments of musicke,
that the Frenchmen (as it seemed) were rapt into-
a heavenly paradise. You must understand that
my Lord Cardinall was not yet comen thither, but
they were merry and pleasant with their fare and
devised suttleties. Before the second course my
lord came in, booted and spurred, all sodainely
amongst them, and bade them preface* at whose-
coming there was great joy, with rising every man
from his place, whom my lord caused to sit still
and keep their roomes, and being in his apparell
as he rode, called for a chayre, and sat down in
the middest of the high paradise, laughing and
being as merry as ever I saw hym in all my lyfL
Anone came up the second course, with so many
dishes, suttleties, and devices, above a hundred in
number, which were of so goodly proportion
and so costlie, that I thinke the Frenchmen never
saw the like. The wonder was no less than it was-
worthie indeed. There were castles, with images
the same as in St. Paul's Church for the quantity,
as well counterfeited as the painter should have
painted it on a cloth or wall. There were beasts,
birds, and personages, most lively-made and
counterfeited, some fighting with swords, some
with guns and cross-bowes, some vaulting and
leaping, some dauncing with ladies, some on
horses in complete harnesse, jousting with long and
sharp speares, with many more devices. Among
all, one I noted was a chesseboord, made of spiced
plate, with men thereof the same; and for the
good proportion, and because the Frenchmen be
verie cunning and expert in that play, my Lord
Cardinall gave the same to a gentleman of France,
commanding there should be made a goodlie case
for the preservation thereof in all haste, that he
might convey the same safe into his country. Then;
took my lord a boule of gold filled with ippocrass,
and putting off his cappe, said, ' I drink to the
king, my soveraigne lord, and next unto the king,
your master,' and therewith drank a good draught.
And when he had done, he desired the graund
maislre to pledge him, cup and all, the which was
well worth 500 markes, and so caused all the
boordes to pledge these two Royal Princes ; then
went the cups so merrily about, that many of the

* An obsolete French term of salutation, abridged from Bon pro*
voux face: i.e., " Much good may it do you."

Hampton Court.]

THE FAIR GERALDINE.

149

Frenchmen were faine to be led to their beds.
Then rose up my lord, and went into his privy
chamber to pull off his bootes, and to shift him,
and then went- he to supper, and making a very
short supper, or rather, a repast, returned into the
chamber of presence to the Frenchmen, using them
so lovingly and familiarly, that they could not
commend him too much ; and whilest they were
in communication, and other pastimes, all their
liveries were served to their chambers ; every
chamber had a bason and an ewer of silver, a
great liverey pot of silver, and some guilt ; yea,
and some chambers had two liverey pots, with wine
and beere, a boule, a goblet, and a pot of sylver to
drink in, both for their wine and beere ; a silver
candlesticke both white and plaine, having in it
two sizes, and a staff torche of waxe, a fine manc-het,
and a cheat loaf. Thus was every chamber fur
nished through the house ; and yet the cupboords
in the two banquetting chambers were not touched.
Thus when it was more than time convenient, they
were conveyed to their lodgings, where they rested
that night. In the morning, after they had heard
mass, they dined with the Cardinall, and so de
parted to Windsor."
Such were the merry and grand doings at
Hampton Court Palace in the days of Wolsey's
prosperity. " It would have been out of nature,
on entering Hampton Court," observes Mr. Howitt,
in his " Visits to Remarkable Places," " not to
pause and contemplate for a while the singular
story and fate of the great man who raised it.
These ancient towers and courts are full of the
memory of that strange fortune, and will be for
many a long generation yet; and now that the great
mass of the people is at once admitted to educa
tion and to this place, the history of Wolsey — -at
one time said to be a butcher's son, at another
stretching his lordly hand over this realm, making
foreign princes tremble at it, and reaching it out
even to the papal tiara, and then again a poor and
sinking suppliant, exclaiming—
" ' O father abbot,
An old man broken with the storms of state
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye ;
Give him a little earth for charity ! '
— will be more widely known and wondered at. But
many have been the sad and singular passages
which have occurred to royal and ambitious heads
in these chambers since then."
In 1538, Henry, as stated above, made Hampton
the scene of his sylvan sports. He extended his
chase through fifteen parishes, and enclosed the
whole as hunting-grounds, which he kept strictly
preserved for his own use. After his death the

wooden paling was removed, and his chase thrown
open. In 1537 Jane Seymour died here, after
giving birth to Edward VI. On this occasion
Henry VIIL, contrary to his usual habit (for he
married that queen within twenty-four hours after
the execution of Anne Boleyn), went into mourn
ing, and compelled all his Court to do so. Whether
it was that he was really attached to her, or whether
he had not had time to get tired of her — she only
having been married for seventeen months — his
torians do not pretend to decide. Suffice it to say
he had her body removed to Windsor, and interred
there with great pomp, and he remained a widower
for some years, when he espoused Anne of Cleves.
In 1540 the ill-fated Catharine Howard was openly
shown as queen at this palace, with much splen
dour and many joyous celebrations. Here, too, after
Catharine Howard had met her fate upon the scaf
fold, Henry married his last wife, Lady Catharine
Parr, who fortunately survived him. Henry's last
festival at Hampton Court occurred in the year
1545- The palace was chosen by the guardians of
Edward VI. as his residence, and he was re
siding here when the Council rose against the
authority of the Protector Somerset, and the young
king was removed by him hence to Windsor
Castle, lest the Council should obtain possession
of his person. Two of his servants having died
of the "black death" in 1550, King Edward and
his attendants removed from London hither in
hot haste, and remained till the alarm had passed
away. About this time the garden of Hampton Court
was the frequent scene of interviews between the
youthful and accomplished poet the Earl of
Surrey, and the " fair-haired, blue-eyed Geraldine,"
the most interesting particulars of whose personal
and family history have been handed down to us
compressed within the compass of a sonnet by
her gallant lover himself. The " fair Geraldine,"
who proves to have been the Lady Elizabeth
Fitzgerald, afterwards the wife of a certain Earl of
Lincoln — of whom little is known, save that he
married the woman whom Surrey had loved — was
half-sister of " Silken Thomas," and daughter of
Gerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, an ancestor of the
Duke of Leinster. Her mother was the Lady
Elizabeth Grey, her father's second countess,
whose grandmother, Elizabeth Woodville, became
queen of Edward IV. The Fitzgeralds, as Surrey
tells us in the sonnet above alluded to, derive their
origin from the Geraldi of Tuscany; hence —
" From Tuscan came my ladye's worthy race,
Fair Florence was sometime their ancient seat."

*S°

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

" Fair Geraldine " was born and nurtured in
Ireland. As above stated, her father was Earl of
Kildare, her mother allied to the blood royal :
" Her sire an Earl, her dame of Prince's blood."

fourteen or fifteen, as it appears from contempo
rary dates ; and Surrey says very clearly,
" She wanted years to understand
The grief that I did feel."

HAMPTON COURT, AS FINISHED BY KING HENRY VIII.
(From a Drawing by Hollar, Engraved by J. Pye, andpublished by the Society of Antiquaries.)
She was brought up (through motives of com- But even then her budding charms made him con-
passion after the misfortunes of her family) at fess, as lie beautifully expresses it,
Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, with the Princesses ; « How soon a look may print a thought,
Mary and Elizabeth, where Surrey, who frequently | That never may remove ! "

<,

Sfflp

/'

OLD HAMPTON COURT. (From an ancient Painting.)

visited them in company with the young Duke of
Richmond,* first beheld her :
" Hunsdon did first present her to mine eyes."
She was then extremely young, not more than

* Natural brother of the Princesses ; he was the son of Henry VIIL,
by Lady Talbot.

The garden here has also been generally credited
with being the scene of the following story :—
" Henry Carey, cousin to Queen Elizabeth, after
having enjoyed her Majesty's favour for many
years, lost it in the following manner : — As he was
walking one day, lost in thought, in the palace
garden, under the queen's window, the latter per
ceived him, and asked him in a joking way what

Hampton Court.]

A ROYAL CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENT.

he was thinking about, and added, 'What does a
man think of when he is thinking of nothing?'
' Of a woman's promise,' answered Carey. ' Well
done, cousin,' said Elizabeth. She retired but
she did not forget Carey's answer; for some
time afterwards he solicited the honour of a peer
age, and reminded the queen that she had pro
mised it to him. 'True,' said she; ' but you will
remember, cousin, that it was only a woman's
promise I ' Seeing that Carey looked disappointed
and vexed, the queen added, 'Well, Sir Henry I
must not confute you: anger makes dull men
witty, but it keeps them poor.' "
Here Queen Mary and her husband, Philip of
Spain, passed their honeymoon in great retirement;

!5i

contemporary chronicle, still preserved in the British
Museum, affords several particulars of her enter
tamment on this occasion. " On Christmas Eve
the great hall of the palace being illuminated with
a thousand lamps artificially disposed," writes Lucy
Aikm, " the king (Philip) and queen supped in
it, and the princess was seated at the same table
with them, next to the cloth of estate. After
supper she was served with a perfumed napkin
and a plate of 'comfects' by Lord Paget, but
retired to her ladies before the revels, masking, and
disguising began. On St. Stephen's Day she heard
matins (? mass) in the queen's
closet adjoining the chapel, where
she was attired in a robe of white

ip!4i
Pfwr 'TSBSBtHBam?-

and here, after her imprisonment at Woodstock,
the queen's sister— the Princess Elizabeth— was
invited to spend some time with the royal pair,
when she was entertained with "banquets, mas-
queings, and all sorts of revelries."
Hither again the Princess was sent as a sort
of State prisoner on March 15, 1554, on reaching
London from Ashridge, in obedience to her sister's
commands. At Christmas following the Princess Elizabeth
was once more invited by her sister as a guest,
probably on account of the presence of the Duke
of Savoy, whose suit the queen thought that her
sister would be more likely to accept if she met
him personally and saw his attractive qualities. A

APPROACH TO HAMPTON COURT.
satin strung all over with large pearls ; and on the
29th December she sat with their Majesties and
the nobility at a grand spectacle of jousting, when
two hundred spears were broken by combatants,
of whom half were accoutred in the Almaine and
half in the Spanish fashion."
About the end of the following April the princess
was again admitted to visit her royal sister, who was
expecting her confinement; .but she was as much a
prisoner as a guest, and the intercourse of the two-
sisters would seem to have been mutually repulsive.
At all events, after a few weeks spent at one or two
of the seats of royalty in the neighbourhood of
London, she was allowed to establish herself per
manently at Hatfield House, in Hertfordshire,
which thenceforth was her home till she succeeded
to the crown.
From Hampton Court, Queen Mary, when
stricken with her last and fatal sickness, in the
autumn of 1558, was carried to Westminster to

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

die. After her accession to the throne, Elizabeth
made Hampton Court one of her favourite resi
dences, and here she continued occasionally to
assemble her brilliant Court, and to " keep Christ
mas " in right royal fashion, as Mary, Edward, and
her father had done before.
In the " pleasances " of Hampton Court Palace,
as one of the ambassadors to her Court tells us,
Queen Elizabeth delighted to " go a walking " with
her ladies and a gay train of attendants, especially
on cold frosty mornings. Did space permit, much
interesting gossip could be related touching those
fair .attendants upon royalty, called "Maids of
Honour," from Queen Elizabeth's time to the
present day ; but we must be content with a few
general remarks concerning them. Pope in de
scribing prudery (to a maid of honour) as
' ' A beldam,
Seen with youth and beauty seldom,''
plainly proves, by adding,
" 'Tis an ugly, envious shrew,
Who rails at dear Lepel and you,"
that the "dear Lepel" — "youth's youngest
daughter " — the fairest of the maids of honour of
the time when Lady Suffolk was lady of the bed
chamber both to the king and queen — had been
made a mark for the ill-nature of the Court. Yet
Pope's was an era when there were wars and
rumours of wars to occupy the whispers of Ken
sington and Hampton Court — when there was a
king to squabble with his ministers, and afford
public news to keep in movement the private
echoes of Windsor Castle. Had " sweet Lepel "
been railed at during a period of petticoat govern
ment, when the back-stairs, instead of being
haunted by Herveys, Walpoles, and Chesterfields,
had been the resort of mantua-makers and milliners,
" black, white, and grey, with all their trumpery,"
Pope would have known that the "railing" was an
inevitable concomitant of the "¦post" of — Maid of
Honour. He would have rather addressed the
future Lady Hervey with " Be thou as chaste as
ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape
calumny ! "
Grammont has recorded the recreations of the
high-born maidens of his time, who, disguised as
orange-girls, escaped from the purlieus of the
palace of Whitehall to frequent those of the
theatres ; and St. Simon acquaints us on what
grounds the Duchess de Noailles, mother of the
maids of honour of Anne of Austria and her royal
successor, was forced to have double iron bars
affixed to their chamber windows. The Queen of

Scots had her Maries ; and she who recorded in
song that " There was Mary Seyton, and Mary Betoun,
And Mary Carmichael, and me,"
hath also bequeathed to posterity the confession of
her fault. Queen Elizabeth was forced, by the in
continence of her fair attendants, to find them
occasional lodgings in the Tower of London, even
when so great a man as the gallant Raleigh was
the avowed author of the mischief ; and Pope and
Lady Mary Wortley have told remarkable tales of
the honourable maidenhood of Queen Caroline's
Court. " In the furniture of the palaces," writes Bohun,
in his "Character of Queen Elizabeth," "her
Majesty ever affected magnificence and an extra
ordinary splendour. She adorned the galleries
with pictures by the best artists ; the walls she
covered with rich tapestries. She was a true lover
of jewels, pearls, all sorts of precious stones, gold
and silver plate, rich beds, fine coaches and
chariots, Persian and Indian carpets, statues,
medals, &c, which she would purchase at great
prices. Hampton Court was the most richly fur
nished of all her palaces ; and here she caused
her naval victories over the Spaniards to be worked
in fine tapestries, and laid up among the richest
pieces of her wardrobe. . . . When she made
here any public feasts, her tables were magnifi
cently served, and many side-tables adorned with
rich plate. At these times many of her nobility
waited on her at table. She made the greatest
displays of her regal magnificence when foreign
ambassadors were present. At these times she
would also have vocal and instrumental music
during dinner, and after dinner, dancing.''
The joyful tidings of the defeat of the Spanish
Armada arrived on Michaelmas Day, and, as the
story goes, was communicated to Queen Elizabeth
whilst at dinner here, partaking of a goose. Hence
the origin of eating that savoury dish on Michael
mas Day.
Here, James I., immediately after his accession,
assured his Roman Catholic subjects of his inten
tion to grant them " toleration " — a promise which
he never fulfilled. Here, too, a few weeks after
wards, he held a conference between the divines of
the Established Church and the Nonconformist
body, over which he presided, and which resulted in
the victory of the former. It was settled at this con
ference that there should be certain amendments
in the Prayer Book, and that "care should be taken
that one uniform translation of the Bible should be
provided and read in the Church, and that without

Hampton Court.]

KING CHARLES AND THE FORTUNE-TELLER.

T53

notes." The king forthwith appointed a commis
sion of fifty-four, and took exceeding interest in
the work, calling it " our translation." The king
in 1604 wrote a letter to the Bishop of London,
urging that provision should be made for some
of the translators by prebendal stalls and livings.
The Bishop of London accordingly issued letters.
The translation, delayed by the death of one of
the translators, came out in 161 1. The king's
printers printed it, and asserted on the title-page,
"Appointed to be read in churches." Notwith
standing that Lord Selborne tells us that a fire at
Whitehall destroyed the rolls and patents of the
period, a catena of evidence, beginning with 16 12
up to 1640, is supplied by the Visitation Articles,
showing how this version of 161 1 was deemed
lawful and authorised, and enforced by episcopal
and archidiaconal authority.
In 1606 the king and queen gave here a
splendid series of entertainments, extending over
a fortnight, to Francis, Prince of Vaudemois, son
of the Duke of Lorraine, and to a large company
of noblemen and gentlemen. Here, in 16 18, died
the queen of James, Anne of Denmark.
Charles I. resided at Hampton Court both in
his happiest and most melancholy days. Like
Philip and Mary, his Majesty and his queen,
Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV. of France,
came here in 1625 to spend their honeymoon. On
summer evenings he and the queen and the rest of
the court, would "take barge" on the Thames
and amuse their leisure hours by feeding the swans.
Laud was appointed Dean of the Chapel of
Hampton Court in 1626, soon after his transla
tion to Bath and Wells ; but his memory is
associated less with Hampton than with Lambeth
Palace. In 1 641 King Charles took refuge at Hampton
Court during the troubles in London. It is related
that " one day whilst his Majesty was standing at
one of the windows of the palace, surrounded by
his children, a gipsy or beggar-woman came up to
it, and asked for charity. Her appearance excited
ridicule and probably threats, which so enraged the
gipsy that she took out of her basket a looking-
glass, and presented it to the king ; he saw in it his
own head decollated. Probably with a natural
wish to conciliate so prophetical a beggar, or for
some other reason, money was given to her. She
then said that the death of a dog in a room the
king was then in would precede the restoration to
his family of the kingdom which the king was
then about to lose. It is said that Oliver Cromwell
afterwards slept in the room referred to. He was
constantly attended by a faithful dog, who guarded

his bed-room door. On awakening one morning,
he found the dog dead, on which he exclaimed, in
allusion to the gipsy's prophecy, which he had
previously heard, ' The kingdom is departed from
me.' Cromwell died soon after, and the subsequent
events are sufficiently known."
In 1647 the ill-fated Charles was brought hither
by the army from Holmby, in Northamptonshire.
Whilst here he was treated with respect, and even
kindness, being allowed also the melancholy satis
faction of often seeing his children, through the
favour of the Earl of Northumberland. His Majesty
was kept here, not actually in imprisonment, but
under restraint, by the Parliament and the army
from the 24th of August down to the nth of
November, when he escaped. Great had been the
change in his circumstances during those few
months — the generals, who had been hopeful that
they might come to an arrangement with the king,
found that he was only playing with them to gain
time, and carry his own schemes. The Scotch
Commissioners could do nothing with him ; and,
alarmed by rumours that in the ranks of the soldiery
were men who would not scruple to assassinate
him, Charles departed, to put himself in a worse
condition in the Isle of Wight.
We find in the "Diary" of John Evelyn, under
date of October 10th, 1647, the following entry : — " I
came to Hampton Court, where I had the honour
to kisse his Majesty's hand, he being now in the
power of those execrable villains who not long after
murder'd him."
In 1 65 1 the Parliament sold the whole of the
estate of Hampton Court to a Mr. John Phelpe, a
member of the Lower House, for the sum of
^10,765 19s. 6d. ; but in 1656, Oliver Cromwell,
enriched by the wreck of the State, again acquired
possession of the palace, for which he appears to
have had a special liking, and made it one of his
principal places of residence. The marriage cere
mony of his daughter Elizabeth, who espoused
Lord Falconberg, was here celebrated in 1657 ;
and in the following year the Lord Protector's
favourite daughter, Mrs. Claypole (who is said to
have severely remonstrated with him, in her last
hours, on the subject of his dangerous ambition),
here breathed her last. Hither Oliver Cromwell
would repair, when Lord Protector of the Realm, to
dine with his officers. Mr. Secretary Thurloe thus
records the fact in sundry minutes in his pocket-
book, given by John Milton to his nephew, Mr.
John Philips : — " Sometimes, as the fit takes him,
to divert the melancholy, he dines with the officers
of his army at Hampton Court, and shows a hundred
antic tricks, as throwing cushions at them, and

'54

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

putting hot coals into their pockets and boots ! At
others, before he has half dined, he gives orders
for a drum to beat and call in his foot-guards, like
a kennel of hounds, to snatch off the meat from
his table and tear it in pieces, with many other un
accountable whimsies ; immediately after this, fear
and astonishment sit in his countenance, and not a
nobleman approaches him but he fells him ! Now
he calls for his guards, with whom he rides out,
encompassed behind and before, for the preserva
tion of his Highness, and at his return at night,
shifts from bed to bed for fear of surprise." Once,
we read, he narrowly escaped assassination while
riding through the narrow part of Hammersmith, on
his way to this pleasant London suburb. George
Fox, the Quaker, in his "Chronicles," relates how he
went out on a day in 1658 to protest to Cromwell
against the severities inflicted on the eccentric
members of his persuasion, and meeting the Pro
tector riding in Hampton Park at the head of his
life-guard, Fox said what he believed he was in
spired to say, and withdrawing, felt a "waft of
death " go out against the Protector. Nor was it
many days afterwards that, on the advice of his
physicians, Cromwell left Hampton Court for
Whitehall, the place of his decease on September
3rd, 1658.
In an article in the Gentleman's Magazine for
1877, entitled "Oliver Cromwell at Hampton
Court," are published some details of an "Inven
tory of Goods and Servants at Hampton Court,"
taken by order of the House of Commons, in June,
1659. This interesting document is preserved in
the State Paper Office, among the uncalendared
papers of that period. The reason for taking the
inventory is set forth in a kind of preamble, " so as
there be not embezzlement of" the goods. "In
looking over the inventory," observes the writer of
the article in question, " it is curious to note that
only four looking-glasses are mentioned. This
could not have arisen from any scarcity of that
article at the period, because in the celebrated in
ventories of the palaces of Henry VIIL there are
fourteen mentioned and fully described. The first
mentioned in Hampton Court was in the ' rich
bed-chamber,' and is thus described : ' one large
looking-glass in an ebony frame.' Then ' in the
lower wardrobe' were 'two small looking-glasses,
one of them being broke.' The fourth hung in a
room which, in the time of Charles I., was occupied
by the Bishop of Canterbury, and during Cromwell's
Protectorate was used by his daughter, Mrs. Clay-
pole, as a nursery. The description is as follows :
' One large looking-glass in an ebony frame, with a
string of silk and gold.' The absence of any

further reference to looking-glasses is rather sug
gestive. Perhaps Oliver Cromwell objected to
them on principle, as leading to vanity ; or possibly
such as were in use were regarded as personal
property, and the owners carried them away when
they left the place. Hampton Court has been
greatly altered since Cromwell's time, and there is
not one chamber which is now associated with his
memory. The Great Hall, of course, remains, in
which were two organs — the larger one a gift
from Cromwell's friend, Dr. Goodwin, President of
Magdalen College, Oxford; but the hall is more
closely associated with the grand entertainments
given by Wolsey, and the revels of Henry VIIL,
than with Cromwell. In like manner the chapel is
only in a general way associated with his memory.
More interesting reminiscences will occur in the
' Mantegna Gallery,' as it is called, after the painter
of a series of pictures now hung in it. In Crom
well's time this was called the ' Long Gallery.'
The pictures, nine in number, and of gigantic size,
formed at one time part of a collection belonging
to the Marquis of Mantua, the whole of which
Charles I. purchased, at a cost of ^80,000. They
represent the triumphs of Julius Caesar, and were
painted by Andrea Mantegna. . . . Cromwell
must have looked upon these grand pictures every
time he strode along the gallery. They seem now
to identify themselves with his spirit, and to depict
the ideal triumphs that he would fain have won for
England." After the death of Cromwell it was thought un
desirable to allow the palace to be stripped, in
anticipation of the arrival of Charles II. Charles,
apparently forgetful of his royal parent's misery,
often enjoyed the song and dance of revelry in this
palace. At Hampton Court he spent a large part of
his time both before and after his marriage with
Catharine of Braganza. For a king to aspire to
" happiness " is a pretension beyond his condi
tion of life. It suited Lady Castlemaine as little
that Charles should be " well acquainted " with his
youthful bride as it suited the courtiers that he
should think himself happy in wedlock. Before
the royal party arrived at Hampton Court for the
enjoyment of the honeymoon, mischief had been at
work; and though the month was May (a season that
seems expressly created by nature for honeymoons)
breezes were blowing more boisterous than the tur
bulent equinox. Still, strangely enough, Hampton
Court, in the hours of her after life, was a spot ever
dear to Catharine of Braganza, on account of its
memory of the transient dream of happiness con
nected with her honeymoon.

Hampton Court.]

ACCIDENT TO WILLIAM III.

J55

A small summer drawing-room in the suite of
apartments overlooking the river was the favourite
chamber selected by the unhappy queen for re
ceiving such persons as she admitted to private
audience. Nothing could be simpler than the fur
niture of this unadorned chamber ; the mouldings
and wainscotings were of pure white, and the hang
ings of pale sea-green damask; a chair and footstool,
somewhat richer than the rest, alone served to
mark the seat of the queen herself, whose pale
and sallow complexion was not shown off to advan
tage thereby. Here, however, "the blazing, and
audacious beauty of Lady Castlemaine often 'paled'
its ineffectual fires before the mild lustre of the
queen's girlish and almost saintly meekness."
Here, deserted by the servile tribe of flatterers,
an object of pity to some, of contempt perhaps to
more, Catharine was obliged to look on tamely,
and see the homage of the courtiers paid before
her face to other " stars," while she was abandoned
and desolate in a foreign country ; her only chance
of winning even decent courtesy of her profligate
husband depended on the degree of patience
which she could exhibit.
James II. occasionally visited Hampton Court
palace, and at times held his councils there. A
good story is told about the poet Waller and King
James. His Majesty treated Waller with great
familiarity, and one day took him into the royal
closet, and asked him how he liked one of the
pictures, at the same time pointing to a lady's por
trait. " My eyes, sir, are dim," answered Waller,
" and I cannot distinguish it." " It is the Princess
of Orange," said the king. " She is like the greatest
woman in the world, sir," answered Waller ; and
on the king asking whom he meant, he answered
again, " Queen Elizabeth." " I wonder," said his
Majesty, " that you should think so ; but I must
confess she had a wise council." "And, sir,"
asked Waller in return, " did you ever know a fool
choose a wise council ?"
William III. and his queen appear to have
preferred this palace to all their other residences.
Specimens of the beautiful embroidery of her
Majesty and her female attendants might at one
time be seen here.
Many persons were angry because " Dutch
William" tried to improve upon a structure
which had been good enough for the many royal
personages who had preceded him ; but it was not
his habit to study public opinion. Sir Christo
pher Wren pulled down various portions of the old
palace, leaving untouched, however, the entrance
court, and only so far altering the middle quad
rangle as to introduce, with bad taste, an Ionic

colonnade amongst Wolsey's antique turrets. The
third quadrangle, or Fountain Court, is almost
entirely Wren's work, as are also the grand eastern
and southern fronts. It is from the Fountain Court
that the State Apartments are reached by a stair
case, which was painted by Verrio, a man who
regarded William as an usurper, which led Lord
Orford to make the satirical remark that this artist
painted the staircase as badly as if he had spoilt it
out of principle.
Mr. J. T. Smith, in his work above quoted,
observes : — " King William III., who took every
opportunity of rendering these apartments as pleas
ing to him as those he had left in ' the house in the
Wood,' introduced nothing by way of porcelain,
beyond that of delf, and on that ware, in many
instances, his Majesty had 'W.R.,' surmounted
by the crown of England, painted on the fronts.
Of the various specimens of this clumsy blue-and-
white delf, displayed in the numerous rooms of
this once magnificent palace, the pride of Wolsey
and splendour of Henry VIIL, the eight large pots
for the reception of King William III.'s orange-
tree, now standing in her Majesty's gallery, cer
tainly have claims to future protection. As for the
old and ragged bed-furniture, it is so disgraceful to
a palace, that, antiquarian as I in some degree
consider myself, I most heartily wish it in Petticoat
Lane." John Evelyn was again at Hampton Court
shortly after William III. ascended the throne,
for under date of July 16th, 1689, he writes in
his " Diary" :— " I went to Hampton Court about
buisinesse, the Council being there. A greate apart
ment and spacious garden with fountaines was
beginning in the park, at the head of the canal."
It was in the park that the king met with the acci
dent that caused his death. Macaulay writes : —
"On the 20th of February, 1702, William was
ambling on a favourite horse, named Sorrel, through
the park of Hampton Court. He urged his horse
to strike into a gallop just at the spot where a mole
had been at work. Sorrel stumbled on the mole
hill, and went down on his'knees. The king fell
off and broke his collar-bone. The bone was set,
and he returned to Kensington in his coach, but
the jolting of the rough roads of that time made
it necessary to reduce the fracture again." It is
not to be wondered at that William never recovered
this double shock to his system, and that fever
supervening, he died a few days subsequently.
The sister of Queen Mary, then Princess of Den
mark, and afterwards Queen Anne, here gave birth
on the 24th of July, 1689, to the Duke of Glou
cester, who died at eleven years of age, and thus

i56

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

made room for the house of Brunswick. His
royal mother occasionally resided here after her
accession to the throne.
It is to this place that Pope alludes when he
thus apostrophises Queen Anne, the first English
sovereign by whom we know for certain that
"Bohea," the new and fashionable beverage of
that day, was patronised : —

Oh ! had I rather unadmired remained
In some lone isle or distant northern land,
Where the gilt chariot never marks the way,
Where none learn Ombre, none e'er taste Bohea ! "
, The sovereigns of the house of Brunswick have
not shown any great partiality for Hampton Court
Palace as a royal abode. George I. sometimes
visited the palace, as did his successor on the

HAMPTON COURT, FROM THE RIVER.

" Here thou, great Anna, whom these realms obey,
Dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes tea."
Tea, it must be remembered, was a rare article
in those days. It had not then been many years
introduced into England, for in Pepys's " Diary,"
under date of September 25 th, 1660, we find
this entry : — " I did send for a cup of tee
(a China drink), of which I had never drank
before." In the " Rape of the Lock " Belinda is made to
exclaim : —
" Happy ! ah, ten times happy had I been,
If Hampton Court these eyes had never seen !
Yet am I not the first mistaken maid
By love of courts to numerous ills betrayed.

throne, who was the last monarch who made it his
residence. The two first Georges, however, were
devoid of taste, and illiterate, and that may ac
count for the fact. " It is curious that not one
solitary epistle in the handwriting of George II. is
known to exist. This circumstance is more re
markable if we refer to his gallantries and intrigues,
so severely commented upon and recorded by Wal
pole and others." Such is the statement of a writer
in the columns of the Times.
Miss Chudleigh may be regarded as the ideal
and type of the set of pert, or even malapert,
young ladies who acted as maids of honour in the
courts of the first two Georges. A good story is
told by Charles Knight in his " London," whichj

Hampton Court.]

DR. JOHNSON'S APPEAL.

157

whether it be true or false, is at all events charac
teristic of her transcendent impudence : — Apart
ments in Hampton Court palace having been
allotted to her mother, the king good-naturedly
asked Miss Chudleigh one day how the old lady
felt in her new abode. " Oh, very well, if the poor
woman had only a bed to lie upon !" " That over
sight must be repaired," said the king. On this
hint, the maid of honour (who continued a maid
of honour for twenty years after her clandestine
marriage with the Hon. Mr. Hervey, afterwards
Earl of Bristol) acted, and in due time there ap
peared among the royal
household accounts, "To
a bed and furniture for
the apartments of the
Hon. Mrs. Chudleigh,
^4,000." The king,
who, though decidedly
fond of money, was a
man of his word, paid
the bill, but remarked
that if Mrs. Chudleigh
found the bed as hard as
he did, she would never
sleep in it.
For the last century
or more apartments in
Hampton Court Palace
have generally been be
stowed on the poorer
female members of noble
families, or on widows
of distinguished generals
and admirals who have
died in the service of
their country. It is not
generally known that once at least in his life
Dr. Johnson cast a longing eye upon this privi
leged place. At all events, the following letter
was published a few years ago in the Athentzum : —
"The following interesting letter of Dr. Samuel
Johnson has never been in print : — ' My Lord,
— Being wholly unknown to your lordship, I
have only this apology to make for presuming
to trouble you with a request — that a stranger's
petition, if it cannot be easily granted, can be
easily refused. Some of the apartments are
now vacant, in which I am encouraged to hope
that, by application to your lordship, I may obtain
a residence. Such a grant would be considered by
me as a great favour ; and I hope, to a man who
has had the honour of vindicating his Majesty's
government, a retreat in one of his houses may be
not improperly or unworthily allowed. I therefore
14

MISS CHUDLEIGH

request that your lordship will be pleased to grant
such rooms in Hampton Court as shall seem proper
to, my lord, your lordship's most obedient and
most humble servant, Sam. Johnson, Bolt Court,
Fleet Street, April 11, 1776.' Endorsed, 'Mr.
Samuel Johnson to the Earl of Hertford, requesting
apartments at Hampton Court, n May, 1776.' —
The answer : ' Lord C. presents his compliments to
Mr. Johnson, and is sorry that he cannot obey his
commands, having already on his hands many en
gagements unsatisfied.' "
In 1795, William, Prince of Orange, Hereditary
Stadtholder of Holland,
driven from Holland by
the advanced wave of the
French Revolution,found
here a hospitable asylum ;
"and here," writes gos
siping Sir Nathaniel
William Wraxall, "the
princes of our royal
family and the nation at
large vied in demonstra
tions of respect, com
passion, and attention
towards him." It was
his son who was at one
time designed to be the
husband of our Princess
Charlotte, but Provi
dence decreed otherwise.
In 1810, after being
deposed from the Swedish
throne by the great Na
poleon, Gustavus IV.
came to England, and
occupied a set of apart
ments here. He died in February, 1837.
The favoured inmates of Hampton Court palace
during Her Majesty's reign have consisted largely
of members of the following families, all of whom
are more or less nearly connected with the Peer
age :— Paget, Grey, Byng, Capel, Talbot, Ponsonby,
Murray, Cathcart, Ward, Swinburne, Crofton, &c.
In many cases these persons have been the widows
of distinguished officers of the army and navy
who have fallen in battle in the service of their
country. ,
Since the year 1839 those parts of the palace
which are not occupied by private residents, and
the gardens, have been thrown open to the public,
and during the summer months the whole place
forms daily a great attraction to hundreds of sight
seers, both English and foreign, who come to it
by road or rail or river.

*5S

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

CHAPTER XIII.
HAMPTON COURT PALACE (continued).
"A place which Nature's choicest gifts adorn,
Where Thames' kind streams in gentle currents turn,
The name of Hampton hath for ages borne ;
Here such a palace shows great Henry's care,
As Sol ne'er views in his exalted sphere,
In all his tedious stage ! " — Camden.
Early Reminiscences of Hampton Court Palace— Description of the Building— The Principal Entrance— Wolsey's Courts— The Clock Tower Court
 A Curious Timepiece — The Great Hall — Theatrical Entertainments given here — The Withdrawing Room — The Kitchen Court — The
Fountain Court — Sir Christopher Wren's Alterations and Additions to the Palace — The Chapel — The State Apartments- The " Beauty T
Room— The Tapestry Gallery— The Cartoons of Raffaelle— The Gardens— The Wilderness and Maze— The Home Park— The Royal Stud
House — A Narrow Escape of the Palace.

It is remarked in Old and New London *
that although Windsor Castle is unequalled as a
royal residence of the type of a mediaeval strong
hold, yet Hampton Court is, after all, but a poor
substitute for the Chateau of Versailles. Never
theless, few places possess more attractions than
Hampton Court. Its interest is not that of old
feudal associations : it was never half-palace, half-
fortress. It was never surrounded by a moat, nor
could it ever boast of' a drawbridge or frowning
battlements and watch-towers ; all these things had
been banished by " society " when Hampton Court
palace was founded. The better portion of it, as
we have shown in the preceding chapter, was the
creation of that princely-minded churchman — the
last of that race of English dignitaries who com
bined in themselves the powers and attributes of
the priest and the noble. Founded by a cardinal,
continued by one king, completed by another, and
since inhabited by many of royal blood and station,
and containing within its walls some of the finest
efforts of the painter, and the most elaborate pro
ductions of the obsolete but beautiful skill of the
workers of tapestry, Hampton Court palace is a
building that well repays the visitor. Nor are these
attractions confined to the palace itself : its parks
and gardens, extending to many hundreds of acres,
are equally attractive, and afford plenty of scope
for the most reflective mind to ruminate upon, or
for the most frivolous to carry out the best of his
enjoyment in his own peculiar way.
The Rev. A. C. Cox, in his " Impressions of
England," writes : — ¦" In the grounds of the palace,
and in Bushey Park, I found a formal grandeur, so
entirely becoming a past age, and so unusual in this,
that it impressed me with a feeling of melancholy
the most profound. Those avenues of chestnuts
and thorns, those massive colonnades and dreamy
vistas, wear a desolate and dreary aspect of by-
* See Vol IV., p. 122.

gone glory, in view of which my spirits could, not;
rise. They seemed only a fit haunt for airy echoes,
repeating an eternal Where ? Nothing later than
the days of Queen Anne seems to belong to the
spot.- You pass from scenes in which you cannot
but imagine Pope conceiving, for the first time, his
' Rape of the Lock,' into a more trim and formal
spot, where William of Orange seems likely to
appear before you, with Bishop Burnet buzzing
about him, and a Dutch guard following in the
rear. Then, again, James the Second, with the
Pope's nuncio at his elbow, and a coarse mistress
flaunting at his side, might seem _ to" promise an
immediate apparition ; when pnee more, the sqene
changes, and the brutal Cromwell is the only
character who can be imagined in the forlorn area,
with a file of musketeers in the background,
descried through a shadowy archway. Here is a
lordly chamber, where the meditative Charles may
be conceived as startled by the echo of their tread ;
and here another, where he embraces for the last
time his beloved children. There, at last, is
Wolsey's hall, and here one seems to behold .old-
Bluebeard leading forth Anne Boleyn to a dance.
It still retains its ancient appearance, and is hung
with mouldering tapestry and faded banners, al
though its gilding and colours have been lately
renewed. The ancient devices of the Tudors are
seen here and there in windows and tracery, and
the cardinal's hat of the proud churchman who
projected the splendours of the place still survives
in glass, whose brittle beauty has thus proved less
perishable than his worldly glory.
" Yet let no one suppose the magnificence of
Hampton Court to consist in its architecture. One-
half is the mere copy of St. James's, and the other
is the stupid novelty of Dutch William. The
whole together, with its parks and with its history,
is what one feels and admires. I am not sure but
Royal, Jamie, with his bishops and his Puritans on
either side, was as often before me when traversing

Hampton Court.]

WOLSEY'S COURTS.

*59

the pile, as anything else : and for him and his
conference the place seems fit enough, having
something of Plolyrood about it, and something
scholastic or collegiate also. Queen Victoria
should give it to the Church, as a college for the
poor, and so add dignity to her benevolence, which
has already turned it into a show for her darling
'lower classes.' I honour the queen for this con
descension to the people ; and yet, as I followed
troops of John Gilpins through the old apartments,
and observed their inanimate stare and booby ad
miration, it did strike me that a nobler and a larger
benefit might be conferred upon them in a less
incongruous way. Perhaps the happiest thought
would be to make it for the clergy just what
Chelsea is to the army and Greenwich to the naval
service." As we pass round the open courts and issue
from under the low archways, we almost expect a
robed and chained official of " the cardinal's "
splendid household admonishing a "clerk of the
kitchen," or conversing with a " gentleman of the
chamber ;" nor would it startle the ear of fancy to
hear the silence broken by the hearty, but coarse,
laugh of " bluff King Hal " himself, sauntering
familiarly with • the cardinal, during one of those
visits when the monarch came to Hampton to
enjoy the hospitality — and, alas ! to envy the
splendour — of his host. We wander into the bloom
ing, though rather formally-disposed gardens ; and
as we saunter up a shady avenue we can almost
hear the rustle of the silks and brocades of a group
of lords and ladies attending the royal Anne.
In imagination it is easy to picture to oneself the
Watteau-like group formed by the Belindas and Sir
Plumes of the age when Pope wrote his " Rape of
the Lock"; when French glitter was spread over
Dutch uniformity, as they loiter by the side of the
canal, the beaux elaborately complimentary, and
the belles condescendingly attentive, yet with a
dash of something that keeps familiarity at fan's
length. But it is time now to pass from these
fanciful themes to a description of the reality.
Skirting the picturesque green, or common, of
Hampton, the visitor enters the palace through an
archway in the western quadrangle — that portion
of the edifice appropriated, for the most part, to
families who have obtained small Government
pensions, with apartments in the palace. The
west front exhibits, to some disadvantage, the
monastic style of architecture, with all its stateli-
ness and gloom. The pillars of the principal gate
way are surmounted by a large lion and unicorn, as
supporters of the royal arms, and each of the side
gates by a military trophy. Along the left side of

the area of the outer court are barracks and such
like offices ; the greater part of the right side is
open towards the river. In front are two other
gateways — that to the left leading to the "kitchen
court," the other conducting to the first quadrangle.
This chief gateway is in excellent keeping with the
older parts of the building. It is flanked with
octagon towers, pierced with a fine pointed arch,
over which are cut, in high relief, the royal arms,
and above them projects a large and handsome
bay window, framed of stone.
Through this archway is entered the first of
Wolsey's courts remaining. There were originally
five courts, the three first of which were pulled
down to make way for William III.'s great square
mass of brickwork. The writers who saw the
palace in its glory describe it in entirety as the
most splendid palace in Europe. Grotius says : —
" Other palaces are residences of kings ; but this is
of the gods." Hentzner, who saw it in Elizabeth's
time, speaks of it with astonishment, and says : —
" The rooms, being very numerous, are adorned
with tapestry of gold, silver, and velvet, in some
of which were woven history pieces ; in others
Turkish and Armenian dresses, all extremely
natural. In one chamber are several excessively
rich tapestries, which are hungup when the queen
gives audience to foreign ambassadors. All the
walls of the palace shine with gold and silver.
Here is likewise a certain cabinet, called ' Paradise,'
where, besides that everything glitters so with silver,
gold, and jewels, as to dazzle one's eyes, there is a
musical instrument made all of glass, except the
strings." The two courts which remain are said to have
consisted only of offices ; and, indeed, in old views
of the palace the first court is represented much
lower than the next, which did not itself nearly
equal the stateliness of the rest. Mr. Howitt, in
his "Visits to Remarkable Places," observes that
" the old dark red brick walls, with still darker
lines of bricks in diamond shapes running along
them — the mixture of Gothic archways and square
mullioned windows — the battlemented roofs, turrets,
and cupolas, and tall twisted and cross-banded
chimneys, all are deeply interesting, as belonging to
the unquestionable period of Wolsey — belonging
altogether to that Tudor or transition style when
castles were fast turning into peaceful mansions,
and the beauties of ecclesiastical architecture were
called in to aid in giving ornament where before
strength had only been required."
Of late years attempts have been made here and
there at a restoration in the original style of such
portions of the original structure as required

i6o

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

repair ; and quite recently the fine oak gates, which
had been laid aside as lumber for many years, have
been re-hung, after careful repair, at the entrance
gateway ; they are of massive dimensions, are
ornamented with the usual linen-fold pattern, and
are evidently of Wolsey's time. The outer face of
the gates is pierced with shot and bullet-holes,
which may have been occasioned during skirmishes
in the civil wars, when fighting was going on out
side the palace between the Cavaliers and Round
heads ; or, as has been suggested, the holes may
have been made through the gates having been set
up as targets for the villagers of Hampton.
The work of restoration has included the vault
ing and flanking turrets of the gateway, and also
the vaulting to the gateway of the second, or
Clock-tower Court, which we now enter. This court,
called also the " middle quadrangle," is somewhat
smaller than the former, measuring 133 feet from
north to south, and about 100 from east to west.
It received the name of the Clock Court from an
astronomical clock which adorns the gateway on
the east side. This curious and antique timepiece
was removed some years ago, but in 1880 the dial
was replaced, and now, with new works by Messrs.
Gillett and Bland, again shows not only the hours
of the day and night, but also, among other things,
the day of the month, the motion of the sun and
moon, the age of the moon, the phases and
quarters of the moon, and other interesting
matters connected with the lunar movements.
The dial is composed of three separate copper
discs of different sizes, with a common centre, but
revolving at various rates. The smallest of these
is 3ft. 3^,-in. in diameter, and in the middle of this
is a slighly projected globe, painted to represent
the earth. The quarters marked on the centre
disc by thick lines are numbered with large figures,
and round the edge this disc is divided into twenty-
four parts, a red arrow painted on the second disc
pointing to these figures, and showing at once the
quarter in which the moon is and the time of
" southing." Next to the figure of the earth in this
centre disc, a circular hole, ioin. in diameter,
allows a smaller disc travelling behind to show the
phases of the moon. On the second disc, 4ft. i^in.
in diameter, but of which only the outer rim is seen,
are twenty-nine divisions, and a triangular pointer,
projecting from behind the central disc, shows the
moon's age in days. The largest of the three discs
is 7ft. ioin. in diameter. There are many circles
painted on so much of the rim of this as is seen, the
inner, or — following the order above observed, and
proceeding from the centre — the first circle, giving
the names of the months, the second the days of the

month (only twenty-eight for February), the third the
signs of the zodiac, and on the rim, with 30 degrees
for each space filled by a sign, a circle divided into
360 parts. A long pointer, with a gilded figure of
the sun attached, projecting from behind the second
disc, shows on this third or outermost disc of the
dial the day of the month and the position of the
sun in the ecliptic. This pointer performs another
duty, acting like the hour-hand of an ordinary clock,
and showing the time of day or night as it passes the
twenty-four figures — two sets of twelve — painted on
the stonework within which the dial revolves. The
diameter of this outer immovable circle on the
stone is 9ft. Sin., and the figures of the hours,
Roman numerals, are 9m. in length. About the
original clock very little is known, and even the
name of the maker is not to be found in any of the ,
works in which information on a matter of so much
interest would be looked for. The date of its con
struction is known, and but little more. On a bar
of the wrought-iron framework to which the dial is
fixed is to be found, deeply cut and distinctly
engraved, "N.O., 1540." One other evidence
of its antiquity is derived from an entry, men
tioned by Mr. E. J. Wood, in his " Curiosities of
Clocks and Watches," of a payment made in 1575
to one George Gaver, "serjeant painter, for paint
ing the great dial at Hampton Court Palace, con
taining hours of the day and night, the course of
the sun and moon," and so on, though the author
has not given a reference to the record in which he
found this fact set down. Since Master Gaver
exercised his art in decorating the dial-face, many
clockmakers, it seems probable, from time to time
repaired and altered the works ; for Dr. Derham,
describing the condition of theclockin i7n,when
it had been recently repaired by Mr. Lang Bradley,
of Fenchurch Street, said it had been found that the
original pricked wheel and pinion had been re
moved, by some ignorant workman, as he supposed.
Judging from the numbers given by Dr. Derham of
the toothing of the wheels, the clock, it appears,
even with the changes made by Mr. Bradley, could
not have performed its functions accurately. It is
not unlikely that the astronomical clock had long-
been useless, for as early as the year 1649 another-
clock-face had been placed on the other side of this
gate-tower, over the entrance to the Great Hall,
and a striking part had been added to the works of
the clock.
In 1835 the works of the old clock were removed,'
but what became of them is not known. On the
works of the clock removed in 1880 was found the
following inscription :—" This clock, originally
made for the Queen's Palace in St. James's Palace,,

Hampton Court.]

A CURIOUS TIME-PIECE.

161

and for many years in use there, was, a.d. 1835,,
by command of His Majesty King William IV,
altered and adapted to suit Hampton Court Palace
by B. L. Vulliamy, clock-maker to the King ; " and
on another plate on the clock — •" Vulliamy, London,
No. 352, a.d. 1799." The motive-power of this
clock had evidently not been sufficient to drive
in addition the astronomical dial, and the useless
dial had been taken down and stowed away in a
workshop at the palace, the gap left being filled by
a painted board. When Mr. Bland, of the firm of
Gillett and Bland, who had been commissioned by
the Office of Works to make a new clock, examined
the wheels by which the dials were to be moved, he
found by the number of teeth in some of the
wheels that the astronomical clock could not
possibly have served its purpose. New wheels
were therefore cut. The new works drive both the
astronomical dial and the hands of the ordinary
clock-face on the opposite or western side of the
tower. In the mechanism many ingenious con
trivances have been employed, and the clock is
guaranteed not to vary more than five seconds a
week. The bells are in the little hybrid classical
cupola of painted wood which disfigures the nobly-
proportioned Tudor tower of Cardinal Wolsey's
palace. That on which the hours are struck
weighs about 18 cwt, and two smaller bells chime
the quarters. The large bell has plainly at some
time been hung for ringing, and was probably
fixed for striking when the two small bells, which
were brought from another tower of the palace,
were placed with it. In size, the clock — i.e., the
mechanism within the clock-chamber — is, giving
over all measurements, 7ft. 6in. long, 3ft. 6in. wide,
and 3ft. 6in. deep, the main wheels being 14, 16,
and 16 inches respectively in diameter. The clock
face, of slate, on the west side of the tower, is 5ft. Sin.
in diameter. It may interest the visitor to know that
the small circular space, 3ft. in diameter, above the
square clock front, now filled with a slab of slate, on
which is cut the monogram of William IV, was, as
the form of the brickwork behind shows, filled at an
earlier period (probably until Vulliamy's clock was
put up) by a clock dial, perhaps' the one spoken of
in a description of the palace in 1649 quoted by
Mr. Wood. It is said that in the " clock-case upon
the Great Hall there is one large bell and a clock
under it, very useful for the whole house, having a
fair dial or finger, upon the end of the said Great
Hall, facing in the Great Court."
The south side of the Clock Court is partly con
cealed and disfigured by a colonnade, supported
by pillars of the Ionic order, the design of Sir
Christopher Wren. The oriel windows above each

of the gateways of this court are adorned with the
arms of Henry VIIL, whilst on the face of the
octagonal turrets on either side of the archway are
busts of the Caesars in terra-cotta. These, with
other medallions in the adjoining court, were the
gifts of Pope Leo X. to Cardinal Wolsey. Over
the archway leading into the Clock Court are
the arms of Wolsey, together with his motto —
"Dominus mihi adjutor" — "God is my helper."
The south of the Clock Court is occupied by the
Great Hall. This splendid apartment was built —
or at all events completed — by Henry VIIL, whose
arms and cognisances enrich the ceiling, after the
death of Wolsey. The archway forming the
entrance to the hall has a rich fan-traceried roof.
This handsome groined ceiling, having become
ruinous and in danger of falling, was restored in
1880, the greatest care being taken to preserve and
reproduce the exact form and details of the original.
The apartment is reached by a short flight of stone
steps. The following details of the hall are quoted
from Mr. Jesse's able description of the building,
in his " Summer's Day at Hampton Court : " —
" The dimensions of this very noble room are
— in length 106 feet, in breadth 40 feet, and in
height 60 feet. The roof is very elaborately
timbered, and richly decorated with carvings of
several of the royal badges and with pendent orna
ments, executed in a style which shows that the
Italian taste had already made considerable ad
vances in this country.
" Seven capacious windows on one side, and six
on the other side, with a large window at each end,
all placed considerably above the floor, throw a
fulness of light throughout the apartment. A bay
window on the dai's, extending from the upper part
of the wall nearly to the floor, contributes very
essentially to the cheerfulness of the general effect.
This window has been enriched by Mr. Willement
with compartments of stained glass, containing the
arms, initials, and badges of King Henry VIIL, the
arms and motto of Queen Jane Seymour, ' Bown'd
to obey and serve,' and the full insignia and motto
of Wolsey, ' Dominus mihi afljutor.' On the lower
part is seen the following inscription — ' The lorde
Thomas Wulsey, Cardinal, legat de latere, Arch
bishop of Yorke, and Chancellor of Englande.'
The whole of the stained glass in the hall and in
the presence-chamber is modern, and of Mr. Wille-
ment's fashioning and framing.
" It was, if we may trust tradition, upon one of
the panes of glass of this window that Henry
Howard, Earl of Surrey, so famous for the tender
ness and elegance of his poetry and for his martial
nature, wrote some lines with a diamond on the

1

162

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

"fair Geraldine"; and it is told, with what certainty
we know not, that the first play acted in this hall
was that of ' Henry VIIL, or the Fall of Wolsey.'
Shakespeare is said to have been one of the actors
in this play.
" Above the entrance-door, leading into the
presence-chamber, or withdrawing-room, has
been inserted a richly-carved stone bracket,
inscribed ' Seynt George for merrie Englande,'
on which, in full panoply, stands our patron
saint, surrounded by a halo of ramrods, trans
fixing with his spear his antagonist, the dragon.
On each side of this stands a smaller bracket,
bearing figures clothed in bright plate armour.
These figures were placed here by permission of
the Board of Ordnance from the stores in the
Tower. He has also arranged a fine group of
armour under the east window.
" Between each of the side windows there
is a noble pair of the horns of deer, with finely-
carved heads of the animal, and carved wreaths
round each of them. These horns, which form
a part of a large' collection, were probably
placed in the hall in the reign of Henry VIIL,
when it was called the Hall of Horns. They
have been preserved in the palace, and the

tioned. From the under part of the side windows
to within a few inches of the pavement, the walls
are covered with tapestry of such excellent design,
and such costliness of material, that it may be

INTERIOR OF THE GREAT HALL.
original colours have been restored as nearly
as it was possible to do so. Over the horns
are banners, having the devices of Henry VIIL
and the arms of Wolsey, and of his several
benefices, painted on them. The stringcourse
above the tapestries has also been enriched with
the rose, portcullis, &c, in colours. The most
interesting, however, of the decorations to be seen
in this truly regal apartment have yet to be men-

safely asserted that its parallel
does not exist in Europe at
this time. Three pieces hang
on each side of the hall, and two
others at the da'is end.
" ' For round about the walls yclothed
were
With goodly arras of great
majesty,
Woven with gold and silke so close
and nere,
That the rich metal lurked privily,
As feigning to be hidd from envious
eye;
Yet here, and there, and everywhere, unwares
It shewed itselfe and shone unwillingly ;
Like a discoloured snake, whose hidden snares
Through the green grass his long bright-burnished back
declares.' " SPENSER.
This noble apartment is commonly spoken of as
" Wolsey's Hall," but it was probably only designed
by him. Mr. Brewer, in the " Beauties of England
and Wales," says that " it has been supposed that

Hampton Court.]

THE GREAT HALL.

163

as this room is not described in the account by
Cavendish of Cardinal Wolsey's entertainment of
the French ambassadors, it was entirely a part of
the additional buildings raised by King Henry.
But it formed so important a feature in the design
of the mansion, that we may safely ascribe the
exterior walls and embellishments to the magni
ficent Wolsey, though we shall speedily show that

burying-place. (7) Abraham and Lot parting. (8)
Abraham offering up Isaac. The tapestries are
mentioned by Evelyn in his " Diary." Of them he
says : — " I believe the world can show nothing
nobler of the kind than the stories of Abraham and
Tobit." They are supposed to have been executed
by Bernard Van Orlay, a pupil of Raffaelle. They
were bought by Oliver Cromwell, and valued in the
inventory at ^8,260. At the
entrance to the hall are some
smaller pieces of similar
tapestry, but of earlier date.
At the west end of the
hall is the " Minstrels' Gallery,"
above which is arranged a
group of armour,halberts, pikes,
and banners.
This hall (as stated above)
was occasionally used as a
theatre for plays and masques
in the merry days of Queen
Elizabeth. It was again used
for a similar purpose as late

THE FIRST COURT.

the interior was not completed till
1536, or the succeeding year." At
a meeting of the British Archaeological
Association here in 1882, Mr. Hubert
Hall stated that from the accounts
kept at the Record Office, and the
papers in the British Museum, it was
clear that " this hall was not finished
when Wolsey was compelled to ' give '
the palace to Henry VIIL, and that
it was completed by the king." Till
about 1770, when it was restored, it
had a large open fireplace in the centre,
and the roof above was pierced by a
lantern, which added picturesqueness to the ex
ternal sky-line.
The subjects of the arras tapestry — eight in
number — ranged round the hall illustrate the his
tory of Abraham, and are as follows : — (1) God
appearing to Abraham, and blessing him. (2) The
birth and circumcision of Isaac, and the expulsion
of Hagar and Ishmael. (3) Abraham sending his
servant to seek a wife for his son Isaac. (4) The
Egyptians sending away Abraham and Sarah with
gifts. (5) Abraham entertaining three angels. (6)
Abraham purchasing the Cave of Machpelah for a

WmSKKk

twill

jr^jijjliy^

FOUNTAIN COURT.
; as the reign of George Ir, when, however, not
I more than seven plays were performed. It is sig
nificant that one of these dramas, acted on the
1st of October, 17 18, was Henry VIII. Sir R.
Steele, being asked by a grave nobleman— after
Shakespeare's Henry VIIL had been performed
here— how it pleased the king, replied— "So terribly
well, that I was afraid, my lord, I should have lost
all my actors ; for I was not sure the king would
not keep them to fill the posts about the Court,
for that he saw them so fit for the play."
On the 1 6th of October, 1731, the hall was

TW»

164

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

again used for a theatrical performance for the
entertainment of the Duke of Lorraine, afterwards
Emperor of Germany. Not until towards the close
of the last century were the disfigurements to this
hall removed. In 1829, during the rebuilding of
Hampton church, the hall was fitted up for the
purposes of divine service, and was used as the
parish church for about two years.
After an interval of 150 years, the great hall, in
1880, was once again the scene of a theatrical enter
tainment. This was an amateur dramatic perform
ance, given by special permission of Her Majesty
the Queen, in aid of Princess Frederica's Home at
Hampton. A stage was erected above the dais at
the east end of the hall, the large withdrawing-
room forming a splendid "green room" for the
performers. The plays performed were Yellow
Roses, a dramatic sketch by Sir Charles Young,
which was enacted by the author and Lady
Monckton, and Tears, an amusing trifle, in which
also Sir Charles Young and Lady Monckton
assumed the principal characters.
" The circumstances of regal banqueting con
nected with the hall," writes Mr. Brewer, in the
"Beauties of England and Wales," "are equally
numerous and interesting. The unfortunate
Catharine Howard was here first openly shown as
queen, as also was Catharine Parr, her more
prosperous successor. Henry VIIL often kept
wassail within these walls ; and here, during the
Christmas 0F1543, he entertained Francis Gonzaga,
the Viceroy of Sicily. Edward VI. likewise pre
sided, in puerile magnificence, over the table in the
high place in the hall. Philip and Mary kept their
Christmas at Hampton Court in 1554."
The withdrawing-room is entered by a doorway
from the centre of the da'is in the hall, and is a
noble apartment, sixty-two feet in length by
twenty-nine feet in width, and the same in height.
The ceiling is beautifully enriched with pendent
ornaments, interspersed with the cognizances of the
rose, portcullis, and other badges, and with coats-of-
arms. The walls of this chamber are hung with
tapestry in seven compartments, supposed to be of
an early period of the French school. The subjects
are as follows : — " Fame," " The Triumph of
Virtue," "The Influence of Destiny," "The Death
of Hercules," " Peace and War," &c. Above the
tapestry are seven large cartoons, painted by Carlo
Cignani, the subjects of which are as follows : —
"Cupid riding on an Eagle," "The Triumph of
Venus," "Cupid with a Torch," "Apollo and
Daphne," " Jupiter and Europa," " The Triumph
of Bacchus, Venus, and Ariadne," and " Cupid and
a Satyr." These cartoons were designed for frescoes

painted in the ducal palace at Parma, about the
year 1660.
A passage on the north side of the great hall
leads to Tennis Court Lane, whence a good view is
obtained of the older parts of the palace, of which
the Kitchen Court, with its curious circular erec
tion, is not the least interesting.
The Fountain Court, or Eastern Quadrangle, as •
it is now called, was built, as we have already
noted, by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1690. It is
encircled by a colonnade of the Ionic order,
with duplicated columns. Wren was appointed
to the office of Surveyor-General of his Majesty's
Works in 1668, and was employed by William
III. to pull down part of the old palace, and
to build in its place the quadrangle now under
notice. The alterations and additions made here
by Sir Christopher are far from being favourable
specimens of his art. The studies made by him
from the buildings of Louis XIV. had but too
visible an effect on his palaces and private buildings;
so that, as Horace Walpole remarks, " it may be
considered fortunate that the French built only
palaces, and not churches, and therefore St. Paul's
escaped, though Hampton Court was sacrificed to
the god of false taste." Wren's failure at Hampton
Court palace, however, may be largely attributed
to his having worked there under the directions of
King William, one of whose favourite residences it
was, and whose taste in architecture was of the
lowest grade; indeed, when the arrangement of
the low cloisters was criticised, the king took the
whole blame on himself, acknowledging that they
had been constructed by his own particular orders.
The Fountain Court is nearly a square, more
than a hundred feet each way. In the area is a grass-
plat railed in, with a circular basin in the centre',
and a small fountain playing. This court occupies
the site of the chief or grand court, which was de
scribed by Hentzner, in the reign of Elizabeth, as
" paved with square stone, and having in its centre
a fountain which throws up water, covered with a
gilt crown, on the top of which is a statue of
Justice, supported by columns of black and white
marble." The chapel is situated on the north side of
the Fountain Court. The edifice having under
gone alterations in successive reigns, its archi
tecture can scarcely be assigned to any particular
period. On the outer wall, on either side of the
door, are the arms of Henry VIIL impaling those
of Seymour, and the initials " H. J." united by a
true lover's knot. From these indications it
appears probable that the chapel was a part of
the additional buildings constructed by King

Hampton Court.]

THE STATE APARTMENTS.

165

Henry, and finished during the short-lived felicity
arising from his marriage with Jane Seymour. Mr.
Lysons, in his notice of Hampton Court, gives the
following particulars concerning the chapel : —
" Before the civil war this chapel was ornamented
with stained glass and pictures, which were de
molished in 1645, as appears by the following
paragraph, taken from a weekly paper of that date :
'Sir Robert Harlow gave order (according to the
ordinance of Parliament) for the pulling down and
demolishing of the Popish and superstitious pictures
in Hampton Court, where this day the altar was
taken down, and the table brought into the body of
the church, the rails pulled down and the steps
levelled, and the Popish pictures and superstitious
images that were in the glass windows were also
demolished,' and order given for the new glazing
them with plain glass ; and among the rest there
was pulled down the picture of " Christ nailed to the
Cross," which was placed right over the altar, and
the picture of Mary Magdalen and others weeping
by the foot of the cross, and some other' idolatrous
pictures, were pulled down and demolished.' The
chapel was fitted up in its present state by Queen
Anne; it is pewed with black and white marble,
and fitted with Norway oak. The carving is by
Gibbons. The original roof remains — a plain
Gothic pattern, with pendent ornaments. Hentzner,
who visited England in Queen Elizabeth's reign,
speaks of the chapel as most splendid ; and says
that the queen's closet was transparent, with win
dows of crystal."
The State apartments are approached from the
Fountain Court by means of the grand staircase,
the walls and ceiling of which were painted by
Verrio with mythological subjects, supposed to
be allusions to the marriage of the Thames and
Isis. Upon the ceiling are represented Jupiter
and Juno seated upon a rich throne, with Gany
mede riding upon Jupiter's eagle, and presenting to
him the cup. Juno's peacock is in the front, and
one of the fatal sisters is waiting, with her scissors
in her hand, ready to cut the thread of life, should
Jove give her orders. Verrio — -the propriety of
whose taste may be estimated by the fact of his
having introduced himself and Sir Godfrey Kneller
in one of his pictures in long periwigs, as spec
tators of our Saviour healing the sick — was paid
for the whole palaces of Windsor and Hampton
Court ceilings, sides, and back stairs at the rate
of 8s. a foot, exclusive of gilding, and had wine
daily allowed him, and lodgings in the palaces,
and, when his eyesight failed, a pension of
^200 per annum arid an allowance of wine
for life. , He was devoted, from religious and

political feelings, to the government of James II.,
and it seems that he was prevailed on with much
difficulty even to paint for the successor of his
former master.
The first room entered is the Guard Chamber,
the walls of which are partly covered with arms
and military trophies, in the shape of halberts,
muskets, swords, &c, fancifully disposed in various
ornamental forms. On the lower panels of this
apartment are a few pictures, mostly portraits of
admirals and military subjects ; and including a
spirited battle-piece, by Giulio Romano, and Cana-
letti's " Ruins of the Colosseum." It will be
impossible in the space at our disposal to mention
anything near a tithe of the pictures and objects of
interest that meet the eye of the visitor whilst
passing through the long suite of rooms, nearly
thirty in number. Most of the chambers are hung
with tapestry, and have painted ceilings. In one
he will be attracted by the picture of " St. William,"
painted by Giorgione ; in another by the portrait
of Bandinelli the sculptor, by Correggio, which has
always been considered a picture of great delicacy;
nor will the paintings by Velasquez fail to arrest
his attention. In the Audience Chamber, pictures
by Ricci, Giulio Romano, Rubens, and Sebastian
del Piombo, will meet his gaze ; whilst in the
King's Drawing-room he may compare the
"Agony of our Saviour in the Garden," by
Nicholas Poussin, with a military picture by the
late Sir William Beechey, in which George III. is
represented as reviewing the 10th Hussars. In
the bed-room of William III. he may feast his eyes
on the counterfeit presentments of the " beauties "
of the Court of Charles II. In this chamber is the
State bed of Queen Charlotte, the hangings of
which were worked for her Majesty by the orphan
daughters of clergymen. The ceiling of this room,
which is in good preservation, was painted by
Verrio, and is intended to represent " Night " and
"Morning." The clock in this room was made
by Daniel Quare, and requires winding-up only
once in twelve months. The portraits round the
room are as follows : — Anne, Duchess of York ;
Lady Byron ; Princess Mary, as Diana ; Queen
Catharine ; Mrs. Knott ; Duchess of Portsmouth ;
Duchess of Richmond ; Nell Gwynne ; Countess
of Rochester; Duchess of Somerset; Mrs. Lawson;
Countess of Northumberland; Lady Denham ;
Countess of Sunderland ; Lady Middleton ; Lady
Whitmore ; Countess of Ossory; Duchess of Cleve
land ; and the Countess de Grammont. Of the
above portraits, those of the Duchess of Somerset,
Mrs. Knott, and Mrs. Lawson, were painted by
Verelot, the Duchess of Portsmouth by Gasker,

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

and the remainder by Sir Peter Lely. There are
thirteen other portraits of ladies, whose names are
unknown. Another apartment, formerly known as the
" Beauty Room," contains the portraits of Queen
Mary, consort of William III., and the follow
ing eight distinguished ladies of her court : —
The Duchess of St. Albans ; Isabella, Duchess of
Grafton ; Carey, Countess of Peterborough ; the
Countess of Ranelagh ; Mary, Countess of Essex ;
Mary, Countess of Dorset ; Lady Middleton ; and
Mrs. Scrope. These " beauties " were painted by
Sir Godfrey Kneller. " The thought," says Lord
Orford, " was the queen's, during one of the king's
absences, and contributed much to make her un
popular ; as I have heard from the authority of the
old Countess of Carlisle (daughter of Arthur, Earl
of Essex), and who died within these few years, and
remembered the event. She added that the
famous Lady Dorchester advised the queen against
it, saying — ' Madam, if the king was to ask for the
portraits of* all the wits in the court, would not the
rest think he called them fools ? ' "
It is on record that among the visitors one day,
• in the middle' of the last century, were " those
goddesses, the Gunnings " — the two fair sisters who
turned the heads of half London, and became
respectively Lady Coventry and Duchess of Hamil
ton. As they were going into the " Beauty Room "
another batch of visitors arrived. The housekeeper
said : " This way, ladies ; here are the beauties."
The fair Gunnings flew, or pretended to fly, into
a passion, and asked her " what she meant by her
words ; for they had come to see the palace, and
not to be made a show themselves."
The Queen's Gallery — or, as it is sometimes
called, the Tapestry Gallery, from seven pieces of
tapestry, taken from the history of Alexander the
Great, from paintings by Le Brun — is eighty feet
long and twenty-five feet wide. The tapestries have
now given place to an interesting and well-
arranged collection of pictures, among which the
Elizabethan group is well worth the attention of
the visitor; among them are two large pictures,
representing the embarkation of Henry VIIL at
Dover, and the meeting of that king and Francis I.
of France in the field called the Cloth of Gold,
near Calais.
"These pictures are not only historically very
interesting, but," says Mr. Jesse, " a curious fact is
connected with one of them. After the death of
Charles I., the Commonwealth were in treaty with
a French agent, who had expressed his desire of
purchasing these pictures for the King of France.
Philip, Earl of Pembroke, who was a great

admirer and an excellent judge of painting, and
considered these valuable pictures an honour to an
English palace, came privately into the royal apart
ments, cut out that part of the picture where King
Henry's head was painted, and, putting it into his
pocket-book, retired unnoticed. The French agent,
finding the picture mutilated, declined purchasing
it. After the Restoration, the then Earl of Pern-
broke delivered the mutilated piece to Charles II,
who ordered it to be replaced. On looking at the
picture in a side light, the insertion of the head is
very visible. It may fairly be doubted whether
Holbein painted these pictures, they are too
coarse ; besides, he did not arrive in England till
six years after the interview depicted, and therefore
could not have taken the many excellent English
portraits which are introduced into the pictures at
that time. It is, however, immaterial, as their
intrinsic merit and historical interest will always
demand attention."
Throughout the whole of the State apartments
there is much to gratify the taste of those who love
to revel in " Pictureland," particularly if their taste
or curiosity leads them to penetrate the semblances
of those who lived in ''the good old times,"
whether they be by Rembrandt, Titian, the
Claudes, the Guidos, Caravaggio, Spagnoletto,
Mantegna, or Holbein.
Among the paintings which enrich the principal
apartments there now remain but comparatively
few of those which were brought together with so
judicious a hand by Charles I. The most noble
purchase made by that king — the seven great
cartoons of Raffaelle, which found here for many
years their appropriate home — have been removed
to the South Kensington Museum, as more easily
accessible to the student as well as the London
sight-seer. They had previously been on view
at Windsor Castle, and before that occupied
an octagonal apartment at Buckingham Palace.*
These cartoons were executed by Raffaelle while
engaged in the chambers of the Vatican, under the
auspices of Popes Julius II. and Leo X. As soon as
they were finished they were sent to Flanders to
be copied in tapestry, for adorning the Pontifical
apartments ; but the tapestries were not conveyed
to Rome till after the decease of Raffaelle, and
probably not before the dreadful sack of that city
in 1527, under the pontificate of Clement VII.;
when Raffaelle's scholars having fled from thence,
none were left to inquire after the original cartoons,
which lay neglected in the store-rooms of the manu
factory, the money for the tapestry having never
* See " Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 64.

Hampton Court.]

THE PICTURE GALLERIES.

167

been paid. The revolution that happened soon
after in the Low Countries prevented their being
noticed during a period in which works of art were
wholly neglected. They were purchased by
Charles I., at the recommendation of Rubens, but
had been much injured by the weavers. At the
sale of the royal pictures in 1653 these cartoons
were purchased for ^300 by Oliver Cromwell,
against whom no one would presume to bid. The
Protector pawned them to the Dutch Court for
upwards of .£50,000, and after the revolution King
William brought them over again to England, and
built a gallery for their reception in Hampton
Court. Originally there were twelve of these
cartoons, but four of them have been destroyed by
damps and neglect. The subjects were "The
Adoration of the Magi," " The Conversion of St.
Paul," "The Martyrdom of St. Stephen," and
"St. Paul before Felix and Agrippa." Two of
these . were in the possession of the King of
Sardinia, and two of Louis XIV. of France, who is
said to have offered 100,000 louis d'ors for the
seven, which are justly represented as " the glory of
England, and the envy of all other polite nations."
The twelfth, the subject of which was " The
Murder of the Innocents," belonged to a private
gentleman in England, who pledged it for a sum of
money ; but when the person who had taken this
valuable deposit found it was to be redeemed, he
greatly damaged the drawing, for which the gentle
man brought an action against him.
In spite of the additions made to the collec
tion of pictures here by Charles L, Mr. J. T.
Smith, in his " Book for a Rainy Day," some
what sneeringly endeavours to give the chief
praise to Henry VIIL as the greatest promoter of
the taste for the fine arts in England. "It is
curious to observe," remarks Mr. Smith, " how
fond Horace Walpole, and indeed all his followers,
have been of attributing the earliest encouragement
of the fine arts in England to King Charles I.
That is not the fact ; nor is that monarch entitled,
munificent as he was, to that degree of praise
which biographers have thought proper to attribute
to him as a liberal patron ; and this I shall imme
diately prove. King Henry VIIL was the first
English sovereign who encouraged painting, in
consequence of Erasmus introducing Hans Holbein
to Sir Thomas More, who showed his Majesty
specimens of that artist's rare productions. Upon
this, the king most liberally invited him to White
hall, where he gave him extensive employment, not
only in decorating the panels and walls of that
palac-e with portraits of the Tudors as large as life,
but with easel pictures of the various .branches of

his family and courtiers, to be placed over doors
and other spaces of the State chambers. Holbein
may be recorded as the earliest painter of portraits
in miniature, which were mostly circular, and all
those which I have seen were relieved by blue
backgrounds. He was also the designer and
draughtsman of numerous subjects for the use of
the Court jewellers, as may be seen in a most curious
volume preserved in the print-room of the British
Museum, many of the drawings in which are
beautifully coloured."
Mr. William Howitt, in his " Visits to Remark
able Places," thus concludes his notice of the
pictures at Plampton Court : — " Here we must quit
the presence of these noblest of the conceptions of
the divine Raffaelle — rejoicing, however, that they
are now free to our contemplation as the very
landscape around them, and that we can, at our
pleasure, walk into this fine old palace, linger
before these sacred creations at our will, and return
to them again and again.
" Quitting them, we shall now hastily quit the
Palace of Hampton Court ; for though there is a
small room adjoining, containing Casanova's draw
ing of Raffaelle's celebrated picture of 'The Trans
figuration,' and several other interesting paintings,
and yet another long Portrait Gallery, filled from
end to end with the forms and faces of celebrated
persons by celebrated artists, we can but gaze and
pass on ; and yet, who would not delight to have
that one room to himself, to haunt day after day,
and to ponder over the features and costumes of
Locke, Newton, Sheridan, Boyle, Charles XII. of
Sweden, Caroline, the Queen of George II., made
interesting to all the world by the author of
'Waverley,' in the interview of Jeanie Deans?
Who would not pause a moment before even the
little Geoffrey Hudson, and think of all that di
minutive knight's wrath, his duel, and his adventure
in the pie? Lord Falkland's fine and characteristic
face is a sight worth a long hour's walk on a winter's
morning ; and the Earl of Surrey, flaming in his
scarlet dress, scarlet from head to foot — who
would not stop and pay homage to the memory of
his bravery, his poetry, and his Geraldine? But
there are Rosamond' Clifford and Jane Shore.
Lely had not brought the Graces into England in
their day, and therefore, instead of those wondrous
beauties which we expect them, we find them —
ghosts. "Here, too, is another portrait of Queen Elizabeth,
a full-length by Zucchero, where 'stout Queen Bess '
is not in one of her masculine moods of laconic
command— when she looked ' every inch a queen '
—but in a most melancholy and romantic one

i68

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

indeed. She is clad in a sort of Armenian dress
— a loose figured robe, without shape, without
sleeves, and trimmed with fur — a sort of high cap,
and Eastern slippers. She is represented in a wood,
with a stag near her ; and on a tree are cut, one
below the other, after the fashion of the old
romances, the following sentences: — Injusti
JUSTA QUERELA.  MEA SIC MIHI.  DOLOR
est medicina dolori. And at the foot of the

tree, on a scroll, these
of the royal manu
facture : —
" ' The restless swallow fits
my restless minde,
In still revivinge,
still renewinge
wrongs ;
Her just complaints of
cruelty unkinde
Are all the musique
that my life pro-
longes.
With pensive thoughtes
my weepinge stags
I crowne,
Whose melancholy
teares my cares ex-
presse ;
Hes teares in sylence,
and my sighes un-
knowne,
Are all the physicke
that my harmes
redresse.
My onely hopes was in
this goodly tree,
Which I did plant in
love, bringe up in
care,
But all in vaine, for
now too late I see
The shales be mine,
the kernel others
are.

verses, supposed to be

ANNE BOLEYN S GATEWAY
(From Lysons.)

My musique may be plaintes, my physique teares,
If this be all the fruite my love-tree beares.'
"We step through the door on which Jane
Shore's spectral visage is hung, and lo ! we are on
the Queen's Staircase, and descend once more to
the courts of Wolsey. Long as we have lingered
in this old palace, we have had but a glimpse of it.
Its antiquities, its pleasantness, and its host of
paintings, cannot be comprehended in a visit :
they require a volume; and a most delicious
volume that would be which should take us
leisurely through the whole, giving us the spirit
and the history, in a hearty and congenial tone,
of its towers and gardens, and all the renowned
persons who have figured in its courts, or whose
limned shapes now figure on its walls."

The gardens of Hampton Court are about forty-
four acres in extent. They were originally laid
out by Cardinal Wolsey, and greatly improved by
Queen Elizabeth and Charles II. It is said that
the gardens were closed against the public in the
time of George I., who, being unaware of the cir
cumstance, inquired of the gardener one morning
why the gates were shut against the people.
" Because, your Majesty," replied the man in office,
"they steal the flowers." "What," returned the
good-natured monarch,
" are my English sub
jects so fond of flowers?
Plant more, then ! "
This story, however,
is told also of Ken
sington. George III.
also took great pride
and pleasure in them,
and often drove over
from Kew to visit them.
The public gardens
are separated by an
iron fence from what
is called the Home
Park. The gardens
and park were put
into their present form
by Messrs. Loudoun
and Wise, gardeners
to their Majesties
William and Mary.
The gardens them
selves are perfectly flat,
and are laid out in
the Dutch style — stiff
and formal, with long-
drawn avenues and
opening glades, after
the fashion of the Low Countries. The east front
of the palace is open to the gardens, and is
here seen to the best advantage. It is constructed
of bright red brick, with stone dressings, and
in the centre four fluted three-quarter columns,
of the Corinthian order, sustain an angular pedi
ment, on which are sculptured in bas-relief the
triumphs of Hercules over Envy. Along this
front of the building there is a broad gravel walk,
leading, on the one hand, down to the banks
of the Thames, and on the other to a gate,
called the Flowerpot Gate, which opens on the
Kingston Road. At the southern end of the east
front is the entrance to the private garden, which
contains a few rare plants, the remains of Queen
Mary's botanical garden. Here, too, is a large

HAMPTON COURT.
{From a Print published about 1770.)

170

GREATER LONDON.

[Hampton Court.

lean-to house, containing the famous grape-vine.
The inside dimensions of this house are seventy-two
feet in length by thirty feet in breadth. The vine
is planted inside the house, and the roof is almost
entirely covered with branches, some of which are
over a hundred feet in length. The average yearly
produce of this vine is said to amount to about
1,200 pounds, and the grapes are sent to supply her
Majesty's table. The tree is believed to have
been planted in 1768 by Lancelot Brown, who
was once, chief gardener here, and who after
wards became so much noted as one of the first
practitioners of the English style of landscape
gardening. On approaching the vine we pass two
large greenhouses, which contain some orange-trees
and other plants. Amongst them is an orange-
myrtle, said to have been brought to this country
by William III.
In the reign of Charles II., the large semicircle
on the east side of the palace was planted ; but it
was not till the reign of William III. that the
grounds were brought to anything like perfection.
At this period the art of clipping yew and other
trees into regular figures and fantastic shapes
reached its highest point, being greatly favoured
by the king. Four urns, said to be the first that
were used in the gardens, were also planted by
William III. in front of the palace. Walpole says
that the walls were once covered with rosemary,
and that the trees were remarkable specimens of
the "topiary " art, as the fashion of clipping trees
into stiff unnatural forms was then called.
On the northern side of the palace is a large
space of ground, called "the Wilderness," which
was planted and laid out by William III. In this
part of the grounds is a labyrinth, or maze, which
affords much amusement to visitors. Near the
labyrinth is an entrance known as the " Lion
Gates," which are particularly handsome, being
designed in a bold and elegant style. The large
stone piers of the gates are richly decorated, their
cornices supported by fluted columns, and sur
mounted by two colossal lions couchant.
Hampton Court Palace is supplied with water
from some springs in Coombe Wood, whence it is
conducted through pipes which were laid down by
Cardinal Wolsey at a very great outlay. The
distance is about two miles, in the most direct
line, and the leaden pipes which convey the water
are carried across the bottom of the River Thames.
There are two pipes from each conduit, making
altogether eight miles of leaden pipes.
Hampton Court (or the Home) Park immediately
adjoins the palace gardens, and is about five miles
in circumference. It extends from the borders of

the gardens to Hampton Wick, and is bounded on
the south by the River Thames, and on the north
by the high road to Kingston. This park is welt
stocked with deer. It is watered by a canal about
half a mile in length, having a fine avenue of lime-
trees on each side of it. Another canal to corres
pond was partly excavated by William III., and
near it the spot is still pointed out where the
accident happened which cost him his life. The
avenues in this park were planted by William III.
Near the upper deer-pen is a fine old oak-tree ¦
about forty feet in circumference; and there is also
near the stud-house an elm known by the name of
" King Charles's Swing," which is peculiarly curious
in shape. A building, called the Pavilion, which
was erected by Sir Christopher Wren in the reign
of William III., was the occasional residence of
the late Duke of Kent, in his official capacity as
"ranger" of this park.
In the park may still be seen some lines of
fortifications, which were originally constructed for
the purpose of teaching the art of war to William,
Duke of Cumberland, when a boy — the same duke
who became so celebrated afterwards in the Scottish
rising of 1745.
The Stud-house, in the centre of the Home
Park, was founded by the Stuarts ; but George IV.
was its great supporter and maintainer, for both
as prince regent and as king he was devoted to
racing, and began breeding race-horses here syste
matically and on an extensive scale.
The cream-coloured horses used on State occa
sions by the sovereign are kept here. They are
descended from those brought over from Hanover
by the princes of the Brunswick line, being a
special product of those countries. The breed is
kept up here most religiously, and the animals are
the last representatives of the Flemish horses, once
so fashionable. They are slow and pompous in their
action, and many of them are upwards of twenty
years old. They look small in comparison with
the great lumbering state coach; but most of
them are sixteen, or at least fifteen, hands high.
The State harness and trappings of each horse do
not weigh less than two hundred-weight.
Here are kept the Arabs and other Eastern
horses presented to her Majesty. It is not
etiquette to give any of them away, much less to
sell them ; nor are they put to any use, nor killed
when they get old. They have a happy enjoyment
of life, till death calls them away.
"Nimrod," writing in The Turf in 1834, ob
serves that "great regard has always been paid
here to what is known in sporting circles as ' stout
blood' — namely, horses of sinew and strength, \

Hampton Court.]

FIRE AT HAMPTON COURT PALACE.

171

rather than of speed." He adds a list of the sires
and mares kept here, and also states that " from
prudential motives the royal stud at Hampton
Court was broken up, only one or two sires and
mares being kept."
Sir Richard Steele was, for a time, surveyor of
the royal stables here ; and the Earl of Albemarle,
Groom of the Stole, lived for some years at the
" Stud-house," which is still the official residence of
the Master of the Horse, though not generally
occupied as such.
In December, 1882, the entire palace had a
narrow escape from being destroyed, a large por
tion of the upper rooms in the east wing, over
looking the gardens and the fountain court, and
which were in the occupation of private families,
having been accidentally burnt.
In a leading article, congratulating the country
on the fact that the galleries
have been spared, the Times
made the following re
marks, which may most
appropriately close this
chapter : — "Hampt
Court is pre-emi-
nentlythe palace
of the ordinary
Londoner's
predilection. This is not, perhaps, because of its historical
interest as a relic of Wolsey's magnificence, or
as the home of the Stuarts and the elder
Georges, nor even exclusively because of the in
terest attaching to its gallery of pictures. Its
place in the heart of Londoners is largely due
to more homely associations. It is easily and
quickly reached from London, and its surround
ings are rich in everything that the country-
going Londoner has learnt to love. Its stately
and rich-toned buildings, its well-kept gardens,
its spacious parks with their matchless trees,
and its unrivalled situation on the banks of the
placid Thames, all give it an attraction which
for variety of charm can hardly be matched in
England. To this must be added the fact that the
palace contains the only national collection of
pictures which is open to the public on Sundays,
and this, perhaps, accounts as much as anything
else for the pre-eminent popularity which Hampton
Court enjoys. Thousands to whom the historical
associations of the place are rather vague, thousands
more whose enjoyment of a gallery or pictures is

PLAN OF THE MAZE.

neither very intelligent nor very keen, find their
way throughout the summer to Hampton Court,
and return much the better for their outing, even
if their knowledge of history remains as vague as
ever, and their feeling for art as cold. For this
reason alone — because of the simple and whole
some pleasures it affords in one way or another
to every visitor — the destruction of Hampton
Court would have been regarded as an irreparable
calamity. Apart from its suroundings, moreover,
which we suspect attract more visitors than its
contents, the palace itself is a building which the
country could ill afford to spare. It is a record of
pomp of Wolsey and of the genius of Wren, and its
history includes associations as diverse as the
theological lucubrations of James I. and the revels
of his scapegrace grandson, the gloomy broodings
of Cromwell in his hours of dejection, and the
busy statecraft of William III.
Of the treasures of its picture
gallery it is unnecessary
to speak at length. The
collection, as a whole,
is rather copious than
select. Some
few pictures are
undoubtedlyof priceless
value ; the art
of the world would be palpably the poorer for their
destruction. Others, again, are interesting as speci
mens of painters whose works are rare, or as com
memorating events of moment in English history.
But these are only a small percentage of the whole.
The remainder are interesting rather because they
have long hung on the walls of Hampton Court,
and seem to partake of the character of the place,
than because they can claim any very eminent
merit of their own. There is some royal furniture
also of ancient date in several of the public rooms
of the palace, and a portion of this is reported to
have been damaged by the floods of water em
ployed to extinguish the fire. ^ Such things have a
certain popular interest, no doubt, but if anything
was to be destroyed, it is safe to rejoice that a
capricious fate has spared the pictures and only
taken the upholstery. If by an irreparable stroke
of fortune the Holbeins, the Mantegnas, or any
other of the real treasures of the gallery had been
destroyed, it Would have been a poor consolation
to learn that Queen Anne's bed had been pre
served, or even that her portmanteau was safe."

172

GREATER LONDON.

[Feltham.

CHAPTER XIV.
FELTHAM, SUNBURY, AND HALLIFORD.
" Est et honor campis." — Ovid.
Situation, Etymology, and General Appearance of Feltham— Population, &c— Notice of the Parish in Domesday Book— Descent of the Manor
—The Parish Church— Death ot Miss Frances Kelly, the Actress— Middlesex Industrial School— The Convalescent Home— Sunbury—
Its Etymology— History of the Manor— Col Kenvngton, otherwise Kempton— A Royal Palace— Kempton House— Kempton Park Race
course— Sunbury Common— Sunbury Parish Church— Roman Catholic Chapel— The Village of Sunbury— Sunbury Place— The Pumping
Stations of the London Water-works Companies— Thames Angling Preservation Society— The Manor of Charlton— Halliford.

The parish of Feltham lies to the south-west of
Hampton, and is particularly flat and uninteresting.
It is bounded on the east by the parish of Han
worth, which we have already dealt with in a
previous chapter (see pages 69, 70). The name,
according to Mr. Brewer, in the " Beauties of
England," is supposed to be a corruption of
Feldham, signifying the " Field Village, or Village
in a Field."
The country all about here, and indeed as far
west as Staines, is covered with market gardens,
or fields devoted to vegetable produce, which is
sent up to market at Covent Garden. The village
of Feltham is long and straggling ; it is chiefly of
a rural and humble character, and contains a few
old-fashioned houses and shops ; but in the im
mediate neighbourhood, particularly to the north
and west of the village, and at Feltham Hill,
about a mile to the south, are several better-class
villas and residences of a more ornamental descrip
tion. There is also here a station on the Windsor
branch of the South-Western Railway. In 187 1
the number of houses in the parish was 387, whilst
the population numbered 2,748 souls, but this
estimate included upwards of goo persons in the
Middlesex Industrial School. This number has
somewhat decreased since that period, being,
according to the returns for 1881, only 2,709.
The manor of Feltham is thus noticed in " Domes
day Book " : — " Earl Moreton (Mortainin Normandy)
holds the manor of Feltham, taxed at twelve hides.
The arable land is twelve carucates. There are
six hides in demesne, on which is one plough;
three more might be employed. The villanes
have eight ploughs. There are fourteen vil
lanes, who hold a virgate each; five others have
each a virgate each, and two slaves, or bondmen.
There is meadow-land equal to ten carucates, and
pasture for the cattle of the village. The total
value is £6 per annum ; when it came into the
Earl's possession it was only -Q4, but in the reign
of King Edward it was £&. Two thanes were
then seised of this manor : one of them, a vassal of
the king, held five hides as a separate manor ; the
other, a vassal of Earl Harold, had seven hides as

a separate manor also, and could alien to whom he
pleased." From the above extract it will be seen that this
parish was devoted to agriculture as far back as
eight centuries ago.
The two manors above referred to were united
under the Earl of Mortain, and became subse
quently the property of Hawise, Countess of
Rumaze, who gave the conjoined estate to the
Hospital of St. Giles' Without-the-Bars, near Hol-
born, in whose possession it remained till the
dissolution in 1537, when it was surrendered to the
king, Henry VIIL Early in the seventeenth
century the manor was granted in fee to trustees
for Lord Cottington, and it was subsequently sold,
together with the advowson, to Sir Thomas Chamber.
Since then, the property has changed hands many
times. "The manor of Feltham," observes Mr.
Brewer, in his " Beauties of England and Wales,"
" is only nominal, and exercises no manorial rights,
the whole of this parish being subject to the juris
diction of the adjacent manor of Kennington" —
now Kempton.
The greater part of this Thames valley would
seem to have been anything rather than a haunt to
the Muses, who doubtless thought it dull and tame.
It has, in fact, no literary history.
The parish church, which stands on the road to
Sunbury, is a plain brick-built edifice, dating from
the beginning of the present century, when the
taste for ecclesiastical architecture was at a very
low ebb. It is dedicated to St. Dunstan, and re
placed the former parish church, which had be
come ruinous and dilapidated. The old church is
described in Lysons' " Middlesex " as " a small
structure, consisting of a chancel, nave, and a
north aisle. It is built of flint and stone, chiefly
the lapis compositus, commonly called the ' plum-
pudding' stone. At the west end is a wooden
tower and spire, almost covered with ivy, issuing
from a single stem, eighteen inches in girth."
That building was taken down in 1802, and the
present church erected in its place. This latter
edifice was enlarged by the addition of aisles in
1856. At the west end is a tower with an em-

Sunbury.]

MISS FRANCES KELLY, THE ACTRESS.

173

battled parapet, surmounted by a spire. The
edifice contains a few monuments preserved from
the old church, but none of general interest.
It appears from a survey made by order of
Parliament in 1650, that Job Iggleton, the then
incumbent, was presented by President Bradshaw,
who possessed the estates of Lord Cottington
which were confiscated for his attachment to the
royal cause.
In the churchyard is the grave of William
Wynne Ryland, an eminent line engraver of the last
century, who was executed in 1793 for forgery on
the East India Company.
Another church of greater pretensions has of
late sprung up near the railway station, to meet
the wants of an increasing population.
At Feltham, in December, 1882, died "a nona
genarian and something more," Miss Frances Maria
Kelly, an actress of some note in her time. Born
in the year 1790, she was one of the last survivors
of a great school of actors, her first appearance on
the stage dating as far back as 1807. In the
following year she was a member of Mr. Colman's
company at the Haymarket, and she enjoyed a
high reputation at Drury Lane, Covent Garden,
and the English Opera. House. Among her con
temporaries were Mrs. Siddons, John Kemble,
Edmund Kean, and Mrs. Jordan. In 1840, as
recorded in Old and New London,* Miss Kelly
founded a school for acting in Dean Street, Soho,
which afterwards blossomed into a theatre, and is
now known as the Royalty.
In the fields to the west of the village stands
the Middlesex Industrial School or Reformatory
for boys convicted of crime. It was opened in
1859, and is under the charge and control of the
magistrates for the county of Middlesex. The
building, which, since its foundation, has been
greatly enlarged, is capable of accommodating
about 1,000 boys, who are sentenced to detention
here for periods varying from one to three years,
the ages of the boys ranging from seven to fourteen
years. It is constructed of red brick with stone
dressings, and consists of a large principal building,
a chapel, infirmary, workshops, farms, sewage works,
&c. ; in the grounds is the model of a ship, for the
purpose of enabling the boys to practise seaman
ship, or at all events to learn the rudiments of
nautical tactics. Nearly 150 acres of land are kept
under cultivation by the inmates, so as to supply
the wants of the establishment.
At Feltham a convalescent home has been
established in connection with Mrs. Hilton's
* See Vol. III., p. 194.

Creche, Orphan Home, and Infant Infirmary, at
Stepney. There is also a "Nunnery" here, under
the superintendence of " Father Ignatius."
Passing southward by Feltham Hill and Mead-
hurst Park, we now make our way towards Sun
bury, a pleasant river-side village a mile and a half
above Hampton Court, in the Hundred of Spel
thorne, and a spot which has long been a favourite
resort of anglers. The name of this place is
often written, in ancient records, " Sunnabyri,"
or " Sunneberie," the derivation of which is from
two Saxon words : " sunna," the sun, and " byri," a
town. In " Domesday Book "' the manor is entered
under the name of " Suneberie," and is there
described as parcel of " the ancient demesnes of
the church of St. Peter," otherwise Westminster
Abbey, to which it was given in the time of Edward
the Confessor. In 1223 it was assigned to the
Bishop of London, and the vicarage to the Dean
and Chapter of St. Paul's. The latter arrangement
holds good to the present day. James I. conveyed
the manor to the Stratfords, and in 1693 it was
possessed by Sir John Tyrwhit, son-in-law of
Francis Phelips, who had become possessed of the
property in 1676. Early in the last century it
was sold to John Crosse, and having subsequently
changed' hands several times, finally passed into
the hands of the Mitchisons, by whose family the
manor is still possessed. The manor-house, now
the seat of Mr. William Anthony Mitchison, is a
large red-brick building, on the western side of the
parish. Besides the principal manor of Sunbury, and a
manor formerly styled " Cerdentone," but now
Charlton, there is a manorial district, mentioned in
" Domesday Book " under the name of Chenetone.
"This manor," observes Mr. Brewer, in the
" Beauties of England," " was afterwards termed
Col Kenyngton, or Cold Kcnnington, and is now
known by the name of Kempton. Robert, Earl of
Cornwall and Mortain, was succeeded in his title
and estates by his son William, who rebelled
against Henry L, and his estates were seized by
that king in the year 11 04.' The manor thus
becoming vested in the Crown, the manor-house was
constituted a royal dwelling, and it so remained
until the reign of King Edward III." Lysons, in
his " Middlesex Parishes,'' makes the following ob
servations respecting this manor : — "It is probable,
from the name of this manor, that the manor-house
had been, a royal palace during the reign of the
Saxon kings. It must be observed that where
Kennington occurs in the date of royal charters,
it has hitherto, I believe, been always understood
of Kennington, near Lambeth, where also was

i74

GREATER LONDON.

[Sunbury,

a palace ; for I cannot find that even tradition has
preserved the memory of the palace which once
stood in Kempton Park, but, on the contrary,
supposes the traces of ancient buildings which
occur there to have been the remains of a religious
house, of whose existence there are no proofs
either from history or record."
The manor-house, or palace of Col Kenyngton is
mentioned in a survey made by order of Edward III.
in 1331, for the purpose of inquiring into the state
of the palace and park at that time. The original

calculated at 30s. The house called the Aumerye
is so ruinous that it threatens to fall down. There
is wanting in the larder a door with proper fasten
ings, which may be made for 2 shillings. The
repairs of the chamber beyond the gate, with the
steps leading to it, are estimated at 100 shillings.
The dresser in the great kitchen and hall is quite
broken down. The repairs of the farm-house and
the gate next to the granary are estimated at 40s.
The repair of the park-wall is estimated at 13s. 4d.,
and that of the walls round the manor at 10s."

HALLIFORD. (See pagi 176.)

of this document is preserved among the public
records, and it describes the palace as having fallen
through neglect, into a state of dangerous dilapida
tion. A translation of this document is given by
Lysons in his account of the parishes of Middlesex,
in which the following particulars occur : — " There
are dilapidations in the great hall, and in the pantry
and buttery at the east end, the expense of repair
ing which is estimated at £4. 6s. 8d. The great
chamber, with the chapel and wardrobe adjoining,
are much out of repair, as are the Queen's chamber,
with the chapel and wardrobe adjoining. The
repairs of the cellar under the Queen's chamber are
estimated at 13 shillings. The repair of the chamber
called the Aleye, which must have new beams, are

The custody of the ancient manor of Col Ken
yngton was granted by the reigning sovereign
to different persons, either for a certain term of
years or for life, on condition of their paying yearly
a valuable consideration, until 163 1, when it was
granted in fee to Sir Robert Killigrew. The
manor-house is mentioned in the diary of the first
Lord Shaftesbury as the seat of his relative, Mr.
Carew Raleigh, whom he occasionally visited there.
Later on, the manor was inherited by Sir John
Chardin Musgrave, who sold it to a Mr. Edward.
Hill. By this gentleman many noble and venera
ble forest-trees, by which the park was thickly
adorned, were cut down, and the demesne de
spoiled of much of its picturesque beauty. Kemp-

SuDbury-]

KEMPTON PARK.

175

ton Park, however, has still some fine pollard-oaks
dotted up and down it It is about 300 acres in
extent, and is bounded on the east and north by a
little stream, or rivulet, a tributary of the Thames,
which rises near Bedfont and Feltham. The
Thames Valley branch of the South Western Rail
way also skirts the north side of the park. In a
map of Middlesex published in 1823, Kempton
House figures as the property of F. Manners,
Esq., but it has since several times changed
hands.

entered by a pointed and embattled gateway.
The interior of the mansion is not yet finished,
but many of the rooms have an air of comfort, and
are of agreeable proportions." The author adds
in a foot-note: — "Since the above account of
Kempton House was written, the ' Gothic green
house,' forcing-houses, &c, have been sold by
public auction. At the same time, some painted
glass in the windows and doors was exposed to
sale in a similar manner. It would thus appear that
it is not intended to complete the mansion ; but

SUNBURY CHURCH. (See page 176.)

Kempton House, at the beginning of the present
century, appears to have been a sort of rival to
" Strawberry Hill." Writing in 1816, Mr. Brewer
thus describes the mansion in the "Beauties of
England " : — " The present mansion of Kempton
is an imitation of the Gothic style, different parts
of which were executed under the direction of
both the last-named gentlemen (Mr. Hill and Mr.
Fish). Indeed, it is evident that the whole was
constructed in attention to a single design. The
building is extensive, but has, on the exterior, all
the gloom of the ancient English style, without
any of those fascinating graces which were some
times produced by genius while revelling in entire
disdain of rule. Yet ample use is made of what is
termed the Gothic; even the stables and green
house have embattled parapets, and the garden is

we have suffered our article to remain as previously
written, from a consideration that it may be the
only descriptive notice extant of a costly building
that will probably soon be levelled with the
ground." The present house is a good substantial mansion
of the ordinary type. There are no traces visible
of the ancient palace. About 400 acres of Kemp
ton Park are enclosed within a ring fence, and
set apart as a race-course. It is close by the
Sunbury Station, on the Thames Valley Railway,
and is much such another place as "Sandown,"
near Esher, in Surrey. Here steeplechases and
coursing races take place, and its spring and -autumn
meetings are largely patronised.
Sunbury Common is a large tract of not very
good or profitable land, occupying the northern

176

GREATER LONDON.

[Sunbury.

part of the parish, towards Ashford. It has
been largely enclosed during the past half cen
tury. The parish church of Sunbury, dedicated to St.
Mary, was built in the middle of the last century,
on the site of an older church which had been
taken down. It was erected by Mr. Wright, who
was some time Clerk of the Works at Hampton
Court, and was long an unsightly brick structure,
of little or no architectural pretensions. Its ap
pearance, however, has been immensely improved
of late years by the insertion of new windows and
the carrying out of other structural arrangements,
including a porch at the western end, enriched with
arcades at the sides and decorative carvings, and a
semi-circular chancel. The church is, in fact, one
of the cleverest transformations of a " Church
warden " structure into a Byzantine church to be
seen in the kingdom. The tower, which is a
conspicuous object as seen from the river, is
surmounted by a parapet and a singular-looking
cupola. On the south wall of the church is a
monument to Lady Jane, sister of Philip, Duke of
Wharton, and the last of her noble family. Her
ladyship was the wife of Mr. Robert Coke, of
Longford, in Derbyshire, and died in 1761.
The churchyard is tolerably crowded with tomb
stones, but there are none calling for particular
mention. Besides one or two places of worship for Dis
senters of different denominations, there is in the
village of Sunbury a Roman Catholic chapel of
some little architectural pretensions. It was con
secrated by Archbishop (now Cardinal) Manning
in 1869, and is built of Kentish rag and Bath
stone, in the Early English style. The altar,
which is enriched with precious stones and
mosaic work, was the gift of Mr. Richard Lamb,
of River Meades.
The village of Sunbury lies principally along the
left bank of the River Thames, and contains several
good old-fashioned brick-built dwelling-houses and
shops. In Lewis's " Topography" (1835) the popu
lation is given as 1,863, a number which had
increased in 1871 to 3,368 (when the houses are
recorded in the census returns as 663), and ten
years later to 3,500.
Sunbury appears to have been formerly a favourite
locality for the residence of gentry, its "sunny"
situation on the north bank of the Thames, with
its pleasantly-situated villas, rendering the spot one
of the most attractive in the immediate neighbour
hood of London. Among the residents here at

the end of the last century was the celebrated
Admiral Lord Hawke.
At the eastern end of the village is Sunbury
Place, which, at the commencement of the present
century, was the occasional residence of the Hon.
Percy Wyndham. The mansion is described in
the " Beauties of England " at that time as showing
four fronts, and as having an ornamental pavilion
at each corner.
The opposite, or Surrey, shore is here flat, and
of no very interesting character; but the river
scenery in the neighbourhood, with its eyots and
weirs and swans, is pleasant and attractive to
water-parties and fishermen. Both here and on
the opposite shore are the pumping-works and
filtering reservoirs of two or three London Water
works Companies. At Sunbury are the rearing
ponds of the Thames Angling Preservation Society,
and the broad reach of the river at this point
affords good fishing for jack and barbel, and
occasionally trout. Nearly 700 yards of the river,
extending from the weir eastward to the break
water, are known as "Sunbury Deeps," and are
maintained by the Thames Conservancy.
Passing from the regions of fact to those of
fancy, we may remark that through Sunbury passed
Oliver Twist, under the charge of Bill Sykes, on
his way to commit the burglary at Shepperton.
" As they passed Sunbury church," writes Charles
Dickens, "the clock struck seven. There was a
light in the ferry-house opposite, which streamed
across the road, and threw into more sombre
shadow a dark yew-tree, with graves beneath it.
There was a dull sound of water not far off, and
the leaves of the old tree stirred gently in the
night wind. It seemed like quiet music for the
repose of the dead."
The manor of Charlton mentioned above was
given in far-off ages to the Abbey of Merton, in
Surrey, by which it was held till the Reformation,
after which it passed into the hands of Sir John
Mason. Since the beginning of the seventeenth
century the manor has been several times alienated.
The hamlet of Charlton lies about two miles to the
north-west of the village of Sunbury.
Halliford, called in old maps (as late as 1790)
Harleyford, extends westward from Sunbury along
the river bank. It consists of two divisions, Upper
and Lower, the former being a -hamlet of Sunbury,
and the latter a hamlet in the parish of Shepperton.
It is a favourite haunt of anglers, the reaches of
the river here abounding in perch and chub. We
shall describe it in the next chapter.

Shepperton.]

LOWER HALLIFORD.

177

CHAPTER XV.
SHEPPERTON, AND THE VALLEY OF THE THAMES.
"While Thames
Among his willows from thy view retires." Akenside.
Situation and General Appearance of Shepperton— The River Exe— The Village and its Surroundings— Population— Early History and Descent .
of the Manor— The Manor-house— The Parish Church— The Rectory -Waterside Taverns— Thames Angling— House-boats on the Thames-
River Scenery— Shepperton Green and the Railway Station— A Singular Story— Lower Halliford— Discovery of an Ancient Canoe and
other Antiquities— The Valley of the Thames— The Wall Closes— Coway Stakes— Littleton.

Where the country is a dead flat, and the scenery
as unromantic as that of Holland : where the
parish churches have been robbed of all antiquity
and of more than half their interest : where there
are no feudal castles and few old manor-houses :
and where the literary associations of the place
are a blank — it is scarcely possible to find materials
for a chapter which shall satisfy the intelligent
reader. The parish of Shepperton, or Sheperton, is
situated to the west of Sunbury, and lies so low
that it is often flooded in the winter, and the
meadows present the appearance of an inland sea,
reaching for miles in either direction, and quite
obscuring the banks of the river. There are, too,
plenty of pollard-willows, marking the lines of
brooks which abound.
The eastern portion of the parish of Shepperton,
extending for upwards of a mile down the river
towards Sunbury, is known as Lower Halliford, and is
so called from a ford over the Thames, a little to
the east, by which Julius Caesar is supposed to have
crossed into Middlesex, and of which we shall
have more to say presently.
A small river, called the Exe, which rises near
Staines, and runs through the park of Littleton,
finds its way into the Thames between Upper and
Lower Plalliford.
Lower Halliford consists for the most part of
a small collection of humble, old-fashioned habita
tions, the gardens of which slope pleasantly down
to the water-side. There are, however, one or two
dwellings of a better kind, including some pretty
villas. The Thames, which here makes an abrupt
bend, is crossed at this point by an iron bridge, which
connects Lower Halliford with Walton, in Surrey.
Shepperton is a quaint, old-fashioned village,
with no one principal street, but built irregularly
along several roads, which cross each other. Some
of the cottages are very substantial and old-fashioned,
their doorways and timbers carrying us back to
the days of the Tudors. The village itself is
situated on the banks of the Thames, and is of
small extent ; but there are a few good and sub
stantial dwelling-houses scattered about in the

neighbourhood. In 1871 the number of houses in
the parish amounted to only 241, the population
numbering 1,126 souls, which has since increased to
nearly 1,300.
In the "Domesday Book" the name of this parish
is written Scepertone, and in other ancient records
it is entered as Scepertune. Sceapheardton, it may
be stated, is the Saxon term for the habitation of
shepherds; ¦ In the " Domesday Record " the manor
is said to be held by the Abbot of St. Peter
(Westminster Abbey), to whom it was either given
or confirmed by Edward the Confessor. The
condition of the locality at that distant period may
be judged from the fact that " there was land to
seven ploughs, and meadow equal to the same.
Pasture for the cattle of the village, and one 'wear,'
valued at six shillings and eightpence. A priest
had fifteen acres."
The manor was alienated, among several others
belonging to the Abbey of St. Peter, by Gervase,
the abbot, a natural son of King Stephen. It has
since passed through various hands, and remained
for nearly a century with the Beauchamp family.
In the fifteenth century it was possessed by John
Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, who was executed in
147 1. At a subsequent period it was vested in
the family of Spiller; and at the beginning of the
present century it was the property of the Dugdales,
of Merevale Hall in Warwickshire.
The manor-house was purchased by the late
Mr. William S. Lindsay, M.P., one of the most
successful shipowners of our time. He died in
1877, and it is now occupied by his widow. The
park lies low, and is frequently flooded. It con
tains some fine elms.
In most of the parish churches along the
Thames Valley the towers alone survive from
the pre-Reformation times, the bodies having been
pulled down and rebuilt at various dates. But
the reverse is the case at Shepperton, where there
is a cruciform building, substantially of the De
corated or Edwardian period, though sadly " beau
tified " — or rather, mutilated — while a most puny
and meagre modern brick tower, of the true
Churchwarden type, with an embattled parapet,

i78

GREATER LONDON.

[Shepperton.

has been added to the west end. The tower,
with its parapet, was built in 1 710, at the expense
¦of the then rector, the Rev. Lewis Atterbury, a
brother of the celebrated Dr. Atterbury, Bishop of
Rochester. From the mention of a priest in the Norman
survey, it would appear that there was a church
•at Shepperton at a very early period, but no marks
•of such remote antiquity are observable in the
present structure.
William Grocyn, who was instituted to this
rectory in 1504, is supposed by Newcourt, the
author of the " Repertorium," to have been the
celebrated friend of Erasmus, and who was largely
instrumental in rendering the Greek language a
general object of study.
The old rectory, a most substantial red brick
'building, with projecting beams and a picturesque
roof, adjoins the north side of the churchyard.
Before it is a small square, now gravelled, but
which once, doubtless, was a village green. One
: side of it is occupied by a hostelry, much frequented
by the angling fraternity, " The Anchor." There
• are other smaller inns, all of them in the same
line of business. In fact, the river at Shepperton,
and from thence to Chertsey up stream, and to
Halliford down, is " piscosissimus." During the
summer months the disciples of Izaak Walton flock
hither in large numbers, and some good sport is
¦obtained, the river at this point being particularly
.plentiful in roach, barbel, perch, and jack. " 'Tis
•observed by Gesner," writes honest Izaak Walton,
in his " Angler," " that there is none bigger salmon
than in England, and none better than in Thames."
Salmon have been caught in Shepperton Deep
many years back, but they are no longer taken
.here. Recently much antagonism has existed, re
specting the right of fishing in the Thames, between
the anglers and the "riparian" owners of land
abutting upon the river ; and the question has
been taken up by a society called the Thames
Eights Defence Association.
Of late years a fashion has grown up of spending
a part of the summer in a house-boat on the river.
These house-boats are much affected by the artist
tribe : we see signs of the craft in the easel, the
palette, and the paint-box left outside-, and on the
pictures which adorn the walls of the dwelling-
room. These human water-houses, moored to the
banks, are simply caravans set on a substantial
boat instead of on wheels.
The Thames at this point has many pleasant
reaches, and across the river we see Oatlands Park
and the fir-woods about Walton and Weybridge.
Oatlands was the favourite residence of the Duke

and Duchess of York. It is now an hotel for
resident families.
In our account of Teddington (see page 130,
ante) we have spoken at some length of the swans
on the Thames. They are to be met with here in
plenty during the bright days of summer, and add
not a little to the beauty of the river scenery —
" The gentle swan, with graceful pride,
Her glossy plumage laves,
And sailing down the silver tide,
Divides the whispering waves."
What a charming description of the long reaches
about Shepperton, Twickenham, Teddington, and
Richmond !
The present Shepperton Green — a long, narrow
strip of land, pleasantly fringed with stately elms
and chestnut-trees — lies between the village and
the railway- station, which is about half a mile dis
tant to the northward, and where is the terminus of
the Thames Valley branch of the South-Western
Railway. Shepperton is one of those fortunate places
which possesses no " history " worth recording, and,
consequently, we may be pardoned for quoting a
singular item of information concerning it which
appears in "Social Gleanings." The writer re
marks : —
" Either the late Mr. Fisher, or Mr. Elwes, of
Kempton Park, Sunbury, Middlesex, was in the
habit of paying an annual visit to the Rev. Mr.
Hubbard, the rector of Shepperton — that well-
known rendezvous on the banks of the Thames
for the disciples of Izaak Walton. The rector's
son, who told me the story, described a peculiarity
in regard to this annual visit worth recording. The
visitor was stone blind, both his carriage horses
were stone blind, and his coachman was a Cyclops,
having only one eye."
Here, at the commencement of the present cen
tury, lived Mr. Josiah Boydell, a gentleman of some
little antiquarian taste. Among the objects which
he possessed was a canoe, which would appear to
have been constructed in a very remote and rude
age. This interesting vestige of antiquity was dis
covered in September, 181 2, and was presented to
Mr. Boydell, who furnished the following particulars
of it to Mr. Brewer, the author of the " Beauties of
England " : — " The canoe is obviously hewn out of
one solid block of oak, and when perfect the dimen
sions must have been as follows : the entire length
12 feet, the depth of the sides 20 inches, the width
across the top 3 feet 6 inches in the middle. The
sides are i\ inches thick, the keel or bottom
is, in the middle, 15 inches wide and 2 inches
thick, but grows narrower as it approaches the ends.

Shepperton.]

COWAY STAKES.

179

Throughout the whole there is not any appearance
of a peg or nail having been used. At one end was
a piece hewn out of the solid wood, and left across
the boat, apparently to hold the sides together ; and
it is supposed that there was a similar piece at the
other end ; but one end and one side of this curious
relic were unfortunately broken before it was in
spected by Mr. Boydell. This canoe was found
about twenty yards within the brook, in the part
nearest to Shepperton town, and was lying in a
shelving position, buried in a bed of gravel, within
two inches of a layer of peat. Above was a mass
of gravel 3 feet 6 inches in depth, and over that
were 4 feet of mud. Within a few yards of the
canoe, and beneath an equal mass of gravel, mud,
&c, was found a stag's horn, the stem and one of
the sharp antlers being perfect. . . . Near the
aDove was found a boar's tusk, supposed to be of
the wild black breed, and perfect, with the excep
tion of the extreme point, where half an inch appears
to have been broken off."
All sorts of antique articles of manufacture, of
British, Roman, Saxon, and more recent periods,
have been found from time to time in the bed of
the Thames. Some idea of their number and
variety may be formed if we state that the list of
them, including celts, urns, and other pottery,
swords, spear-heads, bosses, shields, daggers, seals,
pilgrims' tokens, pyxes, axe-heads, coins, &c,
occupies a column in the index volume of the
Royal Archaeological Institute.
The whole valley of the Thames is considered
by geologists to be quite " an after-thought " of
Nature, having come into being, as shown by Pro
fessor Ramsay, after the close of the Miocene
age. The vegetation preserved in the London
clay is of a tropical and even Indo-Australian
character, being composed of palms, cypresses, &c,
not unlike those of Tasmania and the Philippine
Islands. " In some small fields, to the north-east of the
village, termed the Wall Closes," writes Mr
Brewer, in the "Beauties of England" (1816),
" are several artificial inequalities of surface, which
Gale and Dr. Stuk el ey conjecture to be the remains
of a Roman camp. Mr. Lysons, in his ' Middlesex
Parishes,' supposes these to be merely the vestiges
of buildings on the site of the old manor-house ;
and, according to the tradition of the neighbour
hood, an ancient mansion assuredly appears to
have occupied a portion of the Wall Closes. But
these earthworks, though much levelled within
the last twenty years, would still seem more ex
tensive than the probable site of a manorial
dwelling, even allowing it to have possessed the

ornamental circumstances of terrace walks. The
adjacency of remains, confidently supposed to be
Roman, induces us to believe that there may be
foundation for the conjecture of Dr. Stukeley in
regard to these inequalities of surface ; but it
certainly appears difficult to pursue them through
any traces bearing resemblance to the form of a
regular encampment."
At a short distance eastward from Lower Halli
ford is the site of the celebrated Coway Stakes,
which are by tradition said to have been placed
across the Thames to oppose the passage of Julius
Csesar over this river, when in pursuit of Cassi-
velaunus, and many antiquaries have agreed as to
the probable connection with fact of such a tra
ditionary assertion.
We read in the account of the second expedition
of Julius Caesar (b.c. 54), that, having landed at
Pevensey, he marched further inland, and came
upon the Thames at a distance of about eighty
miles from the sea. He found the river fordable
at only one point ; here the natives were drawn up
in array to oppose his passage, and the river was
fortified with sharp stakes. He, however, effected
his passage, though only with great difficulty, and
pursued his way into the territory of Cassivelaunus
— probably Hertfordshire, the ancient home of the
Cassii. The British chief submitted, and Csesar
returned to Rome, carrying off some of the natives
as hostages.
The exact spot where Caesar crossed the Thames
has been for centuries a matter of dispute amongst
antiquaries, many of whom have claimed Walling-
ford, and others Kingston, as the place. But it is
recorded, on the most undoubted authority, that
stakes sheathed with lead or iron were to be seen
at this spot under water down to the seventeenth,
and even the eighteenth, century.
Camden and Hearne, two of the very highest
authorities on this matter, strongly incline to the
belief that Coway Stakes mark the spot, following
the testimony of the Venerable Bede, who makes
this statement on the authority of a London
priest, Nothelin, afterwards Archbishop of Canter
bury; and he adds that the remains of the stakes
were visible in his own time. Mr. T. Wright, how
ever, in his " Celt, Roman, and Saxon," whilst
agreeing in the main in this view, suggests that
these stakes, though of Roman workmanship, were
of later date, and perhaps connected with the navi
gation or fishery of the Thames in a way which
we cannot now explain.
Camden was the first in recent times to point
out Coway Stakes as the ford which the Britons
defended. " It is impossible," he observes, " I

i8o

GREATER LONDON.

[Shepperton,

should be mistaken in the place, because here the
river is scarce six feet deep ; and the place at this
day, from those stakes, is called Coway Stakes ;
to which we may add that Caesar makes the bounds
of Cassivelan, where he fixes this his passage, to
be about eight miles distant from that sea which
washes the east part of Kent, where he landed ;

and that the tide probably ran up as high as this
spot. Of the stakes themselves, Gale, the antiquary,
says : — " The wood of these stakes proves its own
antiquity, being by its long duration under the water
so consolidated as to resemble ebony, and will
admit of a polish, and is not in the least rotted.

SHEPPERTON RECTORY. (See page 178.)
now this ford we speak of is at the same distance
from the sea ; and I am the first, that I know of,
who has mentioned and settled it in its proper
place." *
The position of these stakes is described in the
Archozologia by the Hon. Daines Barrington, who
inspected the spot in 1740, and it is said that one
of them is preserved in the British Museum, having
been obtained here in 1777. It must be re
membered that in early times there were no
weirs or dams so near to the mouth of the river,
* Camden's " Britannia," Gibson's Edit., 1772, Vol. I., p. 236.

SHEPPERTON, FROM THE RIVER.

It is evident, from the exterior grain of the wood,
that the stakes were the entire bodies of young
oak-trees, there not being the least appearance of
any mark of any tool to be seen upon the whole
circumference ; and if we allow in our calculation
for the gradual increase of growth towards its end,
where fixed in the bed of the river, the stakes, I
think, will exactly answer the thickness of a man's
thigh, as described by Bede ; but whether they were
covered with lead at the ends fixed in the bottom
of the river, is a particular I could not learn."
None of the stakes remain now, the last having
been removed about the year 1 840. They are said to
have been capped with metal for convenience of driv
ing, but whether it was with brass, iron, or lead, is
very uncertain, as the different accounts vary.
Both Daines Barrington and Dr. Owen, it may
be observed, doubt whether Caesar ever did pass
the Thames at all. They allege that stakes in
tended to oppose the landing of an enemy would
have been so placed as to line the friendly shore
with their armed points inclining to the adverse

Littleton.]

ROMAN ENCAMPMENTS.

i8r

bank; whereas Coway Stakes range directly across
the river, and therefore could not have obstructed
troops attempting to pass the ford. Those who
are thus minded suppose that the Stakes of Coway
were merely intended for a fishing weir ! And
yet some still say that the stakes were too massive
and armed for a mere fishery. These are the
opinions of the learned, and such is the glorious
uncertainty of antiquity.
In the Archaeological Journal for September,
1866, will be found a full account of the campaign
of A. Plautius, by the late Dr. E. Guest, with a plan
of the fortified ford at Halliford and the Coway
Stakes. Dr. Guest thinks that the stakes men
tioned as protecting the ford were there many
years before the arrival of the Romans.
Mr. Brewer, in his work above quoted, writes : —
" We confess that the position of the stakes appears
an insuperable objection to believing that they
were meant to oppose the landing of an enemy
intent on passing from the Surrey to the Middlesex
shore; but their massive and armed character
would appear to be the result of too much labour
and cost to allow of our supposing that they are
no more than the remains of a weir for fishing."
In the same work it is observed that " Mr. Bray
(a writer not likely to be misled by careless and
futile assertion) 'was informed by a fisherman
who has lived at Walton, and known the river all
his life, that at this place he has weighed up
several stakes of the size of his thigh, about six
feet long, shod with iron ; the wood very black,
and so hard as to turn an axe.' On St George's
Hill, at a short distance from the Thames, on the
Surrey shore, is a camp, called Caesar's Camp,
appearing to be Roman, which comprehends in
its area more than thirteen acres, and which
probably communicated with a much larger cas
tramentation at Oatlands. We have already ob
served that Stukeley supposed he had discovered
the remains of Roman works at Shepperton ; on
Greenfield Common he also notices an encamp
ment; and on Hounslow Heath, in the parish of

Harmondsworth, nearly in a line with the pre
sumed march of Caesar when pursuing Cassibelan,
were, until lately, the perfect remains of a camp
appearing to be formed by the Romans." In a
foot-note the above writer remarks : — " We cannot
avoid observing that, in a meadow immediately
bordering upon Coway Stakes, on the Middlesex
side of the river, there are vestiges of a broad
raised road, which would appear to have led from
a spot near the present bridge of Walton towards
Halliford. The road terminates about 100 yards
on the Halliford side of the river, but the cessation
may be accounted for by observing that a mill,
with large enclosures, occupied, within memory,
the space now level."
About midway between Sunbury, Shepperton,
and Laleham, is Littleton, where formerly stood a
magnificent mansion, the seat of the Wood family.
It stood in a pleasant but level park, but was
burnt down a few years ago, and has not been
rebuilt. The house was rather of the Dutch type,
reminding one of Kensington Palace. It con
tained some fine pictures, which perished in the
flames, including Hogarth's celebrated painting
of " Actors Dressing." It is not intended to
rebuild the mansion. The late General Thomas
Wood, of Littleton, was for ten years M.P. for
Middlesex, and colonel of the 84th Regiment,
and his father, Colonel Thomas Wood, was for
upwards of half a century M.P. for Brecon,
and colonel of the East Middlesex Militia.
General Wood died in 1872, when the property
passed to his son, Mr. Thomas Wood, the present
owner. Littleton would seem to be one of the smallest
parishes in Middlesex ; at all events, according to
the census of 188 1 it had only about twenty in
habited houses, and a population of 126 souls.
The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, is
an ancient structure, of Early English architecture,
but of no particular interest. The chancel, which
contains several brasses and memorials of the
Wood family, was restored a few years ago.

13

GREATER LONDON.

[Laleham.

CHAPTER XVI.
LALEHAM, ASHFORD, AND STAINES.
" Such tattle often entertains
My lord and me as far as Staines,
As once a week we travel down
To Windsor, and again to town." — Pope's Satires.
Situation and General Description of Laleham — Remains of a Roman Castramentation on Greenfield Common— Mention of Laleham in Domesday-
Boole — Descent of the Manor — The Parish Church — Laleham House — Dr. Thomas Arnold and his Residence here — The Village of Laleham—
Population— The River Thames at Chertsey Bridge — Chertsey Meadows — Laleham Burway — Ashford — Descent of the Manor — The Village
of Ashford — The Common — Population — The Parish Church — The Parish Registers — The Welsh Charity School — The West London
District Schools — The Town of Staines — The Roman Road and Roman Antiquities — The Boundary Stone of the Thames Conservancy—
The Ancient Forest of Middlesex — The Notice of Staines in Domesday Book— A Benedictine Abbey — The Parish Church — An Ancient Guild
— The Town of Staines— Markets and Fairs — Population — Inns and Taverns — The Thames and the Water Supply — The Bridge— Duncroft.
House — Staines Moor — Yeoveney — Runnymede — Magna Charta Island — Ankerwyke — Egham — Cooper's Hill and Sir John Denham,

Pursuing our course along the left bank of the
Thames, we soon reach the south-western limit of
the county of Middlesex, and, at the same time,
the most westerly point of the jurisdiction of the
Thames Conservancy at Staines. Laleham, the
first village through which we pass, possesses no
thing attractive in the way of scenery, but is
simply a continuation of the dead level which
pervades the district which we have just left behind
us. The village is situated about midway between
the towns of Chertsey on the south and Staines on
the north. It has but few historical associations,
but it is stated in The Gentleman's Magazine that
Queen Anne had a fishing-box on the river side
here, though no proof of the fact is given, and no
allusions to it occur in the diaries and personal
biographies of her reign.
Dr. Stukeley notices the remains of a Roman
castramentation on Greenfield Common, in the
parish of Laleham, which he supposes to have been
the camp in which Julius Caesar halted after passing
-the Thames. But Stukeley is not always to be
trusted. Indeed, the statement is considered by
the inhabitants to be altogether a myth ; but traces
'of a camp in the Ferry Field are still very evi
dent, as also are others on the top of St. Ann's
Hill, on the opposite side of the Thames.
Mr. Brewer, in the " Beauties of England and
Wales," observes that " Dr. Stukeley pursues his
supposition to a great extent, and raises several
hypotheses on grounds entirely conjectural. If
Caesar crossed the Thames at Coway Stakes, it is
quite possible, and perhaps probable, that he might
then form an encampment here on his march
toward Hertfordshire. But every appropriation of
the relics to a particular passage of history must
needs proceed from an unsatisfactory ingenuity of
surmise." Mr. Lysons, having carefully examined
and measured these remains about the year 1800,
says : — "There are two camps; the fosses, being very

discernible, as measured with a line, are nearly as
follows : — North side of the outward camp, about
400 feet ; south side, about 390 ; east side, about
420 ; west side, nearly 500. North side of the
inner camp, about 245 feet ; south side, about 230 ;
east side, about 285 ; west side, about 290."*
Between Ashford and Bedfont Roman coins and
other objects have been dug up, in quantities suffi
cient to make it probable that these level plains-
were the site of a camp or station during the occu
pation of the Imperial Eagles.
Laleham is recorded in " Domesday Book "
under the name of Leleham, and it is stated that.
" the Earl of Moreton (Mortain, in Normandy)
holds in Leleham two hides, which are held under
him by the Abbot of Fescamp in Normandy."
Robert Blount is also described as holding eight
hides of the king in this parish, which were held
under him by " one Estrild, a nun."
In the thirteenth century the manor of Laleham
formed part of the possessions of Westminster
Abbey, and early in the seventeenth century it vras
annexed, together with the smaller manor of Billets,
in this parish, to the Honour of Hampton Court,
and subsequently granted in fee to the trustees of
Sir Henry Spiller, by whose daughter it was after
wards conveyed in marriage to Sir Thomas Reynell.
About the middle of the last century, Laleham
House, together with the lordship of the manor,
was bought by Sir James Lowther, who, having,
for several years represented the counties of Cum
berland and Westmoreland in Parliament, was.
elevated to the peerage in 1784 by Mr. Pitt as
Earl of Lonsdale. His lordship, having no issue,
obtained a new patent in 1797, creating him Baron
and Viscount Lowther, with remainder to the
heirs male of his cousin, the Rev. Sir William
Lowther, Bart., of Swillington. in whose favour the
* "Middlesex Parishes," p. 197.

Laleham.]

DR. THOMAS ARNOLD.

^83

earldom was revived. Laleham, however, in 1803,
passed, by purchase, into the hands of the Earl of
Lucan. The quaint old parish church, dedicated to All
¦Saints, stands near the river-side, and consists of
.a nave with north aisle and chancel, with chancel-
aisle. Here Dr. Arnold used frequently to officiate
when residing here with his pupils, 1820 — 28.
The edifice is a low, irregular structure, built
at different periods, the more modern parts, includ
ing the tower at the west end, being constructed of
brick. The nave and side-aisle are separated by cir
cular arches with round pillars, which have Norman
capitals. The interior of the edifice has lately been
restored and renovated, the old-fashioned " pews "
giving way to open benches. Over the communion
table is a large picture representing the miracle
of Christ walking on the sea, painted by Mr. George
Henry Harlow, and presented in 1811 by Mr.
George Hartwell of this parish. The monumental
inscriptions in this church do not contain anything
remarkable. Among them is one to the Rev. Dr.
Downes, who died in 1798, and who is there said to
¦have been one of " his Magestie's chaplains in
ordinary;" and one, dated 1780, to the memory of
Sir George Perrott, Baron of the Exchequer. The
chancel-aisle mentioned above belongs to the
family of the Earl of Lucan, who is at once a
gallant field-officer and a great practical agricul
turist. His seat, Laleham House, stands .in a
park of considerable extent on the southern side
of the village. It was the residence of Donna
Maria, Queen of Portugal, when in England.
Lord Lucan was' in command of a division of
cavalry in the Crimean War, 1854, and was
wounded at Balaclava. His lordship is not for
getful of his duties as a landowner, for in 1864
he erected in the village some schools, with a
residence for the masters. Laleham House — or,
" the great house," as it is called by the natives —
is now the residence of Lord Bingham, the eldest
son of the Earl of Lucan.
At the lower end of the village stood the house
formerly occupied by Dr. Thomas Arnold, the
distinguished scholar and schoolmaster. It was a
large and substantial old-fashioned brick building,
with a large garden attached. ' Arnold settled,"
writes Dean Stanley, "in 1819 at Laleham, near
Staines, with his mother, aunt, and sister, where
he remained for the next nine years, taking seven
or eight young men as private pupils for the Uni
versities, for a short time in a joint establishment
with his brother-in-law, Mr. Buckland, and after
wards independently by himself." In the follow
ing year he married Miss Mary Penrose, youngest

daughter of the Rev. J. Penrose, Rector of Fled-
borough, Nottinghamshire.
Here, it is remarked by Arnold's biographer, a
great and decisive change came over his character.
"The indolence and restlessness by which his
early years had been marked entirely disappeared,
and he acquired those settled, serious, earnest
views of the nature and purpose of life which
actuated him ever after. It was this ' intense
earnestness ' which gave him so much power over
his pupils, and which roused every one who came
within the sphere of his influence to the conscious
ness that they had powers to cultivate, duties to
discharge, and a mission to accomplish."
" His situation," writes Dean Stanley, " supplied
him exactly with that union of retirement and work
which, more than any other condition, suited his
natural inclinations. . . . Without undertaking
any directly parochial charge, he was in the habit
of rendering constant assistance to the Rev. Mr.
Hearn, the curate of the place, both in the parish
church and workhouse, thus uniting with his
ordinary occupation a familiar intercourse with his
poorer neighbours. Bound as he was to Laleham
by all these ties, he long loved to look upon it as
his final home ; and the first reception of the tidings
of his election at Rugby was overclouded with
deep sorrow at leaving the scene of so much
happiness. Years after he had left it he still
retained his early affection for it, and till he had
purchased his house in Westmoreland, he enter
tained a lingering hope that he might return to it
in his old age, when he should have retired from
Rugby. Often he would re-visit it, and he de
lighted in renewing his acquaintance with the
families of the poor whom he had known during
his residence ; in showing to his children his former
haunts; in looking once again on his favourite
views of the great plain of Middlesex, the lonely
gravel walks along the banks of the Thames, the
retired garden, with its ' Campus Martius ' and its
' wilderness of trees,' which lay behind his house,
and which had been the scenes of so many sportive
games and serious conversations ; the churchyard
of Laleham, then doubly dear to him, as containing
the graves of his infant child, and of his mother,
aunt, and his sister Susannah, who had long formed
part of his domestic circle."
The cedars which graced the garden alone remain
to mark the spot. The greater part of the garden,
and the " Campus Martius," have been converted
into an arable field.
Arnold's life at Laleham was on a smaller scale
the precursor of his subsequent life at Rugby. He
would keep no pupil whom he could not " sophro-

1 84

GREATER LONDON.

[Laleham.

nise," to use his favourite Oxford term : none
whose presence would be likely to infect his com
panions. One of his pupils, in after life, declared
that the most remarkable thing which used to
strike him was the wonderful heartiness of tone
and feeling which prevailed in the little house at
Laleham. He "gave such an earnestness to life;"
every pupil was made to feel that there was a work
for him to do, and that his happiness as well as his
duty lay in doing that work well. This created
a respect for the tutor which re-acted on his
disciples, and set them to toil in earnest to prepare
themselves for their commencing career as a step
towards after life.
Whilst at Laleham, Arnold's own studies were
chiefly philology and history, and here he com
menced, in the shape of a lexicon, his work on
Thucydides, which afterwards gave him such credit
as a scholar. Here, too, he began to write a
short history of Greece, which was never finished ;
and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana
several important articles on the history of Rome
from the times of the Gracchi to that of Trajan.
Whilst here, also, he made himself a German scholar,
and made practical acquaintance with Niebuhr and
Bunsen. The sermons contained in the first volume
he published were preached in Laleham church,
where also most of his children were baptised.
At Laleham, his eldest son, Mr. Matthew Arnold, so
well known as poet, essayist, and scholar, was born,
in 1822.
Arnold's life at Laleham must be regarded as a
preliminary and probational existence, during
which he was working out mentally, and testing
by partial and limited experiment, those school
reforms which he afterwards carried out into
practice at Rugby, thereby justifying the prophecy
of Dr. Hawkins, the late Provost of Oriel College,
Oxford, that " he would change the face of educa
tion all through the public schools of England." As
the place where this great movement was first con
ceived, Laleham must always be a place of interest
to all persons who take an interest in the progress
of English public-school education.
To Laleham, and its pleasant mixture of hard
work and fresh and youthful interests, Dr. Arnold
constantly recurs in his correspondence with his
friends at Rugby and at Fox How ; and he never
mentions the place without some tender and touch
ing word, which shows how truly he loved its
recollections to the very last. Arnold died
suddenly at Rugby in 1842, shortly after having
been appointed Professor of Modern History at
Oxford. His successor at Rugby was Archbishop
Tait. His house at Laleham was pulled down

about the year 1864, and the materials were used
in the construction of a National School.
The village of Laleham possesses a few old-
fashioned houses of a humble kind. Most of the
inhabitants belong to the agricultural class, but
the village is much frequented during the summer
months, like its more popular neighbours, Hampton
and Sunbury, by the lovers of the gentle craft of
angling. In 187 1 the number of inhabited houses
in the parish amounted to no, the population
amounting to 567 souls, a number which was some
what diminished in the course of the next ten years,
when the sum-total, as recorded in the census-
returns, was 544.
The Thames here becomes somewhat contracted
in width, and being very shallow, runs with con
siderable strength south-east in a tolerably straight
line for nearly two miles, the view in that direction
being closed by Chertsey Bridge, which spans the
Thames. It is of stone, and has seven arches,
and was built in 1780 — 85, from the designs of
Mr. James Payne, at a cost of about ^13,000.
Across the river and meadows, and at some little ,'
distance from the bridge, we see the tower of
Chertsey Church, t and further westward is St.
Anne's Hill, the seat of Lady Holland, and at
one time the favourite residence of Charles James
Fox. Many interesting recollections cling to the
neighbourhood of Chertsey, for —
"Here the last accents flow'd from Cowley's tongue,"
as may be seen from the inscription inserted in.-
the walls of his house, by his friend and brother
angler, Mr. Clark. Shakespeare, too, has given the
village of Chertsey immortality in his Richard III.
In the Chertsey meadow, across the ferry, on the
Surrey side, are to be seen the remains of an encamp
ment of undoubted Roman character, probably an
outlying portion of the station Ad Pontes, which
modern antiquarians have usually identified with
Staines. A meadow, called Laleham Burway, belongs to
the parish of Laleham, though on the opposite side
of the river. There is a tradition that it was given
by an abbot of Chertsey to the Laleham fishermen
as an acknowledgment of their having supplied the-
Abbey with fish during a time of pestilence aafl.
dearth. The meadow was used as a common
ground by the inhabitants of Laleham, and their
cattle used to cross the Thames every morning to-
pasture on it, but Laleham Burway, like so many
other commons, is now " enclosed and divided."
But we must not longer linger over the view,
and so, turning our steps northward, we will at
once make our way to Ashford.

'Ashford.]

THE PARISH CHURCH.

1S5

The general surroundings of this village, as of
those which we have lately been describing, are a
dead flat all away to Feltham in one direction, and
to Staines in another ; but the country around is
nevertheless well-cultivated ground and woodland.
It is sufficiently diversified, at all events, to have
pleased the eye of Arnold. Scattered about in the
fields are plenty of pollard oaks, marking the site of
what once was part of the great forest of Middlesex.
This parish is noticed in the " Domesday Survey"
by the name of Exeforde, and in ancient records of
a subsequent period by those of Echeleford and
Eckleford, from the ford over the little river Exe,
or Echel, which, however, runs at some little dis
tance west of the village.
King Edgar is said to have granted the manor
of Staines, with land at Ecclesford, to the abbey
and convent of. Westminster. ,On the surrender
of that monastery, this manor (together with Staines)
was annexed ¦ to the honour of Hampton Court.
The manor of Ashford was granted by Queen
Elizabeth, in 1 601, to Guy Godolphin and John
Smythe, and ¦ it has since then been held by
different • families. It is now (January, 1883) the
subject of litigation.
Ashford,1 which is a very scattered parish, was,
till recently, a chapelry annexed ¦ to Staines, but
with regard to its civil jurisdiction it has long
been a separate parish. The village is situated
nearly a mile to the south of the great western
road, and about fourteen miles from London.
Twenty- years ago the neighbourhood was very
aristocratic ; and even at the present "-time there
are many wealthy residents. The village 'consists
for the most part of substantial houses occupied
by gentry. Ashford Common extended south
east almost as far as Sunbury Common. Here
George III. formerly held frequent reviews of
cavalry, but the display of military pomp many
years ago yielded to the humbler labours of the
plough. The Common has long been enclosed.
The old village of Ashford lies half a mile east
ward of the station on the Windsor branch of the
South-Western Railway; a new village is now rapidly
springing up in the direction of Sunbury. In 187 1
the number of inhabited houses in the parish was
181, and the population amounted to 1,019 souls,
a number which has now swelled up to 2,281 ; but
this is inclusive of the inmates of two public institu
tions in the parish.
The parish church, which stands near the en
trance to the village, is a modern erection, dating
back only from the year 1858. It is dedicated to
St. Matthew, and is in the Gothic style of archi
tecture. The edifice comprises a chancel, nave,

aisles, south transept, and a tower and dwarf spire
at the south-west angle. It was built by sub
scription. Mr. Butterfield was the architect of
the present church, which is the third that has
stood near the same site within the last century.
The previous church was dedicated to St. Michael.
The original church stood in the same church
yard, but further east, near a tall fine . yew-tree.
It was an ancient building of brick and stone, the
south door exhibiting evidences of Norman or
Saxon workmanship in its zig-zag mouldings. The
edifice which succeeded it, and was erected in
1796, was a plain brick building, with a tower sur
mounted by a tall spire. That church was built
chiefly by a voluntary subscription among the
inhabitants, but the chancel was rebuilt at the
expense of the lord of the manor.
The church of Ashford was formerly served by
a curate appointed by the vicar of Staines, and is
said by Newcourt, in the " Repertorium," to be
endowed with " a house, twenty-eight acres and a
half, and two yards of glebe." Among the tombs
in the churchyard is one to the memory of the
Rev. John Jebb, D.D., Dean of Cashel, father to
the celebrated Bishop Jebb. In the floor of the
nave, near the font, is inserted a brass, removed
from the old church ; it has upon it the effigies of
Edward Woode and his wife, six sons, and two
daughters, and is dated 1525.
The registers of Ashford are very imperfect, none
of them going back further than 1699. They are
in existence from that date to 1708, afterwards
there is a gap down to 1760 ; and their absence is
accounted for by a fire in which they perished
along with the original church plate. New plate
of a very handsome type was purchased, and this,
too, was for some time lost to the parish, having
found its way into private hands, from which it has
only lately been recovered. The church books
contain some curious entries. Amongst others,
very many of sums paid for killing " vermin " and
sparrows. Among the charitable bequests is one,
now producing about £,1 yearly, and divided
between three old men and three old women; it
was left by a Mrs. Anne Webb to her dog, for life,
with reversion to the poor as above. She left
other charities to poor chimney-sweep boys in
London, in the place of a treat which she used to
give them in her lifetime ; and also a duplicate of her
canine legacy to the parish of Merton, in Surrey.
There are several charitable institutions in this
parish. Near the railway-station, on the road to
Stanwell, is the Welsh Charity School. The insti
tution belongs to the Plonourable and Loyal
Society of Ancient Britons. It was originally

i86

GREATER LONDON.

[Staines.

intended for poor Welsh orphans of either sex, but
is now a middle-class school for Welsh girls;
and it was founded in 1714-15. The present
school was erected in 1857, and is a large stone-
fronted building of Elizabethan architecture, and
holds 200 children.
The West London District Schools are situated
to the west of the station, about midway between
Ashford and Staines. The inmates are pauper
children, mainly from the parishes of Fulham,

caused this town, contrary to what is generally the
case, to expand in an easterly direction. It con
sists mainly of one long street, which runs from
east to west, and terminates at Staines Bridge, which
joins the town to Egham, in Surrey.
The Roman road from London to Silchester is
supposed to have crossed the Thames in this neigh
bourhood, but the exact spot where it crossed is not
known with any certainty, though Egham is gene
rally identified with the Roman Bibracte. As

LALEHAM CHURCH. (Seepage 188.)

Paddington, and St George's, Hanover Square.
The edifice, which is constructed of brick with
stone dressings, covers a large space of ground,
and is capable of containing nearly 800 children.
It was built in 1872.
The town of Staines, which we have now
reached, lies about two miles westward from
Ashford, and at the extreme west of the Thames
Valley, in Middlesex, being situated at the mouth
of the Colne, which, rising in Hertfordshire, and
passing by Harefield, Uxbridge, and Colnbrook,
debouches here into the Thames in several
channels. The meadows along the banks of the
Colne being low and flat, whilst its waters are
" brimming " both in summer and winter, have

Staines was the Roman station Ad Pontes, it is
scarcely a matter of wonder that its neighbourhood
is rich in Roman remains. For instance, in a
pit near Savery's Weir, on the Thames, between
Staines and Laleham. a large brass coin of the
Emperor Trajan was dug up in 1858. It was
found at the depth of six feet from the surface, and
was much defaced. The coin is described minutely
in the Journal of the Archaeological Institute.*
Within the last few years very many strong con
firmations of the Roman origin of Staines have
been found in a variety of antique objects that
have been dug up in its vicinity — Roman bricks,
* Vol XVI., p. 179

Staines.]

THE THAMES CONSERVANCY.

187

tiles, vases, and swords, one of the last being found
by dredging in the Thames. Pins, tweezers, and
strigils, from a Roman bath, have also been dis
interred. A very fine collection of these ht.s been
made by Mr. Ernest Ashby, a resident in the town,
who has formed out of them the nucleus of a private
museum. Axe-heads made of flint and other rude
materials, probably of an earlier period, and stags'
horns of very large size, have been unearthed in
the vicinity.

tion refers to the boundary-stone by the side of the
river, which is said to bear date a.d. 1280, together
with the words, " God preserve the City of London."
This stone was repaired and raised on a pedestal in
1 78 1, during the mayoralty of Sir Watkin Lewes.
The stone — be it Roman, Saxon, or Norman, in its
origin — still stands on the north bank, a little above
the bridge, near the church, on the Lammas lands.
It is adorned with the City arms and motto, and
the names of sundry Lord Mayors who have visited

THE CITY BOUNDARY STONE.
Antiquaries are not agreed as to whether this
town derives its name from a Roman milestone, or
milliarum, placed here, or from the stone on the
banks of the Thames which marks the limits of the
jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor of London over the
western portion of the river. Dr. Stukeley en
deavours to support the former theory by asserting
that near Staines Bridge there are traces of an old
Roman road.
It is generally said, however — and we suppose
that the statement may be accepted — the de
rivation of the name of the town is usually given
asfrom"Stane,"or"Stana,"the Saxon term for stone;
and it is supposed by Camden, and by various
subsequent writers, as stated above, that the appella

nt officially for the purposes of enforcing their juris
diction, or on swan-upping expeditions. On its
base it bears engraved the words " Conservators of
the River Thames," who, it may here be mentioned,
regard the river above this point as the Upper
Thames ; whilst from here down to Yanlet Creek, at
the mouth of the Medway, it is called the Lower
Thames. The Court of Conservancy of the Thames, over
which the Lord Mayor presides, holds eight sittings
every year, within the counties of Middlesex,
Surrey, Kent, and Essex. It is in this capacity that
the Lord Mayor of London is comically apostro
phised by Tom Hood as —
" Conservator of Thames from mead to mead,
Great guardian of small sprites that "swim the flood,
Warder of London stone."
When Alderman Venables, as Lord Mayor, went
by barge to Oxford, in 1826, it was part of the
programme that the City banners should be waved
over the stone. It may be added that several
attempts were made in former times to extend the
Lord Mayor's jurisdiction over the Thames as far
as Oxford ; but in this the City did not succeed,

GREATER LONDON.

[Staines.

and ancient custom has determined the limit as
already mentioned.
The citizens of London, we know, had the right
of "free warren'': that is, they were at liberty
to hunt in certain limits around their city ; and
this circuit included the "warren" of Staines.
A forest anciently extended from this place
to Hounslow eastwards, but it was disafforested
and diswarrened early in the thirteenth century,
and the district has since been gradually enclosed.
It is said that the town was once surrounded by
a moat or ditch ; but if this ever was the case, very
scanty traces of it remain, except in what is known
as Penton Ditch.
Staines figures only once in pre-Norman history,
namely, in a.d. 1009, when the Danes, hearing
that an army was marching from London to
•oppose them, are said to have crossed the river
here on their way to their ships from Oxford,
which they had burnt.
The next period which furnishes materials for a
historical notice of Staines occurs subsequent to
the Norman conquest. In the survey made by
order of William I., the circumstances of property
in this place are described in the following man
ner : — " The Abbot of St. Peter holds Stanes for
nineteen hides. There is land to twenty-four
ploughs. Eleven hides belong to the demesne, and
there are thirteen ploughs therein. The villanes
have eleven ploughs. There are three villanes of
half a hide each ; and four villanes of one hide ;
and eight villanes of half a virgate each ; and
thirty-six bordars of three hides ; and one villane
of one virgate, and four bordars of forty acres ;
and ten bordars of five acres each ; and five
cottages of four acres each ; and eight bordars of
one virgate ; and three cottagers of nine acres ; and
twelve bondmen ; and forty-six burgesses, who pay
forty shillings a year. There are six mills of sixty-
four shillings ; and one wear (guort) of six shillings
and eight pence, and one wear which pays nothing.
Pasture for the cattle of the village. Meadow for
¦twenty-four ploughs, and twenty shillings over and
above. Pannage for thirty hogs ; and two arpents
of vineyards. Four berewicks belong to this
manor, and they belonged to it in King Edward's
time. Its whole value is thirty-five pounds ;
the same when received in King Edward's time
forty pounds. This manor laid and lies in the
demesne of the Church of St. Peter [at West
minster]." Here, in the Saxon days, is said to have stood
a Benedictine abbey, the monks of which would
seem to have served the adjoining parishes.
Both Speed, in his "Catalogue of Religious

Houses," and Weever, in his "Funeral Monuments,"
confirm this assertion, and add that the abbey, or
priory, was founded by Ralph, Lord Stafford ; but
Newcourt shows that the Priory of Staines alluded
to by those writers is really situated at Stone in
Staffordshire, which place, like Stone, near Dart-
ford in Kent, was often termed Stane in ancient
records. The distance from Staines Bridge to London
Bridge is twenty miles by land, and, in consequence
of the circuitous course of the Thames, more than
double that distance by water. Staines is in
Spelthorne Hundred, and in the rural deanery of
Hampton. It is a vicarage to which the chapelries
of Ashford and Laleham were formerly annexed,
but these have been separated, and formed into
distinct parishes. The Penny Cyclopaedia of 1839
speaks of all three as ojic Sundry disputes
having arisen on the subject of patronage between
the Bishop of London and the Abbey of West
minster, it was agreed that the vicarage of Staines
should be devoted to the use of wayfaring and
sick folk at Westminster Abbey, .and that the vicar
of Staines should appoint chaplains for Laleham
and Ashfordl The vicar of Staines held under
the great abbey by a curious tenure — namely, that
of supplying two large wax candles for the altar of
St. Peter's church, to be burnt on the eve of
Epiphany. It is certain that the Norman church was not
the earliest here. We learn on the authority of
Leland,* that, in the Saxon times, Ermengildis,
daughter of King Wulfhere, before the year 700,
built a small chapel in the forest here ; and also
that its successor, erected by the first Christian
King of Mercia, was built "ex lapidibus" and
" venustiori modo " than its predecessor.
From this statement it appears probable that the
earliest Christian church here was of wood, very
small and simple in plan. At all events, we learn
that as far back as the ninth century a building of
that description was standing here, and that the
rude tenements of the Saxon town clustered round
"God's Acre." This little oratory, in due course
of time, was probably superseded by a church of
stone. The present church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a
modern structure, ugly and plain, and stands in
the midst of meadows on the banks of an arm
of the Colne. Its Norman predecessor having
become dilapidated, the nave was rebuilt in the
last century; but one corner of it fell down
about the year 1828, and the present structure

See Parker's "Glossary of Architecture," iii., 9.

Staines.]

SINGULAR BEQUESTS.

189

erected on the same site, the lower part of the
tower being made to do duty. It was built in the
dark ages of church architecture, the reign of
George IV, and tells its own tale — an imitation
Gothic structure of the poorest type. Its square
embattled brick tower is said to have been erected
by Inigo Jones in 1631, but it is scarcely one of
the best specimens of his artistic design. The
church was erected under an Act of Parliament
which conferred freehold rights in pews to the con
tributors of certain sums to the building fund. The
architect was a man named Watson, who is said to
have been chosen by competition, securing his
election to the job by sundry presents of barrels of
oysters and cods' heads and shoulders to the sapient
¦ committee to whom the choice of an architect was
entrusted 1 In Walpole's " Anecdotes of Paint
ing," it is stated that Inigo Jones lived for some
time at Staines ; but it does not appear that any
notice of his residence here is to be found in the-
parish books.
In a small apartment under the staircase leading
to the gallery at the west end of the old church
were for many years preserved two unburied coffins,
containing human remains. They were placed
beside each other on trestles, and bore respectively
the following inscriptions : — " Jessie Aspasia, the
most excellent and truly beloved wife of Fred. W.
Campbell, Esq., of Barbreck, N.B., and of Wood
lands, in Surrey. Died in her 28th year, July nth,
1812." "Henry E. A. Caulfield, Esq., died
Sept. 8th, 1808, aged 29 years." As it was natu
rally supposed that coffins thus open to inspection
would excite much curiosity, a card was preserved
at the sexton's house, which stated, in addition to
the intelligence conveyed by the above inscriptions,
that the deceased lady was the daughter of W. T.
Caulfeild, Esq., of Raheenduff, in Ireland, by Jessie,
daughter of James, third Lord Ruthven, and that
she bore with tranquil and exemplary patience a
fatal disorder, produced by grief on the death of her
brother. These coffins were buried on the erection
of the new church.
The church and churchyard are singularly defi
cient in interesting tombs and monuments. Dame
Letitia Lade, who lies buried between the church
and the road, was a cast-off mistress of the Prince
Regent, who married her to his coachman, one Mr.
John Lade, whom he knighted as a reward for his
pliancy in the matter, or for his skill in handling
the ribbons. It is said that Sir John Lade also is
buried here, but his name is not recorded on the
tombstone. The church has a peal of eight bells, remark
ably sweet in their tone, and said to be the finest

belonging to any of the churches in the Middlesex
valley of the Thames, excepting Fulham.
The church books contain some curious entries ;
lists of books, plate, and moneys in the hands of
the churchwardens, entries of sums paid to " dis
tressed gentlewomen," " poore schollers," " poore
ministers " and their wives ; to a " poore gentle
woman to ransom her husband " (sixpence) ; and
sixpence to a "poore merchant's wife." In 1657
sixpence is paid for an " houre glass." Two years
later about ^20 is spent on the re-casting, &c, of
a bell; and in 1660 £$ for painting the king's
arms. There are other disbursements for " prose
cuting ye Quakers;" for going to London by water,
(sixpence); "given to a poore Mayde, 2s."; for "ex
communicating Pritt," 17 s. ; for ferrying to church,
is. ; and sundry collections in answer to briefs.
It is perhaps worth notice that the Rev. Gerald
Wellesley, brother of the great Duke of Wellington,
was at one time vicar of Staines, and largely im
proved the vicarage.
A guild, in honour of God and the Virgin Mary,
was founded in 1456, by John Lord Berners, Sir
John Wenlock, and several other persons, over the
chapel of the Holy Cross in the church of Staines.
This guild consisted of two wardens and a certain
number of brethren and sisters. The lands apper
taining to it were valued, in 1548, at £il 17s. 6d.
per annum, including 6s. 8d. for a chamber, called
the chantry-priests' chamber.
The town consists mainly of one long straggling
street, irregularly built. The High Street, towards
the west end of the town, forks off, and is continued
to the north-west by Church Street, which leads to
the parish church. The main street of the town is
upwards of a mile in length, and contains a fair
sprinkling of commodious shops and good old-
fashioned houses ; whilst in the immediate neigh
bourhood are extensive mills, and linoleum and
other manufactories. In Church Street is a large
brewery, belonging to the Messrs. Ashby ; another
brewery in the town belongs to Mr. Harris. At
the west end of the High Street stands a hand
some new Town Hall, which has been built in the
place of a smaller one in a miserable and low
thoroughfare known as Blackboy Lane.
Staines was a great place for the "Society of
Friends," whose meeting-house is a specimen of
the architecture of years long gone by. There are
also chapels for different denominations of Dis
senters. A large new town, with a mission chapel
destined to blossom into a church, has of late years
sprung up about the railway-station, which here forms
a junction of the Windsor and the Wokingham lines.
The internal polity of the town was formerly regu-

190

GREATER LONDON.

[Staines.

lated by two constables and four " head-boroughs."
The government is now vested in a Local Board ;
whilst the welfare of the town is further enhanced
by the advantages gained from a Literary and
Scientific Institute, and also a Mechanics' In
stitute. There was a weekly market held on Friday, but
it has long been discontinued ; two fairs, however, are
still held annually. One of these fairs was granted
by Henry III., in the year 1228, to the abbot and
convent of Westminster. The fairs are held on the
nth of May for horses and cattle, and on the
19th of September for toys, &c.
The Penny Cyclopaedia gives the population of
Staines in 1839 as 2,486. From the census
returns in 187 1, we learn that the parish contained
722 inhabited houses, and that the population then
numbered 3,659 souls, a number that is by this
time nearly doubled.
Lying as it did, in the good old coaching days, on
the high road to Salisbury and the south-western
counties, just one stage west of Hounslow, Staines
was a large posting-town, and its inns were very
numerous. Many of these since the days of rail
ways have been turned into private houses, and
such hostelries as remain depend mainly for support
on boating parties and on the disciples of Izaak
Walton. If not literally the " half-way house," Staines was
at all events one of the resting places, and a halt
for changing horses, in the coaching and sporting
days, on the " royal road " to Windsor. Hence
the town was a favourite with good old George III.
and Queen Charlotte and their family ; and hence
probably it came to pass that royalty took part
in the ceremony of opening the new bridge across
the Thames.
The Vine Inn, "at the bridge foot," is often
mentioned by the first Lord Shaftesbury in his
" Diary " as an inn where he slept a night on his
way between Dorsetshire and London. The
tavern, however, has long passed away. Readers of
Swift will not forget how the prude Phillis, having
run off with her father's groom, John, the couple
settle down to lead a cat-and-dog life as landlord
and hostess of the Blue Boar, which still exists
and flourishes :
" They keep at Staines the old Blue Boar."
To one at least of these inns an anecdote
attaches, which may be worth recording here : —
A lady of fashion in the last century is said to
have cut with a diamond on a pane of glass the
following inscription, "Dear Lord D  has
the softest lips of any man in England." Foote,

coming into the room soon after, scored under
neath the following couplet : —
" Then as like as two chips
Are D  's head and his lips."
While on the subject of fnns and taverns — of
which, by the way, Staines possesses a fair share — it
may not be out of place to note the fact that at
the Staines and Egham races the landlord of the
" Cricketers," near Chelsea Bridge, used to display
a signboard which had been painted by George
Morland, and which travelled about with him.
The water supply of Staines has of late years
been largely augmented by the Sunningdale Dis
trict Water Company, which has been formed for
the purpose of supplying the several parishes of
Staines, Egham, and Old Windsor.
The river Thames in the neighbourhood of
Staines is highly favourable for boating and fishing
parties, and as a natural result the town is much
frequented by visitors during the summer months.
Staines Bridge was for many a century the only
one above London Bridge leading to the west of
England ; hence the importance of it to the sove
reign, especially as it helped to connect both
Windsor and Portsmouth with the metropolis ; and
hence, probably, it happened that the barons
assembled at Runnymede while enforcing King
John to sign the Magna Charta; and hence, in
1 262, we read of three large oak-trees being granted
by the Crown out of Windsor forest for the repair
of this edifice. Numerous grants of pontage, or a
temporary toll to defray the charge of repairs, were
made at different times previous to the year
1600. In 1 79 1 an Act of Parliament was obtained for
the erecting of a new bridge, and under enactment,
certain tolls were allowed to be taken, on which the
sum expended in raising the structure was charged.
In pursuance of this Act a stone bridge of three
arches was begun in August, 1792, and was opened
in March, 1797. But the work had been executed
with so little skill that one of the piers shortly gave
way, and the bridge was necessarily taken down.
A similar fate befel its successor — an iron bridge of
one single arch, which, through some structural
defect, had to be supported and propped up with
wooden piles and framework. This bridge in the
end was considered altogether unsafe, and the
present stone bridge was built in 1832, and opened
by William IV. and Queen Adelaide, the approach
to it, at the same time, being altered and improved.
Some remains of the approaches of the former
bridge may still be seen, especially on the Surrey
side of the river.

Staines.]

MAGNA CHARTA ISLAND.

191

Quite close to the vicarage and church is
Duncroft House, at one time the property and
occasional residence of Lord Cranstoun. It is
said that King John slept here the night after
signing Magna Charta at Runnymede, but the tra
dition may be doubted. The house ,is a late
Elizabethan or early Jacobean structure, resembling
in its details portions of the Charter House in
London. The room said to be King John's has a
fine oak chimney-piece, curiously inlaid ; and the
timbers of the upper part of the house are massive
and strong. An earlier structure may possibly
have occupied the spot, but no traces of it exist.
Staines Moor, extending upwards to Stanwell,
consists of common-lands, over which the poor of
Staines have certain rights of turbary, &c.
Yeoveney, a hamlet consisting of a farm-house
and a few cottages, about a mile to the north of
the town, was an ancient chapelry attached to the
mother-church of Staines. Its chapel has long
since disappeared ; and even its site is not known
for certain, though an oak door, said to have formed
a part of it, is still preserved in the neighbouring
farm-house. Within sight of Staines, though on the other side
of the river, is Egham, between which and the river
side is the meadow of Runnymede, on which Egham
races are annually held, and on which it is said
that Magna Charta was signed. The roadway
between Staines Bridge and Egham was built by
the monks of Chertsey. Akenside, the author of
" The Pleasures of Imagination," wrote the following
spirited lines as an inscription for a column to be
erected here : —
"Thou who the verdant plain dost traverse here,
While Thames among his willows from thy view
Retires ; O stranger, stay thee, and the scene
Around contemplate well. This is the place
Where England's ancient Barons, clad in arms
And strong with conquest, from their tyrant king
(Then rendered tame) did challenge and secure
The charter of thy freedom. Pass not on
Till thou hast blest their memory, and paid
Those thanks which God appointed the reward
Of public virtue. And if chance thy home
Salute thee with a father's honoured name,
Go, call thy sons, instruct them what a debt
They owe their ancestors, and make them swear
To pay it, by transmitting down entire
Those sacred rights to which themselves were born."
A small eyot a little higher up the river, opposite
Egham and Ankerwyke, still bears the name of
Magna Charta Island. In it is kept and shown a
table bearing the names of the proud Barons who
forced the King to sign the Charter. Here are some
of the finest trees in the kingdom, the park having

once been a religious house ; but these are beyond
our limits. A walnut tree at Ankerwyke, which still
stands and thrives, is said to have been vigorous
when it witnessed the signing of Magna Charta.
"A small island opposite Runnymede, now
covered with willows, was the temporary fortified
residence of the barons, where, in 1215, they re
tired from the pressure of the surrounding army,
personally to receive the signature of the king to
the great palladium of English liberty."
At Egham resided the great and good Judge
Doddridge, who lies buried in Exeter Cathedral ;
but the place is chiefly memorable on account of
Cooper's Hill, an eminence near the London Road,
the beauties of which are celebrated in a poem
written in 1640 by Sir John Denham, and which
acquired for him from Dr. Johnson the just and
merited rank of an "original author." The fol
lowing four lines of " Cooper's Hill," having
reference to the Thames, which is now before us,
have been often quoted, but will bear repetition : —
' ' Oh ! could I flow like thee, and make thy stream
My great example, as it is my theme ;
Though deep, yet clear, tho' gentle, yet not dull,
Strong without rage, without o'erflo wing full."
A good story is told of Sir John Denham.
There was in the Puritan army a poetaster named
Withers, some of whose lands at Egham Sir J.
Denham had got into his clutches. When Withers
was taken prisoner by the Cavaliers, Denham
interceded with King Charles for his life, because
as long as he lived he (Sir John) would not be
reckoned the worst poet "in England.
On the west side of Cooper's Hill stands the
Indian Civil Engineering College, founded by
Government in 187 1 for the scientific training of
young men as civil engineers for service in India.
The college is built upon an estate formerly called
Ankerwyke Purnish, which was given to the nuns
of Ankerwyke, on the opposite side of the Thames,
by Hugh, Abbot of Chertsey, in the reign of King
Stephen. The father of the poet De»ham, who was also a
Sir John Denham, lived for some time at Egham,
in the house now the vicarage. He was for some
time Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland.
Pope sang his praises in the following lines : —
" On Cooper's Hill eternal wreaths shall grow
While lasts the mountain or while Thames shall flow ;
I seem through consecrated walks to rove,
I hear soft music die along the grove ;
, Led by the sound, I rove from shade to shade,
By godlike poets venerable made.
Here his first lays majestic Denham sung,
There the last numbers flow'd from Cowley's tongue !"

192

GREATER LONDON.

[Stanwell.

BEDFONT CHURCH. (From an old Print. See page 195.)

CHAPTER XVII.
STANWELL, BEDFONT, AND CRANFORD.
" Ecce horti campique nitent." — Ovid.
Situation and General Aspect of Stanwell — Stanwell Heath formerly a rendezvous for Middlesex Elections— The Domesday Book Notice of
Stanwell— The Forced Exchange of the Manor, temp. Henry VIIL— Subsequent Descent of the Manor— The Village of Stanwell— The Old
School-house— Population — The Parish Church— Staines Moor, Stanwell Moor, and Poyle Park — West Bedfont — East Bedfont— The
Parish Church — The "Peacocks" — Discoveries of Antiquities — Descent of the Manor of Bedfont — Spelthorne Sanatorium — Middlesex
Industrial School for Girls— The " Black Dog" — Population of Bedfont— Cranford— Census Returns— The Village — Descent of the Manor—
The Park — Cranford House — Cranford le Mote — The Parish Church — The Vicarage.

The parish of Stanwell stands high in comparison
with the flat country all around it, and its church
spire forms a conspicuous landmark. The village
lies about two miles nearly due north from Staines.
The parish is separated from Buckinghamshire
by a branch of the river Colne, and in other
directions is bounded by Bedfont, Staines, and
Harmondsworth. Down to the end of the last
or beginning of the present century, upwards of
500 acres of land in the parish were an open
waste, of which some 350 acres formed a portion,
or continuation, of Hounslow Heath. This state
of things, however, is now all altered, and what
was once barren and profitless has been turned
into green pastures and smiling cornfields.
It would appear from " Bubb Dodington's Diary "
that in the reign of George II. Stanwell Heath

was the great rendezvous of the electors of Middle
sex, before they rushed off to the poll at Brentford
Butts, as already recorded by us.*
In the " Domesday Survey," Stanwelle is stated
to be held of the king by Walter Fitzother. " There
were four mills, yielding seventy shillings, and four
hundred eels, save twenty-five ; and three wears,
which produced one thousand eels, meadow for
twelve ploughs (or each to twelve carucates).
Pasture for the cattle of the village ; and pannage
for one hundred hogs. Its whole value was fourteen
pounds ; when received six pounds."
William, the eldest son of the above-men
tioned Walter Fitzother, held the post of Warden
of Windsor Castle, and in consequence of this
* See ante, p. 38.

Stanwell.l

A "ROYAL EXCHANGE."

*93

appointment he assumed the name of Windsor.
His descendants possessed the manor of Stanwell
until the year 1541, when it passed from them to
the Crown by a very singular and unjustifiable
method, if the story generally received be indeed
correct. Sir William Dugdale, who heartily disliked the
memory of Henry VIIL, on account of his dis
solution of the monastic houses, and who had the
account from the lips of Thomas, Lord Windsor,

king, with a stern countenance, replied that it
must be, commanding him, on his allegiance, to
repair to the Attorney-General, and settle the
business without delay. The1 Attorney-General
showed him a conveyance, ready prepared, of
Bordesley Abbey, in the county of Worcester, with
all its lands and appurtenances, in exchange for
the manor of Stanwell. Being constrained, through
dread of the king's displeasure, to accept of the
exchange, he conveyed this manor to his Majesty,

STANWELL VILLAGE GREEN. (See page 194.)

relates' in the following manner the story of the
forced exchange of this manor by the then lord,
in consequence of an " invitation " of the king : —
" The manor of Stanwell continued in the
Windsor family till the year 1543, when King
Henry the Eighth, having been advised to dispose of
the monastic lands by gifts or exchange to the
principal nobility and gentry, thought fit to make
an exchange of this sort with Andrews, Lord
Windsor. To this purpose he sent a message that
he would dine with him at Stanwell, where a mag
nificent entertainment was accordingly provided.
The king then informed the owner that he liked his
place so well that he was determined to have it,
though not without a beneficial exchange. Lord
Windsor made answer that he hoped his Highness
was not in earnest, since Stanwell had been the
seat of his ancestors for so many generations. The
\ 17

being commanded to quit Stanwell immediately,
though he had laid in his Christmas provision for
keeping his wonted hospiVity there, saying that
they should not find it bare Stanwell."
According to the above-mentioned story, Lord
Windsor conveyed the manor to the king before
Christmas; but the deed of exchange, which is
preserved in the Public Record Office, bears date
the 14th of March, 33rd of Henry VIIL (1543),
or more than three months subsequent to that
season. The title of Windsor would seem to have been
happily chosen, for the original occupants of the
manor-house here could see, across the well-
watered meadows of the Colne, the towers of that
royal castle and town from which they took their
title. In the year 1603, the manor and the demesne

J 94

GREATER LONDON.

[Stanwell.

lands were granted by James I. to Sir Thomas,
afterwards Lord, Knyvet. The Princess Mary,
daughter of King James, was placed under the
care of this nobleman at Stanwell, and died there
in 1607. The estate was subsequently vested in
the family of the Carys, Lords Falkland, and in
1720 it was sold by John, Earl of Dunmore. A
few years later it was purchased by Sir John
Gibbons, Bart, K.B., and it is now the property of
his descendant, Sir John Gibbons, Bart. The
manor-house, called Stanwell Place, is a spacious
modem mansion, standing in a small park.
The village of Stanwell is somewhat secluded,
lying as it does off the main roads, and the ordinary
beaten track of commerce. It is situated on the
east side of the park, and the cottages and other
buildings are scattered round a small, ' but pic
turesque, village green, which has about it sufficient
evidences of rural life to render it a charming
"bit" for the pencil of an artist The ancient
school-house on the London Road, which was built
and endowed for the charitable instruction of poor
children, in accordance with the will of Thomas,
Lord Knyvet, has remained down to" the present
time as a monument of his care for the require
ments of future generations.
According to the census returns for 1871, the
number of inhabited houses in the parish was 364,
the population amounting to 1,955 souls; but this
number included upwards of 300 in the district of
St. Thomas, Colnbrook, and nearly 250 in Staines
Union Workhouse, which is situated to the south
of the village, and abuts upon the Bedfont Road.
In 1881 the population had increased to 2,155,
inclusive of the inmates of the workhouse, but
exclusive of Colnbrook.
The parish church of Stanwell, dedicated to
St. Mary, is an ancient building, composed of
stone interspersed with flint, and is a mixture of
the Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular
styles of architecture. Unlike most of the churches
of the Thames Valley, it consists of a nave, with
clerestory, a double chancel, aisles, a picturesque
wooden porch with tiled roof on the north side,
and a low square tower at the western end.
The church was thoroughly restored in 1863, at
which time the north aisle was rebuilt and the
porch added. The tower is constructed of flint and
stone, in chequer work, and from it rises a lofty
octagonal shingled spire, somewhat out of the per
pendicular. The interior is spacious, well lighted,
and much superior to the generality of the village
churches in this county. Its nave and aisles are
divided by Pointed arches, which spring from
massive pillars, some being octagonal, and others

circular. Some of the windows are filled with
stained glass. On the south wall of the chancel
are two stone stalls and the remains of a piscina,
beyond which, towards the nave, extends an arcade
of eight niches, or seats, probably intended for
the accommodation of the brethren of Chertsey
Abbey, to whom the rectory of Stanwell was appro
priated by Richard, de Windsor about the year
1415- There was in this church an " Easter Sepulchre,"
formed, as will be seen, out of one of the tombs.*
" On the north side of the chancel," writes Mr.
Bloxam, in his " Gothic Architecture," " is a high
tomb, over which is a canopy with an obtuse arch,
ornamented with quatrefoils. Beneath this arch
were placed upright in the wall brass plates, with
the effigies of the deceased and his wife, all long
ago removed. This is the monument of Thomas
Windsor, who died a.d. i486. By his will, made
in 1479, after directing that his body should be
buried on the north side of the ' quier ' of the
church of our Lady of Stanwell, " afor the ymage of
our Lady wher the sepulture [sic] of our Lord
stondith;" he adds, 'I will that there be made a
playne. tombe of marble, of a competent hyght,
to th' entent that yt may ber [bear] the blessed
body of our Lord, and the sepulture at the tyme
of Estre. to stand upon the same.' "
The above Thomas Windsor was the father of
Andrews, first Lord Windsor, the nobleman who,
as stated above, was " despoiled " by the king of
the manor of Stanwell.
On the same wall as the above tomb is one of a
more stately character to the memory of Thomas,
Lord Knyvet, and Elizabeth, his wife, which rises
nearly to the roof of the chancel. This monument
is of veined marble, with columns of the Corinthian
order, and, as stated in "Walpole's Anecdotes of
Paintings," was the work of Nicholas Stone, who
received for executing it the sum of ^215. The
effigies of Lord and Lady Knyvet are represented
life-size, in a kneeling attitude. On a tablet is an
inscription in Latin, setting forth at considerable
length the descent and virtues of the deceased,
both of whom appear, from an inscription on the
floor, to have died in the year 1622.
This church appears in former times to have
been particularly rich in monumental brasses, but
these have mostly disappeared, either by theft, or
in that most dangerous of processes, " restoration."
The rectory of Stanwell was formerly a sinecure
in the patronage of the Windsor family. In 1415

* The same is the case with Harlinston Church, as will be seen
presently.

Bedfont.]

THE "PEACOCKS."

195

Richard de Windsor exchanged the rectory and
advowson for the manor of West Bedfont, with the
Abbot and Convent of Chertsey. At about the
same time a vicarage was endowed, to which the
Abbots of Chertsey presented until the Dissolution,
since which period the patronage of the vicarage
has remained with the Crown, through the Lord
Chancellor. The celebrated Dr. Bruno Ryves, author of the
" Mercurius Rusticus, or an Account of the
Sufferings of the Royalists," was vicar, of this
parish. He was deprived during the Civil War,
but recovered his preferment on .the Restoration.
We have already had occasion to mention him in
our account of Acton.*
To the west of the village are Staines Moor and
Stanwell Moor, broad expanses of land bordering
upon the River Colne, the latter being partly
covered with houses ; and also Poyle Park, a small
seat in the neighbourhood of Colnbrook, a part
of which village, as shown above, belongs to the
parish of Stanwell.
West Bedfont, a hamlet about half a mile east
of Stanwell, on the road to East Bedfont, was in
former times an independent manor, but it now
forms part and parcel of the manor of Stanwell.
The roadway by which we now make our way
to Bedfont follows the course of the " Queen's
River," which ripples merrily along through the
meadows on our left ; whilst at a short distance
further northward flows the " Duke of Northum
berland's River," on its way to unite its waters
with the River Crane, in the neighbourhood of
Hounslow. Bedfont, formerly called East Bedfont, in order
to distinguish it from West Bedfont, lies on the
high road, about equidistant 'from Hounslow and
Staines. With its long village green and pond,
both fringed with fine elms and other trees, and its
irregular string of houses and cottages retreating so
gracefully behind their gardens on either side of
the road, it has a quaint and primitive air, which
would hardly lead one to believe that he is with
in thirteen miles of the great metropolis. The
quaintness of its appearance is increased by its
little Norman church, with its wooden tower and
dwarf steeple, and its pair of trim and formal yew-
trees, cut out into the shapes of peacocks, with the
date 1704, and the initials of the churchwardens of
that time,' still legible in the cropped foliage. The
local tradition is that they represent satirically two
sisters who lived at Bedfont, and who were so
very haughty that they both refused the hand of

* See ante, p. 15.

some local magnate, who thus immortalised them,
being " as proud as peacocks." This, however, is
a legend only. These are some of the grotesque
shapes with which a stiff, formal, and unnatural age
loved to decorate its gardens, lawns, and alleys ; and
they are only a "survival" of what once was a
common fashion.
If the peacocks have rendered the two maiden
ladies above mentioned immortal, they have in
their turn been immortalised by Thomas Hood,
who makes them the subject of one of the most
serious of his early "serious " poems : —
" Where erst two haughty maidens used to be,
In pride of plume, where plumy Death hath trod,
Trailing their gorgeous velvet wantonly,
Most unmeet pall, over the holy sod :
There, gentle stranger, thou may'st only see
Two sombre peacocks. Age, with sapient nod
Marking the spot, still tarries to declare
How once they lived and wherefore they are there.
"Alas ! that breathing vanity should go
Where pride is buried ; like its very ghost
Unrisen from the naked bones below,
In novel flesh, clad in the silent boast
Of gaudy silk, that flutters to and fro,
Shedding its chilling superstition most
On young and ignorant natures — as is wont
To haunt the peaceful churchyard of Bedfont."
Pope, who must often have seen these quaint
artificial ornaments, satirised them in No. 173 of
the Guardian : — "How contrary to simplicity is
the modern .practice of gardening ! We seem to
make it our study to recede from nature not only
in the various tonsure of greens into the most
regular and formal shapes, but even into monstrous
attempts beyond the reach of the art itself; we run
into sculpture, and are yet better pleased to have
our trees in the most awkward figures of men and
animals than in the most regular of their own. . . .
A citizen is no sooner proprietor of a couple of
yews, but he entertains thoughts of erecting them
into giants, like those of Guildhall. I know an
eminent cook who beautified his country seat with
the coronation-dinner in greens (evergreens), where
you see the champion flourishing on horseback at
one end of the table, and the queen in perpetual
youth at the other." And he adds a list of some
fifteen or sixteen subjects cut in evergreens, from
Adam and Eve and Noah's Ark down to Queen
Elizabeth, which are to be disposed of by an
" eminent town gardner," of his acquaintance. In
spite of all Pope's quiet satire, those at Bedfont
still hold their place; but at Harlington, as we shall
presently see, the yew-tree has been allowed of late
to grow at its own sweet will.
The church itself is Norman, as shown by its

196

GREATER LONDON.

[Bedfont

ornamental and round-headed south doorway
and a similar chancel arch, and a small round-
headed window in the north wall of die chancel.
At the north-east angle of the nave, near the
chancel arch, is a double recess, which looks as
if it had once formed an aumbry or the reredos of
an altar. On the plaster being recently stripped
off the wall, two fresco paintings were revealed,
the one representing the Crucifixion, and the other
the Last Judgment. The great Judge is seated, in
His human nature, with the five wounds con
spicuous, and over His right eye is a daub of dark
paint, as if pointing to a passage in the Book of
Ecclesiastes, where God is said to "wink at the sins
of men." Both paintings, it maybe added, though
they can still be deciphered, have suffered severely
from iconoclasts or friendly plasterers. On the
wall of the chancel is a small brass of Jacobean
date, as shown by the ruff and frill. In the south
wall of the nave, close to the chancel arch, is a
recess with a small window, which may have con
tained the steps to a rood-loft, or possibly have
been a place for lepers, &c, to hear mass. The
frescoes are of the twelfth or thirteenth century, and
have been attributed to the reign of Stephen.
Behind the church on the north is an ugly
excrescence, forming a huge transept, of modern
date, and of the " Churchwarden " style. This
church was restored " upon the old lines " in the
year 1866.
It is probable that Bedfont was at one time a
Roman station, for in a field between the village
and Feltham have been dug up considerable
quantities of Roman coins, mixed with urns, bones,
&c, and the vestiges of some barrows of uncertain
date. The name of this parish is Bedefunt and Bede-
funde, in the " Domesday Record," and, the prin
cipal manor is there said to be held by Richard of
Walter, the son of Other. Another manor at Bed-
font, noticed in the same record, is described as
lying within the manor of Feltham, and was held
by the Earl of Moreton, half-brother of the Con
queror. The principal manor of Bedfont and the
manor of Hatton, included within the same paro
chial district, are described in the " Beauties of
England and Wales " as the property of the Duke
of Northumberland. On the Sion House stream,
at the eastern extremity of the parish, are some
powder-mills. In 1878 an institution known as the Spelthorne
Sanitorium was opened here, as a refuge for women
"who have fallen into habits of intemperance." It
affords accommodation for about twenty "patients,"
who are employed in laundry and needlework.

Adjoining, and under the same management, is
the Middlesex Industrial School for Girls.
The village of Bedfont, beyond the church and
its famous yews, and the institutions just referred
to, contains nothing of interest to detain the
visitor, excepting, perhaps, he may feel inclined
to make a call at the " Black Dog," whose former
landlord is commemorated in Colman's " Random
Recollections " in the following lines :—
*' Harvey, whose inn commands a view
Of Bedfont's church and churchyard too,
Where yew-trees into peacocks shorn,
In vegetable torture mourn."
The inhabitants of the village, as may be in
ferred from its surroundings, are almost wholly
employed in agriculture. In the year 187 1 the
population, including that of the hamlet of Hatton,
amounted to only 1,288 souls, whilst the inhabited
houses were set down in the census returns at
279. In the year 1881 the population had increased
to 1,452.
Making our way in a north-easterly direction,
and passing through the hamlet of Hatton, we soon
arrive at Cranford, a spot which, from the sylvan
beauty of its park, forms quite an " oasis in the
desert," the greater part of the country around
being level and uninviting arable land, or in parts
cultivated as wheat-fields and orchards. Cranford
Bridge, which has taken the place of the Ford over
the Crane, or Cran, from which the parish took its
name, lies two miles west of Hounslow, along the
old Bath road. That part of it which was open
heath half a century ago is now enclosed, and
covered with houses and market-gardens.
It is a straggling village, with a population of
some 500 souls, which is a diminution of about
50 from the number recorded in the census
returns for 187 1. The place possesses no regular
" street," and seems to have grown up at hap
hazard round the outside circuit of Cranford Park,
for trie last two centuries and a half one of the
residences of the Earls of Berkeley, and now be
longing to Lord Fitzhardinge. There is nothing
to remark about it, except that at the lower end of
the village there is, as above stated, a bridge of
three arches over the River Crane. The park is
small, containing about 140 acres, and is very
strictly preserved. The manor-house, which
stands near the centre of it, is a dull, heavy-looking
structure of any and every age, not built upon any
regular plan. The stabling is fine and good, and
evidently in former days formed a most important
part of the mansion. It is rarely inhabited by the
family, owing to the superior attractions of Berkeley
Castle as a residence.

Cranford.]

CRANFORD PARK.

197

About the time of the Conquest the manor of
Cranford, or Craneforde, as it is termed in "Domes
day Book," was divided, and the separate manorial
districts were distinguished by the names of
Cranford St John and Cranford le Mote. The
first of these was for some time possessed by the
Knights Templars, and after the abolition of that
order, was vested in the Knights Hospitallers of
St. John of Jerusalem. The manor of Cranford le
Mote was long the property of the Abbot and
Convent of Thame, in Oxfordshire. On the dis
solution of the religious houses, both these manors
were granted by Henry VIIL to \ Henry, Lord
Windsor, and after several intermediate transfers,
were purchased, in the year 1 618, of the co-heirs of
Sir Roger Aston, gentleman of the bedchamber to
James I., by Elizabeth, Lady Berkeley, for the
sum of ^7,000. <
Inside'the park, the Crane is artificially dammed
up so as to form a lake ; but it is as straight as an
arrow, thus showing that it was planned in the old
artificial days of gardening— not Snlike the straight
"canal"* in St. James's Park. It abounds with
fish and wild fowl, and the game all over the
property is very strictly preserved.
For a long time Cranford Plouse has been for
most of the year untenanted, eicept by a care
taker, and it has somehow gained the reputation of
being haunted. The Hon. Grantley Berkeley, in
his "Life and Recollections," has given a detailed
account of these nocturnal visitants. The house
contains, besides a few family portraits, others of
Dr. Harvey, Dean Swift, Fuller the historian, Sir
William Temple, &c. The residence of the Berke
ley family here is thus celebrated by Mr. W. Wilkes,
in his ambitious and rather prosaic poem of
" Hounslow Heath " :—
" Two miles from Hounslow towards the west is plac'd,
With all the beauties of retirement grac'd,
A grand and rural seat in Berkeley fam'd,
Gay Crantford's castle by the Muses nam'd ;
Where health's preserved in .unpolluted air,
Where smiling peace extirpates every care ;
Where Amalthea holds her golden horn,
And brisk diversions wake with every morn."
The Eton. Thomas Moreton Fitzhardinge-Berke-
ley, son of the fifth Earl of Berkeley, lived for
many years at Cranford Cottage, in the immediate
outskirts of the park. He died in August, 1882,
never having assumed the title, although by a
decision of the House of Lords, in 181 1, he was
virtually declared entitled to it.
The manor-house of Cranford le Mote occupied
* See " OH and New London," Vol. IV., p. 54.

a moated site, at a short distance from the church
on the north-east. The ancient building on this
spot, which was the residence of Sir William
Fleetwood, Receiver of the Court of Wards about
the commencement of the seventeenth century, was
taken down about the year 1780.
The church, dedicated to St. Dunstan, adjoins the
manor-house, and having no aisles, remains in its
original, tiny proportions. As is so frequently the
case along the Middlesex valley of the Thames,
the tower is the only original part of the building
which still stands. The nave and chancel have
been modernised, the latter with heavy, but sub
stantial, mahogany and oak.
On the walls are some fine Jacobean and more
recent monuments to members of the Berkeley
family, but these are not in a good state of repair.
In the chancel there is a fine Jacobean monument
to Sir Roger Aston, whose kneeling figure and those
of his two wives and daughters, exhibit the fanciful
ruffs, frills, &c, of the period. At his foot is a small
bambino, representing a son who died in infancy.
The marriages of the daughters are recorded, with
some pride, upon the panel below, whilst the ar
morial bearings of Aston, with several impalements,
are introduced in several parts of the monument
together with a narrative inscription of con
siderable length. Close by the above is a mural
tablet of black marble set in a frame of alabaster,
to the memory of the celebrated Dr. Thomas
Fuller, author of the " Church History of Britain,"
the "Worthies of England," and many other
learned works. Dr. Fuller was warmly patronised
by George,' Lord Berkeley, in whose family he was
chaplain, and by whom he was presented to the
rectory of Cranford in 1658. Fuller died at his
lodgings in Covent Garden in August, 1661, his
body was brought from London and buried in the
chancel of Cranford church, 200 clergy following
him to the grave, and his funeral was conducted
under the immediate direction of Lord Berkeley,
who defrayed all the expenses incident to the
solemnity. The successor of Dr. Fuller as rector
of Cranford was the eminent divine John Wilkins,
afterwards Bishop of Chester.
Under the chancel repose several members of
the Berkeley family. Mr. Henry Berkeley, for
merly for many years M.P. for Bristol, and the
great advocate of the ballot, lies under a plain
tomb-stone beneath the east window of the chancel.
In the churchyard are some fine yews and other
evergreens, which, if the truth must be told, make
the edifice dark and damp. The rectory, an old
structure modernised, stands just within the park
gates.

198

GREATER LONDON.

[Harlington.

HARLINGTON CHURCH. {Seepage 199.)
{From an Engraving dated 1803.)

CHAPTER XVIII.
HARLINGTON AND HARMONDSWORTH.
Situation of Harlington— The Village and Population— The Manor— The Parish Church— Dr. Trapp— The Yew Tree in the Churchyard-The
Local Charities— The Earldom of Arlington— Dawley Court— Lord Bolingbroke— Harmondsworth, Situation, and Nature of the Soil— Its
Etymology— Harmondsworth Priory— The Manor— An Ancient Barn— The Parish Church— The Village-Census Returns, &c— Heath
Row— A Roman Encampment— Sipson— Longford— Colnbrook.

Harlington is a small straggling village, about a
mile and a half north-west of Cranford, and nearer
to Southall and Hayes, and also some three miles
south of Uxbridge. It is in the Hundred of
Elthorne and Union of Staines. The village
contains several very old cottages, probably of
the sixteenth century ; much of the parish is still
devoted to market gardens, and especially to
cherry orchards, which impart to the lanes in the
locality a green and shady aspect.
Good brick earth is obtained on the surface,
especially in the northern part, though gravel pre
dominates below, and the result is that much
brick-making is carried on in the neighbourhood.
In 187 1 this parish contained inhabited houses
to the number of 254, whilst the population
amounted to 1,296 souls. According to the

census returns for '1881 the number of the in
habitants had increased to 1,538. The acreage
of the parish is set down at 1,464, and the rateable
value at .£1 1,433.
The name of Harlington appears to have been
originally spelt Herdington, or Herdyngton. Under
the former name it is mentioned in "Domesday
Book" as a'marior answering for ten hides, and
having "land for six ploughs," and held under
Earl Roger by Alured and Olaf. It speaks of a
priest as owning half a hide of land there, and of
twelve villani, holding half a virgate each ; men
tion is made also of eight cottagers and one
bondsman. Its whole value is given as one
hundred shillings. "It is taxed," writes the
author of the Antiquarian Cabinet, "in the
ancient valors at nine marks yearly. In the

Harlington.]

THE PARISH CHURCH.

199

King's Books it is valued at ,£24. The Inquisition
taken in 1650, by order of the Parliament, states
the parsonage to be worth ^140 a year, exclusive
of 36 acres of glebe. Some of these acres,
however, are now lost to
the living, though its money
value is largely increased."
The chief manor appears
to have been divided at
an early period into two,
both of which now belong
to the Berkeley family.
The manor of Hardington,
Harlington, or "Lovells,"
having been in the hands
of the Harpendens, the
Lovells, and the great Lord
Bolingbroke, passed to the
Earl of Uxbridge, who sold
it to the late Earl of Ber
keley. The other manor of
Harlington-cum-Sheperton |
came to the same family by
the marriage of George,
Lord Berkeley, with a
daughter of Sir Michael
Stanhope. There is in this parish a
third reputed manor, of
small extent, which is
noticed in the "Norman
Survey" under the name of
"Dalleger." It answered
in " Doomsday " for three
hides. It was afterwards
called Dalley, or Danley ;
and under the more recent
name of Dawley it belonged
to Lord Bolingbroke, and
now to Count Fane de Salis.
The church, dedicated
to St. Peter and St. Paul,
stands near the north end
of the village, and consists
of nave, chancel, and a
square embattled tower. A
north aisle was added at
the restoration of the building in 1 8 8 1 . The edifice
is chiefly built of flint, with stone facings, and the
chancel is higher than the nave. There is a fine
Norman font, and also a Norman south doorway,
with zig-zag mouldings. One singular and interesting
feature in the ornamentation of this doorway is
that the outer member of the arch comprises a
series of cats' heads, the tongues being fancifully

carved, and turned over a moulding corded and
beaded. The pillars which support the arch are of
modern brick, but the capitals are Norman, and
are dissimilar and much embellished.

<7he £ atki ^se pyJ.«-V)feL

"bits" from harlington church

The mouldings have been formerly
cut away to admit the addition of a
wooden porch of much more recent
date, finely carved. This, however,
has been raised, and the defects of
the noble doorway have been re
paired. This doorway is altogether a
very handsome specimen of late
and elaborate Norman work, its orna
mentation being equal to the well-
known examples of Iffley, Barfreston, and Patrix-
bourne, near Canterbury.
This church, which has been carefully restored
upon the old lines, affords examples of nearly
every style of architecture. There are two early
Norman, or possibly Saxon, windows north and
south of the nave ; the Decorated windows on the
sides of the chancel are very fine in their tracery ;

200

GREATER LONDON.

[Harlington.

and the east window, of post-Reformation Gothic,
cannot fail to remind visitors of Oriel and Wadham
Colleges at Oxford. The church altogether is,
perhaps, the best specimen of a mediaeval country
church in all the Middlesex valley of the Thames.
It is rendered all the more picturesque by a fine
yew-tree — said to be 700 years old — on the south
side of the churchyard, and a noble cedar in the
vicarage garden adjoining it on the north.
In the church are brasses to members of the
Lovell family, and one, half-length, to John
Yarmouth, a former rector, who is duly robed in
the Eucharistic vestments. On the north wall of
the chancel is the monument of Dr. Joseph Trapp,
rector of this parish in 1732 — 47, and some time
Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford.
He died in 1747. His monument bears the
following lines : —
" Death, judgment, heaven, and hdl ! think, Christian, think,
You stand on vast eternity's dread brink ;
Faith and repentance, piety and prayer,
Despise this world, the next be all your care.
Thus, while my tomb the solemn silence breaks,
And to the eye this cold dumb marble speaks,
Tho' dead I preach : if e'er with ill success,
Living, I strove th' important truth to press,
Your precious, your immortal souls to save ;
Hear me, at least, oh, hear me from my grave."
Dr. Trapp's want of poetical ability, as exemplified
in his attempts to translate Virgil 'and Milton, is
recorded in some severe epigrams. There is a
portrait of him in the Bodleian Library.
The Bennets, Lords Tankerville, are still buried
here, though the family have long lived in North
umberland. On the floor is a memorial to Charles,
Earl of Tankerville, who died in 1767; and the
last earl, who died in 1859, has also a memorial
here. There are also monuments to various
members of the family of Lord De Tabley, his
first wife having been a De Salis.
There are some fine modern tombs and two
painted windows erected in memory of members
of the family of De Salis of Dawley Court, whose
fortunes were founded in this country by one Peter
de Salis, sent hither as envoy in 1709 from the
Emperor Joseph I.
A fresco painting on the south wall of the nave
was discovered on removing the monument of Sir
John Bennet, Lord Ossulston, who died in the
year 1695. The monument, which has been re
placed, has upon it busts of Lord Ossulston and his
two wives.
Affixed to the south wall of the nave is a carved
hour-glass of oak, thought by some to be of the
thirteenth or fourteenth century. The Easter
sepulchre — a handsome piece of stone carving on

the north side of the chancel— is thought by some
antiquarians to be the reredos of an altar. The
registers, which commence in 1540, are in fairly
good condition ; they are curious as containing the
names of many " travellers "—one result of the
parish being situated just one day's tramp on the
great road to the west from London.
Among former rectors was a John of Tewkes
bury, who was the author of some learned books ;
and also John Kyte, who resigned the living in
1 5 1 o ; he was probably the same person who was
sent as ambassador to Spain, and died in 1537
Bishop of Carlisle. He was a native of London,
and is buried at Stepney.
The magnificent old yew-tree in the churchyard
above referred to grows now in a healthy and natural
fashion; but, as shown in our illustration taken
early in the present century, it used to be clipped
and cut into artificial shape. From some verses
by the parish clerk, John Saxy, affixed to a large
copper-plate engraving, it would seem that in
1729 this yew-tree was upwards of fifty feet
high. It was surrounded at the base by a
circular seat, over which hung a large canopy,
formed by the dark boughs of the tree, in the words
of this rural poet —
" So thick, so fine, so full, so wide,
A troop of Guards might under 't ride."
Some ten feet higher up again was another
smaller canopy, above which the tree towered up
solid, till its topmost leaves formed a sort of nest
in. the shape of a globe, with a cock or hen seated
above it. " A weather-cock, who gapes to crow it,
' The globe is mine and all below it,' "
writes the rhymer, who adds his deliberate opinion
of the tree, that —
' ' It yields to Harlington a fame
Much louder than its Earldom's name."
Without going quite so far as the worthy clerk,
we may state that the tree, until it ceased to
be clipped, some half century ago, was the great
curiosity of the place, and was visited by scores
of persons. It is thought to be as old as the
Conquest, and it is still one of the largest yew-
trees in the home counties : its branches formerly
reached to the church porch, and are said to have
covered a space of 150 feet. The clipping and
clearing of the tree was a village holiday, as im
portant in its way and in its place as the scouring
of the White Horse on the Berkshire Downs.
The last occasion on which it was clipped was in
1825.

Harlington.]

DAWLEY COURT.

In our view of the church the old yew does not
appear to be so high as when sung of by the parish
clerk. It figures also in Loudon's "Arboretum
Britannicum," but in that work its dimensions are
exaggerated. The fantastic idea of thus clipping the yew-tree
was a survival of the old formal style of garden
ing which prevailed under our Tudor and Stuart
sovereigns. The charities in this parish are considerable.
One rector, named Cooper, left an annual sum to
the clerk for repairing his tomb ; but this reverend
gentleman's body has been removed from his grave
to another part of the churchyard ; the benefaction,
however, remains. Some land was left to the bell-
ringers to provide them a leg of pork for dinner
on Guy Fawkes' Day, and this is called the Pork
Half-Acre. The land has since been sold for
;£ioo, and the proceeds invested for their benefit ;
and about fourteen acres were set apart for the
poor at the last enclosure, in lieu of their ancient
right to cut turf.
Dawley Court, in this parish, once the residence
of the great Lord Bolingbroke, is no longer stand
ing, except the steward's apartments, or what is
said to have been the laundry, consisting of two
fine rooms. This for many years has been the
only building on the estate, the remainder of
the land having been cut up into prosaic brick
fields. The mansion itself was pulled down about the
year 1776.
The manor-house at Dawley must have been a
spacious structure ; it was the residence of the
Lovells and of the Bennets before it came into
the hands of Lord Bolingbroke. Its succeeding
owner, Lord Uxbridge, is said to have built round
it a wall nearly a mile long, to keep out the small
pox., Dawley became the property of the Bennets
early in the sixteenth century. Sir John Bennet, who
appears to have been the first of that name residing
here, was a distinguished member of Parliament in
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was judge of the
Prerogative Court of Canterbury in the reign of
James I. In 16 17 he was sent as ambassador to
Brussels, to interrogate, the archduke on behalf of
his royal master, the King of Great Britain, con
cerning a libel written and published, as it was
supposed, by Erycius Puteanus, in his Imperial
Highness's dominions. His ^eldest son and suc
cessor, Sir John Bennet, of Dawley, ancestor of
the Earls of Tankerville, received the honour of
knighthood in the lifetime of his father at Theobalds,
in 1616. He was the father of Henry Bennet, who

will be remembered as a member of the "Cabal
Ministry," and who was raised to the peerage in
1663 as Viscount Thetford and Earl of Arlington.
His lordship meant to choose this place as that
from which he should derive his title; but the
scribes of the Herald's College, or some other
officials, were not as attentive to their " H's " as
they should have been, and so, when the patent
reached his hands, or when he read his new dignity
in the Gazette, he found that he had been created
Earl, not of Harlington, but of " Arlington." It
was too late for any alteration to have been made,
for "the proof had been worked off," so Arlington
he remained; and the street which runs out of
Piccadilly towards St James's Palace is Arlington
also. The Arlington coronet is now merged in the
ducal title of Grafton, through the marriage of the
first duke with Lady Isabella Bennet, only daugh
ter of the above-mentioned earl ; consequently, the
Duke of Grafton reckons among his inferior titles
the barony of " Arlington, of Harlington, county of
Middlesex." From the Bennets Dawley Court passed to the
celebrated Lord Bolingbroke, and became his
favourite country house, or, as he liked to style it,
his "farm." He lived here during a memora
ble period of his eventful life, the time of his
estrangement from public affairs, and from the gay
world as well. To use his own figurative language,
he was now " in a hermitage, where no man came
but for the sake of the hermit ; for here he found
that the insects which used to hum and buzz
about him in the sunshine fled to men of more
prosperous fortune, and forsook him when in the
shade." Here he was often visited by " Glorious
John Dryden."
Lord Bolingbroke adorned his house with
paintings of rustic subjects, " trophies of rakes,
spades, prongs," &c. (as Pope tells us in a letter
addressed by him from hence to Swift), and over
the door he placed an inscription, slightly altered
from Horace : —
" Satis beatus runs honoribus."
Living as he did within" some six or seven miles of
Dawley, Pope was a constant visitor here ; and
so was Voltaire occasionally, whilst staying in
London. It is said that some of the same wild oxen
which are now to be seen at Lord Tankerville's
park in Northumberland were kept here in the
time- of the Bennets; but this is probably an
error. A poem, entitled " Dawley's Farmj" in the first

GREATER LONDON.

[Harlinpton.

volume of the Gentleman's Magazine, gives us
some glimpses of the place as it appeared in
1731:— " See, emblem of himself, his villa stand,
Politely finish'd, elegantly grand !
Frugal of ornament, but that the best,
And with all curious negligence express'd.
No gaudy colours deck the rural hall,
Blank light and shade discriminate the wall ;
Where through the whole we see his lov'd design,
To please with mildness, without glaring shine,
Himself neglects what must all others charm,
And what he built a palace calls a farm.
Here the proud trophies and the spoils of war
Yield to the scythe, the harrow, and the car,
To whate'er implement the rustic wields,
Whate'er manures the gardens or the fields.
"5P J?F 4p 4f * "Jv
Here noble St. John, in his sweet recess,
Sees on the figured wall the stacks of corn
With beauty more than theirs the room adorn ;
Young winged Cupids smiling guide the plow,
And peasants elegantly reap and sow.
######
O, Britain ! but 'tis past. O lost to fame,
The wondrous man, thy glory and thy shame,
Conversing with the mighty minds of old —
Names like his own in time's bright lists enroll'd,
Here splendidly obscure, delighted lives,
And only for his wretched country grieves."
Lady Luxborough, Lord Bolingbroke's sister,
mentions the place in one of her letters in terms
which fully justify these- not very poetical lines.
She writes : — " When my brother Bolingbroke built
Dawley, which he chose to call a ' Farm,' he had
his hall painted in stone colour, with all the im
plements of husbandry placed in the manner one
sees, or might see, arms and trophies in some
general's hall; and it had an effect that pleased
everybody." Voltaire occasionally came here whilst staying in
London ; and Pope, who lived within some six or
seven miles of Dawley, was a constant visitor. In
a letter written from hence by Pope to Dean
Swift, we find the following : — " I now hold the
pen of my Lord Bolingbroke, who is reading
your letter between two hay-cocks ; but his at
tention is somewhat diverted by casting his eyes
on the clouds — not in admiration of what you
say, but for fear of a shower. He is pleased with
your placing him in the triumvirate between
yourself and me ; though he says that he doubts
he shall fare like Lepidus, while one of us runs
away with all the power, like Augustus, and
another with all the pleasures, like Anthony. It is
upon a foresight of this that he has fitted up his
farm. Now his lordship is run after his cart, I

have a moment left to myself to tell you that I
overheard him yesterday agree with a painter for
,£200 to paint his country hall with trophies of
rakes, spades, prongs, &c, and other ornaments,
merely to countenance his calling his place a
farm." His lordship, we are told, was happy in possess
ing " a mind formed for the world at large, and not
dependent on the contingencies of court favour " ;
though it is to be regretted that the poetical
warmth of his imagination often led him, in his
retired as well as in his busy hours, to flights of
dangerous mental indulgence. A temper so ardent
could never find a semblance of repose but in
extremes. " In the earlier days of his character," writes
Mr. Disraeli, " Lord Bolingbroke meditated over
the formation of a new party — that dream of
youthful ambition in a perplexed and discordant
age, but destined in English politics to be never
more substantial than a vision. More experienced
in political life," he continues, " Lord Bolingbroke
became aware that he had only to choose between
the Whigs and the Tories, and his sagacious in
tellect, not satisfied with the superficial character
of these . . . divisions, penetrated their interior
and essential qualities, and discovered, in spite of
all the affectation of popular sympathy on the one
side, and of admiration of arbitrary power on the
other, that his choice was, in fact, a choice between
oligarchy and democracy. From the moment
that Lord Bolingbroke, in becoming a Tory, em
braced the national cause, he devoted himself
absolutely to his party; all the energies of his
Protean mind were lavished in their service ; and
although . . . restrained from advocating the cause
of the nation in the Senate, his inspiring pen made
Walpole tremble in the recesses of the Treasury ;
and in a series of writings, unequalled in our
literature for their spirited patriotism, their just
and profound views, and the golden eloquence
in which they are expressed, eradicated from
Toryism all those absurd and odious doctrines
which Toryism had adventitiously adopted, clearly
developed its essential and permanent character,
discarded the jus divinum, demolished passive
obedience, threw to the winds the doctrine of non-
resistance, placed the abdication of James and
the accession of George on their right basis, and
in the complete reorganisation of the public mind
laid the foundation for the future accession of the
Tory party to power." But a man of fashion, and
fond of society and of politics, Lord Bolingbroke
soon found that the country was wearisome, and
resolved to part with his beloved Dawley. He sold

Harmondsworth.]

A REMARKABLE BARN.

203

it in 1739, when the house was nearly all pulled
down again. One wing alone was left, and this
was made into a steward's residence. The lands
were bought by the Pagets, then Earls of Uxbridge,
and living at Harmondsworth, from whom again
they passed into the hands of the family of De
Salis. The once beautiful grounds where Boling
broke read Pope's letter as he reclined on a hay
cock are now turned into brick-fields, through
which pass a canal and the Great Western Railway —
a mournful commentary on the short-lived pleasures
of great men.
It is said that on grand occasions in Lord
Bolingbroke's or Lord Uxbridge's days the road
from Dawley to West Drayton used to be hung
with artificial lamps, to guide his aristocratic
visitors on their way home at night ; and one
of the fields which it crosses is still called " The
Lanterns." It might be said of " Dawley Farm " as truly as
of Canons itself (of which we shall speak here
after) : —
" Another age shall see the golden ear,
, Imbrown the slope and nod on the parterre ;
Deep harvests bury all his pride has plann'd,
And laughing Ceres re-assume the land. "
But here the transformation is almost more com
plete, for Ceres herself has had to give way in her
turn to the goddess, if there be one, who presides
over br,ick-fields and brick-makers.
Opposite the Dawley Manor Farm, and near
the church, are to be traced the remains of a moated
grange, in a meadow still known as " The Moats " ;
but nothing is known of its history.
The parish of Harmondsworth adjoins Harling
ton on the west, and is separated from Bucking
hamshire by a branch of the River Colne. The
whole district is flat and uninteresting, but the
soil is fertile, and productive of good crops of corn
and vegetables, whilst much fruit finds its way
from this locality to the London markets. The
land hereabouts is intersected by several small
rivulets, or streams, which creep in dull obscurity,
without imparting to any portion of the parish the
elements of the picturesque.
The name of the parish is familiarly pronounced
"Harmsworth" by the "natives." In the " Domes
day Book " it is written Hermondesworde, and it
is stated in that record that the Abbot of the Holy
Trinity at Rouen held the principal manor of the
king. Tanner says that there was here a priory of
the Benedictine order, which was a cell to the
above-mentioned abbey of the Holy Trinity, but
no traces of such a priory have been discovered in
recent times.

Cobbett mentions, in his list of religious houses
confiscated by Henry VIIL, an alien priory here,
which was granted in the first year of Edward VI.
to one of the Tudor courtiers, Sir William Paget.
He gives, however, no particulars as to its name,
its site, or its value. Perhaps it was the same as
the above.
" This manor," observes the author of " The
Beauties of England and Wales," " shared the fate
of many other possessions of the alien priories, and
was seized by King Edward III. in the year 1340.
The arable land belonging to the demesne was
then valued at 4d. an acre, the meadow at 8d.,
and the pasture at 2d. There were two water-
mills : one for corn, let at 18s. per annum; the
other for malt, at 8s. The manor was afterwards
conveyed to William of Wykeham, who settled it
upon the collegiate establishment of his founda
tion ; but it was again obtained by the Crown, in
exchange for other possessions, in the reign of
Henry VIIL By Edward VI. it was granted to
Sir William Paget, from whom it descended to
the present noble possessor, the Marquis of Angle
sey. As a. manorial custom, of a character not
very frequent, it may be observed that tenants
have a right of fishery in all the rivers and common
waters within the manor on Wednesdays, Fridays,
and Saturdays. It is probable that the ancient
manor-house occupied the site of a farm-dwelling
near the church, which claims notice, as there is
in the attached yard a barn of remarkably large
dimensions, it being 191 feet in length and 38
feet in breadth."
The fine old barn above mentioned is perhaps
the most interesting object of antiquity in this
neighbourhood. The walls are built of con
glomerate, commonly called " pudding-stone,"
and found in this locality. The body of the barn
is divided into a nave and aisles by two rows of
massive pillars. There are three floors, and the
roof is of open timber-work, in good preservation.
In former times the building was much larger,
having an angular projecting ...wing, or transept, at
the north end, which was pulled down about the
year 1775, at the same time as the old manor-house,
near , which it stood. This portion of the old
barn was re-built — or rather, the roof of it was re-
erected on walls of modern brick-work and sup
ported by the original oak columns — at Heath
Row, about a mile and a half distant. The
building, of which we have given an engraving on
the next page, is commonly called " the Gothic
barn," because its interior is so like the nave of a
cathedral. The manor was sold by the Pagets, and is now

504

GREATER LONDON

[Harmondsworth.

the property of Mr. George Harmond. Although
the mansion has disappeared, the gardens and
stables still remain. Some subordinate manors in
the parish, lying in the hamlets of Longford,
Sipson, and other parts, formerly belonging to
the Pagets, have passed into the the hands of the
Earl of Strafford and other owners.
The parish church, dedicated to the Virgin
Mary, notwithstanding that it was restored in 1863,
bears the marks of considerable antiquity, por
tions of it dating as far back as the Norman
times. It is a tolerably fine building, rather
like those of West Drayton and Harlington,

The village of Harmondsworth consists chiefly
of scattered rural dwellings, many of which are
in that ancient and simple mode of construction —
half timber and plaster, projecting upper storeys,
and thatched roofs — so favourable to the picturesque.
There are also one or two old mansions, with
cedars in the grounds. But to the parish, as a
whole, no historical interest whatever is at
tached. According to the census returns for the
year 187 1 the parish contained 326 inhabited
houses, the number of the population being 1,584,
which had increased to 1,800 in the course of the
next ten years.

THE OLD BARN AT HARMONDSWORTH. (See page 203.)

The body of the structure is composed of
stone and flint, and is of the Perpendicular style
of architecture. It consists of a nave with aisles,
chancel with north aisle, and a square brick
tower of modern erection at the south-west corner.
The tower, however, is poor, and cased with
plaster. The south doorway is of Norman work
manship, but not a richly-worked specimen of that
style of architecture ; the chief feature of it,
however, is a range of birds' heads, the beaks
being thrown over a torus-band moulding. In the
south side of the chancel are three stalls, or seats,
together with a piscina and credence table. In
digging a grave of unusual depth in the church
yard in the year 1870, some silver coins, twenty-
five in number, belonging to the Tudor and Stuart
periods, were discovered.

Heath Row, mentioned above, lies in the eastern
part of the parish, to the south of the great
western road, and it takes its name from iis
situation on the margin of Hounslow Heath.
Close by this spot are slight traces of the Roman
encampment which Stukeley, as already stated in
our account of Coway Stakes, believed to have been
formed by Ccesar after he had crossed the Thames,
and during his progress towards Hertfordshire.
This camp, of which a view is given in the
" Itinerarium Curiosum," is considered to have
measured about 300 feet square, and to have
been defended by a single ditch. The hamlet of
Sipson — or Shepiston, as it was sometimes called
— is situated in tljis neighbourhood.
Longford is a hamlet in this parish, on the road
to Slough. It takes its name from its situation on

West Drayton/]

COLNBROOK.

a branch of the River Colne, which supplies
Hampton Court with water, and which is crossed
by a bridge, erected in 1834, called the Queen's
Bridge. The district hereabout lies low, and is
subject to inundation; from the overflowing of the
stream above mentioned.
Colnbrook, which lies about two miles west of
Longford, is the utmost limit of our perambulation
in this direction, being just on the borders of the
jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police. The town
is located on four channels of the River Colne, over

each of which there is a bridge. The greater part
of the town, Colnbrook proper, is in Buckingham
shire ; but the eastern part, forming part of the
parish of Stanwell, is in the county of Middlesex.
The town contains many old houses and hostelries,
in one of which Queen Elizabeth is said to have
been in the habit of resting for the night on her
way to Windsor Castle. It is a long straggling
town, and stands in two counties and in four
parishes, and, like Uxbridge and Maidenhead, it
has only lately been made parochial.

- 1 » Jfe

THE GATEHOUSE, WEST DRAYTON. (Seepage 207.)

CHAPTER XIX.
WEST DRAYTON AND HAYES.
Satis beatus ruris honoribus.' — Paraphrased from Horace by Lord Bolingbroke.
Situation and Boundaries of West Drayton— Its Vegetable Products, Fishing, &c— Its Etymology— Descent of the Manor— The Old Manor-
house— Burroughs, formerly the Seat of General Arabin — The Parish Church — The Burial-ground — The Village of West Drayton— Popu
lation— The Catholic Church of St. Catharine— Thorney Broad— The Race-course— Yiewsley— Hayes— The Grand Junction Canal— Census
Returns— Boundaries of the Parish— Its Nomenclature— Condition of the Parish in Tudor Times- Acreage of the Parish— Descent of the
Manor -The Village of Hayes— Yeading Manor— Botwell—Cotman's Town— Wood End Green— The Parish Church— The Rectory -
Distinguished Rectors — Schools and Charities —Extracts from the Parish Registers.

Taking a fresh start north from Harmondsworth,
a journey of a couple of miles brings us to Dray
ton — or, as it is commonly called, West Drayton,
probably to distinguish it from Drayton Green,
close by Castle Hill, Ealing, some four miles
eastward. Drayton is a large, irregular village,
18

on the western border of Middlesex. The parish
is separated on its western side from Bucking
hamshire by the river Colne, which meanders
peacefully along through meadows and corn-fields,
and having here and there upon its banks a mill or
a farmyard, which imparts a certain amount of life

2o6

greater London.

[West Drayton.

and animation to a landscape which might other
wise, perhaps, be considered dull and monotonous.
It is bounded in other directions by the parishes of
Hillingdon, Harlington, and Harmondsworth. A
considerable quantity of fruit is grown in this
neighbourhood, which in due course mostly finds
its way into the London markets. The Grand
Junction Canal passes by the village, a little to the
north of the railway station. The name points to
its sylvan and rural origin. It is the town or
village of " dreys," as the squirrels' nests are still
termed in the rural districts of Hampshire and
Berkshire. Beyond describing the descent of the manor,
there is almost nothing historical to record in
connection with the parish of Drayton. Out of the
way of turmoil and strife, the place has apparently
enjoyed from the earliest period of its existence.
one of peaceful retirement and seclusion. We find
in the " Domesday Book " the name of the parish
written Draitone, and it is there stated that it be
longed to the canons of St. Paul's, to whom it had
been given by King Athelstan. It is also recorded
in the above-mentioned survey that " it answered
for ten hides, that there was a mill rented at thir
teen shillings and fivepence, pasture for the cattle
of the village, and a stream rented at thirty-two
pence." According to Bawdwen's "Translation of
Domesday for Middlesex," "its whole annual value
is said to be six pounds ; the same when received ;
in King Edward's time eight pounds." In a survey,
bearing date 1181, it is stated that " the manor of
Drayton was taxed in the time of Henry I. and
William the Dean at ten hides, as it still is. It
paid then 5 shillings to the sheriff, but since the
war, 10 shillings, besides which, it pays 11 shillings
for the right of frank-pledge."
The manor of Drayton remained in the posses
sion of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's until
about the middle of the sixteenth century, when
Henry VIIL obtained it in exchange for other
lands, and shortly afterwards granted it to Sir
William Paget, who, during the latter years of
Henry's reign, had been actively and confidentially
employed, often as a diplomatist upon secret and
important missions, and who at one time filled the
office of Secretary of State. Besides the manor of
Drayton, Sir William Paget received a legacy of
^300 from the king, who constituted him one of
his executors, and of the council to Edward VI.
Sir William Paget subsequently formed a close
alliance with the Protector Somerset, and was thus
retained to do good service for the State. In 1552
he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Paget
of Beaudesert, in the county of Stafford; but

having taken a prominent part in the Government
of the Protector, and shared in the downfall of his
patron, he was committed to the Tower, fined
,£6,000 by the Star Chamber, and divested of the
insignia of the Garter. Within a short time, how
ever, he obtained his liberty, with a general pardon
for all offences, and a remission of the debt due to
the Crown. On the death of Edward, he espoused
the cause of Mary, and after her accession to the
throne was sworn a member of the Privy Council.
He had also a restoration of the Garter, and ob
tained several important grants from her Majesty.
On the accession of Elizabeth, in 1558, Lord Paget
retired from public life, at his own request ; and
Camden informs us that her Majesty "retained an
affection and value for him, though he was a strict
zealot of the Romish Church."
On the attainder of Thomas, third Lord Paget,
in 1587, on suspicion of favouring Mary, Queen of
Scots, his property was confiscated to the Crown,
the manor of Drayton being afterwards granted to
Sir Christopher Hatton for life. It was subse
quently leased to George Carey, afterwards Lord
Hunsdon ; but after the death of Lord Paget the
reversion was granted (in 1597) to William, the
son of that nobleman, who was restored by Act of
Parliament, at the commencement of the reign of
James I., to his rank and honours, and to a grant
also of the remainder of his father's estate. From
William, Lord Paget, the manor of Drayton
descended to the grandson of Henry, seventh
lord — Henry, Earl of Uxbridge — who had been
advanced to that earldom in 17 14. On the death
of the earl without issue, in 1769, this manor
devolved, in conjunction with the barony of Paget,
to Henry Bailey, Esq., his heir-at-law, who assumed
the name of Paget, and was created Earl of
Uxbridge in 1784. The second earl is better
known to history as Field-Marshal the Marquis of
Anglesey, one of the Duke of Wellington's com-
panions-in-arms in the Peninsula and at Waterloo.
Lord Uxbridge sold this manor in 1786 to Mr.
Fyshe De Burgh, and it has since continued in the
possession of his descendants.
The Manor House, which was erected by the
Paget family, has long since been demolished,
having been pulled down by the Earl of Uxbridge
about the middle of the last century. It was a
spacious red brick mansion, standing to the south
of the church, and was approached by stately
avenues of trees. Its gardens surrounded the
churchyard. Some of the walls which enclosed
the gardens are still standing, together with a
large part of the out-offices and stables, the upper
chambers of which were formerly occupied by

West Drayton.]

THE MANOR HOUSE.

207

the servants and retainers, and the principal en
trance to the courtyard. This gate-house is of
red brick, not ' unlike some of the details of
Hampton Court, and commands a view down the
street to the entrance of the Hall. Though low, it
is massive, and a fine specimen of the Tudor style.
It consists of a Pointed arch, flanked on either
side by large octangular turrets ; it is in very
good preservation, and still inhabited as a separate
dwelling-house. The original oak doors remain.
The site of the old mansion is now occupied, with
some attached ground, by a market gardener. The
manor-house and the church here stood close
together, in accordance with the old Christian
theory of the sacred edifice being built originally
as the chapel or oratory for the dwellers in
" the great house " and their dependents. The
present residence of the De. Burghs, lords of the
manor, Called Drayton Hall, is a commodious
dwelling, at a short distance from the church, and
was formerly the property of Lord Boston.
An old and spacious mansion in this village was
formerly the residence of General Arabin, and was
sometimes called Burroughs, or Buroughs, from the
circumstance of a house on this spot having in
bygone times belonged to Sir Thomas Burgh, who
was esquire of the body to King Edward IV.
"This," observes die author of the "Beauties of
England and Wales," " is the site of a small manor
belonging to the Bishop of London, which was
granted in the year 1462 to the above-mentioned
Thomas Burgh, by whom it was aliened in 1476.
This manor was given by King Edward VI. to the
Bishop of Westminster ; and on being surrendered
again to the Crown in 1550, was granted to the see
of London. This small manorial district is now
united with the manor of Colham Garden, in the
parish of Hillingdon, which is also the property of
the Bishop of London." The mansion was bought,
on a sale of the property in lots, by Robert, sixth
Earl Ferrers, of whose family it was purchased by
the above-mentioned General Arabin. The writer
of the notice in the "Beauties of England" con
cludes as follows : — " This is a residence of the
dull, secluded character, favourable to traditional
story. Many a marvellous tale is accordingly told
respecting its hall, its chambers, and the pensive
shaded walks of the grounds. Among these
stories, it may be mentioned as the most remark
able that not a few rustic neighbours believe the
mansion of Burroughs to have been an occasional
residence of Oliver Cromwell, and that the body
of the Protector was privately conveyed to this
place when threatened with disgraceful exposure,
and was re-buried beneath the paving of the hall."

The parish church of Drayton, which lies at
the east end of the village, bears a "strong
family likeness" to those of the neighbouring
parishes of Harlington and Harmondsworth, being
a handsome Gothic structure of the Perpendicular
style. It is built of stone and flint. It is dedicated
to St Martin, and comprises a chancel, a cleres-
toried nave, side aisle, with an open porch, formed
of wood, projecting a considerable distance from
the south wall, and a massive western tower pro
fusely overgrown with ivy, and surmounted by a
small wooden turret. Some of the windows are
filled with , stained glass, and the church is in
good repair, having been thoroughly restored in
1850, at which time the old-fashioned pews were
superseded by open benches. The font is octan
gular and very curious, being elaborately orna
mented. In the upper part, which is divided into
panels, are represented the " Crucifixion of Our
Lord," a sculptor at work on some foliage, and
" Our Lady of Pity;" the remaining panels being
filled with angels holding shields. The chancel
contains several monuments, chiefly to the families
of the De Burghs and Pagets. The helmets and
banners which adorned them are gone. In the
floor are brasses to the memory of Richard Roos,
citizen of London (1406); Robert Machell, gentle
man, a retainer to the Lord Paget (1557); and
John Goode, an eminent physician (158 1).
Besides the churchyard, there is here another
burial-ground, at some distance from the church,
and not far from the present hall. This singular
arrangement was brought about by the wish of Sir
William Paget, who, in the year 1550, procured an
Act of Parliament enabling him to give an acre of
ground, forming the present parochial cemetery, in
exchange for the ancient place of burial, which he
enclosed within his garden wall. This ground is
now laid out as a flower-garden.
The village of West Drayton is about fourteen
miles from London, and there is a station about
half a mile to the north, on the Great Western
Railway. , West Drayton proper has a population of a little
over a thousand. This is a slight increase over the
number recorded in the census of 187 1, when
there were 984 souls, the inhabited houses at that
time being given as 192. In the centre of the
village, and facing a broad open green, is the Roman
Catholic Church of St. Catharine, the first stone of
which was laid by Archbishop (now Cardinal)
Manning in 1868. In the district of West Drayton
there is a large straggling population of Roman
Catholics of very humble means, and previous to
the establishment of the mission their religious

208

GREATER LONDON.

[Hayes.

welfare was much neglected, those who had the in
clination to attend Divine service having to travel a
distance of six miles to the church at North Hyde-
Services were first introduced in a barn at West
Drayton, and it was in that humble sanctuary
that the Archbishop first administered the rite
of confirmation to the hitherto poor, neglected
children. Thorney Broad, about three-quarters of a mile
south of the railway station, is a favourite spot for
trout-fishing. Indeed, the disciples of Izaak Walton
find much to occupy their attention during the
fishing season, in the rivers and streams here
abouts. Trout have been turned into the Come,
but not yet with great success. A race-course
was established at West Drayton about the year
1865, in a large river-side meadow, on the south
of the railway. The periodical gatherings which
take place there were a great nuisance to the neigh-
bourhod, the sports being among the most fre
quented of those suburban races which are patro
nised by the lowest classes of sporting " roughs."
Near the station is a small cluster of houses,
with the "Railway Inn." This spot is known as
Yiewsley— the lee or meadow adorned with yews,
which form so marked a feature in the villages
of West Middlesex; but it is a hamlet actually
belonging to the parish of Hillingdon. St
Matthew's Church, in this district, was built from
the designs of Sir Gilbert Scott in 1869.
The first stone of the new schools at Yiewsley
was laid by Bishop Claughton in August, 187 1.
The schools will hold about 300 children.
From the hamlet of Yiewsley we turn our steps
once more eastward,, following, for the most part,
the courses of the Grand Junction Canal and the
Great Western Railway, and leaving Cowley, Ux
bridge, and Hillingdon, away on our left, to be
dealt with on our return journey.
After our long perambulations through the flat
and level districts which are called the Valley of
the Thames, but which scarcely form a valley — for
the lack of hills, at all events on the Middlesex
side — it is pleasant to find ourselves once more on
a slight " upland," at the ancient village of Hayes,
crowned with its historic church. It stands about
a mile to the north of the Great Western Railway,
which has a small station near the meeting of the
parishes of Hayes and Harlington, and named
after the former. The district all round the railway
station in every direction is covered with brick
fields, which sadly mar its appearance ; but these
are rather decreasing in number, the supply of clay
being not inexhaustible. The Grand Junction
Canal — which conveys goods, and once conveyed

passengers also, below Uxbridge and London
— runs here almost parallel with the railway ;
and the cottages are all inhabited by an indus
trial population, who find tlieir occupation in either
brick-making or barge-driving. In 1871 the num
ber of inhabited houses in the parish amounted
to 524, with a population of 2,654 souls. This
latter number was gradually increased during the
ten following years, for, according to the census
returns for 18S2, Hayes numbered a population of
2,891. Tbe village of Hayes is very extensive, and,
unlike its neighbours, it has a history. It is
bounded on the south by Heston, Harlington,, and
Cranford, and on the west by Hillingdon; and
northwards it extends to Northolt and Ickenham,
while eastwards it originally stretched as far as
Hanwell, for Southall and Norwood were once
portions of it The fact is that Hayes was, in Anglo-
Saxon times, a country residence of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, who held the manor and the rectory
of Hayes. Consequently, though most of the paro
chial duties were discharged by a vicar, who held
the "cure of souls," the rector of Hayes was
always a great Church dignitary, whose ecclesiastical
rank invested the place with an honour and a
sanctity peculiar to itself.
It is very remarkable that whilst in some
counties nearly every name mentioned in " Dooms
day Book" has disappeared, in Middlesex the names
of well-nigh every parish and hundred remain
almost unchanged, after the lapse of eight cen
turies. Thus, in that ancient record this place
figures as Hesa — probably then pronounced as
Haisa — in the Hundred of Osulvestane, or Ossul
ston.* After a description of the king's land, the
book tells us that "Archbishop Lanfranc holds
Hesa for forty-nine hides ; there is land for. forty
ploughs. To the demesne pertain twelve hides;
and there are two ploughs there. Among the free
men and the villanes there are twenty-six ploughs,
and there could be twelve more."
Lysons tells us that the name is probably
derived from the Saxon word " Haeg," a hedge (in
French "Haye"), which comes very near to its
present appellation. From Hesa it became Hease,
Heyse, Hays, Heesse, Hesse, and Hese, at different
times. The old road from London to Oxford passes
though the whole length of .the parish, nearly
bisecting it. In the days of the Tudors the
western part of the parish was an open heath,
adjoining that of Hillingdon ; and it would seem,
* It is now in the Hundred of EUhorne.

Hayes.]

AN ARCHIEPISCOPALIAN MANOR.

209

from the map of John Norden (about 1625), that
the road ran in a somewhat different direction,
turning to the north, along what is now called
Mellow Lane, the fine old trees of which point
backwards to the distant past, and look like the
features of an ancient highway ; and this is con
firmed by local tradition. The course of the road
was doubtless altered as enclosures were gradually
made. The manor and parish of Hayes apparently have
differed greatly in extent at different times. In the
Saxon era it is said to have comprised thirty-two
hides, or about 3,840 acres. In " Doomsday," the
hides in the hands of Lanfranc are given as fifty-
nine, which would give about 7,080 acres, if we
reckon 120 acres to the hide. According to the
Ordnance Survey of the year 1865, the exact acre
age is 5,772, of wKich nearly 1,520 acres are arable,
nearly 1,250 pasture-land, while 300 are occupied
as brick-fields, woods, osier-beds, orchards, &c, &c.
(This includes the " precinct " of Norwood.)
"Little care, however," writes Mr. Mills, in an
unpublished " History of Hayes," " has been taken
of the boundaries of the parish. The custom of
' beating the bounds ' has not been performed for a
great number of years, and few boundary stones or
other marks exist, and such as are in existence
have been mostly defaced." The fact is, that a
divided rule never answers. The rector left the
vicar, and the vicar left the rector, to see to this
duty on "Rogation Days," and between the two,
that useful ceremony was neglected.
The earliest mention of Hayes is in a.d. 830,
when a priest — Warherdus, or Walherdus — be
queathed the manor of Hayes, which he styles his
own patrimony, to the church of Canterbury. And
if it be true that manors were so called from
manere, it is probable that he lived here, and exer
cised the " cure of souls " as well as the rights of a
" squire" over his tenants. The next owner of the
manor who is mentioned by name is Stigand, the
last Saxon archbishop, who crowned King Harold.
Lanfranc we have already mentioned. He died in
1089, and was succeeded, after a four years'
interval, by the saintly Anselm, who was not only
the owner of the manor, but occasionally resident
here, as well as at Harrow and Mortlake. One
Whitsuntide, we are told, the king summoned
Anselm to his neighbourhood at Windsor. On
this occasion he stayed at Hayes, where he was
visited by nearly all his suffragan bishops, who in
vain persuaded him to make up his quarrel with
William. In the long run the worthy ecclesiastics
prevailed, and here or at Windsor the king handed
to him the pall which had been sent from Rome by

Pope Urban, as the sign of his metropolitan juris
diction. It is pleasant to think that so sweet and
pious a character as Anselm must have walked
along the roads and trod the fields about Hayes.
As a writer, a philosopher, and a leader of men, he
was one of the foremost characters of his own age,
and is regarded by alj parties as one of the
brightest ornaments of the English Church.
The early history and patronage of this church
and of the manor are coincident down to the reign
of Henry VIIL Hayes was a " Peculiar " of Can
terbury — that is, although situate in Middlesex,
which is in the diocese of London, it was directly
under the spiritual control of the Archbishop of
Canterbury — like Harrow-on-the-Hill. This arrange
ment lasted into the present century ; but through
the abolition of all such " peculiar " jurisdictions by
Act of Parliament, it is now subject to the see of
London, and the present rector attends the visita
tions of the Bishop of London and the Archdeacon
of Middlesex.
To mention the several owners of this manor
and rectory from Anselm to the Reformation would
be to give a list of the Archbishops of Canterbury.
But amongst them should be mentioned the names
of Thomas a Becket, Langton, Islip, Langham,
Simon de Sudbury, Fitz-Alan, Morton, and War-
ham, all of whom must have been occasional
visitors at least at the Rectory House, which still
has something quite palatial about it.
Archbishop Cranmer is said to have presented
in 1543 the manor, with the adyowsons of both the
rectory and the vicarage, to Henry VIIL, in ex
change for other preferments. Five years later we
find the king bestowing them on Sir Edward North,
afterwards Lord North, one of the greatest pos
sessors of Church lands. In the year 16 13 Lord
North sold both the manor and the advowsons,
which have passed into the hands of several private
families in succession — as Millet, Franklyn, Jenyns,
Cooke, Ayscough, Blencowe, and Villiers, many of
whom lie buried in the church. The manor now
belongs to Sir Charles Mills,, of Hillingdon ; and
the rector's family hold the consolidated advowson
of both rectory and vicarage.
There were formerly several handsome mansions
in this parish, and a few still remain, but none are
worthy of individual description, or to which
literary and other recollections are attached. The
aspect of the village, in spite of brick-fields, rail
ways, and canals, is still rural and peaceful. Mr.
Mills writes, in his " History of Hayes " : — " In a
perambulation of the village for the purpose of dis
covering and describing antiquities, I was charmed
to find within twelve miles of the bustle, din, and

2IO

GREATER LONDON.

[Hayes.

smoke of London the real country, with its wide,
rich pastures and waving corn, its trees, hedge
rows, wild flowers, and gardens ; and, to complete
the picture, I should have been happy to have
added, interspersed with timber-built houses with
overhanging storeys, gables, and dormers; but
truth compels me to admit that such is no longer
the case. Here and there may still be seen the
thatched one-storey cottage, with low bulged walls
and other details, which would delight the painter
and the poet. Some chimney-stacks at Yeading,

family, and now by Mr. Thomas Salt, of Weeping
Cross, Staffordshire. "Yealding" is really Saxon
for " Eald," or old, and " ing," a meadow ; the
property belonged five centuries ago to the Bishops
of Lichfield and Coventry, who had a charter of
free-warren within its limits. A little more than a
century ago the Court Rolls of the manor mention
that John Turner, a copyholder, was permitted to
plant a grove of elm-trees across "the waste of
Yealding Green;" the trees that Mr. Turner
planted can still be identified, but the "waste"

built with thin
kiln - burnt
bricks, and
affording the
large chimney-
corners of a
former age, a
gable next the
churchyard,
and some cot
tages near Bot-
well Cross, are
all the objects
that can claim the attention of the antiquary, and
these only in a very moderate degree."
Within the parish there would appear to have
been several manors : not only those of Norwood
and Southall, now erected into separate and dis
tinct parochial districts, but also those of Yealding,
or Yeading, Botwell, and Hayes-with-Park-Hall.
The last two, however, have long disappeared as
manors proper, though they exist as hamlets ;
Yeading remains : it was owned by the Petit

FONT IN WEST DRAYTON CHURCH.

WEST DRAYTON.
and the " green " they were to adorn are both gone.
So true are Goldsmith's lines —
' ' Trade's unfeeling train
Usurp the land and dispossess the swain."
Lysons tells us, in his " History of Middlesex,''
that the principal hamlets in Hayes are Botwell,
Yeading, Hayes End, and Wood End ; to these he
might have added Cotman's Town, all of which
still retain their ancient names. Botwell and
Yeading are distinct places, and form the centres
of two localities devoted to brick-making. Cotman's
Town is the cluster of houses to the east of the
church, beyond which lies a district called Cold
Harbour. Wood End Green lies between the
west end of the church and Hillingdon.
The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary the
Virgin, to whom Mr. Mills thinks that it was dedi
cated by Anselm himself. If so, however, nothing
of that structure remains, except a stone in the north
face of the tower, some ten feet square, and carved
with triangles arranged in the form of crosses.
The font is a fine specimen of the transitional

Hayes.]

THE PARISH CHURCH.

Norman style, of English marble, and has a solid
base, supporting a central pillar, with detached
shafts, carrying a massive bowl, which is externally
sculptured with foliage. Doubtless, however, there

remain at the west end of the church, where they
fence off the lower part of the tower from the nave.
The axes of the nave and chancel have not
the same orientation— as is the case at St. Mary's,

was a smaller and
plainerchurchhere
in the old Saxon
times, one which
was probably con
structed of wood,
as at Staines and
elsewhere. The chancel,
which is of the
EarlyEnglish style,
was probably erec
ted about the year
1220. The nave
is mostly of the Decorated, or Edwardian period ;
and the north and south side aisles followed as
necessity arose. At the east end of each aisle was
a chantry chapel, with an altar, and a separate
endowment for a chantry priest. These chapels
were marked off by screens, parts of which still

Lyeh Gate

HAYES.

Oxford, and other well-known instances. The
chancel deflects considerably to the north-east. It
is thought by some persons that in such cases the
true east point had not been chosen by the builders
of the earlier portion, whether nave or chancel, and
that the builders of the latter portion intended to

GREATER LONDON.

[Hayea

correct their blunder ; while another theory has
been maintained which attaches to it a symbolical
meaning — namely, that it was intended to represent
the Saviour on the cross, whose sacred head in
clined at a slight angle to the right or the left. It
is more probable that it was an ingenious device
of the architect to give an appearance of greater
length to the interior.
The walls of the church are mostly of flint and
chalk, the latter probably imported from the Buck
inghamshire or Hertfordshire hills ; the facing, for
the most part, is of rough-hammered flint. The
walls are solid and substantial, and have worked
into them several fragments of wrought stone,
portions of an earlier structure. The external
buttresses are simple ; those at the angles of the
chancel have niches for the statues of saints — pro
bably the patron saints of the church. The win
dows are of various dates, ranging from 1220 down
to 1600, examples of almost every style being
shown — and their details are well worth study. The
great east window is of Elizabethan date and work
manship, and has recently been filled with painted
glass, commemorating an event in the life of a son
of the present rector.
The north and south doorways are under Pointed
arches, the latter having in front of it a handsome
wooden porch. At the west end is a fine specimen
of Perpendicular architecture, the door and window
being under one main arch, a sill-window separating
the door from the three-light window above. The
tower is of three storeys, but looks bare and
unadorned, being devoid of buttresses. It contains
a peal of six bells.
The nave has a lofty pitch, and a plain waggon-
headed roof, divided into compartments, and lit by
some very late and ugly-shaped dormer windows.
The carved crosses at the intersections of the
panels are curious, and the seamless coat, the nails,
the spear-head, and the wounded hands and feet,
and the other emblems of the Passion, appear on
nearly all of them. Mixed with them are fleur-de-
lys and Tudor roses, marking the late period of its
construction. Fine roofs of oak, and of a more
artistic style, cover the chancel and side aisles. In
the chancel are an ancient aumbry, a piscina in a
very perfect state, and sedilia — all of elegant pro
portions. In the flooring are some good old
encaustic tiles. The walls, previous to the recent
restoration of the church, were covered with hatch
ments, and several flags, coats of armour, and
helmets hung on them ; but these were all decayed,
and, as too often is the case, disappeared on that
oceasion. Over the communion-table there for
merly hung a painting of the "Adoration of the

Magi," given by the lord of the manor, Mr.
Jenyns, in 1726 ; but it now stands on the ground
near the vestry, at the east end of the south aisle.
On the wall of the north aisle, near the door, is a
roughly-executed life-sized fresco of St. Christopher,
representing that saint as carrying on his shoulder
the Divine Child as he strides through the water.
Below can be seen the crab, the eel, the flat-fish,
and a mermaid with her comb in her hand. Above
is a figure fishing. Such an ornament is frequent
on the walls of churches in Norfolk and Suffolk,
but very rare in Middlesex.
The pulpit, of deal, was made to stride across
the entrance to the chancel, with a desk on
either side for the curate and parish clerk, thus
blocking up the view of the east end altogether.
Happily this monstrosity — the production of some
tasteless churchwarden or lord of the manor — is a
thing of the past, and a decent, and even hand
some, pulpit has been set up elsewhere in its stead.
In the church is a parish muniment chest of
curious structure, more than three centuries old ; it
is of oak, and the top is made out of one solid
block of timber. It is bound with iron, and has
very substantial bands, hinges, and locks. At the
entrance of the churchyard is an old and picturesque
lych gate, in a very fair state of preservation.
In the chancel is a fine monument to Sir E.
Fenner, a judge of the King's Bench, who died in
1 6 1 1 ; and there is another Jacobean monument,
the inscription on which has been long stolen. Sir
Edward Fenner's monument is of alabaster and
choice marbles, and represents the worthy judge
in a recumbent position. In the north aisle is a
Purbeck marble slab, with brass, commemorating
Walter Grene, who died in the fifteenth century, but
the exact date is lost. At the east end of the south ,
aisle is an altar-tomb to Thomas Higate, part of
the brass on which has disappeared. Here, cut in
brass, in the attitude of prayer, may be seen the
worthy squire and his dame, with their nine chil
dren, with inscriptions in Latin and English verse —
neither very good. Of the remaining monuments
little need be said, except that they seem to imply
that the dead are uniformly virtuous, and to suggest,
therefore, that we must look among the living for
the vicious and wicked. The inscription over one
of the rectors of the parish, the Rev. Mr. Samuel
Spence, 1730, should not be omitted here, as sug
gestive of the happy via media between Romanism
and Dissent, of which we have heard so much : —
" Just underneath there lays (lies) a priest interred,
Not led by error into faction's herd ;
No Sectaries encouraging at home :
Proof against those as well as those of Rome."

Hayes.]

THE "HOLY MAID OF KENT.'

;<3

Under the east window of the chancel, on the
outside, is a monument to William Walker, lecturer
on astronomy, 1816, inventor of the Eidouranion,
&c. Four persons are recorded in the churchyard
as having died upwards of ninety years old, and the
parish has produced at least one centenarian.
The registers do not commence till the first year
of Elizabeth. In them are some quaint manuscript
notes and apothegms from Cicero, &c. They note
the usual number of " burials in woollen " — burials
of foreign women ; and in 1748-9 they record the
fact that both John and Charles Wesley preached
in the church. The registers from 1762-68 have been
stolen. No doubt the rectory, a little to the east of the
church, stands on the site of the archbishop's
former country-house, and possibly on the manse
of the priest Warherdus. The rectory is perhaps
the largest and best in the entire county, and pro
bably there are few better rectory-houses in Eng
land. It is large, lofty, solid, and substantial, built
very largely of solid oak ; and its possession has
always been sold along with the advowson. Two
rooms in the house are still pointed out as having
been occupied by Cranmer: one on the ground
floor formed part of the great dining-hall, but is
now divided into two storeys ; the other, on the
first floor, at the back of the house, now cut up
into bed-rooms, is traditionally said to have been
his library. In the former is a lofty carved oak
chimney-piece, thought by some to be as old as the
Reformation, and the panelling of the walls is pro
bably coeval with it On the ground floor there is
a set of wainscot oaken architraves, finely moulded.
The remainder of the house was largely altered and
modernised in 1862.
The rectory garden is extensive, and its paths
must have been often trodden by the archbishops
of the Norman and Plantagenet eras. In one part
there are a few traces of an ancient moat, in which,
as the local tradition runs, was once found a flagon,
which was deposited in the British Museum. No
record, however, of such an article is to be found,
either at Hayes or at Bloomsbury. Beyond the
garden to the east is a fine avenue of shapely
lime-trees. Here, again, local tradition connects
the trees with Eugene Aram, who is said to have
frequently walked beneath their shade : but there
is not a shadow of proof for the story. Equally
shadowy is another tradition that Queen Elizabeth
once attended service in the parish church, whilst
staying at "Pinkwell." No such place is known
to exist or to have existed near Hayes, and there
is no record of the queen's visit in the books of
the parish.

The rectory is a valuable one, and was once
even more so than it is now. In 1793 it is given
as worth ^1,038 a year, with a small deduction
for the payment of the "curates" of Norwood and
Southall. It is now stated officially as worth ^700
a year and a house.
Two or three of the rectors and vicars of
Hayes have some interest attaching to their names.
Henry Gold, who became vicar in 1520, was im
plicated in the doings of Elizabeth Barton, " the
Holy Maid of Kent." The maid was a servant
at Allington, in Kent, where, having been subject
to hysterical fits, her mind became disordered, and
she pretended that she saw visions which God
had revealed to her from heaven, to the effect
that in case the king should divorce his lawful
wife, Catharine of Arragon, and take another
spouse, his royalty would not last a month. The
" Maid " and her accomplices, or dupes, were
examined by the Star Chamber, conveyed to the
Tower of London, convicted of high treason,
attainted, and executed at Tyburn, April 20,
1534. On this occasion Gold was one of the
number. The " Maid " at the last confessed
her imposture. Amongst her lying wonders, one
has been thus set forth by a writer of the period : —
" That candles were alighted without fire:
The candle ment is even hir tender hart,
Which Edward Bocking set on flaming fire,
For he must play the ghostly father's part,
And shrift was such as they did both desire.
The place was apt, they toke their times by night ;
I think I have resolved this riddle right."
In the beginning of the seventeenth century the
rectory was held by the Rev. Robert Wright, who
was nominated first Warden of Wadham College,
Oxford, but resigned that post because the
foundress, Dorothy Wadham, would not suffer
her Warden to marry. He afterwards became
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and was one
of the twelve bishops accused of high treason, and
committed to the Tower in 1642, " for preferring a
petition, and making a protestation to the sub
verting of the fundamental laws of Parliament."
He escaped, however, from the scaffold.
Another rector, Patrick Young, ejected in 1640,
is worthy of note, as being a man who, "though
he sided with the Presbyterians, could not be
loved by them, as he had too much learning to
comply with their eclesiastical mould, and too much
honesty to digest their politicks." He was stripped
of his preferments by either the Presbyterians or
Independents — it is not certain by which — and
retired to Broomfield, in Essex, where he died in
retirement and melancholy.

214

GREATER LONDON.

[Hayes.

The parish is educationally better off than most.
There are national schools at Wood End Green,
which were opened in 1836. In 1860-3 were
built some larger schools, out of the benefaction
of a Dr. Triplett, who left a large sum for that
purpose at his death, in 1670, for the benefit of
Hayes, Petersham, and Richmond. The learned
doctor was a Prebendary of Westminster and
York, and he lies in Poets' Corner. The poor
parishioners of Hayes also benefit by Lady Dacre's
charity of Emmanuel Hospital at Westminster.
Among the other benefactors to the parish is
Robert Cromwell, whose family are mentioned in
the registers in 1596-8, and who gave some lands,
the proceeds of which were to be laid down in
" six gowns of strong blue cloth for as many poor
widows, or other women, of Hayes." These
benefactions are all administered by a board of
trustees of the amalgamated charities.
The Tithes Commutation Act, passed in 1836,
put an end to the annual payment of tithes
throughout the kingdom; but this measure was
anticipated, so far as Hayes was concerned, in
1809, when the Act was obtained for enclosing the
common and extinguishing the tithes.
We will conclude this chapter with the following
remarks of Mr. Mills on the Hayes Registers : —
" Here we may read of the baptisms of children
bearing their fathers', and of children bearing only
their mothers' names, and many of children marked
as bastards and baseborn ; of marriages completed,
and of one begun, and not completed ; of burials of
rich and poor, lords of the manor, esquires, knights,
ladies, coachmen, &c, and of that of Elias Dupree,
said to have been hunted to death in the parish,
and to whose memory a slab is said to be affixed in
Gloucester Cathedral ; and of many ' strange women.'
Also many singular entries arising out of and
illustrating the laws relating to burial in woollen :
how John Hart, a farmer, to escape a certain part
of the due on a baptism (20s.), declares that he is
not worth ^50 per annum in real estate, or ^600
personal ; then of Roger Jenyns, ' Esquire,' in
haste, possibly finding himself excluded from or
not sufficiently appreciated in John Jenyns' will,
hurries off to James Clitherow, the magistrate,
gives sworn information that John Jenyns had

been that day buried in a coffin fitted, with velvet
—in which case there would be a fine, and Roger,
as the informant, would be entitled to one-half.
Again, Rachel Lee (honest London woman) desires
to be buried in linen ; she pays the ^50 fine, and
has her desire. Again, we read of taxes and fines,
or penalties, on births, deaths, and marriages ; there
are payments under the two first heads, but I find no
mention of single men or of widowers remaining
unmarried, and paying the fines or penalties. We
read of ' Plague Years,' of a time when the year
ended in March instead of in December, and of
numerous instances of longevity. We • find these
registers signed by vicars, and sometimes — when
they could write — by churchwardens, and when they
could not, then marked by them with a cross. We
read of two of the Wesleys preaching here. We read
of an early attempt at a popular week-day service,
which met with great success at its introduction.
"As to education, we may gather from the
marriage register that, whereas^in 1763, out of every
100 persons married only 37 could write their
names, in 1872 the percentage of those who could
do so had risen to 69. Finally, we may read in
these registers that peace has not always been the
rule. The clergy have turned their backs on each
other in the church ; some parishioners have
smoked their pipes, drank their beer, made noises,
and rung the church bells during service, while
others have not refrained from cock-fighting and
digging graves in the churchyard, in defiance of
authority. " There is much, then, in these old registers that
we must regret to lose. These books allowed the
man of taste and education to make his remarks,
and to enter them in the language that he liked
best. Did he wish to quote Cicero, or to protect
a book by a malediction, to state where he dined
on Sunday, to express his opinion on taxes and
other matters, he did so freely in these registers.
But now that the hard and fast forms prevail,
printed in columns, with certain ink to be used,
and certain exact particulars only to be stated,
no room is left for taste ; and while science and
statistics may be advanced, the individuality of
man and the interest of the ancient record must
alike disappear."

Norwood.]

THE PARISH CHURCH.

21.

CHAPTER XX.
NORWOOD, SOUTHALL, ETC.
"Pagos et compita circum." — Virg. Georg., ii. 328.
The "Precinct" of Norwood— Situation and Boundaries of the Parish— Census Returns— Early History of the Manor— The Village— The Parish
Church — Schools, &c. — Southall — The Church and Vicarage — The Manor House — The Grand Junction Canal and the Paddington Canal
— The Metropolitan Workhouse School — Dorman's Well — Southall Park — Southall Market— Northolt, or Northall — General Description of
the Locality — The Parish Church— Greenford— Its Etymology— The Soil, and Census Returns— The Parish Church— The Rectory and
Advowson — Distinguished Rectors — Chemical Works at Greenford Green — Horsington Hill and Wood — Perivale — Extent and Population —
Descent of the Manor — The Parish Church — West Twyford — Descent of the Manor — Twyford Abbey — The Chapel— Willesden Junction
Station— Boundaries and Extent of the Parish of Willesden — Railway Communication — The River Brent — Sub-division of the Manor of
Willesden — The Parish Church — Church End — Willesden Green — The " White Hart " and " Spotted Dog" Taverns — Brondcsbury — The
Jewish Cemetery — Warwick Dairy Farm — Harlesden — Cricklewood — Neasdon — The Metropolitan Railway Carriage DepQt — Sherrick
Green and Dollis Hill — Stonebridge Park.

The village of Norwood is officially and legally
described as a "precinct" in the civil parish of
Hayes. The " precinct " is a term which savours
of a cathedral city, and no doubt it was given to
this hamlet on account of the connection of Hayes
with the see of Canterbury in ancient times.
Norwood — the " north wood " — doubtless was
so called with reference to the Thames and its
"riparian" dwellers, just as Norwood, in Surrey,
derived its name from its relative situation to the
great town of Croydon. The village lies on the
edge of Osterley Park, between Heston and Southall,
and the country around, although somewhat level,
is nevertheless well-wooded and pleasant. The
Grand Junction Canal skirts the village on its
northern side. Like the district which we have
just left, much of the land hereabouts is well
adapted for brick-making, a branch of industry
which is still largely carried on here, though some
what on the decline; whilst in the immediate
outskirts of the village are market gardens and
orchards, with an occasional farm. Many of the
inhabitants are engaged as bargemen on the canal.
No literary interest attaches to the parish, which
is very small, and shows but little signs of increasing
in population, lying in a retired spot, far away
from a railway station. In 187 1 the population
of the entire " precinct," which includes the in
mates of Hanwell Lunatic Asylum, and also those
of Marylebone Workhouse Schools on Southall
Green, was given in the census returns as 5,882,
and in 1881 the number was returned as 6,688.
The first mention of Norwood as a manor occurs
in the will of Warherdus, a.d. 830, who left it to
the church of Canterbury. It then contained
120 acres. No mention of it is made in " Domes
day," when it probably was joined to that of
Hayes. At the time of the Reformation it be
longed to the Cheesemans, who held it under the
archbishop, to whom a knight's fee (£$) was
payable at every death or alienation. It afterwards
was in the hands of Fynes, Lord Dacre, and his

widow, the worthy founder of sundry almshouses
in Westminster,* on whose death, in 1595, the
manor was sold. It was afterwards in the hands
of the Childs, of Osterley Park, and later on it
belonged to the Earls of Jersey, from whom it
passed to Sir Charles Mills, Bart. The Earl of
Jersey is, however, the chief landowner.
Norwood consists of several handsome and sub
stantial houses, surrounding a triangular village-
green of some twenty acres, adorned with fine
elms. The cedars, yews, and evergreens in the
various gentlemen's gardens help to give the
village a leafy and well-wooded appearance, even
in the winter.
At the north corner of the green, nearly opposite
to the vicarage, stands the church, which modern
restoration, by the importation of colour both
inside and outside, has rather succeeded in dis
guising, so that it looks like a new erection of the
Cambridge Camden, or the Oxford Architectural
Society. It is small, with a dwarf wooden tower
and spire, and a fine wooded porch on the south
side. One of the arches dividing the nave from
the north aisle is Norman.
The restoration of the church was carried out in
1864, down to which period there were several
helmets and coats of armour hanging upon the
walls ; but these have all disappeared, except one
helmet, which is kept loose on a canopied altar-
tomb on the north side of the chancel, within the
altar rails ; and even from this some stray visitor,
with light fingers, but without a conscience, has
managed to carry away part of the vizor.
Some of the windows contain fragments of
old painted glass; but the east window is filled
with modern coloured glass, which was inserted
on the restoration of the church. In the chancel
is a brass to the memory of Francis Awsiter,
dated 1624, and in the nave one to Matthew
Huntley, dated 1628. There are a few interest-

• See " Old and New London." Vol, IV., p. 23.

2 l6

GREATER LONDON.

^Norwood.

ing monuments and tablets, notably the altar-
tomb mentioned above, which is to the memory
of Edward Cheeseman, who was Cofferer to
Henry VII., and who died in 1547- Another
monument, consisting of a sarcophagus bearing
upon it a life-sized semi-recumbent effigy of the
deceased, commemorates John Merick, Esq., of
Norcut, who died in 1749- The font> which ls
large, and designed for entire immersion, is of an
octangular form, and ornamented with quatrefoils.
A fine yew-tree stands in the churchyard, as in
most of the Middlesex parishes.

forced into a separate district. In 1838- a small
chapel was erected on a waste spot of land then
called Southall Green; but it is of no interest what
ever, and serves only as a specimen of the very
worst and poorest attempts at modern Gothic art
before its revival by the elder Pugin and Sir Gilbert
Scott. Opposite the church is a small and modest
vicarage, with a good garden in the rear. Adjoin
ing it is Elmfield Lodge, a handsome villa of
the suburban type, with a magnificent cedar-tree
on its lawn. Here was born Mrs. Challice, the

SOUTHALL MANOR HOUSE.

In the early part of the last century a small
portion of land and some cottages were bequeathed
by one Francis Courtney for the purpose of
charitably educating poor children in the parish
"till the world's end." In 1772 Elisha Biscoe
bequeathed a large sum of money for the purpose
of educating and clothing thirty boys and ten girls
belonging to the parishes of Norwood, Heston, and
Hayes. The school-house of Norwood was erected
in 1767.
Southall is quite a new parish, having really been
called into existence by the construction of the
Great Western Railway. It is the centre of a
very flat and dreary district. As Norwood was
cut off from the mother church of Hayes, so has
Southall in its turn been cut off from Norwood and

accomplished authoress of " Memories of French
Palaces," " Distinguished Women of France," and
of several novels, a lady whose premature death
was deeply regretted.
Between the green and the railway-station stands
a fine old manor house, of the Jacobean type, with
plain mullioned windows. In its hall is a finely-
carved oak mantel-piece, not unlike those which we
have seen in the Charter House, London,* and at
Duncroft House, Staines, f The entrance-hall is
fine, and retains its Elizabethan windows and
Jacobean fire-place, and many of the other rooms
still remain in their original state. It was formerly

• See " Old and New London,'
t See page 191, ante.

Vol. II., p. 303,

Southall.]

METROPOLITAN WORKHOUSE SCHOOL.

217

the seat of a family named Awsiter, who left their
mark on history, having been merchants, alder
men, or lawyers in the City of London.
The grounds in the rear are laid out in the trim
fashion of the reign of William III., so prevalent

family of Shoredyke, and afterwards by those of
Cheeseman, and of Fynes, Lord Dacre. It has
since passed, along with that of Norwood, to the
Childs and Villierses.
The Grand Junction Canal, which, as we have

INTERIOR OF PERIVALE CHURCH. (Seepage 221.,)
(From 'an Etching by W. L. Wilkins, 1848.)

about this neighbourhood, the yews being care
fully clipped and rounded off into artificial shapes.
Northall and Northolt are but variations of
the same name, as we shall presently see ; so it is
probable that Southall is only another form of
Southolt — the Southern Holt, or wood. The
manor of Southall was held in the Plantagenet
times under the Archbishop of Canterbury by the
19

already stated, separates the two villages of Nor
wood and Southall, receives the waters of the
Paddington Canal at Bull Bridge, a short distance
westward from the green, where there is com
modious wharfage. Close by the railway-station
stands the Metropolitan Workhouse School, a
large building, which will hold between 500 and
600 children, who are here lodged, educated, and

:s"

2l8

GREATER LONDON.

[Northolt.

taught various branches of industry. Dorman's or
Domer's Well, a farm-house about half a mile north
east of Southall Street, was formerly the seat of
Lord Dacre whilst he held the lordship of the
manor. Southall Park, a large red-brick mansion
facing the Great Western Railway, formerly the
seat of Sir William Ellis, stands in some pleasant
grounds, and is now a private lunatic asylum.
The village of Southall doubtless once derived
great benefits from its weekly market, the charter
for which was granted in 1698 by William III. "A
lease of this charter," we are told in the " Beauties of
England," "was purchased by Mr. William Welch in
the year 1805, at which time there were weekly
markets of some consequence for the show of
cattle at Beaconsfield, Hayes, Hounslow, and
Knightsbridge. Mr. Welch, immediately on ac
quiring possession of his lease,, constructed a
market-place at Southall peculiarly well-adapted
for showing cattle and accommodating the dealers.
He has also, in other respects, acted with so much
spirit and judgment that the .neighbouring markets
are now almost discontinued, while this at Southall
is become inferior only to Smithfield in regard to
the sale of fat cattle in Middlesex."
From Southall Station, a walk of about three
miles brings us to Northolt, or, as it is sometimes
written, Northall, which, as stated above, is simply
another form of this word. The name of the village
is generally spelt Northall in ancient documents ;
but Norden terms the place Northolt, and derives
the latter syllable from the "German holt, signi
fying a wood." The mode of spelling used by
Norden has been followed to this day.
The route thither, after crossing the great
western road, lies along narrow lanes and cross
roads, and for the most part over what in summer
time would be green and smiling meadows, but
which in winter, or during a prevalence of wet
weather, are little better than a huge morass. The
village of Northolt— the name of which in the
" Domesday" Survey appears as Northala — is quiet
and retiring, the few humble dwellings which it
contains being mostly inhabited by farm labourers
and brick-makers, the land in the neighbourhood
being chiefly under grass, dotted over here and
there with a busy homestead, its barns and hay
ricks affording an agreeable relief to the surround
ing trees. At the brick-fields hereabouts' large
quantities of bricks are made, and carried up to
London by the barges on the Paddington Canal,
which skirts the eastern side of the parish. The
village green is intersected by the roadway running
north-east to Sudbury and Harrow-on-the-Hill; and
the church, dedicated to St. Mary, stands on the

summit of a small hillock, on the east side of the
green. The architecture is a mixture of the Deco
rated and Perpendicular. It is built chiefly of flint
and rubble, almost hidden by a thick coating of
cement, and whitewashed over; it consists of a
nave and narrow chancel, with a wooden belfry
turret, surmounted by a short octagonal spire,
which rises from the western end of the tiled roof.
The windows of the chancel are filled with stained
glass, that over the communion-table being a
modern imitation of the Decorated period ; the'
window at the south-east corner of the nave is also
of painted glass, the work of Mr. George Harris,
F.S.A., of Islip Manor, the " squire " of the parish,
and was inserted in 1871. The font is octagonal,
of the Perpendicular style, but the lid bears date
1624. A gravestone in the floor of the chancel,
within the altar rails, commemorates Samuel Lisle,
Bishop of St Asaph, who died in 1749 ; there is
also a similar memorial to Thomas Arundell, dated
1697 ; brasses to Henry Rowdell (1452), Susan,
wife of John Gyfforde (1560), and to Isaiah
Bures, vicar of this parish (1610). On the south'
wall of the chancel is a tablet to the memory
of Lancelot Shadwell, Esq., who died in 1861, son
of the Vice-Chancellor Sir Lancelot Shadwell,
who was lord of the manor of Northolt, and with
whose family it has still continued. In the church
yard is buried Dr. Stephen Demainbray, who died
in 1782, having been some time Astronomer to the
Royal Observatory at Richmond.
The extensive valley to the , north-west of this
parish was the scene of several skirmishes during
both the Wars of the Roses and the Civil War in
the time of Charles I.
From Northolt the road winds somewhat
circuitously in. a south-easterly direction to Green
ford, a small and retired village, situate on the road
towards Sudbury and Harrow, and about nine
miles from Hyde Park Corner. There is, in
summer-time, a pleasant walk thither from the
churchyard of Northolt, across the meadows,
stretching away eastward, through which the Pad
dington Canal winds its course, and which are also
watered by numerous streams and bournes. The
village of Greenford consists of about twenty or
thirty cottages and small shops, together with a
commodious school-house, and other buildings.
In legal documents the name of this parish is
usually written Greenford Magna, or Great Green
ford, to distinguish it from Greenford Parva, or
Perivale, which lies about two miles eastward, on
the road towards Twyford Abbey. Greenford pro
bably took its name from a ford over the River
Brent, which meanders pleasantly through the

Greenford.]

GREENFORD CHURCH.

219

meadows on the south-east. The parish is said by
Northcourt, in his " Repertorium," to have been
called in ancient documents Grenefeld, and also
Gernford ; in the confirmation of Edward I., and
also in " Domesday Book," however, it is written
Greneforde, so that the name may be said to have
undergone but little or no alteration since the time
of the Conquest.
The soil hereabouts is a fertile clay, and the
parish is almost wholly agricultural. In 187 1 the

this day. A modern brick-built mansion near the
church is termed the manse house.
The parish church, dedicated to the Holy Cross,
on the west side of the village street, is a small
building, apparently of the fourteenth century, being
of the Early Perpendicular style. The edifice is
peculiar in having no constructional west end, the
space being occupied by a timbered turret, carrying
a low' shingle spire, painted white. With the excep
tion of this turret and spire, which are devoid of all

PERIVALE CHURCH, EXTERIOR. (Seep. 221.)

number of houses in the entire parish was 116,
with a population of 578, a number which had
somewhat diminished in the next decennial period.
The manor of Greenford Magna was given to
Westminster Abbey by King Etheldred. In the
" Norman Survey " it is said that " the Abbot of St.
Peter holds Greneforde for eleven hides and a half."
There was "pannage for three hundred hogs, and
pasture for the cattle of the village." Upon the'
dissolution of religious houses, this property was
made part of the revenues of the short-lived
Bishopric of Westminster ; but was surrendered to
the Crown in 1550 by Thomas Thirlby, the only
bishop of that see. The manor, however, was in
the same year granted to the Bishop of London
and his successors, with whom it has continued to

dignity, the church consists of a nave and a narrow
chancel, which are separated by a Pointed arch.
The original chancel-arch, of rude Early English
work, was re-constructed upon a larger scale in
1 87 1, since which time the whole fabric has been
restored in a most thorough manner, the work con
sisting of a new nave roof of open timber and a
fresh seating of varnished pitch-pine ; the floor of
the chancel being raised, fresh windows opened,
and the walls of the chancel, which were rough
cast, being re-faced with flint-work and stone dress
ings. The windows of the chancel contain many
fragments of stained glass, chiefly dating from the
middle of the fifteenth century, collected and re
arranged by the Rev. Edward Betham, a former
rector. They include a number of examples of the

GREATER LONDON.

[Perivale.

arms of King's College, Cambridge, the patrons of
the living, some heads of angels, foliage, and
crowns, and some curious quarries, probably
Flemish, representing windmills. There are also
several brasses — notably, a half-length figure of a
priest in eucharistic vestments, that of Richard
Thornton, who died in 1544 ; close by is a second
priest's brass, that of Thomas Symons, dated 1508 ;
a third brass is an effigy of a lady wearing a butter
fly head-dress. At the south-east end of the nave
is a mural monument to Bridget, wife of Simon
Caston, dated 1637. The effigy of the deceased is
kneeling before a desk, on which is an open book ;
before her kneel her five children, whilst in a niche in
the upper compartment is the three-quarter effigy of
a man in mourning attitude and garb. On the north
wall of the chancel is a mural tablet, with two
kneeling figures, commemorating Michael Gardner,
a former rector of this parish, who died in 1630,
and Margaret, his wife. There are also several
inscriptions to the Castell family. The pedestal
of the font bears the name of Francis Coston, and
the date 1638.
The rectory and advowson of Greenford, in con
junction with the manor, were possessed at an
early period by the Abbey of St. Peter, West
minster. John de Feckenham, the last abbot of
Westminster, held the rectory of Greenford in the
middle of the sixteenth century. On the subsequent
grant of the manor to the see of London, the
advowson became the property of Sir Thomas
Wroth, of Durance. On the last alienation of the
rectory and advowson, , they were purchased, in
1725, by the Provost and Scholars of King's
College, Cambridge.
Edward Terry, who was appointed to the rectory
of Greenford in 1629, was a man of some note in
his day. He had a few years previously accom
panied some merchants to the East Indies. On his
arrival there, he was sent for by Sir Thomas Roe,
then ambassador to the Great Mogul, with whom
he resided as chaplain for more than two years
at the court of that emperor. He is said by
Anthony Wood to have been " an ingenious and
polite man, of a pious and exemplary conversation,
and much respected in the neighbourhood where
he lived." During his residence at Greenford — the
benefice of which parish he enjoyed for more than
thirty years — he published several works, among
which was "A Character of King Charles II.,"
printed in 1660. He died in that same year, and
was buried in the chancel of his church.
The Rev. Edward Betham, whose name is
mentioned above, and who was rector towards the
close of the last century, built at his own cost a

school-house, and provided an endowment for the
salary of a master and mistress, and for gifts to the
poor of the parish.
The hamlet of Greenford Green, which lies away
about a mile to the north of the village, is chiefly
noticeable for the chemical works of Messrs.
Perkin and Sons, which give employment to a
large number of hands. The building covers a
large space of ground, and its tall chimney-shafts
are a landmark all around.
Between this place and Harrow are Horsington
Hill and Wood, which command a fine view across
the meadows to Harrow and Pinner, the church-
spire of Harrow crowning the hill, and forming a
pleasing object in the landscape.
Perivale, formerly known as Greenford Patva,
lies about two miles eastward from Greenford
Magna, and about the same distance to the north
of Ealing Station, on the Great Western Railway.
It has borne its. present name, which Lysons
regards as a corruption of Parva, only since the
sixteenth century. Norden supposes that the term
Perivale has reference to the salubrity of the vale
in which the village is situated, and calls it " Pery-
vale, more truly Purevale." The village is located
in the valley of the Brent ; and what with its old-
fashioned look and its extreme seclusion — which
is almost as perfect as if it were a. hundred miles
from London— it is not to be wondered that its
growth is very slow ; indeed, but little progress
appears to have been made during the last century,
for in 18 1 6 Mr. Brewer described it, in the
" Beauties of England," as containing five dwellings
only, whilst according to the census returns for
1 88 1 the number of inhabited houses is seven,
whilst the population is set down as 34 souls.
The Rev. C. J. Hughes, the rector of Perivale, in
a letter to the Times (1882), writes : — "A parish in
Wales with only 21 inhabitants and 620 acres in
extent .... is hardly so peculiar as a parish
seven miles from the Marble Arch, with only 34
inhabitants and 626 acres in extent The parish
of Perivale, adjoining Ealing parish, and less than
two miles from Ealing Station, fulfils these con
ditions (there are in all five houses), being the
smallest parish in the diocese of London, and one
of the smallest in England."
It need scarcely be stated that such a retired
spot as Perivale should be devoid of "historic
interest." In "Domesday Book," however, it is
recorded 'that " Gulbert held in Greneford three
hides of Geoffry (de Mandeville). There was
land to one plough and a half ; but land for one
plough only was used. Pannage for forty hogs.
The value of the land was stated at twenty shillings ;

Perivale.]

A SMALL PARISH.

when received, ten shillings ; in King Edward's
time, forty shillings. Two Sokemen held this land ;
one was a canon of St. Paul's, the other was a
vassal of Asgar's, the master of the horse. In the
same village Ansgot held half a hide of Geoffry de
Mandeville; and iElveve, the wife of Wateman,
held half a hide of the king." The subsequent
history of this little district, until the reign of the
second Edward, appears to be a blank. At that
time the manor of Greenford Parva — then called
Cornhull, or Cornhill — together with the advowson
of the church, was surrendered to the Crown, in
exchange for the churches of Cestreton and Wors-
field, in Warwickshire, by Walter de Langton,
Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. The king
granted it shortly afterwards to Henry de Beau
mont, by whose descendants it was alienated, in
1387, to Thomas Charleton. After this period it
successively became the property of various
families, and was purchased about the middle of
the last century by Richard Lateward, Esq. On
the death of Mr. Lateward, the manor passed by
bequest to John Schreiber, Esq., who afterwards
took the name of Lateward.
The parish church, as may be imagined for so
small a district, is very diminutive. The building
bears marks of age, apparently of the fourteenth
century, and on its north side stands the vicarage,
an interesting half-timbered building, of semi-
Gothic architecture. Like most of the parish
churches which we have lately described, that of
Perivale is constructed chiefly of flint and stone,
and consists of a nave and narrow chancel, with a
square wooden tower and a short spire at the
western end, and a south porch. The interior
was restored, and the east wall rebuilt, in 1875.
The nave is separated from the chancel by a
dwarf screen, apparently of seventeenth century
workmanship, and in some of the windows are
fragments of stained glass, among them being
representations of St. John the Baptist and St.
Matthew. In the south-west corner is a small
hagioscope. The font-cover bears the date 1665,
though the font itself is undoubtedly much
earlier. On the floor of the chancel is a brass to
the memory of Henry Myllet, who is represented
in effigy, together with his two wives and fifteen
children; it is dated 1500. There are a few
monuments to former lords of the manor of Green
ford Parva — including the families of Lane, Harri
son, Myllet, and Lateward — but none of them are
of sufficient public interest to merit description.
Here, in 1765, was buried Philip Fletcher, Dean
of Kildare, brother of Dr. Fletcher, Bishop of
Kildare, and author of a poem in Dodsley's collec

tion called " Nature and Fortune," and of another
entitled " Truth at Court," which acquired some
little popularity at the time of its publication, but
which is now well-nigh forgotten.
Passing in an easterly direction for about a mile,
we come to another parish almost as small as
Perivale — namely, Twyford, or West Twyford,
so called to distinguish it from the hamlet of East
Twyford, in the adjoining parish of Willesden. This
parish — if it may be called one — comprises only
about 200 acres, and but eight houses, with a
population of seventy-five. Twyford is described
by Lewis, in his "Topographical Dictionary," in
1835 as being "in the Kensington division of
the Hundred of Ossulston," and as containing a
population of forty-three souls.
It is not a little singular that within a mile and
a half of the great railway junction at Willesden,
and within six or seven miles of Hyde Park
Corner, there should have been, down to a com
paratively recent date, an extra-parochial liberty,
whose inhabitants own no ecclesiastical allegiance
to the Bishop of London. But so it is. The land,
having belonged to one of the smaller religious
houses, Twyford Abbey was forgotten to be in
cluded in the general survey.
The whole " parish" of Twyford contains less
than 300 acres, and but one important house —
Twyford Abbey and its dependent farm-buildings.
It does not appear that this district ever possessed
a resident population. Mr. Brewer, in the " Beau
ties of England," states, on the authority of the
records of St. Paul's, that " there were six tene
ments in Twyford in the earlier part of the fifteenth
century, one of which formed the residence of the
minister, and the rents of the others assisted in
supporting him. These tenements were situated
near the church." In the year 1251, according to
Lysons' "Environs of London," there were ten
inhabited houses in the parish, in addition to
the manorial seat. Only one of these, the manor-
house, was remaining in the reign of Queen Eliza
beth, and the parish continued in the same de
populated state until the beginning of the present
century. In the "Domesday Survey" the manor of Twyford
is dealt with under the name of " Tveverde," and
it is there stated that Gueri, a canon of St. Paul's,
holds two hides of land ; the record proceeding : —
"There is land to one plough and a half. There is
a plough in the demesne, and a half may be made.
There are two villanes of one virgate, and one
bordar of six acres, and three cottagers. Pannage
for fifty hogs," &c.
Early in the twelfth century the manor was

222

GREATER LONDON.

[Twyford,

leased to Walter de Cranford and his wife, " with
all the tithes of corn, sheep, and goats," by the
Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. It afterwards
passed through various changes of ownership, and
towards the end of the fifteenth century it was
procured by a citizen of London, one John Philpot,
with whose family it remained through many
generations. In the last century it was conveyed,
by the marriage of an heiress, to the Cholmeley
family, of whom it was purchased in 1806 by
" Thomas Willan, Esq., of Marybone Park." This

is probable that the place took its name of
Twyford. On the lawn, close to the house, is a small
chapel. It is built of plain brick, covered with
stucco, and an attempt was made early in this cen
tury to give it a Gothic character by the addition of
a porch and some other minor details. The chapel
is much improved in appearance by a luxuriant
growth of ivy, the effect of which is heightened by
the various elms and cedars that stud the lawn.
The building contains a few monuments of interest.

TWYFORD ABBEY.

centleman pulled down the old manor-house, which
was at that time occupied as a farm. The building
was surrounded by a moat, and approached by a
drawbridge. The building having been demolished,
the moat was filled up. Mr. Willan shortly after com
menced the erection of a new manor-house on a
fresh site hard by, from the designs of Mr. Atkin
son. It is a handsome residence in the " Strawberry
Hill " Gothic style of architecture ; the principal
front is advanced and embattled, with octagonal
turrets at either end. The surrounding grounds
are pleasantly wooded, and of an ornamental
character. The River Brent, which forms the
northern margin of the parish, winds through the
grounds. Besides this, another brook runs near it.
Both these streams are, or were, fordable- at a
certain point, and from this circumstance it

One of these is to Robert Moyle, Esq., Protho-
notary of the Common Pleas, who died in 1638,
and who is represented by a bust habited in a
black cap and gown. Another monument, with a
bust, commemorates Walter Moyle, Esq., who died
at Twyford in 1660. On the north wall is a tablet
to the memory of Henry Bold, the author of some
humorous poems, who died in 1683.
About two miles due east from Twyford Abbey
lies what was once the village of Willesden, or
Wilsdon, but which is now a rapidly-increasing
suburb of London. The western side of the parish
is skirted by the London and North-Western Rail
way, which has a station at Harlesden, about a
mile from Willesden proper, called the Willesden
Junction Station, which serves also for the North
London line. There is here almost as great a net-

Willesden.]

WILLESDEN JUNCTION.

223

work of railways as at Clapham Junction,* the lines
radiating hence to almost all parts of London, both
north and south of the Thames ; and the arrange
ment of the station is, if possible, more consum
mately bewildering to the unhappy traveller who
has to " change."
The parish of Willesden is bounded on the east
by the Edgware Road, and stretches away north
to Wembly and Neasdon, west to Twyford, and
southward to Acton and Shepherd's Bush. It com
prises in all between 4,000 and 5,000 acres, the
greater part of which was meadow and pasture-
land, intersected by pleasant lanes and hedge-rows.
At the beginning of this century the houses were
comparatively few and widely scattered. Even 'as

London Line ; Harrow Road, on the Midland ; at
Neasdon, on the Metropolitan Extension, and
also on the Midland Railway ; and at Willesden
Green, on the Metropolitan. All the above
stations are situated within the boundaries of the
parish. There is also a station at Dudding Hill, on
the Midland Railway, a short distance north-east
ward of Willesden Church ; that at Harrow Road
meeting the requirements of the new district called
Stonebridge Park.
The River Brent waters the north and west sides
of the parish, but this stream is subject to floods,
which are very injurious to the land on its im
mediate borders.
The name of this place is written " Wellesdone "

WILLESDEN CHURCH. (Seep. 224.)
(From a Print in the "Gentleman's Magazine" xci.)

recently as i86r the population did not amount
to 4,000 ; but in the course of the next ten years,
so rapid had been the increase of buildings in
the neighbourhood, the number amounted to
almost 16,000. According to the census returns
for 1 88 1, the population has now swelled up to
over 27,000. Such has been the rapidity with
which the builder has invested this once rural and
retired district, that the green fields are now fast
disappearing in all directions, to give place to
streets and rows of villa residences. One great
cause for all this rapid extension of the metropolis
is undoubtedly the facility which is afforded by the
railways for communication with the City and other
parts of London; for, apart from Willesden Junction,
mentioned above, there are stations at Brondesbury,
on the North- Western, North-London, and Metro
politan Railways ; at Kensal Green, on the North
* See " Old and New London," Vol. VI., p. 483.

in the " Norman Survey," and the manor is there
stated to belong to the Canons of St. Paul's, to
whom it had either been given or confirmed
by King Athelstan. The manorial district was
afterwards sub-divided, so that there are now in
Willesden eight distinct manors, " seven of which,"
says Mr. Brewer, in his "Beauties of England,"
" are held by the same number of prebends (pre
bendaries) in St. Paul's Cathedral, or by their
lessees." The manor of Twyford is in lay hands.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, dates
probably from the early part of the fourteenth
century, a few fragments being of even an earlier
period. Most of the marks of its antiquity were
removed on the restoration of the building, about
1850, down to which time the church consisted of
a nave and chancel, a south aisle and porch, and a
square embattled tower at the western end of the
aisle. The exterior at that time appeared rugged
with age, and an interesting air of antiquity pre-

224

GREATER LONDON.

[Willesden.

vailed over the whole structure, except that the
large east window had been contracted, and a
mean framework of wood substituted for the stone
mullions. The walls were partly covered with stucco ;
but the church had a picturesque appearance, and
was often a subject for the artist's pencil. In
1851 it was carefully repaired and enlarged; and
again, in 1872, a further and more complete
restoration was made, a north aisle, porch, and
transept being added, the interior of the tower
being at the same time opened out to the body of
the church. During these restorations, fragments
of Norman work, in the shape of the round arches
of two narrow windows, were discovered on re
moving the north wall. In the north wall of the
chancel is an Easter sepulchre ; and another is in
the south wall of a chantry which is formed of the
eastern bay of the south aisle, and which opens
into the aisle and chancel by arches. The font is
probably late Norman. The old-fashioned pews
were replaced by open benches, and new sedilia,
reredos, and pavement of encaustic tiles, were
placed in the chancel in 1872. Most of the
windows are filled with painted glass, the subject
of that over the altar being the crucifixion of Our
Lord. The pulpit, of carved oak, was erected in
1877, in memory of members of the Wood family.
Scattered about are four or five ancient bras'ses,
the earliest of which, dated 1492, commemorates
Bartholomew de Willesden; and there are also
several ancient monuments, one of which, with
kneeling figures, is in memory of Richard Paine,
who was "gentleman pensioner to five princes,"
and who died in 1606. Sir John Franklyn, who
died in 1647, is also commemorated here ; as also
is General Charles Otway, " an officer of great
bravery in the reigns of Anne and George I."
In the description of this edifice in the " Beauties
of England" (1816), it is stated that "the whole
furniture of the church is of a rustic and humble
description ; yet devotees from various parts were
formerly attracted to this spot by an image of Our
Lady, renowned for dispensing benefits among
those who visited it in pilgrimage." An in
ventory of the goods and ornaments belonging
to this church, taken about the middle of the
thirteenth century, makes mention of "a scarlet
banner, with the figures of the Virgin Mary
of cloth of gold," the gift of the vicar, and
"also two large images of the Virgin;" and
in another inventory, taken about 1547, mention
is made of two " Masers " that were " appointed
to remayne in the church, for to drink yn at
brideales," but these have long since disappeared,
along with the jovial custom referred to. With

reference to this entry, Mr. Brewer, in the " Beauties
of England," remarks :— " It will be recollected that
wine, in which sops, or pieces of cake, or wafer,
were immersed, was first blessed by the priest at
marriages; and then drunk by the bride, the bride
groom, and their company. The allusions to this
custom are numerous in our old dramatists."
It is doubtful whether '-'pilgrimages to Our
Lady of Wilsdon " ever became so popular with
Londoners as those to the holy martyr of Canter
bury and to " Our Lady of Walsingham," both of
which were suppressed, and the images destroyed,
about the same time, in 1548.
Francis Close, some time Dean of Carlisle, who
died in 1882, was in early life a curate here.
Having held for a short time the curacy of Church-
Lawford, near Rugby, he was transferred hither in
1822. Two years later, however, he was appointed
to a curacy at Cheltenham, of which parish he
became rector in 1856. ,He held that appoint
ment, exercising an almost absolute sway over the
Evangelical circles of that fashionable watering-
place, till 1856, when he was nominated to the
Deanery of Carlisle, a post which he resigned about
a twelvemonth before his death. He was almost the
last of the followers of Simeon, Venn, Thomson, and
Wilberforce, and the rest of the " Clapham sect."
In the Gentleman's Magazine is given a spirited
little engraving of Willesden church as it appeared
a little more than half a century ago. It shows the
western end of the building, with its tall tower
backed by trees. In the churchyard, and to the
right of the view, several cottages are represented.
The churchyard in former times was encumbered
with some old buildings ; but these have all been
pulled down, and the grave-yard extended, laid
out with ornamental walks, and planted.
Mr. Harrison Ainsworth selected Willesden as
the scene of some of the exploits of the romantic
Jack Sheppard, whom he declares to have been
buried in Willesden churchyard ; but the interment
does not appear to be recorded in the parish
register, which, it may be added, dates from the
middle of the sixteenth century. Mr. Harrison
Ainsworth himself lived for some time at Kensal
House, in this parish; and hence, probably, his
association of this locality with the name of Jack
Sheppard. Church End is the name given to the cluster of
houses in the immediate neighbourhood of the
parish church. A short distance to the north is
Queen's Town, a district which, although quite of
modern growth, can boast of its Working Men's
Institute, its Workman's Hall, &c. About half a
mile further northward is Willesden Green. In

Willesden.]

THE JEWISH CEMETERY.

225

1880 a new ecclesiastical district, St. Andrew's, was
formed here. A school for the new district, con
structed of red brick, with stone dressings, and which
also serves the purposes of a church, stands at the
junction of Villiers and Chaplin Roads.
Willesden Green was formerly one of the most
rustic spots in the neighbourhood of London, and
the tea-gardens of its roadside tavern, the " Spotted
Dog," used to be a favourite resort for Londoners.
Its rural character, however, is now altogether
changed, for in the place of picturesque old cot
tages, long rows of streets are fast springing up in
all directions, and the humble and cosy tavern
just mentioned has blossomed into a large " hotel,"
fitted up after the modern style. The "White
Hart Inn " and pleasure-grounds at Church End,
and the " Old Spotted Dog " at Neasdon, are also
favourite summer haunts for Londoners.
The outlying hamlets of Willesden are Brondes-
bury, Harlesden, Neasdon, Dollis Hill, Sherrick
Green, and Stonebridge Park.
Brondesbury is of great antiquity, and gives its
name to a prebendal stall in St. Paul's Cathedral,
the lands comprised in the hamlet having been for
many centuries attached to that office. It lies in
the eastern part of the parish, near the Edgware
Road and Kilburn Wells, and is now being rapidly
covered with houses. It was formed into a separate
ecclesiastical district in 1866. Christ Church, which
stands at the corner of Willesden Lane, is a large
building in the Early English style, cruciform in
plan, with a lofty tower and spire. Several of the
windows are filled with stained glass.
The Jewish Cemetery, in Willesden Lane, com
prising about twelve acres, was consecrated in 1863,
and is prettily laid out and planted with shrubs and
evergreens, and has a rabbi's house and mortuary
chapel, built of Kentish rag-stone. Here, in 1874,
was buried Baron Meyer de Rothschild, of Ment-
more, Bucks, M.P. for Hythe ; and in 1876 Baron
Anthony de Rothschild was interred here.
A short distance southward of Brondesbury, near
the Elgin Road, Maida Vale, is a large establish
ment known as the Warwick Farm Dairy, recently
erected for Messrs. Welford and Sons, at a cost of
upwards of .£20,000. The buildings cover about
two acres of ground.
Harlesden is another rapidly-increasing district,
about one mile south-west from Willesden church.
Willesden Junction station, as mentioned above,
is in this neighbourhood. The ecclesiastical dis

trict of All Souls was formed here in 1875. The
church, of Early English design, was consecrated in
1879. The Presbyterian church, built in 1876,
is a Gothic structure, of cruciform shape ; and the
Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1882, is a large red
brick building, also of Gothic design, with a tall
spire. Harlesden House is a large mansion here,
the grounds of which have become famous for their
floricultural displays. Much of the land in Harles
den, comprising portions of the Manor Park Estate,
has been sold of late years for building purposes.
Cricklewood, a hamlet of Willesden, lying on the
Edgware Road, to the north-west of Brondesbury,
and closely bordering upon' Hampstead, still retains
much of its rural character, notwithstanding that it
contains a railway-station on the Midland line.
Neasdon, a short distance further westward, is
also intersected by the Midland and South- Western
Junction Railways, which have a station here at
Dudding Hill. The reservoir of the Regent's
Park Canal, which extends to this hamlet, covers
upwards of 360 acres of ground. There are also
extensive works here in connection with the
Metropolitan Railway, as a depot for the carriages,
engines, and rolling stock generally, belonging to
that company, and for the repair of the same. The
works have been constructed upon a plan similar
to those belonging to the Great Eastern Railway
Company at Stratford,* and gives employment to
about 500 hands.
Sherrick Green and Dollis Hill are both pretty
little hamlets. The former lies in a secluded
valley, watered by one of the feeders of the river
Brent; and the latter in an upland, well-wooded
district. Dollis Hill Plouse, which occupies a
commanding site here, is the residence of the Earl
of Aberdeen.
Stonebridge Park, about a mile to the south
west of Willesden church, on the main road to
Harrow, comprises a large number of villas,
occupied chiefly by City men, who prefer the quiet
retirement of the country to the noise and bustle
of the town. It has a large hotel and a station on
the Midland Railway.
We must now beg the reader to accompany us,
in imagination, on a railway trip as far as West
Drayton, which we have already visited and
described, T in order to start afresh in our ex
plorations in that neighbourhood.
* See " Old and New London," Vol V., p. 573.
t See ante, pp. 205-8.

226

GREATER LONDON.

[Cowley.

CHAPTER XXI.
COWLEY AND HILLINGDON.
"Ruris amatorem  salvere jubemus." — Horace.
Situation and Boundaries of Cowley— Cowley Peachey— Cowley Church— Graves of Dr. Dodd and the Rev. John Lightfoot — Barton, Booth, the
Actor— Census Returns— Cowley House— Cowley Grove— Hiliingdon— The Cedar House— Etymology of Hillingdon— Hillingdon Heath—
Dawley Court— The Manor of Colham— The Church of St. John the Baptist— Tomb of John Rich, the Actoi^-The Church Library— The
Parish Registers— An Old Engraving— Charities— The Village of Hillingdon— The Cemetery— Census Returns— The " Red Lion " Inn-
Flight of Charles I. from Oxford. «
English triplet of lancets; and there are one or two
other good windows of the Decorated period, some
of them filled with modern painted glass. The
monuments in the church are numerous, but of no
general interest; the most ancient is one to the
memory of Walter Pope, yeoman, who died in
1502. In the churchyard, in an angle formed by
the western tower, lies in a nameless grave the
body of the1 unfortunate Dr. Dodd, who was exe
cuted for forgery in the year 1777.* Here, too, lies
the body of the Rev. John Lightfoot, the learned
botanist and naturalist, and some time Lecturer of
Uxbridge, where we 'shall meet him again, who
died in 1788.
The parish, small and remote as it is, has its
dramatic associations. Barton Booth, the actor,
of Drury Lane celebrity, and also his widow, lie
buried here. The latter, who died in 1773, erected
a monument to the memory of her husband in
Westminster Abbey, which is ornamented with his
bust in medallion, and bears a somewhat fulsome
inscription.t Booth, it appears from Davies's " Life
of Garrick," was the owner of a small estate in this
parish. Altogether, this parish is almost the least
changed of any in Western Middlesex, for whilst it
figures in the census of 187 1 as having only ninety-
two inhabited houses, with a population of 491
souls, the number had not amounted to 500 when
the returns for 1881 were taken. Still, it contains
several good houses, the largest and most important
being Cowley House, the seat of Mr. William
Hilliard, who is lord of the manor and patron of
the rectory. This mansion contains a fine collec
tion of family pictures, including two by Gains
borough, which were exhibited at South Kensington
in 1862.
Cowley Grove, the residence of General Van
Cortlandt, C.B., is a conspicuous house at the
entrance of the village on the Uxbridge side, and
is memorable as having been, as it is believed, the
residence of Booth the actor above-mentioned.
Booth became famous as a tragedian ; he was the

A walk of a mile and a half northwards from West
Drayton, through Yiewsley, we arrive at Cowley,
a singularly scattered parish geographically, con
sisting of isolated patches of land, rnixed up with
Hillingdon in such a way as defies description, and
must puzzle the authorities when they come to
" beat the bounds." It is bounded on the west by
the Colne, more than one of whose branches run
through it ; and it is also intersected by another
rivulet, the Blackwater, or Cowley Brook, which
runs from Hillingdon, and finds its way into the
Colne. It is a small parish of between 300 and
400 acres, scattered about on the cross-road
between West Drayton and Uxbridge. Its name
is said by Lysons to be derived from the Anglo-
Saxon Co'l leag, the cold meadow. Mr. Thome,
however, inclines to a simpler derivation — that of
" Cow" and "ley," or lea, the Cow's Meadow ; but
in the " Domesday Book" it figures as " Cove lei."
The manor, formerly in the hands of the Abbey
of Westminster, passed many centuries ago into the
hands of the Peacheys, whence a part of the parish
is still called " Cowley Peachey."
The chief part of the population is gathered into
Cowley Street, along the road to Uxbridge, from
which town Cowley is about a mile distant. The
neighbourhood is mostly agricultural, and the
meadows and lanes are pleasant and open.
The quaint little church, dedicated to St. Law
rence, stands adjoining the rectory, a little to the
east of the village, on the Hillingdon Road. It
consists of a small nave and chancel, but the latter
is not cut off, as usual, by a chancel-arch, and it has
a roof of red tiles, which, being of lofty pitch, while
the tower is low, gives a high-shouldered appear
ance to the structure. The tower and spire belong
to the last century.
The church, in spite of some partial restorations,
remains very much in the same state as in the last
century, the royal arms being there, and tiers of
galleries towering to the ceiling at the west end.
Where the chancel-arch would naturally be looked
for is a solid beam of oak, which supports the
Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Command
ments. Before the Reformation it probably was the
rood-beam. The east window consists of an Early

* See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 190.
t See "Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 22'3.

Cowley.]

THE CEDAR HOUSE.

227

great hero of the stage between the reigns of
Betterton and Quin, and was the first represen
tative of the part of Cato in Addison's fine tragic
poem. The house was afterwards occupied for
many years by John Rich the actor and some
time patentee of Covent Garden Theatre.
It is quite pleasant, after our long tour amongst
the flattest of meadows and arable lands, to find
oneself again on breezy uplands, and few parishes
in Middlesex can exhibit a more delightful varia
tion of scenery than Hillingdon, which we enter
from Cowley. It is diversified by, at all events,
two large parks — belonging respectively to Sir
Charles Mills and Mr. Cox — and by several smaller
houses, standing in extensive grounds. Among them
is the "Cedar House," a fine red brick Elizabethan
mansion, to the north of the church ; and a still
larger house some little distance to the south, the
successor of an earlier mansion given or sold by
the Bishop of London, in the seventeenth century,
to the Bishop of Worcester, who needed a resting
or halting place in his progresses to and from
London. The laftter building was used as the
rectory previous to the erection of a new house on
the opposite side of the road. The reason assigned,
in the endowment of the vicarage of Hillingdon,
for the appropriation of that church to the see of
Worcester was, "that the Bishop of Worcester,
being often sent for by the Archbishop and by the
king to London, had not, in his way, any inn in
this neighbourhood where, upon unavoidable and
pressing occasions, he might sleep and lodge as he
ought" Lysons says that the Cedar House was so called
from a fine cedar on the front lawn, which tradition
assigns to Mr. Samuel Reynardson as its planter.
He lived here from 1678 to 1721, but the house
was known by its present name some years pre
viously. Gilpin, in his " Forest Trees," published in
1791, mentions this tree as the finest cedar that he
had seen, and considers that it was between 130 and
140 years old. Loudon, however, shows that Mr.
Gilpin's estimate is an exaggeration, and mentions
especially the cedars at Wilton House, near Salis
bury, as far larger and finer.
Mr. Reynardson, of Cedar House, was a man of
great learning, especially in botany. His garden
was full of rarities. Like Solomon, he " spoke of
trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon, unto the
hyssop which springeth out of the wall." It was,
therefore, natural for the next generation, who knew
him only at second-hand, to credit him with having
planted the cedar which gave its name to his
house. After the death of Mr. Richardson, the
house was occupied by General Richard Russell.

Norden, in the MS. additions to his " Speculum
Britannise," supposes that Hillingdon derives its
name from " its situation on a hill, or downe."
" Hillingdon Heath, a considerable tract of land
to the south-east of the village," observes Mr.
Brewer, in the " Beauties of England," " affords a
sanction to this mode of derivation, as its compara
tive eminence is sufficiently proved by the extent
of prospect which it commands at many points."
To the south of the heath is Dawley Court, the
property of the Count de Salis, which we have
already noticed.* The house, which is in the
parish of Hillingdon, stands on an estate formerly
called Coomes, alias Little London, and was some
times called Hillingdon Place.
It would appear that in the Saxon times the
parish of Hillingdon comprised concurrently two
manors, named respectively Colham and Uxbridge,
or Woxbridge ; but how far they were identical or
independent is not quite certain. In " Domesday "
the only mention is that of the Manor of Colham,
which was taxed at eight hides, and was held by
the Earl of Arundel. " The land is seven caru
cates ; there are six hides in demesne, on which
are three ploughs ; and the villains have three
ploughs. There are six villains, who hold a virgate
each, and four others who hold two virgates jointly.
The priest had one hide. There are ten bordars,
each of whom has five acres ; there are four cottars
and eight slaves. There are two mills, meadow
pastufe for the cattle of the manor, pannage for
400 hogs, and one acre of vineyard." It appears
from the same document that it was then valued at
£,% yearly, having stood at only J~6 when it came
into the earl's possession, though under Edward
the Confessor it was held from the king at ^10
rent. In very early times the Manor of Colham
formed part of the Honour of Wallingford, and be
longed in part to the Abbot of Evesham before it
was seized by the Conqueror. In Henry II. 's time
it was in the hands of the Bassets, and in 1246 it
belonged to William de Lang Espee, Earl of Salis
bury. It then devolved on die Earls of Leicester,
and from them on the Le Stranges, from whom it
came by marriage into the hands of the Stanleys ;
and Thomas Earl of Derby died at his manor-
house of Colham in 1521. After the death of
Ferdinand Earl of Derby in 1594, it passed to his
widow, Alice, of whom we shall hear more pre
sently, when we reach Harefield. We will only
mention here the fact that when the burgesses of
Uxbridge disputed her ladyship's claim, in right of
her manor, to a toll on the markets and fairs of the

* See ante, p. 2011

228

GREATER LONDON

[Hillingdon.

town, she maintained her right at law, and by
threatening them with a prosecution before the
Star Chamber, forced the good people within it to
recognise her rights and to sue for her pardon.
This done, she forgave them, and even sent them
some venison for a civic feast. The lordship of the
manor passed from her to the Lords Chandos, and
from them to the Pitts ; and having passed through
two or three intermediate families, was purchased
in 1782 by the De Burghs of West Drayton.
According to Leland, the manor-house of Colham

were part of the original structure. The embattled
tower at the western end, which was built early in
the seventeenth century, remains nearly in its
original condition. The roofing of the church is
new throughout, and some of the windows, the
tracery of which has been renewed, are filled
with painted glass. The Perpendicular font is
curious, and there are on the walls of the church
many monuments and inscriptions to local, worthies.
On the north wall of the chancel is a costly
monument of marble to the memory of Henry

HILLINGDON CHURCH ABOUT I74O.
(From an old print at the Vicarage).

was an ancient building, situate about a mile above
Uxbridge, between Longford and Colnbrook. It
was taken down many years ago. Colham Green,
about a mile to the south, is a hamlet of Hillingdon.
The old church, dedicated to St. John the Bap
tist, stands between the village green and the
common. The former is a quaint and irregular
open space of about an acre and a half, adorned
with two or three elm-trees many centuries old, and
reminds one of the Green at Stanwell.
The church stands on a slight elevation. It is
of the Decorated or Edwardian period, and consists
of spacious nave, chancel, side aisles, and transepts.
The latter were added by Sir Gilbert Scott when
he restored the church, in 1848, but look as if they

Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, who died at the family
seat at Drayton in 1743. The deceased is repre
sented by a semi-recumbent effigy, habited in
Roman costume. On the monument is a lengthy
inscription, commemorating his social qualities, &c.
His lordship had been created Baron Burton in
17 1 2, during his father's lifetime, and he was ad
vanced to the Earldom of Uxbridge in 1714. The
title, however, became extinct on the death of the
grandson of that nobleman, in 1769, but was
revived in 1784 in the person of Henry Bailey,
ninth Lord Paget, whose son and successor was
created Marquis of Anglesey, in consequence of
his gallant military achievements on the Continent.
On the opposite side of the chancel is the monu-

Hillingdon.]

THE PARISH REGISTERS.

229

ment of Sir Edward Carr, who died in 1635. The
effigies of the deceased and of his lady (Jane,
daughter of Sir Edward Onslow) are represented
kneeling before books. Sir Edward is attired in
rich armour ; and at the foot of the monument, on
a projecting pedestal, are the effigies of his two
daughters. In the floor of the chancel is the brass
of two figures, under a double Gothic canopy.
They represent a knight and his lady : the former
in armour and bare-headed, and the latter habited
in a mantle and kirtle, with a veiled head-dress.
The inscription is gone, but the brass is supposed
to cover the tomb of John, Lord le Strange, and
Jane, his wife, who was the daughter of Richard
Woodville, Earl Rivers, and sister of Elizabeth,
queen of Edward IV. This Lord Strange died in
1476. Mr. Brewer, in his work already quoted,
says that " it is [known that a tomb was placed for
Lord le Strange and his lady in this church, and
the Latin inscription to their memory is preserved
in Weever, and has been reprinted in Gough's
'Sepulchral Monuments,' in the 'Environs of
London,' and in ' Ecclesiastical Antiquities.' "
The most important tomb in the churchyard is
that containing the remains of John Rich the
actor, mentioned above. Rich was the first and
most famous of English harlequins, a character
which he performed under the assumed name of
" Lun." His " matchless art and whim " in the
representation of this mute hero are recorded by
Garrick. He died in the year 1761, having been for
many years the lessee of Covent Garden Theatre.*
Among other tombs in the churchyard is that of
Major-General Richard Russell, son of Sir John
Russell, and grandson of Oliver Cromwell. He
died in 1793, having been for many years a resi
dent of the Cedar House, in this village.
In the vestry at the west end of the south aisle
is a church library. It was left by Mr. Reynard
son, of the Cedar House, in 17 21. It contains a
large number of works on divinity, natural history,
and medicine, together with some voyages and
travels, and numerous historical and poetical publi
cations, and a first edition of the "Eikon Basilike."
The books are, on the whole, in a fair condition.
The registers commence in the year 1-559, tne
second year of Elizabeth. As usual, the records are
absent during the troubled years of Parliamentarian
rule, 1644-49; from this latter date to 1653 they
are confused and imperfect.
With the restoration of Charles II. came a new
vicar, one Thomas Boston, who seems to have
been both a scholar and a wag. At all events, his
* See " Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 228.
20

entries are comical, and full of sarcastic allusions
to the " sectaries," whose sway was just over.
He calls base-born children " terrae filii," and he
records all sorts of incidents, including the murder
of one of his parishioners : but newspapers, it
must be remembered, were then in their first in
fancy. He chronicles the fact of children baptised
at home, though not in weak health, and of the
contempt of the law by their parents in omitting
to bring them afterwards to the church. He notes
also, in terms of harsh censure, the invasion of his
rights by the neighbouring clergy, who dared to
baptise and to bury those whom he claimed as his
parishioners. It is probable, judging from the
entries in the register, that the population of Hil
lingdon under Charles II. could scarcely have
been a third of what it is now. Among the burials
are recorded those of many Londoners, showing
that even two centuries ago the neighbourhood
was attractive to strangers on account of its healthi
ness. In spite of the two towns — for so they are
called — of Hillingdon and Uxbridge having been
a stronghold of Nonconformity, there are many
proofs in the register that Hillingdon was greatly
used as a halting-place between London and the
quarters of the Court at Oxford in the reign of
Charles I.
In 1665 the burial list is increased by several
entries of deaths, probably of strangers and way
farers, who died of the plague.
In 1663, the hearse of the Archbishop of Can
terbury, Dr. Juxon, on its way from London to
Oxford, appears to have been met at the church
gate by the vicar in surplice and hood, " the great
bell solemnly tolling all the while " — probably as a
loyal mark of respect to the prelate who had stood
by the side of King Charles on the scaffold at
Whitehall. Mr. Boston died in 1677, and the registers of
succeeding vicars scarcely call for remark.
In the vicarage is a copy of a curious engraving
of the church in its former condition, probably
about 1740 or a little later. The tower is much
the same as now, but the southern aisle is a mon
strous high-shouldered erection, with " church
warden '' windows. To the south of the church
yard stands a lofty yew, clipped, as at Bedfont, into
a fantastic shape ; and there is a row of four smaller
yew-trees along the west front, by the side of a
lych-gate, below which again are the parish stocks,
the terror of small boys. There is still living an
old parishioner who can remember as a boy climb
ing these yew-trees. The engraving is very scarce,
and the vicar's copy has been made by him an
heir-loom for his successors.

23°

GREATER LONDON.

[Uxbridge.

Up to 1 87 1 a considerable amount of bread was
given away in doles for several charities ; but owing
to abuses and scandals, these gifts, with the sanction
of the Charity Commissioners, were commuted for
a money payment towards providing clothing for
poor school children and help for necessitous
parishioners. The village of Hillingdon is situated on the
main road between London and Oxford, and is
fourteen miles from Hyde Park Comer, and rather
more than a mile from Uxbridge Station, on a
branch of the Great Western Railway. The Grand
Junction Canal passes through the parish ; and at
the western end of the village, fronting the Ux
bridge Road, is the cemetery, which was consecrated
in 1867. It comprises an area of about six acres,
and contains two mortuary chapels. These build
ings, which are constructed of Kentish rag-stone
with Bath stone dressings, and have tiled roofs,
are in the Decorated style of architecture, from the
designs of the late Mr. Benjamin Ferrey, F.S.A.
Hillingdon, in 187 1, appears by the census to
have had 1,615 inhabited houses, with a population
of 8,237, a number which was increased by
upwards of fifteen hundred in the course of the
next ten years.
One of the principal hostelries in the village, the
" Red Lion," directly opposite the church, has been

a noted house in its day. Here Charles I. rested
after his escape from Oxford, with his chaplain, Dr.
Hudson, and Ashburnham, his groom of the cham
ber, when besieged by Fairfax, in April, 1646, and
hence he made his way by cross roads towards
Hertfordshire. The following extract from the evidence of " Dr.
Michael Hudson's Examination before the Com
mittee of Parliament touching the King's Escape
from Oxford to the Scots at Southwell," as printed
in Peck's " Desiderata Curiosa," is of interest : —
"After we had passed Uxbridge, at one Mr. Teas-
dale's house a taverne in Hillingdon, we alighted
and stayed to refresh ourselves, betwixt 10 and 11
of the clocke [Monday morning, April 27], and
there stayed two or three hours, where the king
was much perplexed what course to resolve upon,
London or Northward. The consideration of the
former vote, and the apparent danger of being dis
covered at London, moved him to resolve at last
to go Northward and through Norfolke, where he
was least knowne. . . . About 2 of the clocke
we took a guide towards Barnet."
In order to meet the requirements of the in
creasing population of this parish, a new church
was erected in 1865 at Hillingdon End, near to
Uxbridge, but of this we shall have more to say
presently.

CHAPTER XXII.
UXBRIDGE.
Etymology of Uxbridge — Meeting of the Royalists and Roundheads— Public Reception of the Treaty — The Treaty House — The " Crown " Inn—
The Colne and the Grand Junction Canal — The Bridge — The " Swan and Bottle " — Early Fortifications — Roman Roads and Antiquities-
Chief Streets of Uxbridge— Census Returns — The "Chequers" — Trade and Commerce— Fairs and Markets—Condition of the Roads— The
Parish Church— The Curfew Bell— Parish Registers— The Rev. John Lightfoot— The Lecturer's House — St. Andrew's Church— St John's
Church— Nonconformists' Meeting-houses— Charities — Recreation Ground — Hillingdon House — Hillingdon Court — Martyrs for Conscience'
Sake — Anecdotes — Milton's Favourite Stream — Denham.

The town of Uxbridge, to which we next come,
though spoken of in legal documents as a " borough
and manor," is really neither the one nor the other,
in the full acceptation of those terms. It is, in
its origin, a hamlet of the parish of Hillingdon,
and probably grew up gradually and naturally at
the ford over the Colne. Its origin, no doubt, is
to be sought in the Saxon times ; and Messrs.
Redford and Riches, in their " History of Ux
bridge," state that " there are reasons which render
it probable that it was one of the regular, though
possibly smaller, boroughs established by King
Alfred, or by some of his immediate successors." Its
name does not occur in " Domesday," but as early

as the year 1139 it is mentioned in a curious deed
by one Brian Fitz-Count, under the name of Oxe-
bridge ; and it is constantly mentioned in later
times under this name, and as Woxbridge. Skinner,
half as much in jest as in earnest, says in his
" Lexicon " that its right name is Waxbridge, and
defends the name as appropriate, on account of the
waxy and tenacious nature of the clay which com
poses its surface soil.
That Uxbridge was reckoned a borough is clear
from an ancient (Henry II.) grant from Gilbert
Basset, in which its inhabitants are spoken of as
burgesses, and from several manuscripts and legal
records, in which the " borough ditch" is mentioned.

Uxbridge.]

THE TREATY OF UXBRIDGE.

231

Though we now generally restrict the term borough
to towns which return members to Parliament, we
are not justified in doing so, for a borough is
originally nothing but a burgh, or town, with a certain
amount of local government and local privileges.
It is supposed by some that, like Oxford, the
town derived its name from the
number of oxen* continually passing
through it from Buckinghamshire
and the western counties on their
way up to London ; but probably
the last syllable of the name is a
variation of Bruge, an equivalent
to Burgh, for the Colne appears to

town of Uxbridge is of a date long subsequent to
the Plantagenet or even the Tudor era. It was
just before the beginning of the war between
King Charles and his Parliament, in 1644, that
Uxbridge was chosen as the place where certain
royal commissioners should meet those of the

THE TREATY HOUSE, UXBRIDGE. (See page 232.)
(From the "History of Uxbridge" 1818.)

have been crossed here by a ford, and not by a
bridge, down to a comparatively recent era. The
ditch by which the town was surrounded in old
times enclosed about eighty-five acres, and a
portion of the ditch was visible in 1818, when
the "History of Uxbridge " was published.
The chief historic event connected with the

* A writer in the Cornhill Magazine (1882) argues that the first
Syllable in Oxford and Uxbridge is the same, but has nothing to do with
^ oxen " It is simply the Celtic «z^f=water, as in Usk. The suggestion
IS well worthy of consideration.

rebel party, in the vain hope of bringing the
differences between them to an amicable issue.
The hope was vain, for religion and politics were
both engaged in the conflict, the king being re
solved to stand by Episcopacy, while the Round
heads were equally anxious to get rid of everything
that looked in the Popish direction. On the king's
part, the commission was headed by the Duke of
Richmond, the Earls of Southampton, Hertford,
Kingston, and Chichester, and Sir Edward Hyde,
afterwards Lord Clarendon. The Presbyterians

232

GREATER LONDON.

[Uxbridge.

were represented by the Duke of Northumberland,
Lords Pembroke, Denbigh, and Salisbury, Sir
Harry Vane, and Bulstrode Whitelock ; whilst the
Scotch sent Lord Loudoun, then Lord Chancellor,
Lord Argyll, and other great persons from the
north of the Tweed, as their spokesmen.
Lord Clarendon gives, in an often-quoted passage
of his " History of the Great Rebellion," an in
teresting account of their session, from which it
appears that one side of the town was assigned to
the king's commissioners, and the other to those of
the opposite party. " There was a good house at
the end of the town, which was provided for the
treaty, where was a fair room in the middle of the
house, handsomely dressed up, for the commis
sioners to sit in, a large square table being placed
in the middle, with seats for the commissioners,
one side being sufficient for those of either party,
and a rail for others who should be thought
necessary to be present, which went round. There
were many other rooms on either side of this great
room, for the commissioners on either side to retire
to when they thought fit to consult by themselves,
and to return again to the public debate; and
there being good stairs at either end of the house,
they never went through each other's quarters, nor
met but in the great room."
And then Clarendon goes on to record the
ceremonious civilities practised on either side,
and the professions of intense wishes for peace
from those who had bitter war in their hearts all
the while. He tells us also how the king's com
missioners would gladly have attended the services
in the parish church, but that the Book of Common
Prayer had been superseded by the Parliament, so
that they were obliged to have the Church prayers
read in the great room of the inn.
The debates at the conference lasted about
three weeks, when the commissioners on either
side agreed to separate and return to their masters.
The king was resolute in his demands for the
establishment of Episcopacy ; the Parliamentarians
were equally resolved to have none of it. The
king's friends went back to Oxford, and the others
to London, leaving the state of matters, if anything,
rather worse than they had found it.
The conference gave rise to no little dissension
and bitterness throughout the country; and one
famous Presbyterian, Christopher Lover, preached
against the intended treaty, saying that " no good
could come of it, for that the king's emissaries had
come from Oxford with blood-stained hands."
This warlike gentleman afterwards lost his head
under Cromwell.
The mansion which was the scene of the con

ference is described in the " Perfect Occurrences,"
a journal of the time, as " a very fair house at the
farther end of the town, in which house were [was]
appointed to them a very spacious room, well-
hanged, and fitted with seats for the commis
sioners." The great room, mentioned by Clarendon, is.
still standing in its original state, as is also the
presence chamber, so called, adjoining. It is a
fine large apartment, wainscoted with dark oak
The house was then much larger than now, and
it stood in a large garden, with an ornamental
" Lodge " entrance ; the high road now passes.
through a part of its grounds. It had been
previously the seat of the Bennets, who afterwards
became Earls of Arlington and of Tankerville ;.
and at the time of the treaty it was called " Mr.
Carr's house."
The Earl of Northumberland was the only com
missioner on the opposite side who was accom
modated here ; Lord Pembroke lodged in another
" fair house," now a brew-house or beer-house.
Each party had its place of rendezvous, and the
best houses of the inhabitants were put into requisi
tion for the accommodation of the commissioners
and their attendants. Each party took a principal
inn for its head-quarters, like the Oxford and
Cambridge crews at Putney before the annual
boat-race. It may be interesting to note that the
king's commissioners chose the " Crown," and the
Parliamentarians the " George " — both near the
market-place, and on opposite sides of the way.
In the year 1818 the "Crown" stood opposite
to the "White Horse," and its grounds reached
from the High Street down to the Colne. The
name has long since been transferred to the
" Treaty House " itself, which is now an inn, and
bears the name of the " Crown and Treaty," or, as
it is locally styled, " The Crown and treat ye." At
the above date the "George Inn" remained, though
partly converted into a private dwelling-house.
The Treaty House was visited more than once
by Edmund Burke on his way between Beaconsfield
and London, while his horses were feeding, and
was found by him to be " most amusing and
interesting." In the rear of the Treaty House is an octagonal
building, said to have been formerly used as a
"round-house"; and the garden front is enriched
by excellent brick-work, especially in fine hexagonal
stacks of chimneys.
The town of Uxbridge lies at the foot of one of
the ranges of small hills which occupy the north
western corner of Middlesex, by which flow the
clear waters of the twin rivers, formed by the

Uxbridge.]

AN OLD TAVERN.

m

anion of the Colne, Gade, Verum, Chess, and
Misbourne. The larger ¦ of these streams, the
Colne, is crossed by a substantial bridge of
five arches. The smaller of the two, the Frays-
water, flows through the lower part of the town,
and turns the town mills, after which it separates
the borough and the suburb of Chiltern View from
the more populous district of St John's.
The Grand Junction Canal also runs through
Uxbridge, connecting the chief towns of the mid
land counties with the Thames at Brentford, and
with London at Paddington. At one time the
canal boats carried passengers between Uxbridge
and London; but the business did not answer,
and has long since been abandoned.
The bridge across the Colne, at the west end of
the town, is still called the High Bridge : it consists
of two parts, the central portion standing on an
island. A bridge is mentioned as existing here as
early as the reign of Richard II., when it was in a
very ruinous condition ; but it would seem that it
was adapted only for horses, not for carts or
waggons. This improvement dates only from the
time of Henry VIIL, when Lord Loughborough
and Sir Edward Peckham, the one resident in
Buckinghamshire and the other in Middlesex, en
larged and widened it, "out ofcharitie." It is
probable that in this case charity began "at home."
It was repaired in 1600, at the cost of Lady Derby,
the lady of the manor, being then of wood. The
present bridge is of brick, and dates from about
1770, the high road being slightly diverted at the
time. At the foot of the bridge, on the Bucking
hamshire side, is a river-side inn, with the quaint
sign of the " Swan and Bottle." It is a favourite
haunt of anglers. Leland, in his "Itinerary,"
mentions two wooden bridges here. That which
he describes as the more western is the High
Bridge, mentioned above ; and he tells us that it
crosses "the great arme of Colne river," while
"the lesser arme goeth under the other bridge, and
each of them serve a great mill." We have a proof
of Leland's accuracy in the fact that the two mills
and the two bridges are still there, though the
latter are now built of more solid materials than
wood. From its position on the great western highway
and on the Colne, there is no doubt that Uxbridge
was fortified at a very early date; indeed, we already
know that it had its town ditch. From documents
in existence, it is clear, however, that it had also — at
all events at times — a garrison. At the outbreak of
the great rebellion it was under the command of a
Captain Lampton, or Lambton, and the troops
under him are styled " the garrison," and the

register of burials records the deaths of more than
one soldier " from the garrison." In 1647, when
the western parts of Middlesex were held by the
Parliamentarians, their head-quarters were fixed for
some time at Uxbridge; and Lysons tells us in
whose houses Cromwell, Fairfax, Ireton, Fleetwood,
&c, were quartered. Even as late as 1688-9,
the accounts of the chapel-wardens and overseers
contain entries for the repairs of the "guard-house ; "
but under the tranquil reigns of our Brunswick
line, the need of garrisons and guard-house? here
has ceased to exist.
It is said that a Roman road ran from High
Wycombe towards Beaconsfield and Uxbridge,
but if so, its course cannot now be traced. To the
north of the town, near Breakspears and Harefield,
sufficient remains of Roman burials have been
found to justify the supposition that the road to
Verulam or to London passed not far from Ux
bridge. The chief streets of Uxbridge are the High
Street, extending the whole length of the town
from south-east to north-west ; Windsor Street,
formerly called the Lynch, running south-west from
the market-house and church ; and Vine Street,
bounding it on the south-east, and probably marking
the site of an ancient vineyard. The eastern part
of High Street is legally styled Hillingdon End,
and, in fact, is situated in Hillingdon parish.
Uxbridge disputes with Brentford the claim to
being the chief or county town of Middlesex. In
187 1 the parish contained 659 houses, and a
population of 3,364 souls — a number which has
somewhat diminished since that time, seeing that
according to the census returns for 1881 the sum
total of the inhabitants was only 3,346.
The " Chequers " is the oldest inn in the place,
and may date back to the sixteenth, or even as
remote as the fifteenth, century. It has some fine
and substantial timbers in its roof and staircases,
but much of the inside, as well as of the outside, is
modernised. In former times the inns and taverns
were numerous, compared with the size of the
town, being nearly three times as many as there
are at present.
The corn and flour trade is the staple business of
Uxbridge, but there are also a few manufactories,
breweries, an iron foundry, and saw and planing
mills ; whilst in the neighbourhood, on the south
and south-west, are extensive brickfields.
The fairs at Uxbridge are now four in number.
They are principally cattle fairs, and are held on
Lady Day, on July 31st, on September 29th, and
October nth. The two last are used as statute fairs.
In olden days the town must have worn a gay and

234

GREATER LONDON.

[Uxbridge.

festive appearance on these annual gatherings,
when the steward of the Countess of Derby and
the bailiffs of the town [ clothed in her ladyship's
livery, and preceded by bands of music, used to
march in solemn state to open the proceedings.
The market-house was built in 1788. It stands
partly on the site of an older and smaller structure,
which projected into the High Street. The present
building, however, might well be removed, as it
sadly obstructs the view of the parish church. It

reminding one of the description which Macaulay
gives us of the leading high roads of the kmgdom
in the days of the Stuarts.
It is only since 1856 that Uxbridge has reached
the honour of a separate ecclesiastical parish, having
previously, since 1842, ranked only as a " district
chapelry." It was originally a mere hamlet of
Hillingdon; and though the parish church was
built as far back as the reign of Henry VI., yet
until the present reign it was only a chapel-of-ease,

MARKET HOUSE, UXBRIDGE.
(From the "History of Uxbridge;' 1818.)

is open below. On the upper floor are spacious
rooms, used for educational and other purposes,
and also a large granary for storing corn from one
week to another. Weekly markets are held on
Thursdays and Saturdays ; at the former a good
deal of corn is sold, whilst the latter is for cattle,
pigs, and articles of domestic use. The market
on Thursdays is the result of a charter, or grant,
from Gilbert Basset, who probably held this manor
and the Honour of Wallingford, as a reward for his
fidelity to King Henry II. and his mother, Matilda,
in their struggle against Stephen.
Though the great Oxford road passes through
Uxbridge, yet even as late as 1797-8 the highways
about here were almost impassable from mud,

or curacy, annexed to that rectory. In 1869, by an
Order in Council, Uxbridge was made a Vicarage ;
it was, however, called a Vicarage as far back as
1548. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret. It is
supposed that an older chapel stood on this site as
far back as 1281 ; and that it had attached to it a
religious house, which was suppressed by Henry
VIIL No particulars, however, of its existence
are known for certain.
The present church was terribly " beautified " by
amateur architects during the last ' century. In
1872 the fabric was restored to something like its
normal condition by the removal of galleries and a
thorough renovation of its walls, under the super-

Uxbridge.]

THE LECTURER'S HOUSE.

235

intendence of Sir Gilbert Scott. It consists of a
nave and one side aisle, with a short chancel, and
a tower at the north-west corner, in which is a peal
of six bells. There is a very fine oak roof to the
south aisle. The font is of Perpendicular workman
ship, and handsome of its kind. On the north side
of the chancel is a handsome monument, in the
Jacobean style, to Leonora, Lady Bennet, who is
represented in a reclining posture* in her every-day
dress, a charnel-house being seen beneath her.

Among the burials in 1755 is that of a widow aged
104. During the Great Rebellion the banns of
marriage appear to have been published not in the
church, but in the open market-place, and the
ceremony was performed by a civil magistrate.
The Rev. John Lightfoot, F.R.S., one of the
chief founders of the Linnsean Society, was " Lec
turer" of Uxbridge in the middle of the last
century. He died in 1788, and lies buried at
Cowley, as mentioned above.

THE FONT.

SI'. MARGARLTS, UXBRIDGE.
(From the "History of Uxbridge," 1818.)

The curfew was rung regularly here during the
winter months at eight p.m. until thirty or forty
years back, when it was discontinued owing to the
¦economy of the local authorities.
The registers of Uxbridge are in fair condition.
They commence in 1538; but the marriage re
gisters cease with 1694, from which date all wed
dings were ordered to be solemnised only in the
mother church of Hillingdon. They contain the usual
amount of curious entries. One young woman
brings her illegitimate child to be christened, but
she has to purchase the baptismal rite dearly, for
she is forced to do public penance in the church on
the same day. On another page are recorded the
baptisms of four children, all born at one birth.

The lecturership and the vicarage are now
accidentally held by one and the same person.
His parsonage, which adjoins the railway-station,
is the house built for the lecturer on land purchased
for that minister, and is not, therefore, correctly
termed the vicarage.
The lecturer's house is of the Queen Anne
type and old-fashioned, oak-panelled within, and
with a lofty roof. It is built of red brick ; and a
handsome modern drawing-room was added early
in this century. The story runs that one day the
Duchess of Portland, being at Bulstrode Park, said
to the then lecturer that she hoped soon to call
on him and his wife. " Madam," he replied, " I
am sorry to say that I have no room fit to receive

236

GREATER LONDON.

[Uxbridge.

your Grace in." " Then," said the duchess, " I
will build you one ; " and in a few weeks she was
as good as her word.
We have already stated that all the eastern part
of the town of Uxbridge lies in the parish of
Hillingdon. The church being small, it was ac
cordingly felt that the accommodation for the
increase in the population was inadequate, and so
about the year i860 a subscription was commenced
for building a new church at the entrance of the
town, on the Hillingdon Road. In the event, Sir
Gilbert Scott was engaged as the architect; and
the result was that in 1865 a handsome and
spacious Gothic church, of the Decorated style,
was completed and dedicated to St. Andrew. It
consists of a lofty nave, chancel, and side aisles,
and its tower is surmounted by a shingled spire,
170 feet high. A vicarage house close by was
purchased, and good schools were built A con
siderable part of. the northern suburbs of Uxbridge
lies in St. Andrew's district. Though officially
styled St. Andrew's, Hillingdon, it so thoroughly
belongs to the town of Uxbridge that it is better
to deal with it here.
A small church, St John's, of very unpretending
character, was built about 1835 to the west of the
town, on Uxbridge Moor, to meet the wants of a
large population at the west end of the town, in
cluding the families of many boatmen.
Uxbridge has always been a stronghold of Non
conformity. The Quakers (who have been largely
engaged in trade) have a meeting-house, which
dates from 1693 ; and a letter from George Fox,
one of the founders of that sect, addressed to the
townsfolk of Uxbridge in no measured terms of
reproach, is printed in extenso in the " History of
Uxbridge," already referred to. The annals of the
Presbyterian chapel here go back at least as far,
and the Independent chapel was built in 1796.
There are also meeting-houses for the various de
nominations of Wesleyans, Congregationalists, &c.
The various sects of Nonconformists made a sad
display of their variations when they met at the
Treaty of Uxbridge. As Butler says, in his
" Hudibras," Part I., cant. ii. :—
" For when we sware to carry on
The present reformation,
According to the present mode
Of churches best reformed abroad,
What did we else but make a vow
To do we know not what, nor how ?
For no three of us will agree
Where or what churches these should be."
Uxbridge is well off for literary societies and
for educational and charitable endowments.

On the north-east of the town the ground rises
gradually, and on its breezy heights is a public
recreation-ground — all that remains of an extensive
common, which was enclosed early in the present
century. From this spot an extensive view is
gained of the Thames Valley and of the level
country reaching eastwards to Harrow and Hamp
stead. It is, perhaps, worthy of note that the old
common contained a large rabbit-warren — said to
be the only one in Middlesex.
There is also a race-course in the neighbourhood,
but the races have taken place only occasionally
since 1865, the meetings, like those at Acton and
other metropolitan suburbs, having been voted a
great nuisance by the majority of the inhabitants.
At a short distance from the town, on the Lon
don road, stands Hillingdon House, a large man
sion, which was built in 1717 by the last Duke of
Schomberg, who had lived for several years in an
ancient house on the estate. The property afterwards
passed into the hands of the noble family of Chet-
wynd, and towards the end of the last century it
was purchased by the Marchioness of Rockingham.
It has since changed hands on several occasions,
its owner at the beginning of the present century
being Mr. Richard Henry Cox, the well-known
army agent. A rivulet, a tributary of the Colne,
passes through the grounds, where it has been ex
panded into a lake. Beyond it, to the north, is Hil
lingdon Court, the seat of Sir Charles Mills, Bart
On the edge of what was once Uxbridge Com
mon, and in the immediate vicinity of the town,
Mr. Thomas Harris, the joint patentee of Covent
Garden Theatre, had a residence at the beginning
of the present century. The house, a large brick
building, was probably built about a century earlier.
The gardens were originally laid out in straight
lines and formal parterres, after the fashion of those
times. Mr. Harris added considerably to the
adornment of the grounds, of which the following
description is quoted from the " Beauties of Eng
land : " — " A mimic hermitage, fancifully bedecked
with vestiges of marble sculpture, spars, stained
glass, and with apposite mottoes, opens to an
apartment of handsome proportions, hung through
out with pictures, which the admirers of the
histrionic art cannot fail to hold in very precious
esteem. Here is preserved a large and valuable
collection of original portraits of the principal
theatrical performers from the date of Garrick,
when all the stage was nature, to the present
period, at which a monotonous, half-singing style
of recitation is so often employed as a substitute for
simplicity and truth. In addition to this interest
ing series of portraits, there are, in the same garden-

Uxbridge.]

A DREAM FULFILLED.

237

saloon, pictures representing Melpomene and
Thalia, and two fine paintings by Northcote from
scenes in Shakespeare's tragedy of ' Richard III.'
The house is still standing, but has been somewhat
modernised, and in the gardens are somefine cedars."
In the troublous times of the Reformation,
Uxbridge witnessed the horrors of seeing several
persons who ventured to reject the dominant creed
burnt at the stake. Fox has recorded their names ;
they appear to have been three at the least.
Tradition says that the scene of their suffering was
the Lynch Green, near Windsor Street, a little to the
west of the burial-ground. This was in August, 1555.
A singular story, which refers to this town, is
told by Mr. H. Fynes Clinton respecting his great-
great-grandfather, one Norreys Fynes, alias Clinton.
He was in the Royalist army under Charles I., and
was taken prisoner at Northampton ; but Prince
Rupert having captured a man of importance, a
Mr. Wright, of Uxbridge, an exchange of prisoners
was arranged, and the trumpeter announcing this
exchange arrived in the market-place at Uxbridge
just as the rope had been put round and the last
psalm or hymn was being sung, at the end of which
he was to be turned off. Thus the existence of a
large collateral branch of the ducal family of New
castle for some minutes depended on the length to
which a psalm was drawled out.
We may perhaps be pardoned for here intro
ducing an amusing anecdote concerning a former
Lord Mayor of London, whose early life was con
nected with this town, namely, Sir William Staines,
who was London's chief magistrate in 1801. He
started in life as a bricklayer's labourer, and at
City banquets, with great glee, he used to introduce
the following anecdote : — When he was a youngster,
he was employed in repairing the parsonage house
at Uxbridge. One day, going up the ladder with
his hod of mortar, he was accosted by the parson's
wife, who told him that she had had a very ex
traordinary dream. She told him that she had
dreamed he would one day become Lord Mayor of
London. Astonished at such a prophecy, Staines
could only scratch his head, and thank her for
such a vast promotion. He said he had neither
money nor friends. The parson's wife, however,
was not so easily to be turned from her prognosti
cation, and this dream had evidently left a great
impression. Her mind was bent on young Staines,
and Lord Mayor he should be. The same dream
] occurred again, and the same communication was
repeated to him that he was to be Lord Mayor.
The matter passed off, and young Staines left the
parsonage house at Uxbridge with no other im
pression than the kindness which had been shown

and the notice that had been taken of him. It was
not until he became sheriff that this dream came to
be talked about, though there is little doubt that
the dream made a lasting impression upon his own
mind, and was an incentive to laudable industry
through life. The Uxbridge parson had by this
time become old, but he lived long enough to be
chaplain to Staines when sheriff, and he died du
ring his shrievalty.
On the north and west sides of the town, the
Colne (or, as it was formerly called, Colney) pur
sues its course in two branches, each " brimming
and very fishful," through the meadows and on
either side of Uxbridge Moor, the principal arm
going on to Colnbrook, and dividing the counties
of Middlesex and Buckinghamshire. The clearness
and purity of its stream have long been celebrated.
Milton, who must often have walked by its banks
when living at Horton, on his way to Harefield,
in his " Epitaphium Damonis," also has im
mortalised its waters in Latin verse, thus translated
by Cowper : —
"What ho ! my friend — come, lay thy task aside;
Haste, let us forth together, and beguile
The heat beneath yon whisp'ring shades a while,
Or on the margin stray of Colne's clear flood,
Or where Cassibelan's grey turrets stood.
There shalt thou cull me simples, and shalt teach
Thy friend the name and healing powers of each,
From the tall bluebell to the dwarfish weed,
What the dry land and what the marshes breed ;
For all their kinds alike to thee are known,
And the whole art of Galen is thine own."
The Colne has its sources among the chalk hills
of Hertfordshire. The rights of fishing in the
river still belong to the town-folk of Uxbridge, and
form, indeed, almost the only rights left to them
since the enclosure of their common.
Just above Uxbridge, on the opposite side of the
river, at the junction of the roads leading to the
Chalfonts and to Rickmansworth, is the pretty and
retired village of Denham, a place haunted by the
followers of Izaak Walton and the gentle craft.
Sir Humphry Davy, the genius of angling in the
nineteenth century, who offen used to invite his
London friends to join him for a day at the
Fishery, writes: — "A light carriage, with good
horses, will carry us to the ground. . . . The
river is most strictly preserved ; not a fish has been
killed here since last August."
Denham was, under the Stuarts, one of the re
sorts of the proscribed Roman Catholics; and
frequent mention is made in "Troubles of our
Catholic Forefathers" of Sir George Peckham's
house in this parish, as having sheltered priests
from the bloodhounds of the law.

238

GREATER LONDON.

[Ickenham.

CHAPTER XXIII.
ICKENHAM, RUISLIP, AND HAREFIELD.
' The Chestnuts "—Ickenham— Census Returns— The Village Green and Pump— The Parish Church— Descent of the Manor— Swakeleys— Visit
of Samuel Pepys— A Curious Baptismal Register — Crab, the English Hermit — Ruislip — Boundaries and [Population — Outlying Hamlets-
Agricultural Produce, &c. — Extract from the Domesday Survey — Ruislip Priory — The Manor Farm — The Vicarage — The Parish Church —
Charities, &c. — The Parish Records — Primitive Condition of the Inhabitants of Ruislip— Schools — The Grand Junction Canal Company's
Reservoir — Ruislip Park — Eastcott — Northwood — How Theodore Hook obtained a Dinner without paying for it — Harefield, its Situation
and Extent — Its early History — Descent of the Manor— Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Harefield — Lord Keeper Egerton, and the Countess of
Derby — The Newdigate Family — The Parish Church — Moor Hall — Breakspears.

Continuing our pilgrimage northward from Ux
bridge, by way of the Recreation Grounds, we
pass "The Chestnuts," a small mansion built
under the Stuarts, on the road towards Ickenham,
and now the residence of Sir William Stephenson.
It is interesting as having once been occupied by
William Wilberforce the philanthropist, and before
him by Bishop Home, the commentator on the
Psalms. Turning eastward, shortly after passing the
" Warren House," a walk of between two and three
miles brings us to the village of Ickenham, the
houses of which place, few in number, are located
round the village green, or scattered about in
picturesque confusion in the surrounding lanes.
The entire area of the parish is under 1,500 acres,
and the population in 1881 numbered only 376
souls, being a slight diminution upon the census
returns in 1871.
The main roads running north and south from
Hillingdon to Ruislip, and that from the eastern
side of Ickenham to Harefield in the north-west,
cross on the Green, in the centre of which stands
the village pump. This structure was erected about
i860. It has a tall conical roof, and is surrounded
with seats. On the north side of the Green, in
an angle formed by the two cross-roads, stands the
village church. This building, almost hidden from
sight by tall trees, is small and ancient, apparently
dating as far back as the fourteenth century, the
architecture showing examples of the Decorated
and Early Perpendicular styles. It consists of a
nave, north aisle — or rather, a double transept — and
chancel, with a wooden belfry surmounted by a
dwarf spire — similar to that of Norwood, Northolt,
and other places which we have visited — rising
from the western end of the nave. The bells,
three in number, bear the date of 1582. The walls
of the body of the church are composed of flint and
stone, mostly encased with plaster. On the south
side of the nave is a wooden porch, and the red
tiles form a pleasant contrast. The chancel arch
is modern, having been added when the church
was restored a few years ago. In the chancel
there is a brass commemorating William Say,

gent, who died in 1582, "registrar to the Queen's
Majesty in causes ecclesiastical," with effigies of
himself, his wife, and sixteen children; also one
with figures of the deceased and his wife, to the
memory of Henry Edmund, who died in 1584.
There are also several other monuments to the
family of Shordiche, formerly lords of the manor ;
and also to the Turners, Clarkes, and Dixons,
families which have been at one time or another
connected with this parish, either as landowners or
as residents. A mural tablet on the west wall,
executed by Banks, to the memory of Mr. John
George Clarke, a barrister-at-law, who died in
1800, is curious : it bears upon it a figure typical
of Religion, which is represented with a book in
one hand, the other resting on a coffin partially
hidden by a pall.
In the churchyard there is a very fine yew-tree ;
and at the west end of the church there is an un
sightly charnel-house belonging to the family of the
Clarkes, of Swakeleys.
This parish — which figures in ancient docu
ments, under the respective names of Ticheham
and Tykenham — is noticed in the Domesday
survey, where it is recorded that "three knights
and one Englishman held the manor, under Earl
Roger. It answered for nine hides and a half.
Land for six ploughs ; pasture for the cattle of
the village ; pannage for two hundred hogs ; " &c.
" The manor of Ickenham," observes Mr. Brewer
in the "Beauties of England," "has been the
subject of less frequent family alienations than is
usual with property near the metropolis. It was
conveyed in 1348 to John de Charlton, citizen and
mercer, for life, with remainder to Nicholas
Shordiche, Ivetta his wife, and their heirs." The
manor remained in the hands of the Shordiche
family for many generations, down to the end of
the last century, when it passed to the present
family of Clarke, of Swakeleys.
The most interesting feature of this parish is
Swakeleys, a fine old substantial square red-brick
mansion of Tudor architecture, standing in an exten
sive park, just outside the village, on the Hillingdon
Road, and surrounded on all sides by broad green

Ickenham.]

SWAKELEYS.

239

meadows and pasture-lands. The mansion con
sists of a centre with two slightly projecting wings,
the latter terminating in large bay windows, and
in the upper storey is a range of scroll-work pedi
ments and gables, above which rise clusters of
ornamented chimney stacks. The entrance is
through a porch in a central turret, which opens
into a hall paved with black and white stone. At
the lower end of the hall is a handsome carved
oak screen, painted white, and adorned with busts
of Charles I. and others. This screen was pro
bably designed for a loftier room, as it reaches
nearly to the ceiling. The entrance hall is likewise
remarkable for its fine massive Jacobean chimney-
piece, on which are busts of Milton and Harrington.
The staircase, also of oak, has the walls and
ceiling painted with several classical subjects, the
principal one being the " Death of Dido," from
Virgil's " ^Eneid." The long gallery is now cut up
into three apartments, the centre forming a ball
room or drawing-room.
The grounds belonging to the house are some
what flat, but well wooded, and are intersected by
a little rivulet, which is dammed up into a minia
ture lake. The estate is strictly preserved, and the
rabbits and pheasants walk and run about almost
tame by the road-side, as we drive through the
park. Though very much smaller than either the one
or the other, Swakeleys has about it many points
of resemblance to Knole and Holland House ; in
deed, next to Holland House, this is the most
interesting Jacobean mansion in the whole county
of Middlesex. The gardens are quaint and trim,
laid out in something of the old-fashioned style,
and a long avenue of elms adorns the front of the
house to the south.
This estate probably derives its name from
Robert Swalclyve, who owned it four centuries ago.
About the middle of the fourteenth century the
estate passed to John de Charlton, who, as above
stated, was the owner of the manor of Ickenham.
On the'attainder of Sir Richard de Charlton, in i486,
his property was forfeited to the Crown, but was
shortly afterwards granted to Sir Thomas Bourchier,
whose descendant, Henry Bourchier, Marquis of
Exeter, sold Swakeleys, about 1550, to one Robert
Pexall. The property later on was divided, one
portion falling into the hands of Oliver Becket,
and the other passing to the family of Brocas.
Norden, writing of Swakeleys in 1596, in his
" Speculum Britanniae," mentions it as " some time
a house of the Brockeyes, now of Sir Thomas Sher-
leye's." In 1629 the manor became the property
of Edmund Wright, afterwards Sir Edmund Wright,

an alderman of London, by whom the present man
sion was erected about ten years later, as appears
from the date, 1638, with the initials E.W., to be
seen in different parts of the building. Sir Edmund
was chosen Lord Mayor of London in 1641, after
the removal from that office, by Act of Parliament,
of Sir William Acton. The mansion subsequently
became the property and residence of Sir William
Harrington, one of the judges who sat on the trial
of King Charles I., and who, on the Restoration,
escaped the fate of his associates by flight. It
afterwards passed to Sir Robert Vyner, Lord
Mayor of London, whose familiar and facetious
conduct on the entertainment of Charles IL at
Guildhall * were long remembered. Pepys, in his
Diary under date of September 7, 1665, gives us
the following insight into Sir Robert Vyner's
mansion of Swakeleys shortly after he purchased
it:— "To Branford [Brentford]. . . There a
coach of Mr. Povy's stood ready for me, and he at
his house ready to come in, and so we together
merrily to Swakeley, to R. Vyner's ; a very pleasant
place, bought by him of Sir James Harrington's
lady. He took us up and down with great respect,
and showed us all his house and grounds, and it is
a place not very moderne in the garden nor house,
but the most uniforme in all that ever I saw ; and
some things to excess. Pretty to see over the
screene of the hall, put up by Sir J. Harrington, a
Long Parliament man, the King's head and my
Lord of Essex on one side, and Fairfax on the
other ; and upon the other side of the screene, the
parson of the parish and the lord of the manor and
his sisters. The window-cases, door-cases, and
chimneys of all the house, are marble. He showed
us a black boy that he had, that died of a con
sumption ; and, being dead, he caused him to be
dried in an oven, and lies there entire in a box.
By and by to dinner, where his lady I find yet
handsome, but hath been a very handsome woman ;
now is old. Hath brought him over ^100,000,
and now he lives, no man in England in greater
plenty, and commands both king and council with
his credit he gives them. After dinner Sir Robert
led us up to his long gallery, very fine, above
stairs; and better, or such, furniture I never did see."
After one of two changes of ownership, Swakeleys
passed by sale in 1750 to the family of the Clarkes,
and is now the seat of Mr. Thomas Truesdale
Clarke. The patronage of the rectory of Ickenham
had been annexed to the manor time out of mind,
until it was purchased by Mr. Thomas Clarke,
in 1743.

* See "Old and New London/' Vol. I., p. 405.

240

GREATER LONDON.

[Ruislip.

" A branch of the noble family of Hastings,"
observes the author of the " Beauties of England,"
"formerly resided in this parish, and it appears
that here 'Katharine, the dowgter of the Lord
Hastyngs and the Lady his wyff, was borne, the
Saterday before our Lady-day the Assumption,
being the 11 day of August, and was christened
the 20 of August, the Godmother Quene Kateryn,
by her debite, beyng her syster, one Mr. Harberd's
wiff; the other Godmother the Lady Margaret
Dugles, the Kyng's nece, and the Godfather the

of Ickenham, we again find ourselves in a remote
and straggling village, four miles from every rail
way station, and therefore most primitive. Out of
its entire, population of some fifteen hundred
souls, only a hundred or so live round the original
village green, now an open roadway, on the eastern
side of which stands the finest and handsomest
village church in all Middlesex, Harrow only
excepted. The churchyard has been raised in
its level by the burials of the inhabitants for
centuries, and at its south-west and north-west

Hi"!!!!
jpL

m

ifta

lit

SWAKELEYS.
Lord Russell, beyng the Lorde Prive Seale, by hys
debite, Master Francis RusselL hys son and heyre,
1542.' This daughter of Francis Lord Hastings,
afterwards Earl of Huntingdon, whose baptism is
thus curiously recorded, was married to Henry
Clinton, Earl of Lincoln. Anne Parr, daughter of
the Marquis of Northampton, and wife of William
Herbert, afterwards Earl of Pembroke, is the per
sonage described as ' one Mr. Harberd's wiff.' "
Roger Crab, a singular fanatic, of whom a very
curious account was published in a pamphlet en
titled " The English Hermit, or the Wonder of the
Age; 1655," resided for many years in this parish.
We shall have more to say regarding this worthy
when we visit his tomb at Stepney.
At Ruislip, about a mile and a half to the north

for centuries.
Ruislip, which is always pro
nounced as Ricelip, has had its
name spelt in an almost end
less variety of ways, as Riselepe, Rouslip, Rueslyppe,
Ruslip, and Rislepe. It is bordered on the north by
the hills of Hertfordshire; whilst Northolt and
Ickenham touch it on the south. On the west and
north-west it is bounded by Harefield. It is said to
be the largest parish in Middlesex, with the single
exception of Edmonton ; its area being about
6,350 acres, with a population in 1871 of 1,482.
Of these, however, no less than 500 belong to
Eastcot, while 500 live on Ruislip Common;
about 250 also live in the ecclesiastical district
of Northwood. In 1881, as in many rural parishes,
the number of the inhabitants had somewhat di
minished. It comprises several hamlets, which were doubt
less manors in former times, and East-cote,

Ruislip. 1

DESCENT OF THE MANOR.

241

Southcote, and West-cote, still remain as local names.
A moated manor-house at Southcote has been
pulled down only within the memory of the present
generation. Owing to its remote situation Ruislip has under
gone but littie change for many generations. At the
end of the last century more than half the land in
the parish was open and unenclosed, or " common
fields." The north-west side of Ruislip is described
in 1 810 as consisting chiefly of woodland copses.
The demand for hay in the metropolis has slowly
but surely brought about the extinction of arable

which is taxed at 30 hides. The land is 20 caru
cates ; there are 1 1 hides in demesne, on which
are 3 ploughs. The freeman and villans have 12
ploughs between them, and five more might be
employed. The priest has half a hide. Two
villans hold a hide jointly. There are 17 villans
who have a virgate each, 10 who have half a
virgate each, and 7 bordars who have each 4
acres. There are 8 cottars and 4 slaves. Four
foreigners hold 3 hides and a virgate. There is pas
ture for the cattle of the manor, and a park for beasts
of the forest. Pannage there is for 1,500 hogs,

land in this locality, and so only a few acres re
main under cultivation. This would have been a
sad misfortune to the poorer inhabitants, but it is
compensated by a new industry which has sprung
up, that of sorting and cutting up firewood, of
wh|ch the supply is inexhaustible. This occupies
the;j women and children as well as the cottars.
The poor, in compensation of their ancient com
mon lands, have the right of turning their cattle out
to graze on certain meadows at Ruislip and
Eastcote. In " Domesday Book " the manor and rectory
were held by the same person, the lord of the
former receiving both the rents and the tithes, and
paying the clergy. The following is an extract : —
" Ernulph de Hesding holds the manor of Rislepe,
21

and twenty pence rents. The total value is ^20
per annum. When entered on by its present owner
it was ^12; in King Edward's time it was ^30. It
was then the property of Wilwardthe King's Thane."
The Ernulf here*mentioned» gave the manor to a
monastery in France, and it is uncertain whether
the monks built a priory here or found one in exist
ence, at the time of the transfer; but in 1259 it
appears that there was at Ruislip a religious house
with a prior, dependent on the abbey of Bee in
Normandy. Before the end of the same century, it
would seem to have been annexed to the priory of
Okeburn, or Ogborne, in Wiltshire. The latter,
however, was confiscated by Henry IV., and soon
afterwards we find the manor of Ruislip in the
hands of John, Duke of Bedford (the king's third

242

GREATER LONDON.

fRuislip.

son), who bestowed the manor on the Dean and
Canons of Windsor, who still are its owners and
patrons. According to Cobbett's " History of the
Reformation " the annual value of the above-
mentioned priory at the Dissolution, was ^18.
On the death of the Duke the manor was given
(1442) to the University of Cambridge, but subse
quently to the Provost and Fellows of King's Col
lege, Cambridge, who still own the manor farm —
a moated house a little north-west of the church,
and probablystanding on the site of theformerpriory.
Little is known of the other manors in Ruislip,
except that in the year 1378 that of Southcote was
held by Alice Perrers, under the priors of Har
mondsworth and Okeburn. It now belongs to the
Sheppard family.
In 1650 the vicarage of Ruislip was valued at
£60, including 29 acres of glebe; but this value
has been largely augmented by the enclosure of
the common fields.
The prior of Okeburn would seem to have first
appointed a vicar to discharge the spiritual duties
of the parish ; and the list of vicars is pretty com
plete from 1300 to the present time.
The parish church is dedicated to St. Martin :
its details are described at length in " Church
Walks in Middlesex" (1845). At that time the
beauty of the fabric was spoiled by a huge west
gallery, and other monstrosities of the "Church-
wardian " era. It consists of a nave, chancel, and
side aisles, separated from the nave by circular
and octagonal pillars placed alternately, with Pointed
arches. The south aisle is four feet higher than the
north, and has at its western extremity a lofty tower.
It is probably the oldest part of the church, and
may have been, indeed, the original edifice.
The ancient font is square, supported by four
circular pillars rising out of a stone base. It is
probably Late Norman or Early English. The
nave is separated from the chancel by two low and
ancient carved doors, and a Pointed arch, beneath
which in former times was the rood-loft.
The roofs of the side-aisles are very handsome,
and are in their original condition ; the corbels that
support the roof timbers are still uncarved. The
latter are of oak or walnut, and the carvings of the
bosses are fine.
As might be expected in a church belonging to a
religious house, there are traces of several altars
having formerly existed here; and most of the
walls, even those above the arches of the nave,
were covered with frescoes, which have been
gradually brought to light by the removal of the
plaster with which the interior was long disfigured.
Those in the nave are said to illustrate the parables

of the New Testament ; at the east end of the
north aisle is a fine fresco of an angel weighing a
soul in a balance, the Virgin Mary standing by
and lightening the scale by the touch of her finger.
In the chancel is a long series of memorials of
the Hawtrey family, whose seat was at Eastcote in
this parish. The most ancient of these is to John
Hawtrey, Esq., who died in 1593, and contains the
effigies, in brass, of the deceased and his wife.
Another stone commemorates John Hawtrey, " who
made the royal oratory at Cambridge his grave
and monument ; " he died in 1674. On the south
side of the chancel is a marble monument to
another of the Hawtreys, Mary, Lady Bankes, who
so gallantly defended Corfe Castle, Dorsetshire,
against the Parliamentary forces in the Civil War,
as did Lady Blanche Arundell at Wardour, and
Lady Derby at Lathom House. She was the
widow of the Hon. Sir John Bankes, Lord Chief
Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and died
within a year of the day on which she saw t the
restoration of the monarchy.
In the north-west corner of the church is a
memorial to the Rev. Thomas Bright, vicar, who
left, in 1697, a weekly dole of bread to be distri
buted to the poor of this parish. The shelves on
which the bread is put out are kept bright and
clean under the tower.
Ruislip is well off for charities ; some were
founded by the Hawtreys, and Lady Franklin in 1737
left ;£ioo to be distributed in clothing to poor
widows ; there are also other charities of later date.
The church has a fair share of new painted win
dows, but none are deserving of any special notice.
The building was well restored about the year
1870 by Mr. Christian and Sir Gilbert Scott, the
former undertaking the chancel, and the latter the
nave, aisles, and tower. Many of the old open
benches remain, and the rest of the church is
"free and open" also. There was once here a
fine peal often bells, but these sadly need renewal.
The registers are fairly kept. They date from
the last decade of the 17th century, but contain
nothing of special interest, except the record of
the deaths of six centenarians between the years
1700 and 1838, a fact which speaks well for the
healthiness of the parish. i
In the vestry are two fine large oak chests, with
ancient bands and locks of iron. In one of these
is kept a copy of Jewell's " Apology," with other
tracts and sermons by the same prelate ; it is in
its original covering of board, and has part of the
chain by which it was once fastened to a desk in
the nave ; but it is much torn and defaced.
As a proof of the primitive condition of the in-

Ruislip.]

NORTHWOOD.

P43

habitants of this village, it used to be said that
" one half of the population of Ruislip would be
found to answer to one of four surnames." Re
mote from other places, the inhabitants never
went abroad for their wives.
School-houses were built by King's College,
Cambridge, about 1870. Mr. Thomas Clarke, of
Swakeleys, established some schools here at the
beginning of the present century for the gratuitous
education of fifty poor children ; and with the aid of
subscriptions from other wealthy individuals, the
children of the poorer inhabitants are partly clothed.
The reservoir on Ruislip Common extends from
Cannon's Bridge for nearly a mile towards Rick-
mansworth. It covers an area of 80 acres, and
belongs to the Grand Junction Canal Company,
who use it to supply the deficiency caused by the
waste of water in working their canal. The reser
voir is much frequented by anglers.
Ruislip Park, which bounds the village on the
east, is the seat of Frederick Tompson-Delmar,
Esq. It covers upwards of forty acres of land, and
is charmingly laid out with picturesque drives, and
ornamented by rare old timber. It is a famous fox
hunting meet.
The hamlet of Eastcote, often called Ascot, lies
about a mile eastward from the village of Ruislip,
on the road towards Pinner, in the midst of a rich
agricultural country. Eastcote House, the residence
of Sir Samuel Morton Peto, was formerly the seat of
the Hawtrey family, who were once of great note in
this parish, and for many years lessees of the rectory,
and of whom, as stated above, Ruislip church con
tains so many memorials. The mansion belongs
to Mr. Francis H. Deane. On coming into the
possession of his family it was considerably altered
and modernised.
High Grove, another mansion in this locality, is
the seat of Sir Hugh H. Campbell, Bart. The
house stands on a commanding site, and the grounds,
about fifty acres in extent, are prettily laid out.
Sir Thomas Franklyn resided at Eastcote in the
early part of the last century. His house, which
occupies a low site, was afterwards the seat of the
Woodroffe family.
Northwood, a long straggling hamlet in the
parish of Ruislip, on the road towards Rickmans-
worfh, was in 1854 formed into an ecclesiastical
district, which includes within its bounds portions
of the parishes of Watford and Rickmansworth, in
Hertfordshire. The church, dedicated to the
Holy Trinity, is a handsome structure of flint and
stone, in the Early English style, and many of the
windows are filled with painted glass.
Northwood Hall, the seat of Mr. Daniel Norton,

is the principal residence in this locality, most of
the poorer inhabitants of which are occupied in
agricultural pursuits or employed in the preparation
of firewood.
Before we quit Ruislip it may not be out of
place to mention a story having reference to the
place, which has been related by the Rev. Mr.
Barham, and which has Theodore Hook for its
hero. Hook and a friend having borrowed a
horse and gig, took a drive in the country, and had
reached this village when they bethought them of
dining. " Of course, you have money with you ? "
said Hook. " Not a sixpence ; not a sou,'' was the
reply. Theodore was in the same predicament —
the last turnpike having exhausted his supply.
" Stay," said Hook, reining up ; " do you see that
pretty little villa? Suppose we dine there."
The suggestion was capital. " You know the
owner, then ? " inquired he. " Not the least in the
world," was the reply. " I never saw him in all
my life ; but that's of no consequence. I know his
name : it's E  w, the celebrated chronometer-
maker; the man who got the ^10,000 premium
from Government, and then wound up his affairs
and his watches, and retired from business. He
will be delighted to see us." So saying, up he
drove to the door. " Is Mr. E  w at home ? "
Answer: "Yes." In they went. The old gentle
man appeared, and after a little staring at each
other, Hook began : " Mr. E  w, happening to
pass through your neighbourhood, I could not
deny myself the pleasure and honour of paying my
respects to you. I am conscious that it may seem
impertinent, but your ability overcame me in regard
for the common forms of society, and I and my
friend here were resolved, come what might, to
have it in our power to say that we had seen you,
and enjoyed, for a few minutes, the company of an
individual famous throughout the civilised world."
The old gentleman was caught. Shaking of
hands and a few more compliments followed, and
presently the remark, "But, gentlemen, you are
far from town; it's getting la£e; pray do me the
honour of staying and dining, quite, as we say, in
the family way — now, pray, gentlemen, do stay."
The two visitors consulted gravely. It was im
possible. They must return to town, Hook adding
a little more compliment, which elicited a still
more pressing invitation from the chronometer-
maker. At length they agreed to stay and dine,
and join in a bottle of " Barnes's best.'; The dinner
despatched, the bottle was multiplied by six. The
host was as happy as a king, and would not allow
his new friends to depart without a pledge to repeat
their visit.

244

GREATER LONDON.

[Harefield-

Harefield, to which place we now direct our
steps, adjoins Uxbridge on the north, and occupies
a wide extent of country lying to the north-west of
Ruislip. It is a long and scattered village, and,
like Ruislip, extends to the extreme north of the
county, where it is bordered by the parish of
Rickmansworth. It consists mostly of pleasant
upland scenery, from which a good view of the
long broad meadows on either side of the river
Colne is obtained.
The Colne and the Grand Junction Canal, which
unites the Thames at Brentford with Staffordshire
and the North, serve as a boundary on the left as
you walk from Uxbridge to Harefield, and cut off
the wayfarer from the pleasant groves and fisheries
of Denham. In fact, the Colne bounds the parish
on the west for nearly five miles. This river and
its surroundings are evidently alluded to by Milton
in the following lines in " L' Allegro " : —
" Meadows trim, with daisies pied,
Shallow brooks and rivers wide."
Harefield is more rich in historical associations
perhaps than any rural village within the county of
Middlesex. When Milton was resident at Horton
the old manor house was the residence of Lord
Keeper Egerton and his wife, the Countess Dowager
of Derby, whom Queen Elizabeth had once honoured
by a visit of three days in one of her royal pro
gresses. The courtly knight and his lady survived
the costly visit But we are anticipating the order
of events.
Of the early history of Harefield Lysons tells us
that in the time of Edward the Confessor the place
belonged to the Countess Goda, and that at the
Domesday survey it was held by Richard, the son
of Gilbert, Earl of Briou. It afterwards passed
into the hands of the Bacheworths, and from them
by marriage to the Swanlands, and from them in
the same manner to the Newdigates ; but was
alienated by them to the Andersons, by whom
the property was sold at the commencement of
the 17th century to the Egertons, from whom it
passed in marriage to Grey, Lord Chandos. In
1655 Lord Chandos bequeathed Harefield to his
widow, who re-married, first with Sir William
Sedley, Bart, and secondly, on the decease of
Sir William, with Mr. George Pitt. By this latter
husband (in whom and his heirs she had vested all
her estates) the manors of Harefield and More
Hall — of which latter we shall speak presently —
were sold to Sir Richard Newdigate, Bart, Serjeant-
at-law, and grandson of Mr. John Newdigate, who
had exchanged the estate with Sir Edmund Ander
son, and so came back to a squire whose ancestors
have held it, with only a temporary interval, for

nearly 600 years — a fact without parallel in Middle
sex. .
But the greatest event in the history of Hare
field was the three days' visit of Queen Elizabeth
to Sir Thomas Egerton, to which we have already
alluded. It took place in July — August, 1602,
and is fully described, from the Newdigate MSS.,
in J. G. Nichols's "Progresses of Queen Eliza
beth," vol. iii., pp. 586 — 93, and also in the
" Pictorial Shakespeare," from which we quote
the following particulars : — ¦" The Queen came
to Harefield on the 31st of July, and remained
there during the 1st and 2nd of August. In
those days Harefield Place was a 'fair house,
standing on the edge of the hill, the river Coin
passing near the same through the pleasant
meadows and sweet pastures, yielding both delight
and profit. . . .' The weather, we learn from- a
copy of verses presented to the Queen on the occa
sion, was unpropitious : —
" ' Only poor St Swithin now
Doth hear you blame his cloudy brow.'
Some great poet was certainly at work on this
occasion, but not Shakespeare. It was enough for
them to present the sad story of
" ' The gentle lady married to the Moor.'
Another was to come within some thirty years,
who should sing of Harefield with the power of
rare fancy working upon classical models, and who
thus makes the genius of the wood address a noble
audience in that sylvan scene : —
",' Yet know, by lot from Jove, I am the power
Of this fair wood, and like in oaken bower
To nurse the sapling tall, and curl the grove
With ringlets quaint, and wanton windings weave ;
And all my plants I save from nightly ill
Of noisome winds and blasting vapours chill ;
And from the boughs brush off the evil dew,
And heal the harms of thwarting thunder blue ;
Or/what the cross dire-looking planet smites,
Or hurtful worm with canker'd venom bites.
When evening grey doth rise, I fetch my round
Over the mount and all this hallowed ground ;
And early, ere the odorous breath of morn
Awake the slumbering leaves, or tassel'd horn
Shakes the highth thicket, haste I all about,
Number my .ranks, and visit every sprout
With puissant words, and murmurs made to bless.'
Doubly-honoured Harefield ! Though the mansion
has perished, yet are thy groves still beautiful.
Still thy summit looks out upon a fertile valley,
where the gentle river wanders in silent beauty.
But thy woods and lawns have a charm which are
wholly their own. Here possibly the Othello of Will
Shakespeare was acted by his own company ; here
is the scene of the 'Arcades' of John Milton."
The- visit of the virgin queen to Harefield was

Harefield.]

MILTON'S "ARCADES."

245

within a year or two of her death, and when she
was upwards of seventy. In the Newdigate MSS-
above referred to the curious reader will find how
her Majesty was met near the dairy-house by a
dairy-maid and a bailiff, who celebrated her praises
in alternate verse, whilst the royal personage
herself sat on her horse beneath a tree on account
of the rain. In another part of the grounds her
Majesty was entertained by a " dialogue of wel
come" between some fanciful characters, called
" Place " and " Time ; " and again on the next
morning she was serenaded as —
" Beauty's rose and virtue's book,
Angel's mind and angel's look."
It should be added that the queen was addressed
in the same style of fanciful and fulsome flattery at
her departure.
" It lias been said," observes Mr. Thorne, in his
Handbook of the Environs of London, " that the
Lord Chamberlain's company was brought down to
Harefield to play Othello before her, Shakespeare
himself being present probably to direct the per
formance." But this statement he sees reason to
distrust, both on other grounds and on account of
the silence of the Newdigate MSS. on the subject.
Still, the Egerton Papers, published by the Camden
Society, under date August 6th, 1602, give us the
following entry among the steward's expenses
during Elizabeth's visit to Harefield : " Rewards to
the Vaulters, Players, and Dancers, ^64 18s. iod.;"
and it is known that Shakespeare was one of the
company so indicated. One would like to be cer
tain, however, that the eyes of Shakespeare as well
as those of Milton, once looked on these scenes.
We gather from the Life of Milton that during
the five years of his early manhood, which he spent
mainly at his father's house at Horton, he was a
frequent visitor at Harefield ; and the heading of
his " Arcades " tells us that it formed " part of an
entertainment presented to the Countess Dowager
of Derby at that place by some noble persons of
her family." As her ladyship was then advanced
in years, it is more than probable that these " noble
persons of her family" were her little youthful
grandchildren, the issue of the Earl of Bridgewater
(son of the Lord Keeper Egerton), who had married
Lady Frances Stanley, the second daughter of
the Countess. One would like to have been
there to witness their graceful appearance on the
scene "in pastoral habit, and moving toward the
seat of state," whereon sat the Countess as a " Rural
Queen," as they sang the first stanza of " Arcades,"
probably alluding to Queen Elizabeth's previous
visit —

" Look, nymphs and shepherds, look,
What sudden blaze of Majesty
Is that which we from hence descry ?
Too divine to be mistook.
This, this is she
To whom our vows and wishes bend
Here our solemn search hath end."
Another stanza sung by the youthful band ran as
follows : — " Mark, what radiant state she spreads,
In circle round her shining throne,
Shooting her beams like silver threads ;
This, this is she alone,
Sitting like a goddess bright,
In the centre of her light."
It is probable that Milton was thinking of
the festivities at Harefield when he wrote in
" L' Allegro " :—
" There let Hymen oft appear
In saffron robe with taper clear,
And pomp, and feast, and revelry,
With masque and antique pageantry ;
Such sights as youthful poets dream
On summer eve by haunted stream.'-
Harefield Place was burnt to the ground in 1660,
the fire being traditionally referred to the careless
ness of the witty and accomplished Sir Charles
Sedley, the profligate companion of Charles II.,
who is said to have been reading in bed.
" This tradition," observes the author of " The
Beauties of England," " is not altogether destitute
of an air of probability, for although Sir William
Sedley died in 1656, and his widow had in the
meantime taken a third husband, George Pitt,
Esq., yet it is by no means unlikely that the gay
and careless Sir Charles might, in 1660, be at
Harefield, on a visit to his sister-in-law."
The mansion was rebuilt by Sir Richard Newdi
gate, who had re-purchased the property of Mr.
Pitt, in 1675, but not quite on the same site as the
old house.
Sir Roger Newdigate was residing at Harefield
Place, in 1743, when he was elected M.P. for
Middlesex. Sir Roger was the founder of the
prize for English Verse which bears his name at
Oxford, and causes him to be commemorated among
the benefactors of the University. Having fixed
his principal residence at Arbury, in Warwickshire,
Sir Roger sold Harefield Place, disjoined from the
manor, to John Truesdale, Esq., from whose exe
cutors it was purchased, in 1 780, by William Baynes,
Esq., whose son, Christopher, was created a baronet,
by the title of Sir Christopher Baynes, of Harefield
Place. Mr. Charles Newdigate Newdegate, who inherited
the Middlesex estates of Sir Roger, re-purchased

246

GREATER LONDON.

[Harefield.

Harefield Place from Sir Christopher Baynes, and
having chosen for his residence a seat near at hand,
called Harefield Lodge, he pulled down Harefield
Place towards the end of the last century.
The avenue of elms through which Queen Eliza-

in the last century may be seen in the Gentleman's
Magazine for January, 181 5. The old manor-
house must have been well off for the accessories
of shady trees in Milton's time, if he wrote of it,
as doubtless he did, without exaggeration —

8Sp
HAREFIELD PLACE. (From a Print in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1815.)

beth rode from Dew's Farm to the house is gone,
though several of the trees were still standing in the
time when Lysons wrote, and one or two even as
late as 1814-15, if we may believe " Sylvanus
Urban ;" but, alas ! they are now no more, though
vigorous successors have taken their place. The
house, too, as above stated, is gone, but its site can
still be plainly seen in the rear of the church, where
the old garden walls and fine level terraces still
attest its former grandeur. A view of it as it was

" O'er the smooth enamell'd green,
Where no print of step hath been,
Follow me, as I sing,
And touch the warbled string,
Under the shady roof
Of branching elm star proof,
Follow me ;
I will bring you where she sits,
Clad in splendour, as befits
Her deity.
Such a rural queen
All Arcadia hath not seen. "

Harefield.]

MOOR HALL.

247

And the whole demesne must have had beauties
and charms, which have disappeared with the old
mansion, if he could write with truth —
Nymphs and shepherds, dance no more
By sandy Ladon's lilied banks ;
On old Lycjeus, or Cyllene hoar,
Trip no more in twilight ranks ;
Though Erymanth your loss deplore,
A better soil shall give ye thanks.
From the stony M:enalus
Bring your flocks and live with us ;
Here ye shall have greater grace,
To serve the lady of this place."
The " Arcades " was performed here, as we learn
from Milton's Life, in 1635, and the worthy " lady
of this place " did not long survive. Her fine
marble monument, in the chancel of the church
bears the date cf her death, 1637.
What would one not have given to have seen
with his own eyes the poet brushing the morning
dew, as he sauntered through the meadows along
the bank of his favourite river, the Colne, with its
" brimming waves," or quietly trudging along the
road through Uxbridge, on his way from Horton to
Harefield Place, which doubtless then was, in his
own words — "Bosom'd high in tufted trees."
The elms and beeches and evergreens behind
the site of the house are still fine, but few, except
one stately cedar, would seem to be able to recall
the look of the poet.
About a furlong south-west of the site of the old
manor-house, abutting on the edge of the meadows
of the Colne, opposite the " Fishery " at Denham,
and standing a little from the road, is an old farm
house, some parts of the interior of which retain the
ancient panelling and large fire-places, suggesting
that in the olden time large logs were burnt here in
the winter, and profuse hospitality was exercised.
The house is now cut up into three labourers' cot
tages. It is still called the Moor Hall, and is the
most ancient manor-house in the parish. The
greater part of the old hall was pulled down towards
the end of the last century.
Lysons tells us that the manor of Moor Hall
was the property of the Knights Hospitallers, to
whom it was given by Alice, daughter of Baldwin
de Clare. Close by it, indeed almost adjoining it,
is an Early English chapel, with lancet windows, ex
ternally almost perfect, though quite " gutted " in its
interior of every vestige of its once sacred uses.
The timber roof stands sound and good, just as it
did in the days of the Tudors and Plantagenets.
This chapel was probably a cell subject to the
Priory of St. John at Clerkenwell. Some persons

consider that the building was not a chapel,
but a refectory, but for this there are no grounds.
The building and cottages are rich in red and
grey tints, and they have been often sketched by
artists. A short walk across some upland grass fields
leads from Moor Hall to the church, which is
situated, as was so often the case, in the middle of
the squire's park, some three or four hundred yards
from the road.
The church, so far as can be ascertained through
the veil thrown over it by a poor modern " restora-

LADY DERBY'S TOMB. (Seepage 248.)
tion," seems to be of the " Decorated " period, but
perhaps a somewhat late specimen. It consists of
nave and chancel, with aisles on either side.
Probably no country church is so rich in mural
monuments, mostly of the Tudor and Jacobean
eras. The Egertons, Ashbys, and Newdigates
innumerable here mix their aristocratic dust with
that of their poorer brethren. A really fine collec
tion of helmets, casques, gloves, and other funeral
armour, once belonging to the Bacheworths and
Swanlands and Egertons, but now taken down
from the walls, lies heaped together, dusty and un-
cared for, on the sedilia to the south of the com
munion-table. The Brackenbury chapel, which
forms the south aisle, is constructed of alternate
dice-work, or diversified compartments of flint and
stone. The chancel is elevated above the nave,

! 48

GREATER LONDON.

[Harefield.

and is reached by an ascent of six steps. On the
east wall of the Brackenbury chapel is a monument,
bearing a long Latin inscription, to the memory of
Sir Richard Newdigate, Bart, who died in 1678.
Sir Roger Newdigate, the last baronet of his
family, who died in 1806, is also commemorated
by a tablet, as also are many other members of
that ancient house. The monument of Milton's
friend above mentioned, Alice, Countess Dowager
of Derby, who died in 1637, occupies the south
east corner of the chancel. It is an elaborate
work of art, after the fashion of the above period,
being gorgeously decorated with drapery and
heraldic ornaments. The effigy of the countess,
in her state dress, reposes beneath a lofty canopy,
while the lower compartment, which is level with
the floor of the chancel, contains the kneeling effi
gies of her three daughters, Lady Chandos and the
Countesses of Bridgewater and Huntingdon. The
countess, as stated above, became the wife of Lord
Keeper Egerton, who, as the inscription on thismonu-
ment states, had, by his first wife, an only daughter,
who was mother of Juliana, Lady Newdigate. The
monuments of various members of the Newdigate
family might be said to " adorn " the walls of the
church, if it were not that such cumbrous and
costly structures sadly detract from the beauty of
the sacred edifice itself, and tell rather of human
pride and vain-glory than of humility and repent
ance. Among others is a kneeling effigy of Lady
Newdigate, formerly one of the maids of honour
to Queen Elizabeth. When Mr. Newdigate, as
lord of the manor and squire, " restored " the
church, he ordered the monuments to be repaired,
and their inscriptions and heraldic bearings re
painted. On the north side of the chancel is a parclose,
screening off the chantry and burial-place of
the family of Ashby of Brakespeare. A mural
tablet on the north wall, bearing the effigy of a
man in armour, kneeling at a faldstool beneath a
canopy, commemorates Sir Robert Ashby, who
died in 16 17 ; and close by is another mural tablet,
to the memory of Sir Francis Ashby, who died in
1623. Between this aisle and the nave is a monu
ment to the memory of John Pritchett, Bishop of
Gloucester, who died in 1680. He was promoted
to the see of Gloucester in 1672, after having been
curate of this parish for nearly thirty years.
On the outside of the north wall of the chancel
is a most curious monument and epitaph. It con
sists of a medallion, with a portrait, in rather slight
relief, of a gamekeeper with his dog and gun,
passing through a background of trees. Beneath it

is the following inscription, which I believe has
never been printed in any collection of epitaphs,
though its quaintness well merits such an honour :
" William Ashby of Brakespeare, Esquire, erected
this to the memory of his faithful 'servant, Robert
Mossenden, who departed this life Feby. 5th, 1744,
aged 60 years. /
"In frost and snow, through hail and rain,
He scour'd the woods and trudg'd the plain ;
The steady pointer leads the way,
Stands at the scent, then springs the prey ;
The timorous birds from stubble rise,
With pinions stretch'd divide the skys ;
The scatter'd lead pursues the sight.
And death in thunder stops their flight.
This spaniel, of true English kind,
Who's gratitude inflam'd his mind : ¦
This servant in an honest way,
In all his actions copy'd Tray."
The village of Harefield stretches away along
the roadside for a considerable distance through a
quiet valley, having on the north and east well-
wooded uplands, dotted over with lordly domains,
and on the south-west broad green meadows,
bordering the canal and River Colne. Harefield
numbered altogether in 1881 between 300 and 400
houses, with a population of 1,500, being a slight
diminution upon the census returns for 1871.
The village, with its Lecture Hall and Working
Men's Club, possesses a quiet and flourishing ap
pearance, and the name of one of its principal
local worthies of bygone times is perpetuated in
the " Brakespeare Arms," the sign given to a quiet
roadside hostelry.
It may be added, that, lying as it does so far out
of the beaten tracks, this parish is perhaps richer
than any other within Middlesex in country seats.
Towards the northern end are Harefield Park, the
seat of Colonel. Vernon, and Harefield House, of
Sir John Byles. Brakespeare, formerly the seat
of the Ashbys, now the seat of Mrs. Drake, is
nearer to the church, and towards the centre of
the parish. It is said to have got its name from
having once belonged to the family which gave
Pope Adrian IV. to the Western Church. The
house is old-fashioned, and stands on high ground
in a pleasantly-wooded park.
Nearer to Uxbridge stands the modern Harefield
Place, lately sold by Mr. Newdegate, and now the
property and residence of Colonel Cox. All the
game hereabouts is strictly preserved ; and in con
sequence, as you walk along the shady lanes leading
to the " Brakespeare Arms " from the church, you
may see partridges and pheasants strutting about
to their heart's content, and secure from harm.

Pinner.]

A MIRY DISTRICT.

249

CHAPTER XXIV.
PINNER AND HARROW.
"Again I behold where for hours I have ponder'd,
As reclining at eve on yon tombstone I lay ;
Or round the steep brow of the churchyard I wander'd,
To catch the last gleam of the sun's setting ray." Byron.
Situation of Harrow, and Nature of the Soil— The Village of Pinner— Population— The River Pin— Miss Howard's Charity— Market and Fairs—
The Parish Church — Centenarians — A Curious Custom— Schools and Cemetery— Pinner Hill House — Pinner Wood — Pinner Place — Pinner
Grove — Pinner Park — Pinner Green, and Wood Hall — Woodrisings — Death of Mrs. Horatia Ward — The School of the Commercial Travellers'
Society — Headstone, or Manor Farm — Etymology of Harrow— Domesday Book Record of the Parish — The Manor — Flambards — A Loyal
Lady— Extent and Boundaries of Harrow— The Parish Church— Prior Bolton takes Refuge at Harrow— " Byron's Tomb"— The View from
Harrow Hill — The Town and Public Institutions of Harrow.

It is refreshing, after the many miles of dead
level river-side scenery through -which we have
travelled, to " break ground " afresh, and to come at
once upon new country. We have left the grassy
vale which stretches across the west of the county
from Uxbridge and Hayes, and find ourselves, after
some four or five miles' walk, at the foot of the
only steep ascent which Middlesex can produce,
except the "northern heights'" of Hampstead and
Highgate. The soil is a deep stiff clay ; and we
shall find that Harrow differs from those other
links of the hilly chain of which it once formed
part in having no deposit of gravel and sand on its
summit. The broad vale of Harrow, which stretches from
the foot of the hill to Edgware and Stanmore in the
north-east, and to Uxbridge and Hayes in the
south-west, has really no history, and is quite a
modern Bceotia. The roads are muddy and miry
in winter, and till the beginning of the present
century it took a waggoner and his team the best
part of a day to carry a load of hay up to London ;
and even then he often had to lay down a faggot of
sticks in the ruts in order to enable him to get
along at all. The district, however, smiles sweetly
in early June, and has its attractions for the hunter
in the depth of winter.
Norden, writing in the reign of Elizabeth, gives
the following account of this parish : — " It may be
noted how nature hath exalted that high Harrow-
on-the-Hill, as it were in the way of ostentation to
shew it selfe to all passengers to and from London,
who beholding the same may saye it is the centre
(as it were) of the pure vale ; for Harrow standeth
mvironed with a great contrye of moste pure
grounds, from which hill, towardes the time of
harveste, a man maye beholde the feyldes rounde
about, so sweetly to address themselves to the
side and syth, with such comfortable haboundance
of all kinde of grayne, that it maketh the inhabi
tants to clappe theyre handes for joye to see theyr

valleys so to laugh and singe. Yet this fruiteful
and pleasante country yeldeth little comforte unto
the wayfaringe man in the winter season, by reason
of the clayish nature of the soyle, which after it
hath tasteth the autombe showers it beginneth to
mix deep and tirtye, yeldinge unsavory passage to
horse and man. Yet the countrye swayne holdeth
it a sweet and pleasant garden, and with his
whippe and whysell, can make himself melodye,
and dance knee deepe in dirte, the whole daye
not holdinge it any disgrace unto his person,
Such is the force of hope of future proffitt.
The deepe and dirdiest lothsome soyle
Yeldes golden grayne to carefull toyle.
And that is the cause that the industrious and
painful husbandman will refuse a pallace, to droyle
in theys golden puddles."
Pinner, through which we must pass before reach
ing Harrow, is situated on the main road running
north-westward to Rickmansworth and Amersham,
about equi-distant from Ruislip and Harrow-on-the-
Hill, being about three miles from each of those places,
a mile and a half south-west from Pinner Station
on the North-Western Railway, and about thirteen
miles from London. It is a busy and thriving
village, the main street being broad, well paved,
and lighted with gas, and containing several respect
able shops and private houses of modern growth,
interspersed with many of a more picturesque and
antiquated appearance, of the lath-and-plaster style
of building, with projecting storeys and gabled
roofs. Not the least interesting among these houses
is the "Queen's Head," an old-fashioned roadside
tavern on the north side of the street, dating its
erection from early in the last century, as the date
1705, painted upon its front, bears witness.
In 187 1 the number of inhabited houses in
Pinner was set down in the census returns as 396,
the population amounting to 2,332, of whom about
250 were inmates of the Commercial Travellers'

25°

GREATER LONDON.

[Pinner.

Schools, of which we shall speak presently. The
number of the inhabitants had increased during the
succeeding ten years to a little over 2,500.
The village is pleasantly located on the rising
ground which forms the north-western side of the
vale of Harrow, and from this elevated spot flows
one of the feeders of the River Colne, a little
rivulet, called the Pin, which is crossed at the
bottom of the main street by an antiquated bridge
of one arch. Near the bridge stand three dwellings
for widows of officers, founded by Miss Maria
Charlotte Howard, of York Place, about half a
century ago. Miss Howard, it appears, left the
sum of ^45,000 in money and land to found a
charity, to erect twenty-one houses on her property
here. They were to have been built in the form of
a crescent : the centre house for the trustees, and
the remainder to be appropriated to twenty widows,
who were to live in them rent and tax free, and to
receive each a stipend of £50 a year. The widows
of naval men were to have the preference, after
them the widows of military men, and afterwards
the widows of clergymen. This munificent be
quest, however, was never fully carried out, for,
owing to some family feud, the estate got into
Chancery, with the result that only three of the
houses have as yet been built. They are good,
substantial brick-built residences, and, in accord
ance with the stipulation of the bequest, are in
the occupation of the widows of officers.
Pinner was simply a hamlet and chapelry of Har
row, and part of the same demesne, but was made
into a separate parish about a quarter of a century
ago. The village, nevertheless, formerly possessed
a weekly market, which was granted by Edward III.
in 1336 to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who
was at that time lord of the manor. Two yearly
fairs were also granted at the same time, of which,
however, only one survives. This has degenerated
into an insignificant pleasure-fair, which is held
annually on Whit Monday.
At the eastern or upper end of the main street
stands the parish church, the picturesque effect of
which, as seen on approaching it, is heightened by
the almost leafless trunk of an aged elm-tree.
The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is
of ample dimensions, consisting of chancel, with a
side aisle or chapel, appropriated to the use of
the children of the Commercial Travellers' Schools,
transepts, a clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles,
south porch, and an embattled tower at the west
end. The tower has a pyramidal tiled roof,
surmounted by a tall wooden cross, and at the
north-west corner a bold turret rises high above
the battlements. The interior of the tower is

open to the nave, and the bells bear the date of
1772. The building is constructed mainly of flint
and stone; and although its erection was com
pleted in 13 2 1, the lancet-shaped windows of the
transepts and south aisle would appear to have
belonged to a building of much earlier date. The
church has been considerably altered and enlarged
at various periods, the chancel aisle having been
added as recently as 1879, at which time the
edifice was thoroughly restored. The nave is
separated from the aisles by Pointed arches,
springing from octangular pillars. In the south
transept are the remains of a piscina of the
Perpendicular period. The font is large and of
about the same above-mentioned date ; the ex
terior of the basin forms an octagon, the different
compartments of which are ornamented with devices
of roses, &c, in quatrefoils, the basin itself resting
upon an octangular pillar. Several of the windows
contain painted glass, that of one of the lancets
being of ancient date. The east window, of Per
pendicular design, is modern, a reproduction of its
predecessor, but is now filled with stained glass.
It is of five lights, and was inserted in memory of
the Rev. Edward Thomas Burrow, incumbent,
who died in 1861. The reredos, which is very
handsome, was erected in 1871 by Mr. John
Weall, of this parish, in memory of his wife and
two daughters. This church contains but few
monuments, and even those are but of little interest.
Among them is a mural tablet, of black marble, to
the memory of John Day, minister of Pinner, who
died in 1662. On this tablet is represented the
effigy of the deceased in profile, kneeling before a
desk ; and it has also upon it an inscription, com
mencing —
' ' This portraiture presents him to thy sight
Who was a burning and a shining light."
The families of Clitherow, Page, and Hastings, are
also commemorated by monumental inscriptions in
the church. In the vestry is preserved a small
brass, originally in the chancel, to the memory of
a "chrysom child," the daughter of Eustace
Bedingfeld, dated 1580.
In the churchyard, close by the south porch, is
the gravestone of Sir Bartholomew Shower, of
Pinner Hill, who died in 1701, and who, if an
entry in the parish register is to be believed, was
" buried in sheep's wool only." If we may judge
from the ages recorded on many of the head-stones
here, Pinner would appear to be a healthy place
to live in, or at all events one favourable to lon
gevity. Several may be noticed buried here whose
ages have exceeded the allotted " three score years

tHnner.j

COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS* SCHOOL.

Ht

and ten." In 185 1, Ann, widow of James Winfield,
died at the age of 100 ; in 1553, Betty, the widow
of William Evans, passed away at the age of 102 ;
and William Skenelsby, who died in 1775, appears
to have reached the extraordinary age of 118.
It is recorded that the barbarous custom of
throwing at cocks as a Shrovetide festivity was
formerly practised at Pinner with much public
ardour, and the money collected at this disagree
able celebration was applied to the aid of the
poor's rates. The custom was discontinued about
the year 1680.
National schools, capable of holding 300 chil
dren, were established in this village in 1866. A
new cemetery has been laid out on the east side
of the village, it comprises about two acres, and
contains two mortuary chapels.
In the neighbourhood of Pinner are several
good seats and family residences. Pinner Hill,
which lies away on the high ground to the north
west, is the seat of Mr. William Arthur Tooke,
at whose cost the church has been principally re
stored. The house stands in ornamental park
grounds, and commands extensive views. It was
formerly the residence of Sir Christopher Clitherow,
and afterwards of Sir Bartholomew Shower, whose
name we have mentioned above. Sir Bartholomew
was an eminent lawyer in his day, and was the
author of some legal works and political pamphlets.
Sir Albert Pell, some time a Judge of the- Court of
Bankruptcy, lived here half a century ago.
Pinner Wood House, near the above, the resi
dence of Mr. R. H. Silversides, was for some time
in the occupation of Lord Lytton, who here wrote
his " Eugene Aram."
Pinner Place, the seat of Mr. James Garrard,
was formerly the residence of Mr. John Zephaniah
Holwell, some time Governor of Bengal, and author
of a narrative of the sufferings of himself and
fellow-prisoners in the " Black Hole " of Calcutta.
Mr. Holwell was also the author of an historical
work relating to Hindostan.
Pinner Grove, northward of the village, is ap
proached through a fine avenue of elms, and stands
in ornamental park-like grounds. It was formerly
the residence of Sir Michael Foster, one of the
Justices of the King's Bench in the last century,
and afterwards of Sir Francis Milman, Bart., M.D.
Pinner Park appears to have been formerly a
district of some importance, as Nicholas, Abbot of
Westminster, was appointed its keeper in 13*83. The
estate, however, has long been broken up and con
verted to agricultural puposes. In the feign of
Henry VIIL it was granted, together with the
manor of Harrow, to Sir Edward (afterwards Lord)

North ; and in 1630 the property was alienated by
Dudley, Lord North, to the Hutchinson family.
The estate ultimately passed into the possession of
St. Thomas's Hospital, having been purchased in
the year 1731 by the governors of that institution,
by whom it is now held.
About half a mile north of the village is Pinner
Green, and near at hand is an estate, known as
Wood Hall. Woodriding is a hamlet further to
the north-east ; it boasts of some good villa resi
dences and a chapel-of-ease. Here, in March of the
year 1881, died, at the age of eighty, Mrs. Horatia
Nelson Ward, widow of the Rev. Philip Ward,
Vicar of Tenterden, Kent. She was the "little
Horatia," the adopted daughter of Emma, Lady
Hamilton, whom her father, Lord Nelson, with his
dying breath, commended to the care of his
ungrateful country.
Close by the Pinner railway station stand the
schools belonging to the Commercial Travellers'
Society, which were founded in 1 845. The building,
a large and roomy structure of red brick, with stone
dressings, of Gothic design, was opened in 1855,
the ceremony being presided over by the Prince
Consort. The plan of the building consists mainly
of a large central hall, the upper floor of which
forms the principal school-room, having beneath it
the dining-hall. At each end of the hall are the
dormitories, and the residences of the masters and
mistresses. In 1868 wings were added to the
original building, rendering it capable of holding
between 300 and 400 children. A cloister-like
arcade, extending along the principal front, on
either side of the hall, serves as a covered play
ground for the children. In 1876-77 the building
was extended by means of a subscription amounting
to ;£i 7,000, raised in a single year by Mr. James
Hughes ; and in 1878 an infirmary and baths were
added, through the bequest of Mr. George Moore,
the philanthropist.
The design of this institution is "the clothing,
maintenance, and education of the destitute orphans
of deceased and the children of necessitous com
mercial travellers." The institution is carried on
by means of donations and subscriptions given for
that purpose, and the government of the affairs of
the schools is vested in a general court and a
board of management. On the walls of the en
trance-lobby are several ornamental tablets com
memorative of munificent bequests to the institution,
and in the board-room are several full-length por
traits of governors and others connected with the
schools. , The institution, it may be added, seems
admirably conducted. The boys receive a superior
education, and leave the schools at the age of fifteen.

252

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow.

At a short distance from Pinner, towards the
south-east, is a farm, termed " Headstone," or,
more generally, the " Manor Farm." The dwelling-
house is large and of some antiquity, and is sur
rounded by a moat. The name was formerly
written Heggeton, or Hegeston ; and a mansion on
the site was the occasional residence of the Arch
bishops of Canterbury in times long gone by. This
manor is mentioned in records of the fourteenrir
century, at which time it was held by the see of
Canterbury. When an inquisition was taken of the
estates of Archbishop Arundel, who was banished

ages, as stated above, one of the residences
of the Archbishops of Canterbury. The most
memorable event relating to the visits of these
powerful manorial lords occurs in the year 1170.
The famous Thomas a Becket, then Archbishop,
while travelling towards Woodstock for the pro
fessed purpose of paying respect to Prince Henry,
who had been recently allowed to participate in
the government of the kingdom, was denied access
to the Court, and commanded to repair immediately
to his own diocese. It is recorded that he passed
some days, on his return, at his manor of Harrow,

PINNER, IN 1828. (From an Etching fy Cook.)

for high treason in the year 1398, it was found that
he was possessed, together with other property, " of
the manor of Southbury [now Sudbury], in Harrow,
consisting principally of 500 acres of land, then
valued at 3d. per acre ! The manor of Woodhall
(a member of the former) chiefly consisted of 120
acres of land, valued at 6d. an acre ! The manor
of 'Heggeton' (likewise a member of Southbury),
comprising a well-built house and 201 acres of land,
valued at 6d. an acre, besides meadow."
Mr. Brewer, in the " Beauties of England," says
it is to be regretted that the site of the ancient
manor-house of Harrow is not known, as the spot
would acquire a fair share of interest from its
connection with long past scenes of sacerdotal
splendour. But this manor-house is most pro
bably the place in question, as it was for many

in the exercise of much dignified hospitality, and
during his stay exchanged many acts of kindness
with the Abbot of St. Albans. This was only a
short time previous to the assassination of Becket,
and the spirit of animosity which prevailed very
generally in regard to this high-minded Churchman
was evinced in a conspicuous manner by the
resident clergy of the place. Nigellus de Sackville,
rector of Harrow, and Robert de Broc, the vicar,
treated him with boisterous disrespect, and are said
to have maimed with their own hands one of the
horses bearing his provisions, for which offence
they were both excommunicated at Canterbury on
the ensuing Christmas. It is a tradition in this
neighbourhood that it was in the building that occu
pied the site of the present farm-house of Headstone
that Becket sojourned at the period above men-

V arrow.]

HEADSTONE MANOR HOUSE.

253

tioned ; and some even go as far as to assert that
he slept here on the night before his assassination.
But this tradition has little to support it.
Archbishop Boniface held a visitation at Harrow
in 1250, and Archbishop Winchelsye dates from
Harrow in the year 1300, It maybe added that
Cardinal Wolsey, who, among his other prefer
ments, held the rectory of Harrow, is said to have
occasionally resided at the old manor-house. King
Charles, in his flight from Oxford, came to Harrow;

usually written Herges,* the derivation of which,
observes Mr. Brewer, in the " Beauties of England,"
probably is " from the Saxon Hearge, Hergh, or
Herige, which is usually supposed to signify a
concourse of armed men, but which is also trans
lated a church. If," he continues, "we accept
the latter reading, we may suppose that a sacred
structure on the lofty hill of Harrow formed a con
spicuous feature in this part of the county as early
as the beginning of the ninth century, at which

PINNER CHURCH IN l8oO. (From an old Print. See page 25c.)

and had he not half-heartedly turned aside towards
Newark, it is more than probable that there might
never have been fought a battle of Worcester.
The present manor-house of "Heggeton," or
Headstone, is a good, substantial, modem-looking
residence, containing in its structural arrangements
portions of an older house. The moat, square in
form, and partaking somewhat of the character of
those so well known at Ightham and Hever, in
Kent, is crossed by a brick bridge, and encloses
the house and gardens. &c, the farm buildings,
including a barn of great length, being situated in
front of the bridge. Some of the outbuildings are
ancient and picturesque.
In ancient records the name of Harrow is
22

time a notice of the place first occurs on record."
Lysons supposes the derivation of the name to be
from the Anglo-Saxon Hearge^ which, he says, is
"sometimes translated a troop of soldiers, and
sometimes a church," and adds his inclination to
adopt the latter derivation, which is the same as
that given above. Mr. Thorne, in his " Environs
of London," observes that " Herige was a legion or
division of an army ; and as, from its commanding
position, Harrow would certainly be made a mili
tary station by the Romans, it is probable that the
name was given to it as the camp or station of a

* Hence Harrow School is ofleH spoken of as Schola Hergensh, as
well as Harroviensis.

254

GREATER LONDON,

[.Harrow.

legion." The syllable Har, it may be added, sig
nified in the olden times high, or the high ground.
As we have already observed, Harrow was a
place of some consideration for two or three
centuries immediately succeeding the Norman
Conquest, from its being the occasional residence
of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Newcourt, in
his "Repertorium," states, on the authority of
Somner's " Antiquities of Canterbury," &c, that in
the year 822 "Wilfred, Archbishop of Canterbury,
recovered this place of Herges, together with several
other lands which had been taken from the Church
of Canterbury by Kenulf, King of the Mercians."
If this be true, the connection of Harrow with the
Church was of very early date.
" Among the MSS. formerly belonging to Bishop
Tanner, now deposited in the Bodleian Library, is a
bond executed by Margetta, Prioress of Kilburn, in
which the name is written Hareways." *
In the " Domesday Survey " it is stated that the
manor of Herges was held by Archbishop Lanfranc.
" It answered (as in the time of King Edward the
Confessor) for one hundred hides. There was land
for seventy ploughs. Thirty hides belonged to the
demesne, on which were four ploughs, and a fifth
might be added. A priest had one hide, and
three knights held six hides. There was pasture
for the cattle of the village, and pannage for two
thousand hogs," &c.
This manor of Harrow was given by Arch
bishop Cranmer, in exchange for other estates,
to Henry VIIL, and shortly after, it was granted
to Sir Edward North, subsequently created Lord
North. Concerning this grant, a story to the
following effect is related in Collinses "Peerage."
The king having taken offence at some part of Sir
Edward's conduct, ordered him to his presence,
and, after regarding him a while with every indica
tion of anger, said, " We are informed you have
cheated us of certain lands in Middlesex ! " To
this unexpected accusation the knight answered
with a humble negative. "How was it, then,"
resumed Henry, " did we give those lands to you ? "
"Your Majesty was indeed pleased so to do,"
replied Sir Edward.
It appears that the question was not urged
further, and the estates remained in the possession
of the North family until the year 1630, when they
passed by sale to the families of Philips and Pytts.
By the marriage of Alice, daughter of Edmund
Pytts, the manor passed to James Rushout, who
in 1 66 1 was created a baronet, and the manorial
rights have ever since continued in the family.

* Park's " History of Hampntead," p, 187.

This Sir James Rushout purchased an estate at
Northwick, in Worcestershire, and he was for many
years M.P. for Evesham. His son, Sir John, took ,
an active part in public affairs, and was a dis
tinguished opponent of the administration of Sir
Robert Walpole. He married Lady Anne
Crompton,' daughter of the fourth Earl of North
ampton, and was succeeded by his son — likewise
Sir John — who, after having represented Evesham
in several Parliaments, was created Lord North
wick in 1797.
The manor-house of Flambards, formerly the
seat of Lord Northwick, and one of the principal
residences in the town, derived its name from a
former possessor, Sir John Flambard, who lived in
the reign of Edward III. The property was sub
sequently vested in the family of Gerard, from
whom, after an intermediate transmission, it passed
to that of Page. The last of that name, Mr.
Richard Page, commenced re-building the house,
which, on his death, was sold to and completed by
Lord Northwick. Harrow Park covers part of old
Flambards. The name is perpetuated in that of
a modern house on the site, occupied by Mr.
William Winkley, F.S.A., who owns the picture of
Elizabeth the heiress of Sir Charles Gerard and
grandmother of the first Lord Lake, a descendant
of Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York.
Another manor-house in Harrow parish, called
Uxendon, or Oxinden, was the house of a widow
named Bellamy, a pious lady, who secreted there
several missionary priests — including Anthony
Babington, and Father Southwell the poet — when
they were being hunted down by Walsingham, under
Queen Elizabeth. Mrs. Bellamy perished in the
Tower of London.
The old parish of Harrow is not less than forty-
five miles in circumference. It meets Hertfordshire
on the north, in the neighbourhood of Watford and
Bushey ; westward it is bounded by Ickenham and
Ruislip; southward by Perivale, Twyford, and
Willesden ; and eastward by Kingsbury and
Hendon. At the beginning of the present century,
when the whole parish was enclosed under the
operation of an Act of Parliament, it contained
about 13,600 acres of land, and comprised within
its bounds the hamlets of Pinner, Roxey (or
Roxeth), Wembley, Harrow Weald, Apperton, Ken
ton, and Preston, where part of John Lyon's
buildings are still standing. Pinner, as we have
already seen, is now made into a separate parish
for civil purposes.
Harrow was one of the pleasant suburbs occa
sionally visited by Charles Lamb, and is frequently
mentioned in his charming correspondence; but

Harrow.]

HARROW CHURCH.

255

apart from such occasional visits, and the fact that
Byron passed some of his school-boy days within
its bounds, there are but few or no literary or
artistic reminiscences to be gleaned here, such as
we find along the banks of the Thames, and as we
have already dwelt upon in dealing with the sister
hills of Hampstead and Highgate.*
The parish church of Harrow, from its situation
on the summit of a hill, some 300 ft. above the
surrounding " plain," and insulated, as it were, in
the midst of a country by no means remarkable for
the boldness of its hillocks, is an object unusually
conspicuous, and cannot fail to attract the notice
of all who travel along the North Western Railway.
It is recorded that when some divines were dis
puting with King Charles II. about the visible
Church, his Majesty said that he " knew not
where it was to be found, except, indeed, at
Harrow." The church is large and spacious, com
prising a chancel, with chancel chapel, a cleres-
toried nave, aisles and transept, and a square
embattled tower at the west end, surmounted by a
lofty spire. It appears to have been originally
built by Archbishop Lanfranc, in the time of the
Conqueror, though not to have been consecrated
till the time of Archbishop Anselm, his successor in
the see of Canterbury.
Mr. Rule writes, in his "Life and Times of St.
Anselm": — "The venerable western doorway of
the parish church of Harrow recalls to the historian
the last grief-stricken days of Archbishop Lanfranc,
who, though he outlived the completion of the
sacred fabric, died ere he could cause it to be con
secrated. It also recalls the pensive opening of
Anselm's primacy and his first dedicatio ecclesice ;
for it was beneath the curiously-carved and boldly-
sculptured lintel of that venerable western doorway
that, on a cold January morning in a.d. 1094, the
new Archbishop, arrayed in his pontifical insignia,
stood, and making the sacred sign, sang aloud —
'Ecce Crucis signum, fugiant phantasmata cuncta.'
Whereupon the doors unfolded, and entering, he
proceeded to perform the more solemn rites of
consecration." But Anselm was not allowed to perform this
solemn act without interruption, for it appears that
the Bishop of London sent two of his canons to
beg him to desist, and to confer with the bishop
about their mutual rights. Mr. Rule tells us that,
by -way of enforcing the bishop's claim, the
cathedral dignitaries stole, or ran off with, the holy
oil, and so broke off the ceremony. Eadmer, the
* See "Old and New London," Vol. V., pp. 389504.

historian, tells us that the dispute respecting the
consecration of this church was referred to Wulstan,
Bishop of Worcester, " the only one of the Saxon
prelates then remaining," and that his decision, as
most consonant to the customs of the Church, was
in favour of the Archbishop; and down to the
present day the Archbishop of Canterbury has
special rights in Harrow, and is ex-officio Visitor of
the school; but the patronage of the living has
long since passed into private hands.
Lysons, writing in 1795, asserted that "some
parts of Lanfranc's building still remain — namely,
the circular columns which divide the aisles from
the nave, and part of the tower at the west end,
where is a Saxon arch of singular form." In a
paper read by Mr. Hartshorne at a meeting of the St.
Paul's Ecclesiological Society, in 1882, it was stated
that the circular columns were of a period long after
that of Lanfranc, and that the western arch was
evidently not Saxon. It was the fashion in Lysons'
time to call all Norman work " Saxon," but it was
probable that not one stone of Lanfranc's work
now remained. " In all likelihood," continued
Mr. Hartshorne, "his work consisted of buildings
at the east end only, the church being carried on
gradually towards the west, the tower being finally
undertaken about the middle of the twelfth century.
The date of n 50 would agree very well with the
character of the western doorway. It was pro
bable that this tower did not originally come much
above the nave, and that it was capped with a
pyramidal roof. From inside it could still be seen
that the tower was once lighted by windows on
the north and south, of which the inner arches re
mained." The most striking features of the tower
are its gigantic buttresses, which are of several
types. It is surmised that originally the northern
tower had shallow buttresses, but that when the
church was rebuilt in the early part of the fourteenth
century the tower was raised from what was now
the first break in the clasping buttresses. As time
went on, the tower failed under the additional
weight. " It was the old story of works in the
Middle Ages," observed Mr. Hartshorne — "bad
foundations and want of cohesion in the walls.
The ruptures were remedied by casting the Late
Norman pilasters — a work resulting in the forma
tion of the ponderous clasping buttresses, probably
in the early part of the fifteenth century. Fully half
a century later the men of Harrow, undeterred by
the failures of their forefathers, added the present
wooden and leaden spire. It was a bold stroke,
but it made Harrow Church, in the words of
Charles the Second, ' The Visible Church.' . . .
The isolated spire of Harrow had, perhaps, left a

256

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow.

more vivid impression upon a multitude of culti
vated minds than any other erection of the same
sort throughout the kingdom. Its unique and
commanding position had contributed much to this
renown ; but, probably, few had realised upon what
a bolstered-up sub-structure this spire was raised.
Strictly speaking, it was but a wooden skeleton,
craftily enough put together, but exhibiting no
lines of beauty, such as might be seen in the
delicate entasis of the stone spire at Leighton Buz
zard, that fitting crown of a noble cross church.
Harrow spire was, in short, a surprising, and not
really artistic, result of the vaulting ambition of
eager, but unpractical, builders. But what boldness,
what belief in their powers to surpass their prede
cessors, did it not show ! Untrammelled by the
exigencies of Revivals, the Harrow men were no
mere vulgar copyists : they honestly did their work
in the church which they delighted to honour, and
we might truly rejoice to-day that the spire still
lives to tell the story of their faith."
On a fine clear day, it is said 'that you can see
no less than thirteen counties from the top of the
church-tower, almost at. the foot of which, a little
to the south-west, is "Byron's tomb" — not his
grave, but the tombstone on which, when a boy at
the school, he would lie at full length on summer
afternoons and evenings, and watch the setting sun.
This tomb is an altar-shaped monument, near
the south-west corner of the church. It is
mentioned in the lines quoted as the motto of
this chapter, from the poet's verses " On a Distant
View of the Village and School of Harrow-on-the-
Hill;" and it is also thus referred to by Lord
Byron in a letter to Mr. Murray, dated May 26,
1822 : — "There is a spot in the churchyard, near
the footpath, on the brow of the hill, looking
towards Windsor, and a tomb under a large tree
(bearing the name of Peachie, or Peachey), where
I used to sit for hours and hours when a boy.
This was my favourite spot." The tomb was re
paired by Mr. John Murray and other admirers of
the poet a few years ago.
The whole body of the church, from the tower
eastward, was apparently rebuilt in the first quarter
of the fourteenth century, and the circular columns
mentioned above belonged rather to that period
than to Lanfranc's time, as Lysons supposed.
The walls of the church as they now stand are
almost wholly modern, externally at least, the
building having been "thoroughly restored" by
Sir Gilbert Scott in 1840. "Forty years ago,"
remarked Mr. Hartshorne, in his lecture above
quoted, " the stones of this building were alive to
tell their own story, for each successive generation

of builders had left its mark upon the church in its
own style. The story was, perhaps, not always a
pleasing one : for instance, the works of the
Georgian period did not always commend them
selves to our judgment ; but where was any part of
that story now? One would have liked to have
found on the outside as well as inside some original
evidence of the genius of the workmen of the four
teenth and fifteenth centuries — some fragment at
least of the ancient Perpendicular, some vestige of
old flint work. Not a scrap of any of those things
remained. The human interest of an old building
was not comprised solely in its date, its early or
incidental work or repairs ; we could not choose the
one period and reject the other any more than we
could pin our historic faith upon the strifes of the
Roses and ignore the nobler struggles of the Civil
Wars. The whole fabric of an old church was a
sermon in stone, easily read, and showing in its
successive changes the poverty, wealth, earnestness,
and faith of the community in which it was set down ;
it was a chapter in the history of a country ; it was
in one sense the story of a district. But it was
cheering to believe that a restoration of the kind
which this church underwent would be nearly
impossible at the present day. We had learned
much in the last forty years, but the teaching had
involved the loss of much that was very precious —
much that, properly understood, was of the deepest
historical interest, for it was impossible in the case
of an old church to. divorce history from architecture."
At the time of the restoration of the church in
1840, the chancel was lengthened, and a north aisle
added to it ; and the noble open timber roof, of
the Perpendicular period, with upright figures of
angels playing on musical instruments on the
corbels, was exposed. The east window is filled
with painted glass, in memory of the Rev. John
W. Cunningham, who died in 1861, having been
for half a century vicar of this parish. Apart from
the tower, the roofing* and the very fine chancel
arch, there is now but little of antiquarian interest
in the walls of this church, excepting the north and
south doorways, both of which are of the Decorated
period, that on the south side having a priest's ,
chamber, or parvise, oyer it. The font, a large
circular marble basin, rudely carved, and resting
upon a thick cable pedestal, is probably a remnant
of Lanfranc's church ; or, at all events, the bowl
would appear to date back to the eleventh century ;
the rim and base, however,' are modern. This
font had for about half a century done duty as a
water-trough in the vicarage garden, but was
restored to the church a few years ago, and now
stands near the south entrance.

Harrow.]

PRIOR BOLTON'S REFUGE.

257

The tombs and monumental inscriptions in the
church are both numerous and interesting. A
brass, now fixed on the chancel arch, commemo
rates John Lyon, the founder of Harrow School.
The inscription runs as follows : — ¦" Heare lyeth
buried the bodye of John Lyon, late of Preston, in
this parish, yeoman, died the nth day of Octr.,
¦ in the yeare of our Lord 1592, who hath founded a.
free grammer schoole in this p'she, to have con
tinuance for ever; and for maintenance thereof,
and for releyffe of the poore, and of some poore
schollers in the universityes, repairinge of highwayes,
and other good and charitable uses, hath made
conveyance of lands of good value to a corporation
granted for that purpbse. Prayers be to the
Author of all goodness, Who make us myndful to
follow his good example."
Another brass, representing a knight in armour
beneath a canopy, has an inscription in memory of
Sir John Flambard, who, in the reign of Edward
III., held one of the manors in Harrow. The
inscription which Wee ver, records for John Byrkhed,
rector of Harrow, who died in 1480, is gone,
although the headless figure, canopy, and arms, in
brass, are still remaining. There is also the head
less brass of another priest, Simon Marchford, who
died in 1442.
Among the monuments is one to Dr. Sumner,
Head Master of Harrow School, who died in 177 1 ;
it bears a Latin inscription from the pen of Dr.
Parr. Dr. Samuel Garth, an eminent physician in
his day and author of "The Dispensary J' was
buried in the chancel in 17 19. In Hay's " Religio
Philosophi" it is stated that Garth ordered a
vault to be made for himself and his lady in this
church, in consequence of an " accidental whim."
Lysons, in his " Environs of London " (1795),
says that this church "is in the peculiar juris
diction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, being
reckoned among the parishes belonging to the
Deanery of Croydon in Surrey." Peculiars, how
ever, are now abolished, and Harrow is included
in the diocese of London.
, "Formerly," says Newcourt in the "Reper
torium," " there was at Harrow both a rectory and
a vicarage ; the rectory was a sinecure, to which
the Archbishop collated a rector, who thereupon
became patron of the vicarage."
A chantry appears to have been founded in this
church by William de Bosco, one of the rectors, in
the year 1524.
Among the old rectors, Cuthbert Tunstall,
Bishop of Durham from the year 1511 to 1522, was
the most remarkable. He was succeeded by William
Bolton, the last prior but one of St. Bartholomew's,

in Smithfield. Concerning this last-mentioned
worthy a singular story is told. He is reported to
have made Harrow-on-the-Hill a " city of refuge "
to which he and his brethren retreated at the end
of January, 1524, on account of a prophecy which
a credulous public had believed, that London
would be washed away by a rising of the waters of
the Thames, on the 1st of February. Camden
says that Prior Bolton " built a house here, for fear
of an inundation after a great conjunction of
planets in the watery triplicity." He is said to
have remained here for two months. Dr. Mackay,
in his "Memoirs of Popular Delusions," after
telling us how most of the upper classes with
drew on this occasion to Hampstead, Highgate,
and the Surrey Hills, adds the following narrative,
which does not raise the prior in our estimation : —
" Bolton, the Prior of St. Bartholomew's, was so
alarmed, that he erected, at very great expense, a
sort of fortress at Harrow-on-the-Hill, which he
stocked with provisions for two months. On the
24'th of January, a week before the awful day which
was to see the destruction of London, he removed
thither, with the brethren and officers of the Priory
and all his household. A number of boats were
conveyed in waggons to his fortress, furnished
abundantly with expert rowers, in case the flood,
reaching so high as Harrow should force them to
go further for a resting-place. Many wealthy
citizens prayed to share his retreat ; but the Prior,
with a prudent forethought, admitted only his per
sonal friends, and those who brought stores of eat
ables for the blockade.
" At last the morn, big with the fate of London,
appeared in the east. The wondering crowds
were astir at an early hour to watch the rising of
the waters. The inundation, it was predicted,
would be gradual, not sudden ; so that they ex
pected to have plenty of time to escape, as soon as
they saw the bosom of old Thames heave beyond
the usual mark. But the majority were too much
alarmed to trust to this, and thought themselves
safer ten or twenty miles off. The Thames, un
mindful of the foolish crowds upon its banks, flowed
on quietly as of yore. The tide ebbed at its usual
hour, flowed to its usual height, and then ebbed
again, just as if twenty astrologers had not pledged
their words to the contrary. Blank were their
faces as evening approached, and as blank grew
the faces of the citizens to think that they had
made such fools of themselves. At last night set
in, and the obstinate river would not lift its waters
to sweep away even one house out of the ten
thousand. Still, however, the people were afraid
to go to sleep. Many hundreds remained up till

258

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow.

dawn of the next day, lest the deluge should come
upon them like a thief in the night.
" On the morrow it was seriously discussed
whether it would not be advisable to duck the
false prophets in the river. Luckily for them,
they thought of an expedient which allayed the
popular fury. They asserted that, by an error (a
very slight one) of a little figure, they had fixed the
date of this awful inundation a whole century too
early. The stars were right, after all, and they,

privileges were obtained for the inhabitants
through the intercession of the Archbishops of
Canterbury. The market, which was granted in
1262, appears to have fallen into disuse before the
reign of Elizabeth. Norden, writing at that period,
observes that " Harrow-on-the-Hill was a market-
towne in the time of Doct. Borde's peregrination,
as appeareth by a little Treatise of his in writing.','
Although no longer possessed of the benefits
arising from a regular mart, Harrow is still but

HARROW CHURCH, INTERIOR. (See jiage 256. )

erring mortals, were wrong. The present genera
tion of cockneys were safe, and London would be
washed away, not in 1524, but in 1624. At this
announcement Bolton, the Prior, dismantled his
fortress, and the weary emigrants came back."
Great doubts, however, it is only fair to add,
hang over this entire story.
Outside the churchyard, on the western slope of
the hill, a terrace has been formed, with seats for
visitors. The view from this spot is very exten
sive, embracing as it does the green and level
expanse of western Middlesex, and commanding a
view of Windsor Castle and the Oxfordshire hills.
The town of Harrow could once boast of its
weekly market and its annual fair, both of which

little inferior in size and population to some
market-towns ; what it lacks in that respect being,
in all probability, made up to it by its famous
school. In 187 1 the number of inhabited houses
was 1,503, the population numbering some 8,500
souls; but such has been the additional* advantage
offered of late years by railway communication
with the metropolis— for there are now two railway-
stations here, one on the North- Western and the
other on the Metropolitan line — that nearly 5,000
more have been since added to the number of the
inhabitants. The town, too, possesses its Fire
Brigade, its Literary Institution and Young Men's
Society, and a Workman's Hall. The Public Hall
is a large building of " Elizabethan " design, capable

Harrow.]

THE TOWN.

259

of holding upwards of 600 persons ; it was erected
in 1877 by a limited liability company. There is
also a Cottage Hospital, which was erected in 1872,
in the Roxeth Road, on land given by Mr. Charles
Leaf, who also bore the principal part of the ex
pense of the building ; the institution is supported
by voluntary contributions. Harrow has also its
Local Board of Health, its gas and water works,
and its weekly Gazette. Some races were held
here between the years 1864 and 1869, but they
have since been abandoned.
In 1873 a Catholic chapel was erected in the
Roxborough Road. It is dedicated to Our Lady
and St. Thomas of Canterbury, being named after
Thomas a Becket, who, as stated above, spent

the hill, and possesses altogether an air of quiet
respectability, its shops, most small and unassum
ing, being largely mixed up with private houses and
schools, most of which in the architecture are in
keeping with the larger institution to which Harrow
at this day owes its fame, and of which we shall
speak in the following chapter.
As we have already intimated, Harrow cannot
boast of having numbered among its inhabitants,
apart from the school, any men whose names
have become famous in history ; but it may be
worth stating that early in the present century,
at the foot of the hill, lived Mr. Benjamin Rotch,
some time M.P. for Knaresborough. Though
a magistrate for Middlesex and Chairman of the

ffWfC"'

i|;#

HARROW. (From a Pencil Sketch taken in 1817.)

much of his time at Harrow and Pinner. There
are also meeting-houses for different denominations
of Dissenters, and many schools for children.
The principal street of the town is at the top of

Commissioners of the Peace, he sent a challenge
to the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Win
chester ; but the latter retaliated by a criminal
information.

CHAPTER XXV.
HARROW (continued).— THE SCHOOL, ETC.
" Again I re-visit the hills where we sported,
The streams where we swam and the fields where we fought,
The school where, loud warn'd by the bell, we resorted,
To pore o'er the precepts by pedagogues taught." — Byron.
The Distinction between Harrow and Eton as a Public School— The Foundation of Harrow School—" Orders, Statutes, and Rules of the
Government of the School"— Extract from the Founder's Will— Directions as to Children to be Educated— Terms of Admission —
Government of the School — Forms and Divisions — Number of Scholars — Cost of Board and Education — Prizes and Scholarships —
Description of the School Buildings— Athletic Sports and Recreations— Lines in Honour of John Lyon, the Founder— The Practice of
Archery — Shooting for the Silver Arrow— Head Masters and Eminent Harrovians.

The chief interest of Harrow in the present day is
centred in its school, which, in spite of the absence
of a regular collegiate foundation, stands second

only to Eton among those nurseries of great and
distinguished men — the "public schools" of the
kingdom. Though resembling it in its aristocratic

26o

GREATER LONDON,

[Harrow,

connection, and in some of its other features,
Harrow differs radically and distinctly from Eton.
It never was an ecclesiastical foundation, nor even
an adjunct to one. At Harrow, therefore, there is
no venerable Provost or body of Fellows to act as
a check upon the head-master.
The founder of Harrow, as shown in the preced
ing chapter, was a plain yeoman, John Lyon, who
lived in the hamlet of Preston, within the bounds
of the parish to which he proved himself so great a
benefactor. Even in his middle life he set apart
" twenty marks " yearly for the instruction of poor
children ; and in the thirteenth year of Elizabeth's
reign (157 1) he obtained letters patent and a
charter from the queen, empowering him to found
a "Free Grammar School" at Harrow, and to
draw up statutes for its regulation and govern
ment. It was nearly twenty years after the issue of the
above-mentioned charter, and only two years before
his death, which took place in October, 1592, that
John Lyon drew up and promulgated the document,
entitled his " Orders, Statutes, and Rules for the
Government of the School," containing full in
structions for the disposal of the property which he
intended to devote to that purpose. The sum of
^300 was to be expended on the building of a
school, with houses for the master and usher, who
were to be elected by the governors : the former
" to be on no account below the degree of Master
of Arts," nor the latter " under that of Bachelor of
Arts." The founder expressly particularises the estates
with which, after the death of himself and his wife,
Johan, he intends to endow his establishment. At
this period a house for the reception of the scholars
had not been provided, and the founder thus ex
presses his intentions on that head : — " And I, the
said John Lyon, doe purpose, by ye Grace of God,
to build w"1 some p" of my lands lying within the
towne of Harrow uppon ye Hill meete and con
venient Roomes for the said Schoole Master and
Usher to inhabite and dwell in ; as alsoe a large
and convenient Schoole house, with a chimney in it.
And, alsoe, a celler under the said Roomes or
Schoole house, to lay in wood and coales, which
said Celler shall be divided into three several
Roomes, ye one for y* M'; the second for the
Usher, and y° third for ye schollers."
The property left by John Lyon for the support
of his school, and for the repairing of the road
between London and Harrow, consists of lands
which now bring in, it is said, an income of ,£4,000
a year ; but it so happens that the lands in Mary-
lebone and Paddington, which now are by far the

most valuable, were assigned to the latter of these
two purposes, so that the school, though it seems
to have been the principal object of Lyon's
charity, reaps comparatively but little benefit there
from. The founder directs that a competent number of
scholars, children of "inhabitants within the
parish," shall be educated freely; but he allows
the schoolmaster to " receive over and above . .
so many 'foreigners ' as that the whole number may
be well taught, and as the place can conveniently
contain, at the judgment and discretion of the
governors. And of the ' foreigners ' he may take
such stipends and wages as he can get, except they
be of the kindred of John Lyon, the founder, so
that he take pains with all indifferently, as well of
the parish as ' foreigners,' as well of poor as of rich ;
but the discretion of the governors shall be looked
to that he do."
No boy can be admitted into the school without
passing an entrance examination, sufficient to show
that he has mastered the chief difficulties of his
Latin 'Grammar, and has made some progress in
his Greek Grammar, and also in Arithmetic. No
boy can be admitted after completing his fifteenth
year, or in any case without a certificate of good
conduct from his master or tutor; nor can he
remain in the school (without special permission)
after sixteen, unless he has reached the Shell at
least ; after seventeen, unless he has reached the
" Upper Remove ; " or after eighteen, unless he is
in the Sixth Form.
Every boy at Harrow, however high or low, be
he a boarder or a day-boy (home-boarder), is ex
pected to have a private tutor ; and some portion
of the work taken up by the lower boys to the
school must be previously gone over by him with
his tutor in "Pupil-room." In this respect, the
system of Harrow agrees in principle with Eton,
though in the practice of the two schools there
are many points of difference, which we have not
space to explain here.
The school is under the control of a governing
body, and is subject to the Archbishop of Canter
bury and the Bishop of London as Visitors.
The school consists of fifteen "monitors;" a
Sixth Form, divided into two " Removes ; " a Fifth
Form, divided into four " Removes : " " the
Remove," in two " divisions ; " the " Upper Shell,"
in two " divisions ; " followed by a third and a
fourth " Remove " of the same ; a Fourth Form in
three "Removes;" and, lastly, a Third Form,
which contains only a few boys. The Second and
First Forms no longer exist.
The numbers of the school, which in the last

Harrow.]

THE SCHOOL.

261

century rarely rose above 100, have fluctuated
during the present- century from 300, under the
late Dr. G. Butler and Dr. Longley, to between
70 and 80 under Dr. Wordsworth. Under Dr.
Vaughan the numbers steadily rose to between
480 and 500 ; and under his successor, the present
Dr. H. Montagu Butler, they have reached 580,
which the Governors have now fixed as the limit
beyond which it is not desirable that the school
should increase.
Every boy at Harrow is obliged to learn French,
as part of the system ; but .after reaching a certain
place in the school he learns either French or
German. Of late years much greater prominence
has been given to the teaching of modern languages
than was the case in former times.
The cost for school-fees, board, and tuition, at
Harrow, is about ^135 in the larger houses, and in
the smaller houses ^180 a year. This represents
the total of necessary expenses, exclusive of " ex
tras " and tradesmen's accounts.
At Harrow there are plenty of motives for
exertion, in the shape of prizes and scholarships,
which are awarded by public competition. First
and foremost stand the "Lyon," or "entrance
scholarships" (six or seven in number), of an
annual value of from ^30 to £$0, besides which
there are annually given eleven other scholar
ships, called, after their founders, the Sayer, Spencer,
Neeld, Gregory, Botfield, Leaf, Anderson, Baring,
Roundell, Clayton Memorial, and Ponsonby, vary
ing from £$0 to ;£ioo a year. There are also
annual prizes of books, and of gold and silver
medals, founded by Mr. A. Beresford-Hope, by the
late Sir R. Peel, Isabella Gregory, the late Mr.
Beriah Botfield, Lord Charles Russell, Viscount
Ebrington, Mr. Oxenham, and Mr. Cyril Flower,
for compositions in English, Latin, and Greek
prose and verse, modern languages, &c. ; and the
successful compositions are publicly recited on
" Speech Day," the first Thursday in July. The
late Mr. Joseph Neeld also founded an annual
prize for mathematics— a gold medal, of the value
of ten guineas ; the head master gives prizes for
natural science and for English and Latin com
position. There are also annual prizes for the
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Shakespeare,
modern history, reading, and English literature.
It is almost needless to add that the monitorial
and fagging systems— both, if rightly understood
and properly applied, the best guarantees against
tyranny and bullying — are in full operation at
Harrow. The school is situated immediately to the south
of the church, whilst the houses of the masters are

scattered about the town. The school buildings
form, as it were, the centre of attraction. TheSe
are mostly of red brick ; they stand between the
head-master's house ' and the churchyard. The
most interesting part of these buildings is the
" Fourth Form Room ; " it is also the largest of
all the school-rooms, though small in comparison
of the Upper School at Eton. This was the
original school-room of Lyon's foundation. It is a
small, plain apartment, still containing the original
fittings — a canopied master's seat at the further
end, a lesser arm-chair and desk for the usher near
the centre, and tiers of low benches and backless
forms placed on either side of the room. It has an
interest peculiar to itself; for on the dingy oak
panelling which surrounds it are rudely carved the
names and initials of some of the most illustrious
sons of Harrow, cut by their own hands when
boys : among the number are " Byron," " Robert
Peel," " Robinson " (afterwards Earl of Ripon),
"Aberdeen," "Temple" (afterwards Lord Palmer-
ston), "Sir William Jones," " R. B. Sheridan,"
and " Normanby." The names of Harrovians of
recent date are carved by a hired and experienced •
hand, and in a more regular way, so as to prove a
record of most who leave the school. The opposite
wing of the school buildings contains the old
" Speech Room," erected about sixty years ago
by subscription, under the auspices of the late
Dr. Butler, then head-master, afterwards Dean of
Peterborough. It is said to have cost ^10,000.
In it, as may be inferred from its name, the annual
" speeches " were formerly held every summer.
It was furnished with seats capable of accommoda
ting about 500, and on " Speech Day " it was filled
with all the rank and beauty of the land, even
royalty itself not unfrequently being present. The
room is now used for the purposes of school ex
aminations. In stained glass in the windows are
the armorial bearings of Queen Elizabeth and
George III., and of sundry governors, head-masters,
and benefactors. The " Fourth Form Room " is
used for school prayers for some of the scholars,
and on wet holidays and half-holidays instead of
the school-yard, for calling over the "bill" of
names, as the roll-call, or " absence '' of Eton, is
here termed.
In 187 1, at a meeting of "Old Harrovians," it
was decided to celebrate the tercentenary of the
foundation of the school by the erection of a
new " speech-room " and other buildings connected
with different branches of education, including
school-rooms, a museum, laboratory, gymnasium,
lecture-rooms, &c. In order to carry out these
various objects, a subscription was immediately set

262

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow

on foot ; and the first stone of the new buildings
was laid by the Duke of Abercorn on Speech-day,
July 2nd, 1874. The new speech-room stands on
the opposite side of the road to the old college
chapel, and it was built from the designs of
the late Mr. William Burges, at a cost, including
the site, of nearly ,£20,000. It is a semi-circular
building, the chord being occupied by a large plat
form stage, while the tiers of seats rise in rows
j against the opposite wall. In the floor of the
| orchestra, below the desk of the head-master, is
the keyboard of an organ, trackers being carried
under the platform to the pipes against the outer
wall. The roof is vaulted in pitch-pine, carried on
slender iron columns, and the entire effect is quite
dissimilar from any other building of the kind.
The boys of Harrow School attended Divine
service in the parish church down to about the
year 1840, when, under the head-mastership of
Dr. Wordsworth, a chapel was built for them at the
north end of the High Street, which they
attended for afternoon services. It was a brick
building, erected in a style to harmonise with the
other portions of the school, from the designs of
Mr. C. R. Cockerell, R.A. In 1854 that chapel
was pulled down, and a new and larger chapel
built on its site. The new school chapel was de
signed by Sir G. Gilbert Scott, and built under Dr.
Vaughan's head-mastership. It is a handsome
Gothic structure, consisting of nave, chancel, and
side aisles, one of which was erected in memory of
the Harrovians who fell in the Crimean war. A few
yards beyond the chapel is the Vaughan Library,
erected in i860 in memory of Dr. Vaughan, who
was head-master from 1845 to that date. It was
built from the designs of Sir Gilbert Scott, and is
in the Decorated Gothic style. It is a large and
spacious room, and contains not only a good and
serviceable library for the use of the boys in the
Upper School, together with cabinets of minerals,
coins, bronzes, and china, but also some interesting
relics of Harrow in the olden days, and a series of
portraits of the head-masters from Thackeray down
wards, and of sundry illustrious old Harrovians,
among whom Lord Palmerston, the Marquis of
Dalhousie, Lord Herbert, Lord Byron, and the
late Earls of Aberdeen and Ripon, stand con
spicuous. <
Almost adjoining to the library is the hoirse of
the head-master; it is a plain substantial edifice
of red brick, with mullioned windows, and, including
a wing recently erected, can contain about sixty
boys. In 1864 a sanatorium, which bears the reputa
tion of being well arranged and organised, was

erected at a little distance from the school ; and
in 1874 — 5 further additions were made in the
shape of a gymnasium, and laboratories, and
Natural Science schools. All these new buildings
have been erected out of the Lyon Memorial Fund
of 1871.
There is a covered and other racket-courts just
below the school buildings, on the slope of the hill,
leading down towards the cricket-field. This is far
inferior in beauty to the exquisite " playing fields "
of Eton ; but the Harrow boys have frequently
shown at Lord's that they can produce far better
" elevens " than their great rivals. The game of
the winter months is football. Not only in cricket
and football do the Harrow boys bear away the
palm, but also in rifle practice they may be said
to hold their ground among the public schools,
having carried off the Ashburton Challenge Shield
no less than nine times.
By his will John Lyon settled the salaries of the
masters, and specified the numbers of the " forms "
in the school; their books and their exercises;
their school hours, recreations, and vacations;
and he recognised as lawful and appropriate
games " driving a top," " tossing a hand-ball," and
" running and shooting." The latter diversion was
even insisted on : for the parents were required to
furnish their children with "bow-strings, shafts,
and bracers, to exercise shooting."
With such solicitude for the well-being of the
scholars, not only during the school hours, but
also in play-time, it is not to be wondered that the
name of the founder of the school is held in high
veneration by Harrovians., As it is written in
" The Carthusian "—
"A Harrow man vows that there's obtiev fieKTtov
To be met with on earth than his founder, John Lyon."
The following lines on "Lyon of Preston,
Founder," were sung at the Tercentenary Festival
of Harrow in 1871 : —
" Lyon, of Preston, yeoman John,
Full many a year ago,
Built, on the hUl that I live on
A school that you all may know ;
Into the form, first day, 'tis said,
Two boys came for to see :
One with a red ribbon, red, red, red,
And one with a blue — like me !
" Lyon, of Preston, yeoman John,
Lessons he bade them do ;
Homer, and multiplica-ti-on,
And spelling, and Cicero ;
' Red Ribbon' never his letters knew,
Stuck at the five times three ;
But Blue Ribbon learnt the table through,
And said it all off — like me !

Harrow.;

SHOOTING FOR THE SILVER ARROW.

263

" Lyon, of Preston, yeoman John,
Said to them both ' Go play.'
. Up slunk 'Red Ribbon ' all alone,
Limped from the field away;
'Blue Ribbon' played like a hero's son,
All by himself played he :
Five score runs did he quickly run,
And was still Not Out— like me
' Lyon, of Preston, yeoman John,
All in his anger sore,
Flogged the boy with the Red ribbon,
Set him the Georgics four ;
But the boy with the Blue Ribbon got, each week,
Holidays two and three,
And a prize for sums, and a prize for Greek,
And an Alphabet prize — like me !
" Lyon, of Preston, yeoman John,
Died many years ago,
All that is mortal of him is gone,
Buthe lives in a school I know.
All of them work at their cricket there,
And work at their five times three ;
And all of them, ever since that day, wear
A ribbon of blue— *like me!"
It is quite clear that the worthy Master Lyon
considered archery a most necessary part of what
the old Greek philosophers styled the "gymnastic"
part of education. At Harrow, at all events, the
practice of archery was coeval with the school ;
and here the "gentle art" wbuld seem to have
been kept alive down to a comparatively recent
date by the observance of an annual custom.
To encourage archery Lyon instituted a prize of
a " silver arrow," to be shot for annually on the
4th of August ; but the day was subsequently
changed to the first Thursday in July. " In my
time," says Bishop Latimer, writing in 1509, "my
poor father was as diligent to teach me to shoot
as to learn me any other thing, and so I think
other men did their children ; he taught me how
to draw, how to lay my body to the bow, and not
to draw with strength of arms, as divers other
nations do, but with strength of body. I had my
bow bought me according to my age and strength ;
as I increased in them, so my bows were made
bigger and bigger ; for men shall never shoot well
except they be brought up in it. It is a worthy
game, a wholesome kind of exercise, and much
commended in physic."
There were six, and in later times twelve, com
petitors for John Lyon's silver arrow ; and he who
first shot twelve times nearest to the central mark
was proclaimed the victor, and carried off the
prize, a triumphal procession of boys attending
him. The competitors were attired in fancy
dresses of spangled satin, generally of white and
green, with green silk sashes and silken caps.

The Butts were at the entrance, on the left of the
London road, entering the village. They were
backed by a lofty knoll, crowned with trees ; on the
slope of this eminence were cut rows of grassy
seats, gradually descending, and worthy, according
to Dr. Parr, of a Roman amphitheatre.
We hear from the Harrow " School Lists " that
the last contest for the silver arrow took place in
July, 1771. In the following September, Dr.
Sumner, the head-master, died, and was succeeded
by Dr. Heath. The arrow prepared for the next
year's contest (being the last ever made for this
purpose, and, as the arrow-shooting was abolished
in 1772, never shot for) became the property of
the Rev. B. H. Drury, one of the assistant-masters,
son of the Rev. Henry Drury (himself for many
years an assistant, and for some time before his
death under-master), to whom it had descended
from his uncle, Dr. Heath. Mr. Drury presented
it a few years since to the school library, where it
is still religiously kept.
The abolition of the practice of arrow-shooting
will ever be a source of deep regret to all Harrovians.
Nevertheless, Dr. Heath, the head-master who
suppressed it, must not on this account be too
severely blamed. The reasons which induced
him to abandon this ancient custom are stated
to have been a serious accident which befel one of
the competitors, the frequent exemptions from the
regular business of the school which the shooters
claimed as a privilege not to be infringed upon !
as well as the band of disorderly persons whom
this exhibition brought down to the village, in
consequence of its vicinity to the metropolis.
These encroachments and annoyances had at
length become so injurious to discipline, as, after
some»vain attempts at the correction of the evil, to
call for the total abolition of the usage.
About the year 1810, the charming spot called
The Butts, where the shooting for the silver arrow
took place, were denuded of wood, and the knoll
itself has at length disappeared, its site being now
entirely occupied by private dwelling-houses. The
prefatory introduction to the School Lists says
that " in the school there may now be seen a
humble representation of ' The Butts ' on the day
of the annual contest." "In that frontispiece"
(according to the testimony of the late Rev. H.
Drury, in a letter of the 20th July, 1838) "the
village barber is seen walking off like one of
Homer's heroes, with an arrow in his eye, stooping
forward, and evidently in great pain, with his
hand applied to the wound. It is perfectly true
that this Tom of Coventry was so punished ; and I
have somewhere a ludicrous account of it in Dr.

264

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow.

Parr's all but illegible autograph." This testimony
is confirmed by that of the late Lord Arden, an old
Harrovian, in a letter of the 17th July, 1838: —
" I remember a print representing the circumstance
of one of the boys having shot so wide of the mark
that his arrow struck a man, or boy, in the eye,

that the stooping individual in the print represented
Goding, the barber, " who," she said, " was shot in
the mouth, and lost two or three of his feeth
thereby." This is evidently another version of the
above story, substituting only the gaping mouth
as a various reading for the peeping eye.

THE FOURTH FORM ROOM. (See page 261.)

which, I believe, was the occasion of the shooting
for a silver arrow being discontinued." Whether
Lord Arden's conjecture as> to the cause of the
suppression of the arrow-shooting be correct or not,
his lordship's testimony, it has been well observed,
is of considerable value, as showing the traditional
opinion held in his day about the interpretation of
the point. Moreover, a few years ago, a Mrs.
Arnold, an octogenarian inhabitant of Harrow,
with a clear memory of bygone times, fully believed

The names of many of the successful competitors
for the " silver arrow " may be found in the earlier
volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine, from which
we take the following : —
Vol. I. "Thursday, 5 August, 1731. — Accord
ing to an ancient custom, a silver arrow, value £2,
was shot for at ' The Butts,' at Harrow-on-the-Hill,
by six youths of that free school, in archery habits,
and won by Master Brown, son of Captain Brown,
commander of an East-Indiaman." Vol. XXVIL,

Harrow.]

A MALICIOUS COMPETITOR.

:65

p. 381. "Thursday, 4, August 1757. — The silver
arrow shot for by the young gentlemen of Harrow
School was won by Master Earle." Vol. XXXL,
p. 329. "Thursday, 2 July, 1761. — The silver
arrow was shot for (as usual) by twelve young
gentlemen at Harrow-on-the-Hill, and was won by
the Earl of Barrymore." Vol. XXXIV., p. 346.
"Thursday, 5, July 1764.— The silver arrow
annually shot for at Harrow was won by Master
Mee."* Vol. XXXV., p. 344. "Thursday, 4

and bears this inscription (for which, it may be
charitably presumed, the learned head-master did
not hold himself responsible) : ' PretiumVictori^e
a Carolo Wager Allix potitum tertia Mensis
Julii, 1766.' Several of the old people (Mother
Bernard, Dick Martin, &c.) told me they remem
bered well my father's winning it, and that it was
very warmly contested, one of the shooters being
peculiarly desirous to gain it, inasmuch as three of
his brothers in succession had previously been the

SHOOTING FOR THE ARROW.
(From an Old Print, 1769.)

July, 1765. — The silver arrow was shot for by
twelve youths of Harrow School, and won by Master
Davies. Some Indian warriors, at that time in
England, were present to witness the exhibition."
From a private letter : — " Thursday, 3 July, 1766. —
The silver arrow was shot for as usual, and won by
Master Charles Wager Allix." Respecting this
last-mentioned arrow, Dr. Butler, the head-master,
received from Mr. Charles Allix, of Willoughby
Hall, Lincolnshire, son of the prizeman, a com
munication to the following effect : — " It is nearly,"
he writes, " of the size and shape of a real arrow,
*It would be interesting to know if this " Master Mee " was the grand
father of Lord Palmerston, who was an Harrovian, and whose mother,
according to the Peerages, was the daughter of one Benjamin Mee, Esq.
23

victors. On this occasion, therefore, the boy's
father and family, were present, and most intense
was their anxiety for his success. ' For ' (as Mother
B. expressed it) ' the father had stuck up the three
arrows already in the three corners of his drawing-
room, and so especially wanted the fourth to fill up
the other corner.' I have now the bow with which
it was won; and my father has told me that
only a week before the day of shooting he dis
covered that by some one it had been maliciously
broken. This discovery plunged him into the
deepest despair ; however, he sent the bow imme
diately to London, for the chance of its being
repaired. It was repaired, but considerably
shortened. Still, to his inconceivable delight, he

266

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow.

found, upon trying it, that he could shoot with it
even better than ever, and he won the prize."
With reference to the shooting in 1769, the
following interesting anecdote was communicated
to the Dean of Peterborough (Dr. Butler) upon the
authority of the late Hon. Archibald Macdonald.
On the day of the competition, two boys, Merry
and Love, were equal, or nearly so, and both of
them decidedly superior to the rest, when Love,
having shot his last arrow into the bull's eye, was
greeted by his school-fellows with a shout, " Omnia
vincit Amor ! " " Not so," said Merry, in an under
voice ; " Nos non cedamus Amori;'' and carefully
adjusting his shaft, shot it into the bull's eye a full
inch nearer to the centre than his exulting com
petitor. So he gained the day. As the name of
" Love " does not occur in the list of shooters for
that year, it is clear that it must have been a nick
name by which one of them was familiarly known.
The " arrow" still forms part of the armorial bear-

arms of harrow school.
ings of the school ; and in the Monitors' Library at
Harrow is still to be seen one of the embroidered
silk dresses which the boys wore at their annual
archery festival. The " silver arrow," however, has
not been shot for since the year 177 1.
On the abolition of the archery contests, public
" speeches " were adopted in their place on the
first Thursdays in May, June, and July, and were
numerously attended by old Harrovians and friends
of the boys. The ten monitors used to speak on'
each of the three days, together with six of the
Sixth Form, according to their seniority, of whom
each six so chosen spoke on one of the three days
only during that year. This custom continued till
1829, when the number of speech-days was reduced
by Dr. Longley (then head-master) to two ; and
that number was subsequently reduced by his
successor, Dr. Wordsworth, in his last year, 1844,
to one. The subjects of the speeches used to be
passages in prose and verse, selected from the best
authors, Greek, Latin, and English. With these, in
process of time, were combined original prize com
positions, commencing with the year 1820, and
increasing in number and variety of style as the
kindness of the governors and the bounty of

sundry old Harrovians and others successively
added to the list of prizes.
Since the foundation of the school the post of
head-master has been held by clergymen of the
highest eminence as scholars, and of the most dis
tinguished ability and talents. In 1660 the Rev.
W. Howe, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge,
was elected to the office. Dr. Thackeray, chaplain
to the Prince of Wales, who was head-master at the
middle of the last century, was succeeded in 1760
by the Rev. Dr. Sumner, under whose superinten
dence the number of pupils in the school rose to
250. It is difficult to discover the proximate cause
of the sudden rise in the numbers of the school
during the head-masterships of Dr. Thackeray and
Dr. Sumner (1740-71), except it is to be found in
the fact that the former was a personal friend of the
Prince of Wales, and a supporter of the side of
Bishop Hoadley in the Bangorian controversy, and
that possibly Eton was thought too " High Church "
for those times, when everything that looked in the
direction of the nonjuring communion was at a
discount among the aristocracy. It is more than
probable, though not at present provable, that such
was the case.
On the death of Dr. Sumner, in 17 71, Dr.
Heath was elected to the office. Mr. (afterwards
Dr.) Parr, the defeated candidate on that occasion,
had been an assistant-master at Harrow under Dr.
Sumner, and he seemed to be generally pointed
out, by his learning and abilities, as the successor
of the late head-master ; indeed, his popularity with
the boys was so great that when the election fell
on Mr. Heath they endeavoured to avenge the
cause of their favourite by overt acts of rebellion,
the " senior form " considering it " an indignity to
have an Eton assistant put over them, when they
had in their own school a person of superior learn
ing." Among the boys who took part in this re
bellion was one Richard Wesley, or Wellesley,
afterwards Marquis Wellesley, and elder brother of
another Arthur Wesley, afterwards better known as
Sir Arthur Wellesley. He was removed by his
guardian, Archbishop Cornwallis, to Eton, whither
he was soon afterwards followed by his younger
brother, who was sent there "under his wing."
Had this not been the case, possibly " the battle of
Waterloo " would not have been " won on the play
ing fields at Eton," but on the slope of a hill-side
in Middlesex.
But to return from this digression. Such was
Dr. Parr's mortification at his failure that he threw
up his situation as assistant-master, and retired
to Stanmore, where he founded a school, and
where we shall meet with him again presently.

Harrow.]

EMINENT HARROVIANS.

267

That establishment, however, failed in the end,
and Mr. Parr was appointed to the living of Hat
ton, in Warwickshire, and afterwards to a prebendal
stall in St Paul's. Dr. Heath's popularity was by
no means enhanced by one of his earliest
measures — the abolition of the time-honoured
custom of shooting for the silver arrow, as already
mentioned.* On Dr. Heath's resignation, Dr. Drury
succeeded to the head-master's chair. Under his
auspices the school attained a greater eminence
than it had ever previously known. At one period
the number of scholars exceeded 350, and the
whole establishment was, in consequence, much
enlarged. Among the pupils under Dr. Heath
were two whose names will ever be regarded with
the deepest veneration by Harrovians : namely,
Lord Byron and .Sir Robert Peel. On the retire
ment of Dr. Drury in 1805, Dr. Butler, afterwards
Dean of Peterborough, was elected. The most
flourishing condition of the school during Dr.
Butler's head-mastership was in 18 16, when the
numbers amounted to 295. In 1829 Dr. Butler
resigned, and was succeeded by Dr. Longley,
whose period of office extended over the short space
of only seven years, for he resigned in 1836,
on being appointed to the bishopric of Ripon.
Dr. Longley was translated to Durham in 1856,
became Archbishop of York in i860, was trans
lated to the see of Canterbury in 1862, and died in
1868. Dr. Longley's successor at Harrow was the Rev.
Christopher Wordsworth. He was a Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, where his father, a
man of eminent learning, was Master. He passed
a brilliant career at the University, having won the
Chancellor's English medal, and been Porson's
prizeman, Browne's medallist, and Craven scholar.
On leaving Harrow in 1844 he was appointed
successively Canon and Archdeacon of West
minster, and in 1869 he was consecrated Bishop
of Lincoln. Dr. Wordsworth's contributions to
literature have been numerous and of great value.
An edition of " Theocritus," " Athens and Attica,"
" Greece," a " Tour in Italy," a " Diary of France,"
the Greek Testament and other portions of the
Holy Bible annotated, "Theophilus Anglicanus,"
and "Memoirs of William Wordsworth," are the
best known among his works, which include several
volumes of sermons on the passing topics of the
day. Dr. Charles John Vaughan held the head master
ship from 1844 till 1859. He was Craven Uni
versity Scholar and Porson's prizeman at Trinity

¦ See ante, p. 263,

College, Cambridge, in 1836 and 1837, and Chan
cellor's medallist in 1838. He was afterwards
elected to a Fellowship of his college. He held
the vicarage of St. Martin's, Leicester, from 1841
to his appointment to Harrow. From 1851 to
1879 he was Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen.
He was appointed Vicar of Doncaster in i860,
Master of the Temple in 1869, and Dean of
Llandaff in 1879, and he has more than once re
fused a bishopric.
Dr. Henry Montagu Butler, the present head
master, is the youngest son of a former head-master,
the Rev. George Butler, D.D., who died in 1853.
Dr. Butler was born in 1833, and was educated at
Harrow School, whence he proceeded to Trinity
College, Cambridge, where he closed a brilliant
undergraduate career by graduating B.A. in 1855
as Senior Classic. In the same year he was elected
Fellow of his college. In 1859, on the retirement
of Dr. Vaughan, he was elected to the head-master
ship of his old school, over which, as before shown,
his father had so long presided.
Of the large number of " eminent men "which
Harrow has contributed to the political and literary
world, it will be impossible, in the limited space at
our command, to do more than briefly notice a few
of the most important. As the school was then
only of local importance, few names of great note
appear in the annals of Harrow previous to the
commencement of the last century.
William Baxter, the author of several classical
and antiquarian works, entered the school about the
year 1668. He was a nepnew of the celebrated
Richard Baxter, the Nonconformist divine, and a
native of Wales. Baxter will be best remembered
by his well-known edition of Horace, and his
"Glossarium Antiquitatum Britannicarum." He
died in 1723.
James Bruce, the celebrated Scotch traveller, was
here between 1742 and 1746. After traversing the
greater part of Asia Minor, he set off in June, 1768,
to discover the source of the Nile. An account of
this journey was published in 1790. It is stated in
the " Harrow Calendar " that Bruce's long residence
abroad " produced no abatement in his attachment
to the place of his education." He died in 1794.
Sir William Jones, the distinguished linguist and
orientalist, entered the school in his seventh year,
under Dr. Thackeray, and was so diligent in his
studies that he became known as the "great
scholar." In 1766 he became tutor to Lord
Althorp, and he afterwards travelled in the East.
He published a "Persian Grammar," th? " Laws of
Menu," &c. In 1783 he was appointed a Judge at
Calcutta, where he founded an Asiatic Society.

268

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow.

Dr. Samuel Parr, whose scholarship was the pride
of Harrow School, was the son of a tradesman in
the town, and was entered on the foundation in
1752. While a boy at the school he fought with
Lord Mountstuart He made such rapid progress
with his learning that at the age of fourteen he was
at the head of the school. Dr. Parr was a great
scholar, but little more. The two dreams of his
life were a four-in-hand, attained late in years, and
a bishopric. In 1792 he published a "Letter from
Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of Eleutheropolis "
upon the Priestley controversy. As a schoolmaster,
he belonged to the order of the " Flagellants," only
his flogging was vicarious ; he flogged others, not
himself. As a critic, his want of acumen was
shown by his signing a
confession of faith as a
guarantor of the Ireland
Shakespeare forgeries. Dr.
Parr died in 1825.
The gallant Admiral Lord
Rodney, the hero of the 12th
of April, 1782, was at school
here before he went to sea.
In the present century
Harrow can boast that four
Prime Ministers of England,
all living at the same time,
had been its alumni — Lord
Ripon, Lord Aberdeen, Sir
R. Peel, and Lord Palmer-
ston. Richard Brinsley Sheri
dan,* the distinguished dramatist, wit, and politician,
was a Harrovian. He died in 1816.
Theodore Hook, the eminent dramatist and
novelist, whose feats of practical joking have often
been mentioned in these pages; displayed his
characteristic love for that particular species of wit
in the early days of his schoolboy life. " The first
night of his arrival here was signalised by a feat of
throwing a stone at a window where an elderly
lady was undressing. The window was broken,
but the lady escaped unhurt. The act was per
petrated at the instigation of Byron." Hook's
powers as an improvisatore gained for him a pass
port into " society." He was patronised by the
Prince Regent, and in 1812 was appointed to a
Government post in the Mauritius, but was re
called in 1818 in consequence of deficiencies and
irregularities in his accounts. He afterwards de
voted himself to journalism and literature, and
his name will be long remembered in connection
* Sec "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 31:.

BYRON'S NAME, "FROM THE FOURTH FORM ROOM.
(See page 261).

with the publication of that witty Tory organ,
John Bull.
Sir Robert Peel, Bart, the Conservative states
man, who conceded the Repeal of the Corn Laws,
and was instrumental in bringing about the Catholic
Emancipation, was a contemporary of Byron at
Harrow. The story is told that one day when Peel
was being severely thrashed, another little boy ran up
to his tormentor, and coolly asked him how many
blows he was going to give him. " What's that to
you, you little rascal ? " was the reply ; " be off."
''Because," answered the little fellow, " I would
take half myself." That brave and generous little
boy was Lord Byron. Peel was first elected to
Parliament in 1809. In 181 7 he was chosen repre
sentative of Oxford Uni
versity, and in 1829 he
was elected for Tamworth.
Sir Robert Peel was suc
cessively Under Secretary
for the Colonies, Chief
Secretary for Ireland, Home
Secretary; Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and twice First
Lord of the Treasury. He
was accidentally killed by
a fall from his horse in 1850.
Lord Byron was entered
at Harrow, under Dr. Drury,
in 1801, and left in 1805.
" During his stay there," as
we learn from the 'Harrow
Calendar,' " he showed
symptoms of that morbid melancholy which so
unhappily distinguished him in after-life. He
himself says that he was 'a most unpopular
boy, but led lately.' He was particularly dis
tinguished for the opposition he made to Dr.
Butler's appointment after the retirement of Dr.
Drury, to whom he had been singularly attached.
A reconciliation, however, took place between
him and the Doctor before his departure for
Greece. He says in his Diary, ' I have retained
many of my school friendships and all my dislikes —
except to Dr. Butler, whom I treated rebelliously,
and have been sorry ever since.' " The poems in
which Byron refers to Harrow are the following : —
" On a Change of Masters at a Great Public
School," "To the Duke of Dorset," " On a Distant
View of the Village and School of Harrow,"
" Lines to Edward Noel Long, Esq." (whom the
poet elsewhere addresses as "Cleon"), "Lines writ
ten beneath an Elm in Harrow Churchyard," " Lines
on Revisiting Harrow." Among his principal
friends here were Curzon, Hunter, Long, and

Harrow.]

HARROW WEALD.

269

Tattersall, whom he addresses as "Davus" in his
" Hours of Idleness," and who is said to have
saved the poet's life by arresting a blow made at
him by a farmer, in a feud on the subject of the
cricket-ground. The Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, born in 1762,
entered Parliament in 1801 as member for North
ampton, and was successively Attorney-General,
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster, and, subsequently, in 1809,
First Lord of the Treasury. He was shot by
Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons
in 1812.
Lord Elgin, the ambassador, and the celebrated
collector of the Elgin marbles ; the third Earl
Spencer, better known as the Lord Althorp of the
Reform Bill era ; Lord Cottenham, some time Lord

Chancellor ; Lord Moira, afterwards Marquis of
Hastings and Governor-General of India; Lord
Clare, Governor of Bombay in 1832, addressed as
"Lycus" in Byron's " Hours of Idleness; " Earl de la
Warr, some time Lord Chamberlain, addressed as
" Euryalus " in the same poem ; the Marquis
Wellesley (before he was sent to Eton) ; Lords
Dalhousie and Herbert ; Sir Henry L. Bulwer ;
the Earl of Shaftesbury ; Mr. A. Beresford-Hope ;
Sir John B. Karslake ; the late Viscount Strang-
ford ; Bishop Charles Wordsworth ; Mr. Herman
Merivale ; Cardinal Manning ; Archbishop Trench ;
Mr. William Spottiswoode, F.R.S. ; the first Lord
Rendlesham, author of the famous Thellusson will,
which gave so much business to the lawyers ;
Dr. Douglas, master of Benett (Corpus Christi)
College, Cambridge ; and the poet Sotheby.

CHAPTER XXVI.
Rura per et valles. —Ovid.
HARROW WEALD, KINGSBURY, ETC.
Rural Aspect of the Locality — The Hamlet of Greenhill — Harrow Weald — Remnants of the Great Forest of Middlesex — Grime's Dyke — All Saints'
Church — Weald Park — Daniel Dancer, the Miser — Roxeth— Sudbury — St. John's Church — The Girl's Home, &c. — Wembley — Descent of
the Manor — The " Green Man," Wembley Hill — Kingsbury : its Rural Character, Boundaries, &c. — Kingsbury Reservoir — The ".Welsh
Harp " — Kingsbury Races — The Parish Church — A Supposed Roman1 Encampment — Fryern Farm and Kingsbury Green— Oliver Gold
smith's Residence-1- The Hamlet of the Hyde — Kenton.

Notwithstanding the gradual extension of Lon
don, and the speed with which most of the outlying
villages and hamlets are being connected one with
another in all directions, there are still left a few
fields and hedgerows to which the cockney holiday-
makers can betake themselves. Here, in the
neighbourhood of Harrow and Kingsbury, the fields
are still green, the hedgerows fresh, the forest trees
put on /their summer garb as of yore, and even the
smaller streams, which here and there expand into
broad lakes and ponds, are not yet forced to burrow
underground. It has been observed that the inhabit
ants of our mighty metropolis are marvellously
neglectful of their privileges. With the exception,
perhaps, of Vienna, there is no capital in Europe
with scenery so beautiful, and so easily accessible.
Yet we see innumerable Londoners, even of intelli
gence and refinement, going on flying trips across the
Channel in the briefest holiday-time, or gathering
into some overcrowded watering-place, where the
charges are outrageous and the accommodation is
indifferent. It is certain, however, that if they did
otherwise we should have no such sequestered and
peaceful scenery anywhere within the borders of

the metropolitan counties as is to be, met with in
the " green lanes " hereabout
As we have shown in the preceding chapters,
Harrow Hill rises abrupt and isolated. Seen from
this the elevating country for miles around has the
appearance of an almost level plain. This sur
rounding land is mostly under cultivation either for
corn or grass; indeed, the land between Harrow and
Heston, which lies away some six miles to the south,
still bears an excellent reputation for its corn, as it
did in the time of "good Queen Bess." *
In the immediate neighbourhood of Harrow,
nestling, as it were, under the sheltering wing of
the hill, lie several suburban ecclesiastical districts,
some of them at one time being reckoned as
hamlets of the mother parish. Between the town
and the railway-station, at the foot of the hill to the
north, is Greenhill, a small cluster of villas and
houses of modern growth. A church for the dis
trict, dedicated to St John the Baptist, was built
in 1866. It is a cruciform, brick-built edifice,
small and unpretending. * See ante p. 4^,

270

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow Weald.

Stretching away northward as far as the rising
ground about Stanmore and Watford, and bounded
on the west by Pinner and on the east by Hendon,
is the broad level tract of country known as Harrow
Weald, a district which retains in its name an
allusion to its former umbrageous and rude
character, the term weald signifying in the Saxon
a wood. It was, in fact, a vast wild woodland,
part of the great forest of Middlesex ; and, although
it has long been " enclosed " and cultivated, there
is still much timber growing here. Britton tells us
that much of the timber used for the construction

favoured with due antiquarian observation. This
is locally termed Grime's Dyke, and consists of a
ditch, or hollow way, lying to the west of the road
leading from Harrow to Watford. This dyke is
in some places nearly twenty feet wide, but is
chiefly overgrown by furze or screened by aquatic
weeds." The heights of the Weald, on the common,
present some extensive and beautiful landscape
scenery. The hamlet of Harrow WTeald lies about two
miles north-east of Harrow Station on the North
western Railway, and consists of a few farm resi-

DISTANT VIEW OF HARROW.

of the roof of Henry VII. 's Chapel at Westminster
Abbey was obtained from the forest about Harrow.
" Near the northern extremity of this Weald,"
observes the author of the " Beauties of England,"
" is a spot of ground supposed to be the most lofty
elevation in the parish of Harrow, and which is said
to form a landmark to mariners approaching
England from the German Ocean. The attention
of the person examining this elevated neighbour
hood may be directed to some contiguous trees,
so ancient, yet so sturdy under the wear of cen
turies, that, with a moderate license of conjecture,
they may be supposed to present memorials of the
great Forest of Middlesex. He will likewise find,
near at hand, a curious, but obscure, vestige of
some very remote age, which has hitherto not been

dences and private houses. It was formed into an
ecclesiastical district in 1845, at which time a
church was erected. This is a small building in
the Decorated style, and is dedicated to All Saints.
A lych-gate at the entrance to the churchyard was
erected to the memory of the Rev. Edward Monro,
the author of "Sacred Allegories," and who was
for upwards of twenty years vicar of this parish,
and who founded and conducted here a school for
training Church schoolmasters.
Weald Park and Bentley Priory are the principal
seats in this neighbourhood ; but, as the greater
part of the latter estate lies in the parish of Stan
more, it will be best noticed in the chapter devoted
to that place. The former, the seat of Mr. Alex
ander Sim, is a large castellated mansion on the

Harrow Weald.]

DANCER, THE MISER.

271

left of the roadway leading to Bushey, and it stands
on high ground, commanding a pleasant view for
miles over the surrounding country. In the park
is a mineral spring.
Harrow Weald, if it has produced no great and

century, the celebrated John Elwes, a member
of Parliament, who possessed property in Maryle-
bone*. worth nearly half a million, was accus
tomed to push his horse across ploughed fields
and dine upon hard eggs, to escape the ruinous

THE WELSH HARP AND RESERVOIR. (See page 273.)

distinguished men whose names have been handed
down to us in the pages of history, has, at all
events, contributed one individual whose eccen
tricities made him famous in his day: namely,
Daniel Dancer, commonly known as " the miser
of Harrow Weald Common." Probably no class
of men has ever exhibited such painful and ludi
crous eccentricities as those unhappy people who
have devoted themselves to the amassing of money
as an end in itself. Towards the end of the last

expense incidental to turnpikes and taverns ;
and this same legislator, who would play a rubber
at whist for a couple of hundred guineas, walked
home on foot every night from the gaming house,
to save a shilling for a hackney coach ! Again,
Scheven, a rich banker of Hamburgh, who lived
also in the last century, is said to have denied him
self not only the comforts, but even the neces-
* See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 242.

272

GREATER LONDON.

[Harrow Weald.

saries, of life; and, among other instances of
penuriousness, it is recorded that after a faithful
service of seventeen years he called in the aid of, a
German tailor for the purpose of attempting to turn
his coat !
Daniel Dancer, who was born in 17 16, was
descended from" a respectable yeoman's family in
the county of Hertford, and his grandfather appears
to have been settled at Bushey, near Watford,
where he followed the occupations of mealman and
maltster. His father, who resided at Stone Cause
way, on Harrow Weald Common, possessed con
siderable property in land, which he farmed himself ;
he had four children, and on his death, in 1736,
his eldest son, Daniel, succeeded to the estate.
It was in the paternal mansion at Astmiss, at
Causeway-gate, that Daniel was doomed by the
fates to spend the whole of his life, which seems to
have been one uninterrupted dreary blank. His
wretched habitation was surrounded by about
eighty acres of his own rich meadow land, with
some of the finest oak timber in the kingdom upon'
it; and he possessed an adjoining farm, called
Waldos, the whole of the annual value of about^25o
per annum, if properly cultivated. But cultivation
was expensive, and so Daniel permitted grass only
to grow there ; indeed, in so neglected a state was
the place for many years, that the house was
entirely surrounded by trees, the fields were choked
with underwood, and the hedges of such an amazing
height as wholly to exclude the prospect of man
kind, and create a dreary gloom all around. A
tree had actually pushed its top through the roof
of his house, which he entered by means of a
ladder, dragged in after him ; for he had fastened
the rotten door on the inside, for fear of burglars,
and determined never to enter the house again
through that aperture. Dancer appears to have
led the life of a hermit during more than half a
century, and to have been as much unacquainted
with, and unknown to, the world, although re
siding within ten or eleven miles of the capital, as
if he had been the inhabitant of a desert. His
only dealing with mankind arose from the sale of
his hay; and he was seldom accosted by anybody,
except when he wandered about the common to
pick up a stray lock of wool, collect the dung of
sheep under the hedges, or trudged along the road
in search of paper, old iron, or cast horse-shoes.
His wealth thus brought him no happiness, but, on
the contrary, it seemed to carry a curse along with it
to its wretched possessor, for he is reported to have
been robbed frequently to a large amount. In order
the more effectually to secure his wealth and riches,
he actually dug a hole, or what military men term a

trou de loup, before the entrance, which he covered
over with loose straw, in such a manner as to
secure the principal approach towards his castle,
and entrap any incautious assailant who might have
the temerity to invade his darling property. After
exhibiting this specimen of his talents as an engi
neer, the modern Midas seems to have slept in
safety amidst his gold.
His sister, who lived along with him for many
years, at length died, and left a considerable sum
of money behind her, which went towards the in
crease of his wealth, and served rather to stimulate
than diminish his avarice. About this time he
commenced an acquaintance with the Tempest
family, which, while it soothed his pride, alleviated
the sufferings and sorrows of his declining age.
The following particulars concerning the death and
burial of Miss Dancer are gleaned from a bio
graphical sketch of the miser published shortly
after his death : —
" Lady Tempest, who happened to live in his
neighbourhood, compassionating the situation of
Miss Dancer, took her into her house during her
last illness, and treated her with uncommon kind
ness. But the disease, which, dreadful to relate,
is supposed to have proceeded originally from in
anition, proved mortal, and rendered all the good
old lady's care ineffectual.
"Although Daniel never evinced any affection
for his sister, he determined to bury her in such a
manner as should not disgrace the family. He ac
cordingly contracted with an undertaker, who agreed
to take timber in return for a coffin, as Mr. Dancei
had no idea of using the precious metals as a vehicle
of exchange ; he, however, could not be prevailed
upon to purchase proper mourning for himself; yet,
in consequence of the entreaty of his neighbours,
he unbound the haybands with which his legs were
usually covered, and drew on a second-hand pair
of black worsted stockings. His coat was of a
whitish-brown colour; his waistcoat had been
black about the middle of the last century, and the
immediate covering to his head, which seemed to
have been taken from Mr. Elwes' wiggery, and to
have descended to Daniel as an heirloom, gave a
grotesque appearance to the person of a chief
mourner but too well calculated to provoke mirth.
This, indeed, was increased by the slipping of his
horse's girth at the place of burial, in consequence
of which the rider — to the great diversion of some
of the Harrow boys who attended — was precipitated
into the grave ! "
The old miser at length died, in September,
1794, at the age of 78, and was buried in Harrow
churchyard.

Sudbury.]

WEMBLEY.

273

"Notwithstanding the miserable aspect of the
house and its inhabitants — both brother and sister
(the former especially, who was nearly naked) — yet
on Daniel's death, not only plate, table-linen, and
twenty-four pairs of good sheets, but clothes of
every description, were found locked up in chests.
The female attire, of which there was a correct
inventory in the brother's own handwriting, was
valued at seventeen pounds. He also, among other
apparel, had some excellent boots ; but he pre
ferred to encase his legs with the still warmer cover
ing of hay-bands.
"Although he possessed two ancient but tole
rably good bedsteads, with the proper furniture,
originally belonging, as well as the house, to the
Edlins, a family of some property, yet they were
carefully secluded from the light of heaven, and
both he and his sister slept on sacks stuffed with
hay, and covered with a horse rug.
" During the last twenty years Daniel's house is
said to have been entered at least fourteen times
by thieves, and the amount of his losses is calcula
ted at two thousand five hundred pounds. As the
lower part was in such a ruinous state as to admit
a person with ease, it was recommended to him to
get it repaired ; but he replied, ' that this would
be only throwing away more money, for then they
would get in at the windows.' In order to employ
the attention of the marauders, until he should
escape to his hiding-place, he was accustomed to
strew the ground floor with farthings and sixpences
wrapped up in paper.
"The whole of Dancer's property, on his
decease, amounted to about ten thousand pounds
—a sum which, by proper management, he might
have doubled, and at the same time allowed him
self all the comforts of life.
" In his miserable habitation were found some
hundred-weight of waste-paper, the collection of
half a century, and two or three tons of old iron,
consisting of nails, horse-shoes, &c, which he had
picked up. On the ground floor several pieces of
foreign gold and silver were dug up, and some
coins, among which were a crown and a shilling of
the English Commonwealth."
Roxeth, which unites itself with Harrow on the
south-west side, was formerly an outlying hamlet,
but since 1863 has been a distinct ecclesiastical
district, separated from the parish church. It is,
however, a separate manor from that of Harrow,
having been granted by the Archbishop of Canter
bury in the fourteenth century to Sir William
Brembre and -his heirs. Prior to that time it
appears to have been merely an estate within the
manor of Harrow, belonging to William Roxeth,

who was outlawed for felony. Christ Church,
which was built in 1862, to meet the requirements
of this rapidly-increasing district, is built in the Early
English style, of flint, with stone and brick dressings.
Winding round the base of the hill in an easterly
direction, we come next to Sudbury, another
hamlet of Harrow. " Originally," as we learn from
Kelly's " Directory of Middlesex," " it was a large
tract of land, extending from the spot on which
now stands the railway-station to the foot of Harrow
Hill, known as Sudbury Common : it was enclosed
shortly after the passing of an Act of Parliament in
1803; for civil purposes it forms a part of the
parish of Harrow, but for ecclesiastical purposes
part of it is attached to, and forms part of, the
ecclesiastical parish of St. John's, Wembley." Sud
bury, as a hamlet, is evidently a place of quite re
cent growth, for it is not described, or even men
tioned, by Lewis in his " Topographical Dictionary."
The manor of Sudbury — or, as it was formerly
called, Southbury (the South Bury) — however, dates
from a very remote period, having at the end of the
fourteenth century formed, as above stated, part of
the possessions of Archbishop Arundel, who was
banished for high treason, when an inquisition was
taken of his estates.
The church of the united district of Sudbury,
Wembley, Appleton, and Preston, dedicated to St.
John the Baptist, is situated near the Sudbury
railway-station. It was built in 1846, from designs
by Sir Gilbert Scott, and is in the Decorated style.
In the neighbourhood of the church rows of
cottages and a large number of villas have sprung
up ; and to meet the wants of the inhabitants there
have been erected a district school, a Cottage
Hospital, Workman's Hall, and a Young Men's
Institute. Here, too, is the Girls' Home, a branch
refuge for homeless girls of the National Refuges
Institution, whose training ship for homeless boys
has long been a familiar object off Greenhithe to
passengers up or down the Thames. The building,
known as Sudbury Hall, will accommodate 100
destitute girls, who are trained for domestic service.
From Sudbury we pass by a pleasant pathway to
Wembley, about half a mile to the north-east.
The manor of Wembley in old times belonged to
the Priory at Kilburn, in whose possession it con
tinued down to the time of the Dissolution. It was
afterwards granted by Henry VIIL to certain per
sons, who in the same year (1543) conveyed it to
one Richard Page. The family of Page long pos
sessed very considerable property in the county of
Middlesex ; and this property remained vested in
their hands until the beginning of the present
century, when it was sold by another Richard Page

274

GREATER LONDON.

[Kingsbury.

to the family of the Grays, the present owners. The
manor-house was rebuilt by Mr. Gray about the
year 1810, and is now the seat of the Rev. John
Edward Gray. Wembley Park, some 250 acres in
extent, is agreeably undulated, abundantly wooded,
and watered by a branch of the river Brent.
From Wembley Hill, a local eminence, good
views are obtained of the surrounding country. The
top of the hill is occupied by the " Green Man "
tavern, with its adjacent "tea-gardens," which are
largely patronised during the summer months by
holiday folks and Londoners.
The seats in this neighbourhood are Wembley
House (Mr. John Turton Woolley), Hill House
(Mr. Thomas Nicoll), and Oakington Park (Colonel
the Hon. Wellington Talbot).
Continuing our course, by a somewhat circuitous
path in a north-easterly direction, by Wembley
Green, and skirting the park, we arrive at length at
Kingsbury, a spot which happily still retains its
rural character, and which is also one of the most
charming resorts in the whole county for wild fowl
and other aquatic birds. The Brent meanders
pleasantly through the parish, whilst the meadows
on either hand are intersected with field-paths,
lanes, and flowery hedgerows, all combining to
render it one of the most attractive in the vicinity
of the metropolis for the lovers of country
scenery. Dotting the lanes leading to the village,
a picturesque antiquated cottage may here and
there be met with, adding not a little to. the
rustic beauty of the scene. Altogether it is a
curious old-fashioned, out-of-the-way place, with a
population numbering about 600. Although most of
the houses and farms are of modern growth, there
is still, at all events, one cottage, mostly of wood,
which dates from the thirteenth, or, at latest, from
the fourteenth century.
A writer in the Hampstead Express recently, in
drawing attention to the closing of some of the
field-paths about Kingsbury, observes : — " Ruin
seems unnoticed here, as it adds to ' the beautiful
and wild.' Our noble old Brent river is a flowery
stream; Caesar's mansion is gone, also another
near it, and two deep recesses in the well-known
' Church-path ' field adjoining the church mark the
spots where, doubtless, the two old buildings
tumbled down when they could stand no longer.
Well, it is the same with Kingsbury Bridge in
Neasdon Lane, which has fallen into the Brent
stream on fragrant herbs and flowers, including
wild rue, which is fragrance indeed. This adds to
ruined grandeur here, and pilgrims come from all
quarters. As history mentions Oliver Cromwell
here, so we may imagine his friend Milton the

poet, was, for Milton wrote his ' Paradise Regained '
a few miles 'farther west' Then Lord Byron,
when at Harrow School, loved the 'beautiful and
wild ' around it, so let us imagine him here also."
Kingsbury is bounded on the north by Whit
church or Little Stanmore, on the east by Hendon,
and on the south by Willesden. Westward, as
shown above, lies the parish of Harrow, with its
adjacent hamlets of Wembley,Sudbury, and Kenton.
This parish is mentioned in the Domesday Book
under the name of Chingesberie, from which cir
cumstance it is conjectured by Mr. Brewer in his
" Beauties of England," " it would appear to have
formerly contained a royal residence. King
Edward the Confessor," he adds, " gave to West
minster Abbey, at the time that he confirmed to
that foundation the manor of Chelsea, a third of
the fruit growing ' in his woods of Kyngesbyrig ; '
and it is probable that a palace in this neighbour
hood had appertained to some of the preceding
Saxon monarchs." It may, however, be assumed
that Kingsbury was merely a royal hunting-box in
the weald of Middlesex when the kings of the
Middle Saxons reigned at their traditional capital
of Brentford.
At the time of the Domesday survey this district
doubtless formed part of the Great Forest of Middle
sex ; at all events, it appears to have been thickly
wooded,as it afforded "pannage for 1,200 hogs." At
the beginning of the present century the whole parish
was in the hands of the farmer ; it comprised about
1,500 acres of land, of which about thirty were
woodland, sixty were arable, and the remainder
were under cultivation as grass land. A large por
tion of the parish at the present time is covered
by the Kingsbury reservoir, a sheet of water some
350 acres in extent. This reservoir, which is some
times called " Kingsbury Lake," is about two miles
in length, and, in one part, about a half a mile
in width, the margin of the entire reservoir extend
ing to about eight miles. It was formed in 1838,
on that part of the Brent running from near Kings
bury church eastward, beyond the Brent bridge on
the Edgware Road and the Welsh Harp station on
the Midland Railway ; a branch of the reservoir
extends northward on the Silk stream towards The
Hyde and Hendon, crossing the Edgware Road at
Silk Bridge. The reservoir was constructed for
the purpose of supplying the locks of the Regent's
Canal. It is well stocked with fish, and at different
periods of the year it is still visited by almost all
the known species of water-birds. A complete list
of the various species of " waders " and of wild
fowl that have been observed or shot here since
the formation of the reservoir will be found in

Kingsbury.]

THE "WELSH HARP."

275

" The Birds of Middlesex," by Mr. J. V. Harting,
who lived for many years in this parish, and who
has preserved a large number of specimens ; as also
have Mr. Mitford, of Hampstead, Captain Bond, of
the Zoological Society's Gardens, and Mr. Warner,
of the " Old Welsh Harp," at Kingsbury ; these
include all the known species of tern, whimbrels
(or curlews), the several varieties of snipe, plovers,
gulls, widgeons, and spoon-bills, and even such
rare birds as the heron, the turnstone, the avocet,
and the bar-tailed godwit. During the winter the
wild duck and teal are frequent visitants. The
fishing in the reservoir, which is rented by the
worthy host of the " Welsh Harp," is strictly pre
served. From the " Rules and Conditions of the
Fishery," it appears that the period for jack and
perch fishing extends from the 1st of June to the
end of February, and that "bottom fishing" lasts all
the year round ; that the annual subscription is one
guinea, and the charge for " daily fishing with live
bait" is 2s. 6d., and for "daily bottom fishing," is.
To many lovers of the rod and line these waters
are comparatively unknown ; most of its frequenters
are members of recognised clubs, so that the
"takes" are jealously weighed, and each finny
specimen closely scrutinised. The kinds of fish
taken here are' jack, bream, perch, and carp, and
the weights compare favourably with those of other
spots where knights of the rod do mostly love to
congregate. In the rear of the " Welsh Harp," and abutting
upon the lake, are some pleasantly-laid-out tea-
gardens, which are much frequented during the
summer, the boating on the lake serving as a special
attraction. In this parish, close to the " Welsh Harp," a race
course was laid out about twenty years ago, which
enjoyed, not without good cause, the reputation of
being a nuisance and a disgrace to the whole of our
north-west suburbs. The race-meetings were low,
vidgar, and commonplace to a degree, and were
utterly ignored by the committees who arrange the
details of Epsom and Ascot. Their name was un
known to the Jockey Club, and so they were under no
sort of regulation which might operate as a guarantee
of their being conducted honestly and respectably.
They were started and maintained as a mere money
speculation by the owners of neighbouring taverns,
who netted large sums as " gate-money " as often
as these occasions recurred. The bookmakers
here were obliged in self-defence to take with them
a body of prize-fighters, and the scenes which
followed can be better imagined than described.
So bad was their order, indeed, and so ineffectual
proved all appeals to the law to put them down,

that in the end, about the year 1878, a Bill was
introduced into Parliament to suppress all horse
races within ten or twelve miles of the metropolis ;
and this having been passed, Kingsbury races were
abolished, and the racecourse has since been
converted into the more creditable uses of a farm.
That Kingsbury races were quite modern is proved
by the fact that in Ruff's "Guide to the Turf" for
1863 not a single horse-race is mentioned as
being run within twelve miles of London ; whereas
the names of the Alexandra Park, Brentwood,
Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Edgware, Eltham, En
field, Finchley, Harrow, Hendon, Kingsbury,
Lillie Bridge, Streatham, Uxbridge, and West
Drayton, figure, in 1873, amongst others, in the list
of "Suburban Meetings." At Kingsbury these
meetings were held on an average four times a year.
Kingsbury Church stands away by itself at some
little distance from the village. It is dedicated
to St. Andrew, and is a small building, consisting
of nave and chancel, and a wooden tower sur
mounted by a short spire. The stonework of the
windows is of the Perpendicular style, and there
was once a wooden porch here of the Decorated
period, its barge-boards cut into a handsome ogee
arch, but it has been removed. The church, how
ever, is thought by Mr. M. H. Bloxam to be of
Anglo-Saxon date, though its rude walls are covered
over with coats of plaster and rough-cast, con
cealing the peculiar features of the structure. The
building was restored about the year 1870, at which
time the steeple was rebuilt. The churchyard
is planted with evergreen shrubs which conceal and
dampen the fabric itself.
Dr. Stukeley imagines that this church stands
within the area of a Roman encampment, which
was Csesar's second station after his presumed
passage of the Thames at Coway Stakes. * Gale,
the antiquary, in reference to this opinion, observes
that it certainly lies near the great Roman road
which led from London to Sulloniacffi and thence
to Verulamium (St. Albans). This church was
visited by Gale in the summer of 1750, and is
described by him as being* built chiefly of Roman
bricks, which Stukeley thought might have been
taken from the ruins of Verulam, but which the
former supposed to have " come from the Kings
bury, or Villa Regia, whence the parish appears to
derive its name." "The alleged existence of a
Roman castrametation on this spot," observes
Mr. Brewer in the "Beauties of England," "may,
possibly, be one of those chimerical speculations
in which Dr. Stukeley was accustomed to indulge ;

* See ante, p. 179.

276

GREATER LONDON.

[Kingsbury.

but," he adds, "perhaps it may be worthy of
notice that a field adjoining the churchyard exhibits
evident marks of an artificial inequality of surface."
The church is old and weather-worn, and contains
a few monuments of interest, notably one in the
chancel, and enclosed by the altar-rails, to the
memory of John Bui, who died in 162 1. He was
" Gentleman of the Poultry to Queen Elizabeth and
King James;" and another dated 1626, to Thomas
Scudamore, who was also a servant to those
sovereigns for a period of 47 years. There is also

his " History of Animated Nature." Here Gold
smith was visited by Boswell, and Mickle, the
translator of "The Lusiad." Boswell has inserted
a notice of this visit in his " Life of Dr. Johnson."
It appears that Goldsmith was not "at home;"
" but having a curiosity," writes Boswell, " to see
his apartments, we went in, and found curious
scraps of descriptions of animals scrawled upon the
walls with a black-lead pencil" It appears to
have been in or about the year 1773 that Gold
smith joined a fellow-countryman and took up his

HIGH HOUSE FARM.

a brass to the memory of John Shephard and Ann
and Matilda, his wives, with their eighteen chil
dren, and bears the date of 1520. William, third
Earl of Mansfield, who died in 1840, is buried in a
vault in the churchyard.
A pathway across the meadows northward of the
churchyard leads- to Fryern Farm and Kingsbury
Green, a collection of cottages and villas somewhat
larger than the village itself. From the Green a lane
passes eastward to the Edgware Road, near the sixth
milestone from London, and at a place called The
Hyde. On the left of this lane is a farmhouse, called
High House, or Hyde House, Farm, where Oliver
Goldsmith was living when he wrote some portions
of the "Vicar of Wakefield" and She Stoops to
Conquer. He engaged this lodging chiefly "for
the purpose of deep retirement," while preparing

abode here, giving to the house
the name of the "Shoemaker's
Paradise," it having been built
in a whimsical style by a knight
of St. Crispin. Here, besides
the works above named, he
wrote his popular, but super
ficial, "History of England,"
which, on its first appearance, anonymously, passed
for the production of Lord Lyttelton.
The house is said to be between 200 and 300
years old, and is of brick, and of two floors. The
front portion of the building, with the exception of
some of the windows having been renewed and
that the heavy beams of the ceiling have given
place to flat stucco work, remains in much the
same condition as when it was occupied by Gold-
mith more than a century ago. The rooms at the
back, however, were rebuilt only a few years ago, at
which time a small chamber, which had been used
by Goldsmith as his study, was unfortunately demo
lished. This room, we understand, contained a small
cupboard, which might have been used by him as a
book-case, and bore unmistakable signs of having
been occupied by the author of "Animated Nature."

Hendon.]

BOUNDARIES OF THE PARISH.

277

The hamlet of The Hyde is a row of houses and
small shops bordering the high road ; but, beyond
a Congregational chapel of Gothic design, possesses
nothing to attract the notice of the passing
stranger. Here the Passionists, under Father
Spencer, were located before they settled at
Highgate.* John Lyon, the founder of Harrow School,
possessed property not only at Harrow, but in
Kingsbury. In the statutes which he made for the
regulation of his school he directs that the
governor " shall see and provide that tenn loads

of wood, that is to say, six good loads of lath
bavines, and fower good loads of tall wood, shall
be yearely brought into ye schoolehouse from his
lands att Kingsbury, to and for ye comon use of
ye schollers of ye said schoole."
Kenton is a small hamlet belonging to Harrow,
about midway between that town and the Hyde.
The district is extremely rural, comprising, as it
does, besides the "great house," called Kenton
Lodge, and another mansion known as Kenton
Grange, merely two or three farmhouses, with their
attendant farm-buildings and cottages.

CHAPTER XXVII.
HENDON.
" Flumina amem sylvasque inglorius." — Lucretius
Extent and Boundaries of the Parish— The Brent River and Silk Stream— The Old Watling Street— Etymology of Hendon— Mention of the
Parish in "Domesday Book"— Descent of the Manor— A Singular Immunity from Tolls— The Manor House— Hendon Place— The
Parish Church— Almshouses— Brent Street, Golder's Green— Mill Hill— The Grammar School— Roman Catholic Missionary College—
St. Mary's Franciscan Nunnery— St. Margaret's Industrial School— Littleberries— High wood House- Sir Stamford Raffles- Visit of
Baron Bunsen— William Wilberforce the Philanthropist.

Crossing the Edgware Road, and making our
way in a north-easterly direction past the Hendon
station on the Midland Railway, after a walk of
about a mile up a somewhat steep lane, we find
* See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 393.
24

ourselves at the village of Hendon. This is an
extensive parish, being about seven miles from
north to south, and from two to four miles in
width. It is bounded on the east and south-east
by Finchley and Highgate, on the south by Hamp
stead, and on the north by Edgware and Barnet

278

GREATER LONDON.

[Hendon.

The whole parish is pleasingly diversified by hills
and valleys, the former commanding extensive
and varied prospects, and the latter falling in gentle
slopes, agreeably sprinkled with ornamental timber.
The land is mostly laid out in meadows and
pastures, intersected by pleasant field-paths and
shady lanes and hedgerows ; and it is also well
wooded, the trees yielding an abundance of timber.
In the northern part of the parish the principal
elevations are Highwood Hill, Mill Hill, and the
rising ground occupied by Hendon village. In
the south the little river Brent wanders through
the meadows, its bulk being augmented by the
numerous head-streams which take their rise in
this parish. The Silk stream also flows through
the valley westward of the village, and as stated in
the preceding chapter, unites its waters with those
of the Brent in the Kingsbury Reservoir.
According to Camden and Norden, a Roman
road, supposed to be the Watling Street, passed
along this neighbourhood, but no traces of it now
remain, though the present Edgware Road is pre
sumed to occupy its track. Norden was a resident
at Hendon, and must therefore have possessed an
accurate knowledge of the existing state of this parish
in the time of James I. In his "Speculum Britannia^"
he describes this presumed Roman road as " an
auncient high waie, leading to Edgeworth through
an olde lane, called" Hendon-wante.' The dedica
tion to Norden's "Surveyor's Dialogue" (1607) is
dated from his " poore house at Hendon." A lane
leading through Colin Deep from Hendon to the
Edgware Road is called in old surveys "Ancient
Street." The name of this parish is said to have been
originally written Heandune, and is derived from
two Saxon words which signify High-down, and
which therefore apply very correctly to its elevated
circumstances of situation. In " Domesday Book "
the name of the place is written Handone,
which Norden derives from Highendune, "which
signifyeth Highwood, of the plenty of wood there
growing on the hills." Taylor, in his " Words and
Places," asserts that Hendon comes "from the
Anglo-Saxon hean, poor." But to this Mr. James
Thorne takes objection in his "Environs of Lon
don," where he says, " the soil is fertile rather
than sterile, and it is to Man, high, rather than
Juan, poor, that we may look for the probable
derivation." At the time of the Domesday survey — and indeed
for some time previously — the manor of Hendon
belonged to the Abbots of Westminster. " There
was land for sixteen ploughs," and " a priest had
one virgite," which would of course imply that

there was a church here at that early period. The
survey adds that " there was meadow sufficient for
two oxen, and pannage for 1,000 hogs," so that it
would appear that the greater part of the land
formed part of the forest of Middlesex.
The principal manor was alienated by Gervais
de Blois, Abbot of Westminster, in the reign of
King Stephen, and it continued in lay hands till
early in the fourteenth century. During a part of
this time it was held by the Le Rous' family, who,
according to Lysons, probably had a residence
here, for, in the 50th year of Henry III., Geoffrey le
Rous, Sheriff of the counties of Bedford and
Bucks, "petitioned for a remuneration for the
burning of his houses and corn, and for the loss
of horses, arms, clothes, and other goods, of which
he had been despoiled at his manor of Hendon, by
John de Egville and other turbulent chiefs of that
period, to whom he might officially have made
himself obnoxious." In 13 12 the manor was re
stored to the Abbey of Westminster, having been
exchanged by the then holder, Richard le Rous,
for that of Hodford, also in this parish, and it was
afterwards made part of the endowment of the
newly-created bishopric of Westminster. The
name of Hodford is still given to some of the lands
belonging to the Dean and Chapter of West
minster, at North End, bordering on Hampstead
Heath. On the dissolution of the see of West
minster in 1550, this manor was granted by the
Crown to Sir William Herbert, with whose descen
dants, the Earls of Powis, it remained till the
middle of the last century, when it was purchased
by the celebrated David Garrick. A nephew of
his, the Rev. George Garrick, was vicar of Hendon
for some time. In 1790, after Garrick's death, the
manor was sold to a Mr. John Bond, and it has
since changed hands several times.
This parish, observes Mr. Brewer, in his work
already quoted, possesses a singular immunity,
which was granted as early as the year 1066, and
was confirmed by various subsequent charters..
Divers lands in this parish had been granted by
King Edward the Confessor to the church of St
Peter at Westminster, that monarch at the same
time freeing the inhabitants from all tolls, both by
land and water. Henry III. and Richard II., by
charters, the former dated at Woodstock in the
ninth year, and the latter at Westminster, in the
seventeenth year, of their respective reigns, confirmed
these immunities, which were further conceded and
confirmed by the several charters of Henry VIIL,
Edward VI., and James I. Lastly, William and
Mary, by letters patent dated at Westminster in
the fifth year of their reign, granted and confirmed

Hendon.]

THE PARISH CHURCH.

279

to Sir William Rawlinson, Serjeant-at-law, the
charters of their predecessors, with all their privi
leges ; and thereby " freed the inhabitants of
Hendon from all tolls in all fairs and markets, and
from all street tolls, and every other toll whatever,
in every fair and every market, and every bridge,
and every way and water, and also by sea, for
themselves and their wares, for ever."
The manor-house stood near Church End, which
is the name given to a cluster of houses built in
the neighbourhood of the church, and on or near
the site now occupied by Hendon Place. The
original mansion was used, in the early part of the
sixteenth century, as a country residence by the
abbot of Westminster. It was here that Wolsey
first rested, when travelling, in a state of disgrace,
towards York. Stow, in his " Annals," says that
the Cardinal " having sent to London for livery
clothes for his servants that should ride with him,
in the beginning of Passion week, before Easter,
set forward and rode from Richmond to a place of
the Abbot of Westminster at Hendon." Norden,
writing in the time of Elizabeth, describes the
manor-house as the property of Sir Edward
Herbert, and the residence of Sir John Fortescue.
The family of Nicoll appear to have resided here
during the greater part of the seventeenth century.
The house was purchased towards the middle of the
last century by a Mr. Thomas Snow, who took
down the ancient building, which is described as
having contained " a spacious gallery," and erected
the present house. Among the later occupants of
the house have been the Earl of Northampton
and Lord Chief Justice Tenterden.
Hendon Place is a well-proportioned and hand
some mansion, comprising a body and two wings,
and the grounds are rendered attractive by various
picturesque undulations. The river Brent, which
skirts the eastern side of the grounds, has been
artificially widened so as to form a moderate lake,
which, with the bridge by which it is crossed,
adds not a little to the beauty of the landscape.
There are seVeral fine trees on this estate, and
among them one or two flourishing cedars. In the
Gentleman's Magazine for 1779 is a communica
tion from Sir John Cullum, giving the dimensions of
a large cedar which formerly stood on the north side
of Hendon Place, but which was blown down by a
high wind on the 1st of Janiaary in that year.
The parish church of Hendon occupies an
elevated position on the brow of a hill imme
diately to the north of the main street. It is a
plain-looking edifice, the walls, with the exception
of the tower, being covered with plaster. It
comprises a nave with clerestory and aisles, a

chancel with side chapels, and a square stone
tower, with embattled parapets, at the west end ;
this latter is evidently the most ancient part of
the fabric. The greater portion of the church
was probably erected late in the fifteenth century,
but the windows are mostly modern : those of
the clerestory and at the east end of the chancel
are filled with painted glass. The font is Norman,
square in form, and ornamented on each of the
four sides with an arcade of round-headed inter
laced arches. The arches of the nave spring from
octagonal columns ; the whole body and aisles of
the church are encumbered with unsightly pews
and deep galleries.
In the north chapel of the chancel is the
tomb of Sir William Rawlinson, one of the Com
missioners of the Great Seal, who died in 1703:
the effigy of the deceased, by Rysbach, is repre- "
sented in a semi-recumbent attitude, attired in
legal robes and insignia. Close by is an elaborate
monument of veined marble to Edward Fowler,
Bishop of Gloucester, who died in 17 14. At the
west end of the north aisle is the burial-place
of Sir Francis Whichcote and his family, over
which is an apartment fitted up and used as a
vestry-room, by permission of Sir Francis. On
the south side of the chancel is a mural tablet
to several of the family of Colmore, of Warwick
shire. This monument is the work of Flaxman,
and bears upon it the emblems of Faith and
Hope. There is also a handsome monument to
the memory of several branches of the Herbert
family, many of whom are buried in this church ;
Sir Courts Trotter, Bart, who died in 1838, is
also commemorated by an elaborate mural monu
ment. A brass in this church bears date 1564;
there is another, very ancient, without date, em
bedded in a stone slab in front of the vestry
door. In the churchyard, among other tombs and
monuments, are those of Sir Joseph Ayloffe,
Bart, a distinguished antiquary, and Keeper of
the State Papers, who died in 1781 ; Nathaniel
Hone, R.A., who died in 1784; Abraham Raim-
bach, engraver, who died in 1843, and whose name
will be remembered for his numerous works after
Wilkie. James Parsons, M.D., "eminent as a
physician, man of science, and antiquary," who
died in 1770, is commemorated by a monument;
and there are also the family vaults of the Earls
of Mansfield, and many other local worthies,
including Charles Johnson, a dramatist, dated
1748; Edward Longmore, the "Herefordshire
Colossus," seven feet six inches high, who died
in 1777; and Sarah Gundry, who died in 1807,

GREATER LONDON.

.[Hendon.

and whose grave-stone is noticeable on account of
its epitaph, which runs as follows : —
" Reader ! she wander'd all the desert through
In search of happiness, nor found repose
Till she had reach'd the borders of this waste.
Full many a flower that blossom'd in her path
She stoop'd to gather, and the fruit she pluck'd
That hung from many a tempting bough — all but
The rose of Sharon and the tree of life.
This flung its fragrance to the gale, and spread
Its blushing beauties : that its healing leaves
Displayed, and fruit immortal, all in vain.
She neither tasted nor admired — and found
All that she chose and trusted fair, but false !
The flowers no sooner gather'd than they faded ;
The fruits enchanting, dust and bitterness ;
And all the world a wilderness of care.
Wearied, dispirited, and near the close
Of this eventful course, she sought the plant
, That long her heedless haste o'erlook'd, and proved
Its sovereign virtues ; underneath its shade
Outstretch'd, drew from her wounded feet the thorns,
Shed the last tear, breathed the last sigh, and here
The aged pilgrim rests in trembling hope ! "
The churchyard is kept in very good condition,
and from the entrance-gate to the south door of
the church runs an avenue of clipped lime-trees,
which has a very pretty effect, and there are also
several yew-trees of moderate size ; whilst the
view from the north side of the old churchyard
embraces a large extent of country, including
Stanmore, Edgware, Harrow, and the distant hills
of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, together
with the hamlets of Highwood and Mill Hill, to
which latter place a pleasant footpath leads across
the intervening valley.
Hendon is a vicarage, but was anciently a rec
tory also, the latter being a sinecure. The rectors
presented the vicars until late in the fifteenth
century, when the church was appropriated to the
abbot and convent of Westminster, with whom
the right of presentation remained until the dis
solution of monastic houses. Later on, the
advowson was granted, with the manor, to the
Herbert family, and it descended in conjunction
with the manorial property until the year 1794,
when it passed into separate hands.
At a short distance from the church, at the
entrance to the main street, are almshouses for
six poor men and four women, erected in 1729.
They were founded in i68t by Robert Daniel,
who bequeathed the sum of ,£2,000 for the pur
pose of building " an almshouse within twelve
miles of London." The almshouses, which are
of red brick, were repaired in 1853.
At Burrows, a hamlet lying on the road between
the village and the railway-station, is the Metro

politan Convalescent Institution, which affords a
comfortable home for forty little girls.
Races have taken place here yearly since 1864,
but they have proved to be a great nuisance to
the inhabitants.
Brent Street is the name given to a hamlet of
Finchley; one of the houses here was formerly
the seat of the Whichcotes, and afterwards of Sir
William Rawlinson, whose monument has been al
ready noticed in the church. Although it has
been modernised, some parts of the house appear
to be of considerable antiquity. A new chapel-of-
ease, Christ Church, was built here in the year
1 88 1, the "foundation stone" being laid by Lady
Burdett-Coutts. The building is in the Early
English style, and was erected from the designs of
Mr. Salter. A spacious Congregational church, of
Gothic design, has been erected in this locality ;
and at the lower end of the street a bridge over
the river Brent leads to Golder's Green, another
hamlet of Hendon, which is pleasantly situated on
the road to Hampstead.
Golder's Green consists of a few decent cottages
and villa residences fringing the roadside, the
larger part of the "green" proper being now
enclosed. The "White Swan" tavern, with its
tea-gardens, is a favourite resort of London holi
day-makers in the summer-time, the various walks
by rural lanes and field-paths in the immediate
neighbourhood adding much to the charm of the
locality. Of Golder's Hill, at North End, which
was once the residence of Jeremiah Dyson, clerk
to the House of Commons, and the friend of Mark
Akenside the author of the " Pleasures of Imagina
tion," an account will be found in Old and New
London, in the chapter on Hampstead.* Aken
side was a frequent guest at his friend's house
here, and often made it his home. In one of
his poems, " An Ode on Recovery from a Fit of
Sickness in the Country," written in 1758, Aken
side thus apostrophises this lovely spot : —
" Thy verdant scenes, O Golder's Hill, •
Once more I seek, a languid guest ;
With throbbing temples and with burden'd breast
Once more I climb thy steep aerial way.
O faithful cure of oft returning ill,
Now call thy sprightly breezes round,
Dissolve this rigid cough profound,
And 'bid the springs of life with gentler movement play."
Page Street is the name of a small hamlet which
lies in the valley between Hendon Church and
Mill Hill. The most conspicuous object here is
Copt Hall, the residence of the Nicoll family. The
* See Vol. V., p. 448.

Hendon.]

MILL HILL.

281

house was built early in the seventeenth century by
Randall Nicoll, Esq., and is a fair example of the
domestic architecture of that age.
Mill Hill surmounts a fine swell of ground,
which rises by an easy progress to a considerable
height, and the views afforded at different stages
of the ascent are both extensive and varied, in
cluding, it is said, on clear days, the distant
towers of Windsor Castle. Mill Hill has numbered
among its inhabitants one or two individuals whose
names have become famous. Peter Collinson, the
naturalist, had^a house here, and formed a curious
botanical garden. Linnaeus commemorated a visit
to this garden by planting several trees. The
premises were afterwards purchased by means of
a subscription among the Independents for the
purpose of a foundation grammar-school, and is
now known as Mill Hill College. The school was
till lately the only public school for Protestant
Nonconformists. It is stated in the Mirror (August
8th, 1835) that the original school-house here
could boast of having been once the " dwelling
of Linnaeus, and the occasional residence of
architects." The Nonconformists' Grammar School was estab
lished on the basis of a sectional, if not sectarian,
limitation only, because all the old foundations were
exclusive and sectarian in the opposite direction.
Even as a Nonconformist's school, Mill Hill has
had a history. It had not only educated many
men well known to' Evangelical Nonconformity, but
some men of larger reputation had been among
its alumni. The late Justice Talfourd, Mr. Challis
(the astronomer), and Dr. Jacobson (the present
Bishop of Chester) were all educated at Mill Hill
in the old days. " As the more national founda
tions became less sectarian," observes a writer in
the Daily News, " so the Dissenting schools have
become less Dissenting. The old Nonconformists
always declared that Dissent was forced upon
them as an unwelcome necessity, and in the
matter of education their descendants are giving
proof of the statement. As a sign of the times,
we note this change with unmixed satisfaction. It
is one of the good results of rendering our
iniddlerdass education as far as possible unsec-
tarian. A like policy applied to the highest
education in the universities and to the lowest
education in the primary schools will have a similar
result" The present building was erected by Sir William
Tite in 1825. It is simple and Isold, rather than
grand, and forms a long Italian villa on a terrace.
Its chief front looks away from the road, and
commands a fine view of Harrow. It has a noble

portico supported by six Italian pillars, and sur
mounted by a pediment. The dining-hall is near
the centre ; the chapel at the north end is a poor,
mean structure. The cost of the building was
above £25,000.
The opening of the universities to Dissenters
has helped to fill the school, as, happily, it is now
worth the while of Nonconformists, with a view to
the advantages held out by the older universities,
to be at the expense of a classical education for
their sons.
Mill Hill was once the residence of John Wilkes,
the politician, and of the late Alderman Sir Charles
Flower. In the " Beauties of England " we read : — " There
still remains (1816) on Mill Hill, though in an
almost ruinous state, one of the ancient domestic
structures of the neighbourhood. This building is
in the best taste of the reign of Charles I. The
walls of one of the apartments are curiously painted
with the story of the Prodigal Son, and over the
chimney are the initials of the Nicoll family. The
house is now divided, and tenanted by the poor."
This building, however, appears to be long since
clean swept away ; at all events, nothing is now
known of its existence at Mill Hill.
Hendon seems to have long been in high favour
with Roman Catholics. The " Dames de Nazareth,"
founded in France by the Duchesse de la Roche
foucauld for the higher education of young ladies,
have an establishment here, which is under the
special patronage of the Cardinal Archbishop of
Westminster ; and here they receive, in addition
to their French pupils, a limited number of English
young ladies.
St. Joseph's College of the Sacred Heart, for
Foreign Missions, founded by Bishop Vaughan of
Salford, is at Mill Hill. The first stone of this
institution was laid by Archbishop (Cardinal)
Manning in 1869, and a portion was completed
and opened in 187 1. The grounds of the college
are about forty acres in extent, and the buildings,
which are somewhat heavy and in the mosastic
style, were erected from the designs of Mr. G.
Goldie. The architecture of the college is " Lom-
bardo-Venetian," and it is built in the form of a
quadrangle surrounded by cloisters, one side of
which is occupied by the chapel, which has a lofty
campanile tower, surmounted by a gilded statue
of St. Joseph, which is seen for miles around.
Students of every nationality are admitted, and
bind themselves by solemn vows to leave Europe
for life upon missionary labours.
Two other Roman Catholic institutions are
located at Mill Hill : namely, the Franciscan con-

282

GREATER LONDON.

[Hendon.

vent of St. Mary and the St. Margaret's Industrial
School. The church for the ecclesiastical district of Mill
Hill was built in 1832, by William Wilberforce.
It is dedicated to St. Paul, and is in the Early
English style. It is a poor structure. Six alms
houses near the church were erected in 1696, at
the charge of Thomas Nicoll, of this parish, for
the use of the poor.
Among the seats and mansions in this neigh-

Mr. Scharf gives the following interesting particu
lars concerning this old house, which stands on
a slope near the public road : —
"The mansion is an ordinary square building
of red brick, with irregular corners, that has been
much added to at various times. The entrance
door leads directly into the hall, which has a low
flat ceiling, the floor being on a level with the
carriage-drive in front. The rooms are irregular,
but they enclose a central apartment, which appears

LITTLEBERRIES.

bourhood is Littleberries, a good old substantial
residence of brick, which tradition says was built by
Charles II. It is often said also that Nell Gwyn
lived here ; but the assertion rests only on tradi
tion. The house probably does date back to the
days of Charles II., and in one room are medallion
portraits, which tradition has assumed to be of that
king and some of his mistresses, but which, in the
opinion of Mr. George Scharf, the Secretary of the
National Portrait Gallery, are representations of
sovereigns of much more recent date. It has also
been stated that the house was at one time tenanted
by Louise de Querouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth ;
but this is very doubtful.
In Notes and Queries for January 21st, 1882,

to have belonged to a former and much more im
portant residence. This central apartment is not
large, but lofty ; it is floored with wood, and has
only one actual door, opening into the staircase
hall. It contains an amount of rich wood-carving
and mural decoration; it is known as the Gilt
Room. Broken pediments, Greek frets, guilloches,
egg-and-tongue mouldings, shell patterns, festoons,
female masks, and lions' heads are to be seen
everywhere. ' The tone of this elaborate ornamen
tation is of the period of Queen Anne or the two
first Georges."
The panels of the " Gilt Room " are painted with
copies, full size, of pictures by Rubens, Van Dyck,
and other artists, and of such subjects as "Venus

Hendon.]

LITTLEBERRIES.

283

and Cupid," "Hesperides Gathering Fruit," &c.
One picture, however, is of a totally different
character to the rest : it represents the full-length
figure of a young lad, standing, and wearing the
robes of the Garter. It is inscribed : " Charles
Lennox, Duke of Richmond and Lennox, Born
29 July, 1672, Dyed 27 May, 1723." This
picture, in the opinion of Mr. Scharf, seems to
have been inserted in the panel in the place of
something else. In the coved cornice of this
apartment, over the centre of each wall, is a large
circular medallion in white plaster of a crowned
sovereign, the size of
life, in alto-relievo. That
above the fire-place, ob
serves Mr. Scharf, in the
article above quoted, con
tains aportraitof Caroline
of. Anspach, queen con
sort of George II., of
whom there is a portrait
on the opposite wall. On
the side facing the door,
and over the windows,
the medallion exhibits a
portrait of George I.,
whilst the remaining me
dallion, over the door,
contains a portrait of
William III. The chim
ney-piece of this room is
elaborately carved in
wood, the principal
figures in the orna
mentation being em
blematic of "Justice"
and " Peace."
"Throughout the whole buildings," observes
Mr. Scharf, in the article from which we have
quoted above, " there is no indication, either by
coronet, garter, or heraldic cognizance, that the
place ever belonged to any person of rank or
distinction. The only exception where heraldry
appears is in the pediment of the summer-house
at the end of the grounds. There the arms of the
Pawsons of Shawdon, in Northumberland, are
carved on a plain shield, and may be referred to a
period when the front of the building was altered,
and the spaces between the columns filled in with
windows of coloured glass. The walls and domed
ceiling of the summer-house are decorated with
figures and ornaments in white plaster. They in
clude portrait medallions of females, supported by
sphinxes, mermaids, and tritons. These faces are
all in profile, full of individuality, and probably

represented . members of the family who then
occupied the house. On the east wall is a curious
circular medallion, containing a view in white
plaster alto-relievo of the mansion as it formerly
appeared from this spot, showing the different
levels of ground, and reproducing the building in
its original state, including the Gilt Room and
steps leading up to it. We see by this that the
central facade was flanked on each side by massive
walls, large windows, and an elevated roof. In
the sloping plane in front of the house there are no
basins of water ; nor is any figure introduced so as
to give indication by the
costume of the exact
period when the view
was taken."
At Highwood Hill, at
the distance of about a
mile from Mill Hill,, at
one time — namely, from
1826 to 1 83 1 — lived the
great philanthropist, Wil
liam Wilberforce ; and
here, too, dwelt Lord
William Russell, previous
to his arrest. Highwood
House, early in the pre
sent century, was the
residence of Sir Stamford
Raffles,Governor of Java,
and founder and first
President of the Zoo
logical Society. Wilber
force became Sir Stam
ford Raffles's " next-door
neighbour " in June,
1826, only about a month
before the death of the latter. Lady Raffles con
tinued to reside here after the death of her husband,
and was here visited on more than one occasion
by Baron Bunsen. In the Baroness Bunsen's
" Memoirs of Baron Bunsen " appears the following
reference to the house and grounds, under the
date of 1839 : —
" A visit to Highwood gave an opportunity for
commenting upon the dignity, the order, the quiet
activity, the calm cheerfulness with which Lady
Raffles rules the house, the day, the conversation ;
and the place and its neighbourhood were full of
those memorials of the honoured dead which
served to enhance the natural beauty of the pros
pect and the interest attaching itself to the resi
dence of Sir Stamford Raffles. The ground of
Highwood must have been trodden by the footsteps
and hallowed by the life and sorrows of Rachel,

SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES.
(From tile btist by Chantrey.)

284

GREATER LONDON.

[Edgware.

Lady Russell, even though no family recollection
exists to mark the spot which she inhabited, when
she dated some of her letters from Totteridge, a
village lying near. But the beautiful portion of
wood in which Lady Raffles' friends have enjoyed
walking with her contains within its precincts a
chalybeate spring, walled round, and marked by an
inscription as having been enclosed by Mistress
Rachel Russell, at a date when the eldest daughter
of Lord and Lady Russell must have been under
twelve years old ; yet is there nothing unreason
able in the supposition that the mother should
have caused the work to be performed as a public
benefit (the healing quality of the spring being in
repute among the poor), and assigned to it the
name of her daughter instead of her own. More
over, in that wood there is a spot, evidently cleared
of trees in a regular circle, from the centre of
which it was remembered by the lower class of

inhabitants, at the time when Sir Stamford Raffles
made the purchase of the ground, that a previous
proprietor, about the middle of the last century,
had caused the loose stones to be removed, which
formed a 'monument to the memory of the
gentleman who was beheaded.' This piece of
forest might have been a portion of Lady Rus
sell's own large Southampton inheritance ; as
an original Russell property it is gone out of
remembrance." Here, at Moat Mount, lived for some time the
late Mr. Serjeant Cox, Recorder of Portsmeuth,
and latterly an assistant judge at the Middlesex
Sessions. His name is well known as a man of
science and a philanthropist, and as the establisher
of the Field, Queen, and Law Times newspapers.
He died suddenly in 1880. Mrs. Porter, an actress
of some note in the last or beginning of the present
century, was also a resident here for many years.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
EDGWARE AND LITTLE STANMORE.
" Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime ;
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time." — Longfellow
i
Situation and Boundaries of Edgware— General Appearance of the Town — The "Chandos Arms" Inn — The "Harmonious Blacksmith" — Ety
mology of Edgware — The Descent of the Manor — The Manor of Edgware Bois — Edgware Market— Curious Local Customs — Death of
Cosway the Artist — The Parish Church — Almshouses — Population, &c. — Edgware Races — Little Stanmore or Whitchurch — Acreage and
Population — Early History of the Manor— Canons — The Family of the Lakes — James Brydges, afterwards Duke of Chandos — He Rebuilds
the Mansion of Canons in a magnificent and costly manner— The Parish Church— Handel as Organist here— The " Harmonious
Blacksmith."

The town of Edgware, which we now reach by a
cross-road westward from Mill Hill, Hendon, from
which it is distant about two miles, together with
the neighbouring estate of Canons, has been for
the last century and a half associated with no less
a name than that of Handel. On this account alone
the spot would be worthy of a pilgrimage, notwith
standing that " princely Canons '' is a thing of the
past. Edgware is eight miles from Hyde Park Corner,
and extends for about a mile along the great high
road to St. Albans (Verulamittm), a thoroughfare
which, as we have stated in the preceding chapter,
is supposed by Camden, Norden, and other anti
quaries, to occupy the track of the ancient Watling
Street. The parish is bounded on the east and
west by Hendon and Little Stanmore, and on the
north and south by Elstree and Kingsbury. The
town consists mainly of one wide and long street,
made up of the usual class of buildings to be met

with in a small country town, namely, shops mostly
small and antiquated, humble cottages, mixed up
with a few dwelling-houses of a better kind. There
are also a few respectable taverns and hostelries,
which, doubtless, in the " good old coaching days "
were houses of some consequence. One of these,
" The Chandos Arms," keeps in remembrance the '
associations of the neighbouring palace of Canons.
In one of the rooms of this inn is an antiquated
fireplace, which was brought from Canons, on the
demolition of that mansion. The west side of the
street belongs in reality to the parish of Little
Stanmore, or Whitchurch. The visitor to Edgware
will now look in yain for the blacksmith's shop, in
which, according to tradition, Handel took shelter
during a shower, and in which worked William
Powell, the Edgware blacksmith — or, as he is com
monly called, the "Harmonious Blacksmith" — whose
performance on the anvil is said to have suggested
to Handel the well-known melody named after him.

Edgware.]

THE PARISH CHURCH.

285

Of this worthy we shall have more to say on
reaching Whitchurch, where he was buried, and
where Handel was for many years organist.
Norden conjectures that the name of this parish
was originally Edgworth, " signifying a fruitful place
upon the edge, or utter part, of the shire ; " but
such a mode of etymology, Mr. Brewer contends,
in the " Beauties of England," appears to rest
entirely on surmise. The Irish Edgworths, of
Edgworthtown, whose name has been made so
widely known by the writings of Miss Edgworth,
came originally from this place, if we may believe
their pedigree as set forth by Sir Bernard Burke.
Lysons observes that in the most ancient record in
which he has seen the name mentioned (dated in
the reign of Henry II.) it is written "Eggeswere;"
and that the same form of orthography prevailed
until the age of Henry VIIL, when the present
mode of spelling was adopted, and has since been
uniformly used in legal and in ordinary writings.
The name of Edgware, or even Eggeswere, does
not appear in " Domesday Book." In the latter
part of the twelfth century, according to Lysons,
the principal manor belonged to Ella, Countess
of Salisbury, wife of William Longespee, "who
granted it to her son Nicholas and his espoused
wife, to be held of her by the render of a sparrow-
hawk." Towards the close of the succeeding
century, Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, was the
owner of this manor, in right of his wife,. Margaret,
Countess of Salisbury. The property was after
wards conveyed in marriage by the daughter and
heiress of the last Earl of Lincoln, of the De Lacy
family, to the Le Stranges, with whom it con
tinued down to the year 143 1, when it passed to
the Darells, by whom again it was sold shortly
after to Thomas Chichele and other persons, as
trustees for All Souls' College, Oxford. With that
college the property still continues. An inferior
manor within this parish, called Bois, or Edgware
Bois, was formerly owned by the Priory of St. John
of Jerusalem, and afterwards by the Dean and
Chapter of Windsor. In the Chartulary of the
Priory of St. John this manor is styled Egelware
Bois, or Eggesware. Towards the end of the fifteenth
century, this manor having passed by exchange or
otherwise to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster,
was surrendered by that body to the king. Henry
VIIL granted it, in the year 1544, to Sir John
Williams and Anthony Stringer, from whom it
passed by sale to the Pages. It was afterwards
owned by the Earl of Coventry, and subsequently
sold to the Lees, by whose representative it is still
held. A hamlet, now called Edgware-Bury, lies
about a mile and a half northward from the town.

About two miles beyond the town, on the borders
of the county, is an eminence called Brockley Hill,
which by Camden and other antiquaries is supposed
to be the site of the Roman station Sulloniacse.
Of the numerous Roman remains which have been
discovered at different times both here and at
places in the immediate neighbourhood, we shall.
have more to say in the next chapter.
Edgware had in former times a weekly market
on Thursdays, but that had been " for some time
discontinued " when Lysons wrote his " Environs
of London" in 1795. Indeed, it is on record that
as far back as 1668 the site of the market was con
veyed by Sir Lancelot Lake, of Canons, to certain
trustees upon trust for a public school. In the
year 1867 the Privy Council licensed the holding
of a cattle market here on the last Thursday in
every month.
The parish records contain some curious items,
referring to customs which have long since become
obsolete. From some of these, quoted by Lysons,
it appears that in 1328 one hundred acres of land
were held under the manor of Edgware by the
render of a pair of gilt spurs, and fifty acres by
the rent of a pound of " cummin." At the court held
in 1551, two men were fined here for playing at
" cards and tables." In the next year the inhabi
tants were " presented " for not having a " tum
brel and cucking-stool " — the latter, of course, as a
terror to "scolds." In 1558 a man was fined for
selling ale at an " exorbitant price," namely, one
pint and a half for a penny !
Sir William Blackstone mentions a curious
custom appertaining to the manor of Edgware,
namely, that it was usual for the lord to provide
a minstrel, or piper, for the amusement of the
tenants while they were employed in his service —
a custom which has been kept in remembrance by
the name given to a small tract of land in this
parish, called " Piper's Green."
It was on the road to Edgware that the artist
Cosway, the favourite of the Prince of Wales,
suddenly breathed his last, at the age of eighty, in
1821, whilst being taken out for an airing in the
carriage of a friend.
The parish church of Edgware, dedicated to St.
Margaret, stands about the middle of the town, on
the east side of the roadway, and, with the exception
of the tower, is modern and uninteresting: It
consists of a chancel, nave, and transepts, and is
built of brick, in imitation of the Perpendicular
style. The tower, which is constructed of flint and
stone, and has an embattled parapet and an
octagonal angle turret, is part of a former church,
which is supposed to have belonged to a religious

GREATER LONDON.

[Edgware.

house, or monastery, dedicated to St. John of
Jerusalem. Kelly tells us, in his "Directory of
Middlesex," that " amongst the Augmentation
Records is preserved a certificate of the goods
and plate of the church and monastery of Edgware
at the time of the dissolution of religious houses."
The body of the original church having become
dilapidated, was rebuilt about the middle of the
last century, and this again was renewed or rebuilt
in 1845. The east window, of three lights, is filled
with stained glass, as also are those of the transepts.
The only monument in the church worthy of notice
is one to Randulph Nicoll, who died in 1658. He
was a native of this parish, and, if the Latin inscrip
tion on his monument may be trusted, a man of great
learning and accomplishments. In the chancel is
a brass representing an infant in swaddling clothes,
inscribed "Anthonie, son of John Childe, gold
smith;" the said infant died in 1599, aged three
weeks. The Rev. Francis Coventry, the author of the
romance entitled " The Life of Pompey the Little,"
and of the fifteenth number of the World, con
taining strictures on modern gardening, &c, held
the incumbency of this church in the last century.
The Rev. Thomas Martyn, Professor of Botany at
Cambridge, also held the living for some years.
Close by the church was, in pre-Reformation
times, a call, or station, belonging to the abbey of
St. Albans, which served as a halting-place for
the monks in their journeys to and from London.
In 1680, Samuel Atkinson, a native of Edgware,
built and endowed almshouses here for four poor
women. There are also in the town almshouses
for twelve poor persons, endowed by the late Mr.
Charles Day.
Edgware is one of the polling-places for the
county of Middlesex, and at the present time the
terminus of a branch line of the Great Northern
Railway from their main line at Finsbury Park.
The town is also within a mile and a half of the
Mill Hill Station, on the Midland Railway. At the
end of the last century the number of houses in
the town, exclusive of almshouses, was 76. In
1 87 1 they had increased to 137, or nearly doubled.
The population at the last-mentioned date was 655,
to which nearly two hundred more have since been
added. Races were held at Edgware in 1869 and 1873,
but they did not acquire the popularity of those
at Hampton, Sandown, and other suburban race
courses. They have now died a natural death.
Little Stanmore — or Whitchurch, as the village
is more popularly called — lies about half a mile to
the west of Edgware. The parish, with the excep

tion of that portion forming one side of the main
street of Edgware, is almost wholly agricultural.
The entire area of the parish is rather over 1,500
acres, and the number of the inhabitants in 1881
amounted to 818. Much of the land in the parish
bordering the main road northward of Edgware is
taken up by the demesne of Canons, whilst the re
mainder is occupied by broad undulating meadows, ,
intersected by shady lanes and avenues of stately
trees. The parishes of Little Stanmore and Edgware
run parallel northward as far as Elstree, in Hert
fordshire, the boundary of the two being in the
middle of the road, in a similar manner to that
in which Hendon and Kingsbury are separated.
It is probable that at the time of the Domesday
Survey both the parishes of Stanmore Magna
(Great Stanmore) and Stanmore Parva (Little Stan
more) were united- In that record it is stated that
" Roger de Rames held in Stanmere nine hides and
a half ; " and it is further set forth that " there was
land for seven ploughs, pannage for eight hundred
hogs, pasture for the cattle of the village," &c.
The land held by Roger de Rames — or Reymes, as
the name is sometimes written — had been, previous
to the Conquest, in the hands of Algar, " a servant
of Earl Harold." It was possibly a subordinate
manor, and it continued for several generations
in the possession of the family of Rames, who
owned also much landed estate in the neighbouring
county of Essex, which was constituted a barony.
Lysons observes that this manor was "in Stan
more Parva, and appears to have been of equal
extent with the Earl of Cornwall's manor in Great
Stanmore." At the marriage of Isabel, sister of
Henry III., with Frederick, Emperor of Germany,
"half a knight's fee was paid by Henry Bocoynte
for his lands in the parish of Stanmore Parva, held
of the Barony of William de Raymes." The estate
next passed into the hands of the Prior of St.
Bartholomew, in Smithfield,] from which circum
stance it is conjectured that the property received
the ecclesiastical name of " Canons ; " for on the
dissolution of religious houses, the estate was
granted, under the name of the "manors of
Canons and Wimborough, in Whitchurch," to
Hugh Losse. The old house eow known as the
" Chandos Arms," on the Whitchurch side of Edg
ware Street, is supposed by Lysons to have been the
mansion formerly occupied by the Losse family.
Over the chimney-piece in one of the rooms were
formerly to be seen the arms of Losse, with the
initials R. L. (Robert Losse), and the date 1557.
The next occupiers of Canons were the family of
Franklyn, who were living there in the reign of

Little Stanmore.]

CANONS.

287

Elizabeth. John Franklyn, who died in 1596, was
buried in the parish church. Early in the seven
teenth century the estate was sold by Sir Hugh
Losse to Sir Thomas Lake, who had been in early
life the amanuensis of Sir Francis Walsingham, and
who held the office of Clerk of the Signet to Queen
Elizabeth, and also occupied the post of principal
Secretary of State under James I.
In this latter capacity Sir Thomas appears to
have conducted himself with equal integrity and
talent. Fuller, in his "Worthies," says that his
"dexterity of dispatch and his secrecy were in
credible." But he had unhappily become involved
by his wife in a quarrel with the Countess of Essex,
and was in consequence dismissed from his office,
and sent as a prisoner to the Tower, and fined in
the sum of ,£15,000. In the "Sidney Papers"
it is stated that the king advised him to " give up "
his wife and daughter, who had been the chief
instruments in the quarrel, on which he observed
that he could bear ill-fortune with patience, but
that he could " not cease to be a husband and a
father." Sir Thomas Lake died at Canons in 1630,
and was succeeded in the estates by his son, Sir
Lancelot Lake, who appears to have taken great
interest in the welfare of the parishioners, for he
not only founded a boys' school, endowing it with
land producing £58 per annum, but "restored to
the church those great tythes which had been
wrested from her, and of which he was the lay im
propriator." The church, therefore (which before
this restitution had a donative of only £40 a year),
became re-possessed of the rectorial tithe, and
from that time, says Lysons, " the incumbents have
been styled rectors in the parish register."
General Lake, who distinguished himself by his
military services in India at the close of the last
century, was a descendant of Sir Thomas Lake.
The general was raised to the peerage in 1804 by
the title of Baron Lake, and three years later was
advanced to a viscountcy.
The manor of Canons continued to be held by
the family of the Lakes down to about the year
17 rb, when it was conveyed in marriage by Mary,
daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Lake, and
great-granddaughter of the above Sir Thomas Lake,
to James Brydges, Esq., afterwards Duke of Chandos.
It would seem from Swift's poems that James
Brydges had been one of his friends until he was
raised to a dukedom. At all events, he is thus
referred to in one of the Dean's bitterest epigrams : —
"James Brydges was the dean's familjar friend,
James grows a duke : their friendship here must end.
Surely the dean deserves a sore rebuke
For knowing James, to say he knows a duke. "

This nobleman was Paymaster of the Forces
during the war in Queen Anne's reign, under
Godolphin's administration, and amassed an im
mense fortune ; or, in other words, " appropriated "
to his own use very large sums of the public money.
The House of Commons, in 17 11, instituted a
committee of inquiry into the public expenditure,
when it was found that a deficit existed in the
accounts to the extent of thirty-five millions, or
that a sum to that amount remained unaccounted
for, and, further, that about one-half of that sum
was connected with the accounts of Brydges. His
answer to the charge was that the accounts had
been regularly presented, but that "the mode of
scrutinizing and passing them was tedious and
complex, owing to a system pursued by the Duke
of Newcastle." Great carelessness with regard to
the public accounts is said to have existed at that
period, and such was the low state of political
morality that almost every public man in office
was charged with peculation. Johnson, in his pam
phlet on the Falkland Islands, sarcastically alludes
to the compensation which the nation received at
the close of a ten years' war, for the death of multi
tudes, and the expense of millions, by contempla
ting the sudden glories of paymasters, and agents,
contractors, and commissaries, " whose equipages
shine like meteors, and whose palaces rise like ex
halations." Chandos gave rise for scandal by the
large sums which he spent in building, and by the
style of magnificence in which he lived. He had,
it appears, determined on building two magnificent
houses. He fixed the site of his London residence
in Cavendish Square, and the building was com
menced with much grandeur of preparation, but
was never completed.* His country palace, how
ever, was the favourite object of his attention, and
the spot he first selected for its erection was a
little to the north of the town of Brentford, on the
spot afterwards occupied by the seat of the Earl of
Holderness ;t but he shortly relinquished his idea
of building his mansion in the neighbourhood of
the stately and commanding Syon House, and ac
cordingly removed his workmen to Canons, where
he set about the erection of an edifice which was
to be the wonder of the age for its splendour. In
this great work the Duke is said to have spent
no less a sum than ^200,000. Its splendour,
however, was but short-lived, for in an equal
degree the edifice became the wonder of the
succeeding age by its abrupt declension and
premature ruin.

* See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 443.
t See ante, p. 60.

GREATER LONDON.

[Little Stanmore.

Although the grandeur and magnificence of the
mansion became the theme of poetic inspiration,
and evoked the satirical remarks of a poetical
writer whose verse is calculated to survive the
finest building of stone, very little as to detail
occurs concerning it in the prosaic pages of
topography. Three architects appear to have
been employed on the building, namely: Gibbs,
James of Greenwich, and Sheppard, who de
signed the theatres in Goodman's Fields and
Covent Garden ; and Dr. Alexander Blackwell,
the author of a " Treatise on Agriculture," super
intended the laying out of the grounds and
pleasure-grounds. The house was commenced in 17 15, when the 1

expense of the building and furniture is said to
have amounted to .£200,000. Gough, in his
" Additions to Camden," sets down the cost at a
quarter of a million sterling.
It is somewhat strange that no painting of
Canons, as it was in its glory, is known to exist ;
nor is there any engraving of it in the print-room
of the British Museum, though there are two
elevations of its principal front in the King's
Library, dated in 1721 and 1730, engraved by
Hulsberg. These display its chief features : eleven
windows in three tiers above one another, divided
by lofty columns, the cornice at the top being
crowned with six or seven classical and sym
bolical statues, not unlike those to be seen in' old

VILLAGE OF EDGWARE. (From a Sketch made in 1858.)

north front was built by Strong, the mason who
was employed on the building of St. Paul's Cathe
dral. " It stood," writes Lysons, in his " Environs of
London," "at the end of a spacious avenue, being
placed diagonally, so as to show two sides of the
building, which at a distance gave the appearance of a
front of prodigious extent. Vertue describes it as
' a noble square pile, all of stone ; the four sides
almost alike, with statues on the front ; within was
a small square of brick, not handsome; the out
houses of brick and stone, very convenient and
well-disposed ; the hall richly adorned with marble
statues, busts, &c. ; the ceiling of the staircase by
Thornhill ; the grand apartments finely adorned
with paintings, sculpture, and furniture' (Straw
berry Hill MSS.). The columns which supported
the building were all of marble, as was the great
staircase, each step of which was made of an entire
block, above twenty feet in length. The whole

drawings of the " Queen's House," the predecessor
of Buckingham Palace. The building also bore a
strong family likeness to Wanstead House, Essex,
of which we shall give a description later on in
this volume.
In the "Gentleman's Tour through Great Britain,"
Canons is said to have been "one of the most
magnificent palaces in England, built with a pro
fusion of expense, and so well furnished within,
that it had .hardly its equal. The plastering and
gilding were the work of the famous Pargotti, an
Italian. The great salon, or hall, was painted
by Paolucci. . . . The avenue was spacious and
majestic ; and as it gave you the view of twtffrMits..
joined, as it were, in one, the distance not ad
mitting you to see the angle which was in the
centre, so you were agreeably drawn in to think
the front of the house almost twice as large as it
was. And yet when you came nearer you were

Little Stanmore.)

THE FAMILY OF BRYDGES.

289*

again surprised by seeing the winding passage
opening, as it were, a new front to the eye of near
one hundred and twenty feet wide, which you had
not seen before ; so that you were lost awhile in
looking near at hand for what you so plainly saw
a great way off."
The building, which was in the Classical or
Palladian style, appears to have been designed
with the view of standing for ages, seeing that the
walls were " twelve feet thick below, and nine feet
above." The north front of the mansion was
adorned with pilasters and columns of stone ; and
above every window in each front was an antique
head carved in stone, and at the top of each front
were ranged statues as
large as life. The locks
and hinges to the doors
of the state rooms were
of gold or silver, and the
fitting-up of the apart
ments matched this
costliness. Altogether,
Canons must have
been exceedingly magni
ficent. The park, several
miles in extent, swarmed
with deer, and avenues of
elms led to each corner
of the house from the
surrounding roads. The
principal avenue, nearly
a mile long, was on the
side towards Edgware,
and the entrance to it
was gained by iron gates
enriched with the arms
of Chandos, the stone
pillars being crowned with the supporters. This
avenue was broad enough to admit of three
coaches going abreast, and had a large round
basin of water in the middle. In an account
of Canons, written before its demolition, are the
following particulars concerning the adjacent
grounds : — " The gardens are well designed in a
vast variety, and the canals very large and noble.
There is a spacious terrace that descends to a
parterre, which has a row of gilded vases on each
side down to the great canal ; and in the middle,
fronting the canal, is a gilt gladiator. The gardens,
being divided by iron balustrades, and not by
walls, are seen all at one view from any part of
them. In the kitchen-garden are curious bee-hives
of glass; and at the end of each of the chief
avenues there are neat lodgings for eight old
25 _

sergeants of the army, whom the duke took out of
Chelsea College to guard the whole, and perform
the same duty at night as the watchmen do in
London, and to attend his Grace to chapel on
Sundays." Few families have played a more conspicuous
part in the history of England than that of Brydges,
Lords Chandos of Sudeley, and afterwards Dukes
of Chandos. Sir Bernard Burke traces them up to
one Sir Simon de Bruge, or Brugge, a knight of
large possessions in the county of Hereford in the
reign of Henry III., whose immediate descendants
for several generations represented both that county
and also Gloucestershire in Parliament, whilst one
of them fell fighting at
Agincourt, and several
married the heiresses of
illustrious houses. One
of their descendants, Sir
John Bruges, held Bou
logne as governor against
the French king in the
reign of Henry VIIL,
who afterwards consti
tuted him Governor of
the Tower, and gave
him a grant of the manor
and honour of Sudeley
Castle, which his grand
son gallantly held for
King Charles against the
Parliamentary Round
heads. Henry also
created him Lord Chan
dos of Sudeley, in con
sideration not only of his
nobility and loyalty, but
of his quality, valour,
and other virtues. Whilst his elder son con
tinued the line of the Lords Chandos, his younger
son became the father of a line of baronets, who
adopted the orthography of Brydges, and were
seated for some generations at Wilton Castle, in
Herefordshire, a pleasant seat on the Wye. Sir
James Brydges, the third baronet, by the failure
and extinction of the elder line about 200 years
ago, succeeded to the Barony of Chandos, and
was summoned as such to the House of Peers, and
sent as ambassador to Constantinople. He
married the daughter and heiress of a rich Turkey
merchant, who proved herself a " fruitful vine,"
as she brought him no less than twenty-two
children, fifteen of whom lived to be christened,
and seven grew up to manhood and womanhood.
James Brydges, the builder of Canons, was born

THE DUKE OF CHANDOS.

296

greater London.

[Little Stanmore.

in 1673, and, in the lifetime of his father,
was elected knight of the shire for Herefordshire
in several successive Parliaments. In 1707 he
was called to the Council of Prince George of
Denmark in the affairs of the Admiralty, and
was afterwards, as stated above, appointed Pay
master-General of the Forces on active service.
With reference to the large sums of money which
he secured to himself out of the above offices,
Smollett, in his continuation of Hume's " History,"
writes : — " Mr. Brydges accounted for all the moneys
that had passed through his hands excepting three
millions;" and he adds that "all means had
proved ineffectual to deter and punish those indi
viduals who shamefully pillaged their country ; the
villany was so complicated, the vice so general,
and the delinquents so powerfully screened by
artifice and interest, as to elude all inquiry."
At the time of his marriage with the daughter
and heiress of Sir Thomas Lake of Canons, he
appears to have had a town house in Albemarle
Street, for Dean Swift writes, March 3, 17 11 : — ¦
" Mr. Brydges' house in Albemarle Street was
much damaged by a fire at Sir William Wyndham's,
next door." Lord Chandos died in 17 14, and was
buried in the parish church of Whitchurch. On
the accession of George I., his son and successor
was created Viscount Wilton and Earl of Carnarvon,
and in 17 19 he was advanced to the Marquisate of
Carnarvon and Dukedom of Chandos.
About this time a curious event is said to have
happened to the duke. When travelling to or from
Herefordshire, his Grace stopped at the "Castle Inn"
at Marlborough, when, as he drove into the court
yard, his ears were deafened by piercing screams.
The duke hastily alighted, and beheld a very
lovely young woman, scarcely beyond girlhood,
in the grasp of a powerful fellow, the ostler of the
inn, who was striking her in a most ferocious
manner with a heavy horse-whip. Blood was
streaming from her face, neck, and arms ; and a
crowd stood round, filled with compassion, yet
afraid to interfere between the ferocious brute and
his victim. But the duke pressed through the
group, and sternly ordered the ruffian to desist
The man, daunted by the look and manner of the
nobleman, let his whip and victim both fall to the
ground, and replied to his questions that the young
woman was his wife, and that he had a right to do
what he liked to her, offering, however, at the same
time, to sell this right to his Grace for a sum of
money. Really touched by the sufferings of the
beautiful girl, the duke unhesitatingly closed with
the offer : a sum of £20 was gleefully accepted by
the brute of a husband, and the Stricken young

wife became, according to an old English custom,
the purchaser's own, to do with as he would. But
the duke was a noble-minded gentleman ; the
cast-off wife was treated by him as his ward, and
placed where she would be educated and moulded
into a lady. The result of his care gave him com
plete satisfaction ; and, some years later, when his
second duchess died childless, in 1735, his Grace
raised the whilom ostler's cast-off spouse to be his
third wife. It is certain that the duke never repented
of his bargain, for he says in his will : — " I owe the
greatest comfort I have enjoyed in this life (since I
have been blessed with her) to my duchess, Lydia
Catherine ; " and he orders that she shall be buried
in the same depository as his own corpse, and that
a marble figure of her should be set up in the
monument room, but it was not to cost more
than £200. A curious book in the British Museum,
bound in some crimson velvet that remained over
and above the quantity required for covering the
coffin of this duchess, tells this story, and much
more also, about Canons and its master.
On April 22, 1736, Mrs. Pendarves writes to her
friend, Dean Swift : — " The Duke of Chandos's
marriage has made a great noise, and the poor
duchess is often reproached with her being bred
up in Burr Street, Wapping." To this a note is
attached, to the effect that "she was a Lady
Davall, widow of Sir Thomas Davall, and had a
fortune of .£40,000." This is borne out by the
inscription on her tomb ; so that it would appear
that the beautiful victim who had been rescued by
the duke was married in the interval to a city
knight as her second husband, and that she became
a third time a wife herself when she married his
Grace. It would be scarcely possible to exaggerate the
pomp and grandeur which marked even the every
day life of the owner of " Princely Canons." The
author of " A Journey through England " says of
the duke : — " When his Grace goes to church he
is attended by his Swiss Guards, ranged as the
Yeomen of the Guards at St. James's Palace ; his
music also plays when he is at table ; he is served
by gentlemen in the best order ; and I must say
that very few sovereign princes live with the same
magnificence, grandeur, and good order."
Though most liberal, his Grace never was im
provident or lavishly profuse. When he first
arranged the plan of Canons, one of the ablest
accountants in England was employed by him to
make out a table of yearly, monthly, weekly, and
even daily, expenditure. This scheme was engraved
on a large copper-plate, and was an extraordinary
specimen of economical wisdom. The duke sold

Little Stanmore.]

LIBERALITY OF THE DUKE OF CHANDOS.

291

all the garden fruit which was not required for his
own table, and would say, "It is as much my
property as the corn and hay and the produce of
my fields." An aged man, who had been the
duke's servant, and who appeared
" The sad historian of the pensive scene,"
informed the writer of an article on Canons,
published some forty years ago in the Chimney-
Corner Companion, that in his occasional bounties
to his labourers the duke would never exceed
sixpence each. " This," he would say, " may do
you good ; more may make you idle and drunk."

" Epistle on False Taste," in the " Moral Essays,"
addressed by Pope to the Earl of Burlington, have
been often quoted, and speak for themselves : — ,
At Timon's villa let us pass a day,
Where all cry out, ' What sums are thrown away I '
So proud, so grand, of that stupendous air,
Soft and agreeable come never there.
Greatness, with Timon, dwells in such a drought
As brings all Brobdignag before your thought.
To compass this, his building is a town,
His pond an ocean, his parterre a down ;
Who but must laugh, the master when he sees,
A puny insect, shivering at a breeze !
Lo ! what huge heaps of littleness around,

CANONS, ELEVATION OF THE ORIGINAL SOUTH FRONT.

In spite of great losses by his concerns in the
African company, and by the Mississippi and South
Sea speculations, the duke was ever a liberal
patron of learning and merit, as the following
story will show : — A clergyman whom he much
esteemed was one day looking over the library at
Canons, and was bidden by its noble owner to
fix upon any book he liked, and it should be his.
The gentleman very politely chose one of no great
price, but afterwards found a bank bill of con
siderable value between its leaves. Greatly sur
prised, he brought the bill and the book back to
Canons. The duke took back the bill, but only
to exchange it for one of double the value, saying,
"Accept that, sir, for your honesty."
It was always said that the Duke of Chandos
was abused by Pope under the name of Timon,
and probably because his Grace had passed by and
forgotten the spiteful little poet in his liberalities
to men of letters. The following lines, from the

The whole a labour'd quarry above ground ;
Two Cupids squirt before, a lake behind
Improves the keenness of the northern wind.
His gardens next your admiration call,
On every side you look, behold the wall !
No pleasing intricacies intervene,
No artful wildness to perplex the scene ;
Grove nods at grove, each alley has a brother,
And half the platform just reflects the other.
The suffering eye inverted Nature sees,
Trees cut to statues, statues thick as trees,
With here a fountain, never to be play'd,
And there a summer-house that knows no shade ;
Here Amphitrite sails through myrtle bowers,
There gladiators fight, or die in flowers ;
TJnwater'd, see the drooping sea-horse mourn,
And swallows roost in Nilu's dusty urn.
My lord advances with majestic mien,
Smit with the mighty pleasure to be seen.
But soft, by regular approach — not yet —
First through the length of that hot terrace sweat ;
And when- up ten steep slopes you've dragg'd your
thighs,
Just at his study door he'll bless your eyes."

292

GREATER LONDON.

[Little Stanmore.

In his library the duke could boast of having a
valuable collection of MS. records of Ireland
before, during, and after the troubles of the Civil
War, originally collected by Sir James Ware.
When Lord Clarendon was Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland (1686), he obtained these MSS. from the
heir of Sir James, and brought them to England,
and after his death they were bought by the Duke
of Chandos. Dean Swift was very anxious that
his Grace should present them to the public library
at Dublin, but did not see his way to asking the
favour. The following lines from the " Essay on
Taste " are supposed to refer to the duke's library
here : —
" His study ! with what authors is it stor'd ?
In books, not authors, curious is my lord.
To all their dated backs he turns you round :
These Aldus printed, those Du Sneil has bound.
Lo 1 some are vellum, and the rest as good
For all his lordship knows, but they are wood.
For Locke or Milton 'tis in vain to look,
These shelves admit not any modern book."
The duke's style of living was on a par with the
splendour of his house. He dined in public, with
flourishes of trumpets announcing each change of
dishes. De Foe, in his " Tour through England "
(j?^); writes : — "Here are continually maintained,
and that in the dearest part of England as to house
expenses, not less than one hundred and twenty
in family, and yet a face of plenty appears in every
part of it ; nothing needful is withheld, nothing
pleasant is restrained ; every servant in the house
is made easy, and his life comfortable." Pope
thus deals with the duke's style of living : —
" But hark ! the chiming clocks to dinner call :
A hundred footsteps scrape the marble hall ;
The rich buffet the well-colour'd serpents grace,
And gaping Tritons spew to wash your face.
Is this a dinner ? This a genial room ?
No ; 'tis a temple and a hecatomb.
A solemn sacrifice, perform'd in state,
You drink to measure, and to minutes eat.
So quick retires each flying course, you'd swear
Sancho's dread doctor and his wand were there.
Between each act the trembling salvers ring,
From soup to sweet wine, and ' God bless the king! '
In plenty starving, tantalised in state,
And complaisantly help'd to all I hate,
Treated, caress'd, and sir"d, I take my leave,
Sick of his civil pride from morn to eve ;
I curse such lavish cost and little skill,
And swear no day was ever passed so ill.
Yet hence the poor are cloth'd, the hungry fed ;
Health to himself, and to his infants bread
The labourer bears. What his hard heart denies
His charitable vanity supplies."
The garden and terraces, the hall, the library,
and even the chapel (which was no other than the

parish church of Whitchurch), come under the lash
of the poet : —
"And now the chapel's silver bell you hear,
That summons you to all the pride of prayer ;
Light quirks of music, broken and uneven,
Make the soul dance upon a jig to Heaven.
On painted ceilings you devoutly stare,
Where sprawl the saints of Verrio or Laguerre,
Or gilded clouds in fair expansion lie,
And bring all Paradise before your eye.
To rest the cushion and soft dean invite,
Who never mentions Hell to ears polite."
" The graceless saints with which Laguerre dis
figured the chapel walls of Canons," observes the
author of the "Beauties of England," "probably
identify the satire of Pope more unequivocally
than any other circumstance of allusion in his
essay ; but assuredly the poet should have omitted
to censure the Duke of Chandos for a want of
correct taste as to music." In Hawkins's " History
of Music " it is remarked that "his Grace deter
mined on having Divine service performed in his
chapel with all the aid that could be derived from
vocal and instrumental music. To this end he re
tained some of the most celebrated performers of
both kinds, and engaged the greatest masters of
the time to compose anthems and services with
instrumental accompaniments, after the manner
of those performed in the churches of Italy." It
appears that Handel composed not less than
twenty of his finest anthems for the use of this
chapel. Hogarth found a patron in the duke ; and
when Pope disgraced his muse by unjust and
sarcastic wit levelled at the owner of Canons, the
painter punished the bard of Twickenham by re
presenting him as standing on a scaffold white
washing Burlington House, and bespattering the
Duke of Chandos's carriage as it passes along
Piccadilly.* Pope, in a letter written by him to Aaron Hill,
denied that there was any truth in the supposition
that the character of " Timon " in the essay above
quoted was ever intended to apply to the Duke of
Chandos ; and in the Prologue to the Satires he
poetically mentions, as the most severe enemy of
an honest muse, that fop —
" Who has the vanity to call you friend,
Yet wants the honour, injur' d, to defend ;
Who tells whate'er you think, whate'er you say,
And, if he lie not, must at least betray;
Who to the dean and silver bell can swear,
And sees at Canons what was never there."
The public, however, would not give credit to

See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 263.

Little Stanmore.]

THE DOWNFALL OF CANONS.

293

either the prose or the poetry of Pope when his
satire exceeded the bounds of fact; and as the
duke was highly respected for genuine worth of
heart, and was said to have presented the poet with
the sum of one thousand pounds as a tribute to his
literary merits, much indignation was excited by
the presumed libeL In one of the many brochures
published against Pope occur the lines —
" Great Chandos' stream of bounty flov/d too high ;
Chandos' high soul forgets as he bestows."
Whether Pope's lines were or were not really
intended to be applied to the Duke of Chandos,
the glory of Canons was but .of short duration;
hence the concluding lines of the essay were, at all
events, in a certain sense fulfilled. In a truly
prophetic spirit Pope foretells the transformation
of the proud and formal domain into pasture and
farm-land : —
" Another age shall see the golden ear
Imbrown the slope and nod on the parterre ;
Deep harvest bury all his pride has plann'd,
And laughing Ceres re-assume the land."
These lines were sadly verified in the very next
generation, as we shall see. The duke's eldest
surviving son, John, Marquis of Carnarvon, died
in the lifetime of his father, leaving — by his marriage
with Lady Catherine Tollemache, a daughter of
the Earl of Dysart— one only daughter, also named
Catherine. The duke himself died in 1744, and
his widow followed him to the grave some six years
later. Owing to disputes with the duke's younger
son and successor, Henry, second Duke of Chandos,
the duchess-dowager ordered that the provisions of
her lord's will with regard to her interment should
not be carried out, and she was accordingly buried
elsewhere ; but in the following year her remains
were disinterred, and laid in the Chandos vault ; no
monument, however, representing the duke's best
beloved wife was ever placed in the mortuary
chapel. His Grace had experienced great losses
from several public speculations in which he had
embarked, the most important of which was the
South Sea scheme, which had been productive of
such a wide-spread ruin in the year 1720. He
continued, however, to reside at Canons, though,
as it would appear, with diminished splendour, till
his death.
Under the second duke the estate became more
sadly encumbered than ever ; and on his death, his
executors found it necessary to put Canons up for
sale, a special Act of Parliament having been passed
to enable them to do so. No purchaser, however,
could be found for the mansion and estate as a
whole ; so at last the house was pulled to pieces,

and the materials sold by auction in 1747, in
separate lots, that which had cost half a million to
build producing only .£11,000. The costly furni
ture was also sold, crowds flocking to the scene —
as a hundred years later crowds flocked to the
Stowe and Strawberry Hill sales. The marble
staircase was bought by Lord Chesterfield for his
house in Mayfair; some of the pillars, too, at
Chesterfield House originally belonged to Canons,
and were termed by the witty earl " the canonical
pillars of his house." The fine columns became a
portico for Wanstead House, mentioned above, and
which has since been also demolished. The
equestrian statue of George I. (one of the many
sculptures which adorned the grounds at Canons)
was transferred to Leicester Square, where it was
allowed to perish. The statue of George II. in
Golden Square, too, was part of the Canons spoil.
One of the marble fireplaces found a settlement
at the " Chandos Arms " inn at Edgware ; and a
grand carving in wood, by Grinling Gibbons,
which, as we find in Evelyn's "Diary," was purchased
by the duke, was transferred to the great hall of
Bush Hill Park, near Enfield.
The immediate cause, or, at all events, one
cause, of the break-up and forced sale of Canons
was the attempt of the second duke to buy up —
at all sorts of fancy prices of course — the whole of
the land which lay between his country seat and
his town house near Cavendish Square — a house
still immortalised by the name of Chandos Street.
This he wished to do in order that he might drive
his coach and six from the one place to the other
without passing the bounds of his estate. Two of
the large houses * standing on the north side of
Cavendish Square were erected as residences for
the duke's porters and other members of his
household. In order to carry his idea into effect,
the duke would have had to buy up half Mary-
lebone, St. John's Wood, Hendon, and Kings
bury — purchases for which no ducal coffers could
have sufficed.
The tourist who wishes' to make a pilgrimage to
Canons at the present time will find it very
much like the play of " Hamlet," with the part of
Hamlet left out. The park is still there ; but,
though for the most part under grass, it is cut up
by hedges and railings into separate fields. A few
of the fine elms which once formed the avenues
still stand like solitary sentinels ; the carp and
tench still swim lazily about in the two large fish
ponds on either side of the carriage road which
leads up to the present mansion from the town
* See " Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 443.

294

GREATER LONDON.

[Little Stanmore.

of Edgware ; the shrubberies are still green with
magnificent bays, laurels, cypresses, and other
ornamental trees, interspersed with oaks, hazels,
and chestnuts ; and beyond the west end of Whit
church churchyard may be distinctly traced, though
now grown over with turf — not with corn, as
prophesied by Pope— the splendid road down which
the duke and his duchess used to drive in their
coach and six, and with their tall guards in front,
on Sundays, to hear Handel's music in their velvet-

sion itself may be formed from the fact that the two
porters' lodges, each having six rooms on the ground
floor, being raised a storey higher by the new owner
of Canons, were let to private gentlemen, one of
them being a baronet, Sir Hugh Dalrymple.
Mr. Hallet's villa, built of stone, was a somewhat
modest, but capacious, residence, and has been
enlarged in recent times. The house stands on a
gentle elevation, in the midst of a moderate-sized
and well-timbered park. The property was sold by

CANONS. (From a Print published in 17JI2.)

lined gallery, .or tribune, at the west end of the
sacred edifice. But the old mansion itself is clean
gone, though the vistas which it once commanded
may be seen. The iron gates which once closed
the southern entrance now span the centre of the
gardens of New College, Oxford ; and it is said
that the golden lamps which lighted the chief
avenue to the house were for many years to be
seen at Day and Martin's shop in Holborn. Sic
transit gloria.
Mr. Hallet, a cabinet-maker in Long Acre,
bought the greater part of the estate and a large
quantity of building materials, with which he
erected a villa on part of the site of the original
house. Some jdea of the magnificence of the man-

Mr. Hallet's grandson to Captain Dennis O'Kelly,
whose name was well-known in the sporting world
as the owner of a famous race-horse, " Eclipse,"
which in its old age is said to have been brought
hither all the. way from Epsom on a carriage made
specially for him. This wonderful horse was bred
by the Duke of Cumberland, and being foaled
during the great eclipse, was so named by the duke
in consequence. His royal owner did not survive
to witness the very great performances he himself
had predicted. When a yearling only, the horse
was disposed of by auction, with the rest of his
stud. At four or five years old Captain O'Kelly
purchased half of him for 250 guineas, and in a
short time after gave 750 for the remainder, The

Little Stanmore.]

THE RACEHORSE, "ECLIPSE."

29S

following curious mock epistle in a book of sporting
anecdotes, printed at the end of last century, may
be of interest to sporting readers even in the
present day : —
"AN EPISTLE FROM ECLIPSE TO KING FERGUS.
" Dear Son,— I set out last week from Epsom,
and am safe arrived in my new stables at this
place. My situation may serve as a lesson to
man : I was once the fleetest horse in the world,

the rest of my progeny, will do honour to the
name of their grandsire, EcLirsE.
"Canons, Middlesex.
" P.S. Myself, Dungannon, Volunteer, and Ver-
tumnus, are all here. — Compliments to the York
shire horses."
This noble animal, who performed the feat of
galloping a mile in a minute, is said to have been
stuffed and kept in the hall. One of his hoofs, set in

WHITCHURCH CHURCH : THE EAST END.

but old age has come upon me, and wonder not,
King Fergus, when I tell thee I was drawn in a
carriage from Epsom to Canons, being unable to
walk even so short a journey. Every horse, as
well as every dog, has his day ; and I have had
mine. I have outlived two worthy masters : the
late Duke of Cumberland, that bred me, and the
Colonel with whom I have spent my best days,
but I must not repine ; I am now caressed, not so
much for what I can do, but for what I have
done, and with the satisfaction of knowing that
my present master will never abandon me to the
fate of the high-mettled racer I
" I am glad to hear, my grandson, Honest Tom,
performs so well in Ireland, and trust that he, and

gold, is the property of the Jockey.Club, and consti
tutes a prize annually contended for at Ascot Races,
the owner of the winning horse retaining the relic in
his possession for a year. The remains of the above
famous racehorse are interred in the park of Canons.
The estate was subsequently sold by the nephew
of Captain O'Kelly to Sir Thomas Plumer, who
was some time Vice-Chancellor of England, and
afterwards Master of the Rolls ; and the property,
after the death of Sir Thomas, remained in the
possession of Lady Plumer till her decease. It
was next held by Mr. Thomas Hall Plumer, the
eldest son of Sir Thomas, and more recently by
Mr. David Begg, M.D., since whose death, in 1868,
Canons has been owned by his widow.

296

GREATER LONDON.

[Little Stanmore.

The parish church of Whitchurch, close by the
southern entrance to the park of Canons, and al
most hidden from sight by the trees which surround
it, is a small building, dedicated to St. Lawrence,
and, with the exception of the tower, which is
ancient, was built about the year 17 15, at the
expense of the Duke of Chandos, as the " chapel "
of Canons. The internal decorations, which are
in a style very rarely to be seen in country
churches, were not completed till five years later.
In the words of Pope, quoted above —
" Here sprawl the saints of Verrio and Laguerre."
At all events, the latter artist is said to have painted
the ceiling and the walls. On each side of the
Communion Table is "The Nativity " and " The
Dead Christ," by Bellucci; behind it, instead of
a reredos, is a recess for the organ supported by
Corinthian columns. The organ was rebuilt and
enlarged in 1878. In the background are paint
ings of " Moses Receiving the Tables of the Law "
and of "The Saviour Preaching." Handel, who
resided at Canons for three years as chapel-master
to the duke, is said to have composed his sacred
drama of Esther {or the consecration of this church.
During his stay here he produced also the two
"Chandos" Te Deums, the twelve "Chandos"
Anthems, and Acis and Galatea.
In September, 1790, some thirty years after his
death, a grand miscellaneous concert of sacred
music, selected from the works of Handel, was per
formed in his honour and memory in this church.
The large chamber, or mortuary chapel, on the
north side of the chancel, built by the Duke of
Chandos, and containing one or two monuments to
members of his family, reminds the visitor in
some degree of the tombs of the Russells at
Chenies, in Buckinghamshire. The chamber,
which is constructed over the family vault, is
reached by a flight of steps. The ceiling and
sides are painted, and the floor is paved with black
and white marble. Within is a statue of the
duke, in Roman costume, as large as life, standing
between the statues of Mary, his first wife, and
his first duchess, Cassandra, sister of Thomas
Willoughby, Lord Middleton, whom the duke
married in 17 13, just one year after the death of
the heiress of Canons. The two last-named
effigies kneel on either side of that of the duke, in
mourning attitudes. The inscription records the
interment of the duke's third wife, " Lydia
Catherine, daughter of John Vanhattem, Esq., and
widow of Sir Thomas Davall, M.P., who died in the
year 17 14." This monument was restored by the
Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1865. At the

western end of the church is the " Chandos
gallery," containing a spacious semicircular recess,
with seats for the owner of Canons. The ceiling
of this gallery is painted with a copy of Raphael's
" Ascension," by Bellucci.
At the south-eastern corner of the churchyard is
a grave-stone to the memory of William Powell, the
" harmonious blacksmith." The stone, which
bears, in a sunk medallion, a hammer, anvil,
laurel wreath, and a bar of music, records his
name, and date of death, "February 27th, 1780,
aged 78," and adds that " he was parish clerk
during the time the immortal Handel was organist
of this church." The stone was raised by sub
scription in 1868, in place of a wooden rail, which
formerly bore a similar inscription. This is the
blacksmith in whose forge, one afternoon in 1721,
Handel is said to have taken refuge during a storm,
when he found Powell standing at his work, and
singing a beautiful melody, that chimed in exactly
with the tone emitted by his anvil, as blow after
blow fell upon it. Powell informed his delighted
visitor that he had heard the tune, and caught it
up, but did not know the name of the composer.
So Handel, as the story goes, carried the melody
in his head back to Canons, and elaborated the
theme into the well-known " Harmonious Black
smith." The original MS. air, in the treble
only, may be still seen in an old book in the
British Museum. A lady who endowed some
almshouses at Whitchurch has left it on record
that Powell was a fine-looking man, nearly six feet
high, and that he always wore a clean shirt, with
the collar thrown back on his shoulders, and a red
cap on his head, and she adds that he sang con
stantly as he worked. His anvil still exists, and
its tone, when struck, is really in the same key as
the "Harmonious Blacksmith." Both the anvil and
hammer, having been long kept as sacred relics,
were sold among the Snoxell collection of curio
sities by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, in June, 1879.
On the north side of the churchyard are some
heavy-looking and substantial almshouses, which
were founded about 1640 by Lady Lake, the widow
of Sir Thomas Lake of Canons, for seven poor
persons. The recipients of this charity were to be
appointed by Sir Thomas Lake's descendants, as
long as they should be possessed of Canons, and
afterwards by the minister and churchwardens.
The endowment at the present time supports only
four persons. The charity had an income of £44
per annum, which has been recently augmented by
a bequest of £1,000 by Miss Hurst. The alms
houses are built of red brick, of one floor, and form
three sides of a quadrangle.

Great Stanmore.]

BROCKLEY HILL,

297

CHAPTER XXIX.
GREAT STANMORE AND ELSTREE.
Per lines et aprica rura. — Horace.
Great Stanmore — Brockley Hill, the supposed Site of Sulloniacae— Discovery of Roman Antiquities— The Great Forest of ¦ Middlesex — The
Domesday Notice of Stanmore — Descent of the Manor — The Village — Population — The Bcrnays Memorial Institute — The Church —
Stanmore Park — Bentley Priory — The Property purchased by Lord Abercorn — Queen Adelaide — Sir John Kelk — Elstree — Situation and
General Appearance of the Village — The Manor — Parish Church — Burial-places of Martha Ray and William Weare — Female Orphans'
Home— Elstree Hill House— Elstree Reservoir— Watercourses — Pudding-stones.

Great Stanmore, which we have now reached,
lies on the border-line of Middlesex and Hertford
shire. The name of the parish, which appears as
Stanmere, or Stanmera, in " Domesday Book,"
signifies a boundary-mark or stone. In legal docu
ments it is written Stanmore Magna (or Great Stan
more), to distinguish it from the adjoining parish
of Stanmore Parva (Little Stanmore), or Whit
church, which we have just left. Both districts
would appear to have formed one parish only at
the time of the Norman survey, though the period
at which they were divided has not been ascer
tained. At the time of the Roman invasion, and probably
for a long time afterwards, this locality was thickly
wooded, and formed part of that dreary tract
which was known in more recent times as the
forest of Middlesex. Many interesting evidences
of the Roman occupation have been discovered in
this neighbourhood, particularly in the north-eastern
division of the parish, close by the high ground
known as Brockley Hill, about midway between
Edgware and Elstree, a spot which Camden,
Stukeley, and other writers, have fixed upon as the
site of the ancient city of Sulloniacae. Reynolds,
in his edition of the " Itinerary of Antoninus," un
hesitatingly ascribes the site of that city to Brockley
Hill ; and after mentioning the numerous vestiges
of Roman habitation which have been discovered
there, observes that "no evidence is wanting on
the subject, but to show that the distance is agree
able to the numerals." The distance between
the presumed site of this city and Verulamium
(St. Albans) is estimated, according to Mr. Reynolds,
at nine miles and a quarter, which comes very
near to the truth.
Roman antiquities, consisting chiefly of coins,
urns, rings, fibulse, and other articles, are said to
have been found in large quantities from the site
of Bentley Priory, which lies to the north-west of
the village of Stanmore, eastward as far as Brockley
Hill. These discoveries, says Lysons, gave rise to
the following local couplet : —
"No heart can think, nor tongue can tell,
What lies 'twixt Brockley Hill and Penny well."

Pennywell, however, lies at some little distance
to the north-east of Brockley Hill, and nearer
to Elstree than Stanmore. Norden asserts that
Watling Street, which we have mentioned in a
previous chapter as having followed the track of
the present Edgware Road, crossed over Brockley
Hill, passing in its course through a wild and
dangerous range of woodland. Matthew Paris, in
his " Life of the Twelfth Abbot of St. Albans,"
describes these woods as " almost of an impene
trable character, and so much infested by outlaws
and beasts of prey, that the numerous pilgrims
who travelled along the Roman road for the
purpose of devotion at the shrine of Albanus were
exposed to very imminent danger." Fitz-Stephen,
whose " Survey of London " was written between
the years 1170 and 1182, says that "beyond the
suburbs of the city, which afford corn-fields, pas
tures, and delightful meadows, an immense forest
extends itself, beautiful with woods and groves,
and full of the lairs and coverts of beasts and
game — stags, bucks, boars, and wild bulls." In
this forest the citizens of London enjoyed the right
of free chase — a privilege which was confirmed to
them by several royal charters. The forest of
Middlesex was "disafforested" early in the thir
teenth century, but considerable tracts of the
ancient wood remained down to much later ages.
At the time of the Conquest, although there was
probably a preponderance of woodland — from the
large and frequent mention of " pannage " — it
would appear that much even of this portion of
the country was under the plough, and a fair pro
portion used as meadow-land, or for the purpose
of pasturage. The entry in " Domesday Book "
respecting this parish is as follows : — " Stanmere is
held by the Earl of Moreton. It answered for
nine hides and a half. There is land for seven
ploughs. In the demesne are six hides and a half,
and there are two ploughs therein, and another
may be made. The villanes have one plough and
a half; and two ploughs and a half might be made.
A priest has half a hide there ; and there are four
villanes of one virgate each, and other two of one
virgate ; and three cottagers of ten acres, and

298

GREATER LONDON.

[Great Stanmore.

other three of one acre. Pasture for the cattle of
the village ; pannage for twelve hundred hogs, and
for herbage twelve pence." *
In the reign of Henry I. the manor was wrested
from the Earl of ;Moreton's successor, and it con
tinued in the hands of the Crown till 1220, when it
was given to the monks of St. Albans, under whom
it was held till the middle of the fourteenth century
by the family of Francis. It next passed, subject
to an annual rent to that abbey, to the priory and
convent of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield. After
the dissolution of religious houses the manor
passed through the possession of various persons,
among whom was Sir Peter Gambo, a Spaniard,
who was murdered near St. Sepulchre's Church,
London, in 1550, by a Fleming named Gavaro.
In the reign of James I. the estate was granted to
Sir Thomas Lake, of whom we have spoken in our
account of Little Stanmore and Canons ; and it
subsequently underwent various changes, and to
wards the close of the last century the manor
passed, by the marriage of the daughter and sole
heiress of James Brydges, third and last Duke of
Chandos, to Richard, Duke of Buckingham and
Chandos. His Grace, who died in 1839, was the
grandfather of the present duke. The ownership
of the manor has since passed into the hands of Sir
John Kelk, Bart, of Bentley Priory.
The village of Great Stanmore is about a mile
in length ; it is built on the slope of a hill, and
lies on the road to Watford, about two miles
north-west from the Edgware Station of the Great
Northern Railway. It is quiet and secluded, and
the houses generally have a neat and respectable
appearance. Both in the village and in the
immediate neighbourhood are several good old-
fashioned residences, and close by are some large
and well-wooded parks and lordly domains.
On Stanmore Hill, a gentle elevation on the
north side of the village, the celebrated Dr. Parr
opened a school on quitting Harrow,t in 1771;
here he received a large number of pupils, many of
whom became distinguished in after life. The
school was pulled down many years ago, and the
site afterwards built upon.
In 1 87 1 the number of houses in the parish was
265, the population at the same time amounting
t0 I>355- In 1881 it had slightly risen.
A conspicuous building in the village is the
Memorial Institute, which was erected by sub
scription in memory of Mr. Ernest Bernays, a son
of the Rev. Leopold John Bernays, many years

* Bawdwen's " Translation of Domesday for Middlesex."
t See ante, p. 266.

rector of this parish, who was accidentally drowned
in 1870. The building, which is of Gothic design,
is used for concerts, lectures, and similar entertain
ments. The church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist,
stands at the western end of the village, and was
built, from the designs of Mr. Henry Clutton, in the
Decorated style. The foundation-stone was laid
by the Earl of Aberdeen (whose son, the Hon.
and Rev. Douglas Gordon, was the vicar), in the
presence of the Dowager Queen Adelaide, who then
appeared for the last time in public. She did not
live to see it opened. The building is constructed
of stone, and consists of a nave, having north and
south aisles, a chancel, with spacious south aisle,
and a lofty tower at the north-west corner of the
nave, in which is a peal of six bells, removed from
Little Stanmore Church in 1720. The east window,
by Willement, was erected by subscription as a
memorial of Queen Adelaide. There are in the
church several other stained glass windows, pre
sented by the rector and others, among them being
one presented by the Earl of Wicklow in memory
of his two daughters, the Ladies Harriet and
Isabella Howard. The font, of Caen stone, was
the gift of the Queen-Dowager shortly before her
death. This is the third church in succession that the
parish has had within little more than two cen
turies. The original structure stood at a con
siderable distance, and its exact site is preserved
only by tradition and a single tombstone. The
second structure was built about 1632, and was
consecrated by Archbishop Laud. It was of
brick, in the worst style of ecclesiastical archi
tecture, and was built at the expense of Sir
John Wolstenholme, who is said by Newcourt to
have been "nursed at this parish." Its conse
cration by Archbishop Laud constituted one of
the accusations afterwards brought against that
prelate with fatal success. The extending of the
ceremony of consecration to chapels was made one
of the charges against the archbishop, and this
structure was perversely termed a " chapel " by the
accuser. In reply, Laud admitted the consecra
tion, but observed that the edifice was " a parish
church, erected by Sir John Worstenham, in the
place where he was born, and in the diocese of
himself." The remains of this church, roofless, and
seemingly held together by the thick clusters of
ivy which cover them, are still standing a few yards
distant from the western end of the new church.
They are built of red brick, square in form, and
with an embattled tower at the west end. The
porch was designed by Nicholas Stone, who re-

Great Stanttiore.]

STANMORE PARK.

209

ceived £30 for work done at this part of the
building.* For a monument of Sir John Wolsten-
holme, the founder of this church, Stone received
the sum of ^200. This monument, which was on
the north side of the communion-table, represents
the deceased as lying upon a mattress. There are
other monuments and inscriptions to different mem
bers of the Wolstenholme family. A large tablet
of white marble, with a long inscription, comme
morates Catherine, Marchioness of Abercorn, wife
of John, first marquis, and daughter of Sir Joseph
Copley, Bart, of Sprotborough, Yorkshire. The
floor of the old church is carpeted with turf, and
in the centre is an elaborate mausoleum, of Gothic
design, for the family of the Hollonds, of Stanmore
Hall. Lord Henry Beauclerk, who died in 1761,
was buried in this church, as also was Mr. John
Drummond, M.P., who died in 1774, and other
members of the families of Beauclerk and Drum
mond. Charles Hart, a celebrated tragedian of
the seventeenth century, " the Roscius of his age,"
lies buried in the churchyard. According to
Lysons, Hart had a " country house " at Stanmore,
where he was enrolled a copyholder in 1679.
Close by the entrance to the churchyard is a hand
some cottage, erected as a memorial of the late
Mr. R. Hollond, M.P., of Stanmore Hall, the
aeronaut, who died in 1876.
Almost abutting upon the south-west angle of
the churchyard, and stretching away for some
distance towards Harrow, is Stanmore Park, the
seat of Lord Wolverton. Early in the last century
the estate, then known as Belmont, was purchased
by Mr. Andrew Drummond, the founder of the
great banking-house bearing his name at Charing
Cross. Mr. George H. Drummond, who subse
quently possessed the property, preserved here a
large and valuable collection of original portraits,
which were bequeathed to the Hon. Mrs. Drum
mond by the Duke of St. Albans. The mansion
was for a short time occupied by Lord Castlereagh,
and later on, early in the present century, it was
the residence of the Countess of Aylesford. In
1840 the estate was purchased by the Marquis of
Abercorn, and the collection of portraits above
mentioned, which comprised among their number
several by Kneller and Lely, was shortly after sold
by auction. The mansion and estate next passed
by sale to Mr. George Carr Glyn, who was in
1869 raised to the peerage, with the title of Lord
Wolverton. His lordship died in 1873, and was
succeeded by his son, the Hon. George Grenfell
Glyn, the present Lord Wolverton.
* Walpole's " Anecdotes of Paintins "

The mansion is a good modern building, con
sisting of a centre, with two slightly-projecting
wings. The park is extensive and well wooded,
and is rendered attractive by fine undulations of
surface and a handsome lake. At the southern
extremity of the park is a hill, termed Belmont,
thrown up by the Duke of Chandos, whence the
estate derived its original name. It is approached
by a fine avenue, and on its summit is a summer-
house, which is a conspicuous object from several
neighbouring points.
Bentley Priory, the seat of Sir John Kelk, Bart.,
lies to the north-west of the village, and though
far nearer to Stanmore than to Harrow-on-the-
Hill, actually stands in the latter parish. The
estate comprises upwards of 460 acres. The
mansion is approached from the high roads, which
almost surround the estate, by carriage-drives,
with six ornamental entrance-lodges ; it is placed
on the southern slope of the hill, well sheltered
by its own woods from the north, and commanding
most charming and panoramic views of its own
beautiful terraces, gardens, lawns, and undulating
deer-park, adorned with oaks, beeches, and other
grand forest trees.
The eastern entrance to the estate is at the top
of Stanmore Hill, near the junction of the roads
leading on the right to Elstree, and on the left to
Bushey Heath and Watford. From the Harrow
station of the London and North- Western Railway,
a long winding walk, up-hill and "against the
collar," through the pretty district of Harrow
Weald, leads us past several handsome residences
in pretty grounds nearly to Stanmore Common.
Turning sharply to the east at Bamford's Corner,
and leaving the estates of the Hermitage and
Woodlands on the left, and, further off, Lord
Wolverton's seat, Stanmore Park, on the right,
at the end of about three miles the tall trees'
which surround Bentley Priory are seen on the
left. The house is not visible from the road, as
the mansion lies about a mile and a half from the
park gates at this point The Watford road, from
Harrow Station, skirts die grounds of the Priory
on the north-west. Proceeding to the mansion by
this road, the visitor will pass, on his left, the
pretty little lodge-house of Harrow Weald Park,*
and, as he ascends the hill, obtain a good view of
its castellated mansion, the seat of Mr. Alexander
Sim. He will find an entrance to the Bentley
Priory estate at the top of the hill, near the " Hare "
hostelry. The house is called a Priory for as good
a reason as that for which the ducal residence of

* See ante, p. 270.

300

GREATER LONDON.

[Great StanmoM.

Woburn is called Woburn Abbey ; for in the far-off
middle ages there stood here a priory, but to what
order the monks belonged the local historian
makes no mention. The good brethren would
seem to have lived the "hidden life" to per
fection —
" Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife."
At all events, very little is known of the history
of the house. The Priory did not come to an

The next that we hear of Bentley Manor and
Priory Farm is in 1706, when it appears to have
belonged to the family of Coghill, who, early
in the previous century, had settled in the neigh
bouring parish of Aldenham. In 1734 it was
bequeathed by Thomas Coghill to his nephew,
Thomas Whittewronge, who left it in 176 1 to a
certain Mr. John Bennet. In the following year
it passed by sale to Mr. William Waller, who
about 1766 alienated it to a Mr. Duberly.

BENTLEY PRIORY. (From a View taken in 1849.)

end until the reign of Henry VIIL, when it was
seized among the lessermcnasteries, and suppressed,
its revenues being assigned, not to the king, but
to the monks of Canterbury. In a.d. 1543 we
are told that Cranmer gave to the king, in ex
change for other lands, the late Priory of Bentley,
with all lands, tenements, &c, thereunto belong
ing in Harrow and Stanmore, "being parcel of
the possessions of St. Gregory's Priory, at Canter
bury." No sooner, however, did the royal tyrant get
possession of Bentley than he granted it — doubtless
not without good consideration — to Henry Need-
ham and William Sacheverel, who sold the property
in the same year to Elizabeth Colte.

It is stated in the additions made to Camden's
" Britannia," by Gough, that the house of Bentley
Priory was taken down and rebuilt by Mr. Duberly,
and it is observed in the same work that a chapel,
then appertaining to the structure, but long since
demolished, " stood detached on the common."
From Mr. Duberly, Bentley Priory was bought
in 1788 by the first Marquis of Abercorn, who
made great additions to the original house, con
verting it into a noble mansion, " in which," says
Lysons, in his " Environs of London," " con
venience is united with magnificence in a manner
rarely to be met with."
Under Lord Abercorn, whose reign here extended
over thirty years, Bentley Priory was one of the

Great Stanmore.]

.BENTLEY PRIORY.

301

most celebrated houses in the kingdom for its
fashionable and intellectual gatherings. Amongst
those who frequented it were Sir William and Lady
Hamilton (Nelson's Emma), the " Heaven-born
Minister " Pitt, Addington, George Canning, Lord
Livsrpool, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Walter
Scott, and "Athenian" Aberdeen, afterwards our
Premier during the Crimean war. Samuel Rogers
also was an occasional visitor, in spite of his un
disguised preference for Holland House. In fact,
during the latter half of the reign of George III.,
and through a part of the Regency, Bentley Priory
was one chief rendezvous of the Tory party, and
as such is frequently men
tioned in the personal
reminiscences of many
of our statesmen. Mr.
Thome, in his " Hand
book of the Environs of
London," tells us that
"the Prince Regent (after
wards George IV.) came
here with the King of
Prussia to meet Louis
XVIII. when he left
Hartwell to return to
France ;" this was on the
conclusion of the war
with the great Napoleon.
He also asserts that " in
April, 1807, Sir Walter
Scott, when on a visit
here,corrected the revises
of his ' Marmion,' and at
the suggestion of Lord
Abercorn added the com
plimentary verses on Fox :
" ' For talents mourn, untimely lost,
When best employ'd and wanted most.'"
Indeed, Lockhart tells us, in his " Life of Sir
Walter Scott," that they " came from the marquis's
own pen ;" but this may mean only that he had a
hand in them.
On the death of the first marquis, in 1818, Bent
ley Priory came into the ownership of his grandson,
the second Marquis (and now Duke) of Abercorn,
who, however, did not enter into actual possession
of it till he attained his majority. He was sent
to school at Harrow, and used to spend his holi
days here with his guardian and stepfather, Lord
Aberdeen. The duke resided partly here from 1832 to
about 1840 ; and it was here that Sir Edward Land-
seer painted one of his most attractive pictures,
26

QUEEN ADELAIDE.

in which the younger members of the Abercorn
family are introduced.
In April, 1848, Bentley Priory was taken on
lease by the Dowager Queen Adelaide, the widow
of William IV., who made it her home for the last
year and a half of her life. Queen Adelaide, not
withstanding her increasing infirmities, was enabled
to take frequent carriage airings in the neighbour
hood. She breathed her last here on the 2nd of
December, 1849, and by her death the poor of
Stanmore and its neighbourhood felt that they had
lost a real friend, for her sojourn among them
had been distinguished by that active kindness and
liberality which always
characterised her. Her
last public act, as we
have already stated, was
to assist at the laying of
the first stone of the new
parish church at Stan
more. After her death the
priory was scarcely used
or occupied till 1852,
when the estate was
bought from the Marquis
of Abercorn by Mr. (now
Sir) John Kelk, the
eminent railway engineer,
who represented Harwich
in Parliament from 1865
to 1868, and was created
a baronet in 1874. He
has since purchased the
estate of Tedworth, near
Andover, in Hampshire,
from the Assheton-Smiths,
and taken up his residence there, resolving to sell
Bentley Priory, which he had largely improved
both internally and externally, adding large and
well-placed conservatories, several hundred yards
in length, which were built at a cost of about
^9,000. The mansion is entered, on the north side, by
an ivy-covered porte-cochere, with double folding-
doors, opening into a spacious entrance-hall, with
groined ceiling, supported by fluted classic columns.
The grand staircase, on one side of the hall, is of
Portland stone, with a carved oak balustrade ; the
ceiling is enriched, and the walls panelled.
From the inner hall is a corridor, also with
groined ceiling, having panelled walls ornamented
with medallions, leading to the noble suite of re
ception-rooms. These are all about twenty feet
in height, most artistically decorated. Passing by

302

GREATER LONDON.

[Great Stanmore.

the boudoir, with its walls ot embossed green silk,
and the lofty and spacious dining-room, we enter
the drawing-room. This is fifty feet by thirty feet ;
it is highly enriched with painting and gilding, and
has two carved statuary marble mantelpieces, sur
mounted by paintings on panel. The windows of
this room open on to a broad portico, from which
two flights of stone steps lead to the terraces and
Italian gardens. The only other rooms on the
ground floor that need be mentioned are the
picture-gallery and billiard-room, the library, the
smoking-room, the morning-room, or study, and an
apartment called "the queen's room," probably
from its having been the favourite room of Queen
Adelaide. At the western end of the house is the
conservatory, whence a corridor leads to a lawn-
tennis court or skating-rink. Another important
feature of the mansion at this end is a lofty clock-
tower. Immediately in front of the mansion, on the
south side, is the Italian garden, intersected by
broad terrace walks, and divided into lawns and
parterres, adorned with vases on pedestals for
flowers. The lawn, studded with oak, beech,
plane, and other trees, slopes gently down to the
deer-park, which is enclosed by iron fencing, well
screened by belts of plantations, and adorned
with wide-spreading forest trees. A gravel walk
through a shrubbery skirting the deer-park leads
to the ornamental " lake," which comprises about
four and a quarter acres, a portion of which is
covered with water-lilies.
On the margin of the lake is a summer-house,
commanding a view of the park and mansion, and
it is believed that it was in the quiet seclusion of
this charming spot that Scott revised the proof-
sheets of his " Marmion." In an adjoining alcove
Rogers is said to have written " some of his
" Pleasures of Memory."
On the north side of the mansion; and ap
proached from the carriage-drive, is a cedar garden
and orangery. It is laid out in lawns and flower
beds, and ornamented with cedars, yews, and other
evergreen trees. It contains a circular rosary, and
in the centre of the garden is the orangery.
Close by is another rosary, and thence a walk
leads to a romantic fernery, constructed of rock-
work overshadowed by trees. Approached by
two shady avenues of lime-trees is a rustic summer-
house, containing two rooms ; it is situated in the
most secluded part of the gardens, and is said
to have been the favourite resort of Queen Adelaide.
The plantations and shrubberies adjoining the
cedar gardens, and skirting the park, contain many
fine specimens of the cedar and fir tribe, cypresses,

junipers, &c, with a profusion of laurels and
rhododendrons, and other choice flowering shrubs
and trees, interspersed with ground covered with
brake and ferns, forming a pleasing contrast to the
dressed grounds. They are intersected by some
miles of winding green walks and drives, which
combine a variety of scenery with entire seclusion.
Besides the seats above described, there are a
few good residences in the parish, especially in the
neighbourhood of the Heath: among them may be
mentioned Stanmore Hall, the residence of Mrs.
Hollond, an elegant Stone-built mansion at the top
of the hill ; and Broomfield, the seat of the Greigs,
a large house of Gothic design, whence, from its
lofty situation, extensive views are obtained over
the surrounding country. Near the above house,
at the edge of the Heath, is The Grove, the resi
dence of Mr. Brightwen. Towards the end of the
last century this house was occupied by one Aaron
Capadoce, a Jew, who is said to have died here at
the age of 105 years. His successor in the occu
pancy of the Grove House was a German, named
Fierville, whose admiration of Rousseau led him to
erect a tomb and to form an island on these
premises, " in imitation of the tomb . and the
Isle des Peupliers at Ermenonville."
A plot of ground between the Grove estate and
the high road is known as the Bowling Green.
The great Duke of Chandos erected a building
close by this spot as a pavilion, or banqueting-
house, attached to a bowling-green, which he
formed here, in preference to having it near his
house at Canons.
We now wend our steps by the cross road
running north-east from Stanmore Hill, and, turn
ing northward on regaining the high road at
Brockley Hill, soon find ourselves at Elstree.
This village, which is pleasantly situated on the
brow of a hill, consists mainly of one long street
on the St. Albans road. Most of the houses
are built of red brick, and have a neat and
trim appearance ; it is of small extent, for the
population does not much exceed 500. It is
situated at the intersection of the road from
London to St. Albans (the ancient Watling Street)
with that from Bushey to Barnet. The latter road
separates Middlesex from Herts, and the four
parts cut off by these roads are in four different
parishes and two dioceses. The north-eastern
portion, with the church, is Elstree proper ; the
north-west is in Aldenham parish, both belonging
to Plertfordshire ; while the south-east part is in
Edgware, and the south-west in Little Stanmore,
both in the county of Middlesex. The village is
about a mile and a half distant from the Elstree and

Elstree. 1

MURDER OF MARTHA RAY.

3°3

Boreham Wood Station, on the Midland Railway.
The latter part of the name of Elstree is doubtless
" Street," the village being so called from lying on
the old Watling Street. In ancient deeds its name
figures as Idelstree, Ilstrye, Idelestree, and Eagles-
tree. The name of Idelstree, or Eaglestree, is
still recognised locally.
According to Norden's " Historicall and Choro-
graphicall Description of Hertfordshire," Elstree
is " derived from Eaglestree : that is, Nemus
aquilinum, a place where it may be thought that
eagles bred in times past." Lysons, however,
contends that the name is rather a corruption of
Eald Street, or the old road ; in other words, the
ancient Watling Street, upon which it is situated.
The manor was granted by Offa to St. Albans
Abbey, after the dissolution of which Henry VIIL
gave it to Anthony Denny, whose grandson sold
part of the estate to the Briscoes, by whom it was
possessed down to the middle of the last century,
when it passed by sale into other hands ; and it has
again changed hands on several occasions, finally
passing to the Byngs, now represented by the Earl
of Strafford.
The manor-house of Elstree Hall, more than
three centuries old, was pulled down in 1 880-1. It
had in it some fine quaint carved chimney-pieces,
each of which was adorned with four full-length
figures, said by Miss Phillimore, in her " Twelve
Churches," to be "exact representations of the
fetishes or gods worshipped in Africa and the
West Indies." The wood-work was transferred
by Mr. H. H. Gibbs to Aldenham House.
The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, stands
on the east side of the street, and its tall spire is
conspicuous for miles round. It is a modern
Gothic structure, built of brick, and faced with
dark flint, with stone dressings, and it consists
of nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower and
shingled spise at the south-west corner. Some of
the windows are filled with stained glass ; that at
the east end of the chancel, a large five-light
window, in memory of the Rev. John Morris,
D.D., was inserted by his pupils. This edifice was
erected about thirty years ago, in the place of the
old church, a mean and dilapidated structure, con
sisting of a nave, chancel, and south aisle, separated
by octagonal columns and Pointed arches. The
building was one of primitive rudeness and hoary
antiquity, and was composed of a number of little
patches and compartments, which appeared to
have been built at different times. Part of the
walls was of rubble-work and of great thickness, and
some portion was even composed of timber. The
font, which is preserved in the new church, is of

antique workmanship, and was perhaps the only
interesting feature in the old building. Another
feature of the old church which has been retained
is the stonework (late Perpendicular) of the door
way known as the " Pilgrims' door."
The monuments are few in number, and of little
or no importance. In the church and church
yard are buried two individuals — Martha Ray,
and William Weare of Lyons Inn — whose murders
may be numbered among the most notorious in the
annals of crime; but their graves are without monu
ments. The former, who was buried on the 14th of
April, 1779, was the mistress of the Earl of Sandwich,
and mother of Basil Montagu, the editor of Bacon's
Works.* She was shot in the piazza of Covent
Garden by the Rev. James Hackman, who had con
ceived a too ardent passion for her, and who fired
at her while she was getting into her carriage after
leaving the theatre, on the evening of the 7 th of the
same month. Her frantic murderer, who had made
an unsuccessful attempt 'to. destroy himself at the
same instant, was tried within a few days at the Old
Bailey, and was executed at Tyburn on the 19th of
April. Hackman's behaviour after his condemna
tion, we are told, " evinced most perfect resignation
to his fate, united with the settled composure of
a man that felt he had survived everything that
was dear to him." Hackman's execution became,
according to the custom, the subject of some of
the most ludicrous verses by the ballad-mongers of
the day, of which Mr. Thome, in his " Handbook,"
quotes the following as an example : —
' ' O clergyman 1 O wicked one I
In Covent Garden shot her ;
No time to cry upon her God,
It's hoped He 's not forgot her 1 "
Miss Ray was the daughter of a labourer living at
Elstree, and hence it was that she was buried here.
Weare was a well-known betting-man of his day,
and was murdered in 1823 by Thurtell and Pro-
bert, two of his associates, near the residence of
the latter at Gill's Hill, Radlett, where we shall
have again to refer to the subject. The body of
Weare was interred at midnight, in the presence
of a large number of spectators. The contemporary
newspapers rivalled each other in sensational ac
counts of the ghastly ceremony;
Close by the church was established, about a
quarter of a century ago, an institution which in its
time has done much good work — namely, the
Female Orphans' Home, a charity which has since
been transferred to Tangley Park, near Hampton

See "Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 100.

3°4

GREATER LONDON.

[Elstree.

Court This " Home " had a very humble origin.
Towards the close of the year 1855, a private
gentleman, not rich in broad acres nor in stores
of gold and silver, but pursuing his business as an
accountant in the City, resolved to open a " home
for destitute orphan girls." He was living with his
mother in this pleasant London suburb, when a
little girl was left wholly destitute, her father and
mother having perished by the cholera. They
resolved to adopt the helpless little one, and to
make it the " nest-egg " of an orphanage. They
were not rich ; they had no friends or relatives to
" back them up," as the world speaks ; they had
no funds in hand ; but a few pounds were soon
subscribed by Christian friends, in coppers, in
silver, and in gold, and the newly-adopted
stranger was not allowed to be a heavy burden
to her foster-parents. Soon another helpless and
shipwrecked child was cast at these hospitable
doors, borne thither by " the waves of this trouble
some world," and landed happily within reach of
friendly aid and succour. Then came another,
and then another; and the good work was
mentioned privately among friends, and sub
scriptions came in, apparently just as they were
needed. A few years ago the founder of the
home issued a small pamphlet, or prospectus, in
which he tells us that " not only has this particular
effort been blessed, but the manager has reason to
believe that it has been the means of leading many
people to feel, and to act upon, their responsibility
in this matter — a responsibility which has been
constantly urged upon them from time to time in
the reports which have been circulated to some
extent. Many similar homes have been opened in
London and in the country ; and it is hoped that
the time will arrive when every destitute orphan
child will be brought under home influences and
sympathies, and thus saved from the cold and
withering blight of the union, where, from its very
nature, these influences would seem to be im
possible." Elstree is not very rich in literary memories, but
we may mention that here Macready had a country
house ; it was here that he first met Robert
Browning, and introduced the authorof "Paracelsus"
to John Forster and other friends.
At the entrance to the village from Brockley
Hill, on the right-hand side of the road, is a large,
old-fashioned red-brick mansion, called Elstree
Hill House, which has been converted into a
collegiate school ; and in the corner of a meadow
on the opposite side of the road is a handsome
brick-built church, of Gothic design. The meadow
is fringed with stately elms, and its farther side

shelves down to the Elstree Reservoir, a large
sheet of water, which adds considerably to the
beauty of the landscape This reservoir is about
three-quarters of a mile in length, and a quarter of a
mile across at its widest part. It was formed for
the supply of the Grand Junction Canal, and, like
the reservoir at Kingsbury,* has become a favourite
haunt for wild fowl and " waders." Mr. Harting,
in his " Birds of Middlesex," says that when the
water has been drawn off for the supply of the canal,
or " when it has been much reduced by evaporation
and want of rain, the herons are here in all their
glory. They are then enabled to wade out to
some distance, and regale themselves among the
roach and eels with which the reservoir abounds."
The reservoir is well known to London ornitho
logists and anglers. It is a beautiful lake, nearly
one hundred acres in extent, embosomed in grassy
hills, secluded with aquatic trees, and consequently
the great attraction of the place.
On our way to Elstree, just before reaching the
border of Middlesex and Herts, we cross a water
shed. This watershed runs from Stanmore Heath,
on the west, to Brockley Hill and Deacon's Hill
on the east, and it divides the botanical district of
the Upper Colne, in Hertfordshire, from that of
the Upper Brent, in Middlesex. Several small
streams originate on the north side of Brockley
Plill and on the east of Stanmore Heath, and flow
into Elstree Reservoir. The water of this reservoir
flows north as a small stream, which is by some
writers considered the true Colne, and joins the
Colne at Colney Street, in Hertfordshire.
The neighbourhood of Elstree has, indeed,
many attractions too for the geologist, the peculiar
kind of Hertfordshire stone known as " pudding-
stone" being here met with. Mr. Walker, the
author of " Rambles round London : Rural and
Geological," says : — " The name of pudding-stone
is aptly chosen. These blocks are masses of con
glomerate. The matrix is sandstone; it is as
thickly studded with pebbles as the popular
Christmas pudding is with plums. . . Pudding-
stones with flat faces were used as mill-stones in
ruder times, the unequal wearing away of the
harder pebbles and softer matrix well fitting them
for that purpose. Hand-mills of Roman and
Saxon times, made of this pudding-stone, are among
the antiquities of our museums." In some of the
gardens of the villagers at Elstree the pudding-
stone may be seen doing duty as clinkers in
miniature rockeries, and a " quern," made out of
this peculiar stone, is in the Geological Museum,
Jermyn Street. • See ante, p. 274.

Bushey.]

BUSHEY HEATH.

3°5

CHAPTER XXX.
BUSHEY, ALDENHAM, AND RADLETT.
"Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures,
While the landscape round it measures ;
Russet lawns, and fallows grey,
Where the nibbling flocks do stray." — Milton.
Bushey Heath — The Scenery described — Bushey Manor— The Parish Church — St. Peter's Church — Bushey Hall — Hartsbourne Manor House —
Census Returns — Oxhey — Watford — Almshouses of th: Salters' Company — Aldenham — Acreage and Population — Descent of (he Manor-
Kemp Row— Tibhurst. Manor— Kendall Manor— Pickets, or Newberry— Aldenham House— Pcnn's Place— The Parish Church— The
Grammar School— Discovery of Roman Remains— Radlett— Christ Church— Gill's Hill— The Murder of William Weare— Medburn— Village
Schools and Improved Dwellings.

After crossing the Elstree reservoir, and pursuing
a westerly course, by Caldecott Hill, a walk of
about two miles brings us to Bushey Heath, a
breezy spot which, although now greatly curtailed
by enclosures, or by the handiwork of the builder,
still retains fragments of its former beauty, in the
shape of broad open patches of green sward, which
in summer time are lighted up with banks of
golden gorse and wild flowers. The heath is
remarkable for its lofty situation, and the view
from it embraces a wide range of scenery on all
sides. The towers of Westminster Abbey, Hamp
ton Court, Windsor Castle, and the Surrey hills, are
visible on the south side, looking towards Bentley
Priory and Stanmore Common ; northward, the pro
spect extends for miles into Hertfordshire, the most
prominent object visible in the distance being the
lofty tower/ of St. Albans Abbey. On the north
east, Hill Field Lodge stands out prominently in
the middle distance ; whilst on the north-west the
town of Watford occupies the foreground, the tall
clock-tower of the London Orphan Asylum rising
conspicuously from amid the surrounding greenery,
and further westward the rising smoke marks the
situation of the town of Rickmansworth.
Bushey, called Bissei in the Domesday survey,
was granted by the Conqueror to Geoffrey de
Magnaville, or Mandeville, and on the failure of
male issue of his family, it reverted to the crown
in the reign of King John. Henry III. bestowed
it on David de Jarpenvil, who, in the reign of
Edward I., obtained, among other privileges, the
liberty of free, warren and the grant of a weekly
market for this manor. Having again reverted to
the crown, it was granted by Edward II. to his
brother, Edmond of Woodstock, Earl of Kent,
who was beheaded through the machinations of
Queen Isabella and her paramour, Mortimer, in
the fourth year of Edward III. From this period
the manor descended through a long line of ill-
fated princes. These included Thomas de Holland,
Duke of Surrey (grandson of John Plantagenet),
who was beheaded at Cirencester, in the rebellion

against Henry IV., and Thomas de Montacute,
Earl of Salisbury, who, after obtaining the highest
honours in the campaigns in France with Henry V.,
was killed by the splinter of a window-frame driven
into his face by a cannon ball at the siege of
Orleans. Richard, the stout Earl of Warwick,
another possessor, was killed at the battle of
Barnet George, Duke of Clarence, was mur
dered in the Tower, and was succeeded in the
possession of this manor by Richard Duke of
Gloucester (afterwards Richard III.), whose fate
at Bosworth Field is well known. The venerable
Lady Margaret de k Pole, Countess of Salisbury,
another in the long list of unfortunate owners of
Bushey,. was cruelly beheaded, at the age of
seventy-two, in the reign of Henry VIIL, seemingly
in revenge for a supposed affront by her to her
son, Cardinal Pole. Since the above period, the
ownership of the manor has passed through various
hands, and it is now held jointly by the Earl of
Essex and Colonel Walker.
The parish church, dedicated to St. James, is
of Early English date, but, having undergone a
thorough restoration in 187 1 at the hands of Sir
Gilbert Scott, it has lost most of the marks of its
antiquity. Down to the above date the fabric had
remained for many years in a deplorable condition ;
its walls had been patched and mended at different
times, in part covered with plaster and rough-cast,
and propped up with large, heavy buttresses. On
making some repairs or alterations a few years
ago, an inscription of doubtful credit was discovered
which stated it to have been " built in the year
1006." The inscription in question was trans
ferred to an iron plate affixed to the wall of the
western end of the church. On the restoration of
the building at the date above mentioned, the
plaster was removed, and a uniform surface given
to the walls by facing them with flint and stone,
and the church was at the same time enlarged by
the addition of aisles to the nave, the interior
restored and improved by the substitution of open
benches for the high old-fashioned " pews " by

306

GREATER LONDON.

[Bushey.

which it was formerly encumbered ; the open
timber roof was repaired, most of the windows
were filled with stained glass, and a fresh paving
of ornamental tiles laid down. No portion of the
present church would now appear to be of the age
mentioned in the inscription referred to above.
The oldest parts are the chancel and the base of
the tower, which are Early English ; the present
east window, however, a triplet of lancets, was
inserted at the restoration in 1871 in place of a

gested the inhuman act of disinterring and hanging
the bodies of the Protector and certain of the
regicides." On a slab in the church, to the memory
of two Bakewells, one of whom died in 1643, is
the following quaint epigram : —
" Here's two in one, and yet not two but one,
Two sonnes, one tomb, two heirs, one name alone.''
In the churchyard is a tomb, embellished with a
carved representation of a palette and brushes,
to the memory of Henry Edridge, A.R(A., who

BUSHEY CHURCH.

Perpendicular window of five lights. The chancel
is separated from the nave by a carved oak screen.
The timber roof of the chancel is decorated with
paint and gilding, and on the north side of the
altar is an ancient ambry.
The monuments in the church are few and
unimportant. In the floor of the chancel is a
marble slab inscribed to the memory of Lady
Barnard, wife of Gilbert, Lord Barnard ; she died
in 1728. In 1667 was buried in the chancel
Colonel Silas Titus, a Presbyterian Royalist, who
has the credit of having planned the escape of
Carisbrooke Castle, and with having written the
famous tract, entitled " Killing no Murder," with a
view to procure the assassination of Cromwell,
and who also has the discredit of having " sug-

died in 182 1, and close by it is an upright slab
commemorating Thomas Hearne, a once well-
known artist and antiquary, author of the "Anti
quities of Great Britain," who died in 1817. "Both
these monuments," observes Mr. James Thome,
in his " Environs of London," " were erected by
Dr. Munro, the physician, of the Adelphi, a
generous friend to young artists, and the early
patron of Turner, Girtin, and William Hunt. Dr.
Munro had here a country residence, to which he
used to invite his young students, that they might
sketch in the vicinity. Turner and Girtin have
left hundreds of these sketches." There are also
in the churchyard some memorials of the Cappers,
of Wiggen Hall, in this parish, one of whom pur
chased the manor of Bushey at the commencement

Bushey.]

OXHEY CHAPEL.

3°7

of the last century ; also a tomb of Mrs. Elizabeth
Fuller, of Watford Place, who founded the Free
School in Watford town, and who died in 1709.
Mr. William Jerdan, the veteran editor of The
Literary Gazette, also lies buried here.
St. Peter's Church, which stands in the hamlet
of Bushey Heath, is a modern- erection of the
early English style ; its walls are partly concealed
in rich clusters of ivy.
From the churchyard, a narrow lane through

shops and private houses, with here and there a
pleasant shady lane. At the beginning of this
century there were about 180 houses in this parish,
with a population of about 850. According to the
census returns for 187 1 the population then reached
a total of 4,543, which number in the course of the
next ten years had increased to 4,786.
About a mile to the west of Bushey, but rather
beyond our beat, lies the hamlet of Oxhey, nest
ling cosily on the banks of the Colne. The chapel,

ALDENHAM HOUSE. (See page 309.)

Little Bushey leads to Bushey Hall, which has
been lately fitted up as a hydropathic establish
ment. The house is built in the Italian style, and
has been fitted up in a most elaborate manner,
some of the rooms being inlaid with cedar, at a
cost of ,£200,000. There are several other good
residences in the neighbourhood, notably Harts
bourne Manor House, the seat of the Sladens,
which lies away to the north-west in a pleasant
valley watered by the Harts Bourne rivulet, one of
the numerous feeders of the river Colne, which it
joins after flowing through Carpenders Park.
The main thoroughfare of Bushey stretches for
nearly two miles northward on the Berkhampstead
road, from Clay Hill, by Stanmore Heath, towards
Watford, It is well sprinkled on either side with

which was built in 1612, and which is the only
remaining relic of the Jacobean mansion of Oxhey
Place, is now used as a chapel-of-ease for Watford.
Bushey has now become a kind of southern
suburb of Watford, from which it is separated by
the river Colne, which flows through the lower
part of the town. As Watford lies just beyond
our jurisdiction, we can do no more than express
our regret that we are not able to carry our
readers with us to Cassiobury, the seat of the
Earl of Essex, with its pleasant park and fine
family pictures. We must also, for the same
reason, leave unvisited the new London Orphan
Asylum, which was transferred hither in 187 1
from Clapton. The almshouses of the Salters'
Company, founded by Beampud and Nicholas,

3o8

GREATER LONDON.

[Aldenham.

were lately removed hither from London. They
are built of red brick with stone dressings, and
comprise a centre and detached wings, and an
embattled tower. Accommodation is afforded for
six men and twelve women.
A walk of about two-and-a-half miles from
Bushey Station, on the North-Western Railway,
through pleasant rural lanes, by way of Bushey
Grove and Berry Wood, brings us to Aldenham,
a quiet and retired village, situated midway between
the high road to Rickmansworth and that to St.
Albans, and about two miles from Radlett Station,
on the Midland Railway. The area of the parish
is nearly 6,000 acres, and the population, according
to the census of 1871, exclusive of the separated
district of Radlett, amounted to 1,486. In 1881
they had risen to 1,833.
Long before the Conquest the manor of Alden
ham — or Ealdenham, as it was then spelt — belonged
to the Abbot of St. Albans, to whom it was given
by Wulfsinus, or, as some historians have it, by
Offa, King of the Mercians.
Soon after the Conquest the Abbot of West
minster obtained a grant of it for a period of
twenty years, for an annual payment of twenty-
one hundred shillings and four oxen at Easter,
"on condition that he so kept the woods here
that persons journeying from St. Albans to London
might be safe from the robbers who infested the
neighbourhood." The Abbot of Westminster
appears to have fulfilled his part of the conditions
under which he held the land, but would not give
up possession of a wood near Aldenham, which
claim the Abbot of St. Albans resisted until long
after the expiration of the term.
" There can be little doubt," observes Mr.
Cussans in his " History of Hertfordshire," " that
the manor of Aldenham really belonged to the
Abbey of St. Albans, and that they were unlaw
fully dispossessed of the greater portion. Constant
feuds occurred between the abbots of the two
houses of St. Albans and Westminster. At length
the Abbot of Westminster brought a suit against
his brother of St. Albans, for that the latter had, on
Tuesday after Pentecost, in the year 1249, taken
fifteen beasts from his manor of Aldenham, and
driven them to the manor of Parkbury, in St.
Albans ; and again, on St. John's Day in the same
year, had in like manner taken three other beasts
(haveros). At the trial St. Albans asserted that
the then king had confirmed to their abbey a
proportion of the fines coming to the Crown on the
circuits of the king's judges within the liberty of
St. Albans, a privilege they had held from time
immemorial ; that certain men belonging to West

minster, living in that portion of the manor of
Aldenham, within the liberty, had been amerced
at the last circuit in the sum of five marcs, six
shillings and eightpence, whereupon the Abbot of
St. Albans seized upon the said cattle. The Abbot
of Westminster replied that the same king had
granted to his monastery the amercements of all
their own men, and the chattels of fugitives and
persons condemned. Finally, in Hilary Term,
1256, it was agreed that the abbot and monks of
St. Albans should have a View of Franc-pledge in
Aldenham, once a year, and that on that occasion,
whether any fines were levied or not, Westminster
should pay St. Albans four shillings, the remainder,
if any, to be retained by the metropolitan abbey ;
that every villein of Aldenham, within the Hundred
of Cashib, should render suit at the Hundred
Court once in three years, and should attend on
juries, &c, when summoned ; and if any of the
men of Aldenham were amerced (other than at the
View of Franc-pledge) before the bailiffs of either
the abbeys of Westminster or St. Albans, the said
abbeys should equally share such amercement ;
and, lastly, that the gallows erected in a place
called Keneprowe should be common to both
abbots, on which to hang persons condemned to
death in the Court of Aldenham." Keneprowe —
now corrupted into Kemp Row, or Camp Row — is
situated between the church and the railway-station
at Radlett, and is now a farm. " A man suspended
by the neck was supposed to be a wholesome
moral lesson, to be taught to so many of his former
associates as possible. The abbots, therefore,"
Mr. Cussans adds, " acted wisely in their selection
of Keneprowe, for on its elevated site the result of
unlawfully taking a fish from the abbatial waters
could be plainly seen both by the men of Aldenham
and of St. Albans."
This unsatisfactory state of things between the
two abbots came effectually to an end at the
dissolution of monasteries, for the manor then
" reverted " to the Crown — if the seizure by Henry
VIIL of the property of the Church can be called
a reversion. It was, however, shortly afterwards
granted to the Stepneys, by whom it was sold to
Sir Edward Cary, Master of the Jewel Office to
Queen Elizabeth and James I., whose son, Sir
Henry Cary, was created Viscount Falkland, and
subsequently held for some years the office of Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland. In the reign of Charles II.
the manor was in the hands of Lord Holies. After
a few other changes of ownership, it passed, at the
end of the last century, to the Thellussons, after
wards Lords Rendlesham, in whose hands it still
remains. The advowson of die vicarage, however,

Aldenham.]

ALDENHAM HOUSE.

3°9

was sold by Lord Rendlesham in 1877 to Mr.
V Henry Hucks Gibbs, of Aldenham House.
There are in the parish one or two manors of
minor importance, notably Titeberst, or Tibhurst,
and Kendall. The former of these lies on the
south-eastern border of the parish, at Theobald's
Street, and is owned by the Phillimores, but its
history is of little or no importance. The manor
of Kendall, the name of which is preserved in
Kendall Lodge and Kendall Hall, which lie on
either side of the St. Albans Road in the eastern
part of the parish, was, in the reign of James I.,
granted, together with the manor of Tibhurst, to
Robert, first Earl of Salisbury. It was afterwards
held by the Jephsons, and about the middle of the
last century it was bequeathed to Mr. William
Phillimore, grandfather of the present owner.
In 1700 Chauncy writes, in his "Antiquities of
Hertfordshire" : — " Pickets, or Newberry, is another
small manor, which William Briscoe, one of the
Yeomen of the Guard, held in this vill. Upon his
death it came to Edward Briscoe, who was his son
and heir, and is the present owner thereof." This
manor is now known as Piggots, and is situated
near Letchmoor Heath. Although it still retains
the name of a manor, the independent rights apper
taining to it have long been merged into the manor
paramount of Aldenham. As it appears from the
above quotation from Chauncy, the manor of
Newberry was formerly incorporated with that of
Pickets, or Piggots ; they are now, however, distinct
estates. The manor of Newberry, now called New-
berries, is near the railway-station at Radlett, and
extends into the adjoining parish of Shenley.
Aldenham House, the seat of Mr. Henry Hucks
Gibbs, is a spacious red brick building, standing in
a park about 200 acres in extent. The mansion
was formerly known as Wigbournes, which, in its
turn, appears to have been the successor of a
mansion called Penn's Place, or Aldenham Hall,
but which, by the way, stood on a small farm now
bearing the name, at a short distance from the
present house. In dry weather, Mr. Cussans tells
us, the foundations of a large building are plainly
to be traced. The site, which occupies an acre of
ground, is enclosed by an almost rectangular moat,
or, rather, the traces of a moat, the eastern side of
which, bordering Grub's Lane, has been filled up.
The estate derived its name from the family of
Penn, to whom it formerly belonged, and it was
afterwards owned successively by the Cades, the
Coningsbys, and the Coghills. Chauncy, in his
" History" above quoted, speaks thus of Penn's
Place : — " It is a small manor, situated upon the
common where Henry Coghill, Esq., built a fair

house of brick." It is not quite clear from Chauncy
whether the "fair house of brick" was the mansion
known as Penn's Place and Aldenham Hall, or the
house mentioned above as Wigbournes. In the
will of Sarah Hucks, dated 1767, Penn's Place is
spoken of as a then existing mansion ; but in a
subsequent deed, executed in 1815, it is described
as a farm.
Under its former name of Wigbournes, Aldenham
House passed, early in the seventeenth century, to
the Coghills ; and on the death of Thomas Cog
hill, in 1734, it passed to his niece, Sarah Hucks,
who had already inherited Penn's Place. Her son,
Robert Hucks the younger, made sundry additions
to the house. After his death, in 1814, the house
remained unoccupied for many years, and was
allowed to fall into a dilapidated condition. In
1846 Mrs. Gibbs, the mother of the present owner,
took up her residence here ; but after her death, in
1850, it again remained unoccupied by the family
for nearly twenty years, when Mr. Gibbs came
again into residence. This gentleman has since
thoroughly restored the old building, making many
improvements, but in no way altering the character
of the building. The family of the present owner
was connected by marriage with the families of the
Suttons, Hucks, and Coghills, former owners of the
estate. Aldenham is mentioned more than once in the
diary of the first Lord Shaftesbury as the seat of Sir
Job Harbye, with whom he was an occasional guest.
The parish church, dedicated to St. John the
Baptist, stands near the centre of the village, and
is an interesting building, chiefly of the Perpen
dicular period. It consists of a clerestoried nave,
with aisles ; also a chancel, with aisles, and a lofty
embattled tower, surmounted by a shingled spire, at
the west end. The nave and aisles are separated
by three octagonal columns on each side, from
which spring high Pointed arches. The nave-roof
is of timber, the principal rafters being painted, and
the wall-shafts resting on grotesquely-sculptured
stone corbels. The church was restored by Sir
Charles Barry in 1840, at which time a timber
waggon-headed roof was added to the chancel, and
a large five-light window of Decorated character
inserted over the altar. This window, and several
others in the church, are filled with stained glass.
At the east end of the north aisle are faint traces of
mural painting.
Among the monuments is one in the chancel, a
large altar-tomb, to the memory of John Coghill of
Berry, who died in 17 14. On the south wall of the
chancel, under flat-arched canopies, are the recum
bent effigies of two females, whose names are

3io

GREATER LONDON.

[Radlett.

unknown. They form a single monument, and,
according to Chauncy's "Antiquities of Hertford
shire," are supposed by tradition " to represent two
sisters here entombed, the founders of this church,
and co-heirs to this lordship." " The costume of
the figures," observes Mr. Cussans, " shows that the
monument was erected towards the end of the
reign of Edward II. — perhaps as late as the year
1400, but certainly not ten years later. The
arrangement of the arms shows that the ladies
were not the two wives of one man, nor were they
sisters." Near the above is a monument, in the
form of a sarcophagus, of coloured marble, em
bellished with a medallion of white marble, on
which are carved in low-relief portraits of Robert
Hucks, and Sarah his wife, to whom the monument
was erected. In the floor of the chancel are four
or five small brasses, but none of any importance.
The south aisles of the chancel and nave were
formerly separated by a carved oak screen, which
was swept away when the church was restored, in
1840; parts of it, however, remained in the village,
and these scattered fragments have lately been
collected by Mr. Gibbs, of Aldenham House, and
replaced in their original position. A somewhat
similar screen on the north side still remains.
In the vestry are preserved two helmets of ancient
date. There is also in the church a curious muni
ment chest, nearly ten feet in length, carved out of
a single block of oak, and firmly bound and
clamped with iron. The font, in the centre of the
nave, between the north and south entrances, has
a square bowl of Purbeck marble, resting on a solid
circular stem, with detached columns at the corners.
It is ascribed to about 1250, the date of the present
church, which, by the way, was built on the founda
tions of an earlier structure.
Aldenham Grammar School, a large redbrick
building, of Elizabethan design, is situated on
Boydon Hill, in the south-eastern part of the
parish. It was founded and endowed, along with
six almshouses, in 1599 by Richard Piatt, a brewer
of London, who entrusted the government of both
institutions to the Brewers' Company. In 1875 a
new scheme was sanctioned by the Queen in
Council, under which the Grammar School was
a strictly high-class school, and two lower schools
were established out of the endowment, for the
use of the parishioners. There are several scholar
ships, tenable in the school; and there are also
three exhibitions a year, tenable at any university.
In 1878, while excavations were being made for
the purpose of forming a swimming-bath on the
north side of the school, the workmen came upon
a large quantity of broken Roman tiles and pottery,

at a uniform depth of four or five feet from the
surface. It is supposed that there was a pottery
factory close by, and that the fragments which were
here so plentifully scattered about were broken in
the course of manufacture.
Radlett, whither we now direct our steps, is an
outlying hamlet of Aldenham, about two miles to
the north-east. In 1863 a separate district was
assigned to it for ecclesiastical purpqses. It lies
in a valley, through which runs a stream, called the
Leat, or Lete, one of the feeders of the Colne.
This stream, before the introduction of the present
system of land-drainage, passed through a gravelly
soil, and thereby became of a red colour, as it does
now in wet weather ; and it is from this circum
stance that the place is presumed to have derived
its name. Rad-lett, or Red-lett, would therefore
signify the red mill-stream.
About a quarter of a mile south of Radlett
station, on Cobden Hill, stands Christ Church,
which was built in 1864 to meet the requirements
of the newly-formed ecclesiastical district. It is a
cruciform building, constructed of flint and stone,
with bands of red brick, and is in the Early
Decorated style. The mullions and dressings of
the windows are of Bath stone, and the tower is
surmounted by an octagonal spire of the same
material. Most of the windows are filled with
stained glass. The church stands near the site of
a small chantry, belonging formerly to the Abbey
of St. Albans. In old deeds the name of Cobden
Hill is written Copdene Hill, signifying the " Hill
at the Head of the Valley." The chantry is stated
by Mr. Cussans to have been founded about the
year 15 10, by Sir Humphrey Coningsby, who
endowed it with the following lands lying in the
parishes of Aldenham and Elstree : — Paynes, Organ
Hall, Tyttescroft, Hides Stowe, Mole Hill Acre,
Chalk Croft, and Woodwards. On the dissolution
of religious houses these lands came to the Crown,
and were granted by Henry VIIL to Thomas
Strete, one of the grooms of his privy chamber.
On the accession of Queen Mary, John White, the
ejected incumbent of the chantry, was allowed a
pension of £5 per annum.
The country round about Radlett is exceedingly
rural, much of the land being used for agricultural
purposes, the remainder being preserved as park-
lands. The district is of too recent growth to have
a " history ; " but early in the present century it
acquired some celebrity from the murder of William
Weare, of Lyons Inn, whose body, as already
stated, lies buried in Elstree churchyard.* The

See ante, p. 303.

Radlett]

THE MURDER OF WILLIAM WEARE.

3U

murder took place in October, 1823, close by Gill's
Hill cottage, which is reached by a narrow and
crooked lane, mnning westward from Radlett
Station towards Batler's Green. Weare was shot
by one John Thurtell, his gambling associate, while
driving with him in a gig to the house of one
William Probert, in the above-mentioned lane.
After the murder Weare's body was deposited in a
pond behind the cottage, while the murderers
divided the spoil, and it was afterwards dragged
through a hedge into a field at a short distance
from the house. Suspicion having been aroused,
a search was made for the body, which was soon
discovered. The murderers were forthwith arrested,
and Thurtell and Hunt were tried at Hertford, and,
being found guilty, the former was condemned and
executed, and Hunt was sentenced to transportation
for* life. Probert, who turned " king's evidence,"
was discharged, but was afterwards apprehended,
tried, and hanged, for horse-stealing.
The details of this old story have been often
told; they caused great excitement at the time,
and even now read more like fiction than fact. The
careful plot, every detail of which fell out quite
otherwise than it was planned; the body hidden
and sunk, now here, now there ; a brother's blood
still crying for vengeance ; the utter distrust of each
other shown by Thurtell's confederates; and the
supper on the fatal night, cheered or solaced, as the
case might be, by the fitful minstrelsy of Joseph
Hunt, an accomplice in the crime ; Thurtell's
family position, too — for his father was an alder
man of Norwich — gave additional interest to the
tragedy, which became a fruitful theme for itinerant
theatres and peep-shows at country fairs ; and " the
actual roan horse and yellow gig in which Weare
was carried were exhibited on the stage." Poetry
came to the aid of the drama — if such doggerel as
the following can be called poetry : —
" They cut his throat from ear to ear,
His brains they battered in ;
His name was Mr. William Weare,
He dwelt in Lyons Inn."
Carlyle more than once alludes to the incidents
connected with the tragedy ; and Sydney Smith
pressed the unpromising subject into his service
some three years after the event. It happened
that in 1826 he was noticing in the Edinburgh
Review Charles Waterton's " Wanderings in South
America." He had to describe a certain Demerara
" goatsucker," which, like other birds of its kind,
makes night hideous with the most dreadful screech
ing. This he thought " a stranger would take for
Weare being murdered by Thurtell ! " Sir Walter
Scott not only carefully read the account of the

murder at the time, but more than four years after
wards, when returning from London to the North,
did not hesitate to go some two or three miles out
of his way in order specially to visit the scene. The
author of " Waverley," however, was not happy in
his visit to Radlett He writes in his diary, under
date of May 28, 1828:—
"Our elegant researches carried us out of the high
road and through a labyrinth of intricate lanes,
which seem made on purpose to afford strangers
the full benefit of a dark night and a drunken
driver, in order to visit Gill's Hill, in Hertfordshire,
famous for the murder of Mr. Weare. The place
has the strongest title to the description of Words
worth : —
' A merry spot, 'tis said, in days of yore,
But something ails it now — the place is curst.'
The principal part of the house is destroyed, and
only the kitchen remains standing. The garden
has been dismantled, though a few laurels and
flowering shrubs, run wild, continue to mark the
spot. The fatal pond is now only a green swamp,
but so near the house that one cannot conceive
how it was ever chosen as a place of temporary
concealment for the murdered body." Scott's
description, however, seems to be somewhat
exaggerated. The cottage occupied by Probert,
and where Thurtell and Hunt spent the night
following the murder, is still standing : it is an
ordinary one-storeyed house, with a high-pitched
tiled roof. In the rear is the pond which Scott
describes as a "green swamp."
Midway between Radlett and Elstree, in the
hamlet of Medburn, is a substantial and com
modious boys' school, with master's house, garden,
and playground. It was built out of the funds of
the bequest of Richard Piatt, mentioned above,
and serves for the boys of both villages. Near
Radlett church stands a school for girls and in
fants, built, in the year 1878, from the designs of
Mr. Blomfield, and is in the style commonly named
after " Queen Anne." It is of flint, with red-brick
dressings, and' a tile roof. • Since the erection of
this latter building, a school at Batler's Green has
been converted into cottages.
Mr. William B. Phillimore, of Kendalls Hall, is
the chief owner of property at Radlett, and lord of
the manor of Elstree and Theobald Street, and his
family have been great benefactors to Radlett, by
the improvement of the dwellings of the labouring
classes. Newberries Park, the seat of Mr. Thomas
Bagnall, is a large house in a pleasant park sloping
down to the railway. It was purchased from the
Phillimores about twenty years ago.

312

GREATER LONDON.

(Shenley

CHAPTER XXXI.
SHENLEY, COLNEY, RIDGE, AND SOUTH MIMMS.
"Per arnica silentia campi." — Lucretius.
Extent and Population of Shenley — Descent of the Manor — Shenley Hall, or Salisbury — Newberries— Old Organ Hall— Porters — Holmes,
otherwise High Canons — The Village of Shenley — The Chapel-of-Ease — The Parish Church — Colney House — London Colney —
Tittenhanger — Colney Heath — Ridge — The Parish Church— South Mimms— Census Returns— General Appearance of the Village — The Old
North Road — The Manor of South Mimms — The Church — Almshouses — Potter's Bar — Dyrham Park— Wrotham Park— Destruction of the
Mansion by Fire — Hadley Common — Christ Church.

The village of Shenley lies about two miles east-
north-east from Radlett Station on the Midland
Railway ; the road thither, tortuous, but pleasant,

gave " Scenlea " to the above-mentioned monastery,
" in perpetual alms ; " " but," as Mr. Cussans infers
in his " History of Hertfordshire,'' " as in a charter

passing for the greater part by the palings of
Porters on the one hand, and by those of
New Organ Hall on the other.
The parish extends from north to south, a
distance of about six miles, from London Colney
to Elstree and Chipping Barnet; the parish of
Ridge forms its eastern boundary, and a long
detached strip, belonging to the same parish,
occupies the greater portion of its western
side. The number of houses in Shenley parish in 187 1
was 301, the population at the same time amount
ing to 1,380. Of this number, 382 belonged to the
ecclesiastical district of Colney St. Peter. During
the next decade the number of the inhabitants had
slightly diminished.
From an ancient Chartulary, formerly belonging
to the Abbey of St. Albans, but now preserved in
the British Museum, it appears that before the
time of the Conquest one Thurefleda, a pious lady,

mm,

SHENLEY CHURCH AND VILLAGE.
of Edward IV. to the abbey (in which the confir
mations of grants by previous kings are all recited
at length) there is no mention of Shenley, it is
probable that the manor, which in Domesday
Book is said to have belonged to St. Albans, was
the same manor which was afterwards known "as,
Ridge. This supposition is strengthened by the
fact that Ridge is not mentioned in Domesday,
and that the abbot's manor of Shenley is there
described as being in Albaneston Hundred (the
Hundred of Cashio), and the othej' two within the

Shenley.}

PORTERS.

3*3

Hundred of Danais, or Dacorum." About two
hundred years after the Conquest the manor was
in the possession of John Fitzacre, who, in 1267-8,
granted it, together with the advowson of the
church, and the chapel of Colney, to Adam de
Stratton, and in the same year obtained from the
king a grant to hold an annual fair and a weekly
market within this manor. At the close of the
thirteenth century the manor was forfeited to the
Crown, and shortly afterwards it was granted by
Edward III. to Sir John de Pulteney, or Potiltney,
who was five times Lord Mayor of London. The

of Newberries was formerly known as Old Organ
Hall, and appears to have been first called New
berries by its late owner, Mr. Phillimore, from
whom it was purchased by Mr. Thomas Bagnall.
The building now known as Old Organ Hall,
which lies on the east side of the railway, near to
Boreham Wood and Elstree Station, is a farmhouse
on the estate.
The estate of Porters, mentioned above, covers
a large portion of the parish, being no less than
1,300 acres in extent. The mansion, the seat of
Mr. Myers, who is lord of the manor, occupies the

manor remained vested in the Poultneys for just
three centuries, when it was carried, by the mar
riage of an heiress, to the Crewes, of Crewe Hall,
Cheshire. It subsequently passed to the family of
Lomax, in whose possession it remained down to
1850, when it was sold to Mr. William J. Myers, of
Porters Park, in the parish, and with his descendant
it still continues.
The manor of Shenley Hall, otherwise Salisbury,
lies in the north-eastern part of the parish, near
London Colney. It derived its name from the
family of Montacute, Earls of Salisbury, who owned
the property in the fourteenth century. The manor
subsequently descended in the same way as that of
Bushey, and seems to have reverted to the Crown
in 147 1, on the death of the Earl of Warwick, the
"kingmaker,'' as we shall see presently, at the
Battle of Barnet. It now belongs to the Philli-
mores, late of Newberries. The present mansion
27

SIR T. POPE.

summit of a
sant hill, com
manding an ex
tensive view towards the south-west. Chauncy, in
his "Antiquities of Hertfordshire," describes Porters
as " an old seat," and Sir Richard Coxe, who died
in 1623, is described as " of Porters." From the
Coxes, the estate passed by marriage to Sir Edmund
Anderson, with whose family it continued for many
years. Nicholas Hawksmoor, the architect, a pupil
of Sir Christopher Wren, whom he assisted in re
building St. Paul's Cathedral, was living here at the
time of his death, in 1736 ; he may, however, have
been only a tenant, for in 1750 died Mr. John
Mason, who was at that time lord of the manor of
Weld, which had become amalgamated with this
estate, and who, on his tomb in Shenley church
yard, is described as " of Porters."
The estate of Holmes, otherwise Canons, but

;h

GREATER LONDON.

[Shenley.

commonly called High Canons, is situated about a
mile south-east of the village, on the left of the road
towards Barnet. The property derives its name
from the fact of its having formerly belonged to the
Prior and Canons of St. Bartholomew, in Smith-
field, in whose possession it remained till the
dissolution of religious houses, when it passed to
the Crown. In 1543 High Canons was sold to
one Nicholas Bristow, and since that time it has
undergone several changes of ownership. Mr.
Thomas Fitzherbert, who purchased the estate at
the end of the last century, expended a large sum
of money in improving the grounds and mansion,
which was shortly after again sold. In 181 2 the
property was purchased by Mr. Enoch Durant,
with whose family it now remains.
The village of Shenley fringes the cross-roads at
the south-eastern extremity of Porters. It consists
of a few straggling cottages and general shops, and,
from its lofty situation, possesses some charming
views, particularly towards the north-west, where,
at a distance of about five miles, the city of St.
Albans, with its venerable abbey, is plainly dis
cernible, cresting the opposite range of hills. In
1 84 1, in consequence of the distance of the church
from the bulk of the population, a plain brick-built
chapel-of-ease was erected in the centre of the
village. It consists of a chancel and nave, with a
small belfry turret at the south-west angle. Here
the afternoon and evening services are performed,
the morning service being still continued in the old
parish church, to which we will now direct our
steps. This edifice, dedicated to St. Botolph, lies about
a mile north-west from the village, at the foot of
the hill, and a little to the right of the road to St.
Albans. The church originally consisted of chancel,
nave, south aisle, and tower; but in 1753, the
edifice having become dilapidated, the tower was
demolished, the western end built up, the chancel
and tower arches and the arcading of the nave
pulled down, the open timber roof demolished, and
baulks of timber laid from wall to wall, with the
result that the structure has been converted into a
good-sized rectangular chamber, with a flat plaster
ceiling. On the site formerly occupied by the
south porch is now a square wooden tower, painted
white, with a tiled roof, and containing three bells.
The walls of the body of the church are of chalk,
faced with squared flints, and the buttresses between
the windows have been partially repaired with
brick. The windows are of the Perpendicular
style throughout. The large four-light east and
west windows, and also three or four others, are
filled with memorial painted glass. The font is

ancient, and stands at the west end of the church
under the organ gallery ; and in the exterior of the
south wall is an old sun-dial, The pulpit and a
carved oak reredos and altar-rails were erected by
subscription in 1878.
In the churchyard are several fine yew-trees.
The tomb of Nicholas Hawksmoor, the architect,
mentioned above, is in the churchyard. It is an
altar-tomb, the slab of which is broken, and the
inscription barely legible. Hawksmoor was the
architect of St. George's, Bloomsbury, St. Mary
Woolnoth, Lombard Street, and other well-known
City churches. Close by the belfry is the memorial
of a former parish clerk; it consists of a board
supported by two uprights, and bears the following
lines : —
"Joseph Rogers, died August 17th, 1828, in the
77 th year of his age, having been clerk of this
parish a half century.
" Silent in dust lies mould'ring here
A Parish Clerk of voice most clear ;
None Joseph Rogers could excel
In laying bricks or singing well.
Though snapp'd his line, laid by his rod,
We build for him our hopes in God,
The Saviour God, that He will raise
Again that voice to sing His praise,
In Temple blest, which always stands,
The Church of God not made with hands."
Colney House, in the hamlet of Colney Chapel,
about a mile northward from Shenley Church, and
the same distance south-west from the village of
London Colney, but belonging to the parish of
Shenley, is a spacious stone mansion, built about a
century ago by Governor Bouchier, at an expense
of ^53,000, including the charges for laying out the
pleasure-grounds and making other improvements
in the park, which is about 150 acres in extent.
The house is a handsome and regular structure,
with slightly projecting wings, and is double-
fronted. The principal front, facing the roadway,
has a semicircular portico at the entrance, sur
mounted by a half-dome. The west front, over
looking the park, has a bay-window on either side
of the doorway. These bays rise to the level of
the second floor, and are surmounted with balus
trades. The park contains some fine oak and elm
trees, and the pleasure-grounds are extensive. The
estate was sold by Governor Bouchier to Margaret
of Anspach, who resided here for three years, after
which it was disposed of to the Earl of Kingston.
Early in the present century it was sold to Mr.
George Anderson, with whose family it remained
for many years. It was subsequently owned by
the Oddies; and in 1871 it was disposed of to Sir
Andrew Lusk, Bart., who sold it some years later.

1

London Colney.]

TITTENHANGER.

3iS

The above estate was formerly part of the exten
sive manor of the Weald, or Wild, and obtained the
name of Colney Chapel, it is supposed, from a
religious house which is thought to have stood on
a small piece of land in the park, surrounded by
a moat, though now planted and laid out in walks.
The river Colne skirts the north side of the park
in its course towards Aldenham and Watford. It
is crossed by a wooden foot-bridge in the line
of the roadway at this point, but is fordable for
vehicular traffic. Following the course of this
stream in a north-easterly direction we soon find
ourselves at London Colney.
London Colney, which is partly in the parishes
of Shenley and Ridge, and partly in those of St.
Peter and St Stephen, in St. Albans, is a large
village of some 850 inhabitants, and was formed
into a separate ecclesiastical district in 1826. It
stands on the great high road through Barnet and
South Mimms to St. Albans, from which place it is
distant about three miles and a half. The principal
part of the village slopes upward from the north
bank of the River Colne, from which the place
derives its name, and which is here crossed by a
brick bridge of seven arches. The church, dedi
cated to St. Peter, was built in 1825, by Philip,
third Earl of Hardwicke. It is a plain rectangular
brick building, with semicircular-headed windows ;
that at the east end, of three lights, is filled with
stained glass, representing " The Ascension," and
was designed by Louisa, Dowager-Marchioness of
Waterford; it was erected in 1865 as a memorial
to the founder of the church.
The hamlet of Tittenhanger lies to the east of
London Colney; it forms part of the parish of
Ridge, and consists of two or three humble cottages,
nestling pleasantly near the winding Colne, and on
the outskirts of Tittenhanger Park, the seat of the
Countess of Caledon. The manor of Tittenhanger
belonged, at the time of the Conquest, to the
Abbots of St. Albans, who frequently resided here,
though their manor is stated to have been but a
" mean building." About the end of the fourteenth
century, however, Abbot John de la Moote com
menced the building of a new and stately mansion
here, " where," according to Chauncy, " he and his
successors might retire for their ease and pleasure,
and recreate themselves with their friends and
relations, but died before he could finish the same."
This was afterwards completed, on a more extensive
and elaborate scale, by his successor, Abbot John
of Whethamsted, in the reign of Henry VI., and
the property continued to belong to the abbots till
they were despoiled of their possessions at the
dissolution of monasteries. Thornerin his "En

virons of London," observes that " there is a tradi
tion that Wolsey expended a large sum on it,
intending to make it one of his residences." In
1528, Henry VIIL and Queen Katherine are stated
to have taken up their residence at Tittenhanger
during the continuance of the malady known as the
"sweating sickness" in London. In 1547, the
last year of his reign, Henry VIIL granted the
manor and estate to Sir Hugh Paulet, from whose
family it was conveyed by marriage to Sir Thomas
Pope, the founder of Trinity College, Oxford. Sir
Thomas, who had been the fortunate recipient of
many grants of the lands of the dissolved monas
teries, made Tittenhanger his principal residence,
having greatly improved the house; and on his
death, without issue, in 1559, it continued in the
possession of his widow, Elizabeth, the daughter
of Mr. William Blount, of Blount Hall, Stafford
shire. This lady was succeeded by her nephew and.
heir, Mr. (afterwards Sir) Thomas Pope Blount ; and
from him the estate descended to Philip, third
Earl of Hardwicke, in right of his mother, Cathe
rine, first wife of the Hon. Charles Yorke, Lord
Chancellor of Great Britain, she being the sole
heiress of the ancient Hertfordshire families of
Pope, Blount, and Freeman. These Blounts became
extinct by the death of Sir Henry Pope Blount
about the middle of the last century. On the death
of the Countess of Hardwicke, in 1858, the pro
perty was inherited by her daughter, Catherine,
Countess of Caledon.
The present mansion of Tittenhanger was built
about the middle of the seventeenth century by the
first Sir Henry Pope Blount, from the designs of
Inigo Jones, and it is described by Chauncy as
"a fair structure of brick, with fair walks and
gardens." The house is of Tudor architecture,
large and convenient, oblong in form, and has an
inner court. It was originally surrounded by a
moat, but this has been filled up ; the gardens, too,
were long ago destroyed, and much of the park
has been broken up and converted into a farm.
What there is left of the park is pleasant and well
wooded, and is watered on its western side by the
river Colne.
Colney Heath, the extreme northern limit of the
metropolitan area, and consequently the utmost ex
tent of our wanderings in this direction, abuts upon
the north-east side of Tittenhanger Park. The
district was formed into an ecclesiastical parish in
1846. The church, dedicated to St. Mark, is a brick
building in the Byzantine style, consisting of an
apsidal chancel, a nave, and a small bell-tower.
We must now make our way homewards once
more, but by way of the high road, through South

316

GREATER LONDON.

fcSouth Mimms.

Mimms to Barnet The road for some three or
four miles is as " straight as an arrow," and the
land on either side pleasantly diversified by culti
vation and woods. Ridge Hill, which we ascend
about two miles from Colney, takes its name from
the quaint little old-world village of Ridge, which
lies some little distance away to the right of our
road, and is approached through narrow winding
lanes. The district is exceedingly rural, and has a
population of about 450 souls. Apart from the
dozen or more of humble cottages, a general shop,
and an inn, forming the village, there are one or two
houses of a better class, notably Ridge Hall, Rabley
House, and Deeves Hall, with here and there a
farm scattered about. The parish, which has
really no literary history, probably derives its name
from the " ridge " of high ground which runs along
its border, and it is wonderfully unchanged among
all the changes of time. The green lanes on every
side wind between hedgerows of thorns and elders,
very much as they must have done two centuries
ago ; and the farm-houses have a sleepy and respect
able appearance, which seems to indicate that their
owners do not care much for " progress."
The parish church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is
an ancient building, standing away by itself on the
west side of the village. The edifice is small, built
of flint and stone, and consists of a chancel in the
Early Decorated style, and a Perpendicular nave.
The west end is surmounted by a low wooden
tower, crowned with a spire. It is as yet "un-
restored," so that it still exhibits all the marks
of the Georgian interior arrangements. There are
high deep pews of deal on either side of the central
passage up the nave, with hatchments in abundance,
and the royal arms in a conspicuous position. Like
Kingsbury, it is quite innocent of aisles, and the
distinction between nave and chancel is of the very
slightest kind. The structure is chiefly remarkable
for the abundant coats of whitewash which have
been inflicted on it by successive incumbents and
churchwardens. It is also noticeable for the tombs
and monuments of the family of the Blounts of
Tittenhanger, who lie buried here. Of these, the
best known are those of Sir Henry Pope Blount,
the author of the " Voyage into the Levant," who
died in 1682, and his sons, Sir Thomas Pope
Blount, author of " De Re Poetica," &c, who died
in 1697, and Charles Blount, the deistical writer,
who died by his own hand in 1693, having been
driven to frenzy by his unsuccessful endeavours to
obtain a license to marry his deceased wife's sister,
and her refusal to marry him without it. The event is
thus recorded in the Cassar Manuscripts, under date
of August 31, 1693 :— " Mr. Charles Blount, of

Tittenhanger, in Hartfordshire, died in London, felo
dese, five weeks after he had shot himself into the
belly with a pistoll : for love of Mrs. Hobby (his
wife's sister), who was a rich widow." Pope, too,
commemorated Mr. Blount's death in the following
line in his " Epistle to the Satires " :—
" If Blount despatch'd himself, he play'd the man."
Blount's books were reprinted in a collected form
by Gildon, in 1695.
The parish of South Mimms is bounded on the
west by Ridge, on the north by Northaw and North
Mimms ; Monken Hadley and Enfield encompass
it on the east, and it stretches away southward to
High Barnet. It occupies the northern portion
of the Hundred of Edmonton, and is the most
extreme point northward of the county of Middle
sex. The name of the parish has in times past
been variously written as Mims, Mymes, and
Mymmes. The additional term of " South " is evi
dently applied to the village to distinguish it from'
its neighbour in Hertfordshire, which has become
famous as the home of Sir Thomas More, but
which, by the way, lies just beyond the limits of
our peregrinations. This parish, which includes the
hamlet of Potter's Bar, about two miles eastward
from the village (where there is a station on the
Great Northern Railway), and also the ecclesiastical
district of Christ Church, Barnet, has a population
of nearly 4,000. In 187 1 the number of the in
habitants of South Mimms proper was 775, and the
census for 1881 shows very slight change.
The parish contains within its bounds about
5,400 acres of land, of which 1,097 were allotted by
an Act of Parliament passed in 1777, on the enclo
sure of Enfield Chase. The old " Royal Chase "
formed the southern boundary of South Mimms,
as far as Potter's Bar.
The general outline of the parish is agreeably
diversified with hill and dale, and the village itself,
with the church in the midst — there is no regular
street, in the ordinary sense of the term — is built
upon undulating ground along the line of the old
road — which is now a picturesque lane, winding up
from its lower end to North Mimms, but in ancient
times was the great highway northwards. This
road is intersected by the present high road, which
was formed early in the present century. The
course of the old road was somewhat sinuous, but
it contrasts pleasantly enough with the dull and
monotonous uniformity of the more modern high
road to St. Albans. On quitting Barnet, it traversed
Hadley Green, and leaving the road by Potter's
Bar to Hatfield on the right, was carried thence by
Kitt's End under the fence of Wrotham Park to

South. Mimms.]

DYRHAM PARK.

3i7

Dancer's Hill. Here, bending abruptly to the
right, along the wall of Dancer's Hill House, it
passed over Mimms Wash, and crossing the present
high road, reached South Mimms village. After
traversing the entire length of this, it followed the
present lane, but branched off sharply to the left
shortly before reaching the lodge of North Mimms
Park. The present high road, continuing in a
straight line from Barnet, passes through the vil
lage to the east of the church and churchyard, and
then almost bisecting the houses of the village,
passes on again in an equally straight line to
Colney and St. Albans.
The manor [of South Mimms is not mentioned
in the "Domesday Survey," and it probably then
formed 'part of the royal chase of Enfield, which
belonged at the time of the Conquest to Geoffrey
de Mandeville, who owned much property in this
part of Middlesex. Through several ages, previous
to the year 1479, the manorial rights were vested
in the Leuknore, or Lewkenor, family, but it
afterwards became annexed to the Crown ; and in
1484 it was granted by Richard III. to his zealous
adherent, Richard Scrope. It was subsequently
owned by the family of Windsor ; and about the
middle of the seventeenth century it passed to the
family of the Marquis of Salisbury, with whom it
still continues.
The church, dedicated to St Giles, stands almost
in the centre of the village, and, from its lofty situa
tion, is visible for many miles round. It consists
of a nave and chancel, separated from a north aisle,
erected at a later period, by octagonal pillars and
six obtuse arches. At the western end is an em
battled tower, tall and massive, with a small stair
case turret at the south-east angle. The main
body of the church is in the Early Perpendicular
style, and has the walls faced with flint ; but the
north aisle, looking prim and new from recent
restoration, is of red brick, and of Tudor architec
ture, having been built in 1526. There is no
chancel arch, but the chancel is slightly narrower
than the nave. At the eastern end of the north aisle,
and separated from it by a carved oak parclose, or
screen, of Gothic design, is the Frowyke chantry, or
chapel, now used as a vestry. The chancel was
newly paved and decorated at the restoration of
the church, by Mr. G. E. Street, in 1868. The
font, of Early English character, consists of a plain
square block of stone hollowed in the form of a
circular basin, resting upon four small circular
columns, and a square centre support, with shallow
Perpendicular tracery. One or two of the benches
are old, and contain some good examples of wood
carving. The five windows of the north aisle

contain in their centres some fragments of ancient
stained glass, forming a series, thought to have
been part of the original decoration of the re-built
aisle. In the south wall of the chancel is a trefoil-
headed piscina, apparently of the thirteenth century.
On the north side of the chancel is an altar-tomb,
with an elaborately carved, canopy, supported by
four Renaissance columns. It is without arms or
inscription ; but the initials R. H. are worked into
the rose and quatrefoil ornamentation of the tomb.
It is very doubtful whom this handsome tomb com
memorates. In the Frowyke chapel is an altar-
tomb, belonging to the family of Frowyke. It bears
the recumbent effigy of a knight in armour, under
a rich open canopy. The tomb is without inscrip
tion or date. There are in the floor of the church
two or three brasses to different members of the
Frowkyes. Close by the churchyard, and facing the street,
is a row of almshouses for six widows. They were
founded in the year 1687 by James Hickson, be
tween Dancer's Hill and Hadley, but were moved
hither in 1856 by the Brewers' Company, who are
trustees of the charity.
Potter's Bar, which, as stated above, is an ecclesi
astical district of South Mimms, lies about two
miles eastward from the latter place. It is a long,
straggling village, about a mile in length, with a
population of rather more than 1,200 souls. The
church, dedicated to St. John, stands towards the
north end of the village. It was built in the year
1835, chiefly at the expense of the late Mr. George
Byng, M.P., of Wrotham Park. It is constructed of
white brick in the Norman style, and several of
the windows are filled with memorial stained glass.
Here the Byng family were formerly interred; but
owing to some differences between them and the
incumbent of the parish, Lord Strafford erected in
Wrotham Park a mausoleum, which was consecrated
by the Bishop of London, as their burial-place.
On the west side of the high road which leads
towards Barnet is the estate of Dyrham (or Derham)
Park, the seat of the Trotters. The entrance gate,
which is approached from the St. Albans road,
consists of a tall Central arch between Tuscan
columns, with entablature and scrolls, and sur
mounted by a large vase. It is said to have formed
originally the triumphal arch which was erected in
London by General Monk on the occasion of the
public entry of Charles II. in 1660. The old man
sion having been burnt down early in thepresent cen
tury, the present house was built by Mr. John Trotter,
the then owner of the estate. It is a large and heavy
square building in the Classical style, and is situated
in the midst of a well-wooded and undulating park

3i»

GREATER LONDON.'

[South Miramj.

of about 170 acres in extent. The estate derived
its name from the Derhams, by whom it was
possessed in the latter part of the thirteenth century,
when it was conveyed in marriage to the Frowykes.
This latter family retained possession of the
property through many generations, and late in
the seventeenth century it became the property
of the Austen family. In 1733 it was purchased
from Sir John Austen, Bart, M.P. (who lies buried
in the churchyard of South Mimms), by Anne,
Countess of Albemarle ; and at the end of the last

accidentally destroyed by fire in March, 1883, was
a handsome edifice in the Classical Italian style,
which was so fashionable in the reigns of the two
first Georges. It was erected from the designs of
Ware in 1754, its then owner being the unfortunate
Admiral Byng, who was executed a few years after
wards, under circumstances well known to every
reader of English history. The house bore a
strong resemblance to Southill, in Bedfordshire,
another seat of the Byngs in the last century. The
principal front of the mansion looked to the west,

WROTHAM PARK.

century, having, in the meantime, once more changed
hands, it was sold to Mr. John Trotter, the founder
of the Soho Bazaar,* and with his family it still
continues. The " Butcher " Duke of Cumberland is said
to have turned aside out of the Great North road,
on his way back to London, after the victory of
Culloden, in order to spend a night or two here
before going on to join the king at Kew.
On the opposite side of the road, and occupying
some 250 acres of ground in the fork of the two
roads, passing northwards to St. Albans and to
Hatfield and York, is Wrotham Park, the seat of
the Earl of Strafford. The mansion, which was

'See'

Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 190

commanding fine views across the park towards
Elstree and Watford. It consisted of a spacious
centre, with side colonnades, terminating in octagonal
wings ; it had a deeply-recessed tetrastyle portico,
and a pediment extending along the second storey ;
and the whole was surmounted by a handsome
balustrade. The name of the house was derived
from Wrotham, near Sevenoaks, Kent, where was
the ancient seat of the Byngs, Lords Torrington.
The house contained a fine gallery of pictures and
an excellent library.
It is somewhat singular that the mansion of
Wrotham Park stood a narrow escape from destruc
tion by fire shortly after its erection from the hands
of an infuriated mob, during the riots which followed
, on Admiral Byng's trial and disgrace.

High Barnet.]

WROTHAM PARK.

3i9

Admiral Byng was never married, and at his
decease the estate came to his nephew, George
Byng, Esq., whose eldest son, also George, was
for upwards of half a century M.P. for Middle
sex, and who died in 1847. Upon the death of
his widow, Wrotham Park reverted to his brother
John, a gallant Peninsular officer, who was in 1835
created Baron Strafford, and in 1847 advanced to
an earldom ; and from him it descended, in i860, to
his son, the present peer, who was well known in

his day on the turf, and has held several Court and
administrative appointments.
At the southern extremity of the park is Hadley
Common, where we meet with the obelisk or pillar
set up to commemorate the battle of Barnet ; but of
this we shall have more to say in the next chapter.
Christ Church, adjacent to the town of Barnet,
but in the parish of South Mimms, was built in
1852, at the expense of the late Captain Trotter, of
Dyrham Park, but has since been enlarged.

HIGH STREET, HIGH BARNET.

CHAPTER XXXII.
HIGH BARNET.
" I will away towards Barnet presently."— Shakespeare, Henry VI„ III., Act V., Sc. r.
Situation and Extent of Barnet— Its Etymology— The Manor— General Appearance of the Town— Census Returns— Markets and Fairs— The
Parish Church— The Grammar School— The old " Crown Inn "—Jesus Hospital— Almshouses and Charitable Institutions— The Town Hall
—Barracks—Chapels and Meeting-houses— Ravenscrolt Park— The " Physic Well "—Historical Associations— Inns and Taverns— The
Battle of Barnet— The Obelisk.

The small busy town of High Barnet stands at a
fork where the road to Elstree and Watford branches
off from the Great Northern road, along which Dick
Turpin used to ride ; and the long High Street
still shows marks of having been a street of inns
and posting-houses, as being in the old coach
ing days the first stage out of London on the road
both to York and Manchester, for those roads
diverge just beyond the northern end of the town.

The town stands high and " wind-swept," extend
ing along a ridge which commands distant views in
every direction, and it is from this circumstance
that it acquired the prefix of " High." Mr. Thorne,
in his " Environs of London," says it is the belief
of the older natives that " Barnet stands on the
highest ground between London and York." But
this, we fancy, can hardly be the case. The
town is also called Chipping Barnet, from its

320

GREATER LONDON.

[High Barnet.

market, " which Henry II. granted to the abbots
of St. Albans to be kept in this town ; it was
famous for cattle, and was held on every Monday."
Barnet is considered to belong to Hertfordshire,
but not all the town is in that county, nor does
the town lie in a single parish. Middlesex and
Hertfordshire interlace here, and so do the parishes
of South Mimms, Hadley, and High Barnet, to an
extent which makes it difficult to describe the
place with accuracy. There is, in fact, great con
fusion, because there are two Barnets, two miles
apart — East Barnet and Chipping Barnet, or, as it is
commonly called, High Barnet ; and to these must
be added a third, " New " Barnet, which lies between
them both, and is rapidly being covered by modern
streets and villas, of the common suburban type.
Lying as it does, for the most part, between two
lines of railway — the Great Northern main line and
the Finchley and High Barnet branch — this cen
tral district enjoys the advantage of very frequent
communication with London, and therefore is a
favourite abode of City men.
As to the origin of the name, Barnet is thought
by some antiquaries to be probably at root the
same word with Brent, the river which rises in the
valley between ^he town and Totteridge. It is fair
to state that it is here called the " Dollis brook " —
i.e., boundary, from an old Kentish word, dolestone,
a landmark, a word which' also occurs in the
Homilies.* But according to Chauncy's "Anti
quities of Hertfordshire," the name of the town
appears in very early deeds as Bergnet, " from the
high situation thereof; for the word Bergnet in the
Saxon language signifies monticulus, a little hill."
In the far-off Saxon times the whole of this
district, including East Barnet, formed part of an
extensive forest, called Southaw, which belonged
to the abbots of St Albans. The manor continued
in the hands of that monastery long after the Con
quest ; but after the dissolution it was granted by
Queen Mary to Anthony Butler, whose descen
dants, in 1619, sold it to Sir John Weld. It has
since passed through the hands of various families,
and is now, according to Kelly's " Directory of
Hertfordshire," the property of Mr. William Henry
Richardson, of Southampton.
Though High Barnet is now commonly known
as " Barnet," without any prefix, yet it must not be
supposed that it is the original place of that name.
East Barnet, which, as stated above, lies a mile and
a half away, nearer to the borders of Essex, is shown,
by its Norman church, to be the mother, though the
* See Homily for Rogation Week, Fourth Part, " Accursed be he,
saith Almighty God by Moses, who removeth his neighbour's doles and
marks."

daughter has risen into greater note, from its situa
tion on the Great North road which led to York
and Scotland.
We must, however, mention the daughter first,
both because it comes first geographically, and also
on account of the extent to which it is mixed up
with the. adjacent village of Monken Hadley, which
really forms its northern suburb.
The main street of the town is about a mile in
length, broad and well paved, and bears a strong
family likeness to that of Highgate ; the sign-boards
of its numerous inns and hostelries indicate the
importance of the town before the invasion of the
railway, and when upwards of one hundred and
fifty stage-coaches passed through it daily. Of late
years the town has greatly improved, not only in
its general appearance, but also in growth, particu
larly on its western side, about the Common, or,
as it is now called, " Arkley." This suburb of the
town is situated on high ground, and commands
extensive views towards Bedfordshire and Bucking
hamshire on the north, while on the south may be
discerned from it the high grounds of Hampstead,
Highgate, and Muswell Hill. The neighbourhood
is studded with villa residences, a branch railway
giving easy access to the City.
According to the census returns for 1871 the
number of houses in High Barne't was 601, the
inhabitants at the same time numbering 3,375 ;
this latter number, in the course of the next ten
years, had swelled up to 4,283, or about four times
what it was at the beginning of this century.
The market, which was granted to the town by
Henry II., is still held, but on Wednesday instead
of Monday. The horse and cattle fair held yearly,
in September, has made the name of Barnet known
not only throughout the kingdom, but even abroad.
It is held in the fields surrounding the railway-
station at High Barnet, and many thousand head
of cattle from the Highlands change hands here.
Even Cossacks from the neighbourhood of the
Don, in Russia, have been known to attend the
fair, clothed in the costume of their native country.
The horse and cattle fair used formerly to be
wound up with a pleasure fair and races, which
became very popular with London roughs ; but on
the formation of a railway, in 187 1, the racecourse
was broken up, and the races were of necessity
abandoned — an event on which the good people
of Barnet may well be congratulated.
The parish church, which stands in the middle
of the town, at the junction of the north road with
that leading to Elstree and Watford, is dedicated
to St. John the Baptist, and was originally erected
about the middle of the thirteenth century. About

High Barnet.]

THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

321

a century later was built the tower, wholly discon
nected from the body of the fabric. In 1400, John
de la Moote, Abbot of St. Albans, rebuilt the body
of the church, which consisted of a chancel, nave,
and aisles, separated by Pointed arches rising from
clustered columns, with a low embattled tower at
the west end. In the chancel was a fine east
window, with Perpendicular tracery. A vestry
was added to the building in the reign of James
I., by a great benefactor of the town, Thomas
Ravenscroft, to whose memory there is in the
church an altar-tomb, with Pointed arches, sup
ported on Doric pillars, with a recumbent effigy of
the deceased in veined marble. He died in 1620 ;
several others of his family are also buried here.
In 1839 the church was enlarged, and in 1875 it
was thoroughly restored, and further enlarged by
the addition of a nave, chancel, and tower, the
original nave being converted into a north aisle,
while the old north aisle remained beyond it. The
old tower, too, was partly taken down, and added
to the former nave, and a new tower of flint and
stone, in squares, raised at the west end. The
church, as it now stands, consists of chancel, south
transept, with the mortuary chapel of Thomas
Ravenscroft, nave, two north aisles, and tower.
The re-building was carried out under the direction
of Mr. Butterfield, at a cost of about ;£ 16,000,
mainly at the cost of the endowments left by Mr.
Ravenscroft to the Jesus Hospital, of which we
shall speak presently.
The Grammar School is in Wood Street; it
flourishes under the shadow of the parish church.
It consists of one large and lofty hall, which is as
old as the reign of Elizabeth, dating from 1573,
and has much of the Tudor style of architecture,
with a turret at either end. It is now used as a
dining-hall, a new and lofty range of buildings,
from the designs of Mr. White, having been erected
in the rear. The dormitories above the large hall
are almost coeval with the building itself, and the
eastern end once contained rooms, in which more
than one of the masters lived. These being now
removed, the hall now extends to fifty-five feet in
length. The charter for the school (the original of which
is extant) was granted " at the humble request of
our well-beloved cousin and counsellour, Robert,
Earle of Leicester, Knight of the most noble Order
of the Garter, Master of our Horse."
Few records of the past history of the school
exist ; two of its early masters, however, rose to
become bishops in Ireland ; one of its governors,
named Westfield, was Bishop of Bristol in the reign
of Charles I. ; and another, Sir Robert Berkeley, of

East Barnet, suffered imprisonment in the Tower
for having, as a judge, pronounced ship-money to
be lawful. There is much that is inaccurate in the
accounts of the foundation of the school, as given
by Lysons, Clutterbuck, and Chauncy ; and it
seems probable that the fabric owes its erection to a
Mr. E. Underne, Rector of Barnet, aided by funds
from the Corporation of London, and from one
Lonison, or Lannyson, a goldsmith and citizen.
Among the earlier governors occur the names
of Brockett, Briscoe, Coningsby, Weld, Blount,
Berkeley, Lord Coleraine, and other persons of
good families connected by ties of property with
the neighbourhood.
It appears that from time to time the governors
of the school put their hands in their pockets
liberally with subventions towards repairs of the
buildings and other purposes. By the authority of
the Corporation of London collections were made
from time to time in the City churches towards the
erection and repair of the school buildings here.
The statutes compiled for regulating the school
in 1634 ordain that "the master shall be a clergy
man, approved by the Bishop of London, and that
the scholars be male children, free from infectious
disease ; that the children of residents in the parish
of Barnet shall pay twenty shillings a year, and no
more, but that for others a charge may be made,
as the parents and the master may agree. The
boys are to be catechised on Saturdays, and to
attend the parish church on Sundays, and that the
daily work of the school be opened and closed
with prayers. The employment of the senior boys
as Monitors, or ' Prsepositi,' is approved ; and
every scholar shall be taught the ' Qui mihi
discipulus ' in Lilly's Grammar. There are to be
weekly ' Orations' and exercises in prose and verse ;
the Latin alone shall be spoken in the highest
forms, and immoderate correction shall not be
used." A further curious statute provides that if
the Governors of Merchant Taylors' School, in
London, shall choose to send any boy for health's
sake to Barnet, he shall be " readily entertained "
there ; and that if any of the wardens, governors, or
masters of Merchant Taylors' School " be pleased
to looke into this schoole," the master is to provide
a " gratulatorie oration in Latin or English, to be
publicly delivered by one of his schollers for their
entertainment and welcome.''
The school contains over a hundred boys, and
the course of studies is modern and practical rather
than strictly classical, in the ancient sense of the
term. Its pupils some twenty years ago had
dwindled down to the most insignificant number ;
but a "new scheme " was proposed, and warmly

322

GREATER LONDON.

[High Barnet.

seconded by the inhabitants, and in the end the
new school was opened in 1875.
According to the new scheme, under the En
dowed Schools Act of 1869, the Jesus Hospital
was ordered to pay ,£5,000, and also a yearly sum
of £400, towards the advancement of education in
the school. The governing body was ordained to
consist of twelve persons, mostly of local standing,
three of whom were to be nominated by the Visitors
of the hospital. These governors manage the
financial affairs of the school, but wisely judge it
the best course to leave the internal arrangements
to the head-master whom they appointed, the Rev.
J. R. Lee, of Exeter College, Oxford, formerly
second master of the Grammar School at Bedford.
That this school, prior to the above mentioned
date, had sunk to a very low ebb, may be inferred
from the manner in which, under a thin guise, it
was once referred to in a popular periodical.
In Household Words, No. 86, November 15, 1851,
is given, under the title of "AFree(and easy)School,"
an account of Queen Elizabeth's " Royal Grammar
School at Thistledown," under Dr. Laon Blosse,
head-master, who, besides superintending the edu
cation of seven foundation or free boys, seeks
private pupils of his own, who are to qualify them
selves for admission by bringing with them silver
forks and spoons. Under scarcely-veiled aliases,
the writer describes the approach to " Thistledown "
from the railway-station, the general grouping and
arrangement of the little town, and the ivy-grown
school-room, with its dull, heavy entrance-court,
and its flanking round, or rather angular, turrets at
either extremity. The writer is, of course, none
other than Charles Dickens himself. In no indis
tinct phrases he informs his readers that the
pretence of carrying out the original purposes of
the foundation is simply a delusion and a snare,
though he confesses to being somewhat affected at
the notion of standing in a " school-room built in
the old days of Queen Elizabeth, not at all large,
but tolerably lofty."
Little is known of its schoolmasters during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. " It is to be
regretted," writes Mr. Cass, " that that gossiping
Samuel Pepys, on that cold August Sunday morning
when he visited the Physicke Well, did not look in
at the school on his way to or from it ; and that
Elias Ashmole never strolled thither by Enfield
Chase and Hadley, or across the meadows between
Mount Pleasant and the top of Barnet Hill, nor
make a halt there when journeying to visit his
friends Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, at Delrow, near
Vv'atford." The old "Crown" Inn, adjoining the school-house,

was purchased quite recently from the governors of
Harrow School, its site and the yard in the rear
being added to the school grounds. The inn was
a picturesque structure, with overhanging gables.
It was at this house, in all probability, that the Lady
Arabella Stuart stopped in making her escape from
East Barnet to join her husband.*
Almost every town has its local hero or benefactor,
and Barnet forms no exception to the rule. James
Ravenscroft, a worthy citizen of High Holborn, Lon
don, who died in i68o,leftalarge property in Stepney
in order to found a hospital, called Jesus Hospital,
for " six poore antient women " in Wood Street,
in this town. The recipients of this charity are to
be "neither common beggars, common drunkards,
backbiters, tale-bearers, common scolds, thieves, or
other like persons of infamous life or evil name or
repute ; or vehemently suspected of sorcery, witch
craft, or charming ; or guilty of perjury ; nor any
idiot or lunatic." The founder lies buried in the
church of High Barnet, where, as already stated,
a fine Jacobean tomb, with recumbent figures of
himself and his wife, commemorates his good deeds.
He also left money to support the Grammar School,
which dates from just a century earlier, having been
established by Queen Elizabeth in 1573. The
funds left by Master Ravenscroft for the benefit of
the above hospital were augmented by a bequest in
1737, of Miss Mary Barcock, a daughter of a former
master of the Grammar School.
The endowments left by James Ravenscroft hav
ing largely increased, through the increased value of
land at Stepney, have been utilised in various ways
at Barnet. Amongst other objects the parish church
has come in for a share, having been doubled in
size, as stated above, out of the superfluous wealth
of Jesus Hospital.
Barnet is tolerably well off for charitable institu
tions. Besides the above-mentioned almshouses,
there are others in Wood Street, founded by John
Garrett, in 1729, for six old spinsters or widows,
each of whom receives a small dole of money
weekly. Palmer's Almshouses (for men and
women), beyond the new public gardens, which
were part of Barnet Common, all now enclosed,
were founded in 1823, from the proceeds of a
bequest in 1558 by one Eleanor Palmer, a widow,
of Kentish Town, London, for the support of six
aged married couples, who receive eight shillings
weekly. The Leathersellers' Almshouse, at the
junction of Union Street and Wood Street, was
erected in the year 1843 by Mr. Richard Thornton,
for six poor freemen of the Leathersellers' Company, ,
• See ' Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 404.

High Barnet.)

THE "PHYSIC WELL."

323

and for six freemen's widows. The buildings, of
Gothic architecture, are of white brick, and were
enlarged in 1865 by the addition of eight new
houses. Barnet is under the control of a Local Govern
ment Board, which has been established with a
district comprising Chipping Barnet and part of
the parishes of Hadley and South Mimms. The
Town Hall, which is situate in Union Street, is a
brick building, of little or no architectural pre
tensions ; and in the neighbourhood of the town
are barracks for a detachment of the King's Rifle
Corps. There are chapels and meeting-houses in the town
forthe various denominations of dissenters, and there
is also a Roman Catholic chapel in Union Street,
dedicated to Saints Mary the Immaculate and
Gregory the Great.
A large open space of land adjoining the west
end of the town was utilised in 1880-81 by being
drained, planted, and laid out as a recreation ground.
It is surrounded by pleasant villas, and the district
has taken the name of Ravenscroft Park, after the
local worthy already named.
Beyond the spot which was till lately known as
Barnet Common, in a field a mile and a half from
the town, on the south of the road, to Elstree, is a
chalybeate spring of a mild purgative nature, that
was discovered about the middle of the seventeenth
century, and was formerly in much repute. It is
mentioned and extolled in " The Perfect Diurnal"
in 1652. In the year 1667 Alderman John Owen, a
" citizen and fishmonger " of London left the sum
of £1 yearly for keeping the "Physic Well" in
repair. It would be surprising to find no mention
of it in the diary of the gossiping Samuel Pepys.
That worthy paid a visit to the spot in 1667, which
is duly recorded under the date of Sunday, August
11, in that year: —
" To the wells at Barnett by seven o'clock, and
there found many people a-drinking ; but the morn
ing was very cold, so we were very cold all the way
in the coach. And so to Hatfield, to the inn next
my Lord Salisbury's house, and there rested our
selves and drank, and bespoke dinner ; and so to
church." A Dr. Trinder published, in 18 12, a small
treatise on the medical virtues of this water. But
he could not revive or preserve its fame ; yet it
still exists, for a pound is paid annually for its
preservation out of the funds of the Grammar
School. It is, however, quite unused, and is a
mere survival of past memories. Indeed, the far
mer on whose ground it stands, if the truth must
be told, does not appreciate the pump, and has

painted it green, so as not to attract the notice of
passers-by. The waters of Barnet and Northaw were not
very powerful, but they were extremely popular in
the reign of Charles II. The Northaw spring was
in a bottom, half a mile east of the village. Fuller
mentions these waters along with those of Epsom
and Tunbridge. Dr.- Wittie, in his account of
Scarborough Spa in 1669, favours us with these
doggrel lines : — -
"Let Epsom, Tunbridge, Barnet, Knaresborough, be
In what request they will, Scarborough for me."
" The old well-house," observes Mr; Thome, in
his " Environs," " was pulled down, and a small
farmhouse erected on the foundations in 1840.
The well is now covered over, and the water is
obtained from it by a small iron pump. To reach
it, you go along Wood Street (by Barnet Church)
for a quarter of a mile, and down the lane on the
left, in front of the Union Workhouse, to where the
lane is crossed by a light iron gate. Here turn
through a small clap-gate on the left into a field-
path, which presently passes through a gap in the
hedge, on the right, into a field, in the midst of
which the pump will be seen, and above it the
well house. The well is quite open to every one,
and is still occasionally resorted to by invalids.
The visitor who is disposed to test the efficacy of
the water will remember Pepys' experience."
Barnet is not without its literary and historic
associations. The great conflict between the rival
houses of York and Lancaster, commonly known
as the " Battle of Barnet," took place really in the
parish of Monken Hadley, on the outskirts of the
town, as we shall presently see.
At Barnet William Hailes was put to death for
heresy, under Queen Mary, in 1555. Here, too,
James Thomson lived as tutor to Lord Binning's
son, before he became celebrated as the author of
" The Seasons ; " and here, too — if we may be
allowed to pass from fact to fiction — Tom Jones
was met by the assumed highwayman on his way
from St. Albans to London.*
Though the town of Barnet has no " makings "
and breweries, like Hertford and Ware, yet it
is extremely rich in inns, the survivals of old
posting-houses of repute in the olden days, when
150 coaches passed through it, either on the up or
down journey, and, for the most part, changed
horses there. The inns themselves, as is the case
still in some other country towns, were patronised
exclusively by the "Whig" and the "Tory"
magnates ; and many persons now living can re-
• See "Old and New London," Vol. II., p. 550.

324

GREATER LONDON.

[High Barnet,

member the day when old and chivalrous ladies
refused to change horses when travelling post at
any inn that did not bear the colours of their
family. The " Green Man," at the junction of
the great high road and the new road to St.
Albans, formed. the head-quarters of the Liberals,

"Woolpack," and the " Salisbury "—the latter
named, doubtless, after the Cecil family. The in
terior of it still bears marks of antiquity ; and so
did its inn7yard till recently. It is now the head
quarters of the neighbouring bicyclists.
There are in Barnet scarcely any side or back

VIEWS IN BARNET.
THE SCHOOLS. THE " KED LION " INN.

while the Tories patronised exclusively the " Red
Lion" — possibly as symbolising the British Con
stitution. Probably the reason why political dif
ferences were thus emphasised at Barnet is to be
found in the fact that it was half-way to Hatfield,
the seat of the Tory Cecils, and that the head of
the Whig house of Byng, the lord of Wrotham,
lived just outside the town.
Among the chief inns whose sign-boards still
hang along the street are the " Red Lion," the

streets, and hence the town is .remarkably free
from " slums." Indeed, it has altogether a thriv
ing and " respectable " appearance — in this respect
a pleasing contrast to Staines, Uxbridge, Houns
low, and Brentford.
On the outskirts of the town, in the year 1471,
was fought the famous battle between the rival
houses of York and Lancaster, which terminated in
the death of the Earl of Warwick, and established
Edward IV. upon the throne.

Barnet.'

THE BATTLE OF BARNET.

325

The facts of the battle of Barnet, and those
which led to it, are to be read in every history
of England, and, with some embellishments, in
the concluding chapter of Sir Edward Bulwer
Lytton's work, the " Last of the Barons." It would
be impossible to enter as fully into the latter sub
ject as it deserves without almost writing a fresh
history of the Wars of the Roses. It is enough
here to refer the reader to other sources of informa
tion, and to say that in the early part of the year
1471 (the same year, by the way, in which William
Caxton set up his printing-press at Bruges), Edward
of York landed from the Continent on the shores of

forming an irregular triangle, of which one side
" impinges '' on the village of Monken Hadley. Sir
John Paston, who fought on that day on the
Lancastrian side, fixes the scene of the battle
precisely, in a letter written to his mother from
London, only a few days after. He states it to
have been about half a mile from Barnet ; and this
agrees with the words of one Edward Halle, judge
in the Sheriff's Court, who probably conversed
in his lifetime with several who were present : —
" This toune (Barnet) standeth on a hill, on whose
toppe is a faire plain for two armies to joyne
together ; " and on one part of this plain Warwick

HADLEY GREEN (SITE OF THE BATTLE OF BARNET).

Yorkshire, to encounter the deadly opposition of
his former ally, Warwick, the " King Maker," who
had now thrown in his lot with Henry of Lancaster
and Margaret of Anjou. Edward rapidly advanced
on London, and entered it in state, having the
weak Henry VI. a prisoner in his hands. Warwick
and his comrade Montagu hastened from their head
quarters at Coventry towards London to oppose
him ; but on reaching St. Albans they found that
Edward had come out from London to Barnet,
about half-way, in order to give them battle. The
contest could not be declined ; and it is clear that
each party knew that on the issue of the battle
depended the entire future of the throne and the
kingdom. The heath, to the north of the town, formerly
called Gladsmore Common, is the spot which has
been fixed upon by most historians as the scene
of the encounter. It is still an open space,
28

"pitched his fielde." Stow, the annalist, also fixes
the spot as distant half a mile from Barnet ; and
the present Hadley Green, with the level ground
adjoining it, exactly answers the description.
A very slight glance at the spot will satisfy the
most ordinary observer that the spot was well
chosen for the purposes of war. "A modern
commander similarly circumstanced," writes the
Rev. F. C. Cass, in his paper on the " Battle of
Barnet," in the " Transactions of the London and
Middlesex Archaeological Society," " would doubt
less have occupied the town in force, entrenching
himself along the high ground sloping towards the
south-east, between the top of Barnet Hill and
Hadley Church, and have placed his reserves
somewhere to the west, on Barnet Common, to
secure his right flank from being turned. With his
artillery he would have swept the ascent of Barnet
Hill, and would have taken care to line the edge of

3=6

GREATER LONDON.

[Barnet.

Hadley Wood with riflemen." And he shows in
detail how Warwick, on reaching Hadley Green, or
Gladsmore Heath, being first in the field, and
having the choice of ground, could hardly have
made a different selection, at a time when a toler
ably level space was necessary for the movements
of heavy-armed horsemen, and horses almost as
heavily armed themselves.
On the eve of the battle, which took place on
Easter Day, in April, 147 1, the king and his troops
held the northern suburbs of the town, being quar
tered along the great northern road ; while War
wick came up with his forces along the road from
St. Albans. On the common they met face to
face, the right wing of Lord Warwick being op
posed to the king's left.
" In the profound darkness of the night and the
thick fog," writes Bulwer Lytton, in the " Last of
the Barons," " Edward had stationed his men at a
venture on the heath at Gladsmoor, and hastily
environed the camp with palisades and trenches.
He had intended to have rested immediately in
front of the foe, but in the darkness he mistook
the extent of the hostile line, and his men were
ranged opposite only to the left side of the earl's
forces — towards Hadley — leaving the right un
opposed. Most fortunate for Edward was this
mistake, for Warwick's artillery, and the new and
deadly bombards that he had constructed, were
placed on the right of King Edward's army ; and
the provident earl, naturally supposing Edward's
left was there opposed to him, ordered his gunners
to cannonade all night Edward, as the flashes of
the guns illumined by fits the gloom of midnight,
saw the advantage of his unintentional error ; and
to prevent Warwick from discovering it, reiterated
his orders for the most profound silence. Thus
even his very blunders favoured Edward more
than the wisest precautions had served his fated
foe." If we may trust the graphic sketch drawn by the
novelist's master-hand, the early morning of Easter
Day was raw, cold, and dismal ; but the signal for
battle was given, and the deadly encounter began.
On that battle of Barnet, though the numbers
engaged in it were small according to modern
ideas, depended the ruin or triumph of a dynasty,
the fall of a warlike baronage, and the rise of a
crafty, plotting, imperious despotism, which ulti
mately developed into the stern and vigorous rule
of the house of Tudor. "The stake was high,
the die was cast— the king won, and the Earl of
Warwick lost. He proved the last of those power.
ful barons who, under the Plantagenets, had held
royalty in check. The battle of Barnet secured the

crown of England to the House of York, and sent
King Henry back a prisoner to the Tower."
Lytton describes in detail, doubtless with some
little exaggeration, the chief incidents of that hard-
fought field, and the doughty deeds of the leaders
of either army ; but we may accept as true the
particulars of the death of Warwick, who, even
when he saw that all was lost, refused to fly and
save his life. He was hewn down by the battle-
axe of one of Edward's officers, and his body,
having been placed in a hearse, was carried to
London, to be exposed to the gaze of the public in
St. Paul's, whence, a few days later, it was carried
to its final resting-place in Bisham Abbey, near
Marlow. During the battle, if we may believe Lord
Lytton, who follows in this respect the annalists,
King Edward was kept in countenance by a
sorcerer, one Friar Bungay, who took up his po
sition a little to the east of the battle, near the
spot where Monken Hadley Church now stands,
the captive King Henry also standing by as a sort
of hostage.
As for the "blood-stained" field of Barnet,
various estimates are given of the numbers which
fell that day; some writers fix them as low as
1,500, whilst others say that 20,000 were slain. Let
us hope that the former figures are nearer the
truth. Although the accounts of the numbers engaged
in the battle vary very much, and cannot be
reconciled, yet as to the details of the engagement
there is no doubt. The first shots fired in the
early dawn of that Easter Sunday were fired at
random, owing to the dense fog which covered the
hills, and concealed the foes from each other ; but
as the morning waxed on to noon, the sun broke
forth, and the combatants found themselves face
to face. The king and the earl respectively rode
along their ranks, each encouraging his followers.
One wing of Edward's army was being driven
back, when a mistake between the two rival
congnizances of the star with five points and the
sun with rays threw the hosts of Lord Warwick
into confusion, of which Edward was not slow to
take advantage, calling into action a reserved force,
whilst Warwick's men were too exhausted to
answer their leader's call. " The day," writes Mr.
Cass, "was visibly lost, and nothing remained
but for Warwick to sell his life dearly. By ten
o'clock,or at noon according to some writers, vic
tory rested with the Yorkists, and Warwick and
Montagu were slain."
The Dukes of Somerset and Exeter and the
Earl of Oxford escaped with their lives from the

Hadley.]

HADLEY GREEN.

327

field, but only to die elsewhere. The common sol
diers who fell in the engagement were buried on
the field, but the exact spot of their interment is
not known. The conqueror rode back to London
immediately — the captive King Henry following in
his train — and presented himself next day at St.
Paul's to offer up his standard, and to return
thanks to the God of battles.
As a proof that the battle of Barnet was of
great practical importance in its results, it is re
ported that no subsequent Lancastrian rising
troubled the reign of King Edward.
There is still on the edge of the common an
old moated farm-house, or grange, which some of
Lord Warwick's men are said to have occupied on
the eve of the battle.
The place where Warwick made his last stand is
marked by an obelisk, erected in the last century,
and bearing a brief record of the fact and of the
date of the battle. The exact spot where he fell
is said by tradition to be marked by two trees

planted in the place of others which perished from
age, about twenty yards north of the obelisk.
The obelisk on the field was erected in 1740 by
Sir J. Sambrooke, of Gobions, an estate in North
Mimms, more anciently called More Hall, the pro
perty of Sir Thomas More.
" Barnet," writes Mr. Cass, " has greatly changed
from the little town through which Edward passed
on his way to a battle on which his throne de
pended ; but still, behind the plastered or brick-
faced fronts of the buildings lining its modern
street are perhaps hidden the timbers of dwellings
from whose windows men and women and, little
children looked out upon the victor, as, early
on that Easter afternoon, he rode past with Henry
in his train." Is it not a satire on Christianity
itself that, whilst the service of song and praise
was being offered in the church which stood by the
battle-field, Christians should have been spend
ing their Sunday in cutting each other's throats
and cleaving each other's skulls with battle-axes ?

CHAPTER XXXIII.
HADLEY, EAST BARNET, AND TOTTERIDGE.
Etymology of Monken Hadley — Descent of the Manor — Hadley Green — The Village and Common — Hadley Wood — Gladsmore Heath, or Monken
Mead — Dead Man's Bottom — Hadley Church — Two Historic Trees — Almshouses — Noted Residents — Population — East Barnet — Lyons-
down— Census Returns— The Parish Church— The Boys' Farni Home— The Clock House— Cat's Hill— Oak Hill Park— Belmont—
Totteridge — Its Etymology — Descent of the Manor — Census Returns — Condition of the Roads — The Church— Yew-trees in Churchyard
—The Priory— Pointer's Grove — Copped Hall— Totteridge Park — Wykeham Rise.

Monken Hadley — or Hadley, as it is colloquially
styled^ — as stated in the preceding chapter, adjoins
on the north the town of High Barnet, of which it
forms almost a suburb. The parish, which was
formerly a part of Enfield Chase and a hamlet to
Edmonton, is bounded on the north-east by the
parish of Enfield, and comprises in its area nearly
600 acres, of which about 240 were allotted in
lieu of its right of common, on the enclosure of
the royal chase above mentioned. According to
Lysons and other topographers, the village owes
its name to its elevated situation, being " com
pounded of the Saxon words Head-leagh, signifying
a high place. The " ley " in its designation, how
ever, would seem to imply a meadow, or clear
open space in the forest land, as in the case of
Cowley, already referred to.* The adjunct Monken
occurs in many ancient documents, and is adopted
in the description of this parish in the Act for
enclosing Enfield Chase ; and it is probable that it
See ante, p. 226

was derived from the former connection of the
place with the Abbey of Walden, to which it was
given by Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex,
about the middle of the twelfth century, under the
name of the " Hermitage of Hadley."
Hadley is not mentioned in the Domesday
survey ; but it appears at a very early period to
have belonged to the Mandevilles, from whom it
was alienated, as above stated, to the monks of
Walden, the abbey of which place was founded
by Geoffrey de Mandeville. After the dissolution
of monasteries, the manor was granted to Thomas
Lord Audley, who shortly afterwards surrendered
it to the Crown. In 1557 it was granted by Queen
Mary to Sir Thomas Pope. A few years later it
was alienated to the Kymptons, but was soon after
sold to the family of Hayes, in whose hands it
remained for about a century. Towards the end
of the last century it was purchased by Mr. Peter
Moore, who rendered himself unpopular a few
years later by asserting a right to enclose Hadley
Green, including the whole of the waste, without

328

GREATER LONDON.

[Hadley.

the consent of the parishioners. This assumed
right he defended in a court of law, but failed in
his endeavour, as Sir Thomas Wilson failed at
Hampstead,* and the immemorial privileges of
the parish were fully established on appeal.
The village is situated on the east side of the
Great North road, on the margin of Hadley
Green, and round about the common — a broad
open space which stretches away eastward from
the church. The common, with its ponds and
trees, much resembles Clapham Common, and is
how said to be the only unenclosed portion of the
ancient Chase of Enfield. It is a picturesque
piece of undulating upland, sloping away rapidly
towards the east, where it abuts upon Beech Hill
Park. The lower or easternmost part of the com
mon, where it is crossed by the railway, is generally
called by the natives Hadley Wood ; it is one of
the most beautiful pieces of woodland scenery to
be found within many miles of the metropolis.
This narrow strip of forest scenery runs eastward
as far as the hamlet of Cock Fosters.
The high ground towards the west and north
west of the common was sometimes called of old
Gladsmore Heath, but more often styled Monkey
(or Monken) Mead, and is the spot now generally
accepted by antiquarians, as shown in the pre
ceding chapter, as that whereon was decided the
great Battle of Barnet. The obelisk which has
been set up to commemorate that event stands at
the upper end of Hadley Green, in the fork of the
two roads leading respectively to Hatfield and
St. Albans. It bears the following inscription : —
"Here was fought the famous battle between
Edward IV. and the Earl of Warwick, April 14th,
147 1, in which the Earl was defeated and slain."
The low ground adjoining Monken Mead is
named on the early maps " Dead Man's Bottom,"
either from having been the chief scene of
slaughter at the battle of Barnet, or else for
being the burial-place of the slain.
Hadley Church, dedicated to St. Mary, stands
on the very edge of the battle-field of Barnet. But
it is not old enough to have witnessed that en
gagement, having been built in the year 1494. It
stands not very far from the mound on which Lord
Lytton, in his "Last of the Barons," represents
Friar Bungay as carrying on those solemn incan
tations which were destined to clear away the fog
and mist and to give the victory to the House of
York; Close by it there is to the present day a
gate across the road, marking the fringe of the
Chase, and giving entrance to that royal demesne.

* See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 452.

We shall have more to say about it presently.
The church is a cruciform building in the Per
pendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave,
aisles, transepts, and an ivy-covered tower at the
west end. This church is finer than most parish
churches, and bears a strong resemblance in its
general features to those of High Barnet and South
Mimms. The church is constructed of black flint
and Bath stone disposed in alternate squares.
On the top of a turret at the south-west angle of
the tower is affixed an iron " cresset " fire-pan or
pitch-pot, an almost unique survival of other days.
It is supposed to have been placed there as a guide
to wayfarers through the neighbouring forest. Mr.
Bloxam tells us in his work on " Gothic Archi
tecture," that it was used and fired so late as the
year 1745 — probably at the time of the alarm
caused near London by the Stuart rising in the
North. It was also again used more recently at
the marriage of the Prince of Wales.
The church was restored, and in part rebuilt,
under the rectorship of Dr. Proctor, between the
years 1848 and 1850, by Mr. G. E. Street, and the
south aisle was added as a memorial of the late
rector, Mr. Thackeray. Several new windows
were inserted at the time of the above-mentioned
restoration. Most of the windows are filled with
painted glass ; the nave, of four bays, opens into
the tower, and it is separated from the aisles by
depressed arches resting on octagonal columns.
Over the west doorway of the tower is the date
1494, having on one side the device of a wing
and on the other that of a rose. Lysons, in his
" Environs of London," says that they are probably
" the cognizance either of the abbey, or one of the
Abbots of Walden." Mr. Brewer, in the "Beauties
of England," observes that the same devices occur
in Enfield Church, which likewise belonged to the
abbey founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville. " It
is certain that these emblems," he adds, " had no
reference to the arms of Walden Abbey ; but they
were possibly meant as the cognizance of the
abbot at that time, whose name was John Sabys-
worth, or Sabrisfort" The south porch was erected
in memory of Dr. Proctor's son, the Rev. G. H.
Proctor, of Balliol College, Oxford, who died be
fore Sebastopol, where he was serving as an army
chaplain. Dr. Proctor was a brother-in-law of Mr.
John Payne Collier, the learned dramatic author ;
and he was said to have been the original of the " Dr.
Blimber " of Charles Dickens, in " Bleak House."
There are several monuments of the seventeenth
century, the most remarkable being that in memory
of Sir Roger Wilbraham, solicitor-general of Ire
land in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and his lady,

Hadley.]

TWO PIISTORIC TREES.

329

with marble busts of each by Nicholas Stone ; and
there is a mural brass of the fifteenth century.
Among the fragments of ancient painted glass
in the church, is a piece containing the rebus of
the family of Goodere, who occupied an important
position in this parish and neighbourhood in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It consists of a
partridge, with an ear of wheat in its bill, and
having on an attached scroll the word " goode " in
black letter. On the capital of one of the pillars
are two partridges with ears of corn in their beak,
an evident reproduction of the above punning
device. The Gooderes are thought to have been
considerable benefactors towards the rebuilding of
the church. Weever, in his " Funeral Monu
ments," mentions a mutilated inscription to the
memory of "John Goodyere, esquyre, and Jone,
his wyff," with the date of 1504. This is no longer
visible ; but a brass still commemorates Anne
Walheden, " descended of the Goodere's auncyent
race," who was buried in 1575.
In the churchyard, to the east of the chancel,
lies under a plain flat slab Mrs. Hester Chapone,
the once popular authoress of " Letters on the
Improvement of the Mind," addressed to young
ladies, and which had a great run in the last cen
tury. She died in the year 1 80 1. Her maiden name
was Mulso ; and among her friends were Mrs.
Elizabeth Carter, Mrs. Montagu, and Dr. Johnson,
who valued her highly, and condescended even to
argue with her. In early life she was a frequent
guest at the house ^of Richardson. Here also are
buried Dr. Joh
brity as a phi
the end of t|<
late rector, wl
Nearly ojjpoU
that leads td the
beaten trunk of ar
its bark, which is
his "Last of the
closing events of t!
"gaunt and leafless

nro, who acquired some cele-
nd writer on insanity, at
iry, and Dr. Proctor, the
,882. hurch, close by the gate
1, still stands the weather-
oaPgygjJH ago divested of
?iofd Lytton in
W describing the
le rj^^bf Barnet, as the
tree " whereon the wizard
Friar Bungay, mentioned above, hangs his hated
rival, Adam Warner, whilst at its foot lay the life
less form of his daughter Sibyll, " and the shattered
fragments of the mechanical ' eureka ' on which he
had spent the labours of his life." The old trunk
was upset a few years ago by some drunken
volunteers, but it has been replaced in position, and
railed in.
Not far distant is another tree which has become
historic, called " Latimer's Elm," from a local tra
dition that Latimer once preached beneath its
branches.

Near the church are the Priory, a modern Gothic
edifice, with pleasant grounds and gardens, and
also two rows of almshouses : the one was founded
by Sir Roger Wilbraham, in 16 16, for six "decayed
housekeepers," each of whom receive a sum of ^18
per annum ; the other, founded by Sir Justinian
Paget, in the seventeenth century, for three poor
men and a like number of women, was rebuilt
about fifty years ago.
The mansions facing the east side of Hadley
Common have had some celebrated tenants in
their day. Mrs. Trollope, the novelist, lived in
the house nearest to the Wilbraham Almshouses ;
and it may be remembered that Anthony Trollope,
in his novel, " The Bertrams," alludes to his sister
being buried in the adjoining churchyard. The
house at the southern end of the same row —
called the Grange — was formerly occupied by the
grandfather of William Makepeace Thackeray, of
the same name, at the beginning of the present
century. At The Mount House, on the north-west
side of the common, lived for many years Profes
sor Joseph Henry Green, F.R.S., the author of
"Spiritual Philosophy, founded on the teachings
of the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge." Professor
Green' died in 1863, about thirty years after the
friend whose philosophy he had done so much to
interpret and popularise.
In Fuller's " Worthies ;' it is stated that Sir
William Starmford, or Stamford, an eminent lawyer
of the sixteenth century, was a native of this place.
He was the author of a legal work, entitled " The
Pleas of the Crown," and is said by Fuller to have
been born in 1509, and to have been buried at
Hadley in 1558. Hadley was also the birthplace
of Sir Robert Atkyns, the learned author of the
" History of Gloucestershire." He was born in the
year 1647, being a son of Sir Robert Atkyns, Lord
Chief Baron of the Exchequer, who was himself
the author of several political pamphlets.
In 187 1 the number of houses in the parish of
Hadley amounted to 200, the population at the
same time numbering 978. In consequence of the
increased railway facilities' of late years, for com
munication with the metropolis, the number of the
inhabitants has since increased to nearly 1,200.
East Barnet, whither we now direct our steps,
lies in a pretty valley about a mile east of the great
high road to the north, and some mile and a half
south-eastward from Hadley. The parish is bounded
on the east by Enfield, on the south by Friern
Barnet and Southgate, and on the west by High
Barnet and Elstree. The rural aspect of the
neighbourhood has been somewhat curtailed since
the formation of the Great Northern Railway, and

330

GREATER LONDON.

JEast Barnet.

the consequent growth of a town. This, however,
is the mother or cradle of the other parishes bearing
the name of Barnet, and it is called East Barnet
to distinguish it from High (or Chipping) Barnet,
and Friern Barnet immediately adjoining. Within
the last few years, even, another ecclesiastical
district, generally called New Barnet, but legally
known as " Lyonsdown," has sprung up, having
been formed out of the parishes of Chipping
Barnet and East Barnet. A church of Gothic

been erected by an abbot of St. Albans as far
back as early in the twelfth century. North Wall,
with its small round-headed deep-splayed windows,
still remains in its original state. The fabric
seems to have remained in its tiny dimensions for
centuries; for it was not till the middle of the
seventeenth century that the chancel was built, the
cost of its erection being defrayed by Sir Robert
Bartlet, who was probably a native of the parish.
The tower is modern, and poor in the extreme ;

design, in the Decorated style, was built in 1865.
It is constructed of coloured bricks, and has an
apsidal chancel. In 187 1 the number of houses in
East Barnet (including the district of Lyonsdown)
was 531, the inhabitants being nearly 3,000. Ac
cording to the census returns for 1881 the popu
lation has now reached nearly 4,000.
The manor of East Barnet has been part and
parcel of that of Chipping Barnet since the time
of the Conquest.
The church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, is
the original and mother church of the district, and
it is partly Norman. It consists of a nave, chancel,
south aisle, with a brick-built tower at the west end.
The nave is the oldest part of the building, having

the south aisle, which is fb> structed of Kentish
ragstone, with Bath stone di :ssings, was added as
recently as 1868, at which time the interior of the
church was thoroughly restored and refitted.
In the churchyard is the tomb of General
Augustus Prevost, a native of Geneva, who died
in 1786. He served with distinction in the British
army, taking part, in 1779, in the gallant defence
of Savannah "against the combined armies of
France and America, supported by a powerful
fleet." In the corner of the churchyard is a
tall Gothic structure, almost like a market cross,
erected to the memory of Sir Simon Clarke, who
lived at Oak Hill Park, in the parish.
Dr. Richard Bundy, a Prebendary of West-

East Barnet.]

CAT'S HILL.

331

minster, the author of a voluminous Roman history,
and of the "Apparatus Biblicus," was rector of
this parish in the early part of the last century ; his
predecessor was Gilbert Burnet, son of the cele
brated Dr. Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury.
At Church Farm, near the church, is the " Boys'
Farm Home," a branch of the " Boys' Home " in
the Regent's Park Road, near Chalk Farm.*
It lodges, boards, and trains for agricultural and
industrial pursuits, above eighty poor orphan boys,
''not convicted of crime."

the north end of the old village street, and opposite
the parish fountain — now a pump — was formerly an
inn : it has been said that Lord Macaulay's father
lived here ; there is, however, no foundation for
the statement.
Cat's Hill is the name given to the steep ascent
leading from East Barnet up to Southgate, and is
so called from the " Cat " inn which stands by the
roadside at its foot. " The Cat," pur et simple, is
not a very common sign; though Larwood men
tions one at Egremont in Cumberland yet he omits

LORD LYTTON. (See page 334.)
The grounds cover nearly fifty acres, and the
farm is cultivated by the boys, who are admitted
between the ages of six and sixteen years. The
institution, with its dining-hall, carpenters' shops,
&c, which is mainly supported by voluntary con
tributions, is well worth a visit.
The Clock House, at the foot of Cat's Hill, at
* See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 296.

"the Cat" here. The sign is common enough,
however, with an adjective, as the " Black Cat " at
Lancaster, the " Red Cat " at Birkenhead and at
the Hague ; and still more common in connection.
with some ludicrous appendage, such as the " Cat
and Cage," the "Cat and Lion," the "Cat and
Parrot," and the " Cat in the Basket." The last
named was a favourite sign on the booths when the
Thames was frozen over in 1739-40. " The sign,"
writes Mr. Larwood, " was *a living one — a basket
hanging outside the booth with a cat in it." In the
illustrated " Pennant " in the British Museum is a
print representing the Thames at Rotherhithe in
the great frost of 1789 : there is a booth with a
merry company inside, while the sign over the
door, inscribed " The Original Cat in the Cage,"
represents poor Tabby in a basket. " The sign,"
writes Mr. Larwood, "doubtless originates from the
cruel game, once practised by our ancestors, of
shooting at a cat in a basket." It is possible, and
even probable, that East Barnet was one of the

332

GREATER LONDON.

[Totteridge.

places where this cruel " sport " was practised by
the roughs of North London when out on a
holiday. There are a few good mansions and seats in the
neighbourhood. Among them may be mentioned
Oak Hill Park, the seat of Mr. Young, and
formerly the residence of Sir Simon Clarke. The
house occupies an elevated site in the midst of an
extensive park, on the east side of the village.
Another mansion, near to Oakleigh Park Station,
called Belmont, but formerly known as Mount
Pleasant, was at one time the home of Elias Ash-
mole, the founder of the Ashmolean Museum at
Oxford. Totteridge lies to the south-west of East Barnet,
on the western side of the Great North road. It
is really a "spur" of the long ridge of which
Mill Hill forms the central and southern part;
and it occupies the extreme south-eastern angle
of Hertfordshire, between Highwood Hill and
Whetstone, in Middlesex. As to its etymology,
it is supposed to have been derived from its
situation on the ridge of a hill. The first syl
lable of the name is derived probably from the
Anglo-Saxon word " Tot," or " Toot," a beacon-
hill, or from the Welsh word " Twt," a sloping or
rising ; and it may have been given to it — as in
the case of Tot-hill, Westminster* — from a beacon
placed here, as the highest spot in this district.
Taylor, however, in his "Words and Places,"
thinks such places as Tot Hill and the like " may
possibly have been seats of Celtic worship, the
names coming from the Celtic deity, Tailh, the
Teutates of Lucan." The antiquary, Mr. Wyke-
ham Archer, too, derives the name from Teut, the
chief divinity of the Druids, and the equivalent
of Thoth, the Egyptian Mercury, adding that the
"Tot," "Teut," "Tut," or " Thoth "—often, by
the way, styled "Tuttle" or "Tut-hill" was the
spot on which solemn proclamations were made to
the people. "Tot" or "Toot," also, in one of
its varied forms, is not an uncommon prefix to the
names of other places in different parts of England
— as Tolnes, Totham, Tooting, 7Menham, Tut-
bury, &c. ; and, it may be added that all these
places are considerably elevated, in comparison
with the surrounding parts.
The manor of Totteridge in early ages formed
part of the possessions of the monks of Ely, and
afterwards of the bishops of that see, from one of
whom, in the reign of Elizabeth, it was alienated
to the Crown, together with Hatfield, in considera
tion of an annual sum of ^1,500, to be paid to

* See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 14.

him and his successors in the see of Ely. In 1590
the queen granted this manor to John Cage, from
whom it passed in succession to the Peacocks and
the Whichcotes. Sir Paul Whichcote, in the year
1720, sold the property to James Brydges, Duke
of Chandos ; but it was again disposed of by the
second duke to Sir William Lee, Lord Chief
Justice of the King's Bench. The manor is now
held by the representatives of the late John Lee,
LL.D. The advowson of the living is still held,
with that of Hatfield, by the Marquis of Salisbury,
the annual value of the combined livings being
.£2,500. Totteridge is neither a town nor a village, but
a group of isolated villas and gentlemen's seats
and small parks. The small cluster of houses
and shops forming the street fringe the roadway
to Mill Hill, at a short distance westward of the
church. The village green extends at least a
quarter of a mile south from the church, gradually
widening out into a leg-of-mutton form, and
fringed on either side with rows of elms and other
trees of a dark foliage. It is very picturesque and
rural. Totteridge has lately been brought more near to
the great metropolis by the opening of a new
station in the low ground between it and Whet
stone, on the High Barnet branch of the Great
Northern Railway.
At the beginning of the present century Tot
teridge had 48 houses and a population of 280
souls. The census returns for 187 1 showed that
these had increased respectively to 91 and 474.
In 1881 the number of the inhabitants was 656.
The roads about Totteridge are still anything but
good in the winter, the soil being hereabouts a stiff
clay ; but they are better now than a century or two
ago, when the carriage folk would send fagots to be
laid in the ruts on the road which they intended to
travel, and put four horses to their carriages, not
by way of display, but of necessity. We find Lord
Montague writing to the Privy Council, in the
reign of Charles II., to apologise for his absence
from one of its meetings on the plea of the badness
of the roads.
The church is generally said to be dedicated
to St. Andrew, and Thome, in his " Environs ,of
London," repeats the blunder. Being attached to
Bishop's Hatfield, and thereby connected with the
see of Ely, it was dedicated to St. Etheldreda, who
was generally known as St. Audrey, and the tran
sition from " St Audrey " to " St. Andrew " was
easy. The former church, having become rickety and
unsafe, was pulled down in 1789, when the present

Totteridge.]

POINTER'S GROVE.

333

structure superseded it. It was then a plain square
preaching room, with large deal pews of the regula
tion height, and square windows ; in fact, as tasteless
and common-looking an edifice as could well be
conceived. About the year 1870 it was internally
re-modelled, the seats being lowered and thrown
open, and a small apsidal chancel being added of
a more ecclesiastical pattern. An organ and some
painted windows have since been added, and the
western gallery pulled down. Rising from the
roof at the western end of the church is a low,
square embattled tower of wood, painted white,
and containing two bells. The tower was formerly
surmounted by a spire. One monument, now on
the wall of the tower, remains to connect the
present structure with its predecessor. Among the
entries of burials here is one under date of March
2nd, 1802, to " Elizabeth King, widow, for forty-six
years clerk of this parish."
In the churchyard is the family tomb of the
Pepys family. It contains the bodies of Sir Lucas
Pepys, and also of Sir William Weller Pepys, and
his brother Lord Chancellor Cottenham who died
in 185 1. Lady Rothes and Lady Cottenham also
lie buried here.
It is quite a popular error to suppose that Lord
Mohun, the scampish duellist who fell in Hyde
Park,* was buried here. He lies in the vaults
under the church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.
At the west end of the churchyard is a fine old
yew-tree, of great girth, and supposed to be seven
centuries old. It does not denote, as would seem
at first sight to appear, that a church stood on the
spot in the Saxon-Norman times, but is simply the
last survival of a yew forest.
It is of classical note, for it is made the subject
of communications in the Gentleman's Magazine,^
and is mentioned by Nichols in his "Literary
Anecdotes." Sir John Cullum states that when he
measured it, a century ago, it was about twenty-five
feet in circumference; and its, girth is unaltered
now. Generally, though not always, yews are found
in close proximity to the church, where they look
like symbols of eternity. But they were also
planted for other lasting purposes, as, for example,
to mark boundaries of properties, or the courses of
primitive roads. It is said that the pilgrims' route
from Silchester to Canterbury, across the Surrey
hills, can be almost made out by the long line of
yew-trees with which it was fringed. The yew,
however, served even yet another purpose. In

* See " Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 398.
t See Vol. LXXV., Part II., pp. 114=, 1212.

the will of King Henry VI. is the following
item : — " The space between the wall of the
church and the wall of the cloyster shall con-
teyne 38 feyte, which is left for to sett in cer
tain e trees and flowers, behovable and conve
nient for the service of the same church." Now,
it has often been asked, and never satisfactorily
answered, "For what purpose were yew-trees
anciently planted in churchyards?" In times
when it was considered as a matter of importance
that the churches should, at certain seasons, be
adorned with evergreens, and when to strew
branches in the way, and to scatter' herbs and
flowers into the grave, were practised as religious
rites, was it not " behovable and convenient for the
service of the church " that every churchyard
should contain at least one yew-tree? Several
reasons may be assigned for giving this tree a
preference to every other evergreen. It is very
hardy, long-lived, and though in time it attains a
considerable height, produces branches in abun
dance so low as to be always within reach of
the hand, and at last affords a beautiful wood for,
furniture. Near the church, at the corner of the Barnet
Road, stands an old-fashioned house known as the
Priory, and traditionally said to have been occupied
by Lady Rachel Russell. But there is no proof of
such occupation by Lady Rachel, beyond the
statement of Lady Bunsen, on page 284, which
may be an error ; and it is very doubtful whether
Totteridge ever boasted of a prior or prioress.
The house, however, dates evidently back to the
Tudor times.
Richard Baxter, to whom we have been already
introduced at Acton,* lived here for some years in
retirement, being probably led to take up his abode
here in order to be near Mr. Charlton, whose wife
was his sister. His name occurs once as a rate
payer in the village books, here.
Totteridge has always been a favourite residence
with the wealthier classes in London, and several
legal and City knights lived here at one and the
same time.
Pointer's Grove (or Poynter's), at the south
eastern extremity of the parish, facing the Green,
has. long been the abode of the Pugets, a family
of French refugee extraction. The late Mr. Puget,
M.P., built, in 1827, a small chapel and schools
on the road to Whetstone. The estate of Pointers
belonged, in the middle of the seventeenth century,
to Lady Gurney, the widow of Sir Richard Gurney,
who died a prisoner in the Tower, in 1647. Later
* See ante, p. n.

334

GREATER LONDON.

[Totteridge,

on the property was possessed successively by Sir
John Aubrey, Sir Thomas Aleyne, Sir Peter
Mayer, and Sir John Sheffield, from whom it
passed to the Pugets, with whose family it still
continues. Copped Hall, which stands on the Green, facing
the Church, was for some years the seat of Sir
E. Bulwer Lytton. Whilst staying here he would
constantly pay visits to the battle-field of Barnet,
to which he has given such interest in his " Last
of the Barons."* The estate is about a hundred
acres, well timbered, and planted with avenues of
limes and other trees. A fine dining-room and
conservatory have been added by the present
owner, Mr. Bolton.
Half a century ago the property was owned by
Mr. William Manning, M.P., and Governor of the
Bank of England, the father of Cardinal Manning,
who was born here in 1809. The Cardinal was
educated at Harrow, and Balliol College, Oxford,
and was afterwards a Fellow of Weston College.
He resigned his rectory of Graffham, Sussex, and
the Archdeaconry of Chichester in 1851, when he
became a Roman Catholic. In 1865 he was con
secrated Archbishop of Westminster, and he was
created a Cardinal in 1875. The Cardinal's elder
brother, who died young, lies buried at the east end
of the churchyard. Mr. Manning probably came
to live at Totteridge on account of its proximity to
Highwood, at Mill Hill, where Mr. William Wil-
berforce was then living, both being "pillars" of
the " Evangelical " faith, as taught by Wesley and
Simeon. From the Mannings the estate of Copped Hall
passed to the Scarletts, and from them to a build
ing speculator, who sold it to Lord Lytton. His
lordship, however, lived here only occasionally,
his chief seat being in another part of the county,
at Knebworth, near Stevenage. He added largely
to this place, however, and re-faced the outside,
which he made to resemble an Italian villa, with a
terraced front, adorning the upper portion with
classical heads, copied from genuine antiques.
He hung the library with tapestry, painted the
* See ante, p. 326.

ceilings of the chief rooms in the Italian fashion,
repeating in several compartments his own initials
E. B. L., and adding over the mantelpiece the
motto so accordant with his taste, " Absque Musis
frigent Lares." He stayed here off and on be
tween 1858 and 1875, during which time he wrote
"Pelham," "Lucretia," and the "Last of the
Barons." The terrace in the rear of the house
commands extensive views, extending to Hamp
stead, Highgate, and Harrow, with peeps of the
Surrey Hills beyond. The rivulet which divides
the two counties, flows at the bottom of the park
like grounds, and is dammed up into a lake which
covers four acres. Mr. Manning planted in the
grounds a " spinney," or circular plantation, con
sisting of a variety of forest trees, to commemorate
the jubilee of George III.
The mansion in Totteridge Park, at the western
extremity of the village, on the right-hand side of
the road leading to Hendon, occupies the site of
the old manor house, and its successor, a small
hunting-seat, which was purchased from Lord
Bateman by Sir William Lee, the Lord Chief
Justice mentioned above. He enlarged the
mansion, and resided there for many years. The
present house, which has been recently converted
into a boarding-school for boys, is a large red brick
edifice, consisting of a centre and wings, and
crowned by an octagonal domed clock-turret. It
stands in a finely- wooded park, about 100 acres in
extent, and is approached through a broad avenue
of elms. In the " Memoirs of Baron Bunsen " it
is stated that the Baron lived here in 1848 and the
following year, and that during that time he here
entertained many distinguished visitors, and greatly
enjoyed the grounds, with their " grand trees, those
lofty firs, the pride of Totteridge, the fine terrace,
the charming garden," and its general surroundings.
" Oh, how thankful," he wrote, " I am for this
Totteridge ! Could I but describe the groups of
fine trees, the turf, the terrace walks !"
Among other mansions at Totteridge is one
standing in what is now called the Wykeham Rise
Estate. It was formerly well known as the resi
dence of the late Dr. Shuttleworth, Bishop of
Chichester.

Whetstone]

GEORGE MORLAND AND THE CHIMNEY-SWEEP.

335

CHAPTER XXXIV.
WHETSTONE, FRIERN BARNET, AND FINCHLEY.
" Ut jugulent homines, surgunt de nocte latrones." — Horace.
Situation of Whetstone— The Parish Church— Census Returns— Oakleigh Park— George Morland and the Chimney-sweep— General Appearance
of the Village— The Manor of Friern Barnet— The Church— Almshouses— Finchley— Situation and Extent— Descent of the Manor—
The Old Manor-house— Noted Residents— Church End— Census Returns— Races— The Parish Church— Christ's College— National Schools
— East End — The Church, &c. — The " Dirt House " — Cemeteries for Marylebone and St. Pancras and Islington Parishes — North
End— Christ Church— The Congregational Chapel — Finchley Common— Encampments and Reviews— Highwaymen— Turpin's Oak —
The "Green Man" Tavern — Capture of Jack Sheppard — The Life of a Highwayman.

Whetstone lies to the east of Totteridge, from
which village it is distant about a mile, the station
of Totteridge and Whetstone, on the High Barnet
branch of the Great Northern Railway, serving as
a means of communication for both places. Till
recently it was a portion of the parish of Friern
Barnet, which lies to the east of it. It was, how
ever, cut off from the mother parish, and made a
separate ecclesiastical district in 1833, a portion of
Finchley being at the same time embodied in it.
The district round about it still retains some fea
tures of its once rural character, in spite of large
building operations, and is situated at the north
eastern extremity of the hundred of Ossulston.
Whether the name of Whetstone has anything to
do with that vicious locality called Whetstone
Park, on the north side of Lincoln's Inn Fields,
we know not. Neither Lysons nor the author of
the " Beauties of England " offer any suggestion as
to the derivation of the name; they simply state that
it is the name given to " a manor in Friern Barnet."
The local tradition that the place derived its name
from a large stone which was there found, and on
which the soldiers sharpened their swords and
battle-axes preparatory to the Battle of Barfiet, is
almost too absurd to be mentioned seriously, and
may be dismissed with a smile.
The church, dedicated to St. John, stands on
the west side of the road at the south end of the
village. It is a small brick structure, of the com
monplace type of the time, and is shut in from the
roadway by a high brick wall, partly overhung with
ivy. A chapel is supposed to have been originally
built here early in the fifteenth century, in the
Perpendicular style. The present building, how
ever, as may be guessed from the date of its erec
tion, is but a poor attempt at Gothic architecture.
Till 1879 1,: was an oblong chapel-like building,
with small rectangular turrets or pinnacles at each
of its four corners, and a small bell-turret in the
centre of the west gable. In the above year, how
ever, a chancel was added to the existing nave, a
vaulted roof replaced the old flat ceiling, and Early-
English windows were inserted. The window at

the east end is of stained glass, and was inserted
as a memorial of two members of the Baxendale
family, whose residence is in the neighbourhood.
The village contains one or two chapels and
schools, and since the opening of the railway the
place has rapidly increased in growth and popula
tion. In 1 87 1 the number of the inhabitants was
over 2,300, and in the course of the next decade
this has been considerably increased. A large dis
trict, called Oakleigh Park, has lately become in
part built over with terraces and modest villas ;
these, however, have not materially altered the old-
fashioned look of the main street, which, as of
yore, still contains, for the size of the village, a
large number of roadside inns, taverns, and ale
houses. George Morland, the artist,* whose delight was
to pass his time in village taverns, and then per
chance to balance his " score " by painting a sign
board for the worthy host, met with a slight
contretemps on one occasion when passing through
this village. Allan Cunningham, in his " Life of
Morland," tells the following anecdote about him.
" He once (we are told) received an invitation to
Barnet, and was hastening thither with two friends,
when he was stopped at Whetstone turnpike by a
lumber or jockey cart, driven by two persons, one
of them a chimney-sweep, who were disputing with
the toll-gatherer. Morland endeavoured to pass,
when one of the wayfarers cried, ' What ! Mr. Mor
land, won't you speak to a body!' The artist
endeavoured to elude further greeting, but this was
not to be; the other bawled out so lustily that
Morland was obliged to recognise at last his com
panion and crony, Hooper, a tinman and pugilist.
After a hearty shake of the hand, the boxer turned
to his neighbour the chimney-sweep, and said,
' Why, Dick, don't you know this here gentleman ?
'tis my friend, Mr. Morland.' The sooty charioteer,
smiling a recognition, forced his unwelcome hand
upon his brother of the brush; they then both
whipt their horses and departed. This rencontre
* See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 222.

33^

GREATER LONDON.

[Friern Barnet.

mortified Morland very sensibly ; he declared that
he knew nothing of the chimney-sweep, and that
he was forced upon him by the impertinence of
Hooper ; but the artist's habits made the story
be generally believed, and ' Sweeps, your honour,'
was a joke which he was often obliged to hear."
The long main street, which lies along the high
road from Barnet to Finchley, is singularly void of
interest, being really little more than a succession
of public-houses, small shops, and tasteless villas
with tiny gardens in front of them, interspersed

Such being the case, and there being no river
or attractive scenery, Whetstone would seem to
have had no place among the favourite suburban
residences of Londoners, and accordingly it has no
literary history, its name being scarcely mentioned,
except in connection with the heroes of the " New
gate Calendar."
The principal manor of Friern Barnet, under
the name of AVhetstone, or Freren Barnet, was in
ancient times part of the extensive possessions of
the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem. The word

ALMSHOUSES, FRIERN BARNET. (See page 322.)

with blacksmiths' forges, or sheds that have done
duty as such in the good old days of stage-coaches.
But the good old coaching days, it must be re
membered, were also the days of highwaymen and
footpads, as we saw when dealing with the locality
of Hounslow Heath, next to which the spot of
which we now treat enjoyed the highest reputation
of any place in Middlesex. Dick Turpin positively
loved this highway and its associations, and his
" Knights of the Road " followed his taste. So
great was the terror which they inspired among
the wealthier classes, that many Scotch lords and
squires preferred to make the journey from their
native hills to the Parliament at Westminster by
sea, rather than encounter the terrors of the Great
North road within ten or twelve miles of London.

Freren probably means belonging to the friars,
freres, or brethren of the Order. The name of
Barnet, as already remarked, is common to several
parishes in England. Lysons says it was anciently
written Bernette, or Bergnet, which, as Chauncy
remarks in his " Hertfordshire," signifies " a little
hill;" the addition of "Friern" or "Friarn" de
notes that it was monastic property.
According to Lysons, Sir William Weston, the
last of the Priors of St. John of Jerusalem, held a
court here in 1539, and Henry VIIL, after the
dissolution, granted the manor to the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's, in whose possession it has
ever since continued. The manor house, near
the church, is described by the above authority as
a "very ancient structure." It has undergone

Friem Barnet.]

THE MANOR HOUSE.

337

many alterations, but a considerable part of the
old building, namely, a long passage, or wooden
cloister, with a carved ceiling, was remaining far
into the present century. " The recluse situation
of this manorial house," observes the author of the
" Beauties of England," " would seem favourable
to tradition and legendary story. Accordingly,
it is supposed by some that this was a cell to the

the Decorated and Early English types of archi
tecture, and although in the main an ancient
building of flint with stone dressings, wears, in
consequence of recent restoration and enlarge
ment, a somewhat new and modern appearance. It
consists of a chancel, nave, and south aisles,
separated by an arcade of four bays, with a square
tower and spire at the west end. The south door,

JH if

JP3

mwm

T~

:-* -^-^=^^1

FINCHLEY MANOR HOUSE AND TURPIN'S OAK.

Priory of St. John, and by others that it was an
inn or resting-place for the knights in journeys
between London and St. Albans. A gateway,
which appears to have been formerly the chief
place of entrance, is termed the ' Queen's Gate,'
an appellation that probably refers to a visit of
Queen Elizabeth to this house." Norden, writing
concerning Friern Barnet in the reign of Elizabeth,
says that "Sir John Popham, Knt, Lord Chiefe
Justice of England, sometimes maketh this his
abode." The parish church, dedicated to St. James, is of
29

protected by a light porch, is of Norman workr-
manship, round-headed, and of somewhat rud&
construction, ornamented only with a moulding of
chevron work. On the east wall of the chanceS
aisle is a mural monument to sundry members of"
the Cleve family, dated 1726, and in the exterior
wall is a small tablet bearing the date February.
7 th, 1638. The east window of stained glass is.
new; it was inserted in memory of George and!
Johanna Homan.
Near the church are schools for boys, girls, and
infants, the site of which was given by Mr. John*

338

GREATER LONDON.

[Finchley,

Miles, of the Manor House. Close by the schools,
by the side of the road leading from the church to
Whetstone, and shaded by a noble row of elms,
stands a row of almshouses, seven in number,
and of a somewhat picturesque appearance. They
were founded in 1612, by Laurence Campe, for
twelve aged persons, and they were repaired and
altered in 1843. The parish allows the inmates
2s. 6d. each per week. The long stone front of
the houses, with the Tudor arched doorways and
square-headed windows, give the buildings a some
what " collegiate " appearance. On the front are
three shields, with the arms of London ; of the
family of the founder, namely, a chevron between
three griffins' heads ; and of the Drapers' Com
pany. There are also tablets with such moral and
religious inscriptions as these —
" Every morning before you feed,
Come to this house, and prayers read ;
Then you about your work may go,
So God may bless you and yours also."
Another tablet bears the following texts —
"Exhort them that are rich in this world, that they be
ready to give, and glad to distribute." — 1 Tim. vi. 1.
"'He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the
Lord." — Proverbs xv.
A new church, of Early English design, dedicated
to All Saints, has lately been completed in this
parish. It is of stone, and has at the west end a
lofty tower and spire, which is conspicuous for
miles round.
Mr. Thorne tells us in his "Environs of London"
that "in olden times the Great North Road passed.
through Friern Barnet by way of Colney Hatch,"
but that, becoming inconvenient " by reason of the
deepness and dirty passage in the winter season,"
the Bishop of London undertook to make a new
and more direct road to Whetstone through his
park at Highgate ; and that to compensate the in
habitants of Friern Barnet for the loss of traffic on
their road, he made them free of the tolls levied at
the Bishop's Gate.*
Finchley, although a very large parish, and lying
within eight miles of London, on the great high
road to the north, is singularly void of historical
interest, with the exception perhaps of two or three
encampments on the Common. Its name, how
ever, like that of its neighbour, Whetstone, is
somewhat largely mixed up with the annals of
highwaymen and footpads, who infested these
parts in the last century, and gave to them a
reputation second only to that of Hounslow Heath.
Finchley proper still retains a few vestiges of its

See " Old and New London,'* Vol. V., p. 389.

once rural character ; but it is the same old story
over again : its surrounding meadows and pastures
are being rapidly covered by untasteful buildings.
The parish itself extends about three miles north
wards from the district known as East End, to
Whetstone, the greater part of which, as stated
above, is included in Finchley parish. There are
here two stations on the Great Northern branch
line to Edgware, and one at Woodside Park, on
the High Barnet branch. The river Brent flows
along in the valley between the great North Road
and Hendon towards the west.
The manor of Finchley, although it does not
figure in Domesday Book, belonged from time im
memorial to the see of London. In the reign of
King John, the bishop and his Finchley tenants
obtained from the Crown a grant of freedom from
toll, which grant was confirmed by Charles II. In
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a manor here,
called Finchley Manor, was held by the Marches,
Leyndons, and Comptons. In 1577 a license was
granted to the Earl of Huntingdon, Anne, Coun
tess of Pembroke, and Henry Lord Compton, to
alienate the manor to trustees, for the use of the
countess for life, with remainder to Thomas, se
cond son of Lord Compton, and his heirs.
The old Manor House is still in existence, and
retains many of its ancient features. It stands
between the hamlet of East End and the parish
church. The house is a large old-fashioned brick
building, but has been much altered to suit modern
requirements. It is still surrounded by the moat,
which encloses a large oblong area through which
passes the public roadway. The mansion is occu
pied by Mr. George Plucknett, F.S.A., a magistrate
for the county, and in its ancient oak-panelled
hall justice continues to be meted out to evil-doers,
as in days of yore.
Finchley has in times long gone by had some
noted residents. Here, for instance, lived Sir
Thomas Frowick, the Lord Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas under the Tudors. The Frowicks,
as we have seen, were influential about South
Mimms, Hadley, and the neighbourhood.*
The village locally known as Church End is a
rambling and scattered collection of cottages and
interspersed houses of a better class. Many of
the principal residences are detached; but rows'of
houses, streets, and terraces, are daily springing up
everywhere, and the green lanes are fast disappear
ing. In 1808 the number of houses in the parish
was 250, the population at the same time amount
ing to 1,500. In 187 1 the number of dwellings

* See ante, p. 317.

Finchley.]

MAJOR CARTWRIGHT'S GRAVE.

339

had increased to over 1,250, and the inhabitants
had reached a total of 7, 150, which number, during
the next decade, had swelled up to .over 11,000.
Races were held here in the years 1869 and 1872,
but they have apparently been abandoned as a
public nuisance.
The church stands on an eminence in the centre
of the village, about a mile from the great north
road. It is, like many ancient parish churches,
dedicated to St. Mary, and is in the Perpendicular
style, from which it would appear to have been
erected in the fifteenth century. It was restored
in 1872, when the thick coating of plaster with
which the stonework was covered up was removed,
and the building enlarged by the addition of a
north aisle, and an extension of the chancel, and a
low embattled tower at the western end, contain
ing a clock and six bells. On the smallest bell,
which is dated 1770, is the. folio wing inscription : —
'* Good people all that hear us ring,
Be faithful to your God and king."
The roofs of the chancel and aisles are of open
timber ; that of the nave is flat, with ornamental
panels of plaster set in wooden framework. Most
of the windows are new. There are several monu
ments and brasses of the fifteenth century. On
the south wall is a plain marble slab to the memory
of William Seward, F.R.S. and F.S.A., who died
in the year 1799. He was the author of "Anec
dotes of Distinguished Persons," and " Biographi-
ana." Alexander Kinge, who died in 1618, is
commemorated by amonumentcontainingtwo figures
kneeling before open books. The oldest brass is
that of Richard Pratt, and Johanna, his wife, it is
engraved with effigies of the deceased, and is dated
1487. In the chancel is one to Simon Skudemore,
gent, and his wife, bearing date 1609, and on the
same stone a small plate commemorating Nicholas
Luke, gent, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of
the above-named Simon Skudemore. In the west
wall of the church are visible a few traces of rude
stonework supposed to be Norman, possibly "sug
gesting the existence of an earlier fabric." Nothing,
however, is known for certainty of the existence of a
church here dating as far back as that era. The
register dates from the year 1560, and the records
of the rectory go no further back than the four
teenth century.
Two of the rectors of Finchley have been elevated
to the episcopal bench. Dr. Cotton, who held the
living towards the close of the sixteenth century, was
promoted to the bishopric of Exeter ; and Dr.
Bancroft, who was rector in 1608, was raised to
the see of Oxford. Dr. John Barkham, Bishop

Bancroft's successor in the rectory, was a noted
antiquarian in his day, and largely assisted Speed
in his " English History."
In the churchyard lies buried Major Cartwright,
the once popular political reformer, whose statue
now adorns Burton Crescent, St. Pancras, London.
His grave is marked by an obelisk bearing the fol
lowing inscription : — " In this place are deposited
the remains of John Cartwright, the son of William
and Anne Cartwright, Commander in the Royal
Navy, and many years Major in the Nottingham
Militia. He was the author of various works on
legislation ; the earliest, most strenuous, and dis
interested Reformer of his time ; the intrepid
advocate of liberty, whose labours for the public
good terminated only with his life, on the 23rd of
September, 1824 ; aged eighty-four. Also the
remains of his beloved wife, Anne Catherine
Cartwright, who died on the 21st of December,
1834." Thomas Payne, the bookseller of the
Mewsgate, " whose little shop," writes Mr. James
Thome, "was the daily haunt of scholars and book
collectors," was buried here in February, 1799.
Adjoining the churchyard is Christ's College,
which was instituted in 1857 by the late Rev.
Thomas Reader White, rector of Finchley, " for the
purpose of providing first-class education at a
moderate cost:" The school is divided between
two buildings. The old mansion, which serves the
purposes of the lower school, contains also the
dining-hall of both schools ; the new school is
situated on the opposite side of the churchyard.
Both buildings are constructed of red brick. The
school has acquired a good position among the
educational institutions of the country. It is
conducted by the principal and resident assistant
masters, and several scholarships are awarded
annually to boys resident in the college. The
average number of pupils in the college is about
200. The National Schools for St. Mary's, in Ballard's
Lane, near the church, were erected in 1852.
They are built of brick, with stone dressing, in the
Gothic Style, and consist of schools for boys, girls,
and infants, with residences for the master and
mistresses. The hamlet of East End lies to the south-east of
Finchley proper, and extends to the Barnet Road.
It was formed into a separate parish for ecclesiasti
cal purposes in 1846. The church, dedicated to
the Holy Trinity, is a stone building, in the Early
English style, comprising chancel, nave, and aisles.
The Congregational Chapel at East End was built
in 1875, m tne Place of an old cnaPel which had
been burnt down. The building is of brick, in the

34°

GREATER LONDON.

/Finchley.

Early Decorated style of Gothic architecture, and
consists of a nave, aisles, transept, and an apse for
the use of the choir. At the north-east angle is a
tower, surmounted by a lofty spire. Some of the
windows are filled with stained glass.
The " Old White Lion " public-house, at East
End, has been for many years locally known as the
" Dirt House," a name which was bestowed upon it
in consequence of its being the regular " house
of call" of the men in charge of the carts and
waggons, which, taking hay and other produce to
London, usually returned to the country laden
with soot, manure, and the like. Near the above
inn is a wood, called in old maps " Dirt House
Wood," which, it is conjectured, obtained its name
from its proximity to the " Dirt House," and to
distinguish it from the other small woods in the
neighbourhood, all of which are remnants of the
great forest of Middlesex.*
The cemetery for the parish of St. Mary, Maryle-
bone, is situated near Church End, and comprises
more than thirty acres, with the usual chapel and
offices. On the east side of the Barnet Road is the
joint cemetery for the parishes of St. Pancras and
St. Mary, Islington. It comprises on the whole
nearly ninety acres, and contains two mortuary
chapels, lodges, and residences for the officers, &c.
The grounds are tastefully laid out, and planted
with evergreens, shrubs, and trees. Here, in 1855,
was buried Sir Henry Bishop, the musical composer :
a granite monument, bearing a bronze medallion,
marks his grave. This cemetery was taken out of
Finchley Common, on another part of which has
lately sprung into existence the hamlet of North
End, comprising several respectable shops and
private residences. The church (Christ Church)
was commenced in 1870, but has not yet been
completed, the nave only having as yet been built :
this is in the Decorated style. North End possesses
also a Congregational chapel of the regulation
ecclesiastical pattern — Decorated Gothic — with a
tower and spire rising nearly one hundred feet in
height. It was built in 1865.
Of Finchley Common very little is now left as
an open space. At the beginning of the present
century it was described as the largest tract of
poor land in Middlesex, except Hounslow Heath.
It was estimated in 1810, by Messrs. Britton, to
contain about 1,500 acres of "somewhat inferibr
quality, but capable of great improvement under
proper cultivation. On this common a large
number of sheep and cattle," they add, " is fed in
the spring." But this is no longer true.
* See Notes and Queries, June, 1881, pp. 471-2.

Dr. Hunter, in his " History of London and its
Environs" (1810), Writes, "Finchley is chiefly
known by being annexed to the extensive Common,
a place formidable to travellers from the highway
robberies of which it has been the scene." He
estimates the common to contain 2,010 acres, and
adds, " the waste and uncultivated state of which,
so near the metropolis, is disgraceful to the
economy of the country." The eastern side of the
common, and the northern slopes of Hampstead
and Highgate are reckoned by Messrs. Britton, in
18 10, as mostly woodland copses.
The few historical events which relate to Finch
ley are connected with its former common. Here
General Monk, in his march to London, previous
to the restoration of Charles II., drew up his forces
on the 3rd of February, 1660. When the young
Chevalier, Charles Edward, was at Derby, during
the Scottish rebellion of 1745, there was a great
panic in London, and volunteers of all descriptions
offered themselves to serve in the ranks. "The
whole body of the law," observes the author of the
" Comprehensive History of England," " formed
themselves into a regiment, under the command of
Lord Chief Justice Willes, and were to have done
duty at St. James's, to guard the royal family,
in case it had been necessary for the king to take
the field with the army that lay encamped about
Barnet and Finchley Common. Luckily that force
was not required, and did little more than scare
away the highwaymen from their usual beat.
Weavers, and other London artisans, were probably
not the best of troops, and it became the fashion
to turn the Finchley camp and the march to
Finchley into ridicule ; but there was, nevertheless,
some good regular troops on that point, both horse
and foot, with thirty-two pieces of : artillery; and
the Life-Guards and Horse Grenadiers were ready
to march out of London at a moment's notice."
Hogarth's famous picture of the " March of the
Guards to Finchley," which found a home at the
Foundling Hospital,* is well known. Another
memorable encampment on Finchley Common was
that of the troops, comprising several regiments,
hastily brought together here, in 1780, on account
of the Gordon riots. This review was the subject
of an engraving which was published at the time,
and is now very scarce.
Finchley Common continued the favourite
" hunting ground " of highwaymen down till near
the close of the last century. Sir Gilbert Elliot,
afterwards Earl of Minto, in a letter to his wife in
1790, wrote, when within a few stages of London,
'- See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 362.

Finchley.]

TURPIN'S OAK.

34i

that instead of pushing on that night, as he easily
could, he should defer his arrival till the morning, for,
he adds, " I shall not trust my throat on Finchley
Common in the dark."* At the London end of
what was once the common, nearly opposite the
" Green Man " Inn, at a place called " Brown's
Wells," on the Barnet Road, and a little way north
of the St. Pancras Cemetery, is an old oak, behind
which it is traditionally stated that Dick Turpin
used to take up his position. The tree, which is
still called " Turpin's Oak," is green and flourishing,
though considerably shorn of its upper branches.
Pistol-balls, it is stated, which are supposed to have
been fired at the trunk to deter highwaymen, have
been frequently extracted from the bark. Mr. Lar
wood, in his " History of Signboards," tells us that
the " Green Man " has the following verses under
two pipes crossed over a pot of beer : —
" Call softly, drink moderate ;
Pay honourably, be good company ;
Part friendly ; Go home quietly ;
Let these lines be no man's sorrow ;
Pay to-day and trust to-morrow."
The notorious Jack Sheppard, who kept half
London in terror, and who once, at least, effected
his escape out of Newgate, was captured on Finch
ley Common in 1724. He was disguised in a
butcher's blue frock and a woollen apron.
As to the life of a highwayman, a writer in the
London Magazine some years ago remarks : —
" An highwayman is a wild Arab, that lives by
robbing of small caravans, and has no way o
living but the king's highway. Aristotle held him
to be but a kind of huntsman ; but out sages
of the law account him rather a beast of prey,
and will not allow his game to be legal by the
forest law. His chief care is to be well mounted,
and, when he is taken, the law takes care he should
be still, while he lives. His business is to break
the law of the land, for which the hangman breaks
his neck, and there's an end of the controversie.
He fears nothing, under the gallows, more than his
own face, and, therefore, when he does his work,
conveys it out of sight, that it may not rise up in
judgment, and give evidence against him at the
sessions. His trade is to take purses and evil
courses, and when he is taken himself, the laws
take as evil a course with him. He takes place
of all other thieves as the most heroical, and
one that comes nearest to the old knights-errant,
though he is really one of the basest, that never
ventures but upon surprisal, and where he is sure

* " Life and Letters of Gilbert Elliot, first Earl of Minto," Vol. I.,
P. 372.

of the advantage. He lives like a Tartar, always
in motion ; and the inns upon the road are hordes,
where he reposes for awhile, and spends his time
and money, when he is out of action. . . .
He is more destructive to the grazier than the
murrain. When he despatches his business between
sun and sun he invades a whole county, and, like
the Long Parliament, robs by representative. He
calls concealing what he takes from his comrades
sinking, which they account a great want of integrity.
After he has roved up and down too long, he is
at last set himself and conveyed to the jail, the
only place of his residence, where he is provided
of a hole to put his head in, and gathered to his
fathers in a faggot cart."
Mr. Harrison Ainsworth, in his " Rookwood,"
has turned the life and career of a highwayman to
good account. We quote from it the following
"CHAPTER OF. HIGHWAYMEN.
" Of every rascal of every kind,
The most notorious to my mind
Was the royalist captain, gay Jemmy Hind !
Which nobody can deny.
" But the pleasantest coxcomb among them all
For lute, coranto, or madrigal,
Was the galliard Frenchman Claude Du Val !
Which nobody can deny.
" Yet Tobygloak never a coach could rob,
Could lighten a pocket or empty a fob,
With a neater hand than Old Mob, Old Mob !
Which nobody can deny.
" Nor did housebreaker ever deal harder knocks
, On the stubborn lid of a good strong box,
Than that prince of good fellows, Tom Cox, Tom Cox !
Which nobody can deny.
" And blither bellow on board highway
Did never with oath bid traveller stay,
Than devil-may-care Will Holloway !
Which nobody can deny.
" Then in roguery naught could exceed the tricks
Of Gettings and Grey, and the five or six
Who trod in the steps of bold Neddy Wicks !
Which nobody can deny.
" Nor could any so handily break a lock
As Sheppard, who stood in trie Newgate dock,
And nicknamed the gaolers around him "his flock!"
Which nobody can deny.
" Nor did highwayman ever before possess,
For ease, for security, danger, distress,
Such a mare as Dick Turpin's Black Bess, Black Bess !
Which nobody can deny."
Finchley Common was the scene of the depre
dations of most of the worthies whose names are
introduced in the above piece of verse ; but a
great change has taken place in it since their time.
In fact it is now nearly entirely blotted out of the
map, being either enclosed or built over.

342

GREATER LONDON.

[Colney Hatch,

CHAPTER XXXV.
COLNEY HATCH AND SOUTHGATE.
" Insanire juvat." — Horace.
Rapid Extension of Colney Hatch, or New Southgate— Its Situation and Etymology — Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum — St. Paul's Church—
The Pumping Station of the New River Waterworks — Wood Green — The Drinking Fountain — Nightingale Hall — St. Michael's
Church — The Printers' Almshouses — Fishmongers' and Poulterers' Asylum— Fullers' Almshouses— Royal Masonic Institution for Boys — Clock
and Watchmakers' Asylum- -The Great Northern Cemetery — Southgate — The Village Green and " Cherry-tree" Inn — The Church — Arnold's
Court, now Arno's Grove — Minchenden House — Bromefield Park — Bowes Manor — Bowes Park — St. Michael's Church — Culland's Grove —
Grovelands— Palmer's Green— Southgate Village Hall— Winchmore Hill— The Church, &c— Bush Hill Park— Sir Hugh Myddelton and
the New River. Colney Hatch is in reality a hamlet of Friern
Barnet, from which parish it has been cut off for
ecclesiastical purposes, the new district having

Colney Hatch — or New Southgate, as its in
habitants prefer to style it — comes next in our
perambulation. Half a century ago, or less, this

COLNEY HATCH.

part was rural and retired ; but the construction of
the Great Northern Railway, with its modern station
and the accessories of villas and shops, and that
of the still more modern County Asylum for the
Lunatics of Middlesex, have largely altered the
appearance of the place — it is needless to add,
scarcely for the better. As the Asylum is officered
by a staff of some three hundred persons, a small
village has sprung up, as if by magic, round its
gates ; and the population of Colney Hatch itself
has been doubled in little more than a quarter of
a century.

assigned to it the name of New Southgate ; and it
forms, as it were, a connecting link between Friern
Barnet on the west, and Edmonton and the dis
trict once known as Enfield Chase on the east.
The name of Colney — or Colne — Hatch is men
tioned in a Court Roll of the reign of Henry VII. ;
and in a map published in the last century it is
printed Coney Hatch. The term "Hatch" evi
dently has reference to a side gateway or entrance
to the Royal Chase of Enfield. Numerous in
stances of the term occur in various parts of the
country. The " Pilgrims' Hatch," near Brentwood.

Colney Hatch.]

THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.

343

is a name well known, as marking the south
entrance to the once great forest of Waltham.
The Asylum, which stands close to the west side
of the railway station, is a handsome Italian struc
ture, though plain and to a great extent void of
ornament. The late Prince Consort laid the first
stone of it in 1849, and it was opened for the recep
tion of patients two years later. It has since been
considerably enlarged, and now holds a little over
two thousand inmates, of whom, as we saw was
the case also at Bedlam,* the majority are females.

for which their previous education or trade fits
them — as, for instance, in gardening, baking, cook
ing, &c. In fact, steady kindness and constant
employment are the chief machinery used in
humanising these waifs and strays of humanity.
Such work as painting and decorating the wards,
and also the necessary repairs or alterations in the
building, are mostly executed by the patients, of
course under proper supervision. By this means
the Asylum is partly self-supporting, or, at all
events, the expenses are largely diminished.

ARNO'S GROVE, SOUTHGATE. (Seepage 346.)

The discipline exercised over them seems to be
one of kindness, not of fear or of punishment ; and
the whips and strait-waistcoats of the days before
Dr. Conolly and Dr. Elliotson are not called into
requisition, though some cases require to be isolated
in rooms with softly-padded walls. The patients
enjoy as much liberty as is possible consistent
with the maintenance of order ; and the monotony
of their lives is occasionally varied by dancing.
Music they have in plenty, not only in the chapel,
but in the larger rooms.
The patients are employed in various industries

See " Old and New London." Vol VI., p. 359.

It is stated that the cost of erecting the Asylum
was a little over half a million, and that about
;£6o,ooo a year is devoted to its maintenance out
of the rates of the metropolitan county.
The building, which is of brick with stone dress
ings, was erected from the designs of Mr. S. W.
Daukes, and covers about four acres of ground. It
occupies an elevated and healthy site, and its venti
lating towers and central cupola are conspicuous
objects for some distance round. The principal
front of the building, nearly 2,000 feet in length,
faces the north, and is the only part of the exterior
upon which any attempt at architectural embellish
ment is visible ; and even this is not very profuse.

344

GREATER LONDON.

[Colney Hatch.

The grounds of the Asylum are enclosed by a
brick wall of moderate height, which extends along
the roadway from New Southgate westwards to
wards Finchley. In the centre, facing the principal
entrance, are some iron gates and the gatekeeper's
lodge. A carriage-drive extends from the gates to
the main entrance, in the centre of the north front,
having on either side a broad piece of greensward,
with gravel-walks, shrubs, and evergreens.
The front part of the central block of building
is flanked on either side by a slightly projecting
ventilating tower, whilst from the roof rises an
octagonal-domed cupola. Across the base of this
building runs an open arcade, a doorway in the
centre opening into a long corridor, which extends
right and left to the wards and offices. In the wall
opposite the door is the foundation-stone, bearing
an inscription, to the effect that it was laid by the
Prince Consort on the 8th of May, 1849. The
stone is carved with an ornamental bordering, to
gether with the arms of the county. The chapel,
which occupies the centre of the north front, imme
diately at the back of the corridor mentioned above,
is a large square, or rather oblong, room. It is
lighted from the roof, and also by windows of
tinted glass above the communion-table. It was
originally fitted with galleries, the rows of seats
rising gradually from one end of the building to
the other; but in 1874 the galleries were removed
and the seats levelled. The walls of the chapel
are painted with a delicate blue tint, and enriched
with stencilling and texts of Scripture. The chapel
will seat 600, and the services are held twice every
week-day and four times on Sundays. The Rev.
Henry Hawkins, who has held the chaplaincy since
1867, was for some time chaplain of the Sussex Asy
lum, at Hayward's Heath. Under his wardenship is
an "Association of Friends of the Infirm in Mind."
It was instituted in 187 1, and has for its object the
" after care" of convalescents. The Asylum ceme
tery was consecrated by Bishop Blomfield in 1851.
The wards and infirmaries are light and airy,
and fitted up with every attention to the comfort
of the unfortunate inmates. The building includes
residences for the principal officers connected with
the institution, airing courts, laundry, and work
shops, which, with the gardens and airing grounds,
cover rather more than one hundred acres. In
addition to this, there is a farm adjoining, which
comprises another one hundred and fifty acres.
There are separate departments for the several
classes of patients, and separate buildings for the
two sexes, either wholly unattached, or connected
only by the chapel and offices common to both.
The accommodation for the female patients is fully

one-third greater than that for the males. The
ground-plan of the Asylum somewhat resembles the
letter E, and it is so situated as to afford an unin
terrupted view of the country, and to admit the free
access of air and sun ; whilst the several galleries
and wards are so arranged that the medical officers
and others may pass through all of them without
retracing their steps. On the male side have lately
been added two new infirmaries, fitted up after the
most approved principles.
As the treatment administered here is in prin
ciple the same as that which has long prevailed in
Bethlehem Hospital, or " Bedlam," our readers may
consider that the remarks on that subject to be found
in Old and New London * may be repeated
here — mutatis mutandis, of course. As the Colney
Hatch Asylum has been in existence for so short a
period it "has few historical reminiscences, and fewer
romantic stories attach to this institution than to its
elder sister. This could hardly be otherwise.
A new church, dedicated to St. Paul, was erected
in 1873 for this neighbourhood. It is of Gothic
design, one of Sir Gilbert Scott's most successful
imitations of the Early English period. Not far
from it is a pumping-station of the New River
Waterworks — a low and unsightly structure, with a
lofty campanile in the semi-Lalian style.
On the east and south-east sides of the Asylum
the land slopes away gradually into a pleasant
valley, on the opposite side of which are the rising
grounds of Wood Green and Muswell Hill, the
latter crowned by the Alexandra Palace and gar
dens. Twenty years ago, or even less, Wood
Green was a retired country spot, hemmed in by
green lanes and shady hedgerows, and having here
and there a cosy tavern and " tea-garden," whither
the ruralising cockney might betake himself — or
herself, or both — in the summer-time. The trans
formation here, however, is almost as great as at
Finchley, which we have lately visited. Since the
establishment of the Alexandra Palace, and the
formation of a railway through its centre, Wood
Green has become quite a busy town, built round
about the large open space which was once a green
and fringing the Southgate road. In the centre of
the Green is a drinking-fountain, surmounted by a
tall granite obelisk ; it is inscribed to the memory
of Mrs. Catherine Smithies, of Earlham Grove,
Wood Green, the founder of the " Band of Mercy"
movement. Not far off is the pleasant seat of
Nightingale Hall, standing in its own grounds, and
showing by its name that it was once a rural and
sequestered spot. St. Michael's Church, on the
* See Vol. VI., pp. 353-360.

ooumgaie.j

WATCH AND CLOCK MAKERS' ASYLUM.

345

west side of the Green, is a large and handsome
Gothic building, with a lofty spire. What will,
perhaps, most attract the attention of visitors to this
locality is the architectural beauty of the various
asylums and institutions devised by charity and
public spirit for the succour of the aged, and the
education and protection of the young and help
less. Of these institutions, the Printers' Alms
houses, a handsome Tudor range of buildings near
the church, were erected in 1850.* Close by is
the Asylum for Aged Fishmongers and Poulterers,
a red brick building of Elizabethan architecture,
also dating its erection from about 1850. Then
there are the Fullers' Almshouses, in Nightingale
Lane, and the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys,
in Lordship Lane, both of which buildings were
erected in 1865.
H. Crabb Robinson, in his " Diary," records a
pleasant walk from Hampstead by way of Ken
Wood to Finchley Common, and so by " a good
turnpike road " to Colney Hatch. " On the
heath," he adds, " I was amused by the novel sight
of gipsies. The road from Colney Hatch to South-
gate very pleasing indeed."
By the side of the pleasant green lane here re
ferred to, and through which we make our way from
Colney Hatch in a north-easterly direction towards
Southgate, stands the Clock and Watch Makers'
' Asylum, another picturesque cluster of dwellings,
twenty-one in number, that in the centre being
occupied by the committee-room, &c. They are of
red and black brick, and of Tudor design. This in
stitution was founded in 1853, and is supported by
voluntary contributions and by the members of the
trades for which it was erected, the funds being
largely augmented by the annual subscriptions of
the Goldsmiths' and the Clockmakers' Companies.
Leaving on our left the roads to Whetstone and
Friern Barnet, and also to the Great Northern
Cemetery, which lies stretched out before us like
a map on the slope of the opposite hill, we now
follow the course of the winding roadway across the
valley, and on reaching the summit of the next
range of hills find ourselves in the village of South-
gate. Southgate, as its name implies, marks the chief
southern entrance into the old Royal Chase of
Enfield ; and though now possessed of its own
church and ecclesiastical district, it is historically
but a hamlet of the parish of Edmonton. Though
only eight miles from the metropolis, and near
stations on two lines of railway, it still retains much
of that pleasant rural character which it wore when
* See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 562.

it was the suburban seat of the Welds of Lulworth
and of His Grace of Chandos.
The shops and villas which compose the village
border the high road for some distance, or are
tastefully grouped round a green, which once was
fringed by tall and shady elms. A few of these
monarchs of the forest remain, and the " Cherry
Tree " is the name of the village inn, which for a
century or more has faced the Green. Mr. Lar
wood, in his " History of Signboards," tells us that
the " Cherry Tree " was not uncommon, and that
down to the reign of William IV. it was the sign of
a famous place of resort in Clerkenwell, with a
bowling-green and alley ; and doubtless it was not
chosen without a like reason at Southgate, as one
of the haunts of pleasure-seeking Londoners. The
" Cherry Gardens " at Bermondsey* will be remem
bered by readers of Samuel Pepys t as a place of
entertainment in the days of the Merry Monarch.
" Southgate," writes H. Crabb Robinson in the
" Diary," " is a delightful village. No distant
prospect from the Green ; but there are fine trees
admirably grouped, and neat and happy houses
scattered in picturesque corners and lanes. The
great houses, the Duchess of Chandos' s, &c, have,
I suppose, a distant view."
The church, a handsome edifice of the Early
English style, built in 1862, from the designs of
Sir Gilbert Scott, stands a little to the west of the
village, and is said to occupy the site of the chapel
attached to the old seat of the Welds, who have
always been Roman Catholics. The old chapel
was built in 1615 by Sir John Weld, of Arnold's
Grove, in this parish. It was a plain brick build
ing, and contained no monument worthy of men
tion, excepting perhaps that of the founder, who
died in 1622. The church, which is built of stone,
consists of a clerestoried nave, with north and south
aisles, a chancel with aisles, and a tower sur
mounted by an octagonal spire, Several of the
windows are enriched with painted glass, and the
picturesque appearance of the exterior of the build
ing is heightened by the thick cluster of ivy which
has overgrown its walls. The churchyard is well
kept, and prettily laid out with firs and evergreens.
The seat of the Welds stood in an extensive
park on the south side of the church, and was
called Arnold's Court, probably after a still earlier
possessor ; but it was demolished in the reign of
George I., when the present mansion was built.
Fifty years later it was enlarged by an Irish peer,
Lord Newhaven, who had purchased the estate

* See " Old and New London," Vol. VI., p. 130.
t See " Pepys' Diary," June 15, 1664.

346

GREATER LONDON.

[Southgate.

from the Colebrookes. The house, of which an
engraving was published by Watts of Chelsea a
century ago, and which is also figured in the
" Beauties of England," was erected for Sir George
Colebrooke. The house is now styled Arno's
Grove. Close by the grounds of Arno's Grove, and ad
joining the churchyard, formerly stood Minchenden
House, which the Duke of Chandos occupied as
a country seat in the last century, after the demoli
tion of Canons.* The house was a large brick-
built mansion, shut out from the roadway by a high
brick wall and heavy-looking wooden gates. It
was built by a Mr. John Nicoll, but was purchased
by the Duke of Chandos, and it continued the
occasional residence of the Duchess Dowager of
Chandos until her death, in 1813, when it passed
to the Marquis of Buckingham, in right of his wife,
who, as already stated, was the daughter and
heiress of the last Duke of Chandos. The old
mansion was pulled down many years ago, but its
name is kept in remembrance by Minchenden
Lodge, a smaller house, which was built some
thirty years ago a little further to the north. Mr.
Ford tells us, in his " History of Enfield," that a
pollard oak still standing in the grounds of old
Minchenden House covers a larger extent of ground
than any other tree in England. Ten years ago
(1873) its spread was no less than 126 feet, and it
is still growing.
Bromefield Park, formerly for many generations
the seat of a family named Jackson, adjoins Arno's
Grove, and is a handsome house of the late Tudor
or Early Stuart times, remarkable for its finely
preserved staircase of dark oak, richly carved, and
for ceilings and Avails painted by Sir James Thorn-
hill. The house stands in a park of eighty acres,
and has in front an avenue of elms.
Bowes Manor, on the road towards London,
lately the seat of Mr. Alderman Sidney, is now
destined to be pulled down and obliterated by the
all-devouring builder. It is worthy of mention as
having been for some years the country seat of
Lord Chancellor Truro, who spent here the latter
part of his life, and died here in 1855. He lies
buried in the family mausoleum in the graveyard
at St. Lawrence, near Ramsgate.
Bowes Park is the name given to a small eccle
siastical district, which was formed in 1874, in the
neighbourhood of Bowes Manor. The church,
dedicated to St. Michael, is in the Palmerston
Road, and was built from the designs of Sir Gilbert
Scott. It is in the Early English style, and con-
* See ante, p. 293.

sists of chancel, nave, aisles, transepts, and a bell
turret. Bowes Park is a station on the Great
Northern Railway.
Another mansion, to the east of the village, is
Culland's Grove, which was, early in the present
century, the seat of the eccentric Alderman Sir
William Curtis, sometime Lord Mayor of and M.P.
for London, the same who is said to have first ad
vocated the general teaching of " the three Rs " —
reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic — as a panacea for
the evils of society. The house is now called
Grovelands. Mr. Harting tells us, in his " Birds
of Middlesex," that the sheet of water in these
grounds was frequented by some ospreys, which
used to catch and eat the fish, and were shot at till
they were driven away.
Palmer's Green, a hamlet of Southgate, is a small
cluster of houses, with a railway-station, to the
south-east of the village, on the road to Winchmore
Hill, and is reached by a pleasant footpath to the
left of the " Cherry Tree " inn.
Southgate contains a village-hall, a large roomy
brick-built structure, of Gothic design, which has
been erected by the side of the main street, and is
used for concerts and other entertainments.
A walk of about two miles along a pleasant
shady roadway skirting the park of Grovelands,
and by a footpath through a wood to the left, brings
us to Winchmore Hill, a large ecclesiastical district,
crowning the eminence from which it takes its
name. It contains between 400 and 500 houses,
and has a population of some 2,000 souls. Sixty
years ago there were only about fifty houses in the
district. It is a straggling village ; but the houses
are mostly built round a large triangular-shaped
green, the surface of which is relieved by a circular
pond and a few trees. At one end of the green is
a railway-station, ' on the Enfield branch of the
Great Northern line, and also a Congregational
chapel, built of brick, after the newest style of
ecclesiastical Gothic architecture. The village was
converted into an ecclesiastical district, out of the
civil parish of Edmonton, in 1851. The church,
dedicated to St. Paul, stands at the north end of the
village,and datesfromthe close of the reign of George
IV. It was consecrated by Bishop Howley in 1828,
and partly burnt down in 1844, but subsequently
repaired. It is built of white brick, with stone
dressings in the Perpendicular style. Crocheted
pinnacles rise at each of the four corners, and
a bell-turret in the centre of the gable at the
western end. The church consists of simply a
nave and small recessed chancel. The east window
represents, in twelve medallions, the principal
scenes and events in the life of St. Paul. Sharon

Enfield.]

BUSH HILL PARK.

347

Turner the historian, and Thomas Hood the poet,
resided here for some years. Part of the village,
on the east side of the railway, extends over Bush
Hill, on the road towards Edmonton.
On Bush Hill was formerly held a fair, called
"Beggar's Bush Fair." It was granted by King
James I., when he laid out a part of Enfield Chase
into Theobalds Park, and is now held at Cathol
Gate, on the road leading to Northall.
Of Bush Hill Park, the principal seat in this
locality, an account will be found in Old and New
London. * It may, however, be stated here that
the property has lately been sold, and is now being
laid out for the erection of villa residences. One
part of it is called Sambrooke Park. The old
Clock-house itself, as the mansion is called, has
been sadly spoilt by its new owners, who have
destroyed its best features, whitewashing its fine
red brick-work, and superseding its iron gates of
scroll-work by a paltry wall of modern white brick.
The fine summer-house, too, said to have been
designed by Inigo Jones, has been pulled down,
and the materials sold, and is now (April, 1883),
in the course of re-erection in the grounds of Mr.
E. Ford, at the Old Park, at Enfield.
At Red Ridge, on the side of Bush Hill nearest
to Enfield, Sir Hugh Myddelton resided during
the formation of the New River, for the purpose
of superintending the works. Some parts of the
old building were standing early in the present
century, although great alterations and improve
ments had been effected in the house. The New
River was carried across the dell in the grounds
by means of a wooden trough or aqueduct, up
wards of 650 feet in length. This aqueduct was
regarded at the time as a triumph of engineering
skill ; but it was removed towards the end of the

last century, and an embankment thrown up in its
place. Edmonton lies about two miles eastward from
Bush Hill. The name of the parish has become
famous throughout the length and breadth of the
land by Cowper's humorous poem descriptive of
"Johnny Gilpin's Ride;'' by the residence and
grave of Charles Lamb > by the. " Merry Devil of
Edmonton ; '' and by the " Witch of Edmonton '' —
all of which matters will be found fully dealt with
in the pages of Old and New London.* Mr.
J. T. Smith, the author of " A Book for a Rainy
Day," speaks in high terms of the salubrity of the
air of Edmonton, and also of its aristocratic
exclusiveness : — "The resident families would not
quit their mansions, but kept themselves snugly
within their King William iron gates and red
brick crested piers, so that there was no longer any
opening for new comers, nor would the landowners
allow one inch of ground to the builders."
At the Firs, in this village, lived Sir James
Winter Lake, Bart., the friend and patron of Mr.
J. T. Smith, and to whom he dedicated one of
his many works on London. " Sir James," writes
Mr. Smith, " was a governor of the Hudson Bay
Company — a situation, it is well known, he filled
with credit to himself as well as the satisfaction of
every one connected with that highly-respected
body. Sir James most kindly invited me to take
a house near him at Edmonton, where I had the
honour, for the space of seven years, of enjoying
the steady friendship of himself and family. Lady
Lake, who then retained much of her youthful
beauty, by her elegance of language and extreme
affability charmed every one. Their family mansion
was distant about a mile from the ' Angel,' and
called the ' Firs.' "

CHAPTER XXXVI.
ENFIELD.
" The Enfield House, that 'longes unto our Queene,
They all behold, and with due reverence
Salute the same." — Vallens' Tale of Two Swannes.
General Description of the Parish— Situation and Boundaries— Parochial Divisions— The Town and Principal Streets— Enfield Court— The New
River— Railway Stations— Census Returns— Historical Reminiscences— The Barony of Enfield— Descent of the Manor— Fairs and Markets
—Site of the Old Manor House— Camlet Moat— Oldbury— Edward VI. at Enfield— The Palace— Dr. Uvedale— The Market-place— The
Parish Church— The Free Grammar School— Schools of Industry— John Keats's Schooldays— Charitable Institutions— Old Park— Chase
Park— Chase Side House— Enfield Green— Little Park— Beycullahl Park— Enfield Races— Churches and Chapels— The Cemetery- Forty
Hall— Elsynge Hall— Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth— Anne Countess of Pembroke— Myddelton House— Gough Park— Dis
tinguished Residents— Beautiful Women of Enfield. ton or Richmond. Built upon the fringe of
a royal chase, Enfield is just what the old writers
would have styled " a right pleasant and joyous

Enfield is one of the many suburban villages
whose names are, or have been, associated with
royalty, though not to the same extent as Hamp-

* See Vol. V., p. 569.

See Vol. V., pp. 564-569.

348

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

place," though somewhat sleepy and quiet in its
appearance. Especially in the central square, near
the Church Grammar School, High Cross, and Palace,
it is decidedly old-fashioned; and its outlying
mansions, for the most part, are such as to keep
them company. Once inhabited by princes, and
lords and fair ladies, it still wears a courtly
look; and it is not difficult to fancy the youthful
princess Elizabeth riding along the pleasant roads
which lead in the direction of that Chase which,
alas ! is now a chase only in name.

the parishes which we have visited in our perambu
lations, for it has numbered among its residents,
besides two at least of the sovereigns of England,
for longer or shorter periods, such celebrities
as Sir Walter Raleigh, Isaac Disraeli, Gough the
antiquary, Dr. Abernethy, Charles Babbage, Cap
tain Marryatt, and Charles Lamb ; and the annals of
the neighbourhood are connected with many other
important personages distinguished in the general
history of the country.
The parish is nine miles distant from London,

ENFIELD CHURCH. (From an old Print, 1827.)

In many, though perhaps scarcely in most
places, the "parish" and the "manor" were
identical in their limits, but this could hardly be
the case in such a widespread locality as Enfield,
nearly twenty miles in circumference. On the
contrary, it comprised, apparently, no less than
eight separate manors, two of which, in old times,
were appanages to royalty, viz., Enfield (proper),
Durants, or Durants Harbour, Elsynge alias
Norris or North Farm, Suffolks, Honylands, and
Pentriches alias Capels, Goldbeaters, Worcesters,
and the Rectory Manor. The two royal manors
were those of Enfield and Worcesters, each of which
had its own palace and park. Enfield is richer in
historic and literary associations than many of

almost due north, and it is bounded on the east by
a branch of the River Lea, called the Meereditch
or Mardyke ; on the west by Hadley and South
Mimms ; on the north by Northaw and Theobalds
Park, in Hertfordshire ; and on the south by Ed
monton and Southgate. From east to west its
measurement is between eight and nine miles, and
from north to south it is rather more than three
miles by the main road, although in some parts it
ranges from five to six miles. Norden describes
Enfield as " a parish standing on the edge of the
Chase, of such extent, that if it were measured by
the ring it would be found at least twenty miles
in extent, some time parcell of the Duke of Lan
caster's lands, now Queene Elizabeth's. The

Enfield.]

PAROCHIAL DIVISIONS.

349

Chase, called Enfield Chase, taketh its name of this
place." " Few districts in the vicinity of London," writes
Mr. Edward Ford in his "History of Enfield,"
"retain so much of rural and sequestered cha
racter, owing no doubt in part to its formerly
tedious and circuitous means of access. Since the
opening of two new lines of railway, however, this

long range of Epping and Hainault forests from
everywhere. The bridle-road across Hadley Com
mon, perhaps the last remains of genuine forest
scenery in Middlesex, leads to the highest ground
in the parish, whence, looking south, distant gleams
of the Thames and the white sails of its shipping
may be seen in the far horizon."
The parish is separated into four quarters —
namely, the Town Division, which comprises the
central part of the parish and the eastern portion
Chase Side ; Chase Division, which includes
Windmill Hill, the west half of Chase Side,
and the whole of Enfield Chase; Bull's
Cross Division, embracing Forty Hill,
Bull's Cross, and the north-eastern

. BEACH HILL CIRC
isolation cannot much
longer continue. The
beauty and variety of the
scenery, the upland Chase, still so nobly tim
bered, the more cultivated lowlands, watered
for many a mile by the windings of the New River
and the Lea, and the long-sustained character of the
parish for health and longevity (rating the second in
England), are drawing the attention of the country-
loving public to this picturesque and interesting
neighbourhood. From the more elevated situations
extensive prospects may be obtained in all directions
over the adjoining counties — from Camlet Moat and
from the Ridgeway Road across the broad expanse
of the Chase; far down into Hertfordshire from the
wood at Forty Hall ; and away into the heart of
Buckinghamshire from above Potter's Bar ; and the
30

MYDDELTON HOUSE CIRC l82I.
section of the parish, stretching away to Enfield
Wash ; and Green Street Division,vwhich includes
Ponder's End, Green Street, and Enfield Highway.
Enfield, on the whole, it is scarcely necessary to
state, is a widely-scattered place. It is more than a
village, and something less than a town. True, it
has its market-place and its square, at one corner
of which are painted up in large letters the words
" The Town ;" but it has nothing that can be st) led

35*

Greater London.

tEnfield.

a High Street, being laid out on the most irregular
of plans, if plan it can be called. It is a large
cluster of gentlemen's seats and substantial houses
of the Dutch and Queen Anne style, with high-
browed doorways and heavy-sashed windows, stand
ing for the most part near the road, and screened
off from it by lofty red-brick walls and iron gates,
some of which afford really handsome specimens
of iron scroll-work. Mixed up with these larger
houses, in most admired confusion, are smalbshops
and modern villas, for the most part the abodes of
industrious City clerks and retired tradesmen.
The central part of the parish, comprising the
town, is situated on the cross-road leading from
Enfield highway in the east to Barnet and Hadley
in the west. The principal feature of the town is
the broad central square above mentioned, contain
ing a market-cross and the parish church.
Baker Street and Silver Street are the names of
the thoroughfares running northwards from the
market-place towards Forty Hill and Cheshunt. In
Baker Street is the vicarage, heavy, solid, and sub
stantial, close to the churchyard, and opening into
it ; Enfield Court, the seat of Colonel Somerset ;
the old rectory, and Fox Hall, both remarkable for
their tall iron gates, surmounted by heraldic bear
ings ; and a quaint little square of humble cottages,
occupied by the industrious classes, and dating
from the seventeenth century, rejoicing in the
grand name of Carterhatch Square. One side of
it, however, has been cut off to make room for an
unsightly Independent chapel.
Enfield Court is the most important mansion in
the neighbourhood. The estate, which contains
about eighty acres, was formerly part of the manor
of Worcesters. The original structure dates from
the latter end of the seventeenth century, since
which time it has received many successive addi
tions. The southern wing was re-built in 1864,
at which time great alterations were made in the
gardens and grounds. The garden on the west
side of the house still bears traces of having been
originally laid out in the time of William III., with
its broad terrace walk 400 feet in length, and
its clipped yews and hollies of the Dutch style
of gardening. At the bottom of this garden
stands a quaint and picturesque summer-house,
a small building, having an upper chamber and
a pointed roof. There is also an oblong fish
pond, crossed by a bridge, the remains of a former
" canal."* The principal thoroughfares, running north and
south, extend for about two miles, and are crossed

See "Old and New London," Vol. IV., p. 50.

and re-crossed by the New River, which curves and
meanders, "at its own sweet will," through the
parish, as if loth to leave the woodland Chase
through which Sir Hugh Myddelton carried it. Its
course within the limits of Enfield cannot be much
short of five miles ; so that it seems to belong to
Enfield more truly than to any other parish in
Middlesex. The New River enters the parish at Bull's Cross
in the north, and leaves it at Bush Hill in the
south; and it winds about with so many twists
and twirls, that it seems to have started on its
course with a deliberate intention of visiting every
gentleman in Enfield in succession, for really there
is scarcely one mansion which has not some part
of its grounds washed by its clear waters. One of
these seats (Myddelton House), that of Mr. Carring-
ton Bowles, stands on the site of a building called
Bowling Green House, once the abode of Sir Hugh
Myddelton, to whom the New River may be said
to owe its existence. Its history from the time
when, in the reign of King James I., the above-
mentioned worthy knight persuaded the Common
Council of London to transfer to him the power
granted by certain Acts then recently passed en
abling them to convey a stream of water to London
from any part of Middlesex, will be found fully
described in Old and New London.* Sir Hugh
Myddelton, who, as we have seen in the preceding
chapter, lived at Winchmore Hill whilst super
intending the formation of this river, offered, in
four years, at his own risk and charge, to bring the
Chadwell and Amwell springs from Hertfordshire
up to London, by a route more than thirty-eight
miles long ; and the work was completed in Sep
tember, 1613. The "Third Report of the His
torical MSS. Commission" gives a melancholy
proof, if proof be needed, of the injustice with
which this benefactor of London was treated by
his fellow-citizens. The patriotic goldsmith, who
spent his whole fortune in procuring a priceless
boon for the Londoners, never received any recom
pense for his skill and labour ; and Lysons tells us
that within the memory of his own generation the
last male descendant of Sir Hugh was allowed by
them to become a pensioner on the bounty of
the New River Company. Verily, virtue in this
country is too often its own sole reward !
Enfield Highway, the most easterly division of
the parish, stretches along the Hertford road from
Bonder's End in the south-east, to Enfield Wash
and Bullsmoor Lane in the north-east, and will be
more fully dealt with in a subsequent chapter. It
* See Vol. II., p. 266, and Vol. V., pp. 430 and 538.

Enfield.]

A ROYAL "PROGRESS."

3Si

is connected with the town by numerous lanes and
thoroughfares. The River Lea and the Lea and
Stort Navigation both flow through the marsh land,
a short distance to the east of Enfield Highway.
Here, on the banks of the Lea, about a mile dis
tant from the Wash, stands the Royal Small Arms
Factory. This, too, we shall presently describe in
detail. Chase Side, as the western division is called,
slopes up gradually from the town towards Trent
Park (or Cock Fosters) and Beech Hill Park, and
so on to Hadley.
Railway communication with the metropolis has
of late years been the cause of a great extension of
the town in almost all directions, particularly at
Chase Side. Here, on Windmill Hill, the Great
Northern Railway has the terminus of a short
branch line ; and close by the " Nag's Head " inn,
near the centre of the town, is the terminus of a
branch line of the Great Eastern Railway; whilst
at Ponder's End, and at the Ordnance Factory, are
stations on the main line itself, affording easy com
munication with Enfield Highway and the eastern
parts of the parish.
The parish contains altogether 12,650 acres, in
clusive of the Chase, 350 acres of which were
enclosed by Act of Parliament in 180 1. In 187 1
the population was rather over 1,600, to which
about 3,000 were added during the next ten years.
The general appearance of the main road run
ning north and south through the town, with its
numerous antiquated cottages and mansions, which
have been inhabited by generations long since
passed away, is quite in keeping with its historical
associations, which are by no means small or un
important. Almost immediately on the accession of Mary,
the jealous Queen sent for her sister Elizabeth,
who was at Ashridge on the borders of Hertford
shire and Buckinghamshire, peremptorily ordering
her attendance at Court. The Princess, being ill,
was obliged to travel in the Queen's own litter, and
the rate of progress was so slow that she took four
days in making a little less than thirty miles. She
was carried, by easy stages, by way of Enfield to
Highgate, where she was met by a large number of
her friends.
In 1603, when James VI. of Scotland made his
triumphal entry into London as James I. of Eng
land, his route from Theobalds lay along the road
through Forty Hill and the town. " All the road
from Enfield to Stamford Hill was lined and
thronged with people. I heard many greyheads
speak it, that in all the meetings they had seen or
heard of, they had never heard or seen the tenth

mass of those that were to be seen that day betwixt
Enfield and London. Every place in this space
was so clogged with company, that His Highness
could not pass without pausing, ofttimes willingly
enforced, though more willing to have proceeded,
if conveniently he could without peril to his be
loved people." Such are the fulsome comments of
Mr. John Savile on the King's first " progress. "
The scenery all round the town is delightfully
rural and pleasant, particularly towards the south,
in those parts through which we have journeyed
hither. H. Crabb Robinson writes in his " Diary" :
— "I followed a path to Winchmore Hill, and
another to Enfield — the last through some of the
richest verdure I ever saw. The hills exquisitely
undulating, with very fine clumps of oak-trees. . . .
Enfield town, the large white church, the serpen
tine New River, Mr. Mellish's house [Bush Hill
Park], with its woody appendages, form a singu
larly beautiful picture  Before dinner we
lounged round the Green, and saw the cedar of
Lebanon which once belonged to Queen Eliza
beth's palace, of which only a chimney remains."
This last statement, we must add, is not quite
accurate. Enfield conferred the title of Baron on the
Nassaus, Earls of Rochfort, the first of whom
married a daughter of Sir Henry Wroth, of Durants,
and was created Baron of Enfield by William III.
in 1695. It now gives the title of Viscount to the
Earl of Strafford, whose estates adjoin the. Chase.
In Domesday Book the parish is called Ene-
felde, and the variation in spelling in subsequent
records are very trifling — as Endfield, Enfeld, Ene-
field, Envild, and, lastly, Enfield. As to its etymo
logy, Norden says, " It is called of some Enfen,
and so recorded in regarde of the fenny scytuation
of some parte thereof, upon the marshes or meerish
ground, which, though now brought to be good
meadow and profitable pasture, it hath in time past
been fenny." " This statement," Mr. Ford ob
serves, in his work above quoted, " is not supported
by any authority. The termination 'field' is the
past participle of the verb 'faellan,' to fell, and
opposed to woodland, as land where the trees have
been cleared."
It is stated in the " Domesday Survey " that in
the time of Edward the Confessor the manor of
' Enefelde ' was held by Asgar, master of the horse
to the king, who was likewise lord of the neigh
bouring manor of Edmonton. At the time of this
survey this manorial district was possessed by
Geoffrey de Mandeville, from whose family it de
scended to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford.
Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, was the daughter

352

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

and co-heiress of the last Earl of Hereford of the
Bohun family; and on her death, in 1399, this
manor was inherited by her sister Mary, wife of
Henry, Duke of Lancaster, afterwards Plenry IV.
The principal manor of Enfield thus became vested
in the Crown, and was shortly after annexed to the
Duchy of Lancaster, of which it still continues to
be parcel.
Early in the fourteenth century Edward I. granted
a license to Humphrey de Bohun and his wife
(Elizabeth, Countess of Holland, and the King's
daughter), and their heirs, to hold a weekly market
here on Mondays; and James I., in 161 9, by writ
of Privy Council, granted to certain persons therein
named license to hold a weekly market here on
Saturdays, and at the same time established a
" Court of Pie Powder." The market, however,
from various causes seems to have been discon
tinued many years ago; but several ineffectual
attempts have been made to revive it, and the very
name of " Pie Powder " has been long forgotten.
Two fairs were formerly held in the town annu
ally, in August and November. The first, which,
from some unknown cause, had latterly been held
in September, and had long ceased to answer any
legitimate purposes of trade, but had become a
source of lawlessness and disorder, and having
grown a nuisance to the inhabitants of the town,
was abolished in 1869, on a petition from the lead
ing residents. The other fair, held on St Andrew's
Day, was at one time celebrated as a cheese-fair,
but is now chiefly frequented for the sale of horses
and cattle.
Richard II. granted to the inhabitants an exemp
tion from certain tolls for their goods and mer
chandise, and various other privileges, in " all
fairs, markets, villages, and other places throughout
England, out of the Duchy of Lancaster, in the
county of Middlesex." It is stated, however,
observes Mr. Ford, that this exemption has been
resisted in Covent Garden and Whitechapel mar
kets. The above grant was confirmed and ex
tended by Henry IV. and Henry VI., and other
sovereigns, down to George III. An exemption
from toll at Ware Bridge was also granted to the
inhabitants of Enfield by Queen Elizabeth, and
subsequently confirmed by George III.
It is curious, observes Mr. Ford in a supple
ment to his " History of Enfield," to compare the
valuation here given of the mansion and manor of
Enfield in the reign of Edward III. with the ap
praisement, in the same reign, of Holland House
and the manor of Kensington, and to note the much
higher-value of both land and houses in the then
much more fashionable and aristocratic suburb of

Enfield, the former standing at 32 s. iod., whilst the
latter is only 7s. The yearly value of the mansion
and dove-house at Kensington is less than that of
the Enfield dove-house alone, and the value of
woodland per acre is only one-tenth of that of the
old park at Enfield.
The site of the original manor house of Enfield
has long been a subject of antiquarian research.
Camden says that " almost in the middle of the
Chase there are the ruins and rubbish of an ancient
house, which the common people from tradition
affirm to have belonged to the Mandevilles, Earls
of Essex." At a short distance from the West
Lodge, Trent Park, near the road which leads over
the Chase towards Hadley, are still in existence
traces of the site above alluded to ; it is called
Camlet Moat, and is a large quadrangular area,
overgrown with briars and bushes. When mea
sured, in 1773, the length of the moat was 150 feet.
In describing these remains, Mr. Ford observes
that " at the north-east corner is a deep well, paved
at the bottom, in which it is pretended lies an iron
chest full of treasure, which cannot be drawn up to
the top, and that the last owner to whom the Chase
belonged being attainted of treason, hid himself in
a hollow tree, and falling into this well perished
miserably  The tiles scattered over the area,
the well, and the traces of the enclosures and
avenues, would seem to be rather the works of the
fifteenth or sixteenth centuries than of any earlier
period." Here Sir Walter Scott brings some of the
characters in "The Fortunes of Nigel," and the
place has been, as a matter of course, invested with
something of the glamour of his marvellous genius
in consequence. It is now almost the only spot
where any trace of the original wildness of Enfield
Chase can be met with.
In Dugdale's " Baronage " it is stated that
Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, procured,
in 1347, the king's license to fortify his manor
house at Enfield. In a meadow to the east of the
church, near to " Nag's Head " lane, there are
traces of a moat and extensive embankments, with
an artificial mount. Lysons and other topographers
suppose that these are the remains of Humphrey
de Bohun's castle, and that when the manorial resi
dence was removed it acquired the name of " Old-
bury," by which it is still known.
Early in the sixteenth century the site of the
manor was leased to private individuals; but
the lease appears to have reverted to the Crown
towards the latter part of the reign of Henry
VIIL, at which time the house was retained
as a royal residence. At that time the original
manor house of the Bohuns had fallen into decay,

Enfield].

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S PALACE.

353

and the royal children, Edward and Elizabeth,
were brought up at Elsynge Hall (called also
Enfield House), which belonged to the manor
of Worcesters.
Here Edward VI. was living when prince, and
here he was waited on by many of the Scottish
nobility, who had been brought to London as
prisoners after the defeat at Solway Firth, and
tendered him their homage as destined by the
arbitrary king, whose heir he was, to become
in due time the husband of the infant Princess
Mary of Scotland. But, though a Tudor proposes,
God disposes.
At the death of Henry VIIL, Prince Edward
was living at Hertford, but was shortly after con
ducted to Enfield, where the Princess Elizabeth
was then living, and it was not till then that he was
made acquainted with the fact of his father's death,
and consequently of his own accession to the throne.
On the following Monday Edward was conducted
to London. In the State Paper Office is a letter
from the Earl of Hertford to the Council : " From
Envild this Sunday night att xj. of the clok." He
writes, " We intend the King's Matie shal be a
horsbak to-morrow by xj. of the clok, so that by
iij. we trust His Grace shal be att the Tower."
The following anecdote connected with the
garden of the palace at this period is extracted from
Tuft's " History of Enfield " :— " There is one very
remarkable feature connected with Enfield Palace
that has come to light but recently. It was in the
garden at Enfield that the Earl of Hertford took the
opportunity of communicating to his companion,
the master of the horse, his intention to assume the
office of Protector, in contravention to the late
King's will, which had designated eighteen execu
tors, with equal powers.
" We are told that, ' after commoning in discourse
of the state,' Sir Anthony ' gave his frank, consent
to the proposal ; ' upon which, as we learn from
another letter, Hertford had previously ' devised '
with Secretary Paget, who was now' left at Court to
arrange matters with the other counsellors.
" Edward was not again at Enfield Palace during
his reign, but his sister, Elizabeth, continued to
reside here ; and there is mention also of the
Queen Dowager (Katharine Parr) paying Enfield
a visit'' William Wightman writes thus to Secretary
Cecil : — " Myne old master, the master of th'
orses,' albeit, as is commonly known, he did much
dissent from the proceedings in matters of religion,
yet was I long sins by himself right well assured
that he, commoning with my Lordes Grace in the
garden at Endfielde, at the King's Majesties coom-

ing from Hartforde, gave his franke consent, after
communication in discourse of the state, that His
Grace should be Protector, thinking it (as indede
it was) both the surest kynde of government, and
most fyt for this commonwelth." *
And again, another courtier, Paget, writes to the
Protector Somerset t : — " Remember what you pro
mised me in the gallery at Westminster, before the
breath was out of the body of the King that
dead is. Remember what you promised immedi
ately after, devising with me concerning the place
which you now occupy, I trust in the end to good
purpose, however things thwart now."
About the middle of the sixteenth century the
manor of Enfield was settled by Edward on the
Princess Elizabeth, at which time it ' is considered
probable that he either built, or re-built, on the site of
a former structure, the house known as the Palace,
some portion of which is still standing on the south
side of the High Street, opposite the church
and market-place. This house was of red brick,
with stone dressings. The principal front of the
palace faced the north, and is described by Dr.
Robinson, in his " History of Enfield," as consisting
of a centre and two wings, with bay windows and
high gables. The wings were decorated with the
arms of England, crowned and supported by a
lion and dragon, with the letters E. R. at the sides.
The north-east side of the building, of which an
engraving is given in Dr. Robinson's work, was of
two storeys, and had a boldly-projecting bay in the
centre, terminating in a tall gable, and stone-
mullioned square-headed windows.
The greater part of the palace was demolished
towards the close of the last century, and the
materials were made use of for building purposes. A
warrant was issued in 1608 for paying the expenses
of taking down what was then called the King's
House at Enfield. The materials were by the
same order directed to be conveyed to Theobalds,
in Cheshunt, there to be used in the intended
buildings in course of erection. How any part
came to be retained in situ is a fact not to be
traced in the muniments or records of the period.
Considerably later on a further demolition ensued ;
and alterations — certainly not improvements — were
made, not only in the interior, but in the exterior.
What still remains is almost obscured from public
view by houses and shops built in front of it, and
bears externally nothing to denote any semblance
to the residence of royalty, so thorough and com
plete has been the change effected from the

* "Literary Remains of King Edward VI. "(printed for theRoxburghe
Club, 1558), p. ccxlvii.
t Ibid, p. lxxxvi.

354

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

mediaeval aspect of the ancient dwelling. " Not
withstanding the great alterations which it has
undergone, the interior still preserves some vestiges
of its ancient magnificence, and a part of one of the
large rooms on the ground floor remains nearly in
its original state, with its fine fretted panels of oak,
and its ornamental ceiling, with pendants of four
spreading leaves, and enrichments of the crown,
the rose, and the fleur-de-lis. The chimney-piece
is of stone, beautifully cut, and supported by Ionic
and Corinthian columns, decorated with foliage and
birds, and the rose and portcullis, crowned with

the Princess Elizabeth to her brother, Edward VI.
It is dated " Enfield, Feb. 14," the year, however,
is not recorded. Could it have been sent as a
valentine ? Other letters by Elizabeth, dated from
the same place, are preserved in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. When she became queen at
the death of her sister Mary, Elizabeth did not
forget her former residence, but frequently went
there, holding her court, and enjoying the sport of
hunting on the beautiful free and open Chase.
That she was well acquainted with the condition
of the forest trees growing in her demesne is

the arms of England and France quarterly in a
garter, and the royal supporters, a lion and a
dragon. Below is the motto, ' Sola salus servire
Deo; suntcseterafraudes.' The letters E.R. are
on this chimney-piece, and were formerly on each
side of the wings of the principal building. The
monogram is clearly that of Edward VI., as the
same room contains part of another chimney-piece,
which was removed from one of the upper apart
ments, with nearly the same ornaments, and the
motto, 'Vt ros super herbam est benevolentia
Regis,' alluding, no doubt, to the royal grant.
Several of the ceilings in the upper rooms are
decorated in a similar manner to those below."
Among these, the principal are the drawing-room
and some sleeping apartments, now used as the
boys' bedrooms, for the building has for many years
served the purposes of a school.
Among the collection of royal letters in the
British Museum there is one * in Latin, written by

• Harl. MSS., No. 6986, p. 14.

THE PALACE, FROM THE NORTH.
evidenced by a letter dated Dec. 30, 1570, wherein
she authorises Sir Ralph Sadleir to deliver to Sir
William Cecil certain oak timber trees, all to be
taken out of the manor of Enfield. Queen Eliza
beth was here from the 8th to the 22nd of Septem
ber, 1561, and again from the 25th to the 30th of
July, 1564. The court was here again in July, 1568.
Some years later on the queen quitted the Manor
House, and fixed her residence at Elsynge Hall.
In 1582 Enfield Palace was leased by Queen
Elizabeth to a private gentleman, and did not
again revert to the Crown during her reign. From

Enfield.l

DR. ROBERT UVEDALE.

355

1600 to 1623 it appears to have been held by
Lord William Howard; and in 1629 it was granted
by Charles I. to Edward Ditchfield and others, as
trustees for the City of London, by whom it was
afterwards conveyed to Sir Nicholas Raynton, who
is commemorated by a handsome monument in the
church. About the year 1660 the palace was let
to Dr. Robert Uvedale, master of the Grammar
School, who acquired great fame in his day for his
knowledge of the science of botany, and had some
distinguished pupils in his house as boarders.
An account of Dr. Uvedale's garden is given in
the " Archseologia," * and in Pulteney's "Anec
dotes of Botany " mention is made of a plant called
Vvedalia, out of compliment to him.
In Robinson's " History of. Enfield " the fol
lowing singular story is told relating to the above-
mentioned pedagogue and botanist . — " Dr. Uve
dale, in the great plague of 1665, as a preventive
against its fatal effects, caused a brick to be put
into the fire over night, and the next morning, when
red hot, poured a quart of vinegar on it, and
placed it in the middle of the hall floor, the steam
of which was received by the whole family standing
round. They then went to prayers, and afterwards,
locking up the house, walked to Winchmore Hill,
and on their return went to school. By this
precaution not one of the family caught the in
fection." A curious knife, found here, is figured and
described in the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. IX.,
page 595. Probably it may have belonged to
some of Dr. Uvedale's aristocratic pupils.
In the garden stands a magnificent specimen of
the cedar of Lebanon. It cannot claim to be of
the time of Queen Elizabeth, having been planted
by Dr. Uvedale soon after he took the premises.
This worthy, being a scholar and a distinguished
botanist, took much pride in his collection of
flowers and plants of all kinds. In the year 1793,
at three feet from the ground, it is stated to have
measured twelve feet in girth, and since then has
increased. It was greatly injured by a severe
storm in 1794, and lost one of its best branches.
It is certainly one of the largest specimens of
the cedar known in this country ; some say that it is
the finest. It may be seen from many points
round about Enfield.
The greater part of the palace was pulled down
by Dr. Callaway, it having been struck by lightning;
he is said to have designed cutting down the
cedar also ; but he desisted from his intention on
account of the remonstrances of the inhabitants.
* See Vol. XII , pp. 188-g.

The market-place is a large open space in the
centre of the town, and in the last century must
have been highly picturesque. On the south side
stood the palace above described, its gardens bor
dering the main street, which passes through the
town westward at this point. On the east side of
the square were in former times the open market
and shambles, the south-east corner being occupied
by a large hostelry called the " King's Head," with
a quaintly-gabled front, and its signboard swinging
from an elaborate iron standard. This building is
no longer an inn, but is now used as offices by a
firm of solicitors, and as the office of the Local
Board ; it also serves the magistrates as a house

THE OLD MARKET HOUSE, ENFIELD.
(From Dr. Robinson's "Enfield.")
for the local petty sessions. A new " King's Head"
has sprung up in its place at the south-west corner
of the churchyard. The " King's Head " is the most
common of all loyal signs, and is most frequently
to be met with where the footprints of " bluff King
Hal " may be traced. Hence it could hardly fail
to be the chief sign in Enfield. In spite of his
savage cruelty, still his face and figure, the imper
sonation of jollity and good- cheer, made the royal
tyrant popular at all events on the confines of every
royal chase.
The old market-house, of which a drawing is
given in Dr. Robinson's " Enfield," was a wooden
building of an octagonal form, supported by eight
columns and a central pillar. There were also a
portable pillory and stocks in the market-place,
both of which were long ago removed. The
stocks, however, found a permanent settlement
close by the police-station. The present market-
cross — a gingerbread example of the " Strawberry
Hill " Gothic, a poor imitation of its neighbours at

356

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

Waltham and Tottenham — was built in 1826, at a
cost of about ^200, which was raised by a sub
scription among the inhabitants. The structure is
built of brick, thickly coated with cement; it
stands on an octagonal platform of steps, and is
enclosed by iron railings ; at the sides are inscrip
tions recording the date of its erection, and also
the date of the several charters granting the market.
The cross was restored in 1866, but is again in a
somewhat dilapidated condition.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Andrew, stands
within a spacious churchyard, on the north side of
the market-place. It dates from the thirteenth
century, and consists of a chancel, clerestoried nave,
aisles, and towers at the west end containing a peal
of eight bells. Some of the windows are filled with
stained glass. The exterior of the church is some
what poor and bare, having been "restored " in the
very dawn of the Gothic revival, when it was plastered
over neatly with cement. There are several engrav
ings of the church in the last century and in the early
part of this, showing it with the east window blocked
up, and a quaint old parvise, or muniment-room, with
a projecting gable, and a sun-dial surmounting the
south porch. The fine yew-tree near the south
chancel window was at that time cropped into a
formal triangle, after the fashion of those which we
have seen at Harlington and Bedfont. The em
battled tower, built of flint and rubble, with stone
quoins in three stages, gradually tapering and
without buttresses, has lost much of its ancient
appearance by the alteration of its windows in the
two lower stages, and by its walls being cased in
cement. Inside its proportions are fine, but they
are marred by the intrusion of some unsightly
galleries. Though the organ has been removed
to the east end of the south aisle, yet its " case "
still grins down upon the congregation from a
gallery across the west end — a tribute to the preju
dices of some of the more old-fashioned parishioners.
The walls between the arches and the clerestory
are coloured with a delicate tint, and stencilled
with an effective pattern. These decorations are
modern. The chancel is separated from the nave by a
lofty arch, and in the chancel are sedilia and
piscina, erected in 1852, in the place of others
discovered during some alterations in the building.
A lancet-window and hagioscope in the south wall
of the chancel were opened during a restoration of
the church in 1866, at which time the church was
new roofed throughout. Over the arches of the
nave are placed alternately the devices of a rose
and wing, which are also found on the tower of
Hadley Church.* Lysons, in his "Environs of

London," supposes that these emblems had some
connection with the Abbey of Walden ; but Mr.
Ford, in his history of the parish, says "there can be
no doubt but that a rose and wing were borne as
badges by Sir Thomas Lovell, K.G., who, on the
death of Lord Roos, in 1508, without issue, suc
ceeded to the Manor of Worcesters, in right of
his wife Isabella, sister to Lord Roos." Pennant
mentions in his " Itinerary " that in his time the
same emblems, a rose and a wing, were to be seen
on a wall which formerly belonged to Holiwell
Nunnery, in Shoreditch, to which Sir Thomas
Lovell was a great benefactor, and where he was
buried in 1524, after his body had been laid in
state in Enfield church, on the way from Elsynge
Hall to London.
In the year 1777, when the chancel was under
going alterations, a very curious allegorical picture
was discovered, representing the Resurrection, in
six compartments, painted on wood ; this singu
lar piece of Church antiquity was given to Mr.
Gough the antiquarian, who was then residing at
Enfield. The oldest and most interesting monument in
the church is that of Joyce, Lady Tiptoft, who
died in 1446. She was mother of the learned
Earl of Worcester, and wife of Sir John Tiptoft,
nephew of Robert, the last Lord Tiptoft. The
monument is a large altar-tomb under the eastern
most arch on the north side of the chancel, and
over it is a stone canopy of later date. The tomb
is covered with a slab of grey Purbeck marble, in
laid with a very fine brass, in good preservation,
representing the figure of the deceased richly attired
in the fashion of the time. She wears an heraldic
mantle, and over her head is a triple canopy, on
the pillars of which are the arms of Tiptoft, Powes,
Holland, and Charlton. Round the edge of the
slab is a brass fillet, at the corners of which were
the four evangelistic symbols, though only one —
that of St. Matthew — now remains. In Dr. Robin
son's work, published in 1823, three are repre
sented. The words of the inscription are divided <
by representations of birds, beasts, fishes, &c. The
canopy over the tomb is supposed to have been
erected by Thomas, first Earl of Rutland, either as
a memorial of Edmund, Lord Roos, or as a me
morial of his sister Isabel, Lady Lovell. This
monument is enriched with gold and colouring ; it
was restored a few years ago by the Duke of
Rutland, who is a representative of the Roos
family. In the north chancel aisle is a large and richly-
* See ante, p. 328,

Enfield.]

QUAINT EPITAPHS.

357

decorated monument of Sir Nicholas Raynton, of
Forty Hall, sometime Lord Mayor of London, who
died in 1646, and of his wife Rebecca, who died six
years previously. Sir Nicholas is represented in
armour, reclining under a canopy, supported by .two
columns of black marble, in his robes as Lord
Mayor ; and below him is an effigy of his wife in a
similar posture, holding a book in her left hand.
Below these again are the figures of his son and
his son's wife and their four children. One of the
fine Jacobean monuments is " skied" up into the
south-west corner of the gallery.
John Abernethy, the eminent surgeon, who died
at Enfield in 183 1, is commemorated by a mural
monument. On the floor are brasses of William Smith and
Jane, his wife, " who served King Henry VIIL,
Edward VI., Queen Marie, and now Queen Eliza
beth." He died in 1592, leaving £4 out of his
land "to be given to the godlie poore of En
field." There is a beautiful monument on the north
chancel pier to the memory of Mrs. Martha Palmer,
one of the Palmers of Dorney. It is mentioned by
Horace Walpole as the handiwork of Nicholas
Stone, sculptor and master-mason to James I., and
greatly celebrated for his works. Vertue quotes
from his pocket-book an entry of the cost of this
monument: "Mrs. Palmer, at Enfield, ^16."
Previous to the last restoration of the church,
in 1866, there was a brass in the floor of the
chancel, inscribed to the memory of Ann, daughter
of Richard Gery, Esq., of Bushmead, Bedfordshire,
with the following curious epitaph : —
" Here lies interr'd
One that scarce err'd ;
A virgin modest, free from folly ;
A virgin knowing, patient, holy ;
A virgin blest with beauty here ;
A virgin crown'd with glory there :
Holy virgins, read, and say,
We shall hither all one day.
Live well, ye must
Be turn'd to dust."
The vestry, at the north-east corner of the church,
is supposed to have formerly constituted a chantry-
chapel. Chantries were founded in this church
by Baldwyn de Radyngton in 1398, and for the
souls of Robert Blossom and Agnes, his wife, in the
reign of Edward IV.
At the east end of the churchyard, near the
entrance to the vicarage garden, is the tomb of
Lord and Lady Napier of Merchistoun. On the
grave-stone of John White, Surveyor to the New
River Company, is the following quaint epi
taph : —

" Here lies John White, who, day by day,
On river works did use much clay,
Is now himself turning that way :
If not to clay, yet dust will come,
Which to preserve takes little room,
Although enclos'd in this great tomb.
I served the New River Company, as Surveyor, from Lady-
day, 1691, to Midsummer, 1723."
The vicarage has numbered among its occupants
but few, if any, whose names have become famous
in history. We may, however, state that the Rev.
Wm. Roberts was ejected from the living of Enfield
by the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1642, and
that Dr. Maclagan, now Bishop of Lichfield, was
for some few years curate-in-charge of the parish,
before becoming rector of Newington and vicar of
Kensington. He had previously been an officer in
the Indian army.
On the west side of the churchyard stands the
Free Grammar School, which was founded, in the
sixteenth century. The school-house was rebuilt in
the seventeenth century. It is a large, old-fashioned
red-brick building, with dormer windows ; modern
sash-windows have superseded the old stone-
mullioned frames. The management of the school
is in accordance with a scheme drawn up in 1873
by the Endowed Schools' Commissioners, and it is
under a board of local gentlemen as governors.
The Established Church and the Dissenters at
Enfield have each their "School of Industry,"
founded in 1806. The former stands in Silver
Street, and the latter in Baker Street. A hand
some new building for the Church school was opened
in 1876, its foundation stone having been laid by
Miss Somerset. The school, which had been
carried on for seventy years in " The Old Coffee
House," now accommodates one hundred children,
who are taught washing, cooking, and housework,
to fit them for domestic service.
At a school kept here by a Mr. Clarke, John
Keats spent the greater part of his childhood and
boyhood, from five to fifteen. Here, on half-
holidays, when the rest of the boys were at cricket,
he would remain indoors,' translating his Virgil or
his Fenelon. If his master forced him to go out
and take exercise, he would walk up and down the
garden, book in hand — Shakespeare, or Lem-
priere's " Dictionary," or Spence's Polymetis, 01
"Robinson Crusoe." He left this school in 18 10
to be apprenticed to Mr. Hammond, a surgeon, at
Edmonton. The story of the rest of his short life,
spent at Hampstead,* in London, and in Italy, is
known to most English readers.
This parish is well off for charitable institutions,

* See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 458.

358

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

almshouses, &c. ; and there are also a large number
of chapels for Nonconformists of different denomi
nations. On the south side of the town, near the Great
Northern Railway station, is Old Park, so called
to distinguish it from the Little Park, or New Park,
on the northern side of the parish. The estate, as
we learn from Mr. Ford's " Enfield," " was formerly
the Home Park of the ancient manorial palace of
Enfield, at which the Princess Elizabeth resided."
From a survey of 1650, the house appears to have
been then a ranger's lodge, and from the remains
of massive foundations in every direction, must
have been of considerable extent ; but the greater
part of the original structure has long since been
pulled down, and the remainder transformed into
a comparatively modern residence of the early
Hanoverian period. In the library still remain
the original open chimney and hearth, with fire-
dogs, and a "reredos," with figures of the time
of James I. There are also several interesting
curiosities, autographs of the queen, &c. ; and the
original statuette of Oliver Goldsmith, the chef-
d'oeuvre of Foley, graces his library.
The park, about 200 acres in extent, is well
wooded, and the lawn in front of the house is sur
rounded on three sides by a circular entrenchment,
from which various interesting relics have at dif
ferent times been obtained. It is mentioned by
Camden as the site of an ancient Roman Oppidum.
A long lease of the Old Park was granted by the
merry monarch, on his restoration, to Monk,
Duke of Albemarle; but reverting to the Crown on
the death of his successor's wife, the second
duchess, it was bestowed by William III., in the
first year of his reign, upon John, ninth Earl of
Rutland. It afterwards passed through the hands
of the Clayton and Lewis families ; it is now the
seat of Mr. Edward Ford, upon whose " History of
Enfield " we have drawn so largely in this chapter.
Chase Park, the original house of which stood
near the entrance lodge from Chase Green, was
formerly part of the Old Park estate. The present
mansion, which has been many years in the posses
sion of the Adams family, was built in 1822, about
which time the New River Company, under a
mutual agreement, formed an ornamental sheet of
water in front of the house.
The estate of Chase Side House, the seat of
Mrs. Twells, widow of Mr. Philip Twells, M.P.,
was also originally part of the Old Park, which
formerly extended as far as the town, and included
the palace, with its gardens, &c. The part of the
town in which this property lies was, in the seven
teenth century, known as Enfield Green, the pre

sent green being at that time a portion of the
unenclosed Chase ; and, as Mr. Ford tells us, down
to the present century several trees were still stand
ing, marking the former boundary of the Old Park.
In the middle of the seventeenth century Sir
Robert Jason was living at Enfield Green, in a
house probably occupying the site of the present
Chase Side House.
The present green is a broad open space of
turf, environed with a few trees, and skirted on the
east side by the picturesque windings of the New
River, which is here crossed by two or three
bridges. It is a pleasant spot, and lies midway
between the town and the Great Northern Railway
station, on the gentle slope which begins to rise
towards Windmill Hill and the Ridgeway. It has
long been a favourite lounge. " I sunned myself,"
writes Henry Crabb Robinson in his " Diary,''
" on the beautiful Enfield Green."
Thomas Trevor, of Enfield Green, was created a
baronet in 1641, and made a Knight of the Bath at
the coronation of Charles II. He was the grand
son of John Trevor of Trevallin, in Denbighshire,
ancestor of the Viscounts Hampden, and son of
Sir Thomas Trevor, Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
Little Park, lying between the church and the
Chase Side, was built in 1750-60. It is the pro
perty of Mr. Cornelius Walford, the eminent autho
rity on insurance matters and other social subjects.
The old road from the church to the Chase is said
to have passed between some fine dark pine-trees
on the estate.
On the west of Enfield, on the hill leading up
from the green towards the Ridgeway, and close
to the Great Northern Railway station, is Beycullah
Park — now being laid out for the erection of villas
— where the Enfield races were held. They have,
however, been lately given up, much to the satis
faction of the more respectable portion of the com
munity. It is said that this was the first place in
the kingdom at which horse-racing was established ;
and the statement is probably true, on account of
its vicinity to the court held by James I. at Theo
balds, near Cheshunt. The races were then called
" Bell-courses," because the prize was a silver bell,
afterwards altered into a cup. Hence comes the
phrase, " to bear the bell."
In this part of Enfield a new church (St. Mary
Magdalene) has been erected, at the expense of
Mrs. Twells, of Chase Side. It is built of stone, in
the Perpendicular style, with a bright red-tiled roof.
It consists of a clerestoried nave, aisles, transepts,
and chancel, and has a tower with a tall spire,
which forms a conspicuous object on all sides.
Christchurch Congregational Chapel, at Chase

Enfield.1

FORTY HALL.

359

Side, was built in 1878. It is in the Early English
style, and has a tower surmounted by a tall taper
ing spire. St. Michael's Church, at Chase Side, was
consecrated in 1874, as a chapel-of-ease to the parish
church. It is built of Kentish rag-stone, with Bath
stone dressings, and consists of a chancel and nave,
with aisles, and a tower at the western end.
The church of St. John the Baptist, at Clay Hill,
is a small building in the Early English style, con
structed of brick with stone dressings, and consist
ing of chancel, nave, and aisles, with a bell-turret
at the west end. It was erected in 1857, from the
designs of Mr. J. St. Aubyn. All the windows are
filled with stained glass.
The cemetery, at Brigadier Hill, is pleasantly
situated on a gentle slope, overlooking Clay Hill.
It covers about nine acres, and was laid out in
1872, at a cost of about ^9,000.
Jesus Church, Forty Hill, at the northern end of
the town, on the road towards Cheshunt, was built
in 1835, at the expense of Mr. Christian P. Meyer,
of Forty Hall. It is a poor imitation of the Early
English style. Several of the windows are filled
with stained glass ; that over the altar is in memory
of the founder, and one at the west end is to the
memory of Dr. Weir, who held the vicarage from
1863 till his death, in 1874.
On the left hand stands Forty Hall, the seat of
Mr. James Meyer. It is the manor-house of the
ancient royal manor of " Worcesters."* The house
is a heavy but handsome structure, built of brick
early in the seventeenth century, and was erected by
Inigo Jones for Sir Nicholas Raynton, but was
much altered by the Wolstenholmes about the
year 1700. It has finely-clustered chimney-stacks,
and a lofty tiled roof, reminding the travelled
reader of the chateaux of Normandy. The prin
cipal rooms are large, and have the ceilings en
riched with panelling and tracery. The mansion
contains a good collection of pictures by the first
masters, including Rubens, Teniers, Canaletti,
Annibal Caracci, Raphael, and Bassano ; also a
portrait of Sir Nicholas Raynton in his civic robes
(1643), supposed to be by Dobson, the pupil of
Vandyck. The house stands in a park nearly 300
acres in extent, many of the trees of which were
full grown in the days when royal Tudors
hunted here, and probably formed part of the forest
of Middlesex in Plantagenet and even Norman
times. The grounds are studded with several fine
cedars, limes, and chestnuts, and an ornamental
sheet of water in front of the house adds much to
its picturesque appearance. The fine old gateway

See ante, p. 348.

of the stables, consisting of a semicircular arch,
surmounted by a pediment, and a smaller arch on
either side, embattled at the top, is still standing.
It is said to be the work of Inigo Jones.
The manor of Worcesters belonged, in the reign
of Edward II., to the knightly family named de
Enefeld, and in 1413 it passed to Sir John Tiptoft,
whose descendant was the learned and well-known
Earl of Worcester, the Lord High Treasurer, who
lost his head in 1471 for his attachment to the
house of York. " O good, blessed Lord ! " says
Caxton of Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, " what grete
losse was it of that noble, vertuous, and well-disposed
lord. The axe did then at one blow cut off more
learning than was left in the heads of all the sur
viving nobility."* From .this family the manor
obtained the name of Worcesters. It was after
wards vested in Thomas, Lord Roos of Hamlake,
and in Sir Thomas Lovell, some time Treasurer of
the Household. Sir Thomas resided for many
years at Enfield, where he was honoured, in 1516,
with a visit from Margaret, Dowager Queen of
Scotland, and sister of Henry VIIL Sir Thomas
died at Enfield, and was buried with great pomp
in a chapel which he had founded in tlie Priory of
Holywell. The body lay for eleven days and
nights in the chapel adjoining his mansion here.
It was removed on the twelfth day to the parish
church, and on the following day it was conveyed
to the place of interment. On the decease of Sir
Thomas Lovell, the manor descended to Thomas,
Earl of Rutland, by whom it was given, in 1540,
to Henry VIIL, together with the manor-house
called Elsynge Hall, sometimes also called Enfield
House, of which mention has been made above as
the residence of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth.
One of the queen's visits hither is recorded in the
memoirs of Carey, Earl of Monmouth, where it is
observed that in 1596 "the queen came to dinner
to Enfield House, and had toils set up in the park
to shoot at bucks after dinner."
Later on the manor of Worcesters was devised by
the Crown to Sir Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salis
bury, and by the Cecils it" was alienated to Sir
Nicholas Raynton, Alderman, and sometime Lord
Mayor of London. From the Raynton family it
passed in marriage to the Wolstenholmes, and at
the end of the last century it was purchased by the
family of the present owner.
Lysons states that the site of Elsynge Hall is not
known for certain, but he is inclined to believe
that it stood about a quarter of a mile from Forty
Hall, near the stream which runs down to Enfield
• Horace Walpole to Mason, September 19th, 1772.

36c

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

Wash, where tradition says that Queen Mary had
a " palace." He notes some irregularities in the
ground, and the outlines, apparently, of some fish
ponds, as still marking the spot. Dr. Robinson,
who wrote in 1823, follows suit; but Mr. Ford, in
his more recent "History," places the site of this
palace further west, " towards the bottom of the
avenue at Forty Hall, between the house and the
Maidenbridge brook. Here," he writes, " in dry
seasons, the outlines of an extensive fabric may be

from the parische-church." Weever ranks it
among the princely mansions heritable by the
Crown; and Vallens, in his tale of "Two
Swannes," as quoted in the motto to this chapter,
calls it " Enfield House y' longs unto our
Queene." The scene of the incident in the life of Sir
Walter Raleigh, where he is reported to have
gained the favour of Queen Elizabeth by spreading
his "new plush coat " on the ground for her Majesty

FORTY HALL AND THE OLD GATEWAY. (See p. 359).

traced on the ground by the withering of the grass ;
and here the remains of foundations have frequently
been dug up."
There can be no doubt that it was at Elsynge
Hall that Elizabeth resided, when at Enfield, after
her accession to the throne. Norden distinctly
states that the mansion was " budded by an Earle
of Worcester ; " and it is described by him as being
a " Howse or Palace of Queen Eli." in his map
of Middlesex (1593), where it is represented as
surrounded by a park paling, enclosing the " New
Park," and about a mile distant from the town ;
a similar enclosure is placed for the " Old Park,"
which adjoined the manor-house of Enfield. In
the account of Sir Thomas Lovelfs funeral, the
house is stated to have been " a good myle distant

to step upon, in order not to soil her shoes, has
been variously laid at Greenwich and at Kenil-
worth. Mr. Ford, however, is inclined to fix upon
the grounds of Elsynge Hall as the spot where this
little act of gallantry was performed. It is supposed
to have taken place shortly after Raleigh left
college, and it is distinctly said to have been his
first introduction to his sovereign. At that time the
queen was holding her court at Elsynge Hall, and,
as Mr. Ford observes, " every native of Enfield
may be excused if, with the evidence before him,
he should, with more likelihood, place the scene of
action on an autumnal day in 1568, in one of the
forest walks of Forty Hall (then Elsynge Hall),
leading along the banks of the ' Maiden Bridge
Brook.'" Tradition is silent, Mr. Ford adds, as

Enfield.]

ELSYNGE HALL.

361

to the origin of this name, but in the earliest
survey of the Chase the stream has the less roman
tic appellation of " Old Pond Gutter." In one of
the Forty Hall deeds (temp. James I.), the bridge
which crosses it is called " Cole's Bridge, other
wise Maiden's Bridge."
"When the manor of Worcesters was granted to
the Cecils," observes Mr. Ford, " Elsynge Hall was
reserved to the Crown; but in 1641 it was sold by
Charles I., along with the ' Little Park ' and ' The

and the price low. Let' them repair to the Coach
and Horses, Drury-lane, where they shall have
speedy passage every day. The coachman's name
is Richard How."*
Myddelton House, mentioned above as occupy
ing the site of the house where Sir Hugh Myddel
ton lived, stands at a short distance north-east
from Forty Hall, and close by Maiden Bridge.
At the upper end of Baker Street, near Forty
Hill, stands a good old-fashioned family residence,

GOUGH PARK.

Warren' adjoining (part ©f the Duchy of Lan
caster), to Philip, Earl of Pembroke and Mont
gomery." It was the widow of this nobleman who
wrote the oft-quoted letter to Sir J. Williamson,
Secretary of State, who had " presumed " to
propose a candidate for her borough of Appleby : —
" I have been bullied by an usurper, I have been
neglected by a court, but I will not be dictated to
by a subject. Your man shan't stand.- — Anne,
Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery."
The following advertisement, which was published
a few years after the death of the Earl of Pembroke,
must refer to this house : — " At Enfield House are
several wholesome baths erected, wet and dry, cold
and moist, for several diseases ; the rates are easy,
31

once the abode of the celebrated antiquary,
Richard Gough. His father, Mr. Harry Gough,
sometime M.P. for Bramber, and a director of the
East India Company, &c, in 1723, purchased the
property, which was much improved by his son.
Mr. J. T. Smith, in his " Book for a Rainy Day,"
mentions having been introduced to the antiquary
Gough at Forty Hill. Mr. R. Gough became
possessed of this property on the death of his
mother, in 1774, and continued to reside here,
with the interruption of the various journeys
connected with his topographical pursuits, until the
time of his decease, in 1809. His extensive library
* " Perfect Passages," Oct. 22, 1632.

362

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

of valuable books (with the exception of the
department of British topography, which he be
queathed to the Bodleian Library at Oxford) was
sold, in pursuance of his own directions, in 1810.
Mr. Gough was elected a Fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries in 1767, and nominated director in
1 7 7 1 ; he was also for some years a Fellow of the
Royal Society. He was a great admirer and
collector of stained glass, of which a few good
specimens, the contributions of friends, were pre
served in the windows of his house.
Mr. Gough's residence, still known as Gough
Park, is a good two-storeyed building, clearly not
built at a more recent date than Queen Anne's
reign. The New River winds through the grounds,
and at the front and side of the house are two
handsome gates of iron scroll work.
The father of John Howard, the philanthropist
and prison reformer, was living at Enfield at the
beginning of the last century, but he removed to
Clapton about the time of the birth of his son,
which occurred in 1727.* By some writers it has
been doubted whether John Howard was really
born here or at Clapton. His father was apparently
in good circumstances, as he "paid the fine rather
than serve the office of Sheriff of London."
Another distinguished resident at Enfield was
Isaac D'Israeli, the father of Lord Beaconsfield.
His house, afterwards used as the Eastern Counties
railway-station, was a small mansion standing in
its own grounds to the east of the town. It was
of the Queen Anne period, and was remarkable for
the beauty of the details of its brick-work. There
is a view of it in Ford's " History of Enfield." The
central part of it is now in the South Kensington
Museum. " My father," writes the future Lord
Beaconsfield, " who came up to town to read the
newspapers at the St. James's Coffee House, found
their columns filled with extracts 'from the fortunate
effusion of the hour, conjectures as to its writer,
and much gossip respecting Walcot and Harley.
He returned to Enfield laden with the journals,
and presenting them to his parents, broke to them
the intelligence that at length he was not only
an author, but a successful one."
Benjamin D'Israeli, Lord Beaconsfield's grand
father, appears to have been a man of considerable
wealth ; he was one of the founders of the " Stock
Exchange" of London, and was regarded as a
rival of the Rothschilds. Indeed, it is said that on
one occasion, early in the present century, the
Emperor of Russia, when he required to raise
a loan, applied to him for help ; and it was only on

See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 521:

his refusal that he placed the negotiation in the
hands of the house of Rothschild. He was, as
Lord Beaconsfield tells us, "a man of ardent
character ; sanguine, courageous, speculative, and
fortunate ; with a temper which no disappointment
could disturb, and a brain, amid reverses, full of
resource. He made his fortune in the midway of
life, and settled at Enfield, where he formed an
I talis ii garden, entertained his friends, played
whist with Sir Horace Mann (who was his great
acquaintance, and who had known his brother at
Venice as a banker), ate maccaroni (which was
dressed by the Venetian consul), sang canzonettas,
and notwithstanding a wife who never pardoned
him for his name, and a son who disappointed all
his plans, and who to the last hour of his life was
an enigma to him, lived until he was nearly ninety,
and then died in 1817, in the full enjoyment of
prolonged existence." The date here given, how
ever, is evidently a mistake, for in the Gentleman's
Magazine for December, 1816, occurs the following
notice of Mr. DTsraeli's death : " On the 28th of
November, at Stoke Newington, in his eighty-
seventh year, Benjamin D'Israeli, Esq." It is re
markable that Lord Beaconsfield never had the
curiosity to pay a visit to Enfield, to see his father's
house, though he mentions it in the preface to the
collected edition of his father's works, quoted above.
At Chase Side Charles Lamb and his sister were
living at the close of the life of the former, in
1833. One day in that month (December 19th)
he strolled into the " Crown and Horseshoes " inn,
as usual, and having taken a drop too much, fell
down on the ground on his way home. His face
was injured, and a murder having taken place on
that day at Enfield, he was for a moment sus
pected of complicity in it. He was charged, with
others, before the magistrates ; but the matter was
soon explained, and he was set at liberty. He
died in the following year.
Major Cartwright, the distinguished -politician
and writer of the last century, whose burial-place
at Finchley we had occasion to notice,* was a
native of Enfield. Charles Babbage, the inventor
of the calculating machine, passed his early years
here, at a school kept by the Rev. Stephen Free
man, in " a large brick house, at the upper end of
Baker Street," and where he had as a schoolfellow
Captain Marryat, the naval novelist. Frederick
Joyce, the inventor of the percussion-cap, was like
wise a pupil at this school. Sir William Grey, Lord
Bramwell, and his brother Sir Frederick J. Bram-
well, the distinguished civil engineer, were edu-
* See ante, p. 339.

Enfield.]

THE CHASE.

3^3

cated at the Palace School, under Dr. May. Sir
Ralph Abercromby was educated here, by the same
master as Isaac D'Israeli. Mrs. Andre", the mother
of the unfortunate Major Andre, lived at Forty
Hill, as also did Dr. Birkbeck.
The unfortunate Lady Cathcart, who was forcibly
rJbducted from Tewin Water by her husband,
Colonel Maguire, who imprisoned her in Ireland,
was a native of Enfield, being a daughter of one
Mr. Malyn, of the Chase, a partner in the brewery
in Southwark which afterwards was Thrale's. It is
said that Sir Richard Steele, meeting her, when
quite young, on horseback in the Chase, was so
struck with her beauty that he could never forget
it, and that he always regarded her as the pattern
of loveliness. She died in 1789. The story of
her abduction is told in the "Tales of Great
Families " (2nd series). She was met by her Tewin-

bury tenants at Barnet on her return from Ireland ;
they drew her carriage all the way home ; and when
upwards of eighty she danced at the Hertford
ball. Lady Cathcart does not appear to have been tire
only beautiful woman in Enfield, for in the early
part of the last century the town was remarkable for
the number of handsome women among its in
habitants, a fact which is commemorated by a local
poet, a Mr. H. Baker, in 1725, in a dull poem of
140 lines, full of quaint conceits, which is pub
lished in extenso at the end of Robinson's " His
tory of Enfield," and from which we quote two
couplets : —
" But much superior in each heavenly grace
Appear the fair ones of the Enfield race ;
Born to command, supremely bright they shine,
And with their eyes assert the right divine. "

CHAPTER XXXVII.
ENFIELD CHASE.
" Jove's oak, the warlike ash, veyn'd elm, the softer beech,
Short hazell, maple plain, light aspe, the bending wych,
Tough holly, and smooth birch, must altogether burn ;
What should the builders serve, supplies the forgers' turn,
When under public good base private gain takes hold,
And we, poor wofull woods, to ruin lastly sold." Fuller.
General Description of a Chase — Form and Extent of Enfield Chase — Its Early History — The Last of the Staffords, Dukes of Buckingham-
Drayton's Description of Enfield Chase — Its Present Condition —The Princess Elizabeth as a Hunter — James I. at Enfield Chase — A
Portion of the Chase added to Theobalds— Seizure of the Chase by the Commonwealth — Sale of Different Portions of it — Macaulay's
Account of Enfield Chase — Evelyn pays it a Visit — The Chase Re-stocked with Deer by Charles II. — The Chase used as a Sheep-walk —
Punishment for Cutting Down and Destroying Trees in the Chase — Its Final Enclosure — Officers belonging to the Chase — Camlet Moat,
the supposed Site of the Chief Forester's Lodge— Trent Park— Beech Hill Park— East Lodge— Chase Lodge— Hill Lodge, Claysmore—
The Roman Road — Cock Fosters — Dangers of the Roads in Former Times — White Webbs House — The Gunpowder Plot — " The King and
the Tinkler."

By a Chase is meant a large space of open or
forest land, either natural or artificial, and set apart
for the purposes of those field sports in which
almost all kings and princes, from the days of
Xenophon and Cyrus, and those of Herodotus and
Xerxes, and even from the ages of Babylonian and
Assyrian splendour, have so constantly indulged.
The successors of Charlemagne, the French sove
reigns of the House of Capet, kept up the tradition,
which they handed on in their turn to William the
Conqueror and the rest of our Norman kings, under
whom the " New " Forest, in Hampshire, was made
a royal " Chase," at the cost of sad cruelties, it is
to be feared, to the luckless inhabitants. There were
other royal chases in Sherwood, Whittlebury, and
Needwood Forests, whose broad glades were kept
alive during the winter season by the horn of royal
hunters in the days of the Plantagenets and Tudors.

Drayton, in the " Polyolbion," describes Enfield
Chase thus : —
' ' A forrest for her pride, tho' titl'd but a Chace ;
Her purlieus and her parks, her circuit full as large
As some, perhaps, whose state requires a greater charge.
Whose holts* that view the east, do wistly stand and look
Upon the winding course of Idea's delightful brook. "
Enfield Chase is — or was — an extensive tract of
land, lying chiefly to the north-west of the town,
and stretching into several neighbouring parishes.
The name first occurs, it is believed, in a record of
the reign of Edward II. " Its form," as we learn
from Mr. Ford's " History of Enfield," " was very
irregular; its north and longest side was nearly
straight, as was also its west side ; its south and
east sides were full of angles. Its greatest length
* A term still in use in Hampshire and elsewhere to denote high
woods.

3^4

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

was about four miles and a half from east to west —
that is, from Parsonage Lane to Ganna Corner;
from north to south — from Cattle Gate to South-
gate — about four miles; its shortest length from
east to west — that is, from Potter's Bar to Hadley
Town — two miles and three-quarters. On the
north side it abuts on Northaw Common, with
which it communicates by Cattle Gate, Stock Gate,
Cooper's Lane, and Potter's Bar. On the east it
adjoins Enfield parish, its outlets to which are
White Webbs, Clay Hill, Cocker or Crook Lane,
New Lane, Parsonage Lane, and Enfield Green, or
the Town. On this side also it extends into
Edmonton parish, communicating with it by Winch
more Hill and Southgate."
In the notice of " Enfelde " in the " Domesday
Survey," it is stated that there was " a park " here ;
but the term park, as used in that record, is of an
indefinite character. At that period, and down to
the time of its enclosure, the district is supposed
by Lord Lyttelton to have formed part of the
ancient forest of Middlesex. Previous to the
reign of Edward II. it was called " Parcus Extrin-
secus," the Outer Park, to distinguish it from the
"Parcus Intrinsecus," the Home Park, or Great
Park, as it was locally called — though, of course,
far smaller than the Chase.
In very early times it formed part of the posses
sions of the Mandevilles, and afterwards of the
Bohuns, their successors ; but since the marriage of
Henry IV. to the daughter and ultimate heiress
of Humphrey de Bohun, it has belonged to the
Duchy of Lancaster.
In 1483, the Chase, together with the manor of
Enfield, is said to have been given by Richard III.
to Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, as a reward for
his services in raising him to the throne ; but if so,
it shortly after reverted to the Crown ; for, having
conspired with the Bishop of Ely to dethrone the
king, and been betrayed by his servant, the duke
was beheaded in the market-place at Salisbury,
without going through the ceremony of a trial.
Buckingham, it seems, had claimed the whole or
the greater part of the immense inheritance of
Humphrey de Bohun in right of descent, which
Edward IV. had kept to himself.
The last holder of the dignity and estates of the
great family of Bohun, Edward Stafford, Duke of
Buckingham, executed on Tower Hill in 1521, was
the wealthiest subject in England, the lineal repre
sentative of the Plantagenets, and the mortal enemy
of Cardinal Wolsey, whom he had offended. On
his way to the Tower from Westminster, he was led
to his barge by Sir Thomas Lovel, of Forty Hall,
who also treated him with respect, asking the

fallen nobleman to take his seat on the carpet and
cushions that he had laid for him. But he de-
ftlined the offer, saying, " When I came here, I was
Lord High Constable and Duke of Buckingham,
but now poor Edward Bohun, the poorest wretch
alive." Holinshed calls him "a most wise and
noble prince, and the mirror of all courtesy." With
him became extinct the office of Lord High Con
stable of England, which had been hereditary in his
family from the days of Magna Charta." On his
attainder, his dukedom and earldom and estates
were confiscated. His son Henry retained the title
of Baron Stafford ; but he was so impoverished that
he was glad to borrow the loan of a sovereign in
the year before his death, in 1588. His son was
even more embarrassed; and in 1639 his grandson
was deprived by Charles I. of his rank and honour,
on account of his poverty and abject condition."
Thus ended a noble line, who had flourished for
one-fourth of the entire Christian era.
The Chase now consists of a series of farms, of
more or less value, and of gentlemen's seats ; but
in former times — that is, from the period when it
became the "happy hunting ground" of royalty
down to the time when the district was "dis-
chased," in 1779 — it was full of trees, and herds of
deer roamed in its wild glades.
Whilst residing at Hatfield, under the charge
of Sir Thomas Pope, the Princess Elizabeth was
gratified by her host with a display of romantic
magnificence, which was exactly agreeable to the
taste of the times and of herself. "She was in
vited," writes Lucy Aikin, "to repair to Enfield,
there to take the amusement of hunting the hart.
IVelve ladies in white satin attended her on their
ambling palfreys, and twenty yeomen, all clad in
green. At the entrance of the forest she was met
by fifty archers in scarlet boots and yellow caps,
armed with gilded bows, one of whom presented to
her a silver-headed arrow winged with peacock's
feathers. The splendid show concluded, according
to the established laws of the chase, by the offering
of the knife to the princess as first lady on the field,
and her taking say* of the buck with her own fair
and royal hand."
Whilst staying with Sir Robert Cecil at Theo
balds, on his way from Edinburgh to London, in
1603, King James spent a morning in Enfield
Chase, whither he rode, " accompanied by many of
the nobility ; but his visit was cut short by the
showers of rain. He rode," says an eye-witness,
" the most part of the way from the Chase between
two honourable persons of our land (England), the

* Cutting the throat.

Enfield.]

ENCLOSURES UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH.

365

Earl of Northumberland upon his Majesty's right
hand, and the Earl of Nottingham upon his left
hand." Such is the minuteness of the " special
correspondents" of three centuries ago.
.In 1606 Sir Robert Cecil again entertained
King James, and also Frederick III. of Denmark,
at Theobalds. About this time the extent of the
Chase was considerably reduced, for, according to
Clutterbuck's " Hertfordshire," " the king having
become enamoured of this place, from its proximity
to an extensive tract of open country favourable
to the diversion of hunting (his favourite amuse
ment), he prevailed upon his Minister to exchange
it with him for his Palace of Hatfield, in the county
of Herts. The king, having obtained possession of
the manor, enlarged the park by taking in part of
the adjoining Chase, and surrounded it with a wall
of brick ten miles in circumference."
The Chase remained in the possession of the
Crown till after the death of Charles I., when it was
seized by the Commonwealth as public property,
and, by an order of the House of Commons, was
surveyed in 1650, when it was reported to contain
7,900 acres, its value being set down at rather more
than ,£4,700 per annum. , Shortly subsequent to
that date the district had been divided into parcels
and sold to different individuals. A considerable
part was consequently enclosed, and several houses
built. But the enclosure created great disturbances
among those who claimed the right of common,
and who were accustomed to obtain their fuel from
this waste. In the Bodleian Library at Oxford is
preserved an original survey of the Chase, a dupli
cate of which is in the possession of the vestry
clerk of Enfield ; it is entitled " A Description
of Enfield Chase, situate in the Parish of Enfield,
and County of Middlesex, as the same is now
divided between the Commonwealth and the Com
mons, by Edmund Rolfe and Nicholas Gunter, in
the year 1658." In this survey the gate of the
Chase at Winchmore Hill is called " Highmore,
alias Winsmore." The Pest House mentioned in
Ford's "Enfield" (p. 311) is distinctly marked,
standing on the present Green.
In his account of the state of England in 1685,
Macaulay observes that Enfield Chase, though
hardly out of the sight of the smoke of the capital,
was " a region twenty-five miles in circumference,
in which the deer wandered by thousands, as free
as in the American forests ; " still, there is no
record of there ever having been more than 3,000
head of deer in Enfield Chase. The last wild
boars which had been preserved, here and else
where, for the royal diversion, and had been, up
to that time, allowed to ravage the cultivated

lands with their tusks, were for the most part
slaughtered by the exasperated rustics in the
course of the Civil War. It is said that the
last grey badger in Enfield Chase was not killed
till ten or eleven years after the accession of Queen
Victoria. Evelyn makes the following entry in his "Diary"
with reference to a visit which he paid to Enfield.
On June 2nd, 1676, he writes : — " I went with my
Lord Chamberlaine to see a garden at Enfield
towne, thence to Mr. Sec. Coventry's Lodge in the
Chase. It is a very pretty place, the house com
modious, the gardens handsome, and our entertain
ment very free, there being none but my lord and
myselfe. That which I most wondered at was,
that in the compass of twenty-five, miles, yet within
fourteen of London, there is not a house, barne,
church, or building, besides three lodges. To this
lodge are three great ponds and some few inclo-
sures, the rest a solitarie desert, yet stor'd with not
less than 3,000 deere. There are pretty retreats
for gentlemen, especially for those who are studious
and lovers of privacy."
In a survey of the manor of Enfield, taken in
1686, it is stated that on a former perambulation
the Chase had been found to contain 7,600 acres,
of which 500 had been since enclosed in Theobalds
Park. This enclosure, as stated above, was made
by James I. while he resided at Theobalds. Though
at that time the Chase was well stocked with deer,
the Parliamentary Army during the Civil War de
stroyed the game, cut down the trees, and let out
the ground into small farms. In this state it re
mained until the Restoration, when young trees
were planted, and the Chase was again stocked
with deer.
Another survey was taken in 1 698, in order to a fall
of timber, by which several new "ridings" were to
be formed, and a square lawn of 300 acres laid out
for the deer to feed in. The " ridings," marked
out when the Chase was to be divided into farms
at the time of the Commonwealth, and still dis
tinguished by hedges and ditches, were Cock-
Fosters, and the Ridgeway from the gravel-pits by
East Lodge to Ganna Corner.
Mr. Ford, in his " History of Enfield," says : —
" The Chase was formerly considered to have been
a sheep-walk belonging to the family of Coningsby,
of Wales, one of whom having a complaint lodged
against him for having too many sheep, brought up
a parcel of goats, which did great damage. This
circumstance, it seems, gave rise to the right of
sheep-walk on the Chase annexed to certain farms
in this neighbourhood for a certain time of the
year. Norden says, 'there ariseth a profit unto

366

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

VIEW IN TRENT PARK.

the poore inhabitants there by the use of the
Chase, where they have common of pasture for
all kinde of cattle, pannage, and wood ;' but the
parish, it seems, thought otherwise, finding itself
overburthened by numerous and disorderly poor,
who availed themselves of the privilege of the
Chase to support dissolute lives of idleness and
beggary. The deer were stolen and exposed for
sale with the greatest audacity ; venison could be
purchased cheaper than mutton. The poachers
were sometimes transported, but at the expiration
of their time returned to their old habits." In
1762 it is recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine
"that one John Batt, of Potter's Bar, was com
mitted to Bridewell for cutting young beech-trees
on the Chase, and carrying them away in a cart.
He was sentenced to be publicly whipped in
the market-place at Enfield once every month
during his imprisonment." The Public Ledger,
1764, also records the fact of a woman, "an
old offender," being " conveyed in a cart
from Bridewell to Enfield, and publicly whipped
at the cart's tail by the common hangman, for
cutting down and destroying wood in Enfield
Chase." In 1777 an Act of Parliament was passed for

the purpose of dividing the Chase, and assigning
allotments to such parishes and individuals as
claimed right of common; and in 1801 another
Act was passed " for dividing and enclosing the
open and common fields, common marshes, and
lammas grounds, Chase allotments, and other
commonable and waste lands within the parish ;"
and the same "have been divided and allotted
accordingly, among the tithe owners, lords of
manors, and proprietors of freehold and copyhold
lands, and others entitled thereto."* At the
present time nearly the whole of the Chase is en
closed, and but little of its original ' appearance
remains, the wildest parts being at Hadley Com-
mon,t Trent Park, Winchmore Hill Wood,| and a
portion of White Webbs Park. The deer, which,
as shown above, were at one time very -numerous,
were taken to the estate of the Earl of Bute, at
Luton Park, in Bedfordshire. The last red deer
killed here was shot by Mr. William Mellish, M.P.,
of Bush Hill Park, and its horns are now in the
possession of Mr. Edward Ford, of Old Park.
Still, it is clear that all indications of a Chase have
not clean died out, for a woodcock was shot at Old
* Ford's " Enfield," p. 52. t See ante, p. 328. X See ante, p. 34°-

Enfield.]

TRENT PARK.

3^7

Park in January, 1874, and a bittern was taken on
the banks of the Lea, not far from Ponder's End,
in 1847.
The officers belonging to the Chase were —
besides the Chancellor, the Receiver General, and
the Attorney General of the Duchy of Lancaster
— a Master of the Game, a Forester, a Ranger,
Keepers, a Woodward, a Steward, a Bailiff, and
Verderers, who were annually chosen in the King's
Court of the Manor of Enfield, a sort of Supervisor
of the Wood. The name of Verderers is still kept
up in connection with Epping Forest, as we shall
see presently.
There were on the Chase four ancient lodges,
called respectively the East, the West, the North,
and the South Bailies. These lodges were the
official residences of the persons who were con
nected with the government of the Duchy of Lan
caster, some of whom were Chancellors of the
Court These lodges were also used as hunting-
seats during the time of Queen Elizabeth, James
I., and Charles I.
In the preceding chapter we have spoken of
Camlet Moat, now within the bounds of Trent
Park, and almost in the centre of the Chase, as
having been the subject of much antiquarian
speculation. Camden says : — " Almost in the

middle of the Chase there are the ruins and rubbish
of an ancient house, which the common people
from tradition affirm to have belonged to the
Mandevilles, Earls of Essex." Lysons, however,
considered the tradition to be destitute of any
foundation, and suggested that the spot was merely
"the site of the principal lodge, and the residence
of the chief forester."
Trent Park, the seat of Mr. Bevan, consists of
upwards of a thousand acres, and is still covered with
such an abundance of timber as to give some idea
of what the Chase must have been in early ages.
Its charming vistas and forest scenery have been
thus graphically described by Sir Walter Scott in
the " Fortunes of Nigel : " — " The sun was high
upon the glades of Enfield Chase, and the deer
with which it abounded were seen sporting in
picturesque groups among the ancient oaks of the
forest, when a cavalier and a lady sauntered slowly up
one of the long alleys which were cut through the
park for the convenience of the hunters. . . The
place at which he stopped was at that time little
more than a mound, partly surrounded by a ditch,
from which it derived the name of Camlet Moat.
A few hewn stones were there which had escaped
the fate of many others that had been used in
building different lodges in the forest for the

IN BEECH HILL PARK. (Seepage 368.)

368

GREATER LONDON.

Enfield.

royal keepers. These vestiges marked the ruins
of the abode of a once illustrious, but long-
forgotten, family — the Mandevilles, Earls of Essex,
to whom Enfield Chase and the extensive do
mains adjacent had belonged in elder days. A
wild woodland prospect led the eye at various
points through broad and apparently interminable
alleys, meeting at this point as from a common
centret" A lease of this property was granted by George
III. to his favourite physician, Richard Jebb, on
whom he conferred a baronetcy. Dr. Jebb after
wards purchased the freehold ; and on his building
a residence here, the king gave it the name of Trent
Place, "in commemoration of the great skill by
which the life of his brother had been preserved in
his severe illness at Trent, in the South Tyrol."
On the death of Sir Richard Jebb the estate was
sold to Lord Cholmondeley, and later on it had
among its possessors Sir Henry Lushington. The
mansion is a spacious brick structure, stuccoed
and whitened, and its situation on gently rising
ground, overlooking a broad extent of the park, is
very fine.
Beech Hill Park, which lies near the western
extremity of the Chase, bordering upon Hadley
Common, comprises nearly 700 acres, which was
granted to Mr. Francis Russell, a Fellow of the
Royal Society, who was some time Secretary of
the Duchy Court of Lancaster, and through whose
suggestion, it is said, the final enclosure of the
Chase was brought about. The house is placed
on the brow of a gentle eminence, and, like that
of Trent Park, it has the advantage of a fine stream
of water flowing through the grounds.
The East Lodge is described in the survey of
1650 as " a brick building, covered with tiles." It
was occasionally used by Charles I. as a hunting-
seat. Towards the end of the last century the
lodge was occupied by Lord Chancellor Lough
borough, afterwards created Earl of Rosslyn ; later
on it was pulled down, and the present house built
on its site. West Lodge, which was that occupied
by Mr. Secretary Coventry, mentioned above as
visited by Evelyn, was rebuilt in 1832, the house
having become ruinous, and in danger of falling.
South Lodge stands about a mile and a half west
of Enfield Town, on the Ridgeway. It was for
some years the occasional residence of the Earl of
Chatham, to whom it was bequeathed, together
with a legacy of £10,000. Mr. Tuff, in his " His
torical Notices of Enfield," tells the following
amusing story concerning the earl : — " Lord Chat
ham desired the owner of a windmill, which stood
on a post on the top of Windmill-hill, to paint the

whole body moving to the face of the wind, on that
side next South Lodge, at his expense. The miller
did so, but when his lordship looked. out of the
window and saw the windmill not painted, he sent
for the miller, who declared it had been done
agreeably to his lordship's direction. The earl
pointed to the mill, when the miller informed
him that the wind had changed, but that he was
quite ready to paint that side also on the same
terms ! The mill in question was pulled down
many years ago, and the present one erected on its
site." Chase Lodge, Hill Lodge, and Claysmore, are
smaller estates which have been at different times
allotted out of the Chase.
Of Potter's Bar, which formed the extreme
north-western limits of the Chase, we have spoken
in our account of South Mimms,* to which parish
the hamlet belongs ; and Southgate, which, as its
name implies, was the southern limit of the royal
demesne, has been also dealt with, together with
its near neighbour, Winchmore Hill, t
The ancient Roman road, called Ermen, or
Ermine, Street, lay through a part of the Chase in
its passage to Hertford. From the Cripplegate or
Moorgate of London, it passed through Newing
ton, thence through several green lanes to the
east of Hornsey, and having entered Enfield
Chase, proceeded thence through Hatfield to
Hertford. "This was the road (for the present
north road was not then in existence) by which the
Londoners marched, with King Alfred at their
head, against the Danes, in the year 895, to a
stronghold or fortification built by them at Hert
ford." %
Cock Fosters is a small village lying to the west
of Trent Park, about four miles west from Enfield
town, and two miles east from New Barnet railway-
station. It was formed into an ecclesiastical parish
in 1839. Christ Church, which was built in 1837,
at the expense of Mr. Bevan, of Trent Park, is a
small plain structure, with a tower and spire, and is
profusely overgrown with ivy. The derivation of
the name of Cock Fosters — or Forsters, as it is
sometimes written — has been the subject of specu
lation among antiquarians. Mr. Thorne, in his
" Environs of London," says, " there can be little
doubt that Forsters is a corruption of foresters (in
either the English or French form). The derivation
of Cock is not so palpable. It has been suggested
that it comes from bicoque, a small house, hut, or
collection of huts. Cotgrave renders it Bicoque,
a little paltry town ; and if the huts of the Chase
* See ante, p. 317. t See ante, p. 345.
} Tuff's "Historical Notices of Enfield."

Enfield.]

WHITE WEBBS HOUSE.

3^9

foresters and woodmen were collected here, the
place may have been called Bicoque Forestiere;
but a more obvious explanation is that here may
have been the house of the chief forester, Coq de
Fores Hires."
The roads round about here in times past were
not the most inviting to travel in after midnight.
Camlet Moat is said to have been the lurking-
place of the notorious highwayman and robber,
Dick Turpin, whose grandfather, one Nott, kept
the "Rose and Crown," by the brook called "Bull
Beggar's Hole," at Clay Hill. The moat is distant
but a few miles from the scene of Turpin's ex
ploits on Finchley Common, whence he could easily
conceal himself in such a place in the then wild
state of Enfield Chase.
As lately as December, 1832, in a lane near
Enfield Chase, on the road between Enfield and
Barnet, was committed a cruel murder on a Mr.
B. C. Danby. For this a man named Johnson was
executed. The spot where the murder was per
petrated was long marked by an inscription on the
bark of a tree by the wayside.
Notonlywere the roads dangerous in consequence
of the highwaymen and footpads who lurked about,
but down to early in the present century they were
in a very unfit condition for vehicular traffic. Mr.
Ford relates that Lady Elizabeth Palk, who resided
at Enfield Rectory, was accustomed, when she
intended to call on Mrs. Elphinstone at East
Lodge, to send out men two or three days in ad
vance to fill the ruts with faggots, to enable her
carriage to pass. " Within living memory," Mr.
Ford adds, " it was possible to travel from Hadley
Church through Enfield Chase, Epping and Hai-
nault Forests, to Wanstead without ever leaving the
green turf or losing sight of forest land."
It is singular that there should have been
no "haunted house" in the parish of Enfield.
"Formerly (says Bourne in his "Antiquities") almost
every place had one. If a house was built in a
melancholy situation, or in some old romantic
manner, or if any particular accident had happened
in it — a murder or a sudden death, or such like —
to be sure that house had a mark set on it, and it
was afterwards esteemed the habitation of a ghost."
" The most diligent inquiry," observes Mr. Ford,
in his work already quoted, " has been unsuccessful
in tracing the vestige of one here, though the
Chase was formerly notorious as the residence of
witches. The Witch of Edmonton, in the fine
drama of Ford and Dekker, was a true story ; and
the unfortunate old woman, who was condemned
and executed for witchcraft in 1622, was a denizen
of the Chase."

The estate of White Webbs, as stated above,
lies at the north-eastern extremity of the Chase,
and is of some historic interest, from its connection
with the " Gunpowder Plot." Old White Webbs
House stood on a portion of the grounds now
belonging to Myddelton House,* which was of
old known as Bowling Green House, and originally
formed part of the manor of Worcesters and of
Goldbeaters. In 1570 Queen Elizabeth granted
White Webbs House to Robert Huicke, her
physician. The house was, in the middle of the
seventeenth century, the property of Dr. Brocken-
ham ; it afterwards came into the family of Gar-
nault, and was pulled down about 1790. A tradition,
which (says Lysons) is perhaps not much to be
depended upon, states that White Webbs House
was hired by the conspirators of the Gunpowder
Plot for the purpose of watching the signal of their
success. The tradition, however, observes Mr. Ford,
" is fully substantiated by existing deeds, and by
the following extracts from the documents of the
State Paper Office, which also identify the locality
beyond any doubt. In the confession of 'John
Johnsonne (alias Guido Fawkes), he further saith
that the Wednesday before his apprencon he went
forthe of the towne to a house in Enfielde Chase,
on this side of Theobalds, where he stayed till
Sunday night following '" (9-10 November, 1665).
The report to the Council of the search of White
Webbs House says, " The search ended in the dis
covery of Popish books and relics, but no papers
or munitions, and the house was found to be full of
trap-doors and passages." In the examination of
" James Johnson," it was stated by him that the
house " had been taken of Dr. Hewicke, by his
master, Mr. Meaze, of Berkshire (the Jesuit father
Garnet), for his sister, Mrs. Perkins (alias Mrs.
Ann Vaux) ; that Mrs. Vaux had spent a month
there, and mass had been said by a priest, whose
name deponent did not know."
The following paragraph, having reference to the
connection of Old White Webbs House with the
Gunpowder Plot, occurs in the " Works of that
high and mighty Prince James I.," in the discourse
on the Gunpowder Treason : — " Meanwhile Mr.
Fawkes and myselfe alone (Winter's confession)
brought some new powder, as suspecting the first
to be danke, and conveyed it into the cellar, and
set it in order, as we resolved it should stand.
Then was the Parliament anew prorogued until the
5th of November, so as we all went down until
some ten days before, when Mr. Catesby came up
with Mr. Fawkes to an house byEnfield-chase, called
• See ante, p. 350.

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

White Webbes, whither I came to them, and Mr.
Catesby willed me to enquire whether the young
Prince came to the Parliament : I tolde him I heard
that His Grace thought not to be there. Then must
wee have our horses, said Mr. Catesby, beyond the
water, and provision of more company to surprise
the Prince, and leave the Duke alone."
Mr. Ford mentions the fact that Mr. Bowles, the
present owner of Myddelton House, has in his
possession a deed, dated 1570, containing a grant
of " all the vaultes and all the conduit and pipes of
lead laid within the said Chase at the charges and
expenses of our servant (Robert Huycke) for the
leading and conveying water into the Newe Howse
of our said servant, abuttinge in parte uppon the
saide Chase, which mansion house is within the
parish of Enfield, in our said co. of Midd.," and
for supplying water to the mansion house, gar
dens, ponds, and orchards.
The site of old White Webbs extended across
White Webbs Lane (formerly called Rome Road).
White Webbs House was pulled down towards
the end of the last century, and the present
mansion, bearing the same name, was built on
another part of the estate, called White Webbs
Farm, which had been purchased by Dr. Wilkinson,
the grandfather of Mr. Henry Cox Wilkinson, the
present owner. Of late years both the mansion and
the park have been augmented ; the latter now com
prises about 250 acres, 100 of which are woodland,
and covered with old oaks and underwood, the
remains of the original Chase, or forest.
In an open glade in the park stands a small
brick building enclosing a circular tank, or well of
pure water. This is the old " Conduit house,"
mentioned above as having been granted by Queen
Elizabeth to her physician, Dr. Huicke, for the
supply of his mansion-house at White Webbs.
An old ale-house, bearing the sign of " The
King and the Tinker," in this lane probably
retains some of the out-buildings. "With this
little beer-shop," writes Mr. Ford, "is popularly
identified the ballad of 'The King and the
Tinkler,' the incident of which is supposed to have
occurred during the residence of James I. at
Theobalds." Mr. Thorne, in his " Environs," how
ever, says : — " The ballad of ' King James and
the Tinkler ' is eminently a border ballad, and is
popular throughout the northern counties ; tinkler
is the northern term for a tinker, but was never
used, as far as we know, in the south ; and in the
received version of the ballad (though not in that
printed by Mr. Ford), the tinkler says—
' The King 's on the border, a chasing the deer.'
The ballad must, therefore, we fear, be disassoci

ated from Enfield, notwithstanding the beer-house
sign." The line above referred to in Mr. Ford's
version reads—
" The King is a-hunting the fair fallow deer,"
which, adds Mr. Thorne, "has hardly the old
ballad ring." The term tinkler is, in Scotland and
the border towns and villages, applied not merely
to a " mender of pots and kettles," who in England
is generally called a " tinker," but it is also used to
denote any person who picks up a livelihood by
tramping about from place to place, doing odd jobs
of any kind, as chance might throw in his way.
Nevertheless, here is the old ale-house called
" The King and the Tinker ; " and as local tradition
has fixed upon it as being the scene of the incident
described in the ballad, we reprint it in extenso : —
"KING JAMES AND THE TINKLER.
" And now, to be brief, let's pass over the rest,
Who seldom or never were given to jest,
And come to King Jamie, the first of our throne —
A pleasanter monarch sure never was known.
" As he was a-hunting the swift fallow deer,
He dropt all his nobles, and when he got clear,
In hope of some pastime, away he did ride,
Till he came to an ale-house hard by a wood-side,
" And there with a Tinkler he happened to meet,
And him in kind sort he so freely did greet:
' Now pray thee, good fellow, what hast in thy jug,
Which under thy arm thou dost lovingly hug ? '
" ' In truth,' said the Tinkler, ' 'tis nappy brown ale,
And to drink to thy good health, faith, I will not fail —
For although thy jacket looks gallant and fine,
I hope that my two-pence is as good as thine. '
" ' Nay, by my soul, man, the truth shall be spoke ; '
And straightway the monarch sat down for to joke ;
He called for his pitcher, the Tinkler another,
And so they went to it like brother and brother.
" While drinking, the King he was pleased to say,
' What news, honest fellow ? come tell me, I pray ; '
' There 's nothing of news, except that I hear
The King is a-hunting the fair fallow deer ;
" ' And truly I wish I so happy may be,
That whilst they are hunting the King I may see ;
For though I have travelled the land many ways,
I never saw the King, sir, in all my old days.'
" The King, with a hearty brisk laugh, then replied,
' I tell thee, honest fellow, if thou canst but ride,
Thou shalt get up behind me, and thee I will bring
To the presence of Jamie, thy sovereign King.'
'" Perhaps,' said the Tinkler, 'his Lord will be drest
So fine that I shall not know him from the rest ; '
' I tell thee, honest fellow, when thou dost come there,
The King will be covered, the nobles all bare.'
' ' Then up got the Tinkler, and likewise his sack,
His budget of leather and tools at his back ;
And when they came to the merry green wood,
The nobles came round him, and bareheaded stood.

Enfield.]

"THE KING AND THE TINKER."

371

" The Tinkler then seeing so many appear,
Immediately whispered the King in the ear,
Saying, ' Since they are all clothed so gallant and gay,
Which is the King? come tell me, I pray.'
"The King to the Tinkler then made this reply —
' By my soul, man, it must be either you or I ;
The rest are uncovered you see, all around.'
This said, with the budget he fell to the ground
" Like one that was frightened quite out of his wits,
Then up upon his knees he instantly gets,
Beseeching for mercy — the King to him said,
' Thou art a good fellow, so be not afraid ;
" ' Come, tell me thy name.' ' It is John of the Vale,
A mender of kettles, and a lover of good ale.'
' Then rise up, Sir John, I will honour thee here,
And create thee a Knight of five hundred a year.'
"This was a good thing for the Tinkler indeed ;
Then unto the Court he was sent with all speed,
Where great store of pleasure and pastime was seen
In the royal presence of both King and Queen."
The sign of " The King and the Tinker " is pro
bably unique; it is not mentioned by Larwood,

but sign-boards of a similar character are found in
other parts of the country. " The King and the
Miller," for instance, at Mansfield, Notts, celebrates
a like adventure of Henry II. and a merry rustic of
that town. Similar stories are told of different
sovereigns — such as King John and the miller of
Charlton,* after whom Cuckold's Point is said to
have been named ; of King Edward III. and the
tanner of Drayton Basset ; of King Henry VIIL
and the Abbot of Canterbury; of James V. of
Scotland (the " gude mon of Ballangeich ") ; of
Henry IV. of France and the pig-merchant ; of
Charles V. of Spain and the cobbler of Brussels ;
of Joseph II. ; of Frederick the Great ; and even
of Haroun-al-Raschid, who used to go about his
dominions incognito, under the name of II Bon-
docani. There is an old proverb which says that —
" Cobblers and. tinkers
Are the best ale-drinkers j"
and possibly this circumstance, be it real or not,
may have something also to do with the sign.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
ENFIELD HIGHWAY, PONDER'S END, AND THE RIVER LEA.
"The old Lea, that brags of Danish blood." — Drayton's Polyolbion.
Position and Extent of Enfield Highway— Population, &c— The Lower North Road— Mr. Spencer and his Bride— Matthew Prior and John
Morley— St. James's Church — Ponder's End— St. Matthew's Church — Lincoln House — Durants — The Manor of Suffolks— Enfield Wash—
The Story of Elizabeth Canning, " Mother Wells," and the Gipsy Squires— Roselands— The Manor of Elsynge— The River Lea— Bull's
Cross— Capels.

Enfield Highway — which, as we have stated in a
previous chapter,* runs along the eastern division
of this parish, from north to south — although of
much more recent growth than Enfield Town, is in
reality far out-numbering it in population — a state
of things which may be accounted for by the fact
of its having within its limits several large factories,
and more especially the Royal Small Arms Factory,
where, on the whole, upwards of 1,500 hands
are employed, and of which we shall speak in
a subsequent chapter. According to the census
returns for 1881 this division alone contains a
population of more than 9,000 inhabitants. The
district comprises the hamlet of Ponder's End,
Enfield Highway (proper), the Royal Small Arms
Factory, and Frezywater. Several narrow lanes and
thoroughfares radiate from the main road on either
side, bearing such names as South Street, Nag's
Head Lane, Green Street, Carterhatch Lane, En
field Wash, Hoe Lane, Welch's Lane (now Ord-
* See ante, p. 350.

nance Road, Turkey Street, and Bullsmore Lane.
Enfield Highway is the name given to that por
tion of the Cheshunt and Hertford road which,
after passing through Edmonton, enters the parish
of Enfield at Ponder's End, and running in almost
a direct line due north, parallel with the Great
Eastern Railway (Cambridge line), and for a dis
tance of about two miles, leaves it just beyond
Bullsmore Lane. It is made up of the usual
admixture of shops and private houses to be met
with in villages that are located on main public
roads — taverns and ale-houses, as a matter of course,
somewhat predominating.
The thoroughfare occupies part of the track of
the old Roman road called Ermine Street, de
scribed in the preceding chapter. It is still the
modern highway to the north-east, and is now
known by the name of the Lower North Road. It
is needless to say that it presents marked differences
to what it exhibited a century or so ago, although
* See " Old and New London," Vol. VI., p. 233.

372

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

at that time it was the great northern road, and
was the occasional scene of cavalcades and royal
" progresses," such as might break the dull mono
tonous life of the inhabitants. For example,
the villagers must have been astonished in De
cember, 1755, at seeing Mr. (afterwards Lord)
Spencer and his bride coming up to London from
Althorpe, if Lady Hervey's letters are to be trusted,
with three coaches-and-six and 200 horsemen.
Lady Hervey adds that the country-folk armed

a memorial of his wife. All the windows are filled
with stained glass, chiefly in memory of his family.
The hamlet of Ponder's End has lost much of
its rural appearance since the formation of the Great
Eastern line and the establishment of a railway-
station in its vicinity. Besides gas and water
works, and two or three large and tall factories,
the place can boast of several inns and taverns,
and, like most other suburban villages which have
been invaded by the "railway king," villas and

PONDER'S end.

themselves with spades and pitchforks, fancying
that it was either the Pretender or the King of
France who had invaded them !
Along this road must have passed Matthew
Prior and his friend John Morley, on their way to
dine at the " Bull " Inn at " Hodsdon," en route to
Down Hall, near Harlow, which had been pre
sented to the poet by Harley, Earl of Oxford.
Enfield Highway was formed into a separate
parish for ecclesiastical purposes in 1833. The
church, dedicated to St. James, was built in 1831.
It is in the Perpendicular style, and comprises a
nave, with galleries, an apsidal sanctuary, and a
chancel and transepts. The chancel and transepts,
which are of Early English architecture, were added
.in 1864 by the late vicar, the Rev. John Harman, as

" genteel residences " are fast springing up in all
directions. The church, dedicated to St. Matthew,
erected in 1877, is a chapel-of-ease to St. James's,
Enfield. It is built in the Early English style, and
consists of a nave and north aisle.
On the southern side of Ponder's End, a little to
the west of the high road, stands Lincoln House,
which, according to Mr. Ford, is said to take its
name from the Earls of Lincoln, of whom Henry
and Thomas, the second and third earls, lived here
at the beginning of the seventeenth century. In
Gough's " Camden," it is stated that the house was
the residence of the Bishops of Lincoln, " or of
that other William of Wickham, bishop of that
diocese, who was born here." Mr. Ford, however,
says that William of Wickham was born in the

Enfield.]

DURANTS.

373

manor-house of Honylands, or Pentriches, other
wise Capels, at the northern end of the parish, near
Bull's Cross, and of which his father was lessee in
the reign of Henry VIIL Lincoln House was a
brick building, with heavy buttresses, and bore
marks of antiquity. Under one of the windows,
between two marble pillars, there was, in 1750, a
tablet inscribed "R. L. 1520."
In the " Beauties of England and Wales " it is
stated that " there was lately some painted glass
remaining in the windows, containing, among other
armorial bearings, the arms and quarterings of
Howard, with a viscount's coronet, and the inscrip
tion 'Henry Howard, 1584.' The whole of this

whose daughter and heiress conveyed it in marriage
to John Wrothe ; and the manor of Durants, to
which that of Gartons was at an early period
annexed, descended to their son, William Wrothe,
who died in 1408, after which it continued in the
hands of the Wrothe family for many generations.
Fuller, in his "Worthies," says: — "Sir Thomas
Wrothe was of the Bedchamber, and a favourite of
King Edward the Sixth, who (as I am informed)
at his death passed out of the armes of him, his
faithfull servant, into the embraces of Christ, his
dearest Saviour. Soon after Sir Thomas found
a great change in the English Court, but no altera
tion, as many did (to their shame), in his own

ROOM IN MOTHER WELLS' COTTAGE.

glass is now (18 16) removed, and the building has
been newly fronted; but the interior comprises
several ancient decorated ceilings." From the
above-mentioned arms the house appears to have
belonged to Henry Howard, Viscount Bindon, the
head of a branch of the ducal house of Norfolk.
Other coats of arms in the windows were those of
the Lord Keeper, Sir Thomas Coventry (1627),
and of George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham.
Some of the rooms were wainscoted, apparently
of the date of James I. Part of the house was
burnt down a few years ago, but has been rebuilt.
Eastward of the high road, between Ponder's
End and Green Street, stood the historic manor-
house of Durants, or Durant's Harbour, which was
burnt down at the end of the last century. In
the reign of Edward I. the manor belonged to
Richard de Plessitis ; but in default of heirs male,
it subsequently devolved upon Thomas Durant,
32

conscience, in preservation of which he was fain to
fly beyond the seas." It was observable, he adds,
that the family of this man, who went away for
" his own conscience," was the only family in Mid
dlesex, out of all those mentioned by Norden, which
was not extinct in his time (1660). A curious letter
from his son, Sir Robert Wrothe, who died in 1605,
is preserved among the "Lansdowne MSS., and
printed by Mr. Ford in his " History of Enfield."
As this letter vividly depicts the state of the country
round about London, and particularly those parts of
which we shall have occasion hereafter to speak in
these pages, we take the liberty of quoting it : —
"Sir Robert Wrothe to Mr. Michael Hickes. — Intelli
gence concerning robbers who frequented Layton Heath
[ ? Loughton], in Essex.
(MS. Lansd. 87, Art. 60, orig.)
" My very good frende, Mr. Hickes, — I am informed that
now, towardes these darke evenings, there are sertaine lewde

374

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

fellowes — sumtimes horsemen, sumtimes footemen — disguis
ing themselves with beardes that they carry aboute them in
their pockets, which doe frequente and use aboute Layton
heath and at or about Snaresbrooke, in your brother Col-
stone's walke. I have appoynted sum espiciall spyall of
them to bewray them and to know them, either by theire
horses apparell or otherwise, and I hope in time to have
them discifared. Yet for better surety thereof, I pray you
lett me intreate you to speake to your brother Colstone, that
with some secresy he woulde take such order with sum of
the discreatest keepers he hath, that towardes eaveninges they
woulde have an eye upone the heath and about Snaresbrooke
for such kinde of persons, and to discry them by their horses
or otherwise, if they can. They come not above one or two
in company untill they meete about the heath, and when
they have obteyned that they come for, they sever themselves
in the like manner ; and sumtimes sum of them ride over by
Temple Mill, where I pray you take likewise secret order
with the miller that he woulde keepe his gate shute up in the
nighte ; besides sumtimes they ride over by Hackney ; and
yf they doe discry any of them, that I may have notice
thereof, and I doubte not but to have them quickly appre
hended, for I have notice of sum of their hauntes. And so,
with my commendations to your good wiffe, I will bid you
farewell. " Your assured frende,
" Robert Wrothe.
"Lucton, the 16th of October, 1599.
' ' One of them usethe to ride on a whit mare. Let them
have a diligent care if they doe see any such man. — To my
verie loving friend Mr. Michaell Hickes,* at his house at
Duckett, or elsewhere."
The family of Wrothe became extinct in 1673,
on the death of Sir Henry Wrothe, the grandson
of Sir Thomas, to whose exile, in the reign of Queen
Mary, Fuller again refers in his dedication to Sir
Henry of part of his " Church History " : — " Hence
it is that I have seen in your ancient house at
Durance the crest of your armes (viz., a lion's head
erased), with the extraordinary addition of sable
wings, somewhat alluding to those of bats, to
denote your ancestour's dark and secret flight for his
safety. However, God brought him home again
on the silver wings of the dove, when peaceably
restoring him in the dayes of Q. Elizabeth to his
large possessions."
On the death of Sir Henry Wrothe, the manor
was sold by his executors to Sir Thomas Stringer,
whose son William bequeathed the property to his
wife Margaret, daughter of the celebrated Judge
Jeffreys, who was a frequent visitor here. It after
wards underwent a few changes of ownership, either
by purchase or otherwise ; and at the end of the last
century it passed into the hands of Newell Connop,
Esq , in whose family it still remains.
The entrance to the old moated manor-house
was by a bridge of two arches and a large gateway,
with a postern, &c. From the description of the
building in Dr. Robinson's " Enfield," the house
' Mr. (afterwards Sir Michael) Hickes, was Burghley s secretary.

seems to have formed a quadrangle, of which part
of the north and west sides — standing in 1775 —
were built of brick ; and at the south end stood a
chapel, on the south and west sides of which were
small Gothic windows with iron bars, and at the
north end a square window, with round pillars in
the middle and at the sides, and a square tower,
with a spiral stone staircase. " On the east side,"
wrote Dr. Robinson in 1823, "there was an arch
which was stopped up, with some Saxon (i.e., Nor
man) capitals much defaced ; the whole was built
of clunch, brick, and masses of pebbles, cemented
together with mortar, and plastered over. Over
this building was a room, then used as a pigeon-
house. This chapel appeared to be the most
ancient part of the house, the rest probably having
been built about the latter end of the fifteenth or
the beginning of the sixteenth century, and was
pulled down about the year 1776 by Mr. Poe. At
the south-west extremity of the moat, and without
it, there was part of another square brick building,
with an arched entrance, and a circular room with
a fire-place. Behind the chapel there was a long
square canal and the garden, which had been
divided into two parts by a brick wall ; there are
also the remains of two square piers of a gate, on
which were two eagles, with wings displayed, holding
shields with three eagles' heads on the face. At
right angles with this wall there were parts of others,
or rather, two detached walls, near which were
steps to the moat. These two walls were parallel
with the north side of the house, which appeared
to have formed the south side of the quadrangle, in
the centre of which stood a dial on a square block
of stone mounted on brick-work.
" On the west side of the moat there was a sum
mer-house, with a balcony and weathercock, sur
mounted by a flying-horse on a pyramid of ironwork,
with Neptune, Bacchus, &c, painted on the west
front of the building. From this summer-house
there was an avenue to the road."
The manor of Suffolks, which was also situated
near Ponder's End, was, in the fifteenth century,
held under the Crown by Sir R. Parr, Comptroller of
the Household. At the end of the last century it
passed to Mr. Newell Connop, the then owner of the
manor of Durants, with which it became merged.
Enfield Wash is the name now given to that
portion of the main road which lies immediately
beyond Enfield Highway. The Wash, observes
Mr. Thorne, in his " Environs of London," " owes
its name to the little stream which, rising in the
Chase, here crossed the road, and spreading out,
made the wash, through which horses and carriages
had to flounder, but which is now carried under it,

Enfield.]

ELIZABETH CANNING AND THE GIPSY.

375

and turning to the south-east, falls into the Lea
a little below the ordnance factory."
On the east side of the high road at Enfield
Wash, at the corner of the lane leading to the
ordnance factory railway-station, stands the cot
tage of " Mother " Wells, a gipsy, once so famous
as the scene of Elizabeth Canning's real or
fictitious imprisonment, which excited the king
dom for months in 1753-^4, divided society into
two parties, the "Egyptians" and the "Can-
ningites," and called into existence a whole crop
of ephemeral publications : in fact, quite a literature,
nearly fifty pamphlets in all, and not far short of
twenty portraits, views, etchings, and a plan
and elevation of the cottage itself. A ground plan
and interior view of the cottage appear in the
Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xxiii., pp. 306-7, and
also in Dr. Robinson's " History of Enfield." The
cottage remains substantially the same as it was a
century and a half ago. It is a plain wooden-fronted
structure, of two storeys, and with a window on
each side the door — just such a house as would be
naturally the residence of a curate in a country
village. The door or window from which Canning
effected her escape into the lane is still there, and
so is a part of the loft in which she was kept. It is
understood that the house will soon be pulled down.
Horace Walpole writes, in a letter to the
Countess of Ailesbury, Oct. 10, 1761 : — "I am in
such a passion, I cannot tell you what I am angry
about — why, about virtue and Mr. Pitt : two arrant
cheats, gipsies. I believe he was a comrade of
Elizabeth Canning when he lived at Enfield
Wash."* The story may be briefly summed up as fol
lows : — Elizabeth Canning, a servant girl about
eighteen years of age, went, with the consent of her
master, to visit a relation on New Year's Day, 1753.
She did not return, nor was anything heard con
cerning her for nearly a month, at the expiration of
which time she went to her mother's house in an
emaciated and wretched condition, and accounted
for her long disappearance by declaring that she
had been "violently assaulted in Moorfields by
two men, who had robbed her of her money, and
dragged her away into the country along the
Hertfordshire road, and that at length they
carried her to the house of one Mother Wells, at
Enfield Wash, where she said one Mary Squires, a
gipsy, and two girls were in the kitchen; and
where she had been confined till the day of her
return." During the whole time of her confine
ment, she asserted that she had existed upon a few
* Mr. Pitt lived, however, as stated in the preceding chapter, at
Enfield Chase.

crusts of bread and a pitcher of water, and that
she had effected her escape by jumping out of a
window. In stating the articles of which she had
been robbed, she accused Squires of cutting away
and taking her stays, and that a young woman
named Virtue Hall stood by, and witnessed the act.
In consequence of these charges, Squires, Hall,
and Wells, were apprehended, and taken before a
magistrate. Hall solemnly denied all knowledge
of any such transaction having happened since she
had been in Wells' house, and she was discharged;
but Squires was committed to prison for the
robbery, and Wells for aiding and abetting. They
were tried at the Old Bailey, and the former was
sentenced to be hanged. Many doubts, however,
arose as to the veracity of Canning's depositions,
and inquiries took place, which were laid before
the king, who referred the case to the consideration
of the Attorney and Solicitor General. In the
result, the tables were turned : the gipsy received
his Majesty's pardon, and Elizabeth Canning was
tried and convicted of perjury ; but on quitting
prison she returned to England, and inherited a
legacy left to her ' by an old lady of Newington
Green, who believed in her innocence. She also
still commanded so much sympathy, if not credit,
that a • subscription was got up to enable her to
emigrate to America, where she married a wealthy
planter. She died about the year 1773.
Wells came back to Enfield, where she died
a pauper, as appears from the register, in 1763.
Mary Squires, the gipsy, died in 1762, and was
buried at Farnham, Surrey, being followed to the
grave by several " Egyptians " as mourners.
Roselands, on the south side of Turkey Street,
is an estate some fifty acres in extent, with a
goodly mansion, and has been in the possession of
the family of the present owner for many years.
The manor of Elsynge, or Norris, according to
Mr. Ford's "Enfield," appears to have no con
nection, beyond its name, with Elsynge Hall. It
is said to have been situated in Ordnance Road,
and in the middle of the sixteenth century was held
under the Crown by a family named Wilforde.
The river Lea, as above stated, forms the
eastern boundary of this division of the parish
of Enfield. " It begynnethe (says Lambarde) near
Whitchurche, and from thence passinge by Hert
forde, Ware, and Waltham, openethe into the
Thames at Ham, in Essex, whence this place is at
this day called Lee-mouth. It hath of long tyme
borne vessels from London twenty myles towards
the head, for in the tyme of King Alfrede the
Danes entered Leymouth, whence King Alfrede
espied that the channell of the ryver might be in.

376

GREATER LONDON.

[Theobalds.

such sorte weakened that they should want water
to returne. He caused, therefore, the water to be
abated by two greate trenches, and setting the
Londonners upon them, he made their batteil
wherein they lost four of their capitaines. Not
long after they were so pressed that they forsoke
all, and left their shippes as a prey to the
Londonners, which breakyne some and burninge
other, conveyed the rest to London."
The old and irregular course of the river is now
of little use as a means of transit, having long ago
been superseded by the Lea and Stort Navigation.
A curious celt was found some years ago in the
Marsh at Enfield, twelve feet below the surface. It
is figured in the Gentle?nan's Magazine, 1807.
The hamlet of Bull's Cross, which lies on the
northern side of the parish, and in a bend of the
New River, about half a mile westward of Enfield
Highway, is said to have derived its name from an
old cross which formerly stood there. In a deed
of conveyance of land in this locality to one John

Fforde (temp. Edward IV., 1483), it is called
" Bedell's Cross." Chapel House, the residence of
the Warrens, is situate at Bull's Cross, near the site
of the old manor-house of Capels, alias Honey-
lands and Pentriches, which were formerly part of
the possessions of Sir Giles Capel, who, in exchange
for other lands, conveyed them to the Crown in
1547. The old mansion, together with the estate,
was sold by Queen Elizabeth in 1562 to one William
Home, a merchant, and after passing through the
hands of various successive purchasers, became, at
the end of the last century, the property of the late
Mr. Rawson H. Boddam, some time Governor of
Bombay. Mr. Boddam pulled down the old
manor-house, reserving little more than the stables,
and transferred its name of Capel House to his
own villa, which is said to occupy the site of the
outbuildings of the palace of James I. at Theo
balds. The old manor-house stood near a field,
now called North Field, where are still the remains
of an old garden, with some remarkable trees.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
THEOBALDS.
" You see these lifeless stumps of aspen wood :
Some say that they are beeches, others elms.
These were the Bower, and here a mansion stood.
The finest palace of a hundred realms !
The Arbour does its own condition tell :
You see the stones, the fountain, and the stream,
But as to the great Lodge, you might as well
Hunt half a day for a forgotten dream." — Wordsworth's Hart Leap Well.
Situation of Theobalds, and History of the Manor — The Estate Purchased by Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh — James I. at
Theobalds— Entertainment to Christopher IV., King of Denmark — Narrow Escape of King James — His Death - Description of the
Palace and Gardens — Demolition of the Palace — Present Condition of the Estate.

Passing from Enfieldin to the neighbouring parish
of Cheshunt, we cross the border-line which sepa
rates the two counties of Middlesex and Herts.
Before proceeding with a detailed account of that
parish, however, it may be as well to bring before
our mind's eye the regal domain of Theobalds,
with its magnificent palace — once the favourite
residence of the great Lord Burleigh, and after
wards of James I.
The estate — the name of which in ancient
documents is variously written Theobals, Tibbolds,
or Thebaudes (supposed to be the name of some
previous owner) — immediately adjoined, and indeed
included, part of Enfield Chase, and the manor of
Capels at Bull's Cross, as mentioned at the end of
the preceding chapter. The manor was formerly
called Cullynges, and in the fourteenth century
belonged to one William Attemore, of Cheshunt,

who, being indebted to William de Tongge in the
sum of £io\, made over to him this manor,
together with an estate named Le Mores, and
from him it obtained the name of Tongge. It was
afterwards named Thebaudes, and under that
appellation was granted, in 1441, by the Crown to
John Carpenter, Master of St. Anthony's Hospital,
in London, and others, to hold "by the annual
rental of a bow valued at 2s., and a barbed arrow,
value 3d." The manor subsequently passed
through various hands, until it was bought by Sir
William Cecil (afterwards Lord Burleigh), from
Robert Burbage 01 Theobalds, in the third year of
Elizabeth. Robert Burbage was grandson of
a William Burbage, who married Cicely, daughter
and heiress of Sir Robert Green of Theobalds,
whose mother was a daughter and co-heir of Sir
John Cley, also of Theobalds, which would appear,

Theobalds.]

THE GREAT LORD BURLEIGH.

377

as far back as 1450, to have had a character for
feasting and revelry.
Sir William Cecil had been twice member of
Parliament, Master of Requests, and Secretary of
State to Edward IV. and Queen Elizabeth. In
1570 he increased the estate by the purchase of
Cheshunt Park from Mr. Harrington, a fact which
is duly entered in Sir William's Diary for the above
year. The original house at this time is supposed to
have been placed on a small piece of rising ground,
still visible. But in the summer of 1564, Queen
Elizabeth having honoured him with a visit, and
probably having expressed her intention of repeat
ing it, he conceived the plan of enlarging the
house, so as to entertain his royal mistress on
subsequent occasions with becoming magnificence.
He therefore erected a more spacious mansion,
adorning it with beautiful gardens, and surrounding
it with a moat filled with water, and wide enough
for a pleasure-boat to ply between the " tall flag-
flowers" and the turreted walls. The palace
and grounds were completed by September, 1571,
when the queen visited him again, and was pre
sented with "a copy of verses" and a " portrait of
the house." Elizabeth appears to have taken a
particular fancy for Theobalds — probably from its
proximity to the Chase at Enfield and to Waltham
Forest, where she could enjoy the pleasures of
hunting — for her visits were pretty frequent. Nor did
her Majesty come alone. In 1583 she was attended
by a large retinue, and stayed four days ; the Earls
of Leicester and Warwick, the Lord Admiral (Lord
Howard), Lord Hunsdon, Sir Christopher Hatton,
and Sir Francis Walsingham, were there with her.
In the "Life of Lord Burleigh," "The Compleat
Statesman," commonly known as " The Diary of a
Domestic," it is written, " Her Majestie sometimes
had strangers and ambassadors come to see her at
Theobalds : where she hath byn sene in as great
royalty, and served as bountifully and magnificently
as at any other time or place, all at his lordship's
chardg : with rich shows, pleasant devices, and all
manner of sports could be devised, to the great
delight of her Majestie and her whole traine."
Early in the summer of 1592, during one of her
" progresses," the queen paid a visit to this place.
It is thus mentioned in a letter from one of his
friends to Sir Robert Sidney : — " I suppose you
have heard of her Majesty's great entertainment at
Theobalds ; of her knighting Mr. Robert Cecil,
and of the expectation of his being advanced to
the Secretaryship. But so it is, as we say in Court,
that the knighthood must serve for both." (" Sid
ney Papers.")

As time went on wealth and honour multiplied
upon Cecil. The queen created him Baron
Burleigh, and she honoured him with her presence
at Theobalds no less than a dozen times. Lord
Burleigh entertained her Majesty most sumptuously,
each visit, it is said, putting him to the expense of
some £2,000 or ,£3,000. Some idea may be
formed of his lordship's style of living from the
fact that he had in his train twenty gentlemen,
each with £1,000 a year. Indeed, it might truly
be said of Theobalds in his day —
" Here he lives in state and bounty,
Lord of Burleigh, fair and free;
Not a lord in all the county
Is so great a lord as he. "
Lord Burleigh was not a man who thought that
greatness consisted in living in a great house ; and
although his business was much at Court, still he
felt he had duties at Cheshunt, and he fulfilled
them heartily : relieving the poor, and maintaining,
at a cost of £4,000 a year, a style of living which
£40,000 a year certainly could not match at the
present time. The usual expense of his house
keeping at Theobalds was £80 per week ; his
subles cost him a thousand marks (£666 13s,. 4d.)
per annum. The sum of £10 per week was
allotted to setting the poor to work in his garden ;
and 20s. a week was distributed by the vicar of
Cheshunt as his almoner.
In the " Diary of a Domestic '' it is said in
respect of Theobalds that the gardens, fountains,
and walks were perfected most costly, beautifully,
and pleasantly, where one might walk two miles in
the walks before coming to the end. " The house
at first," says the "Domestic," "he meant for a little
pile, as I heard him say; but after he came to
entertain the queen so often there, he was forced
to enlarge it, rather for the queen and her great
train, and to give work to the poor, than for pomp
and glory, for he ever said it would be too big for
the small living he could leave his son." Lord
Burleigh's character is summed up by his biographer
as follows : — " His nature, though cold, was not
mean or sordid, nor his heart narrow or selfish ;
neither, with all his firmness (which some might
call sternness), was his temper unkind, or his man
ners harsh, but the contrary ; in thirty years
together he was seldom seen angry. He had his
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
ordinarily at his table. If he might ride privately
in his garden on his little mule, or lie for a day or
two in his little lodge at Theobalds, secluded from
business or too much company, he thought this his
greatest and only happiness." At length a heavy
loss befel him, and his second wife, Mildred, with

378

GREATER LONDON.

[Theobalds.

whom he had lived on affectionate terms for forty-
three years, passed away. He felt lonely and
desolate in the midst of shows and tournaments ;
and his depression of spirits, coupled with the in
firmities of old age, brought him to his end in
1598, and in his seventy-eighth year.
At his death Theobalds and the neighbouring
estates passed into the possession of his youngest
son, Sir Robert Cecil, who became Earl of Salis
bury soon after the accession of James I. He not

The king had dined early in the day with Sir
Henry Cocks at Broxboume, and was accompanied
by Sir Edward Denny, High Sheriff of Essex, and
many of the Scottish and English nobility. An
eye-witness of the reception, John Savile, thus
describes the scene : — " As his Highness was
espied coming towards Theobalds, the concourse
of people was so frequent, every one desiring a
sight of him, that it were incredible to tell of. And
it was wonderful to see the infinite number of horse-

OLD THEOBALDS PALACE.
(From an Engraving in the " Gentleman' s Magazine,'

1836. See page 384.)

only succeeded to his father's country seat, but,
like him, held the highest offices of state. He
became Prime Minister to Queen Elizabeth, and
was confirmed in that office by King James. Al
though the talents of Sir Robert were not equal to
those of his father, yet he was the ablest statesman
of his time. In three successive years he was
made Baron of Essenden, Viscount Cranbourne,
and Earl of Salisbury. In order to conciliate the
favour of the new sovereign, Sir Robert embraced
the earliest opportunity of honouring him. Ac
cordingly, when his Majesty came from Scotland
to take possession of the throne of England, in
May, 1603, Sir Robert Cecil gave him a noble re
ception and princely entertainment at Theobalds.

men and footmen that went from the city of London
that day thitherwards, and likewise from the coun
ties of Kent, Surrey, Essex, and Middlesex,
besides other counties. . . . AVhen we were
come to Theobalds, we understood his Majesty
to be within the compass of three-quarters of a
mile from the house. At which tidings we divided
ourselves into three parts, each one taking a
place of special note, to see what memorable
accidents might happen within his compass : one
standing at the upper end of the Walk, the second
at the upper end of the first court, and the
third (myself) at the second court's door ; and we
made choice of a gentleman of good sort to stand
in the court that leads into the hall, to take notice

Theobalds. 1

RECEPTION OF JAMES I.

379

what was said or done by his Highness to the
nobility of our land, or said or done by them
to his Majesty, and to let us understand of it. All
which accidents, as they happened in their several
places, you shall hear in as few words as may
be. "Thus, then, for his Majesty's coming up the
Walk. There came before him some of the
nobility, some Barons, Knights, Esquires, Gentle
men, and others — amongst whom was the Sheriff
of Essex and most of his men, the trumpets
sounding next before his Highness, sometimes one,

answer that 'he should be heard, and have
justice.' " At the entrance to that court stood many
noblemen, among whom was Sir Robert Cecil, who
there meeting his Majesty, conducted him into
his house; all which was practised with as great
applause of the people as could be — hearty
prayers and throwing up of hats.
" His Majesty had not stayed above an hour in
his chamber, but hearing the multitude thronging so
fast into the uppermost court to see his Highness,
as his Grace was informed, he showed himself

THE MAZE AT THEOBALDS. (See page 382.)

sometimes another; his Majesty not riding con
tinually betwixt .the same two noblemen, but some
times with one and sometimes with another, as
seemed best to his Highness; the whole nobility
of our land and Scotland round about him, ob
serving no place of superiority, but all bare
headed; all of whom alighted from their horses
at their entrance to the first court, save only his
Majesty, who alone rode along still, with four
noblemen laying their hands upon his steed, two
before and two behind. In this manner he came
till he come to the court's door, where I myself
stood, where he alighted from his horse, from
which he had not gone ten princely paces but
there was delivered to him a petition by a young
gentleman; his Majesty returning his gracious

openly out of his chamber window by the space
of half an hour together. After which time, he
went into the labyrinth-like gardens to walk,
where he recreated himself in the meanders, com
pact of bays, rosemary, and the like overshadowing
his walk, to defend him from the heat of the
sun, till supper time. At which there was such
plenty of provision for all sorts of men in their due
place as struck me with admiration.
" And first, to begin with, the ragged regiment,
and such as were debarred the privilege of any
court, these were so sufficiently rewarded with
beef, veal, mutton, bread, and beer, that they
sang ' Holy day ' every day, and kept a continual
feast. As for the poor maimed and distressed
soldiers, which repaired thither for maintenance,

38o

GREATER LONDON.

[Theobalds.

the wine, money, and meat which they had in
very bounteous sort, hath been a sufficient spur to
cause them to blaze it abroad since their coming
to London: whose thankfulness is not altogether
unknown to myself, some of whom, hearing that
I was about to publish this small 'Remembrance,'
made means to me to give me true information
of such princely exhibition as they daily received
during the time of his Majesty's abode at Theo
balds." The king appears to have won golden opinions
during his stay at Theobalds by publishing a
proclamation ordering that the price of victuals,
such as meat, bread, butter, and cheese, should
not be raised to exorbitant prices within the verge
of his court. He arrived on Tuesday, the 3rd of
May, and proceeded on to London, by way of
Stamford Hill, on Saturday, the 7th ; and it is on
record that he spent the intervening Wednesday in
a visit to Enfield Chase.
In 1606 the earl gave a second entertainment
to his sovereign, and to Christopher IV, King of
Denmark, who stayed with him four days. The
king was so delighted with Theobalds, and its
convenient situation for his favourite amusement
of hunting, that he desired to become possessed
of this noble mansion, and make it his principal
place of abode. He therefore gave in exchange
for it the more valuable mansion of Hatfield, and
shortly after commenced the work of improving
and embellishing Theobalds by enlarging the park,
apportioning, as we have already seen, a good
slice of Enfield Chase,* with parts of Northaw
and Cheshunt Common. The king at that time
enclosed Theobalds with a brick wall ten miles
in circumference, part of which wall still remains
in the grounds ot Albury House, and other parts at
Bury Green and Cuffley.
The scene which presented itself at Theobalds
during the feastings and masks in honour of the
visit of Christian IV. has been described by one
of the guests in the following terms : — "After
dinner the representation of Solomon and his
Temple, and the coming of the Queen of Sheba,
was made, or (as I may say better) was meant to
have been made. The lady who did play the
queen's part did carry most precious gifts to both
their Majesties, but forgetting the steps arising to
the canopy, overset her caskets into his Danish
Majesty's lap, and fell at his feet, though I rather
think it was in his face. Much was the hurry and
confusion ; cloths and napkins were at hand to
make all clean. His Majesty then got up, and
* See ante, p. 365.

would dance with the Queen of Sheba ; but he fell
down, and was carried to an inner chamber. The
entertainment and show went forward, and most of
the presenters went backward or fell down : wind
did so occupy their upper chambers. Now did
appear, in rich dresses, Faith, Hope, and Charity.
Hope did essay to speak, but wine did render her
endeavours so feeble that she withdrew. Faith
was then all alone, for I am certain she was not
joined with good works, and left the court in a
staggering condition. Charity came to the king's
feet ; she then returned to Hope and Faith, who
were both sick in the lower hall."
Theobalds was exchanged for Hatfield House,
with Robert, first Earl of Salisbury, by James I.,
in 1607, and in 1614 his Majesty received a second
visit from the King of Denmark, and entertained
him for fifteen days with an uninterrupted suc
cession of feasting and diversions. Fond as the
king was of hunting — so fond that the people used
to say, " God's peace be with you, as King James
said to his hounds '' — he was a bad rider, and often
thrown. Thus, " when staying at Theobalds in
the depth of winter, he rode out one day after
dinner, and his horse stumbling, he was cast into
the New River. The ice broke, and in plunged
his august Majesty head foremost, while nothing
but his boots remained visible. It would have
gone ill with him that day had not Sir Richard
Young alighted, and ran to the rescue. His atten
dants had to empty him, like an inverted cask, of
the river water he had drunk so freely against his
will; and a warm bed at Theobalds soon re
stored him to his pleasures and follies."*
From Ellis's " Letters " we learn that James did
many wicked, cracked-brained things at Theobalds,
for he had " fools, fiddlers, and master-fools ; " and
Jesse tells us how some called him " Old wife,"
and his minions addressed him as "Your sow-
ship;" that the ladies of his court rolled about
intoxicated, and he himself was carried off to bed,
after having proposed five-and-thirty healths ; how
oaths were never off his lips, nor cowardice and
hypocrisy ever out of his heart ; and how, as the
counterpart of all his vice and foolery, he translated
the Psalms, wrote books of piety, and welcomed
bishops to his presence as warmly as if they had
been buffoons. One of these was Joseph Hall,
Bishop of Norwich. He had previously been
curate of Waltham Abbey, and he preached several
times before James and his court at Theobalds.
Laud notes in his "Diary," September 17th, 1609:

* Ellis's Letters, "Joseph Meade to Sir Martin Stuteville, January
nth, 1622."

Theobalds.]

DEATH OF JAMES I.

38i

" My first sermon before King James at Theo
balds." James died at Theobalds on the 27 th of March,
1625, and the blood was hardly cold in his veins
when a knight-marshal was seen issuing from the
palace to proclaim his successor. His name was
Sir Edward Zouch, and when he reached the court-
gate, and silence had been secured by the heralds,
he solemnly proclaimed James's son Charles as
king, but by an unfortunate and, as many thought,
ominous slip of the tongue, instead of styling the
new sovereign " the rightful and indubitable heir,"
he used the words " rightful and dubitable heir,"
and was corrected in his error by the secretary.
March 27th, 1625. — Laud tells us in his "Diary"
that whilst preaching at Whitehall this day he
heard the news of the death of James I. " The
king died at Theobalds about three-quarters of an
hour after eleven in the forenoon. He breathed
forth his soul most religiously, and with great
constancy of faith and courage. That day, about
five o'clock, Prince Charles was solemnly pro
claimed king. God grant to him," adds Laud, " a
prosperous and happy reign ! " Prayers and pious
wishes, it would seem, are not always fulfilled. At
Theobalds Laud did homage to Charles I. on
being made Bishop of Bath and Wells.
On the day following the death of King James,
Charles took coach at Theobalds with Buckingham,
and went to London, and was proclaimed at White
hall and Cheapside. The usual route by which
the king went from London to Theobalds may
still be traced by the names of streets on the north
side of Holborn: namely, Kingsgate Street, King
Street, King's Road, and Theobalds Road.
Theobalds continued a royal residence till the
commencement of the Civil War, and to this place
Charles retired when he found himself no longer
safe at Westminster. From here, in July, 1635, he
wrote to the Earl of Salisbury to obtain a supply
of food for his Majesty's deer in the park from
the adjoining parishes, for, owing to great drought,
Cheshunt could not furnish a sufficient quantity of
hay and oats. Here the king received the petition
from both houses of Parliament in 1645, and from
hence he, a short time afterwards, set out for the
north, and raised aloft his standard at Nottingham.
During the contest between the king's forces and
the Parliamentarians, the palace was plundered
and very much defaced, and the manor appears to
have been parcelled out among the officers of the
Parliamentary army.
Norden, in his account of Hertfordshire in the
reign of Elizabeth, states that he found the palace
of "Thibauldes, or Theobalde," so vast a subject

that he despaired of being able to do it justice. " To
speake," he says, " of the state and beuty thereof
at large as it deserveth, for curious buildinges, de-
lightfull walkes, and pleasant conceites, within and
without, and other thinges very glorious and elle-
gant to be seene, would challenge a great portion
of this little treatise ; and therefore, leaste I should
come shorte of that due commendation that it
deserveth, I leave it, as indeed it is, a princely
seat." In a survey of the house, taken in 1650, when
it was being pulled down, it was stated to consist
of two principal quadrangles, besides the Dial
Court, the Buttery Court, and the Dove-house
Court, in which the offices were situated. The
Fountain Court, so called from a fountain of black
and white marble in the centre, was a quadrangle,
eighty-six feet square, on the east side of which
was a cloister eight feet wide, with seven arches.
On the ground-floor of this quadrangle was a spa
cious hall paved with Purbeck marble, and the roof
arched with carved timber of curious workmanship.
On the same floor were the Lord Holland's, the
Marquis of Hamilton's, and the Lord Salisbury's
lodging-rooms (for the last-mentioned nobleman
was made keeper of Theobalds House by King
James in 16 19), the council chamber, and the
chamber for the king's waiters. On the second
floor was the Presence Chamber, "wainscoted
with carved oak, painted of a liver colour, and
richly gilded, with antique pictures over the same ;
the ceiling full of gilded pendants, setting forth the
room with great splendour ; there were large
windows, and several coats-of-arms set in the
same." These windows opened south on the
walks in the great garden leading to the gate going
into the park, where was an avenue of trees a mile
long. There was also the Privy Chamber, the
Withdrawing Room, the King's Bedchamber, and
a gallery 123 feet long by twenty-one feet broad,
" wainscoted with oak, and paintings over the same
of divers cities, rarely painted, and set forth with
a frett seelinge, with divers pendants, roses, and
fleurs-de-lys, painted and gilded with gold, also
divers large stagges' heads sett round the same,
and fastened to the sayd roome, which are an ex
cellent ornament to the same." The windows of
this gallery looked " north into the park, and so
to Cheshunt." On an upper floor were the Lord
Chamberlain's lodgings, my lord's withdrawing
chamber, and several other apartments.
Near the Chamberlain's lodgings, on the east,
was a leaded walk, 62 feet in length and n in
breadth, with an arch of freestone over it ; " which
sayd arch and walk," says the Survey, "looking

382

GREATER LONDON.

[Theobalds.

eastward into the Middle Court, and into the high
way leading from London to Ware, standeth high,
and may easily be discerned by passengers and
travellers, to their delight." On the west of the
Lord Chamberlain's lodgings was another walk of
the same dimensions, looking westward into the
Fountain Court. At the corners of these walks
stood "fower high, fair, and large towers, covered
with blue slate, with a lyon and vaines on the top
of each, and in the walk over the hall, in the midst
of the fowre corners, one faire and large turret:, in
the fashion' of a lanthorne, 'made with timber of ex
cellent workmanship, curiouslie wrought, standinge
a great height, with divers pinacles at each corner,
wherein hangeth twelve bells for chiminge, and a
clocke with chimes of sundrie worke." The walk
from the lower gate up to the middle of the Foun
tain Court is described as leading "through the
severall courtes, so that the figure of Cupid and
Venus (which stood between the pillars of the
fountain) maye easily be seene from the highway
when the gates are open." This walk, continues
the Survey, " is so delightful and pleasant, facing
the middle of the house, and the severall towers,
turretts, windowes, chimneyes, walkes, and bal
conies, that the like walke, for length, pleasantness,
and delight, is rare to be seene in England."
The Middle Court was a quadrangle no feet
square, having on the south side the Queen's
Chapel (with windows of stained glass), her presence
chamber, privy chamber, bed chamber, and coffer
chamber. The prince's lodgings were on the north
side; on the east side was a cloister, over which
was a green gallery, over ioo feet in length by
1 2 in breadth, " excellently well painted round
with the severall shires in England, and the armes
of the noblemen and gentlemen in the same."
Over this gallery was a leaded walk (looking east
ward towards the Dial Court and the highway), on
which were two "loftie arches of bricke, of no
small ornament to the house, and rendering it
comely and pleasant to all that passed by." On
the west of the quadrangle was another cloister of
five arches, over which were the duke's lodgings,
and over them the Queen's Gallery, 109 feet by
fourteen feet.
On the south side of the house stood " a large
open cloister, built upon severall large faire pillars
of stone arched over with seven arches, with a faire
raill and balisters, well painted with the Kinges and
Queenes of England, and the pedigree of the old
Lord Burleigh and divers other ancient families,
with paintings of many castles and battailes, with
divers superscriptions on the walls." This cloister
was standing in 1765, and the mutilated remnants

of the "pedigrees," as they then existed, were
engraved for Nichols's "Progresses of Queen
Elizabeth." The whole house was built, as the
Survey states, of excellent brick, with coins, jambs,
and cornices of stone. "The basement of the
house," observes Mr. John C. Earle, in an account
of the palace published in 1869, "was faced with
fine ashlared limestone, and the cornice, of which
a small portion remains, was of the Doric order.
The upper storeys were of fine red brick, divided
from one another by stone cornices. From what
remains of these cornices, it appears that the upper
portion of the edifice was of the Ionic or Corinthian
order; and it is highly probable that the three
classical orders — Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian — were
used one above the other, as in many buildings of
the same period — Burleigh House, for example,
the schools at Oxford, and the second quadrangle
of Merton College."
Paul Hentzner, a German traveller, has left us
the following description of the gardens of Theo
balds, as they appeared in 1598, just after the
death of Lord Burleigh : — " Here are great variety
of trees and plants ; labyrinths made with a great
deal of labour ; a jet d'eau, with its basin of white
marble ; and columns and pyramids of wood and
other materials up and down the garden. After
seeing these, we are led by the gardener into the
summer-house, in the lower part of which, built
semi-circularly, are the twelve Roman emperors
in white marble, and a table of touchstone ; the
upper part of it is set round with cisterns of lead,
into which the water is conveyed through pipes, so
that fish may be kept in them, and in summer time
they are very convenient for bathing ; in another
room for entertainment very near this, and joined to
it by a little bridge, was an oval table of red marble."
In addition to the great gardens were the priory
gardens, with other enclosures for pheasants,
aviaries, and menageries, for James was very fond
of wild beasts, and had a collection of them
worthy of a Zoological Garden. In one of his
letters to Buckingham, when the latter was at
Madrid, we find him inquiring about the "elephants,
camels, wild asses," &c. He had always a large
camel-house at Theobalds, whilst the tennis-court,
stables, kennels, and falconry, were on a scale of
magnitude proportionate to the palace.
In the gardens of Theobalds was one of those
curious contrivances called mazes, or labyrinths,
such as we have seen at Hampton Court.* "In
the reigns of Henry VIIL and Elizabeth," observes
a writer in the Archaeological Journal (Vol. xv.,
* See ante, p. 171.

Theobalds.]

DEMOLITION OF THE PALACE.

383

p. 228), "mazes were much in vogue, and there
must then have been a frequent demand for fabri
cators of verdant subtilties, a maze formed by
neatly-clipped hedges being an usual adjunct to
the royal residences, and probably also to those of
the nobility." Although these mazes have been
for the most part destroyed, their past existence is
indicated by the retention of the name of Maze
in the vicinity of the spots they had once occupied,
such as Maze Lane and Maze Pond,* in South
wark, marking the site of the Princess Mary Tudor's
residence, alluded to by Miss Strickland in her
" Lives of the Queens of England," and called the
Manor of " Le Maze " in the reign of Henry VI. ;
also by the name of Maze Hill at Greenwich,!
which was once supplied with a similar means of
amusing the royal inmates of the adjoining palace.
Of Theobalds itself nothing remains but the
park, and a few of the walls of the royal gardens
and outhouses. Three or four large mansions
have been erected on the site of these gardens
and terraces, and the noble cedars, poplars, and
evergreens, attest the former splendour of the place.
The garden walks still remain as of old, though no
longer trodden by the feet of brave cavaliers and
fair ladies of the court. In one portion of the
walls which remain are a number of small niches,
which look as if they had been intended for saints,
though they were not built till long after the saints
were banished from our churches. Their use is a
mystery. In one corner of the garden was an
alcove in the wall, where Dr. Watts used to sit
whilst a visitor here ; and tradition says that he
wrote here some of his hymns and poems, in
cluding possibly " The Little Busy Bee."
Though Theobalds was demolished by order of
Parliament during the Commonwealth, and the
money arising from the sale of the materials was
divided among the army, self-interest or shame
restrained in some degree the violence of the
destroyers. The commissioners who were ap
pointed by Parliament in 1650 to make a survey
of the palace reported that "it was an excellent
building, in very good repair, by no means fit to
be demolished, and that it was worth £2,000 per
annum, exclusive of the park ; yet, lest the Parlia
ment should think proper to have it taken down,
they had estimated the materials, and found them
to be worth £8,275 IIS-" Notwithstanding this
report, the greater part of the palace was taken
down, and the materials sold ; the royal park was
converted into farms, and several "pleasant resi
dences" have been erected where royalty once

* See " Old and New London," Vol. VI., p. 104.
+ Ibid, Vol. VI., p. *3°-

delighted to assemble and enjoy the beauties of a
rural retreat. An almshouse adjoining the stables,
built probably by Lord Burleigh, continued to be
a refuge for the aged poor. It is mentioned in a
"Life of the Earl of Salisbury," printed in 1612,
that it was occupied by " aged and over-worne
captaines, gentlemen by birth and calling." This
building, which had the arms of Cecil in front,
and was furnished with a hall and chapel, was
standing till about the year 18 12.
The park contained 2,500 acres, and was valued,
together with six lodges, at £1,545 15s. 4d. per
annum. The deer was valued at £1,000, the
rabbits at £15, and the timber at £7,259 13s. 2d.,
exclusive of 15,608 trees marked for the use of
the navy, and others already cut down for that
purpose. The materials of the barn and walls were
valued at £1,570 16s. 3d.
Among the few parts of the palace that were
left standing after the dismantlement, about 1650,
was one of the chapels, which continued to be
used by the Presbyterians till the year 1689, when
the site of the palace and the park were granted
by William III. to the Earl of Portland. Charles II.
had previously made a grant of the park and manor
to the man who had seated him on the throne of
his father. This was George Monk, Duke of Albe
marle. After the death of Monk, in 1607, his son
Christopher enjoyed it ; but on his death without
issue it reverted to the Crown, where it remained
until granted to the Earl of Portland, as above
mentioned. Somehow, however, the manor of
Theobalds did not go with the park and house;
but after frequently changing hands, it became,
towards the close of the last century, the inheritance
of Oliver Cromwell, Esq., the last male descendant
of Henry, the Protector's son. From the Earl of
Portland the property passed to his son, whom
George I. created a duke ; and about the middle of
the last century the property was sold to one of the
Prescott family, who afterwards became possessed
of the manor. The last remains of the palace
were eventually destroyed, and on their site were
erected the houses which now form Theobalds
Square, in the village of Cheshunt. About the
same time a new park of 200 acres was enclosed
by Sir G. Prescott, who also built a handsome brick
mansion, on rising ground, about a mile north
west from the site of the palace, and at a short
distance from the New River, which runs through
the grounds. The new house is somewhat similar
in plan to that of St. James's Palace. A considera
ble improvement and addition was made to it by
the late Sir Henry Meux, who held it under Sii
George Prescott some years since.

3»4

GREATER LONDON.

[Cheshunt.

Mr. S. Beazley, the architect, dramatist, and
man of letters, designed a new staircase here for
the Meuxes, who affected to drop the "x" in
pronouncing their names, and to sound the name
as if it were " Muse '' or " Mews ; " and when done,
he styled it in jest a " Gradus ad Parnassum," the
latter being the fabled seal of the Heavenly Nine.
Lord William Lennox wrote the following/«« d' esprit
on the name : —
' ' There 's Meux entire — called Mews the swells among,
Though Mieux is better in a foreign tongue ;
Tant Mieux, why change the sounds ? nay, 'tis no myth,
Tayleur was Taylor once, and Smythe was Smith."
The property, which is now called Theobalds
Park, was bought by Sir Henry Meux in 1882. It
is one of the most compact estates for its size of
any within the same distance of London. There
are several roads through it, but no right of carriage
way to any but the owner, although the public
have the privilege of passing through it on foot.
Sir Thomas Abney had a house at Theobalds,
and here Dr. Watts lived with him for some time
before his removal to Stoke Newington.* In a

summer-house in the garden, as stated above, he
is said to have composed many of his hymns.
In the Gentleman's Magazine for February, 1836,,
there is an engraving of "the Royal Palace of
Theobalds," derived from a drawing in the Fitz-
william Museum at Cambridge. It had been pre
viously known only from a vignette in Pickering's
edition of Izaak Walton's " Complete Angler."
The embattled gatehouse, with its oriel window
above the archway, and the clock-tower and other
buildings beyond, recalls to mind to a certain
extent the appearance of Wolsey's Gateway and the
older portions of Hampton Court Palace. The
central tower, with its turrets and cupola, was
doubtless a conspicuous object from many parts of
the surrounding country ; at all events, it would
appear to have been visible to Izaak Walton's
worthy anglers, Auceps and Piscator, in their walk
along the banks of the Lea ; for the former remarks,
" I shall by your favour bear you company as far
as Theobalds," and the latter shortly after says,
" I must in manners break off, for I see Theobalds
House."

CHAPTER XL.
CHESHUNT.
" There the most daintie paradise on ground,
Itselfe doth offer to the sober eye,
In which all pleasures plenteously abownd,
And none does others happiness envye.
The painted flowers, the trees upshooting hye ;
The dales for shade ; the christall running by,
And that which all fair works doth most aggrace,
The art which all that wrought appeared in no place." — Edmund Spenser.
Situation and General Appearance of the Parish — Its Etymology — Supposed Site of a Roman Station or Camp -Discovery of Roman Coins, &c. —
The Mound at Bury Green — A Curious Manorial Custom — Census Returns — The River Lee — A Disputed Landmark — Early History and
Descent of the Manor of Cheshunt— The Manor of Moteland, or St. Andrew's le Mote — The Great House— The Parish Church—
The Cemetery, &c. — Cheshunt College — Pengelly House — Cheshunt Park — The Cromwell Family — Other Notable Residents and
Seats— Waltham Cross—" The Four Swans " Inn— The Spital Houses— Holy Trinity Church— The Benedictine Convent— GofTs Oak—
St. James's Church.

Cheshunt, which will now form the subject of
our remarks, is both extensive and pleasingly
diversified with agricultural and park-like scenery.
It is, in fact, undulating, well-wooded, and well-
watered, and irregular in plan. The most populous
part of the village, called Cheshunt Street, is built
on either side of the great North Road, a continua
tion of the road from London through Enfield
Highway, by Waltham Cross — which, by the way,
is really part of Cheshunt — and so on to Ware;
so that the inhabitants, if they had happened to
have been at their windows on that eventful day,
* See "Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 539.

would have witnessed John Gilpin's involuntary ride
to that place, and also his return journey, though
the fact is not commemorated by Cowper in his
inimitable ballad. The older part of the parish,
however, is grouped round the church, and is
called Church Street, or Church Gate. Here were
some old mansions, including Pengelly House, and
two or three with projecting upper storeys. The
parish is intersected from north to south by water.
The Lea bounds it on the east, and the New River
cuts it through nearer the western limit ; the Great
Eastern Railway has two stations in the parish — one
at Waltham Cross and the other at Cheshunt.
The name of the parish is a curious admixture

Cheslhuht.)

KILSMORE. CAMP.

of thje Roman and the Saxon elem^ua, if it be true, as
generally stated, that it is derivaeru-om "Ceastre,"
" Castrum," and " Hunt," implyh/g that it had been
a Roman encampment in a forest, or weald. Sal
mon, in his " History of Hertfordshire," states that
here was a Roman station or fortified camp con
nected with the military road called Erne fe Street,
of which we have spoken in a previous adapter,*
and which road was intersected by another leading

Salmon to place here the Durolitum of Anjrth,jiUs ;
and this opinion has been thought to to teive
support from the fact of Roman coins of the
Emperors Hadrian, Claudius Gothicus, and Con-
stantine, having been discovered here. These
were exhibited at a meeting of the Society of
Antiquaries in 1724. In Gough's "Camden," how
ever, it is questioned whether Durolitum should not
rather be placed at Durnford, vulgarly called Turn-

CHESHUNT CHURCH.

to the camp, which was situated at Kilsmore, near
Cheshunt Street. Be this as it may, however, the
subject has been one of dispute among anti
quarians, some asserting that the supposed vallum
and fosse in Kilsmore field were nothing more than
a cut originally intended for the New River, but
laid aside as less convenient than the present
channel. This fosse, at all events, has been en
tirely effaced by a large reservoir, formed by the
New River Company ; but the famijclQse by jtiJL.
bears the name of KilsmereT"^ -„./"
This supposed fosse and military way induced

* See ante, p.

ford, a little village at the north end of Cheshunt,
by Cheshunt Wash. The notion of Cheshunt
having been the site of a Roman settlement may
seem to be further strengthened by an urn, said to
be Roman, having been found here ; it is to be
seen embedded in the front of an inn called " The
Roman Urn," in Crossbrook Street. The urn was
found on the spot many years ago, whilst some
excavations were being made ; but its date is far
from certain.
Salmon also makes mention of an old tumulus,
or Druidical mound, near Bury Green, with
ascending paths corresponding to the four cardinal
points ; this is also disputed, some topographers

33

\&<

GREATER LONDON.

SL,

[OieshW.

suppj" ~* i it to be a hillock on which, in days long
gonei 7, stood a windmill ; whilst Clutterbuck
thinks it more likely to.be the site of an old manor
house. It is supposed that the boundary of the kingdom
of the East Saxons passed through Theobalds and
across Goff's Lane, to Beaumont Green, and so on
to the ancient city of Verulam (St. Albans). It
was marked by a bank, but no trace now remains.
One peculiarity of the manors in Cheshunt is
recorded by Mr. Thorne, who writes : — "An irregu
lar line, known as the Bank's line, runs north and
south through the parish ; east of it, or below bank,
by far the larger and more valuable portion, the
land and tenements are subject to borough-English,
i.e., descend to the youngest son, while west of the
line, or above bank, the eldest son succeeds." This
custom, observes Salmon, could not have been
introduced except by different laws of different
governments. Cheshunt was originally divided into eight
villages, or hamlets, namely : Waltham Cross, Car
buncle Street, Turner's Hill, Cheshunt Street,
Hamon (now Hammond) Street, Appleby Street,
Wood Green, and Cockerams. The parish is
divided into three wards, known as Waltham
Cross, Cheshunt Street, and Woodside Cross
Wards ; and, inclusive of the ecclesiastical districts
of Waltham Cross and Goff's Oak, it contains
nearly 8,500 acres, and is estimated at thirty miles
in circumference, with a population, in 1881, of
7,700, being an increase of rather more than 1,000
during the preceding ten years.
The parish is separated from that of Waltham
Abbey by the River Lea, which, forming two
channels at that part, has given rise to much litiga
tion and contention between the inhabitants of the
two parishes, each party claiming the piece ot
valuable marsh-land between the streams, and
each asserting that to be the original stream which
affords the greatest extent of territory. This un
decided dominion has sometimes been attacked
and defended by the weapons of the law, and at
others by personal prowess. These disputes first
began between the Abbot of Waltham Abbey and
the townsmen of Waltham about the year 1245.
The abbot and his convent having possession of
the marsh, which they had enjoyed for many years,
the townsmen killed some of their cattle and drove
out the rest. Disturbances arose ; the subject was
brought before the King's Bench ; but the towns
men acknowledging their error, the quarrel came
to an end. A fiercer and greater strife, however,
soon after broke out with reference to this piece
cf land between the Abbot of Waltham and the

Lord of the Maf t: of Cheshunt, but the ques don
does not appear bmpiave been satisfactorily settlled,
for in 1601, on th^'-'aen of Cheshunt "beating ithe
bounds," they are considered to have over-stepped
the mark, as the following entry in the parish rec/ords
of Waltham testify : — " The curate of Ches'jhunt
and som^o.bf the churchwardens .... did coinie
in their j>f rambulation to our high bridge, and for
so doing, ''and coming out of their own liberty, they
were for their pains thrust into a ditch, called
Hook's Ditch." The situation of the place where
this disaster occurred appears to be not far from
the disputed piece of marsh-land. The rich and
fertile marshes of which those in dispute form a
part were laid under water in the time of King
Alfred (897), and were then navigable, so that the
Danes sailed up the river to Hertford, where they
built two forts for the security of their ships ; but
in order to secure them from returning, Alfred,
with pioneers, divided the principal stream of the
Lea with several rivulets, so that their ships were
left on dry land, which so terrified them that they
abandoned their forts, and .being hotly pursued,
were compelled to flee the country. These
marshes were formally called the King's Meads,
many being drained and capable of bearing grass,
and the king gave them for "common'' to the
several adjacent parishes.
Cheshunt contains several subordinate manors.
The principal manor, from which some of the others
have branched off since the time of the Domesday
Survey, was given by the Conqueror to his nephew,
Earl Alan, surnamed the " Red," who commanded
the rear of his army at the battle of Hastings, and
was rewarded with the earldom of Richmond, in
Yorkshire, the manor of Cheshunt being assigned
to him in order to support his newly-acquired
dignity. Earl Alan was a son of Eudes, Earl of Brittany,
by a sister of William the Conqueror. The following
is the entry relating to this parish in " Domesday
Book " :— " Earl Alan himself holds Cestrehunt.
It was rated at twenty hides. Arable land thirty-
three carucates. In demesne are ten hides, and
there are four carucates, and two may yet be made.
Forty-one villanes, with a priest and twelve bordars,
have seventeen carucates there. Ten merchants
pay ten shillings for custom there. There are eight
cottagers and six bondmen, and one mill worth
ten shillings. From a stream sixteen-pence. Mea
dow, twenty-three carucates, and fodder for the
lord's horses. Pasture for cattle. Pannage for
one thousand two hundred hogs, and forty pence."
On the death of Earl Alan, without issue, in 1089,
the manor passed to his half-brother, surnamed

Cheshunt]

ST. ANDREW'S LE MOTE.

38?

Niger, who also died without issue, and was suc
ceeded by his brother Stephen, and with his
descendants it remained till the beginning of the
thirteenth century, when it was granted by the
Crown to William, Bishop of Carlisle. In 1241
Henry III. gave the manor to Peter de Savoy,
uncle of Eleanor, his queen, and in the following
year granted him the right of holding an annual
fair of two days' duration within this manor.
Another fair, to last four days, was subsequently
granted to Peter de Savoy, but both have died
out. Cheshunt Fair, which had from time imme
morial been held in Cheshunt Street on the 24th
of August, was abolished by the local magistrates
in 1859.
The manor, after the death of Peter de Savoy,
saw several successive changes of ownership. In
1525 it was granted by Henry VIIL to his ille
gitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, who was created
Duke of Richmond and Somerset, but on his
death, at the age of seventeen, it again reverted to
the Crown. Edward VI. granted it to Sir John
Gates, on whose attainder for high treason in
supporting the claims of Lady Jane Grey to the
throne, his estates were forfeited, and once more
this manor came to the Crown. Queen Mary
granted it to Sir John Huddlestone, who shortly
after conveyed it to the family of Cock of Brox-
bourne. It was afterwards owned by Lord Monson,
who in 1782 sold it to the Prescotts, Sir George R.
Prescott, Bart, being the present owner.
The old manor house of the chief manor has
disappeared, and even its site is uncertain. But
on the north of Goff's Lane, a short distance north
west of the church, stands a curious old-fashioned
house of red brick, among some trees in a meadow.
It seems as if it had been surrounded by a moat,
and is called St. Andrew's le Mote, though locally
known as the " Great House," or the " Moated
House," or the "Haunted House." It must be
owned that its appearance would give such an
impression. It is now a solid square, but evidently
has formed part of a larger structure. It must
have been built as far back as the fifteenth century
at least, and some arches in the cellars (said to be
a portion of a crypt or chapel) are probably older
still. The great hall, which reaches to the roof, is
certainly of a date anterior to Henry VII. ; but
the story is that it was built by Cardinal Wolsey.
For this, however, there is no proof, nor even that
he ever lived here, though the Manor of Moteland
here was given to him by the tyrant. The building
is said originally to have contained more than thirty
rooms, and to have been quadrangular in plan.
What at present remains consists of the hall above

mentioned, with apartments towards the north, and
a vaulted crypt underneath, which is said to have
been the chapel, and to have been paved with
embossed tiles. The dimensions of the hall are
twenty-seven feet by twenty-one, and it is thirty-six
feet high. It has an arched roof supported by
timber-worked ribs of chestnut, in the Gothic style;
the sides are wainscoted, and the floor is paved
with black and white marble, so that altogether it
remains in much the same state as when the Tudors
and Stuarts occupied the throne, except that the
minstrels' gallery and the buttery-hatch at the
lower end are gone, and that the dais has also
disappeared. The hall is hung with portraits of
very doubtful authenticity, and first on the list is
one of Wolsey — probably a copy. There are
altogether about a hundred portraits of kings,
statesmen, court ladies, judges, &c, mostly of the
fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries,
though some are even more recent. Near the
fireplace hangs the portrait of Wolsey, and above
this a family piece of the Shaws, who formerly
owned the manor, painted by Sir Peter Lely, in
which is depicted Sir John Shaw, his wife, and
nine children; among the other portraits are Queen
Elizabeth, Charles I., and Charles II., ascribed to
Vandyck, William III. and Queen Mary, Sir Hugh
Myddelton, James II., Richard Cromwell, Arch
bishops Laud and Juxon, Lord Falkland, Thomas
Lord Fairfax, and several members of the Mayo
family. The apartment also contains several suits
of chain and other armour, many banners, es
cutcheons, and weapons of war, besides a curious
old-fashioned chair and a few other bits of fur
niture, which, to keep up the tradition of the
place, are said to have belonged to Cardinal
Wolsey. Nearly all the pictures are in a sad
condition of decay, being left to the care of a
labourer's family, who live in the back part of the
house, and show the place to visitors. In an
upper chamber, called the haunted room, and said
to have been the scene of a barbarous murder, are
an arm-chair and a mutilated rocking-horse, both
said to have belonged to Charles I., who, as a
child, must often have been at Theobalds. In
the vaults below the house is a chopping-block,
which the guardians of the place tell the credulous
visitor was used by Cromwell in the execution
of his captives. Some years ago two skeletons,
with a pitcher and a lantern, were discovered
enclosed in a cavity in the wall, in a corner of the
crypt. After the time of Wolsey we find the manor in
the hands of the families of Dennis and Dacre,
whose monuments are to be seen in the church.

388

GREATER LONDON.

[Cheshunt.

From them it passed to the Shaws, one of whom
repaired it in the middle of the last century,
modernising it in the most tasteless manner ; and
early in the present century a subsequent owner,
the Rev. Charles Mayo, completed the task of
mutilation, destroying half of it in order to provide
materials for the repair of the rest, and at the same
time filling up the moat which surrounded it.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary the
Virgin, stands about a quarter of a mile south of
the " Great House," and half a mile west of the
high road. It is a fine handsome Early Perpen
dicular structure, very much of the same type with
those of Bishop Stortford, Thaxted, Dunmow,
Saffron Walden, and other neighbouring towns. It
consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, and a hand
some embattled tower, with good western doorway,
adorned with shields; there are niches for saints in
the angles of the west window, but their occupants
are gone. The tower is built of flint and stone,
and has an octagonal cupola containing six bells,
dating from 1636 to 1760. Early in the present
century the body of the church was thoroughly re
paired and galleries were erected, and in 1855 it was
"re-pewed" and re-arranged. In 1872 the church
was considerably enlarged and restored, not over-
judiciously, by Mr. Joseph Clarke. The galleries
were taken down, the plaster was removed from
the walls, and the pillars, which are of Purbeck
marble, were divested of the paint with which they
had been covered ; but the south aisle was enlarged
at the east end in such a manner as to spoil the
symmetry of the building. At the north-east angle
of the church was an ancient vestry, with a small
room over it. Between the nave and chancel on
either side is a curious ornamental recess, like a
window, pierced through the solid wall. Its object
and design is uncertain. On the south side is an
opening, through which access was gained to the
rood-loft. The new chancel is handsome and
spacious, but painfully new. The font is probably
that of the original church, long previous to the
fifteenth century. Several of the windows are
filled with stained glass, as memorials of local
worthies. As might be supposed from the former presence
of the Court at Theobalds, the church contains
several fine Jacobean monuments. On the north
side of the chancel is a Gothic altar tomb to Sir
Robert Dacres, a member of the Privy Council of
Henry VIIL, on the top of which is placed a
Jacobean monument to one of King James's phy
sicians. Others, of various types of merit, are to
be seen on the walls.
At the west end of the north aisle there is a fine

piece of sculpture, a marble statue and tomb of
one David Dodson, who died/ in 1761, and who
seems to have had little scruple in blocking up a
fine window with his effigy. The statue, however,
is evidently by a master-hand, and has not been
properly appreciated.
There is a brass under the communion table to
Nicholas Dixon, Vicar of Cheshunt, the builder of
the present edifice (on the site of a former church).
He died in 1448, having held several offices at
Court which sound rather secular to our ears—
" Clerk of the Pipe Office, Under Treasurer, and
Baron of the Exchequer."*
At the north-west corner of the churchyard is a
large square heavy tomb, under which rest the
bodies of several members of the Cromwell family,
and of their successors, the Russells. Richard
Cromwell, however, though he died here, lies at
Hursley, near Winchester. There are also monu
ments to various members of the Meux, Prescott,
and Daking families, and one to the only son of
Lord Chancellor Eldon, with an inscription from
the pen of his uncle, Lord Stowell.
Near the vicarage gate is an old stone coffin,
without a lid,- probably of Anglo-Saxon date. This
was discovered, bottom upwards, a few feet from
the chancel door, in 1872, on digging the founda
tions for the extension of the south aisle.
The cemetery, in Bury Green Road, to the south
west of the church, was formed in 1855, on land
given by the late General Osborn. It is about
five acres in extent, and in the centre is a building,
with a square tower and spire, and comprising two
mortuary chapels.
Two of the houses at the corner of Church Street,
on the opposite side of the way, are said to be the
originals of the Great and Small House in Mr.
Anthony Trollope's novel of" The Small House at
Allington," being sketched from the life by the
author during a stay in the village.
Nearly opposite the church is Cheshunt College,
which was founded in 1768 by Lady Huntingdon
at Trevecca, in South Wales, but transferred here
after her death, in 1792. The institution, which
has since been affiliated to the University of London,
is for the training of young men for the Noncon
formist ministry. The college was originally a
gentleman's mansion, and is of the Queen Anne
type. Of this house a part remains, now used as a
lecture-room. Other buildings of a commonplace
character were erected in 1863 ; these included a
chapel and library. In 1872 a new structure, of
Decorated Gothic, with some foreign details, was

* Chauncy's " History of Herts," Vol. I.

Cheshunt. J

RICHARD CROMWELL.

389

opened. It contains lecture-rooms and dwelling-
rooms for about forty students. Its tall campanile,
or spire, is visible for miles round on every side.
The library is octagonal. The hall contains some
fine portraits and engravings of John and Charles
Wesley, Lady Huntingdon, and other members of
the Ferrers family — for she was by birth a Shirley —
and also of several of the presidents of the college.
The grounds, some fifteen acres in extent, are
bounded by the New River, which runs at their
foot. On the bank of the water is a summer-house, of
the square type so com
mon along the course of
the New River. It is cal
led "Dr. Watts' Wig,"
from some tradition —
possibly baseless — that it
was haunted by that wor
thy in his lifetime. Near
the college is a narrow
thoroughfare, called Dr.
Watts' Lane, "from a
questionable tradition,"
writes Mr. Thorne, in his
"Environs of London,"
" that it was the favourite
stroll of the great Non
conformist divine during
his visits to Richard Crom
well." Besides the above in
stitution Cheshunt is well
supplied with schools, the
oldest in point of foun
dation being Dewhurst's,
at Church Gate, which
dates from the middle of the seventeenth century.
This school was enlarged and considerably im
proved in 1847.
Pengelly House, near the church, occupies the
site of the residence of Richard Cromwell, the
deposed Protector, who, after his return from the
Continent about the year 1680, assumed the name
of Clarke, in order to secure himself from the
intrusions of his father's friends, and lived here in
retirement as a private gentleman during the re
mainder of his life. Here also he died, in July,
17 12, in the arms of the gardener of Baron Pen
gelly. To all except his nearest friends Richard
Cromwell always avoided speaking of his former
greatness. Dr. Watts, who was one of his most
frequent visitors, used to say that he never heard
Richard allude to his former station except now
and then in a very distant manner. In Noble's

RICHARD CROMWELL,

" Memoirs of the Cromwell Family '' appears the
following singular anecdote concerning Richard,
which was related to the Rev. George North, Vicar
of Codicote, near Welwyn, by two persons who
conversed with him in the last years of his life at
Cheshunt: — " When Richard left Whitehall he was
very careful to preserve the Addresses which had
been sent to him from every part of the kingdom,
expressing ' that the salvation of the nation de
pended upon his safety, and 'his acceptance of the
sovereignty,' and many of them proffering him the
lives and fortunes of the addressers. In his re
tirement at Cheshunt no
one was admitted to visit
him without strong re
commendations of being
of agreeable conversation
and strict honour. One
of the two persons above
alluded to, named Win-
dus, who lived at Ware,
was introduced to him as
such, with an admonition
to conform to his peculi
arities, without asking any
questions or seeming to
make any observations.
After an hour or two spent
in 'conversation and
drinking, Richard started
up, took the candle, and
the rest of the company,
who all knew, except the
last admitted man, what
was going forward, took
up the bottle and the
glasses, and followed the
quondam Protector up to a dirty garret, in which
was nothing but a little round hair trunk. Mr.
Cromwell pulled it out to the middle of the room,
and calling for a bumper of wine, drank " Prosperity
to Old England." All the company did the same.
When the new man, Mr. Windus, was called to do so,
sitting astride, as they had done, upon the trunk,
Cromwell desired him to take care, and sit light, for
he had no less than the lives and fortunes of all the
good people of England under him. The trunk was
then opened, and the original addresses showed
him, with great mirth and laughter. This was his
method of initiating a new acquaintance.' "
Richard Cromwell was buried at Hursley, in
Hampshire, the manor of Plursley having de
scended to him in right of his wife, though he was
obliged to contest the possession of it with his
daughters in a court of law. Serjeant Pengelly,

39°

GREATER LONDON.

[Cheshunt.

who was retained by him on this occasion as
counsel, and was afterwards Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, is supposed to have been a natural
son of his employer, a supposition which Mr. Noble,
in his work above quoted, admits to be rendered
probable by Richard's gallantry. Richard Crom
well appeared personally in the court at West
minster to contest the action against his daughters,
and when he appeared in Westminster Hall, the
judge, Sir John Holt, Lord Chief Justice of England,
struck with the sad reverse of fortune and the
unfeeling behaviour of his daughters, and
on account of his old age, conducted
him into a private apartment ;
refreshments were provided for
him, and it was ordered that he
should be accommodated with
a seat in court. The old man
gained the cause, and had the
painful satisfaction of hear
ing his daughters severely
censured ; Queen Anne
had the good feeling to
applaud the judge for

being marked out with roads for building purposes
in the most utilitarian fashion.
About a mile north of the church is another
property which has for generations been connected
with the Cromwells, and their heirs, the Russells :
namely, Cheshunt Park. The estate was originally
a subordinate manor of Cheshunt, and known as
Crossbrook, and also as Cullings. It is not a little
singular that, having at one time formed part of
the royal manor of Theobalds, which was granted

THE OLD MANOR HOUSE, CHESHUNT.
the attention he had shown to one who had onceheld
sovereign power. As Richard was leaving West
minster Hall his curiosity led him to the House of
Lords. He was asked when he was there last.
" Never," he said, pointing, with a smile, to the
throne, " since I sat in that chair."
Pengelly House, during the last ten or twelve
years, has been completely transformed and much
spoilt in its appearance ; but the summer-house in
the garden, in which Richard Cromwell used to
smoke his pipe, still remains. The house was for
some time the residence of Hugh Stracey Osborne,
an East India civilian, and more recently of Mr.
Benjamin Attwood, a millionaire, but is now
(May, 1883) in the market to be sold, the estate

by Charles II. to
George Monk, Duke of Albemarle,
,-Jjf for restoring the monarchy, it should
eventually have come into the possession
of the last male descendant of Oliver Croni
es well. On the death of Christopher, the second
^? Duke of Albemarle, without issue, the property
reverted to the Crown. It appears, however,
to have been granted anew to Ralph, Duke
of Montagu, who had married the widow of the
Duke of Albemarle, as his descendant, John,
Duke of Montagu, sold it in 1736 to a Mrs.
Letitia Thornhill, from whom it passed to the
Cromwells, through the marriage of Richard Crom
well, grandson of Henry Cromwell, Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, with Sarah, daughter of Ebenezer
Gatton, and niece and one of the co-heiresses of
Sir Robert Thornhill, the father of the above-
mentioned Letitia. The estate subsequently be
came vested in Oliver Cromwell, the great-grandson
of Henry Cromwell, son of the Protector. This
gentleman practised as a solicitor in London, and
became the biographer of his illustrious namesake.
He built on his estate here a seat, to which he gave
the name of Brantingfay, but which has now become
changed to Cheshunt Park. The house contained
several ancient and curious pictures and portraits,

Cheshunt.]

CROMWELLIAN RELICS.

39'

which ranged from the Protector's parents down
to the above-mentioned Oliver. After his death in
1 82 1, at the age of seventy-one, the property
descended to his only surviving child, Oliveria,
who had married Mr. Thomas A. Russell. Sir
Robert Heron, in his " Notes," relates that the
last Oliver Cromwell was very desirous of leaving
his name to his son-in-law, and " applied several
times for the royal license that Mr. Russell should
assume it ; but the old king, George III., positively
refused, always saying, ' No, no ; no more Oliver

his unambitious son, Richard. Many other relics
of the Protector are in the Rev. J. D. Williams's
Cromwellian Museum at Paragon Road, Hackney.
In College Road is a building called St. Mary's
Hall, erected in 1868, and used for the purposes
of lectures and other entertainments. Here the
Petty Sessions and Sessions under the Criminal
Justice Act are held. The magisterial business
for this division of the county was formerly con
ducted at the "Green Dragon" inn, at Church
Gate.

~""Waltham

Cromwells!'" George IV, when Prince Regent,
appears also to have thought that the country had
had enough of the Cromwells, for he, too, is said
to have refused his royal leave and license to a
repetition of the request. Mrs. Russell was the
last person who bore at birth the name of Cromwell
through direct male descent. She died in 1858,
and her husband followed her to the grave a few
years later. Their eldest son, Cromwell Russell,
married the daughter of the Rev. W. A. Armstrong,
of Pengelly House, and they left an only child, a
daughter, who married the Rev. Paul Bush, Rector
of Duloe, Cornwall, and who still owns a variety
of Cromwellian relics, including several of the great
Protector's autograph letters, and the great seal of

Cheshunt and its immediate neighbourhood
abounds in beautiful walks, and in many parts
extensive views of the surrounding country are
obtained. Many parts of "the land are cultivated
as market gardens. The soil is particularly suited
to the growth of roses, and the old-established
nurseries of Messrs. Paul, in Cheshunt Street, form
quite a show in the summer months.
Salmon, writing in 1728, observes of Cheshunt
that " it changes its inhabitants so often that there
are not two gentlemen in the parish who were born
in it ; " and nearly the same may be said of it at the
present day. There are, nevertheless, some good
seats and residences in the parish, besides those
already mentioned, notably the Cedars; Theobalds,

392

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham Cross.

long the residence of Lady Prescott ; Wood Green
Park, where lived the Hon. John Scott, son of the
first Lord Eldon, and who was so pleased with
the neighbourhood that, as we have seen above, he
desired to be buried in Cheshunt churchyard ;
Claremont, a good house in a pleasant park a little
to the north-east of Church Gate ; and Aldbury
House, half a mile to the south. Some remarkable
men, too, have held property in this parish, among
whom may be mentioned Charles, Lord Howard
of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of England in
1588, the hero of the Spanish Armada. He was
the owner of a farm-house in Cheshunt Street, now
called Effingham Place, which he gave to one of
his captains, named Bellamy, with whose de
scendants it has since continued. General White-
lock, whose name became notorious at the begin
ning of the present century for his conduct while
in command of the forces in South America, and
whose action at Buenos Ayres led to his trial by
court-martial and dismissal from the service, after
wards lived here for some time, and was often
compelled to hear that
" Grey hairs are honourable,
But Whitelocks are abominable."
Here, too, also lived in retirement, after dismissal
from the public service, another individual whose
name figures in English history, namely, Lord
Somers ; and Lord Grey de Wilton, who was a
Knight of the Garter in the time of Queen
Elizabeth, died here in 1562. William Herbert,
the editor of " Ames's Typographical Antiquities,"
died here in 1795; and James Ward, R.A., who
gained some celebrity as an animal painter, lived
for the last thirty years of his life at Round Croft's
Cottage, and died there in 1859.
The hamlet of Waltham Cross, near the entrance
to this parish on the London road, derives its
name from one of those elegant stone crosses
which the pious affection of Edward I. caused to
be erected to the memory of his wife, Eleanor of
Castile, in the places where her body was rested
for the night on its journey from Hareby, in
Lincolnshire, to the place of its interment in West
minster Abbey. Of the several crosses which
were in this manner erected — namely, at Lincoln,
Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton,
Stony-Stratford, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham,
and Charing — only three remain, namely, those at
Geddington, Northampton, and Waltham. Like
those at Geddington and Northampton, that at
Waltham was originally surrounded by a flight of
steps, but these have long been removed, and its
base covered in with brickwork. The upper parts
of the cross are also greatly mutilated, much of the

foliage being defaced, and the pinnacles and other
ornamentation broken. The form of the cross is
hexagonal, and it is divided into three storeys, of
which the centre one is open, and contains statues
of the queen in whose honour it was erected. Each
side of the lower storey is divided into two com
partments beneath an angular coping, charged
with shields pendent from different kinds of foliage,
and exhibiting the arms of England, of Castile,
Leon, and Ponthieu. The cornice over this storey
consists of foliage and lions' heads, surmounted by
battlements pierced with quatrefoils. The second
storey consists of twelve open tabernacles in pairs,
but so divided that the pillar intersects the middle
of the statue behind it. These terminate in orna
mental pediments, with a bouquet on the top,
and with a cornice and battlement, and support
the third storey, which is of solid masonry, orna
mented with single compartments in relief resem
bling those below, and supporting the broken shaft
of a plain cross. The statues of the queen are
crowned ; she holds a cordon in her left hand and
a sceptre in her right. This cross stands close to
the " Falcon " Inn, which has been built up against
it, in the angle formed by the high road and another
road which branches off eastward towards Waltham
Abbey. The following lines, "suggested by a sight of
this cross," appear in the Mirror for 1831 : —
"Time-mouldering crosses, gemm'd with imagery
Of costliest work and Gothic tracery,
Point still the spots, to hallow'd memory dear,
Where rested on itsolemn way the bier
That bore the boneiier Edward's Elinor,
To mix with royal dha(. at Westminster.
Far different rites dii (\ee to dust consign,
Brunswick's fair daii >?r, Princess Caroline !
A hunying funeral af ,-a baW ^ed grave,
High-minded wi£e : were all t?11 'thou couldst have.
Grieve not, great ghost ! nor , hint in death thy losses,
Tliou in thy lifetime hadst th, 'share of crosses."
The cross was completed in 1294, the work
having been executed by Alexander of Abingdon,
Domenic de Leger of Rheims, and Roger de Crun-
dale. The stone was brought frorn Caen, in
Normandy, and the total cost is stated to have
been ^95.
In a volume entitled " Memorials of Queen
Eleanor," it is remarked that " the Waltham Cross
has suffered grievously from neglect and wilful
injury, and not a little, we are compelled to say,
from modern restoration." The members of the
Society of Antiquaries have twice interested them
selves in preserving it from decay: once in 1721,
and again in 1757, when Lord Monson, the then
Lord of the Manor of Cheshunt, at the request of

Waltham Cross.]

THE "FOUR SWANS" INN.

393

the Society, surrounded the base with brickwork,
as the whole of the steps, ten in number, had been
taken away. At that time it was discovered that
the roof of a neighbouring house, which still
disfigures the view of the cross, leaned against one
of the statues of the queen. In 1796 the cross
was again found in a very neglected condition.
Mr. Gough, in the " Velusta Monumenta,'' observes
that the cross probably stood isolated from the
town, like that near Nottingham, or at least that
the only building near it was "Ye Olde Foure
Swannes Hostelrie." At one time there was at
tached to the cross a board, pointing the direction
of the adjacent roads. At the beginning of the
present century an attempt was made to remove
the entire structure into Theobalds Park; but
fortunately the materials were found to be so
decayed that the idea was abandoned, and it
became an almost shapeless mass of stone, and a
few years more would have left nothing remaining
of Waltham Cross. About 1830 the attention of
the neighbouring gentry and others, however, was
called to it, while there was yet time to save some
thing of its pristine form, and while it afforded
indications by which much that was deficient
might be restored, and a subscription was at once
set on foot for the purpose of raising the necessary
funds for repairing the monument. In 1833 the
work was commenced, under the direction of Mr.
W. B. Clarke. The result was the restoration of
the cross as it now appears. Her Majesty the
Queen and the Prince Consort stopped to inspect
this relic of antiquity on their way from Cam
bridge to London in October, 1843.
The "Four Swans" inn, mentioned above, and
which stands on the opposite side of the road, is
undoubtedly an old building ; but it is questionable
whether it can properly lay claim to the antiquity
that is locally assigned to it, for in it, according to
tradition, " the body of Queen Eleanor remained
for the night preceding its solemn entry into
London." Salmon considers this inn to have been
the original manor-house of the honour of Rich
mond ; and Gough, in the work above referred to,
says that " it bears marks of great antiquity in the
forms of its chimneys, and the quantity of chestnut
timber employed about it." A large signboard,
supported on tall posts placed on the opposite
sides of the way, swings across the road, having on
the inscription, " Ye Olde Foure Swannes Hostelrie,
1260." In the parish register of Waltham Holy Cross
(or Waltham Abbey) there is the following entry : —
"Julii, 16 12, Margaret, the daughter of Edward
Skarlett, of Cestrehunt, was buried 26 daye, dwel

ling at the signe of Ye Old Swanne in Waltham
Cross." In days gone by this inn was a well-
known posting-house, and more recently it num
bered Charles Lamb among its patrons.
This village being the resort of travellers, and a
general halting-place for the stage-coaches on the
Great North Road to or from London, rendered
another inn upon the spot necessary, and accord
ingly one was erected at the corner of the road to
Waltham Abbey. The cross itself, as shown above,
is almost taken into the end of it, whereby much
of its beauty is concealed, and many of its orna
ments disfigured. It has been suggested that a
roadside chapel at one time stood on the site of
this inn, which was formerly called " The Falcon,"
but which is now known as the " Great Eastern."
The hamlet of Waltham Cross was made into a
separate parish for ecclesiastical purposes in 1855.
The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a
plain brick building, of Gothic architecture. It
was built in 1832, and altered and improved in
1872. In 1870 this district was endowed as a
vicarage. There are almshouses for four poor persons at
Waltham Cross, called the Spital Houses, the
income of which, together with others for ten
widows at Turner's Hill, amounts, in the gross, to
^55° yearly. The Spital Houses are stated by
the Parliamentary Commission survey in 1650 to
have been used " time out of mind " for the
" entertainment of lame, impotent, and decayed
persons." They were rebuilt in 1830.
Here was, before the Dissolution, a small convent
of Benedictine nuns, whose name is still kept in
memory by the Nunnery Farm, towards the north
east of the village, not far from the banks of the
River Lea. But little is known of the history of
this convent. It appears to have been founded in
the reign of Stephen, by Peter de Belingey, in
honour of the Blessed Virgin, for nuns of the
Sempringham order. It was afterwards possessed
by the canons of that order, but Henry III.
placed in it nuns of the order of St. Benedict, and
made them independent. After the Dissolution
the convent was granted to Sir Anthony Denny,
and it has since passed through the hands of
several different owners. At the beginning of the
present century the remains of the convent formed
the domestic parts of a large mansion.
About a mile to the north-west of Cheshunt
Church is a small hamlet, called Goff's Oak, from
an old survivor of the forest, an oak, now on its
last legs, which stands on the south side of the
common, in front of a small roadside inn. The
traditional history of this celebrated tree is in-

394

GREATER LONDON.

[Northaw.

scribed as follows under a rude drawing of the
tree, which is to be seen at the above-mentioned
house : — " It was planted in the year 1066 by Sir
Theodore Godfrey, or Goffe, who came over with
William the Conqueror, and it is not at all im
probable but that some neighbouring land, called
Cuffley, belonged to this person at that time.
The dimensions of the tree are very large, as it is
twenty feet in girth three feet from the ground.
The trunk is hollow, and several persons can stand
in the cavity which time has made. This cavity
is now boarded in, but a door admits visitors into

the interior ; and few persons will regret the time
spent in examining it. A respectable inn is within
a few yards of the tree, and bears the name of the
tree for its sign ; its predecessor was burnt down
in 1814, and was called the Green Man."
The hamlet of Goffs Oak was formed into an
ecclesiastical parish in 187 1. The church, dedi
cated to St. James, had been built some years
previously, having been consecrated as far back as
1862. It is a small brick edifice, in the Gothic
style, but deserves no especial mention in these
pages.

CHAPTER XLI.
NORTHAW.
Etymology of Northaw — Condition of the District at the time of the Conquest — Disputed Ownership — Nynn House, and Manor — The Hook-
Northaw Place — Acreage and Population — The Village and Parish Church — A Chalybeate Spring.
This parish, the name of which in old documents
is sometimes written Northall and Northolt, lies on
a hill to the east of the Great North Road some
three miles north-east from Potter's Bar Station on
the Great Northern Railway. Its etymology is,
doubtless, the same as that of Northolt,* in Middle
sex, the north haw, or holt, which signifies a wood.
At the time of the Conquest all this district
probably formed a continuation of the extensive
woodland afterwards known as Enfield Chase, or
it may have been merely waste ground, producing
no revenue to the Crown, as it is not mentioned in
the " Domesday Survey." Towards the end of the
eleventh century, however, it appears to have
belonged to St. Albans abbey, for it was at that
time held under a lease from the Abbot Paul by
Peter de Valoines, or Valence, and his son Roger.
After the death of the abbot, Valoines continued
to retain possession by consent of the monastery ;
but on the latter making a request, at some later
date, for possession to be given up, Robert de
Valoines, who then held it, refused, and appealed
to the king, Henry II., who was then in France.
The decision of the king was in favour of Valoines,
or, in other words, he commanded the abbot to
"give up the wood."
Armed with the king's authority, de Valoines
returned to England, and "having obtained the
possession, during the short time he enjoyed it
(as one who unjustly possest it) often wasted the
same, causing it to be cut beyond measure. When
the abbot heard these things, he sent officers to
* See ante, p. 218.

view the waste, who found that the damage com
mitted there could not be repaired. Then he
hastened to Robert, Earl of Leicester, then Chief
Justice of England, and obtained his letters that
he would restrain the injurious acts of Robert de
Valoines ; but he, slighting the commands of the
earl, did twice the damage he did before, wbich the
abbot hearing, did address himself to Queen
Eleanor. . . whose admonitions Robert obeyed
for a time, but soon after committed double damage
again. Then the abbot complained of these
wrongs to the Pope, who sent his letters to
Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Hillary,
Bishop of Chichester, that they cause the said
Robert within thirty days to restore the possession
of the wood to the abbot, and upon his contempt to
declare sentence of excommunication against him."
The abbot's right to the wood, however, was
eventually confirmed by Henry II., and Northaw
continued in the possession of the priory of St.
Albans until the dissolution of religious houses,
when it came to the Crown. In 1539 it was
granted by Henry VIIL, under the title of the
manor of " Northawe, Nynne, and Cufley," to Sir
William Cavendish, Gentleman Usher to Cardinal
Wolsey, and the author of his " Life ; "* but it was
alienated early in the reign of Elizabeth to the
Earl of Warwick, in exchange for other property.
The earl built here a mansion, called "Nyn
House," on the site of the present manor-house.
It was a spacious structure of brick, occupying
three sides of a quadrangle, with a courtyard in
* See ante, p. 147.

Small-arms Factory.]

NORTHAW HOUSE.

395

the centre, and graced with "delightful gardens
and walks, and sundry other pleasant and necessary
devices.* Sir Samuel Pennant, who was Sheriff
of London in 1745, died at Nynn House in 1750,
during the year of his mayoralty. In 1774 a Mr.
John Granger, who assumed the name of Leman on
coming into possession of the manor, pulled down the
old house, and destroyed the gardens. The materials
of the building were used in the erection of the
present Northaw House, which stands about half a
mile distant from the site of the old mansion.
The manor, on the death of the Countess of
Warwick, in 1603 — 4, passed by deed of settlement
to her brother, Lord William Russell, and it was a
few years later sold to the Lemans, with whose
family it remained for several generations, down to
the middle of the last century, when it was be
queathed to the above-mentioned John Granger.
About 1822 the property passed into the hands of
the Rev. Dr. Trenchard, on whose death it was in
herited by his son, Mr. Ashfordby-Trenchard. This
family held the manor till 1876, when it was sold to
Mr. John P. Kidston, the present owner. This
gentleman has greatly improved and enlarged the
house. The grounds are extensive, beautifully laid
out, and contain an ornamental lake about five
acres in extent.
There are a few other good houses in the parish,
notably " The Hook," a substantial mansion of the
old-fashioned type, on the south side of the village ;
and Northaw Place, which stands a little to the
west of the church, built towards the end of the
seventeenth century.
The parish itself, although of considerable extent,
embracing no less than 3,000 acres, contains only
about 600 inhabitants, showing but a slight in

crease since the census of 187 1. The parish is
wholly agricultural.
The village green occupies a central position in
the parish. It stands on a hill some three miles
north-east from Potter's Bar Station on the Great
Northern Railway. On one side of the green
stands the parish church, a new building, of Early
English architecture. It is built of stone, and
consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, transepts,
and a square tower at the south-west corner. The
church, dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, was
erected in 1882, in the place of one destroyed by
fire in the previous year. The predecessor of the
present building — a pseudo-Perpendicular structure
— was a comparatively modern edifice, dating from
the beginning of the present century. It was built
in the place of an older church, probably Late Nor
man or Early English. It was a commonplace cruci
form building, covered with a coating of cement.
At Lower Cuffley, a valley lying about midway
between the villages of Northaw and Cheshunt,
is a chalybeate spring, which, at the time when
the royal court was held at the neighbouring
Palace of Theobalds, was much resorted to ; but it
shared the fate of the spring at Barnet * and other
similar places, and its medicinal qualities seem to
have lost their virtue as soon as the spring ceased
to be fashionable. Mr. Cussans, in his " History
of Hertfordshire," says that " the water contained
a large quantity of iron, and a favourite diversion
of the inhabitants was to induce strangers to make
tea with it. Though perfectly colourless, as soon
as the boiling water was poured on the tea, the
iron combined with the tannin, and formed ink —
as much to the astonishment of the tea-makers as
to the delight of the practical jokers."

CHAPTER XLII,
ENFIELD SMALL- ARMS FACTORY AND WALTHAM POWDER-MILLS.
"Fire answers fire." — Shakespeare : King Henry V , Act IV.
The History of the Rifle— Situation of the Royal Small-arms Factory— Particulars of its Establishment — Extent of the Buildings, &c— Perfection
of the Machinery and Plant— The Government Powder Mills— Situation of the Buildings— Description of the Works— The Composition of
Gunpowder — Quantities produced.

Before we leave Hertfordshire and Middlesex for
the towers of Waltham Abbey and the green glades
of Enfield Forest, we must pause, and devote a
chapter to two public manufactories lying close
together on the banks of the Lea, the one known
as the Enfield Small-arms Factory, and the other
as the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham. Prac-
* Chauncy's "Hertfordshire," Vol. II., p. 385.

tically they belong to no parish or county, but are
national to the fullest extent of the term, so we
make them a connecting link between the district
that we have visited and the county of Essex, on
which we are about to enter.
The Royal Small-arms Factory is the establish
ment through which all the small-arms of every
* See ante, p. 323.

396

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

description have been supplied — at all events, since
the Crimean War — to the regular army, the militia,
yeomanry, and volunteers. Its long ranges of
buildings and tall chimneys are conspicuous objects
from whatever side they are viewed.
With reference to the special manufacture carried
on here, a short account of the rifle
itself may not be judged out of
place. "As early as 1498,"
observes a writer in
Chambers's Cyclopaedia,
" the citizens of Leip
zig possessed the
germ of the future
rifle, for their arms
had a grooved
be grW(

vidual skill of the marksman. The spiral groove
gives to the bullet, if it fits into the grooves, a
rotation rapid in proportion to the force of the
explosion and the sharpness of the twist in the
spiral. This revolution of the bullet on its own

ENFIELD SMALL-ARMS FACTORY.
straight. Not many years after, in 1520, Augustin
Kutter(or Koster), of Niirnberg, was celebrated for
his rose or star-grooved barrels, in which the grooves
had a spiral form. It took its name from the rose-like
shape of the bore at the muzzle ; and, setting aside
superiority of workmanship subsequently developed,
Kutter's arm was the veritable rifle, and to him,
therefore, so far as history shows, is due the in
vention of this terrible weapon, which reduces the
flight of the projectile to a question of the indi-

axis keeps that axis, gravity
excepted, in the line in
which it leaves the piece.
In 1628 Arnold Rotsiphen
patented a new way of
'makeing gounes,' which,
from a subsequent patent
granted him in 1635, ap
pears to have consisted,
among other improvements,
in rifling the barrels. It
would be tedious to enu
merate the various princi
ples of rifling which were
tried during the two cen
turies following Rotsiphen ;
suffice it to say, that scarcely
a form of rifling now prevails
but had its prototype among the old inventions. The
difficulty of mechanical appliances making the rifling
true deferred, however, their general introduction,
and the cost of rifled arms limited their use to the
purposes of the chase. The revolutionary govern
ment of France had. rifles issued to portions of
their troops, but they met with so indifferent a
success that Napoleon recalled them soon after he
came to power. In the Peninsula, however,
picked companies of sharpshooters practised with
rifles with deadly effect on both the English and

Small-arms Factory ]

THE ENFIELD RIFLE.

397

French sides. During the American War— 1 8 1 2- 1 4
—the Americans demonstrated incontestably the
value of rifles in warfare, but many years were yet
to elapse before they were definitively placed in
the hands of soldiers, many of those of every
nation in the Crimea having fought with the
ineffective and almost ridiculous 'Brown Bess.'
Soon after the French invaded Algeria they had
armed the Chasseurs d'Orleans with rifles, to
counteract the superior range of the Arab guns.
The inutility of the old musket was shown in a

right, however, to state that this contrivance is
claimed for Mr. Greener as early as 1836.) Not
withstanding the many advantages of the Minie
system, it was found defective in practice. Ex
periments were set on foot in all directions, and
resulted in 1853 in the production of the 'Enfield
rifle,' which had three grooves, taking one complete
turn in seventy-eight inches, and fired a bullet
resembling the Minie, except that a wooden cup
was substituted for one of iron. From 1853 to
1865 this was the weapon of the British army.

THE POWDER MILLS, WALTHAM.

battle during the Kaffir War, where our men
discharged 80,000 cartridges, and the# damage to
the enemy was twenty-five men struck. After ex
periments with the old musket, it was found that
its aim had no certainty whatever beyond 100
yards. It was soon discovered that a spherical
ball was not the best missile, one in which the
longer axis coincided with the axis of the gun
flying truer — the relative length of the axis and
the shape of the head being matters of dispute.
In England no improvement took place until 1851,
when 28,000 rifled muskets to fire the Minie bullet
were ordered to be issued. The Minie bullet,
seing made smaller than the bore of the piece,
could be almost dropped into the barrel. (It is
34

In 1865 the adoption of breech-loading arms
caused the Enfield to be converted into a breech
loader by fitting the 'Snider' breech mechanism
to the Enfield barrel. This arrangement was,
however, only temporary ; and after a most ex
haustive series of trials before a special committee
on breech-loading rifles, the Henry barrel was in
1 87 1 adopted, in conjunction with the Martini
breech, for the new small-bore rifle for the British
army, now known as the Martini-Henry rifle. No
fewer than 104 different kinds of breech-loading
small-arms were submitted to this committee, who
decided that the Henry '45-inch bore barrel ' was
the best adapted for the requirements of the
service,' on account of its ' superiority in point of

398

GREATER LONDON.

[Enfield.

accuracy, trajectory, allowance for wind, and pene
tration,' and also on account of its great durability.
The Henry system of rifling is the invention of
Mr. Alexander Henry, gunmaker, Edinburgh, and
its essential peculiarity consists in the form of the
rifled bore. . . . The length of the Henry
barrel is 32 J inches. The mean diameter of the
bore is '450 of an inch, and the rifling takes one
complete turn in 22 inches. Its bullet is solid,
with a slight cavity in the rear, and weighs 480
grains, the charge of powder being 85 grains."
The Royal Small-arms Factory, at Enfield Lock,
on the narrow strip of land between the River Lea
and the water-way known as the - " Lea and Stort
Navigation," about a mile and a quarter from
Enfield Wash, dates its erection from 1855-6. It
is true that a small ordnance factory was established
here by the Government early in the present
century, where a few thousand muskets were
laboriously forged by hand each year ; but when
the sudden introduction of the rifle and the de
mands of the Russian War called for a supply of
arms, which the trade, not only of Birmingham,
but of all Europe and America, was unable to
meet, the Government determined to erect machi
nery for the fabrication of arms on its own account.
For this purpose the factory at Enfield was entirely
re-modelled, but the successive adoption of the
Snider and Martini-Henry rifles, as above shown,
has been the means of producing a great change
in the plant.
The manufactory on its present footing originated
in the dissatisfaction for some time felt by the
Board of Ordnance at being almost wholly de
pendent on private manufacturers for so important
a part of the matiriel of war, and in the recommen
dation, based on that feeling, of a Committee of
the House of Commons on small arms, which sat
in the session of 1854. The following interesting
particulars of the establishment of this factory we
quote from Tuff's " Enfield ":—" Before 1804,
when the manufactory in its original form was
established at Enfield, the Government depended
on the private trade for their small arms, and when
that failed to provide a sufficient supply, recourse
Was had to the foreign market. At one time,
indeed, the art of making muskets became extinct
in this country, This occurred in 1802 ; and Lord
Chatham, then Master-General of the Ordnance,
stated1 the circumstance publicly. Mr, John
Colgate, who held an appointment in the Ordnance
Department, was sent to Liege in 1779 to super
intend the setting up of 40,000 stand of arms for
the service of the British Government. Major
General Miller was despatched to Liege on a

similar service in 1794, to Hamburg in 1795, and
again to Hamburg in 1800, the store of arms in
the Tower being at that time entirely expended.
Again, in 1823, the names of not less than twenty
English artificers had been ascertained who were
in full employment in the national armoury estab
lishments of Russia and the United States, and no
doubt many more might have been discovered.
This was attributable to the encouragement and
inducements to emigrate held out to our skilled
artificers in that branch of trade by foreign nations,
backed by the want of employment in their
vocation at home ; and it was apprehended at that
time by men conversant with the subject that,
unless the fostering care of the Government was
continued in support of its armoury institution, the
art must again be lost, or so far reduced that the
country would a second time be left to depend
on the casual supplies furnished by individual
manufacturers. It has always been contended by
men who have advocated the formation of Govern
ment armouries that the views of tradesmen were
confined to individual profit. When they entered
upon a contract, their only object was to bring
their workmanship to such a state as to pass the
official examination ; they had no motive, it was
said, to improve, or inducement to perpetuate, the
art. When the call for arms by the Government
ceased with a war, they turned their industry to
other occupations, and their workmen were driven
to seek employment in foreign countries, or left to
neglect the art at home. It was also alleged that
a national establishment offered the most perfect
means of making experiments for the improvement
of the service, and caused the saving of money 'in
time of war as well as of peace, by operating as a
check upon the prices of private manufacturers.
But its principal object was to keep up among us
the art of making military guns.
" It was considerations such as these and others
that induced the Government, upon the recom
mendation of the committee of 1854 — the year of
the Crimean War — to establish a manufactory of
small arms to a limited extent, under the direction
of the Board of Ordnance."
While the Parliamentary committee was sitting)
a deputation of practical men, previously sent out
by the Board of Ordnance to make inquiries in
the United States of America as to the mode of ¦¦
manufacturing small-arms there, and having ex
tensive powers to purchase machinery to be applied
to their fabrication in this country, was pursuing
its mission ; and oh the report of the committee,
the House of Commons voted a sum not exceeding
^150,000 towards the experiment. It should be

Small-arms Factory.]

THE MARTINI-HENRY RIFLE.

399

mentioned here that down to this date most 01 the
small-arms used by our soldiers were manufactured
at Birmingham and in other parts of the kingdom,
and purchased by the Government.
Since the above period extensive ranges of
buildings have been constructed here. They
occupy three sides of a square, are built of brick,
in a good substantial manner, but quite devoid of
ornamentation. About forty acres of ground
describes the extent of the factory premises, in
cluding the land used as butts for testing each
piece that is turned out. Machinery for the manu
facture of rifles was imported from America, and
was placed under the supervision of Mr. Perkins,
as manager. The factory was subsequently taken
in hand entirely by the Government, the first
superintendent being Colonel Manley Dixon, R.A.,
. who had charge of the works till 1872, when he
was succeeded by Colonel Fraser. The factory at
the present time is carried on under the superin
tendence of Colonel H. T. Arbuthnot, R.A., with
a staff of military and civil officers, the whole being
under the direction of the War Department. The
machinery here is probably the most perfect of
any gun-making establishment, whether private or
Government, at home or abroad ; and as the
manufacture proceeds it produces the various parts
which are ultimately brought together to produce
the gun with such accuracy of finish, that if a
number of such guns were taken to pieces, and
each part thrown together in a heap, the parts
could be taken up indiscriminately, and be fitted
together to make up guns without the slightest
alteration or re-adjustment of either. This great
nicety of finish is of immense importance, with
regard to both convenience and economy, for if
any part of a rifle becomes damaged or rendered
unserviceable, the regimental armourer has merely
to remove the injured portion, take the corres
ponding piece from his repository, and at once
fit it into its place, without trouble or loss of time.
The mechanism of the " Martini-Henry " is much
more simple than either of its predecessors above
mentioned, for whilst the old " Enfield rifle " was
composed of no less than fifty pieces, and the
" Snider " of thirty.nine, the " Martini-Henry "
consists of only twenty-seven pieces. Taking the
average for the last four years, the number of
weapons turned out at the factory in the course of
a year is as follows : — Rifles (various), say 40,000 ;
pistols, 5,000 ; and swords for rifles, 8,000. The
plant and general facilities of the factory are in
such' condition that under great pressure 150,000
arms could be manufactured annually. The motive
power is mainly steam, but one water-wheel is still

used in certain work. The number of hands em
ployed here is generally about 1,500.
The interior of the factory consists of a series of
large work-rooms. The first usually entered by
visitors is called the " action shop," from the fact
that here everything relating to the action (or
breech-loading and lock apparatus) being finished
in it. The room is 200 feet in length, and contains
nearly a thousand different machines. The turning-
lathes, or machines for forming the butt or stock,
are of the most ingenious character, and finish the
work in such a delicate manner that the " action "
can be instantly fitted to it without the slightest
trouble or difficulty. The fitting the lock into the
stock was a work involving much time and labour
when performed by hand. By this machine a lock
can be completely let into the stock in three
minutes ; indeed, the whole process of making
and perfecting the stock does not occupy more
than half an hour, and the only hand labour em
ployed upon it is that which causes the friction
of a little sand-paper along its surface after its
removal from the last machine. Besides the work
rooms, several buildings are occupied as stores of
stocks, barrels, &c, which are kept constantly in
readiness for use as may be required.
The factory is open to visitors, even without pre
vious application, on Mondays and Thursdays ; but
the proof-house, immediately to the south of the
factory, is not usually shown. Every " piece" manu
factured here is tested in the meadows close by.
The Powder-mills stand on the left hand as you
enter Waltham Abbey, between two branches of
the River Lea, which, as already stated, here is
divided into several channels. They are screened
from sight by groves of poplars and willows, mostly
planted in long rows diagonally, after the fashion
described by Virgil, in his " Georgics," under the
name of a " quincunx."* This shelter is useful to
keep away all grit and dust, and also, as already
noticed, in order to counteract the violence of
an explosion. These are the only powder-mills
belonging to the Government, those at Favers-
ham, Dartford, and Hounslow, being in private
hands. They employ about 250 hands, and they
cover a long strip of land about 200 acres in
extent, which runs along the banks of the river from
south to north.
It is almost needless to add that these powder-
mills are very closely guarded, and are shown only
to such strangers as have a genuine object in view
in inspecting them. There is no special day set
apart for their inspection. * Virgil, Georg. II., 277, &c.

400

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham.

The appointment of superintendent of the
powder-mills is made by the War Office, and is
always held by an officer of the Royal Artillery.
It is held generally for five years. The present
superintendent is Colonel C. B. Brackenbury.
The visitor who wishes to inspect the works on
entering the grounds passes along a very beautiful
avenue of poplars, and finds himself at the gates
of the superintendent's office. He is here warned
that he must not carry lucifer-matches or other
explosive articles about him, and that whenever he
is required to put on leather-soled boots he will
do so, as a single particle of grit from the high
road, if it were to be driven into some parts of the
mills, would cause an explosion.
The wood used for making charcoal is to a
great extent grown on the estate. It is either
alder, willow, or dog-wood ; the latter comes
chiefly from Germany, and each kind of wood is
used in the composition of different sorts of powder,
and is treated differently.
The wood is stacked about the grounds in every
available corner, awaiting the time when it will be
wanted, in order to be manufactured into that
deadly combustible which renders the hearths and
homes of soldiers desolate, and the necessity for
which, is a scandal to the Christian name. How
ever, we must accept the actual state of things.
All the "hands" employed are bound to be
steady and sober ; no smoking is allowed on the
premises ; and each man on coming to work puts
on a suit of greyish-black. Many of the " hands "
are the sons of parents who were employed here
before them; and the fact that they carry their
lives constantly in their hands, and work with death
ever before their eyes, has a sobering effect on
them, and even (so I was informed) on their
families at home.
The authorised visitor to the works, having
been duly challenged at the gates by the police,
and passed to the office of the superintendent, is
placed in the care of an experienced guide, and
thence conducted to the various " houses " where
the several operations of gunpowder-making are
carried on. These houses are separated by con
siderable spaces thickly planted with willow and
alder wood. Thus if an explosion were to take
place in one house the force would be broken by
a screen of trees, and the other houses would not
be likely to be affected by it.
The three ingredients of which gunpowder is
composed are saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal.
For ordinary English gunpowder the proportions
by weight are — saltpetre 75, sulphur 10, and char
coal 15 per cent. The processes required for the

manufacture of one of the newest kinds of powder,
called prismatic, are as follows : — 1, refining the
saltpetre ; 2, refining the sulphur; 3, burning wood
to produce charcoal ; 4, mixing the ingredients for
the "green" charge; 5, incorporating the "green"
charge ; 6, breaking down the mill-cake ; 7, press
ing the powder ; 8, granulating ; 9, dusting and
glazing; 10, prismatic pressing; 11, stowing, to
dry the powder ; 1 2, blending prismatic powder.
1. The saltpetre arrives in bags from India, and
is refined by boiling in a large quantity of water,
and filtering the solution, which then runs into
shallow receptacles, where it cools down, being
kept in a state of agitation by wooden rakes. The
saltpetre crystallises out in a form which closely
resembles snow. It is then shovelled into vats,
where it receives several washings.
2. The sulphur is next refined by being placed
in a retort, and heated until it first melts and then
commences to sublime, that is, to pass into a state
of vapour. The vapour is led through a pipe kept
cool by water outside it, and condenses into a
treacle-like fluid, which passes into a receiver, and
is then ladled out into tubs, where it sets into the
beautiful yellow material which is known as refined
sulphur. The impurities are, at the same time, left
behind in the retort. Before being used for gun
powder, the sulphur has^ to be ground into a fine
powder. 3. The woods used for gunpowder charcoal are
three, as mentioned above. The larger descrip
tions of powder are made of willow and alder, the
willow giving a rather stronger powder than the
alder; while the fine-grained powders for use in
small-arms are made of dog-wood, which is more
expensive, and has not hitherto been grown largely
on English soil. The woods are packed in iron
cylinders, called slips, and introduced into furnaces
also lined with iron. The flame from the fuel
plays round the outside of the iron furnace-lining,
heating it and the slip within. The various juices
of the wood begin to distil, and the gases so pro
duced pass through two holes in the far end of
the slip and corresponding holes in the back of
the furnace, whence they are carried down into the
fire and contribute to the fuel, so that after the
process has once been established the wood helps
to burn itself. When the work of burning is com
pleted, the slip, with its heated charcoal within, is
taken out of the furnace, and placed in an iron
cooler for twenty-four hours, after which it is
emptied out, but not used for several days, in order
to avoid the possibility of any heat existing in it.
The charcoal is then ground in an apparatus like
a coffee-mill.

Powder Mills.]

MANUFACTURE OF GUNPOWDER.

401

4. The next process is that of mixing the in
gredients. Hitherto the visitor has entered the
houses without any other precaution than the leav
ing behind of any dangerous material ; but hence
forth a new danger has to be provided against.
The dust from powder flies about the houses,
blackening the floor, and filling every cranny with
explosive material, in spite of constant sweeping
and washing. It is therefore most important that
not a single particle of sand or grit should be in
troduced, lest the motion of a foot on the floor or
any friction in the processes themselves should
create heat enough to ignite the smallest atom of
powder. All persons who enter the powder-houses
are therefore obliged to have their feet encased in
special leather boots, -which never touch the ground
outside. A small threshold board, about a foot
high, marks the division between the black powder-
house, which is called " clean " in the parlance of
the factory, and the beautiful outside world, with
its waving trees and glittering streams, which are
all classed under the one word " foul." If by in
advertence a visitor plants his outside feet within
the charmed precincts, he is instantly obliged to
withdraw them, and the spot which he touched is
carefully purified with wet mops.
In the mixing-houses the air is full of dust, and
we literally breathe powder. Fifty pounds of the
thin ingredients are placed in a drum, which
revolves with great rapidity in one direction, while
an orb armed with forks revolves within it in an
opposite direction. In about five minutes the
process of mixing is complete, and from that
moment the three ingredients begin to be highly
dangerous. ¦5. Though the "green" charge is explosive, it
is not yet enough intimately mixed to make good
gunpowder. It is accordingly next carried in bags
to the incorporating mills, which are heavy iron or
stone rollers, travelling round in pairs, each roller
following its fellow in monotonous round upon its
powder-bed, fenced from the rest of the incor
porating house By the inclined sides of a sort of
basin. The crushing and grinding motion thus
produced brings each particle of the three ingre
dients into mutual contact, and produces, after a
certain number of hours (which differ according to
the powder to be produced), a soft cake, which is
called the milbcake. Before the runners are set
in motion, the green charge placed upon the bed is
sprinkled with distilled water, the quantity of which
varies, according to the nature of powder sought
and the condition of the atmosphere.
• 6. The mill-cake is then taken to the breaking-
down house, where it is made to pass, carried on a

canvas band, between a series of grooved rollers,
which crush it into dust much more powerfully ex
plosive than the "green" charge of the mixing-
house. 7. The "meal," as it is now called, is next
carried to the press-house. The press is a very
strong box, containing a number of copper or gun-
metal plates, so arranged that the meal can be
filled in vertically between them, while they are
kept separate by means of grooved plates. When
the box is full, the grooved plates are withdrawn,
and the spaces left by them filled up with meal, so
that nothing now prevents the copper plates from
coming together except the meal between them.
The side of the box which has hitherto been open
is now closed, and the box itself turned over, so
that the copper-plates become horizontal. What
is now the top of the box is then opened, and the
whole placed on an hydraulic press. A ram rising
from beneath thrusts the layers of copper plates
and powder against a square block of wood above,
which just fits into the box. The pressure is con
tinued until the meal has become " press-cake " of
the density required for the particular powder
which is being made. The time is notified by the
release of a spring when the box has risen high
enpugh ; this spring rings a bell in a smaller room,
where the powder-men are now ensconced ; for
there are always some 800 pounds of powder in the
press-box, and any atom of grit might possibly
cause an explosion. A huge traverse of masonry
stands between the press-house and the room where
the men remain during the process. In addition
to the lower growth of the willow and groves
of alders, walnut and ash trees surround these
terrible press-houses, which are thus mysteriously
hidden, not only from the outer world, but even
from the rest of the works. The dusky shade and
the dark reflection of the green trees in the water,
and the black powder-houses themselves, lend an
air of mystery to these temples of the art of
destruction. 8. The press-cake is carried by water, in black
roofed boats, not unlike gondolas, to the granulat
ing-house, where it enters a machine not unlike the
breaking-down machine already described, but
larger, and with toothed instead of grooved rollers.
The cake is here cut by the rollers into " grain " of
various sizes, and sorted by sieves kept in perpetual
agitation under the stream of grain.
9. The dusting and glazing operations are carried
on in long cylindrical reels and wooden barrels, of
which different sorts are used, according to the
work required. For some powders a little black-
lead is introduced, to give them a glossy facing.

402

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham.

10. We now come to the prismatic press-house.
The grain suitable for making prismatic powder is
carried also in boats to the prismatic press-house,
where stands an elaborate machine, consisting
mainly of a huge iron circular block, which con
tains thirty holes. In each hole is put a cylindrical
plug of phosphor-bronze, the interior of which is
cut exactly to the shape of the prism required. A
so-called "charger," with thirty funnels correspond
ing with the thirty holes in the block, moves back
wards and forwards on rails. It is filled with the

a considerable amount of moisture ; this is now to
be expelled by means of heat. For this purpose
the powder is placed on trays in drying-chambers,
which are gradually raised to a heat differing
according to the character of the powder required.
For some powder it is as much as 125 degrees
Fahrenheit. 12. But in spite of all the care taken, arid though
a series of scientific experiments follow the powder
through all its stages, there always exists a certain
amount of difference between quantities of powder,

grain outside the machine, then pushed directly
over the block ; two motions of a handle then cut
off exactly the quantity of grain required, and allow
it to fall from the funnels into the phosphor-bronze
moulds below. The charge is then withdrawn, the
top of the machine brought down to seal the tops
of the holes, and then, by hydraulic pressure, thirty
plungers, one for each hole, rise up and compress
the charges of grain, so as to form them into
prisms of the size and shape required. The top is
then raised, and the pressed prisms are thrust out
of their moulds by pressure from below. The skill
required in powder-making may be estimated from
the fact that the time necessary to press prismatic
powder which will produce certain definite effects
varies greatly, according to the state of the atmos
phere. The variation at Waltham Abbey has been
found to be as much as between twenty-five and
sixty-five seconds.
1 1. All powders hitherto made here have in them

which are called " lots," made at different times
and under different atmospheric conditions. It
is, therefore, very important to bring the material
to a certain average, so that the accurate shooting
of artillery or of small-arms may be counted upon.
For this purpose every " lot " of powder is proved
by actually firing a charge of it. The lots which
give the higher results are then mixed in strict
proportion with lower lots, so that it is impossible,
in making up a cartridge, to take an undue quantity
of either the higher or the lower lot. This process
is called " blending," and after it is gone through,
a charge is again taken and fired, to secure the
fitness of the powder for its destined use.
All sorts of strange stories are told about the
experiences and hairbreadth escapes of employe's

Powder Mills.]

HISTORY OF POWDER MANUFACTURE.

4°3

in these interesting works. Thus, on one occa
sion a lucifer-match was found to have passed
between the rollers of the granulating machine;
and on another occasion a key was discovered in
the same condition. It seems little less than a
miracle that such a thing could have happened
without causing an explosion.
The works here can turn out about 30,000
barrels of powder in a year, or about 700 barrels
weekly. It may be of interest to add that, in-

allowed to dig in them, these grounds are virgin
soil, and accordingly they nourish a profusion of
wild flowers which are scarcely known outside.
Hence they are a favourite haunt of botanists who
can procure admission to them ; but the favour
is sparingly accorded.
The introduction of gunpowder into England is
connected with the honoured name of Evelyn, as
that family are said to have brought from Holland
the secret of its manufacture. Mr. George Evelyn,

ON THE LEA.

eluding the sidings and canals, there are about
ten miles of water on the estate, of which three
and three-quarter miles are navigable. In addition
to the screens of trees, the more dangerous portions
of the works are isolated by solid traverses of
earth or brick, to minimise the effects of explosion.
The " works " which I have described can boast
of almost a venerable antiquity. In the " Anglorum
Speculum, or the Worthies of England" (1684), it
it is stated that there were gunpowder mills " on
the River Ley, between Waltham and London."
In 1735 Farmer speaks of them, in his "History
of Waltham," as being the property of a Mr. John
Walter ; and in the same book there is a delight
ful description of gunpowder. As nobody is

grandfather of the author of "Sylva," received,
about 1590, a licence to set up powder mills at
Long Ditton and at Godstone, Surrey.
" The works at Faversham, afterwards for so
many years the Government gunpowder factory,
date from Elizabeth's reign ; but they were then
secondary in importance to those at Godstone.
There seems reason, however, to suppose that
powder-mills existed at Waltham Abbey as far back
as 1 56 1, for in that year we find John Thomworth,
of Waltham, in treaty, on behalf of Elizabeth, for
the purchase of saltpetre, sulphur, and staves for
barrels. Fuller also refers, in his " Worthies," to
the powder mills of Waltham Abbey, of which he
was appointed vicar in 1641. In 1787 these mills

404

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham Abbey.

were sold to the Crown by John Walton, and
reorganised under the superintendence of the
famous Sir William Congreve. The old royal
factory at Faversham was given up after the Peace
of 1 815, being let, and afterwards sold, to the well-
known firm of John Hall & Co. . . . The

Waltham Abbey works have been greatly enlarged
in recent years, and no expense has been spared to
render them, by the introduction of new and
improved machinery, the most complete, as well
as the safest, in the world." *
Henceforth our travels will be in Essex.

CHAPTER XLIIL
WALTHAM ABBEY.
Situation of the Town — Its Etymology— Foundation of the Abbey by Jovi— Its Re-foundation by Harold— The Legend of the Holy Cross— Gifts
bestowed on the Abbey — Harold's Tomb — The Church despoiled by William the Conqueror — Its Recovery under subsequent Sovereigns —
Disputes between the Abbot and Townspeople — Henry III. and the Abbot's Dinner — An Incident touching the Reformation — Income of
the Abbey at the Dissolution— Fuller, the Historian — The Conventual Estate passes into Secular Hands— Description of the Abbey Church
— Sale of the Church Bells — Present Condition of the Remains of the Abbey — Rome-Land — The Abbey Gateway and Bridge.

Waltham Abbey, or Waltham Holy Cross, as it
was once called, must be carefully distinguished
from its neighbour in Hertfordshire,, which is
described in a previous chapter.* It is a large,
irregular town, and evidently one of considerable
antiquity, as is shown by the variety of projecting
gables, and the quaint carved figures which still
stand in bold relief at the corner of more than one
of its streets, like those with which one meets at
Ipswich, Saffron-Walden, and many other towns
of the eastern counties. The town is situated on
low ground near the river Lea, which here forms
a number of small islands, and is skirted by fruit
ful meadows, that have long been famous for the
succulent and nourishing qualities of the grass.
The spot was originally part of the Forest of Essex,
and it derived the name of Waltham from the
Saxon words weald-ham, the dwelling or hamlet on
the weald, or open forest.
The town is twelve miles north-east from London,
and about three-quarters of a mile eastward from
Waltham Station on the Cambridge line of the
Great Eastern railway. The road thither from the
railway station, however, is by no means attractive :
it is straight as an arrow, and is little more than a
raised causeway between low-lying green meadows,
with a deep ditch on either side. The river Lea,
which we cross — the Lea of quaint old Izaak
Walton — here separates into a variety of streams,
and we pass no less than four bridges before we
find ourselves at the end of a narrow street, with
gabled tenements on either side, and close under the
shadow of the tower which has been our beacon.
Waltham appears to have been a place of note
long before the Norman Conquest. It is first
• See ante, p. 392.

mentioned in a document dated as far back as the
time of Canute the Great, at which period its then
owner, Tovi, or Tovius, standard-bearer to that
monarch, founded on the outskirts of the forest
here a church and a village, placing in the former
two priests, and erecting in the latter some tene
ments for his " villains,'1 and placing in them
" threescore-and-six dwellers.'' After his death,
Athelstan, his son and heir, a prodigal young man,
squandered his inheritance, and Waltham appears
by some means or other to have reverted to the
Crown. The religious establishment of Tovi,
however, continued, and probably with some aug
mentation, till the reign of Edward the Confessor,
who bestowed certain lands here on his brother-in-
law, Earl Harold, son of Godwin, Earl of Kent ;.
but the grant was made upon the condition that
Harold should build a monastery in the place,
"where was a little convent, subject to the canons
and their rules." The " little convent " mentioned
in the Confessor's charter, evidently alludes to
Tovi's foundation, which might have been aug
mented by casual donations previous to this men
tion of it.
In 1062, the year in which the grant was dated,
Harold refounded or enlarged the original estab
lishment of Tovi, endowing it as a convent,
doubling the number of its canons, settling on
them ample estates, and founding hard by a school
of religious and useful learning.t Farmer, in his
" History of Waltham," says that each of the
canons had one manor appropriated for his sup
port, and that the dean had six ; making in all
seventeen. From the charter of confirmation
granted by Edward the Confessor, it appears that
* Encyclopaedia Britannica.
+ "Dugdale's Monasticon," Vol. vi., pt. 1. p. 56.

Waltham Abbey.]

THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY CROSS.

4°5

Harold endowed his new foundation with the
manors of Passefeld, Wei da or Walde, Upminster,
Wahlfara or Wallifare, Tippedene, Alwartune,
Wudeforde, Lambehyth/ Nasingam, Brekendune,
Melnho, Alrichsey, Wormelei, Nethleswelle or
Neteswell, Hicche, Lukintone, and Westwaltham.
" All these manors the king granted them with sac,
soc, tol, and team, &c, free from all gelds and
payments, in the most full and ample manner, as
appears by the charter among the records of the
tower." The parish derived its second name of "Holy
Cross " from a cross, bearing on it a figure of the
Saviour, which was said to have been found at
Montacute, in Somerset, and to have been brought
miraculously by oxen, undriven, to this place. The
cross itself is said to have shown very miraculous
powers ; and among the wonders told of it is that
Harold was cured of the palsy in consequence of a
pilgrimage to it.
The following is a translation of the legend of
Waltham Abbey, by the late Mr. W. Burges, from
the De inventione Stae Crucis," probably written
some time at the end of the twelfth century : —
"Once upon a time, when Canute reigned over
England, there lived at a place in Somersetshire,
named Montacute (but called Lutegaresberi by the
common people), a smith who was adorned with
all the Christian virtues. Thus he was ' vir magnse
simplicitatis et bonas indolis, sine malicia timens
Deum, &c. Indeed, so much was he respected,
that the parish priest committed to his care the
water, fire, and lighting of the church. One night,
when this worthy man was in a deep sleep, he
saw in a vision ' venerandi decoris effigiem,' who
told him when he went to his duties at the church
next morning, to request the priest to assemble the
whole of his parishioners, and after prayer, ex
hortation, and fasting, to lead them in procession
to the top of the hill, and there to dig until he
found the treasure hid for ages, viz., the cross, the
sign of the passion of our Lord. The smith took
no notice of this communication, and accordingly
the vision appeared again the night following, but
with a severe countenance. The smith, by the
advice of his wife, this time also neglected the
admonitions of the vision, and thus gave the
latter the occasion to make a third visit, thereby
completing the usual number. At last the smith
did tell the priest, and the latter, with not only his
own parishioners, but also with many people from
the surrounding country, set off in procession,
singing litanies, the smith leading the way : and
when they had attained the top of the hill with
'uberrima lacrimarum effusione,' proceeded to

dig, and after going to the depth of forty cubits,
were rewarded by the discovery of a stone of
wonderful size, with a great fissure through the
middle. The next thing was to remove part of the
stone, which was done ' non minus fletuum ubertate
quam manuum impulsione,' and then appeared the
wonderful crucifix of black marble (silex), which
was destined to work so many miracles, and
eventually be the war-cry of the English upon
the field of Senlac. Another but smaller crucifix
was also found placed under the right arm, and
under the left a bell of ancient workmanship, such
as are seen round the necks of cattle. The dis
covery was completed by a book of the gospels.
" Not knowing exactly what to do, a tent was
placed over the excavation until the lord of the
place could be sent for. The lord was ' Tovi le
prude,' a very great man indeed, being described
as ' totius Anglise post regem primus.' He, when
he came, ' vidit et gavisus est.' After which it was
determined to remove the objects to the atrium of
the parish church. The next morning, Tovi and
sundry church dignitaries, both episcopal and
abbatial, being present, the smaller crucifix was
given up to the parish church, but the other objects
being placed upon a wagon, 'cum ornamentorum
decora varietate,' were to be deposited wherever
the twelve red oxen and twelve cows who were
attached to the wagon might carry it. Tovi then
mentioning the names of his various residences,
devoutly prayed that the car and oxen might pro
ceed to one of them, promising, moreover, in that
case, that he would endow the servants of the Holy
Cross with the revenues of the town where the cross
should be deposited; the wagon, however, stood
still, nor could all the efforts either of the bystanders
or of the oxen get it f'o move. At last Tovi remem
bered the poor hunting-lodge he had begun to
build at a place called Waltham, when, ' mirabile
dictu, fide mirabilius,' the oxen began to move at
such a rate that it seemed more as if the wagon
impelled the oxen than that the latter drew the
wagon. On the day appointed for the exaltation,
when the workmen attempted to drive a nail into
the right arm, for the purpose of fastening on the
jewelled ornaments given by Tovi, immediately,
says the chronicler, blood issued from the stone in
the same manner as in former time water issued
from the rock. The blood was of course pre
served, and formed another of the very many relics
which enriched the consecrated house at Waltham.
Glitha, the wife of Tovi, presented a splendid
golden and jewelled crown, besides the circlet,
which she wore in common with all noblewomen,
which was fixed round the thigh' of the image,

406

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham Abbey.

while her bracelets and other jewels were fashioned
into a subpedaneum, into which was inserted a
wondrous stone, whose property was to emit rays
during the night, and thus afford light to travellers.
Tovi appears to have made a foundation for two
priests and other clergy, besides enriching the
church with various gifts of gold and silver. . . .
After the erection of the new church the crucifix
still continued its miracles, the most famous of
which took place when Harold was on his way
to fight the Normans : he went to Waltham to pay
his devotions, and to pray for victory. When he
had prostrated himself to the ground in the form
of a cross, the image which before looked up
wards, now bowed down its head, ' a bad sign
indeed, and significant of the future : ' and the
chronicler adds that he had this fact from Turkil,
the sacrist, who was at the altar at the time. . .
In 1 192 the cross was covered anew with silver,
but the ornaments on the figure itself were left un
touched, probably in consequence of what had
happened a few years before, when the crucifix
being under repair, Robert, the goldsmith of St.
Alban's, took off the circlet round the thigh (probably
that given by the wife of Tovi), and all those pre
sent were struck blind for a considerable time."
It was to the "Holy Cross" that Harold dedi
cated his new foundation, which he enriched with
a vast number of relics and costly vessels. We
learn from the Harleian Manuscripts that " among
other rich gifts bestowed by Harold on his new
college were the following: — Seven little caskets or
boxes (scriuia) for precious things, three of gold,
and four of silver gilded, enriched with gems and
full of relics. Four great thuribles (censers) of gold
and silver. Six great candlesticks, two of gold and
four of silver. Three large vessels or pitchers of
Greek workmanship, silver and richly gilded. Four
crosses of gold and silver studded with gems.
Another cross of silver of the weight of fifty marks.
Five suits for the priests, ornamented with gold
and precious gems. Five other vestments orna
mented with gold and gems, one extremely rich
and weighty. Two copes covered with gold and
gems. Five chalices, two of gold and three of
silver. Four altars with relics, one of gold, and
three of silver gilded. A silver horn, and various
other articles. The relics were still more valuable
and numerous, and many (if we may credit the
legends) were the miracles wrought by them." *
It is the received account that Harold was killed
at the battle of Hastings, and that his corpse was
carried from the field and buried at Waltham
* Harl. MS.-,. 3776.

Abbey. His tomb was shown for many centuries
as marking the resting-place of the last of our
Saxon kings, though Giraldus Cambrensis among
old historians, and Sir Francis Palgrave among
modern writers, doubt the fact, and relate a tra
dition that Harold escaped alive from the field of
Hastings, and lived in religious seclusion at
Chester, where he ended his days as a monk or
lay brother. The latter author considers that the
tomb at Waltham was nothing more than a ceno
taph, though it bore on it the inscription, " Hie
jacet Harold infelix," words which certainly would
seem to assert a positive fact ; and Fuller, in his
" Church History," gives a circumstantial account
of the opening of the monument towards the end
of Elizabeth's reign, when a skeleton was discovered
inside it. Farmer's history, quoted above, contains
a copper-plate engraving of a mask sculptured in
grey marble, which, he says, was one of the orna
ments of the tomb, and was then in his own pos
session. The burial of Harold here is accepted as
probably true by no less an authority than Dr.
Freeman, though disputed by Mr. John H. Parker.
Be this, however, as it may, whether Harold
found here his last resting-place or no, it may
easily be supposed that William the Conqueror"
owed little kindness and showed little favour to
the religious house which owned his vanquished
rival for its founder. He accordingly laid heavy
hands upon the church of Holy Cross, robbing
it of vestments, plate, and jewels, though, somehow
or other, he left the monks in possession of their
manors and other estates ; and in subsequent
reigns their properties in the neighbourhood ap
pear to have increased, for Matilda, the first wife
of Henry I., bestowed on the convent the abbey
mill, which still stands close to the gateway shown
in our illustration, and was, at that time, a valuable
gift ; while the same king's second wife, Adeliza of
Lorraine, bestowed on it all the tithes of Waltham,
including not only those of her tenants, but of her
own demesne land. Stephen appears to have
done little more than confirm the charters of his
predecessors. Mr. Freeman, in an article in the " Transactions
of the Essex Archaeological Society," is inclined to
fix the date of the consecration of the new church
as 1059 or 1060, and he has at the same time
endeavoured to reconcile the various accounts con
cerning the burial of Harold. He supposes that
he was in the first instance interred under a heap
of stones upon the sea-coast of Sussex, and after
wards re-buried at Waltham. The new foundation
here, as may be easily imagined, suffered greatly
under the two first Norman kings;, but as the

Waltham Abbey.]

RE-DEDICATION OF THE ABBEY.

407

two queens of Henry I. were both connected with
the place, it began to recover in his reign, and in
that of his successor, Stephen.
Henry II. did not find that the monks of
Waltham turned to good account the gifts so
generously bestowed on them ; and, therefore, as
we find recorded in his charter, he dissolved the
foundation, and scattered the dean and eleven
canons to the wind. The last dean was Guido
Rufus, who, having previously been suspended by
the Archbishop of Canterbury, resigned his deanery
in 1 1 77 to the king. The story is thus told by a
local antiquary: — "This preliminary proceeding
having taken place, the ' king visited Waltham on
the eve of Pentecost, when Walter, Bishop of
Rochester, on the part of the Archbisop of Canter
bury, Gilbert Bishop of London, John Bishop of
Norwich, and Hugh Bishop of Durham, assembling
by precept from the King and mandate of the Pope
(Alexander III.), the said archbishop consenting,
sixteen regular canons of the Order of St. August
tine, namely, six of Cirencester, six of Oseney, and
four of Chich, were inducted into the church, and
Walter de Gaunt, a canon of Oseney, was consti
tuted the first abbot _ of the new foundations The
church was at the same time declared exempt from
episcopal jurisdiction ; and Pope Lucius III. sub
sequently by his bull confirmed to this monastery
the exemption from all episcopal jurisdiction.
The church thus settled was dedicated first to the
Holy Cross, and afterwards to St. Lawrence." At
the same time, anno 1191, the use of the pontificals,
namely, the mitre, crosier, ring, &c, was granted
to the abbot. The charter of Henry II. thus de
fines the ancient liberties of Waltham Church : —
" Semper fuit regalis capella ex primitiva sui funda-
t-ione nulli Archiepiscopo vel Episcopo, sed tantum
ecclesia; Romanse et Regiae dispositioni subjecta."
It may be remarked that Waltham is still exempt
from the Archdeacon's visitation.
Henry not only confirmed to the newly-founded
canons the lands which they had held by gift from
Harold, but added to them other possessions in
the neighbourhood, including the manors of Epping
and Siwardston, or Sewardstone ; adding to his
charter, by way of preamble, the remarkable ex
pression that it was "fit that Christ his spouse
should have a new dowry." The convent was
further enriched by a charter from Richard I., don-
firming all former grants, and also bestowing on
the canons the entire manner of Waltham, With
" the great wood and park called ' Harold's Park,' "
the market of Waltham, and most of the village of
Nasing — 460 acres in all — on the easy terms of the
monks paying £60 into his royal exchequer in lieu

of all services. Richard also, by another charter,
confirmed all the former grants, and made further
gifts to the monastery, among which was the
stately mansion called Copped Hall, but appointed
the latter to be held in fee, and hereditarily, of the
church of Waltham, Sancte Crucis, by Robert Fitz-
Aucher. Other pious persons, in the course of the
same reign, gave broad lands to the monks ''pro
salute animarum suarum ; " and Henry III., who
frequently took up his residence at the abbey, re
quited the hospitality of the canons by giving to
them the right of holding a fair annually for seven
days. He also augmented their revenues with
many rich and costly gifts, and from his date the
abbey gradually became so distinguished by royal
and noble benefactors as to rank with the most
wealthy institutions in the kingdom.
Henry's favours to the monastery were not en
tirely disinterested ; for he resided here, it is said,
in order to save the expenses of keeping a court ;
and he occasionally sought and found in the abbot
sympathy and help in his distresses.
In 1242, according to Matthew Paris, the church
was re-dedicated, though he does not enlighten us
as to the occasion on which this ceremony was per
formed. Most probably it was on the occasion of
the addition of new buildings on the south side
of the old Norman church, including what now
is called " our Lady's Chapel."
"When Simon de Seham was abbot, in the
30th Henry III. (1245), a dispute arose between
the abbot and the townsmen of Waltham about the
common lands; ' The men of Waltham,' says
Farmer, ' came into the marsh, which the abbot
and his convent formerly enjoyed as several to
themselves, and killed four mares, worth forty
shillings sterling at least, and drove away all the
rest : the abbot was politicly pleased for the present
not to take notice thereof. Next year the same
men of Waltham went to the abbot the Tuesday
before Easter, in the name of the whole village,
and demanded of him to remove his mares and
colts out of the marsh. This, the abbot refused to
do, adding, that if his bailiffs had placed his cattle
otherwise than they ought, they might do well to
have it amended, and yet so as to defer the matter
till the Tuesday after Easter. On that Tuesday,
Richard, brother to the king, Duke of Cornwall,
came to Waltham, at which time both the men
and the women of the town repaired to the gate of
the abbey to receive the abbot's final answer.'
" He put them off with the information that he
was preparing for a journey into Lincolnshire, to
meet the justices itinerant, and said that he would
settle the affair at his return. Not satisfied, they

408

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham Abbey.

went into the pasture, and in driving out the
abbot's mares and colts, drowned three worth
twenty shillings, spoiled ten more to the value of
ten marks, and beat the keepers, who resisted
them, even to the shedding of blood. Fearing,
however, that they should be prosecuted, on the
return of the abbot, they desired a ' love day,' and

amerced twenty marks, which the abbot remitted ;
and, on their submission, he assoyled them from the
excommunication." *
Not long after the above incident the same
abbot was engaged with Peter, Duke of Savoy, the
king's uncle and lord of the manor of Cheshunt,
in a law-suit about boundaries, each asserting his
right to some meadow-land lying between
two branches of the river Lea, on the west side
of the town. Of the altercations that arose in

offered to pay damages for the injur}
committed ; but, instead of doing so.
they went to London and accused the abbot
to the king of having wrongfully taken away
their common land, and bringing up new cus
toms, adding that he would • eat them up to
the bone.' The abbot then excommunicated
the men of Waltham ; and they impleaded him
at common law for appropriating their common
land to himself. They were unsuccessful, and
after a long suit in the King's Bench, were glad to
confe s that they had done wrong, and they were

consequence of this disagreement we have spoken
in a previous chapter.t This dispute about the
debatable land was often revived afterwards, and
was undecided when the last abbot resigned the
convent to Henry VIIL
In 1258, the Parliament having refused money
to Henry III., the king prevailed upon the Pope
to send a messenger, named Mansuetus, to Eng-

" History of Waltham," pp. 71--2,

t See ante, p. 386,

Waltham Abbey.]

AN ABBOT OUTWITTED.

409

land, asking a supply from the abbeys and churches.
The abbot of Waltham was among the first to be
applied to on this occasion ; and, partly by threats
and partly by entreaties, he was induced to issue a
security for 200 marks. A similar application was
made at another time to the abbots of Waltham,
St. Albans, and Reading, for the sum of 5,000
marks, which the king had promised to the young
Earl of Gloucester, as a marriage portion with his
niece, the daughter of Guy, Earl of Angouleme.

can hardly digest the breast of a chicken.' The
king pledged him in return, and having dined
heartily, and thanked him for his good cheer, he
departed. A few days after, the abbot was sent
for to London, and lodged in the Tower, where he
was kept a close prisoner, and, for some time, fed
upon bread and water. At length, a sirloin of
beef was set before him, on which he fed as heartily
as one of his own ploughmen. In the midst of his
meal, the king burst into the room from a private

GATEWAY AND BRIDGE, WALTHAM ABBEY. (Seepage 415).

But this was not successful ; the three abbots de
claring that they were unable to raise such a sum, nor
could they justify such an act, even if they were able.
Farmer relates the following pleasant anecdote
of Henry III. ; but the abbot who enjoyed the
benefit of his prescribed regimen is not named : —
" Having disguised himself in the dress of one of
his guards, he contrived to visit, about dinner time,
the Abbey of Waltham, where he was immediately
invited to the abbot's table ; a sirloin of beef being
set before him, he pkyed so good a part, that the
abbot exclaimed, 'Well fare thy heart, and here's a
cup of sack to the health of thy master ; I would
give a hundred pounds could I feed so heartily on
beef as thou dost, but my poor queasy stomach
35 >

closet, and demanded his hundred pounds, which
the abbot gave with no small pleasure, and on
being released returned to his monastery with a
heart and pocket much lighter than when he left it
a few days before."
Such stories have been told also of other English
kings, from the early Norman days down to those
of Henry VIIL
Stow, in an account of Wat Tyler's rebellion,
says that King Richard II. was " now at London,
now at Waltham," so that it is clear that more than
one king made the abbey a place of residence.
We read but little more of Waltham Abbey until
we 'come to the reign of Henry VIIL, when it
accidentally became the scene of a conversation,

4to

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham Abbey.

the results of which have ultimately changed the
whole course of ecclesiastical affairs in England, by
bringing about an event on which the Reformation
mainly hinged. It was here that Thomas Cranmer,
then a plain Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge,
happened to be resident, on account of the plague,
as tutor to the sons of Mr. Cressy, whose wife was
the future archbishop's relation, when he was acci
dentally introduced to Fox and Gardiner, just at
the time when the propriety of King Henry's
divorce was being canvassed in privileged and
"well-informed circles." We allude to the occasion
when, in reply to Fox and Gardiner, he said that,
instead of waiting month after month and year
after year, to learn the Pope's will, it would be
better to have the moot-point about a man's
marriage with his brother's widow referred to the
universities and learned divines of this and other
nations. When Fox reported this speech to the
king, the latter said, with an oath, that the Cam
bridge fellow " had the sow by the right ear." And
so it proved in the end.
But this service did not save the abbey from the
king's greedy commissioners. In 1539, its gross
income, according to Speed, was ^1,079 12s." id.,
while the clear income is reckoned by Dugdale at
^900. And so the fiat went forth. The canons
were forced to quit their comfortable nests, and
their broad acres and manors were seized by the
king and his ministers. The last of a long line of
two-and-thirty abbots was Robert Fuller. He was
afterwards chosen prior of St. Bartholomew's, in
Smithfield, which he held in commendam, and which
he was also obliged to surrender to' the king in
1540. Abbot Fuller may fairly be reckoned among
the literati of his monastery ; and from his " His
tory," written in a folio volume 460 pages, his
namesake Fuller, who was curate of Waltham in
the time of the Commonwealth, compiled almost
all the particulars of the account of Waltham
Abbey, which he appended as a supplement to his
"Church History of Britain," published in 1656.
By Edward VI. the conventual estate was granted
to Sir Anthony Denny, whose grandson, Sir Edward
Denny, the second owner, was raised by Charles I.
to the earldom of Norwich. From him it passed,
by the marriage of his daughter and heir, to the
celebrated James Hay, Earl of Carlisle ; and from
the Hays it came into the possession of the Wakes,
whose head, Sir Herewald Wake, is now lord
of the manor. His grandfather, Sir Charles
Wake, was an extensive contributor to the funds
raised about thirty years ago for beautifying and
restoring the noble church, and the east window of
painted glass was his donation.

" Originally the abbey church was a very magni
ficent building, and its curious remains must be
regarded as the earliest undoubted specimen of
the Norman style of architecture now existing in
England. Though erected by Earl Harold, in the
Anglo-Saxon period, it cannot be justly referred to
any other style than that which the Normans per
manently introduced after the Conquest. The
great intercourse between the two great countries,
which King Edward the Confessor so particularly
encouraged previously to that era, and the pre
ference which he gave to Norman customs and
Norman artificers, will readily account for this
church being constructed from Norman designs.
Edward himself caused the abbey church of
Westminster to be rebuilt on similar principles;
and in respect to the monastery at Waltham, that
monarch, as appears from his charter, dated in 1062,
may be almost regarded as its coeval founder with
Earl Harold."
Sufficient is known of this structure to state that
its original form was that of a cross, and that a
square tower, which ' contained a ring of five great
tuneable bells,' arose from the intersection of the
nave and transept; the two great western sup
porters of which are connected with and partly
wrought into the present east end. Some part of
the old central tower fell from mere decay ; the re
mainder was purposely destroyed, as we gather
from the following entry in the churchwardens'
accounts.: — "Anno 1556. Lmprt'mis. For coles
to undermine a piece of the steeple which stood
after the first fall, 2s." It was the opinion of the
late Sir Gilbert Scott that the central tower of St.
Albans abbey was designed to be destroyed in the
same way, but that it was saved by an accident.
The interior of the church is certainly striking
for its massiveness rather than its beauty. Passing
under the western tower we enter the church
through a very handsome Pointed arch, adorned
with floriated, crocketed, and finialed work, and
through a porch or vestibule with a handsome
groined roof, both probably of the reign of Henry
III. The first two and most westerly arches of the
nave are pointed ; but they probably were made to
supersede the semicircular Norman originals, six in
number^which divide the main body of the church
from its side aisles. The columns vary from each
other both in diameter and in ornamentation.
They are thus described: — "Spiral grooves (deeply
cut), proceeding from the base to the capital,
diversify two of these columns; and two others
are surrounded by indented zig-zags, in successive
rows ; thus assuming a strict similarity of character

Waltham Abbey.]

RESTORATION OF THE ABBEY CHURCH.

411

with the great columns of the nave in Durham
Cathedral. Another tier of large arches, springing
from very short columns and pilasters, surmounts
the former arches, on each side ; except at the
west end, where, as before stated, two of the lower
ones have been altered into the high-pointed form,
and carried up to the string-course of the triforiiim,
or clerestory, which contains the principal windows
that give light to the nave. These are each fronted
by a central and two smaller arches, between which
and the windows there is a narrow passage extend
ing along the sides. Most of the mouldings are of
the zig-zag form, but there are some distinct varia
tions of character. The length of the church is
106 feet; its breadth, including the aisles, is about
53 feet. A ground plan, a perspective view, and a
longitudinal section, of the interior of Waltham
church as it was half a century ago, may be seen
in Britton's " Archifectural Antiquities," Vol. iii.
We have already said that Harold's tomb stood
several yards beyond the east end of the present
church, and that its site is bare, and that his bones,
if they be there, now lie sub Jove frigido. But be
sides the founder Harold, many eminent persons,
in the good old palmy days of its glories, found
their last resting-place within these monastic walls.
" Hugh Nevil, Protho-forester of England, who
died 'full of years,' a.d. 1222, -according to
Matthew Paris, was buried here 'under a noble
engraven marble sepulchre ; ' not the least remnant
of which is now known to exist. His son also,
John Nevil, the successor to his revenues and
offices;, and Robert Passelew, archdeacon of Lewes,
a despised and discarded minion of Henry III.,
who died at his house at Waltham, in the year
1252, were also among the number of those in
terred here. Near the altar rails is a defaced grey
slab, which is indented with a mitred figure ; this,
with two or three brass plates of Queen Elizabeth's
time, are the oldest memorials which now remain.
On the south side of the communion rails is the
Jacobean tomb of a person of quality, presenting
an amusing contrast to another handsome monu
ment on the north to a wealthy and respectable
gentlemen of plebeian and commercial antece
dents. As may be easily imagined, the Dennies did not
hold the fair abbey lands and monastic buildings
of Waltham without leaving their dust behind
them in its aisles. Thus, if we search the parish
registers, we find that " Edward Denny, first and
only Earl of Norwich" (of that creation), was
buried in this church in December, 1630. And
near the east end of the south aisle is a mural
monument in memory of Sir Edward Denny,

Knt., — "'Sonn of ye Right Honourable Sr Anthony
Denny, Counsellor of Estate and Executor to King
Henry 8, and of Joane Champemon, his wife,' — and
his Lady who was the daughter of Pierce Edge
combe, Esq., of Mount Edgecombe, and ' svmtime
Maide of Honor to Qveene Elizabeth, — and who,
' ovt of meane Fortvnes bvt no meane affection,
prodvced this Monvment.' Sir Edward was one
of the Counsel of Munster, in Ireland, and
governor of Kerry and Desmond. He died on
the 1 2th of February, 1599, aged 52 years, and is
represented in plate armour, lying on his side :
his head is partly supported by his helmet, and
partly by his left hand, the elbow resting upon a
cushion ; his right hand being brought across the
body, rests upon his sword. His Lady has a ruff
and close boddice ; and kneeling in front are their
ten children, viz., four boys and six girls. The
inscription states, that ' this worthy Knight, cvt off
like a pleasavnt frvite before perfect ripeness,' — was
'religiovs, wise, jvst, right valiant, most active,
learnings frinde, prides foe, kindly lovinge, and
mvtch beloved ; ' and that ' he was honored wth ye
dignitie of knighthood, by dve deserte, in ye Field.'
Over the tomb are the family arms (with quarter-
ings), viz., Gu. a saltire Arg. between Crosses pattee,
Or." About 1864 a partial restoration of the old
abbey church was commenced, and the cost of the
work done since that time has amounted to up
wards of ;£8,ooo. The church is now no longer
the dreary and dilapidated building that it was less
than a quarter of a century ago, although the
edifice has not been thoroughly restored, but merely
saved from that utter decay and ruin by which
it was at one time threatened. The Lady Chapel,
on the south side of the chancel, and the most
ruinous part of the old structure, has been repaired
at a cost of ^1,000, defrayed by Sir T. Fowell
Buxton, Bart., and has been thrown open into the
body of the church ; the hideous old deal pens,
called "pews," have been replaced by oaken
benches all looking eastward, and all the galleries
have been removed. The ceiling — the dark
colours of which for years only served to add a
sense of weight and oppression where all should be
light and graceful — has been replaced by one of
wood, painted in bright colours, and far more
suited to Norman architecture, though perfectly
flat and horizontal. Instead of the large square
holes in the walls, filled with glass, that had long
served as windows, new windows set in a frame
work of the Norman style have been inserted
throughout : and almost all the windows have been
filled with painted glass as memorials of departed

412

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham Abbey.

friends. The chancel was repaired at the expense
of the late Sir Charles Wake, Bart., the lord of the
manor of Waltham. The new reredos was the gift
of Mr. Edenborough, of Thrift Hall, in the neigh
bourhood of the town ; whilst the remainder of the
work has been carried out at the cost of the
parishioners and their friends.
The Lady Chapel, which is probably of Henry
III.'s time, is supported by graduated buttresses,
ornamented with elegantly-formed niches. Be
neath it is a crypt, " the fairest," says Fuller, " that
ever I saw," the roof of which is sustained by
groined arches. The superstructure was modernised,
so that scarcely a vestige of its ancient character
remained. The crypt was used as a place of wor
ship, and it had its regular, priest and other attend
ants ; the reading-desk was covered with plates of
silver. In the Churchwardens' Accounts, men
tion is made of six annual Obits, to defray the ex
penses of which various lands were bequeathed, and
a stock of eighteen cows was let out to farm for
1 8s. The sum allotted for each Obit was thus ex
pended: — To the parish priest, 4d.; to our Ladye's
priest, 3d. ; to the charnel priest, 3d. ; to the two
clerks, 4d.; to the children (choristers), 3d.; to
the sexton, 2d.; to the bellman, 2d.; for two
tapers, 2d.; for oblation, 2d.; &c.
In the burial-ground, close to the south entrance,
is a very fine wide-spreading elm, the trunk of
which, at several feet above the earth, is nearly
twenty feet in circumference. The present tower
stands at the west end of what is now the parish
church, but was formerly the nave. It is a heavy
and uninteresting structure, and is a poor substitute
for its predecessor, though good for its time; it
was built by the parishioners in the reign of Queen
Mary, out of "their stock in the church box." This
"stock'' was an aggregate from various sources,
as the sale of stone, lead, and timber from the
monastic buildings ; but it was chiefly obtained by
the sale of the goods of a brotherhood belonging to
this church, consisting of three priests, three
choristers, and two sextons, which was not dissolved
until Edward the Sixth's reign. Two hundred
and seventy-one ounces of plate, the property of
this fraternity (which had been saved from con
fiscation on account of the avowed intention of the
parish to erect the above tower), were sold for
£67 14s. 9d. At the same time many rich dresses
were disposed of, including a cape of cloth of gold
to Sir Edward Denny for £$ 6s. 8d., and two
altar-cloths of velvet and silk, value £2. It is not
improbable but that the brotherhood thus despoiled
was that of an hospital, which had been originally
founded within the precincts of the monastery by

the abbot and convent of Waltham, about the
year 12 18.
It appears from Fuller that the bells out of the
old tower were hung for some years in a temporary
frame of timber which stood at .the south-east
corner of the churchyard, and remained there till
the tower was finished, when, the funds falling
short, the good people of Waltham resolved to sell
their bells to raise money — like some " Vandals " of
more recent times at Sandwich — so that Waltham,
" which formerly had steeple-less bells, had now
a bell-less steeple." It would be unfair to sup
press the fact that in the very dark days which
mark the beginning of the present century the in
habitants of Waltham did their best to atone for
the faults of their forefathers by hanging a new
peal of bells in the tower.
Some idea of the former extent of this church
may be conceived from stating that the ancient tomb
considered to be King Harold's, though situated
about forty yards from the present termination of
the building, stood in the eastern part of the original
choir. This tomb is described as " plain " in
form, but of " a rich grey marble " ; having sculp
tured on it " a sort of cross fleury, much descanted
on by art." Fuller says that it was supported by
" pillarets," one pedestal of which was " in his own
possession." -In Queen Elizabeth's reign, a gar
dener in the service of Sir Edward Denny dis
covered, in digging, a large stone coffin, inclosing
a corpse, supposed to be that of King Harold ; but
the remains, on touching, mouldered into dust.
Near the same spot, about ninety years ago, a
second coffin was found, containing an entire
skeleton inclosed in lead.
"Waltham Holy Cross," writes the author of
"Professional Excursions," in 1843, "as. the favourite
foundation and the grave of Harold, must not be
overlooked, though dilapidated, neglected, and hurry
ing to decay. Within its cloisters Cranmer, Fox, and
Gardiner unintentionally met together, little dream
ing of the various positions they were afterwards
destined to hold in our ecclesiastical history. The
church," he adds, " is a massive deformity, but
contains within some curious specimens of Norman
architecture, which the dirty lanes and shabby
streets must not prevent us from seeking to
examine." With reference to the present aspect of the re
mains of the monastery, Mr. Burges, in his
" Legends of Waltham Abbey, and History of the
Church" (i860), quoted above, remarks: — "We
know this from the chroniclers, that the church
was very magnificent, that it was made of stone,
that it had a roof covered with lead, and that in

Waltham Abbey.}

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CHURCH.

4*3

some parts (perhaps in the apse, or in the baldachin
over the great altar) there was a great deal of
gilding and bronze plates. Now the eastern end
of Harold's church has long ago disappeared —
most probably it did not last above seventy or
eighty years; but the nave and aisles perfectly
correspond with the description, of course omitting
the gilding and bronze plates, which would naturally
be restricted to the east end. Thus the height of
the nave walls is fifty-two feet. The aisles have
originally been vaulted, the arches are elaborately
decorated with chevrons and billet moulds ; there
are no mouldings to speak of, and every part could
be done with an axe — in fact, it is exactly such a
building as would be erected without regard to
expense in a rude age. . . It was in all pro
bability about the time of Stephen that the apse
of Harold's church was taken down, and a new
central tower and choir added. This choir was, no
doubt, rather a large one . , . sufficiently extensive
to afterwards accommodate the new foundation of
Henry II„ who turned out the ¦ seculars, and sub
stituted a much larger number of monks in their
place. We know that he did build sundry do
mestic buildings, which were absolutely necessary
for a monastic establishment, and were not so for
a body of secular priests, who probably lived in
the town ; and we are also informed that he did
intend to rebuild the church, but upon considera
tion the monks were inducted into the old building.
Most probably the increased accommodation was
got by bringing the choir down into the central
tower ; and perhaps we may assign the northern
clerestory of the nave to the first works begun by
this monarch, as the style is very advanced and
rich Norman, while the tbuilding now called the
'potatoe house,' as well as the cloisters (the
springing of the groining of which was discovered
in the late repairs), must be referred to the end of
his reign, or to those of either of his sons, for the
mouldings are by no means Romanesque. . . Some
time in the reign of Edward II. it was found that
the vaulting of the aisles had pushed out the side
walls, so the said vaulting was forthwith destroyed.
The bays at the west end had also got a lurch
towards the west, probably in consequence of want
of care in the foundations, or perhaps from the
incomplete state of the western towers. The re
sult was that the architect for the time did not
make a restoration of the westernmost arches, but
boldly got rid of the nave arch, and turned a new-
pointed one at the triforium level, thus making a
composition of two bays instead of three. It is
needless to say that the effect is by no means im
proved. But the fourteenth century architect was

a man of genius, and when he proceeded to give
us a new west front, he really produced a most
striking and original composition; and although
the great west window has been irrevocably
destroyed by the tower in Philip and Mary's time,
the beautiful west door and the charming windows
and L side turrets still remain to call forth our
warmest admiration. It is by no means im
probable that the same architect erected the
' lady chapel,' but in his later years, for although
what remains of the tracery of the western window
is very good, yet the mouldings are small, poor,
and sub-divided, and utterly unworthy of the
architect of the western front. . . A small three-
light window is the only trace of Perpendicular
work in the building as it at present remains. At
the Reformation the east end, as reverting to the
Crown, was destroyed, but the nave, belonging to
the parishioners, was preserved intact. The tower,
which appears to have been a sort of debatable
ground, saved all further trouble by falling down in
the time of Philip and Maryland the townsmen, who
had bought the bells, then set to work and built up
a new tower at the west end of the church out of
the old materials of the choir, which -they bought
or exchanged with Mr. Henry Denny.
" Fuller, who was presented to the curacy in
1 648, has given us, in his ' History of Waltham
Abbey,' several very interesting extracts , from the
parish books relative to the sale or purchase of
articles required by the church during the various
changes in religion which took place in the six
teenth century. An attempt was made to execute
repairs in Charles the First's time, but owing to Arch
bishop Laud not having been consulted, it fell to the
ground. Some repairs, however, were undertaken
during the reign of Charles II. Among them was
the re-facing of the second pillar from the east on
the south side, for a coin of that king was found in
the foundation. In the eighteenth and the early
part of the present century, all sorts of the greatest
barbarities were inflicted upon the unfortunate
church. The roof was lowered, and a plaster
ceiling put underneath ; more of the windows of
the north side were destroyed ; two galleries were
erected at the west end, and another in the south
aisle, whereby great holes were cut in the pillars,
to their no small detriment ; and lastly, the whole
area filled with very high pews. The roof, being in
good repair, although by no means of the original
pitch, has been retained, but the plaster ceiling
has, of course, been removed, and its place supplied
by boarding painted in imitation of the only con
temporary ceiling remaining, namely, that at Peter
borough. The centres, however, represent the

414

GREATER LONDON.

signs of the zodiac, the labours of the year, and
the elements."
In 1859 the work of restoring the interior was
undertaken by Mr. W. Burges. Nothing, however,
was done to the exterior, beyond making necessary
repairs. The east end of the church is, except the
main walls, entirely new, and in a style much later
than the body of the church : namely, that of the
first half of the thirteenth century. Within the great
arch which spans the eastern wall are three lancet

[Waltham Abbey.

thrown into the church ; some ruinous walls ; a
small bridge and gateway, near the Abbey Mills ;
and a dark vaulted structure of two divisions con
nected with the convent garden, and which ad
joined the Abbey House, inhabited by the Dennys.
Not any remains exist of the Abbey House (which
is reported to have been a very extensive building),
except, perhaps, the vaulted structure mentioned
above ; and of a large mansion which was erected
upon its site, nothing is left but a plastered wall.

COPPED HALL, NEAR EPPING. (See page 417.)

windows immediately above the altar, and a rose
window of early French character. In the process
of restoration the greatest care seems to have been
taken in the matter of decoration. Thus the altar-
piece and the three lancet windows are occupied
with subjects representing the human nature of our
Saviour, the ro^e window above illustrating His
Divine nature.
Though the buildings of Waltham Abbey were
once so extensive as to include a space of many
acres, scarcely any part remains but the nave of the
abbey church, which, as shown above, is now the
parochial church, an attached chapel on the south
side, called the Lady Chapel, long used as a school
room and vestry, but now utilised for service, being

In the convent garden, which is now tenanted by a
market-gardener, is an aged tulip-tree, reported to
be the largest in England.
To the north of the abbey church is a farm
house, constructed out of the abbot's stables and
faced with fine bricks. The gardens are still partly
surrounded by the abbey walls, and a small chapel,
or oratory, in the grounds, arched with a groined
ceiling of fine Early English work, is now used as
a room to grow mushrooms. Beyond the farm
house is a quaint old bridge, said to be Norman,
and often called after Harold ; three out of its five
ribs still remain. In a meadow beyond are the
abbey fish-ponds, now dry, in which doubtless fine
carp and tench were preserved for the brethren on

Wallham Abbey.]

THE ABBEY GATE AND BRIDGE.

4iS

fasting days. They now grow abundance of wild
flowers. Near the Abbey Mill, which is still occupied for
grinding corn, is a wide space of ground, sur
rounded by small dwellings, called the Bramblings,
but formerly Rome-land (as at St. Albans and at
Norwich), which is conjectured to have been so
called from its rents being in former times appro
priated to the use of the Holy See. The weekly
market is held here on Tuesdays ; on one side of

rest on corbels, formed by two demi-angels sup
porting shields, on which were engraved the royal
arms of the time of Edward III. : viz., France and
England, quarterly.
The various streams of the Lea in this neigh
bourhood are said by tradition to flow in the very
same channels which were cut by the great Alfred
when he turned aside the course of the river, and
left the Danish fleet aground.
" Fragments of sculpture, figured tiles, metal

AMBRESBURY BANKS. (Seepage 418.)

the spot still stands a stack -of chimneys, which
formed a portion of King Henry's hunting-box. It
was probably here that the conversation (related
above) was held which affected so deeply the
course of the Reformation in this country. If so,
this chimney-stack is an historic landmark.
The gateway and bridge shown in the illustration
on page 409 stand a little to' the north of the
abbey, close above the Abbey Mill. The gateway
is of stone ; but it has been repaired from time to
time with bricks of various sizes and hues, which
lend it a great variety of colour, and render it a
great favourite for the water-colour painter. It
consists of two Pointed arches, one larger than the
other. The outer mouldings of the larger arch

work, &c," writes Mr. Thorne, in his " Environs
of London," "are occasionally exhumed on the site
or in the neighbourhood of the abbey. Consider
able quantities of pilgrims' jettons, or groats, have
been found in the town. The ' Holy Cross ' itself
doubtless attracted numerous pilgrims to Waltham.
A few years ago a stone mould was dug up in
Coleman Street, London, from which metal casts
were taken, to be worn by Waltham pilgrims as the
badge or insignia of their pilgrimage. The mould
was cruciform, with a figure of a cross in the
centre, surrounded by the legend, ' Signum Sancte
Crucis de Waltham.' "
Among the worthies connected with this place
whose names we have not already mentioned was

416

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham.

John of Waltham, Master of the Rolls, Keeper of
the Privy Seal, Lord High Treasurer, and Bishop
of Salisbury, who was excommunicated by Courte-
nay Archbishop of Canterbury ; he was buried
in Westminster Abbey. Another celebrity was
Roger de Waltham, Canon of St. Paul's, and the
author of several books, under Henry III.
The history of Waltham town is so nearly
identified with that of the abbey that the com
pletion of the latter leaves but little to record with
respect to the former. Henry III., as .we have
shown above, was not only a great benefactor to
the abbey, but granted to the abbot the right of
holding a weekly market and an annual fair of
seven days' duration. The demands of the abbot
for " stallage " at .the fair led to frequent disputes
with the citizens of London, and quiet was ob
tained only after the Londoners had refused to
resort to Waltham Fair for some three years or
more, when, in 1256, the abbot agreed • to refund
all distresses, and granted to the Londoners
"acquittance of all such stallage for ever." The
market is still held weekly on Tuesdays, and the
fairs take place in May, June, and September.
The old market-house, a building of the Elizabethan
era, was pulled down about 1850. In it were pre
served for many years a pair of stocks, bearing the
date 1598. They are still standing — not, however,
in their original place or position, but set up on
one end of the roadside, near the church.
William Vallens, in his " Tale of Two Swannes,"
written in 1590; thus quaintly describes this place
as it was under the latter years of Elizabeth : —
" Down all along through Waltham Street they passe,
And wonder at the^ruines of the Abbay
Late supprest, the walles, the walkes, the monumentes,
And everything that there is to be seene. "
He proceeds to describe at considerable length,
and with great minuteness, the "locke" on the
river, with its " double doores of wood," and a
" cesterne all of planke," both then novelties to the
eyes of travellers in the infancy of canal navigation.

The town still in many parts wears an antiquated
appearance, and the venerable abbey and gateway
give a character of the " olden time " to the scene ;
but still the place is not behind-hand in the march
of progress, for it has its weekly newspaper, its
local board of health, its burial and school boards,
its literary institute and reading-rooms, two or
three cricket-clubs, and a " fishery." The Lea in
this locality is much resorted to by the disciples
of Izaak Walton — barbel, bream, trout, jack, chub,
and roach, abounding in plenty. Free fishing is
also afforded on the Lea Navigation. Hofland, in
treating of Waltham Abbey in his "Angler's
Manual," writes : — " Often have I fished here in
May, and, under the gentle influence of the season
and the spot, recalled to mind the beautiful lines
of the highly-gifted, but unfortunate, Lord Surrey :
' The sovte season that bud and bloome forth bringes,
With grene hath cladde the hyll and eke the vale ;
The nightingall with fethers new she singes,
The turtle to hei mate hath told her tale ;
Somer is come, for every spraye now springes,
The fishes flete with new repayred scale,
The adder, all her slough away she flynges,
The busy bee her honey now she mynges.' "
There are in the town and its immediate
neighbourhood malt-kilns, a brewery, flour-mills,
a manufactory of percussion caps, &c. The ce
metery, which was opened in 1857, covers about
four acres, and contains two mortuary chapels.
The County Court, which was built in 1849, stands
on the site of some old silk-printing works. The
" Tulip Tree," a celebrated inn here, is, of course,
named after the famous tree mentioned above as
growing in the abbey precincts.
As was usual in other places, so here the
brethren of the abbey supplied the religious wants
of the neighbourhood on all sides, and accordingly
the region which they served was very large. Hence
the parish of Waltham extends over Sewardstone,
and High Beech has only recently been cut off,
and made into a separate incumbency.

CHAPTER XLIV.
WALTHAM {continued) AND EPPING.
" Sweet sylvan Epping rears its rural head."
Extent of Waltham Abbey Parish— Census Returns— Rural Appearance of the Locality— Principal Seats and Mansions— Warlies— Copped Hall—
Ambresbury Banks— The Story of Queen Boadicea's Conflict with the Romans— Obelisks in the Neighbourhood— Highwaymen and Footpads
—The Village of Epping— Epping Church.

Waltham Holy Cross is a very extensive parish,
consisting not only of the township of Waltham
Abbey, but of a large portion of the country east,

north, and south, containing altogether nearly
12,000 acres. Inclusive of Sewardstone and other
subordinate districts, it stretches away northward

Waltham.]

COPPED HALL

4i7

for some three miles to the parish of Nasing,
eastward for about three miles to the boundaries of
Epping, and southward to the village of Ching
ford, whilst on the south-east it embraces High
Beech, which lies about three miles from the town.
Sewardstone and High Beech are situated on the
borders of Epping Forest, and will be dealt with in
a subsequent chapter. Holyfield in the north
and Upshire in the east are two little scattered
agricultural hamlets, containing in the aggregate
some 7,000 acres. In 187 1 the population of
Waltham parish, exclusive of the ecclesiastical dis
trict of High Beech, amounted to about 4,500, a
number which had increased during the next
decade to 5,300. According to the census for
1 88 1, the number of inhabitants in Waltham Abbey
township alone was close upon 3,000.
The whole of the district comprised within the
jurisdiction of the metropolitan police, and lying
to the north-east of Waltham town, is exceedingly
rural, being mostly meadow-land, used for grazing
purposes, intersected by the Cobbin Brook, a
tolerable rivulet, which winds and gurgles in a
sinuous course by Epping Upland, or Old Epping,
and skirting the south-east side of Waltham,
unites its waters with that of the river Lea about
half a mile south of the town. The country round
about is pleasingly diversified with hills and vales,
and in parts well wooded, but possesses no history.
Warlies Hall and Copped Hall are the chief seats
in this district ; but there are a few others, with
moderate estates attached to them, such as Thrift
Hall and Monkham, besides several farms and ham
lets, one of which latter bears the name of Harold's
Park, and may mark the site of the " great wood
and park called Harold's Park," mentioned in the
preceding chapter as having been bestowed by
Richard I. on the canons of Waltham Abbey.*
A short distance to the west of Harold's
Park are Galley Hill and Galley Wood. Thomas
Fuller, who lived at Waltham for many years,
wrote in 1640 : — " On the one side of the town
itself are large and fruitful meadows .... On
the other side a spacious forest spreads itself,
where fourteen years since one might have seen
whole herds of red and fallow deer." What is left
of Epping Forest, originally known as the Forest
of Essex, and later on as Waltham Forest, in the
immediate neighbourhood of the town, crowns the
high ground away to the east and south-east.
Some two or three miles to the east of Waltham
Abbey, in a sheltered valley on the road to
Copped Hall, lies Warlies, the seat of Sir Thomas
See ante, p. 407 .

Buxton. The property, consisting of about 1,000
acres, was purchased by the late Sir Edmund
Buxton, M.P., the son and successor to the
honoured name of the first Sir Thomas Fowell
Buxton, many years M.P. for Weymouth, and the
associate of Wilberforce in his philanthropic efforts
to abolish African and West Indian slavery.
Copped Hall — so named from the Saxon "cop,"
the top of a hill — lies a mile or so eastward, nearer
to Epping. It is one of the finest modern seats
in the county. It was built about the middle of
the last century, near the site of an older structure
raised by the monks of Waltham Abbey in the
good old days when they had possession of the
manor. The park, upwards of 4,000 acres in ex
tent, is situated partly in the parish of Waltham
and partly in that of Epping.
Mr. Weldon, in his " Guide to Epping Forest,"-
says : — " In the proceedings of the Privy Council,
in the reign of King Edward VI., there is an ac
count of the Princess Mary, afterwards Queen,
living at Copped Hall, and three of her principal
servants being summoned before the Privy Council,
and commanded to inform their mistress that her
chaplains were prohibited from celebrating mass, or
using any of the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic
religion. On their return she ordered them not to
speak to her chaplains, but sent them back with a
letter addressed to King Edward, dated from her
'poore howse at Copped Hall, 19th August, 155 1,'
and, on their refusal to acquaint her with the further
charge given by the Council, the Lord Chancellor
Riche, Sir Wm. Petre one of the principal secre
taries of state, and Sir Anthony Wingfield comp
troller of the household, were deputed to wait on
her with a letter from the King, and to enforce the
orders of the Privy Council. The Princess seems
to have received them anything but graciously,
saying they ought to ' shewe more favore to me for
my fathere's sake, who made the more parte of you
almoste of nothing.' She delivered to the Lord
Chancellor ' a ringe, for the king, upon her knees ;
most humbly, with very humble recommendaciones,
saienge she would die his true subjecte & sister, &
obaye his commandements in all things excepte in
theis matters of religeon, towchinge the masse, &
the newe service.' Among the same extracts from
the proceedings of the Privy Council, three years
afterwards, in the first year of the reign of Queen
Mary, is a letter, dated March 17, 1554, directed
to ' Lord Oxforde, & the above Lord Riche, to be
presente at the burninge of such obstinat persones
as presently are sent doune to be burned in diverse
partes of the county of Essex, & to be aydinge to
the Sherife of the said shiere therein.' "

4i8

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham.

The old hall itself, built in the place of a yet
earlier structure, was a large quadrangular red-brick
mansion, and it stood to the south of the present
hall, on lower ground. It was built in the reign of
Elizabeth, from the designs of Thorpe, for Sir
Thomas Heneage, the Treasurer of the Royal
Chamber and Vice-Chamberlain of the Queen's
Household, to whom the estate had been granted
by the Crown. The chief feature of the hall in Sir
Thomas Heneage's time was the great gallery, fifty-
six yards in length.
The author of " Anglorum Speculum, or The
Worthies of England," thus writes in 1684 : —
" Copt Hall, or Coppice Hall, seated on a hill in the
midst of a park, was built by the Abbot of Walt
ham, and enlarged by Sir Th. Heneage : in which
there is the most proportionable gallery in Eng
land." He adds : — " An. 1639, a Hericano forced
the stones of the great east window, like pellets, quite
through this gallery, in length 56 Yards. Dr. Jack
son about the same time observed the like wind as
Ominous and presaging our Civil Dissentions."
Thorne, in his " Environs of London," says: —
" Charles Sackville, the witty Earl of Dorset, and
the patron of wits and poets, lived at Copped
Hall, and here Shadwell wrote part of his ' Squire
of Alsatia.' Charles II. dined with the Earl of
Middlesex at Old Copped Hall in June, 1660;
and William III., when on his way to Newmarket,
dined and stayed the night here, April 4, 1698."
Later on Copped Hall was held successively by
the Earls of Winchelsea and the Lords Grey.
Between 1753 and 1757 it was rebuilt by its then
owner, Mr. John Conyers, who at that time re
sided at Epping Place, and whose descendants
remained seated here for upwards of a century.
The family of Conyers appears to have been of
very ancient standing in Yorkshire. Tristram
Conyers, or Coniers, a gentleman possessed of an
ample fortune, settled at Walthamstow early in the
seventeenth century, and this branch became
naturalised as an Essex family. Several of its
members occupied prominent positions in that
century. Gerard Conyers was an alderman of
London, and received the honour of knighthood ;
and Edward, who then represented in Parliament
the borough of East Grinstead, became the owner
of the manor of Epping and Copped Hall, by
purchase from Lord North, about the year 1728.
In 1753 Mr. John Conyers found the old hall in
such a dilapidated condition, that he determined
upon pulling it down, and rebuilding the house on
a different site. Time had loosened the founda
tion of the grand old Elizabethan mansion, and a
hurricane had long previously blown down its

great gallery ; and the beautiful painted glass
window of its ancient chapel, which is believed to
have been originally painted for Henry VIII.'s
chapel at New Hall, near Chelmsford, in this
county, whence it was obtained, eventually found
its way to St. Margaret's Church, Westminster.*
The present mansion of Copped Hall is a
spacious building, almost square, consisting of a
centre, with pediment and two wings, and, standing
on high ground, is visible for miles round. It is
constructed of white brick of a superior make, and
since its erection it has been much improved and
enlarged by James Wyatt. The late Mr. H. J.
Conyers was a first-rate sportsman and master of
hounds. " Copt Hall," writes the author of " Pro
fessional Excursions in 1843," "is remarkable for
the smooth and nicely jointed brick- work of the
exterior, and the brusque manner of its owner ; but
he is the spirit of the chase, and Nimrod's hounds
apologise for Nimrod's manner." After paying a
tribute to Mr. Conyers as a master and landlord,
he adds : — " The mansion looks cold and solitary
at a distance, perched upon a knoll unbroken by
intervening foliage; but a spirit of improvement
prevails over the asperities of Nature, and the
neighbouring forest is a theatre of endless amuse
ment and delightful recreation." It now belongs
to the family of Mr. Wythes, who was a railway
contractor, " raised from the ranks " by his own
energy and enterprise.
The traveller, in passing along the narrow road
way which skirts the forest between Waltham and
Epping, sees the mansion on a bold eminence
away to the left, the land falling from the spot on
which he stands to a deep valley, and rising again
by easy gradations in groves and plantations, like
a succession of wooded terraces, to the park and
green lawn on which the hall-door opens. The
little river Cobbin steals quietly along on the north
side of the park, whilst just on the outskirts of the
park, about thirty or forty yards to the south-east,
are the remains of an extensive earth-work, pro
bably British, called the Ambresbury Banks, sup
posed by antiquarians to be a military camp, and
the scene of Boadicea's battle and final defeat. The
earth-work, which is about half a mile in circuit, is
tolerably perfect, and is so largely overgrown with
beeches, oaks, hornbeams, and hazels, as to form
a favourite spot for picnics in the summer.
With reference to these earth-works, we find in
Gough's "Camden" (Vol. II., p. 49) the follow
ing remarks, communicated to the author by Mr.
Smart Letheuillier : — " This entrenchment is now
* See " Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 568.

Epping Forest.]

AMBRESBURY BANKS.

419

entirely overgrown with old oaks and hornbeams.
It was formerly in the very heart of the forest, and
no road near it, till the present turnpike road from
London to Epping was made, almost within the
memory of man, which now runs within a hundred
yards of it, but the entrenchment cannot be thence
perceived, by reason of the wood that covers it.
Its figure is irregular, rather longest from east to
west, and on a gentle declivity to the south-east.
It contains nearly twelve acres, and is surrounded
by a ditch and high bank, much worn down by
time, though where there are angles they are still
very bold and high. There are no regular open
ings, like gateways or entrances, only in two
places, where the bank has been cut through, and
the ditch filled up very lately, in order to make a
straight road from Debden Green to Epping
Market. The boundaries between the parishes of
Waltham and Epping run exactly through the
middle of this entrenchment . . . As I can find
no reason to attribute this entrenchment either
to the Romans, Saxons, or Danes, I cannot help
concluding it to have been a British oppidum, and
perhaps had some relation to other remains of
that people which are discoverable in our forest."
Mr. W. Winters, in a letter in Notes and Queries
(4th Series, Vol. X., p. 395), remarks : — " Gough
seems to raise a doubt about the exact position of
the combatants being Amesbury (or Ambresbury),
simply on the ground of what Mr. Letheuillier had
stated. He also affirms that ' the want of barrows
is an argument that a great slaughter could hardly
have happened here. ' Philip Morant, the Essex his
torian, not willing to give up the point so easily,
states that 'by comparing all accounts and circum
stances, he is persuaded' that the field of battle was
between Waltham and Epping, or thereabouts, not
far from London.' "
Another writer in Notes and Queries (5th Series,
Vol. V, p. 396) suggests that these works are really
not a camp, but " part of a series of beacon hills ; "
but be that as it may, their form and general appear
ance bear a strong resemblance to other works of a
similar character which are undoubtedly known to
have been used for military purposes. Old soldiers
who have served in India and South Africa have
been known to have remarked on seeing these
earth-works that they must have been a camp, used
by Oliver Cromwell or some such officer.!
The City arms, on an iron post at the roadside,
in front of the works, denote that here is the limit
of the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor of London.
The story of the great conflict between the
Britons and Romans, which is said to have taken
place here, is graphically told by Coller, in his

" History of Essex," as follows : — " The king of the
Iceni, the people who inhabited Suffolk and Nor
folk, and part of Cambridgeshire, appears to have
retained his kingdom under the protection of the
conquerors ; and when he died he left half his
territory and treasures to the Romans, under the
impression that the other half would be secured
for his family. The Romans, however, seized the
whole. Boadicea, the widow, remonstrated. The
extortioners endeavoured to silence her by insult ;
she was publicly scourged like a common slave,
and her daughters were given over to dishonour by
the soldiery. This outrage aroused all the .spirit
of the ancient Briton. The wretched queen, instead
of sinking under her miseries, boldly raised the
standard of revolt and vengeance, and fearfully
were the Romans made to pay for their breach of
faith and want of honesty. Suetonius, the pro
praetor, was at this period (a.d. 61) engaged in an
expedition against the sacred Isle of Mona, or
Anglesea, the last home and refuge of the Druids,
and this part of the country lay comparatively
unprotected. There was, indeed, a garrison of
Roman veterans at Colchester, but they appear to
have been paralysed as the storm of war came
swelling up from Suffolk. Conscience — for then,
as now, such was the effect of crime — 'made
cowards of them all ; ' and superstition gave birth
to all sorts of hideous portents and omens to
unman them. Tacitus, in his 'Annals,' says that the
statue of the goddess of Victory at Camelodunum
fell down and turned, as if yielding to the enemy ;
howlings were heard in the theatre, and strange
noises in the council-house; a fearful apparition,
was seen in the estuary of the Thames, towards
Mersea Island, which had become a pleasant resort
of the Romans ; and enthusiastic women foretold
the coming destruction — which, considering the
force that was advancing and the panic of the
defenders, required no great prophetic powers.
When, therefore, the Britons in overwhelming
numbers appeared upon the wooded hills around
Colchester, and were joined by the men of Essex,
who flocked in thousands to the standard of the
queen, they met with only a feeble resistance.
The ninth legion, which had hastened to the rescue,
was defeated, and the whole of its infantry slain ;
and the exasperated Britons swept into the capital
of the colony, slaughtering all, even the women and
children, and mercilessly destroying every object
of art and emblem of the Roman sway. The
soldiers threw themselves into the temple of
Claudius, which they defended for two days, but
at length perished by fire. Excited by theif
success, and enriched by plunder, the victors then

420

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham.

appear to have turned their backs upon Colchester,
leaving it a scene of utter desolation. Boadicea,
at the head of her troops, directed her march
along the Roman way by Coggeshall, Rayne, and
Dunmow, to St. Albans, which also fell a like prey
to her fury. Every station that could be reached
was devastated ; and the number of the Romans
and their allies who were thus slain is stated to
have been 70,000. The sounds of this calamity
at length reached Suetonius, who hurried back
with his army. The Britons mustered in arms at
least 100,000 — some historians state their force at
250,000 — far outnumbering the Romans, who had,
however, on their side the advantage of experience
and skill in the art of war ; and Boadicea, retiring
at their approach, established herself in an en
trenched camp in the forest, where, a short distance
from Epping, near Copped Hall, and now known
as Ambresbury Banks, the remains of her strong
hold may still be traced. Here she decided on
awaiting the Roman foe. Some writers have
assumed that the last struggle was at Islington,
others at Messing ; but Morant and others, whose
authority is decisive, say — ' The famous battle
between Suetonius and Boadicea was fought some
where between Epping and Waltham, near which
a fine camp remains.' Here, then, the opposing
forces were drawn up. The Britons, like the
Russians at the Alma, had brought the ladies to
see the fight and witness their triumph. Their
wives and children were taken in wagons to the
field, and ranged in a line along the rear of the
battle — to become its victims, and to swell the
slaughter of those they loved. The skilful Romans
had chosen ground accessible at only one point,
with a forest at the back. Having provoked the
enemy to the assault, here they remained till the
Britons had exhausted themselves, and expended
their darts in the attempt to force the narrow pass ;
then assuming the form of a wedge, their infantry
bore down upon them like an avalanche, while
their horsemen with their spears swept the field.
The Britons were routed ; and hemmed in by the
rows of wagons behind, the warriors, their wives
¦ and children, fell in one indiscriminate slaughter.
The Romans lost only 400, but 80,000 of the
Britons were left upon the forest turf ; and Boadicea
escaped, only to die soon after either of grief or
poison. Truly has it been said that 'we dwell
amidst the ruins of successive races, and heed them
not.' How little does the quiet traveller from
Epping to Waltham or Loughton think that a
scene of blood like this has passed upon the very spot
he is crossing ! When, too, the members of the
summer pic-nic party gather round the gipsy feast

spread upon the table of turf, and within the shade
of the brushwood and clumps of hornbeams with
which the site of the camp is now overgrown, how
little do they reflect that the bones of 80,000 lie
beneath the surface, and with them are buried the
wreck and remnants of the rule of that people who
first possessed power in the land — for this was the
last expiring effort of the Britons; and though
partial revolts took place, we do not find that they
again, as a people, raised the arm against the
Romans in battle."
There is an obelisk on some rising ground at
Chingford, some five miles to the south-west
of Ambresbury Banks, set up some years ago
by the Ordnance Survey, and maintained at the
instance of the Astronomer-Royal. That obelisk
gave rise to a discussion in the pages of Notes and
Queries in 1882, it having been asserted by one
writer that it marked the site of Queen Boadicea's
death. Be that as it may, another correspondent
writes : — " There still remains the old belief that the
great battle between the Romans under Suetonius
and ' the Britons under Boadicea, the widow of
Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, was fought a few
miles from Chingford ; and the story that a stone
or obelisk was set up to mark the presumed spot
where, after the slaughter of her army, the queen,
who had sworn not to survive a defeat, took poison
and died, is a popular belief. The description of
the field of battle, as given by Tacitus, is very vague.
It has, I think, been usually imagined that it was
near the old British camp called Ambers' Banks, or
Ambresbury Banks. ... If any memorial stone
exists, it might be looked for in that part of the
county. In Chapman and Andre's fine map of Essex,
published in 1 7 7 7, there is an obelisk marked as then
standing on Copped Hall Green, and a second
obelisk situated about a mile more westward."
The two obelisks here referred to are still stand
ing in the neighbourhood of Warlies Park, which
lies about a mile to the north-west of the entrench
ment. " If there is any history attached to these
obelisks," writes another correspondent of Notes
and Queries* "it is not to be found in accessible
sources. No inscription appears on either ; they
are of brick, one being stuccoed ; and they cannot
be older than the eighteenth century. But if any
value is to be placed on tradition, it is not dealing
unfairly with the tradition that clings to this part
of the county of Essex to admit the possibility of
the historic site, being placed here. The point has
not been thoroughly sifted. Morant says, speaking
of Ambresbury Banks, 'hereabouts appears to

* See 6th Series, Vol. VI., p. 272.

Waltham.]

BOADICEA'S FAMOUS BATTLE.

421

have been fought,' &c, which is only tantamount
to a recital of the ancient tradition. . . . It is
by no means an improbability that the site was
'hereabouts.' Ambresbury Banks was not a
temporary camp ; there must have been a British
village or settlement here. It stands on the
highest ground, as British villages would do.
Closely adjacent, a bye-road defiles down the hill
through the forest, itself the site of an ancient
trackway, into the river plain. The higher part of
Copped Hall Green is broken up into irregular
lumps of earth-work, which may be modern or may
be of high antiquity. Obelisk No. 1 stands in a
meadow just northward of this waste spot, and
gives name to the adjoining farm. The narrow
defile through the forest and the open plain below
are fully characteristic of the battle-field familiar to
us in the chronicles. Some such track was occu
pied by the forces of Suetonius, down which he
issued, cleaving as with a wedge the host of the
British ; and it was across such a plain that the
defeated thousands would disperse. Obelisk No. 2
stands in a meadow on the other side of Cobbin's
Brook, and gives name to an adjoining wood.
Here, it may well be believed, the unfortunate
Boadicea retired, in order to crown with her own
death the disasters of the day."
This locality possesses not only the earth-work
known as Ambresbury Banks,, but also another
camp some two miles distant, at Loughton, so
that there is really a choice of sites whereon to
fix the scene of Boadicea's famous battle. It is a
commonly received opinion that the Romans had
their camp at Ambresbury Banks, while the British
queen drew up her forces at Loughton. " These
two camps," observes General Pitt-Rivers, in his
report on the excavation of Ambresbury Banks,
" owe their preservation to the fact of this region
having been always forest, and not cultivated
ground ; and this is a point worth noting on the
part of those who are inclined to lay stress on the
value of tradition as evidence of time and place.
It is certain that neither Cassar nor Boadicea, nor
any of the heroes and heroines of olden times, to
whom these things are ascribed, had any special
eye for locating themselves in places which might
not in after years be destroyed by the plough ; yet
tradition concerning these people hangs naturally
about such places as remain to us from ancient
times rather than about those innumerable spots
in our long and highly cultivated country in which
ancient monuments have been destroyed by agri
culture." No doubt the existence of the Ambresbury Banks,
as the camp is locally called, has tended to keep
86

MAP OF EPPING FOREST.

422

GREATER LONDON.

[Waltham.

up in these parts the memory, or rather the tra
dition, of Boadicea's defeat, which without such a
memoria technica would probably have died out.
" If we are to find a clue to the date of Ambres
bury Bank in its name," writes Mr. Frederic John
son in Weldon's " Guide to Epping Forest," " we
cannot make the work more modern than about a.d.
500. The word Ambresbury is commonly said to be
much the same as Ambrose-bury, from a patriotic
chieftain named Ambrosius Aurelius, who died
soon after a.d. 500. This place, like one in
Wiltshire, is called Ambresbury and Amesbury,
and we miist explain the name in each case alike.
The story of Ambrosius is connected with the
times and legends of King Arthur and the Knights
of the Round Table, and it is even said that
Ambrose, or Ambrosius, was the true name of the
magician Merlin."
In the pages of Moranf s " History of Essex "
the camp is said to be the fortress of Boadicea,
and other writers have followed in his wake. But
with the present information it would seem hardly
safe to state positively that Ambresbury Camp was
actually the work of the Romans. At the same
time, it is within the bounds of possibility that
Boadicea made here her last stand against the
Romans under Suetonius. General Pitt-Rivers,
who carefully examined the "Banks" in 1881,
wrote upon them a paper which was read at
a meeting of the Essex Naturalists' Field Club,
and also at the York meeting of the British Asso
ciation in that year. In it he shows that on the
east side a ravine approaches the camp from the
valley below, and divides into two forks as it
nears the camp, and that the rampart at this place
is drawn across the points of these forks, so as to
sweep down them. On the south side also ad
vantage is taken of another ravine to strengthen
the fortifications on that side. " These are points,"
adds General Pitt-Rivers, "which, although in
fluencing the principles of defence which have
prevailed at all times, are more especially British,
as distinct from Roman. The Romans, caring
more for their internal discipline and the position
of their cohorts than for external defence, arranged
their camps on geometrically constructed lines,
and often disregarded natural features altogether.
It is true that at the northern corner of Ambresbury
Camp the rampart turns at an abrupt angle, but
this is owing to the fact that at that particular
spot there are no natural features to guide camp-
builders : the ground is a dead flat, and as the
turn had to be made somewhere, it was made
abruptly, as so often occurs in British camps."
The camp is an irregular square, and to some

slight extent follows the conformation of the ground
which surrounds it. This fact would seem to
justify a doubt as to its being of Roman origin ;
and such a negative inference is corroborated by
the fact that no Roman pottery or vessels or coins
were discovered in situ when some explorations
were made. There is in the camp a well which
feeds a pond of water with a darn across it.
Probably the exposure of these banks to the
action of the weather for so many centuries may
have rubbed off the angles, and made the square
less perfect than once it was. The diagrams
appended to General Pitt-Rivers's paper in the
"Transactions" of the Essex Field Club show
how much the weather has altered the sectional
aspect of the camp, lowering the summits, and
filling up the trenches to such an extent that it
has been uncertain till lately whether the bottom of
it was flat or pointed.
The plan given in that paper, drawn by Mr.
D'Oyley, the surveyor of the forest, shows six
gates or entrances, whereas the Romans, as we
know, were usually content with four. Here, how
ever, also, time and exposure may have altered the
configuration of the site.
" In choosing their sites, the constructors of both
camps seem to have been careful to secure a
water supply. The interior of the enclosure is
well wooded, and on the south the thicket is so
dense as to hide the bank and be almost impene
trable. In modern times the timber has been
much diminished, and the diggers for sand and
other materials have done much mischief, in some
places having destroyed portions of the bank
itself. Happily, this is now stopped, and although
the camp lies, in two parishes, it will be safe from
further depredations. It must be borne in mind
that the search after antiquities in Epping Forest
is a new thing. People have been content to look
after butterflies and blackberries, and various other
productions of Nature ; and they have not gone to
look for the work of men's hands. However, a
beginning has been made, and already most valu
able results have been achieved."*
Epping lies about a mile and a half north-east
ward from Ambresbury Banks, and is just beyond
our limits ; as, however, the manor belonged in
early times to Harold, and was given by the Con
queror to Waltham Abbey, we may be pardoned
for making some little mention of it here. The
town, called Epping Street, is situated on the road
to Newmarket, on the ridge of hills that run north
and south through the forest. In the old " coaching
* Waldon'a " Guide to Epping Forest."

Epping Forest.]

EPPING TOWN.

423

days " the place carried on a flourishing trade in
sausages, poultry, and butter, which usually com
manded high prices at the London market ; and
for its size, it also contained a very large number
of inns and public-houses, many of which, since
the Great Eastern Railway diverted the traffic from
the high road, have been converted to other uses.
At the time when the neighbourhood was the
haunt of highwaymen, some of the forest taverns
served as harbours for those " knights of the road,"
among whom might be reckoned the famous Dick
Turpin. As far back as the close of the seventeenth
century this locality appears to have been as bad
as Hounslow Heath, in respect to its dangers
from footpads and highwaymen. Macaulay tells
us that on the Peace of 1698, a large number
of the discharged soldiers turned footpads and
marauders, and that " a fraternity of plunderers —
thirty in number, according to the lowest estimate —
squatted under the shades of Epping Forest, near
Waltham Cross, from which they sallied forth with
sword and pistol to bid passengers stand. . . It
was necessary that during some time cavalry should
patrol every evening on the roads near the boundary
between Middlesex and Essex." It sounds almost
incredible, but as lately as the year 1775 the guard
of the Norwich stage-coach was killed in this
forest, after he had himself shot dead three high
waymen out of seven that assailed him.*
The following scrap of information, taken from
an old newspaper, shows that the roads hereabouts

had their terrors down to even a later date : — "On
Tuesday, January 22nd, 1793, a Mr. Alderman
Plomer was taking an airing in his carriage in
Epping Forest; he was stopped near the eight-
mile stone by a single highwayman, who presented
a pistol, and robbed him of a watch and about four
teen guineas."
The parish of Epping, which is between thirty
and forty miles in circumference, is divided into
three parts — the Town, the Upland, and Ryehill
Hamlet. Its weekly market is still kept up on
Fridays, when the main street of the town wears a
somewhat busier appearance than usual. The
Town Hall is used occasionally for concerts and
lectures. Near the western end of the street stands
the Church of St. John the Baptist, a modern
Gothic structure, built a few years ago, in the
place of a chapel which the monks of Waltham
had set up in days of old to serve as a chapel-of-
ease to the mother church. At that time the
whole, or nearly the whole, of this parish belonged
to the Abbey of Waltham ; and the houses of the
town or- village appear to have been clustered
round the church, which lies some two miles away
to the north-west, on Epping Upland, the present
street being of comparatively modern date. The
tall brick tower of the parish church, standing as it
does on high ground, is a conspicuous landmark
for the country round ; the rest of the building is
of little or no interest.

CHAPTER XLV.
EPPING FOREST
" 'Midst those trees the wild deer bounded
Ages long ere we were born,
And our great-grandfathers sounded
Many a jovial hunting-horn." — T. Campbell.
Primeval Condition of the Forest, as the Great Forest of Essex— Gradual Diminution of the Forest— Forest Charters of King John and Henry III.
—Laws for the Regulation of the Forest — A Quaint Oath— Lord Warden, Steward, and other Officers of the Forest— The Swainmote Court
and Court of Justice Seat— Extent of the Forest in the Middle Ages— Present Form of the Forest— Disposal of the Crown Rights in the
Forest— Encroachments by Lords of Manors— The Battle of the Commoners with the Lords of Manors^-Parliamentary Scheme for the
Preservation of the Forest— The Matter taken up by the Corporation of London— The Case Settled by Arbitration— Dedication of Epping
Forest to the " Free Use " of the People— The Science of Forestry— The Deer of the Forest- The Present Condition and General
Appearance of the Forest. within the last two or three centuries that its
present name of Epping Forest has prevailed. It
covers most of the district lying between the Lea
and the Roding. Roughly speaking, the forest is
divided into two main portions, lying respectively
west and east of the latter river. The west is more
properly Waltham Forest, whilst the eastern por
tion is known as the Forest of Hainault.
Epping and Hainault Forests are comprehended

" This is the forest primeval," writes Longfellow
of the Forest of Acadie; and he might have applied
the epithet to that of Epping, much of which still
happily remains in its "primeval" wildness. It
was called of old " the forest of Essex," as being
the only forest within the county. Afterwards it
was known as "Waltham Forest," and it is only
* Annual Register, 1775, pp. 97 and 182.

424

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

in the Chase of Waltham ; and, according to
Evelyn, the first onslaught was made upon them
by King Henry VIIL, when he suppressed the
monasteries, converting the property to his own
use, and disposing of the oak timber. Previous
to that time but little oak was used in build
ing, the commonest woods sufficing for ordinary
habitations, until the general clearance brought
about a greater demand for material of a better
class. In its primitive condition, the great "waste"
covered the larger part of the county, stretching
from the Forest of Middlesex at Waltham, in the
west, to Colchester in the east, and hence it was
properly called the " Great Forest of Essex." With
reference to the forests of Essex and the forest
laws, Mr. Coller, in his history of that county,
writes : — " The forests were fearful sources of feuds
and oppression; and Essex, being covered ex
tensively by one of these royal nuisances, was fre
quently excited by the occurrences and conflicts
to which it gave rise. The wild woodlands which
at one period stretched over so large a portion of
the county became vested in the Crown, and long
after the Conquest these tracts of wilderness were
found in the heart of Essex. Here the sovereigns
and the gallants of the Courts hawked and hunted
during their sojourn at Havering-atte-bower, or
the Palace of Chigwell — which appears to have
been erected solely for a royal hunting-lodge — or
in their visits to the Palaces of New Hall and
Writtle. . . In this forest the stag was chased,
and the wild boar, an important part of the game
of these woods, brought to bay — for the fox ap
pears to have been looked upon with contempt by
the Nimrods of those days. Here, in later times,
the outlaw, like him of Sherwood, composed of
about equal portions of the poacher, the bandit,
and the hero, found ready shelter. And here, too,
at a period bordering on our own days, the
burglar and the highwayman shaped their caves
and concealed their plunder. The forest regu
lations were terrifically severe, though often set at
nought. The killing of a stag in these hunting-
grounds of the king was regarded as more heinous
than murder. The slaughter of a man could be
expiated by a pecuniary fine ; but one of the game
laws of the Conqueror enacted that the killing of
a deer, boar, or hare in these forests should be
punished with the loss of the offender's eyes. This
law was renewed by Richard I., with the addition
of further disgusting mutilation. Civilisation, with
its multiplying people, increasing the necessity for
larger supplies of food, and thus raising the value
of the land, has laid so steady a siege to the forest

of Essex that no idea can be formed of its extent
from the remnants of it which are left, under the
names of Hainault, Waltham, and Epping. It
stretched at one period along the whole of the
northern boundary, from nearly Bow to Cam
bridgeshire, filling up the whole of the vast space
between Hertfordshire and the line of road from
Brentwood and Romford in that direction — even
extending beyond it — and running from Bishops
Stortford to Colchester. This latter portion was
stripped of its forestal character by King John.
Stephen had previously disafforested Tendring
Hundred, and given it over to the husbandman,
who has long since converted it into a fertile and
flourishing district. . . Gradually these open
woodlands have disappeared. The popular feeling
— in no age very strong in favour of game preserv
ing — was aided in this case, when hunting formed
so important a part of the pastimes of the nobility,
by the barons and the landowners — the pre
decessors of those who are now the greatest
sticklers for upholding the laws of the chase, and
the sworn opponents and punishers of poachers of
all descriptions. The rights of the Crown, as they
were called, trenched seriously upon the privileges
of the local lords, land which had long been
granted out and grubbed up being still considered
as forest This led continually to the institution of
vexatious suits, and the exaction of heavy fines
from the king's tenants and the freemen. At length
it produced open conflicts with the Crown; and
the united barons, by an act of compulsion, wrung
from King John the Charter of Forests — ' a bar,'
says the historian, 'to oppression, and a happy
instrument of improving our agriculture.' ' Every
article of this charter,' adds Rapin, 'is a clear
evidence how the subject was oppressed under
the pretence of preserving the royal forest.' The
spirit of that charter was jealously guarded. In
the conditions exacted from Henry III., an addi
tional charter of forests was included, by which
capital punishment for these offences was abolished,
and they were made punishable by fine and im
prisonment. Further, the proprietors of the land
recovered the right of cutting and using their own
wood with pleasure. The Commons gave Edward I.
the bribe of a fifteenth of all the goods of the king
dom to have its provisions carried out. From this
period the Forest of Essex rapidly disappeared, as
shown by the perambulations made in the reigns of
four succeeding monarchs."
In past ages this vast wilderness, given up to
wild beasts and the pleasures of the chase, was
governed by certain laws and customs which were
unknown outside — a carefully constructed legal

Epping Forest]

A QUAINT OATH.

425

organisation, fragments of which have survived
until modern times. The laws for the regulation
of the forest, and of those who dwelt within its
borders, in the olden time were both various and
singular. Among them were the following, which
we glean from the " People's History of Essex " : —
" A toll was exacted from a man if he required a
passage through the forest, on account of the dis
quiet it gave to the wild beasts. It was a fine
for any one to keep a mastiff there without having
three claws of one of its fore-feet struck off; and
every inhabitant of the forest, on reaching the
mature age of twenty-one, was compelled to take
an oath in the following quaint old lines, which
certainly were not likely to awe the mind by their
dignity, or exorcise evil thoughts by their sweet
ness; but they were supposed to have a restraining
influence in the solitary sylvan ramble when a
hare crossed the path, or a stag came within reach
of the cross-bow : —
" 'You shall true liege man be
Unto the king's majesty ;
Unto the birds of the forest you shall no hurt do,
Nor to anything that doth belong thereunto ;
The offences of others you shall not conceal,
But to the utmost of your power you shall them reveal
Unto the officers of the forest,
Or to them who may see them redrest.
All these things you shall see done,
So help your God at his holy doom. ' "
The office of Lord Warden of the forest was
formerly a post of great importance and profit. It
was for many years held by the late Earl of
Mornington, through the marriage of his father,
the Hon. Mr. Long-Pole-Wellesley, with Miss
Tilney, the great heiress of Wanstead House.
The warden had the same duty in the forest as the
sheriff had in the county. The right belonged for
centuries to the De Veres, Earls of Oxford, the
lords of Hedingham Castle. They succeeded the
Clares, who were stewards from the reign of
Henry III. to that of Edward III. They had
considerable rights within its boundaries, and were
always keepers of the palace at Havering-atte-
Bower. They ranked among the most powerful
barons of England, and played a distinguished
part in the history of the country from the Con
quest^ the beginning of the seventeenth century.
The office of King's Forester was long held by the
Archers of Copped Hall. The steward appointed
a lieutenant, a riding forester, and three yeomen
foresters ; and the perquisites of the warden and
steward are thus stated :— " They had all the deer-
browsing wood, all wayfs and strays within the
limits of the forest ; likewise all the amerciaments
in the swain-motes and wood comptes, agreeably

to the assize of the forest (the amerciaments for
venison and the bodies of oaks only excepted).
Upon the sale of every wood they were entitled
to the second best oak contained therein ; and the
buyer and seller thereof were obliged to present
them with one bow and one broad arrow, paying at
the same time each of them one penny out of every
shilling. They likewise received from the sale of
every covert or hedge-row, of every shilling one
penny." There was also a chief forester, generally
a member of some noble family, one of the Fitz-
Archers of Copt Hall holding it in the reign
of Edward I. ; but with the decay and diminution
of the forest the office appears to have become
extinct. There were also in bygone times four
verderers, elected by the freeholders of the county
at large. Anciently important duties attached to
all these officers. There were three courts in
which they exercised their power. The Verderers,'
or Forty-day Court, as it was called, from being
held every forty days, was the first that took
cognisance of offences. The verderers, as judicial
officers, appointed to observe and keep the assizes
and laws of the forest, were sworn " to view, re
ceive, and enrol the attachments and presentments
of all manner of trespasses of vert (that is, anything
growing in the forest that would afford cover for
the deer) and venison, and to do equal justice as
well to the poor as to the rich." They punished,
trifling offences, but sent other presentments to the
Swainmote Court, where the matters were decided
upon by a jury, and then returned to the Court of
Justice Seat — the highest forest court. This was
held by the Lord Chief Justice in Eyre, under the
king's commission, and, though limited to forest
offences, it seems to have been similar to a Court
of Assize. Formerly these courts were held at
Chelmsford ; but as the forest was driven by the
agricultural pioneer to the south-western borders,
they were removed to Chigwell.
For the following particulars we are indebted to
Weldon's " Guide to Epping Forest."
" Richard Montfitchet, who was reinstated as
Forester in 1217, appears to have had his time
fully occupied with the duties of his office, the
power and privileges connected with which must
have been eminently congenial to the sporting
tastes of an Anglo-Norman. What these powers
were is shown in the close rolls, as well as the care
and jealousy with which the ancient forest laws
were maintained. It was the duty of the Forester
to preserve the boundaries of the forest intact, and
to permit no encroachments within them. Should
a neighbouring landowner desire to free his woods
from the view of the Foresters and Regarders, to

426

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

cultivate a portion of them, or to enclose a park,
and kill the game on his own manors, he had to
obtain the royal permission, and an official writ
was addressed to the Forester on the subject.
Such a writ, on behalf of the Abbey of St.
Edmund's-Bury, was despatched from Oxford
to Sir Richard de Montfitchet on the 20th of
July, 1 216. By it he was informed that a charter
had been given to the abbot and monks there
serving God, granting that their woods at Harlow,
Stapleford, and Werketon should be for ever free
from regard, waste, and view of the Foresters and
Regarders, and that the abbot and monks should
have the use of the same woods at their own will,
except always driving forth the game. And on
the same day, under another writ to de Mont
fitchet, free warren was granted for ever to the
Bishop of London and his successors in his manor
of Clackington, and that of Walton-cum-Thorpe,
which is the manor of the Chapter of St. Paul's,
London. Also that the said bishop and his
successors for ever had full liberty to take stags
and hinds, and all sorts of wild animals within the
limits of the said manors. The Forester was also
commanded to make two deer leaps in his great
park at Ongar, as he had right and custom to
have. And also about the same time Montfitchet
received the following mandate : — ' We command
you to allow the Abbess of Barking her reasonable
estovers* in her wood at Hainault for her firing,
her cooking, and her brewing, if she has been ac
customed so to do, in the time of our Lord King
John our father ; also to permit the same abbess
to have her dogs to chase hares and foxes within
the bailiwick if she was accustomed to have them in
the time of our aforesaid father.' The king made
numerous gifts of timber and firewood out of the
forest, for which writs were issued to the Forester of
Essex. For instance, he was ordered to give Rose de
Sculiz, a nun of Barking, an oak out of the forest
of Essex, to repair her chamber in the said abbey,
taken where it would least injure the said forest."
By a charter of King John, dated March 25,
in the fifth year of his reign, and confirmed by
Edward IV., all that part of the forest which
lay to the north of the road from Stortford through
Dunmow to Colchester, was ordered to be dis
afforested. Its extent was further diminished by a
perambulation made in 29 Edward I., in pursuance
of the Charta de Foresta ; but its boundaries were
finally determined by an inquisition and perambu
lation taken in September, 1640, by a commission
under the great seal of England, in pursuance of
* This word is derived from the French " estoffer," to supply material
for any kind of work.

an Act of Parliament for settling the bounds of the
forests in general. The boundaries as thus fixed
include the whole of Wanstead, Leyton, Waltham
stow, Woodford, Loughton, Chigwell, Lamborne,
Stapleford Abbots, Waltham Holy Cross, Epping,
and Nazing, and parts of Chingford, Stratford, East
and West Ham, Little and Great Ilford, Barking,
Dagenham, Theydon Bois, and Navestock. The
extent of the forest was estimated at 60,000 acres,
of which 48,000 were enclosed and private property,
the remaining 12,000 being unenclosed wastes and
woods. What is called Henhault, or Hainault,
Forest is a part of this district.
From the earliest times then, as we have seen,
this extensive tract of woodland had been a royal
forest — one of those districts quaintly described by
Manwood as " a certain territory of woody grounds
and fruitful pastures, privileged for wild beasts and
fowls of forest chase and warren, to rest and abide
there in the safe protection of the king, for his
delight and pleasure." " Queen Elizabeth, in one
of her visits to the lodge bearing her name, is
reported to have granted to the poor of several
adjoining parishes the privilege of lopping wood.
The custom still exists — or did until lately — for
the possessors of that privilege to assemble on the
eleventh of November in each year, in order to
strike an axe into the boughs of the trees at the
hour of midnight. This right is also exercised
upon parts of the forest which have been for many
years enclosed, and extends in full operation till
the twenty-third of April in the following year." *
The ancient bounds of the forest have been a
matter of controversy from time to time, but from
the days of the Long Parliament down to the year,
185 1, as stated above, it consisted of two parts — the
Forest of Hainault and Epping Forest, the former
comprising the high ground lying to the east of the
Roding, and north of the high road to Romford, and
the latter lying between the Roding and the Lea,
and stretching northward from Stratford to Epping.
Hainault Forest, in which the Crown had a more
clearly-defined interest than in Epping, possessing
not only rights of forest, but the soil of several
large woods acquired at the dissolution of monas
teries, was disafforested by Act of Parliament in
185 1, and was subsequently enclosed.
The enormous tract of land which was settled
under the statute of Charles I., in 1640, as the
limits of Waltham Forest, doubtless included very
extensive private estates, subject to rights of forest
and chase ; the greater part of the residue had been
granted or sold by Henry VIIL and succeeding
* Weldon's "Guide to Epping Forest."

VIEWS IN EPPING FOREST.
«. Connaught Water, Chingford. 2. A Glade at Theydon Bois. 3. On the way to Copped Hall from Loughton. 4. High Beech.

428

GREATER LONDON.

iEpping Forest.

sovereigns. In its present form the principal
portion of Epping Forest commences at Chingford
Station, and proceeds northward beyond Theydon
Bois to the outskirts of Epping itself. But south
ward from Chingford Station there is a somewhat
broken stretch of forest and waste, reaching down
to Wanstead Flats and the City of London Ceme
tery at Aldersbrook. To that cemetery London
is largely indebted for the preservation of Epping
Forest as a place of recreation for the people.
Extra-mural interment has thus contributed to
extra-mural enjoyment ; for, if this parcel of land
had not been acquired by the Corporation for a
burying-place, they could scarcely have maintained
the right which served to break down the usurpa
tions of the encroaching " land-grabbers." But on
this subject we shall have more to say hereafter.
In Epping Forest an enclosure had never been
recommended in the interests of the Crown ; but a
most complicated system of ownership prevailed.
The soil of the open waste belonged to the lords
of about seventeen different manors, each owning
the part situate within his own bounds. Certain
rights of pasturage existed over the whole tract,
and certain rights of woodcutting in particular
parts ; and over all the Crown had , the right to
preserve deer and to keep the forest in statu quo
for the sake of the deer, the ancient rights of
" vert " and " venison." To these ancient rights
the public had, from the time when the forest be
came of any use for recreation, looked to preserve
their playground intact, but their hopes had been
somewhat cruelly disappointed. An economic
air prevailing at the Treasury and the Office of
Woods, it was resolved, soon after the disafforesta-
tion of Hainault, to sell the Crown rights in
Epping to the lord of the manor, and a pitiful
sum of about ^18,000 was thus realised for the
national exchequer. The consequence of this
action was not only to remove the safeguard of
the Crown's rights, but to give a false impression
that the effect of their acquisition by a lord was
to enable him to enclose against all comers.
In 1851, when Hainault Forest was disafforested,
the area of the open forest was little short of 6,000
acres, but this in 187 1 had dwindled to just
under 3,000. In 1882, when Epping Forest was
handed over by Her Majesty for " the free use
and enjoyment of the people for ever," it extended
to about 5,600 acres, nearly the whole of which
had been purchased by the Corporation of London,
while some 400 acres remained enclosed, partly
under such conditions as prevented building, thus
tending to enhance the value of the forest as an
" open space."

Between the years 1851 and 1863, when the
"Open Spaces Committee'' was appointed, rapid
strides had been made by the encroaching fences
in Epping Forest, particularly in the manor of
Loughton, where an enclosure of enormous extent
had startled the public into a watchful attention
from which it never subsequently relapsed. That
enclosure comprised in the whole about 1,300
aereS — land covered with wood, and situate in the
heart of the wildest and most beautiful tract of the
forest. It was not carried out without some regard
to supposed rights. Having bought the interest
of the Crown, the lord of the manor assumed that
he had only the commoners in his own manor to
deal with. These he compensated by the distribu
tion among them of between 300 and 400 acres of
the forest, and, having thus obtained their consent,
he put a fence on his own account round the re
maining 900 or 1,000 acres. The lord of the
manor, however, seems to have forgotten to take
into consideration that keen instinct of resistance
to enclosure which is seldom wanting among the
poor agricultural classes, when their real or pre
sumed " rights " are being entrenched upon. The
inhabitants of Loughton, high and low, had been
accustomed to get their winter supply of fuel by
lopping the trees in the forest. To the poor this
practice had been a double benefit, not only
furnishing their own hearths, but giving them con
stant employment during the winter months in
lopping for their richer neighbours. They asserted
that the right had come down to them from the
time of Elizabeth, and was the right of the in
habitants at large, and not to be got rid of by
allotments of land to a favoured few.
In the preceding chapter we have spoken of the
highwaymen who infested these parts in former
times ; here we have had to deal with modern
thieves and plunderers, in the shape of "land
grabbers." Well and wittily wrote Samuel Butler
in " Hudibras " : —
" The fault is great in man or woman
Who steals a goose from off a common :
But who shall plead that man's excuse,
Who steals the common from the goose ? "
It was all very well for the queen to bestow a
baronetcy on the Lord Mayor of London, Alder
man Ellis, and the honour of knighthood on the
two sheriffs, Mr. Reginald Hanson and Mr.
William Anderson Ogg ; but the real men who
fought and won the battle on behalf of the toiling
masses were Mr. John T. Bedford, a common
councilman, Mr. George Burney, an old member of
the Commons Preservation Society, Mr. Frederick
Young, the Chairman, and Mr. W. G.' S. Smith, the

Epping Forest.]

THE EPPING FOREST COMMISSION.

429

Honorary Secretary of the "Forest Fund." To
these names must be added that of an old forester
named Thomas Willingale, whose rude forefathers
for generations had lived by the irregular products
of that forest. This last-named individual was the
" Village Hampden " who organised the bands who
pulled down the enclosures — an overt act, which
served as a declaration of war. Burney, who was also
a commoner in the forest, took down from London
three omnibus-loads of navvies, and in the course
of a morning's work levelled the fences round
the obnoxious enclosures which the commissioners
wished to legalise.
It was really, if the full truth must be stated, a
sort of triangular duel between the Crown, the
lords of the manor, and the people. The Crown
sold its rights for mere nominal sums, and then
the landowners and the landless multitude were
the only combatants, and the former thought that
they would be able to drive the latter to surrender
their rights on their own terms. But they found,
when too late, that they had " reckoned without
their host" The lords of several of the manors
sold their "waste," as the open lands were called
by them, and allowed it in every direction to be
enclosed and built upon.
In the end, after long litigation, and after several
lawless encounters, the question was brought
formally under the notice of the House of Com
mons, and an Act passed appointing a commission
to inquire into the contending rights, and to report
to Parliament a scheme for the preservation and
management of the forest in the interests of the
public. A few days before this Act received the royal
assent, another champion took up the gage on the
part of the public. The Corporation of London
had an ancient traditionary connection with the
forest. It was reputed that certain rights of hunting
there had been granted to them by royal charter,
and though the existence of the grant could never
be established, there were not wanting curious
entries in the Corporation records bearing upon
the claim. Fortunately, however, a connection of
a very different character had recently arisen,
which, though it could not furnish the motive for
interference, supplied a most powerful weapon of
attack. The Commissioners of Sewers had pur
chased for the purposes of a cemetery the demesne
lands of the ancient manor of Aldersbrook. In
the time of Charles I. the lord of this manor
claimed for himself and his tenants rights of
common of pasture for their beasts throughout
the length and breadth of the forest waste.
Upon this claim (one of many of a similar

character) the Corporation, when they had re
solved to help the public, founded a Chancery
suit, which, commenced on the 14th of August,
187 1, was terminated by the memorable judg
ment of Sir George Jessel, in November, 1874.
All the lords of manors were defendants to this
suit, and no expense was spared on either side to
gain the victory. In the result the case of the
Corporation was established at all points, the right
they claimed was declared to exist, and all enclo
sures made within twenty years before the filing of
the Bill — that is, since the 14th of August, 1851
— were pronounced illegal.
So far, a decisive victory was gained ; but still
much remained to be done in order to secure its
fruits, and to this end the vast resources of the
Corporation were devoted. The lords of the
manors who had enclosed had sold large tracts of
the forest, amounting in all to about 1,000 acres.
It was impossible to make all the purchasers parties
to the suit, and recourse was of necessity had to the
Epping Forest Commission to enforce the judgment
against these persons, subject to such modifications
as might be found just and expedient. Portions of
the land sold had been built over, and it was
obviously impossible to pull down streets of villas ;
but larger portions remained in their natural con
dition or had been merely broken up for agricul
ture, and these portions the Corporation and the
Commons Preservation Society thought should be
restored to the public. Unfortunately, the com
missioners took a different view, and thus prolonged
the struggle for some years.
On the 23rd February, 1877, the final report of
the Epping Forest Commissioners was presented to
Parliament. Their recommendations, as summed up
briefly by the author of Weldon's " Guide '' already
quoted, were : " The forest to be disafforested, the
Crown rights to cease, the forest to be managed by
the Corporation of London as conservators, who
are from time to time to appoint a committee, not
exceeding twelve in number, to act for the con
servators ; and Colonel Palmer, Sir Thomas White,
and Sir Antonio Brady, the surviving verderers,
and one other verderer to be elected, to be mem
bers of that committee. In future, two of the
verderers to be elected by the parliamentary voters
of the northern part of the forest, and two by those
of the southern. Rights of common, pasture,
lopping, pannage, and so forth, to continue, subject
to the scheme. The conservators to keep the
forest unenclosed as an open space for the recrea
tion and enjoyment of the public at all times ;
they shall preserve its natural aspect, protect the
timber and other growths, and prevent the digging

43°

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

of gravel or other strata. The conservators to
purchase the right of any lord of the manor or
other person who owned the soil of any land
within the forest at a specified rate; but where
such land had been built on before 21st August,
1 87 1, the occupiers were to pay a rent-charge;
enclosures on which there was no building to be
thrown open within twelve months after the scheme
coming into operation. Enclosures made since
1 85 1, the soil of which did not belong to the lord
of the manor, should be permitted to be retained
by the owners of the soil, and remain enclosed,
upon payment of a perpetual annual rent-charge.
An exception to those rules was made in the case
of churches, chapels, and charitable institutions, as
long as they are used for such purposes. The
conservators were to cause certain unlawfully
enclosed lands to be thrown open ; might make
bye-laws for the regulation of persons using the
forest, both for recreation and under common
rights, and generally for preventing its improper use
or disfigurement. The Corporation to have power
to apply the duty raised by the metage on grain
to afford the necessary funds. They were to
appoint from time to time, as reeves and assistant
reeves, persons who were recommended by the
vestries of such parishes, the reeves to be the
officers of the conservators, who could reject
unqualified persons."
In the end further difficulties arose, and fresh
litigation ensued; but towards the close of the
Session of 1878 an Act was passed appointing Sir
Arthur Hobhouse sole arbitrator, to determine
all the nice questions arising between the pur
chases from the lords and the public, subject to an
instruction that nothing was to remain enclosed
save what was necessary to render the villas and
manors habitable and marketable by their owners.
This task — no light one — Sir Arthur Hobhouse
completed in July, 1882, to the satisfaction of all
concerned. The result was the rescue of some
500 or 600 additional acres, and that without, it
is confidently believed, the infliction of any real
hardship upon a single individual.
The Act effectually preserves the forest as an
open space for the use and enjoyment of the public.
It provides for a Ranger of the Forest, appointed
by the Crown, and constitutes the Corporation of
London conservators, stipulating that in this capa
city the Corporation are to keep the forest un
enclosed, and to preserve, as far as possible, its
natural aspect ; especially to protect and preserve
the ancient earthworks called Ambresbury Banks,
the Purlieu Bank, and other forest marks and boun
daries. The conservators are further to protect the

timber and other trees, pollard, shrubs, underwood,
gorse, turf, and herbage, and to prevent the lopping,
cutting, and injuring the same, and the digging of
the soil. The ancient house known as Queen
Elizabeth's Lodge is vested, by assent of the Queen,
in the conservators, for preservation and maintenance
as an object of antiquarian interest. The lands
held by grantees are to be thrown open, the arbi
trator to decide what sum shall be paid in respect
of them, and also as to the mode and conditions of
quieting in title, of lands not thrown open, with
buildings erected thereon. There are to be four
verderers elected by the commoners. The ver
derers are to be members of the Epping Forest
Committee, a body consisting of twelve members
of the Common Council, in addition to the ver
derers. Power is given to this body to make bye-
laws for various purposes : amongst other things
for excluding gipsies, hawkers, beggars, rogues and
vagabonds, and for preventing bird-catching, and
regulating the killing, taking, injuring, shooting,
chasing, or disturbing of deer, game, or other
animals, or fishing in the waters.
Two months previously — namely, on the 6th of
May — -when the queen formally opened this de
lightful pleasure-ground in its present form, and
pronounced it " free to the public for ever," the
difficulties which had attended the achievement of
the above object became very generally known.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught was
appointed ranger, and at the above-mentioned
date the queen paid a visit to the forest for the
purpose of declaring it freely open to the public,
her Majesty at the same time planting an oak in
commemoration of the event, and signifying her
wish that the wood at High Beech, in the neigh
bourhood of Chingford, hitherto known as Beech
Wood, should henceforth be known as " Queen
Victoria's Wood."
An article in The Times, in July, 1882, on the
occasion of the termination of the inquiry into the
complicated interests connected with Epping Forest,
contained the following interesting remarks : — " The
whole science of forestry, with its deep mysteries
as to vert and venison, is clean dead and gone.
So little remains of the knowledge of the real
history of these forests that, by a strange mistake,
they are sometimes supposed to have been as
beautiful and admirable features of feudal as of
modern England. It is the fate of Epping as a
forest to pass from the domain of the Crown to
that of the people ; to the ragged- schools and
Bands of Hope who picnic under its trees has
fallen one of the most important of the fura regalia.
Only a king might make a forest. No subject,

Epping Forest.]

FOREST LAWS.

43i

as such, however potent he might be, might have
a forest, inasmuch as sovereign prerogatives were
incident to it. A subject might own a chase,
which possessed no particular laws and where the
common law was in force, where there were no
verderers, regarders, or agisters, no Court of Attach
ments, no Swainmote, no Justice Seat. If the king
granted a forest to a subject, it fell to the rank of
a chase. Precise and important distinctions were
drawn between the two. The beasts of the forest
were the hart, the hind, the hare, the boar, and
the wolf — that is, ' beasts that do haunt the woods
more than the plains.' The beasts of the chase
were five also — the buck, the doe, the fox, the
marten, and the roe. Each forest included also a
. warren, and the beasts and fowls of warren were
the hare, the cony, the pheasant, and the partridge.
Venery was then a science with a precise nomen
clature, and hunters were as much pedants as
feudal lawyers. The hart in its second year must
be called a broker, and a boar of the fourth year a
sanglier. Good woodmen spoke of a bevv of roes
and a rout of wolves, and they referred to the
footmarks of the hart as the slot, and to traces of
the fallow deer as its ' view.' One cannot study
the old forest laws without seeing that our fore
fathers loved the forests as much as their sons do.
Every twig and every cony were sacred in their
eyes. It was the duty of the good woodman to
preserve with care venison and vert — that is, the
beasts of the chase, and the trees and cover which
sheltered them. No man might without licence
cut down the trees within the forest, even if they
grew in his own freehold. Still more heinous was
the offence of ploughing up the thickets and covers,
or erecting houses, or making inclosures. In every
forest a fence month was strictly observed, and for
fifteen days before Midsummer, and for as many
after, no one was permitted to wander about or
drive his flocks in the forest, so that it might be, in
the words of one old writer, ' a sanctuary of peace
for the wild beasts.' Hawking and hunting within
the forest domains, being pastimes for kings and
princes, could not, of course, be enjoyed by com
mon people ; and to slay a deer, so long as the
forest laws were in force, was a crime blacker than
murder or arson. The most striking peculiarity of
these wastes was the fact that the common law
did not extend to them. There, in theory at least,
only the judgments and determinations of the king
were binding. The word of his vicar, the Lord
Chief Justice of the Forest, was supreme. In the
Court of Attachments or Woodmote, which sat
every forty days, in the Swainmote, which sat
thrice a year, and in the Justice Seat, which was

held at intervals of three years, were administered
laws wholly repugnant in spirit to those which were
put in operation at Westminster. All the ordinary
rights of property, all the common ideas of law,
were set at nought ; and history is full of complaints
and murmurs respecting the hardships caused by
the servile system administered in these ' oases of
despotism.' " Almost all traces of this state of things have
long passed away from Epping. The rights of the
Crown were in some cases sold, and even before
they were extinguished the sharp distinctions of
the forest laws had fallen into disuse. The com
moners turned their cattle into the forest to feed,
subject to the supervision of the reeves and forest
courts. From time to time a lord of the manor
enclosed a tempting piece of land to round off his
property, or a cottager stole a morsel to make a
garden. For a long time the forest was almost
ungoverned, or was subject only to imperfect
usages, indifferently observed and little understood.
Thanks to the labours of the Corporation, this is
altered. Rights are defined, and a code of manage
ment as precise as the old forest laws themselves
has been established. One thing we may learn
from those old laws the memory of which is disap
pearing : they were framed by men who prized
the greenwood, who regarded every tree as precious,
who would not have a bird or a hare disturbed,
who viewed with suspicion improvements which
affected the forest domains. It was this jealous
spirit which preserved them in the past, and its
continuance will be the best preservation in the
future. Another thing, also, may be gathered from
the same sources. The avowed justification of
these exceptional domains in the past was that
the king's labour ' doth maintain and defend every
man's rest and peace ; ' that ' his diligence doth
preserve and defend every man's private pleasure
and delight ; ' and that it was for the advantage
of the realm that he should have his fit place of
recreation and pastime. All that is the sentiment
of a past age, and modern sovereigns need no
such means of entertainment. But we shall be
keeping up this spirit of zeal for the welfare of
the realm by permitting the common people to
take their pleasure where sovereigns once found
theirs." Lysons, in his "Magna Britannia," describes
the forest as " of large extent, full of game, and
well stocked with deer, the fattest and largest in
the kingdom." Notwithstanding that the Crown
had long ago parted with the ownership of the
soil, it still retained the right of "vert" and
"venison," that is, the right to keep an unlimited

432

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

number of deer, with their " herbage, vert, and
browse," which is held to include a right over " all
the beasts of the forest, the trees, and underwood,
and whatever grows within it ; and the power of
granting licenses to hunt and shoot within its
boundaries.'' The result of the purchase of the several manorial
rights, and of the supervision of the forest by the
Lord Mayor and Corporation, is to be seen in the
gradual growth of the trees, and in the number of

bourhood about the "knights of the highway" and
other less romantic transgressors.
The forest, it appears, was stocked with both
red and fallow deer down to the end of the last
century, for in the report of the Commission of
1793, Sir James Tylney Long, at that time
warden, although he was "not able to ascertain
what number of bucks and does are kept, or
abide in the forest in general," stated that "about
five brace of bucks and three brace of does have

ROYAL FOREST HOTEL, CHINGFORD.

the deer which browse in its remoter glades.
These are supposed to have increased from about
eighty to one hundred. They are thought by many
naturalists to be of a different breed from those in
any park in the kingdom, and to represent with
perfect identity the wild denizens of the forest in
Anglo-Saxon times. They are but slightly spotted
or marked, and when first born they are not
spotted at all. Although they are shy and wild,
and seldom come near the haunts of men, they
fight terribly among themselves, especially at the
rutting season, in autumn. The deer, as might
naturally be supposed, were terribly thinned by
the highwaymen and poachers of the last century,
and many strange stories are still told in the neigh-

been, one year with another, killed in the forest,
by warrants of authority from his Majesty ; and
about fourteen brace of bucks and seven brace of
does for individuals who claim a right to have
venison in the forest. My claim to red and fallow
deer in the said forest is without stint." By 1863
the deer appear to have fallen off in number very
considerably. Mr. Howard, in that year, told the
committee of the House of Commons that " there
are no longer any deer in Epping Forest ; practi
cally they do not exist;" he added, however,
" there may be a dozen, perhaps." But this was
probably untrue; they never were really reduced
so low.
Of the Epping . Hunt, which was for so many

Epping Forest.]

THE FLORA OF EPPING FOREST.

433

years associated with the forest, we shall speak
more fully in dealing with Buckhurst Hill ; and of
Queen Elizabeth's fondness of frequenting its
sylvan glades for the purposes of the chase, on
reaching Chingford.
Fisher, in his "Companion to the History of
England," states that " Henry VIIL went out with
his hounds, and breakfasted under a great tree in
Epping Forest the very day that his once-lov'd
wife (Anne Boleyn) was to perish in the Tower."

still a text-book for botanists. Indeed, nearly
every part of the forest is profuse in mosses,
wild flowers, grasses, and fresh-water algae.
In the less frequented parts, and especially in the
damp and boggy places, many interesting, and,
indeed, uncommon plants occur. Let us hope that
the wholesale drainage will not be continued so as
to utterly destroy the plants peculiar to naturally
damp situations. One of the smallest and most
lovely of these Epping Forest plants is the blue
Ivy-leaved Bell-flower (Campanula hederacea) seen
at the bottom of our illus
tration ; another, the rose-
coloured Bog Pimpernel
(Anagallis tenella) seen on
the right, and below it
the Round-leaved Sun-dew
(Drosera rotundifolia), an
insectivorous plant studied
and described by Charles
Darwin. Another bog

But the site of this tree is not known, and
the story may not be true.
Of the geology of this district there is
little at present to be said; and for the
best of all reasons : because the Essex
Field Club has only just taken the subject
seriously in hand. It may be said, how
ever, generally, that the surface of the district is
mainly composed of London clay, which overlies
the primitive stratum of chalk, and which here and
there is capped with patches of gravel and Bagshot
sand. Epping Forest is intersected by railways, with
stations at short intervals, so as to furnish points
of approach in all directions. It has all the
charms of hill and dale, open plain and pleasant
avenue, with deep umbrageous recesses here and
there, comprising altogether every variety of forest
scenery, fringed with far-spreading landscapes,
reaching into half-a-dozen counties. As a rule,
the oaks and other trees are of somewhat stunted
growth, but there are, of course, exceptions. Of
the famous Fairlop Oak we shall speak in dealing
with Hainault Forest. The neighbourhood of
Woodford is particularly rich in its flora, and the
"Plantse Woodfordiensis " of Richard Warner is
37

FLOWERS FROM EPPING FOREST.
plant is illustrated on the top right of our illustra
tion in the lovely drooping Marsh Thistle (Carduus
palustris). A decidedly uncommon orchid is com
mon not far from High Beech, viz.: the Smaller
Butterfly Orchis (Habenaria bifolid), illustrated at
the top left ; many other orchids may be found,
notably the Helleborine and Marsh Helleborine
Epipactis latifolia and E. palustris). The Grass of
Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), also grows in wet
places, a most beautiful, interesting, and curious
plant. The Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus)
may also be found in many damp spots, together
with its near ally the Lily of the Valley (Convallaria
mafalis). The Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) —
probably the true Shamrock — is very frequent ; so
are many diverse species of St. John's Wort

434

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

(Hypericum), together with both the British species
of Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium) . This brief
list does not give one-hundredth part of the many
beautiful plants of the forest either prized for their
beauty, rarity, or, may-be, their botanical interest.
Amongst the ferns of the forest one of the most
interesting is the Adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum
vulgatum), illustrated at the top right, the Hart's-
tongue (Scolopendrium vulgare), the Scaly Spleen-
wort (Ceterach officinarum), the Toothed Bladder
Fern (Cystopteris dentata), the Prickly Shield Fern
(Polystichum aculeatum), the Male Fern (Lastrea
filix-mas), Common Polypody (Polypodium vulgare),
very frequent about old stumps, and illustrated at
the foot of our engraving, Wall Rue (Asplenium
ruta-?nuraria), upon crumbly old walls, and the
Common Brake (Pteris aquilina) grows profusely
all over the forest.
Many edible species of fungi may be found in
the forest, and most of these have been painted
by Mr. Worthington G. Smith, the originals being
at all times accessible to the public in the New
Natural History Museum at South Kensington.
The true Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) grows in
open grassy places, together with the Fairy Ring
Champignon (Marasmus oreades). The Parasol
Mushroom (Agaricus procerus) is frequent in par
tially open places, the Red-fleshed Mushroom
(Agaricus rubescens) is very common in the woody
parts, together with the delicious Edible Boletus
(Boletus edulis) and the Edible Chantarelle (Can-
tharellus cibarius). The Vegetable Beef-steak — so
named by Dr. Bull — is very frequent on the old
oaks, and sometimes on old beeches and other
trees. The Giant Puff-ball (Lycoperdon giganteum)
is common in the open grassy places ; various
truffles have also been found, and many poisonous
species, and species of great botanical interest.
Many other edible species occur besides the above
mentioned, and numerous highly-poisonous plants,
as the Scarlet Fly Mushroom (Agaricus muscarius)
under the birches. Before venturing to eat edible
fungi, all beginners should carefully examine Mr.
Smith's paintings at the British Museum.
The forest has, however, its insect plagues. A
correspondent of the Times has remarked that the
greatest delinquent among the insects that spoil
the foliage of our oak-trees is the larvaa of Toririx
viridana, which may be found in abundance during
May, rolled in a leaf or between two adjacent
leaves connected by a slight silken web. The
moth itself appears at the end of June, and is
frequently a perfect pest on account of its numbers.
" In walking through Epping Forest," he adds, " I
noticed that every tap on an oak branch caused a

cloud of these insects to fly out. The moth when
expanded is something under one inch across the
wings, the upper pair of which are of a pure
green colour."
Epping Forest is a rare hunting-ground, not only
for the botanist and the entomologist, but also for
the ornithologist; song-birds of almost all the known
species are, at one time or another during each
succeeding year, to be met with here. In Mr.
Jefferies' book, " Nature near London," many in
teresting details respecting the feathered visitants
of our suburban forests may be found.
The inns and hostelries of the neighbourhood
are all reminders1 of the rural character of the place.
Besides the " Royal Forest Hotel," we have the
"Foresters," the "Roebuck," the "Warren House,"
the "Bald-faced Stag," the " Horse and Well," the'
" Robin Hood," the " King's Oak," and the " Owl."
Most of these are still frequented during the summer
months by ruralising parties from London, who
make the shady bowers and sylvan retreats of the
forest in their vicinity resound with their noisy mirth.
The hearthstones of many of the forest cottages
were, and some are still, removable ; and as they
served in Romney Marsh, and in many sea-coast
towns, as places for storing kegs of illicit brandy,
so about Epping and Loughton and Chingford they
supplied the parents and grandparents of many of
the present race of cottagers with storehouses for
haunches of venison which were not altogether
honestly obtained.
The story of the preservation of the forest has
been told in pamphlet form by Mr. J. T. Bedford,
who, from his position of Chairman of the Epping
Forest Committee, was in a position to observe
and to recount the various steps which led to
the final event — its dedication to the use and
enjoyment of the people " for ever." From this
pamphlet it appears that the forest now consists of
about 6,000 acres, rather more than 5,500 of which
have been purchased by the Corporation, and in
acquiring which about 1,200 claims had to be
considered. The costs incurred in the prolonged
struggle to secure this vast tract of land from
further encroachment were, no doubt, heavy : the
aggregate of the purchase money, compensation
for rights of lopping, the price of Wanstead Park,
and legal expenses, amounting to some ^256,275.
But in exchange for this outlay a domain of rare
beauty has been secured to ever-growing London,
a*nd generations yet unborn are likely to be grateful
for the boon that has been conferred upon them ;
so that the almost romantic story of its rescue
ought not readily to be forgotten by those who
enjoy its cool shades and sylvan recesses.

Epping Forest.]

SEWARDSTONE.

435

CHAPTER XLVI.
EPPING FOREST (continued)— SEWARDSTONE, HIGH BEECH, AND CHINGFORD.
" A mound of even-sloping side,
Whereon a hundred stately beeches grew,
And here and there great hollies under them.
But for a mile all round was open space,
And fern and heath." — Tennyson.
Preliminary Remarks — Situation and Boundaries of Sewardstone — Seats and Mansions — High Beech Green— St. Paul's Church — Fairmead
Lodge — Sotheby and Tennyson — Residents at High Beech — Fairmead House — John Clare — High Beech Hill — The " Rob^n Hood" and
"King's Oak" — "Harold's Oak" — Queen Victoria's Wood — Lappitt's Hill — Bury Wood and Hawk Wood — Situation and Etymology of
Chingford— Its Extent and Boundaries— The Manor 'of Chingford St. Paul— The Manor of Chingford Earls — Friday Hill— Buckrills—
A Singular Tenure — Census Returns — Chingford Old Church — The Ordnance Survey Obelisk — Queen Elizabeth's Lodge — The Royal
Forest Hotel — Connaught Water.

The topography of the various districts which
form integral parts of Epping Forest, and their
associations with past history, may perhaps fur
nish the reader with a few entertaining chapters.
Though they lead us far away from literary associa
tions, yet they open up fresh fields for our pilgrim
feet. Little importance can, however, be attached
to the present celebrity of the once great Forest
of Essex, for even the last of historic events con
nected with it — the Epping Hunt — has become a
thing of the past, having lingered among the relics
of the ancient sports of London citizens down to a
very recent date. The picturesque scenery and
historical associations of the forest have, however,
more lasting charms, and may tempt the reader
hither — not merely in the hurly-burly of the Easter
holiday, but on any quiet day when he may enjoy
undisturbed the rich beauties of its glades and
woody knolls.
The towns, villages, and seats which now stud
the district we are about to traverse, and the
roads which intersect the sylvan waste, may have
been the labours of a few centuries ; inns and
lodges would be among the earliest adjuncts to a
vast district, peopled, as it were, by hundreds of
retainers, whose business it was to defend this
"royal chase;" for the privileges of hunting here
were confined-to the sovereign and his favourites.
Again, the thousands who flocked thither with
such privilege would well repay the hospitalities
of an inn and " hosteller," even were we to leave
out of the reckoning the boon companionship of
foresters and. the debauched habits of marauders
who fattened upon the infringement of the royal
privilege, as in wholesale deer-stealing for the
London markets. ' Houses of call of this descrip
tion, to suit the requirements of the wayfarer, from
the- humble roadside tavern or ale-house to the
spacious "hotel," are to be met with in almost
every >part of the forest.
With these few remarks we will resume our
perambulation. Sewardstone, our first halting-
place southwards from Waltham Abbey, is a

hamlet belonging to that parish. It lies between
two and three miles distant, on the lower road
leading to Chingford. The district is situate just
on the borders of the forest, on its western side,
and it stretches away from High Beech and
Sewardstone Wood in the east to Sewardstone
Mill on the River Lea in the west, and from
Waltham Abbey in the north to Low Street,
Chingford, in the south. It includes within its
boundary Sewardstone Street, Sewardstone Green,
Sewardstone Bury, Sewardstone Wood, and Seward
stone Mills, at which last-named place are some
extensive dye-works ; with this exception, the
locality is almost wholly agricultural. The land
is pleasantly broken up into miniature hills and
valleys, and in parts is well wooded. Among the
better class of residences here may be mentioned
Gilwell Park, near the Green ; Sewardstone Lodge,
the grounds of which slope down to the Lea ; the
Grange, on the north side of the village ; and
Yardley House, nearer to Chingford. Mr. Thorne,
in his "Environs of London," says: — "Sewardstone
has a tradition that it was once a distinct parish,
named after one Seward, a great- Saxon thane, and
used to show a heap of broken ground as the site of
the old church."
From Sewardstone, we pass by a narrow winding
lane eastward, for about half a mile, to High Beech
Green, another hamlet and ecclesiastical district of
Waltham Abbey. The cottages and other houses
are somewhat scattered and straggling, and close
by is a small brick-built church, St. Paul's, which
was erected in 1836. Further eastward, by the
side of the Epping road, stands another church,
which was built in 1872, to serve as a chapel-of-
ease to Loughton parish. It is a handsome
structure, in the Early English style, erected from
the designs of Mr. A. W. Blomfield. The build
ing is cruciform in plan, with a semi-circular
apsidal chancel and a tower and tall spire ; the
latter is a conspicuous landmark for miles round,
and is a pleasing object in the forest scenery at
several points. This church, as we learn from

436

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

Weldon's " Guide to Epping Forest," was built at
the expense of a neighbouring resident, " whose
munificence was such that he erected it on ground
in which he had not the sole interest."
High Beech Park, Wallsgrove House, and Alder
Grove Lodge, are among the seats in this locality.
Fairmead Lodge, which lies about half a mile
south of the church, and looks out upon Fairmead
Plain, was for many years, at the end of the last
and beginning of the present century, the home of
William Sotheby, who here wrote his " Orestes,"
and entered the field against Pope by translating
the " Iliad" of Homer into English verse. Tenny
son also at one time lived in this neighbourhood,
at Beech Hill House, a building which has now
disappeared ; here he wrote his " Talking Oak "
and " Locksley Hall."
To Fairmead House, then a private lunatic
asylum, John Clare was taken in 1837, at which
time a son of Thomas Campbell, the poet, was also
an inmate. The pair soon got upon friendly terms,
and became constant companions in their rambles,
which, after a time, they were permitted to make
into the forest. In one of his poems, written at
that time, Clare wrote : —
" I love the forest and its airy hounds,
Where friendly Campbell takes his daily rounds."
In the summer of 1841 Clare quitted the
pleasant shelter which he had found here, and
started off, " without a penny in his pocket," to
walk to his native town, Northborough, in North
amptonshire, which he reached in three days. He
soon found himself, however, in the County
Lunatic Asylum, where he continued till his death,
in 1864.
High Beech Hill — now known as " Queen
Victoria's Wood," since the visit of Her Majesty
to the spot in May, 1882 — is the highest plateau of
the forest. This is, perhaps, the most favourite re
sort of the many thousands who take holiday in
the ' forest during the summer and autumn. Here
the London clay formation reaches its greatest
altitude — 759 feet above the sea-level ; and from
this elevated spot some beautiful views of the
surrounding country are obtained, including a
broad sweep of undulating forest. Westward the
eye wanders unobstructed over the valley of the
Lea, and northward the view extends far into
Hertfordshire, whilst to the south-west the vision
ranges over a great part of Kent, from Shooter's
Hill down to Gravesend.
The scenery here is very beautiful, almost
rivalling in effect some parts of the far-famed New
Forest, in Hampshire. "Nothing can be more

delightful," observes Mr. Weldon in his book
above quoted, "than a ramble among the beech
woods on a hot summer day. The shadows are
so cool and deep ; the belts of golden light that
lie across the greensward at every opening among
the trees are so bright and sunny ; the far-stretch
ing vistas so mysterious and seductive to the
imagination ; and the trunks and branches of the
beeches so smooth, round, and well filled, and so
covered with heavy masses of beautiful transparent
foliage, that you feel as if in an enchanted place.
You think longingly of the long-ago times when an
English county merited its beautiful poetical name
of ' Buckinghamshire ' — the home of the beech-
trees; beech being the modern form of the old
Teutonic buck, or bitch."
Within the immediate neighbourhood of High
Beech Hill are two well-known hostelries, the
"Robin Hood" and "King's Oak." Near the
latter inn is the stump of an old tree, commonly
called " Harold's Oak," from which the latter inn
takes its name; and the green close by of late
years served as the " meet " for the counterfeit
" Epping Hunt," of which we have spoken above,
and of which we shall have more to say on reach
ing Buckhurst Hill. The "meet" of late years
had degenerated into a very disorderly gathering of
London roughs, and in 1882 the fiat was issued by
which this time-honoured custom — certainly " more
honoured in the breach than in the observance "
— was brought to an end. It is now no more, and
we may be sure will not be revived by the Lord
Mayor and Aldermen of London.
On the east side of High Beech Hill, in the
thick of the forest, is an excavation, almost hidden
from sight by the overhanging trees and brushwood,
which has become locally known as " Dick Tur
pin's Cave," from a tradition that it was one of the
lurking-places of that notorious highwayman. This
part of the forest, as we have seen in a pre
vious chapter,* was anything but safe for wayfarers,
unless well armed, down to the end of the last
century, deer-stealing being of common occurrence
here. In Epping churchyard lies buried a poor
fellow whose business it was to convey the venison
to the metropolis, but who, in one of his midnight
returns, was shot by an unknown hand, the almost
headless body being found on the road next
morning. Mr. Thorne, in his " Environs of London," thus
paints in glowing colours that portion of the forest
lying to the north-east of High Beech Hill, and
stretching away to the "Wake Arms" on the

* See ante, p. 423.

Epping Forest.]

HIGH BEECH HILL.

437

Epping road, about a mile and a half distant.
"Here," as he tells us, "you may explore a
charming bit of wild forest, guided by a winding
forest road, and keeping the high road well to
your right. Rough and broken, in parts open,
elsewhere thick with pollard oaks and hornbeams,
and an ever-varying undergrowth of hollies, thorns,
and sloes, rose-bushes, sweet-briars, and brambles,
and not wanting many an unlopped beech, oak, or
ash, its sunny glades and gentle undulations reveal
as you wander on a thousand peeps of sylvan
loveliness. Deep moist dells, rich in fungi, or
banks of furze, fern, and heaths, foxgloves, and
honeysuckles, tempt your admiration at every turn ;
song-birds are on every spray ; the call of the
cuckoo is heard the summer through, and not
unfrequently you may catch a glimpse of a nimble
woodpecker, blue-tit, or wryneck. A mile beyond
' Wake Arms ' is the earth-work known as
Ambresbury Banks." Of this interesting relic of
early days, however, we have spoken at length in
a previous chapter.
On the south side of High Beech Hill, is
"Queen Victoria's Wood." It is not often that
a crowned head has paid a visit to the county
of Essex. Queen Elizabeth reviewed her troops
at Tilbury Fort, and George III. once or twice
reviewed the regiments of the line and militia
at the camps of Warley Common and at Col
chester; but beyond that, such records are very
scant — if, indeed, any will be found — until we come
to the memorable 6th of May, when Queen Victoria
here declared the forest to be free and open to the
use and enjoyment of the people for ever. It was
at this favourite spot, on the high ground close by
King's Oak, that the pavilion, with its amphitheatre
of seats, was erected on the occasion of her
Majesty's visit. The spot, perhaps, could not have
been better chosen, for not only is it the most
elevated part of the forest, and consequently the
best point for obtaining an idea of the extent of
the surrounding wilderness, but it is also in itself
one of the richest " bits " of forest scenery. The
trees'of Beech Wood perhaps are not so venerable
as the famous Burnham beeches, with their
enormous girth of trunk, their gnarled and twisted
roots, and rugged limbs ; but the beeches here'*
have the advantage of being all unlopped, well
grown, and expansive, and many of them gigantic
in stature ; they are not the stunted and mutilated
giants, as at Burnham, but send out their limbs to
the full extent of their natural growth and beauty.
*The case is far different in other parts of Epping Forest, where the
annual lopping process has kept them in the condition of stunted
pollards.

" The trunk of the beech," writes Mr. Walker, in his
"Saturday Afternoon Rambles round London," " is
itself a beautiful and distinguishing character. Not
ribbed and furrowed like the bark of the elm, but
with a smooth skin of a beautiful light grey, a
noble and soaring pillar carries the eye upwards to
clustered columns which spread aloft." The Burn
ham beeches are pollards, having undergone the
treatment which Cowper has described in his
picture of " Trees that had once a head,
But now wear crests of oven- wood instead."
" Tradition ascribes the pollarding of the Burn
ham beeches to Cromwell's soldiers. Probably,"
adds Mr. Walker, " the only value of the statement
is in the testimony it gives to the age of the
trees." It is not, however, merely for the growth of its
trees that this part of Epping Forest is famous.
Here the naturalist, the entomologist, and the
botanist alike, will find full scope for the study of
his particular science. Many of the plants here
are unmistakably of Northern origin. Ferns in
great variety flourish in this neighbourhood, as also
do flowering plants and shrubs; whilst birds of
almost all kinds seem to abound here more than in
any other part of the forest.
Southward from Beech Wood a broad open track
winds through the forest towards Queen Elizabeth's
Lodge and the new hotel in the neighbourhood
of Chingford ; whilst a little to the west, by
Fairmead Lodge, is another broad green opening,
leading on to Lappitt's Hill, whence, near the "Owl"
public-house, a good view is obtained across
London to the Surrey hills, the "ivy-mantled
tower " of Chingford Church being visible away to
the left. Other parts of the forest close by, such as
Bury Wood and Hawk Wood, are well worth a
visit. A large slice of the forest close by Fair
mead Plain was some time ago enclosed, and in
part built upon ; the trees were grubbed up and
the forest ways stopped ; but where the land had
not been utilised for building purposes the greater
part has been reclaimed.
Chingford lies on the edge of the forest, and
derives its name from the King's Ford,* the ford
across the Lea by which the Court crossed to hunt
in the royal forests of Epping and Hainault. One
of the meadows between the old church and the
river Lea still bears the name of the " King's
Mead." It is not uncommon to find the aspirate
interpolated in words derived from "king." Thus,

-* Kelly, in his "Post Office Directory of Essex " says that the name
comes "from a ford over the Ching, on the east bank of which rivulet it
is situated."

433

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

Chigwell, as we shall presently see, is in early
records written Cingwell, probably King's Well.
The name of the parish, in early records, is written
in a variety of ways — Chilgelford, Cingeford,
Cingheford, Echingelsford, Schingelford, Shymgyl-
ford ; but one and all apparently mean the same —
a royal ford over the river, as mentioned above.
The parish of Chingford is seven miles in
circumference, and it forms the south-western angle
of the half-hundred of Waltham. The Lea divides

In the Domesday Survey the manor of Ching
ford St. Paul is described as comprising six hides,
and containing " 50 acres of meadow, pannage for
500 hogs, two fisheries, nine beasts, two sumpter-
horses, 27 hogs, and 100 sheep;" and it is also
added that there were "always four slaves." The
extent of the manorial rights were encroached upon
both by Peter de Valoines and Geoffrey de
Magnaville ; and in a survey of the manor taken
in 1245, we find it reduced to five hides. Lysons,

CHINGFORD CHURCH.

it from Edmonton on the west; whilst the land
round about, swelling up into eminences, affords
fine views across the country into Kent on the one
side, and of various places in Hertfordshire on the
other. A part of the parish is still open forest and
woodland ; and most of the habitations of the
villagers are somewhat isolated from each other.
Several good mansions and residences of the better
class, however, dot the landscape.
There are in Chingford two manors : one
called Chingford St. Paul, as having belonged to
St Paul's Cathedral until the dissolution, and the
other called Chingford Earls (originally Chingford
Comitis), from having in far distantfjmes belonged
to the Bourchiers, Earls of Essex." ' -

in his " Environs of London," mentions some
curious customs appertaining to this manor in
former times. Among them it is stated that " the
tenants were obliged to till the lord's land with a
good plough, six horses, and two oxen, and to find
a horse for harrowing ; " and that " Gilbert de
Ecclesia was. obliged, by the tenure of his lands, to
find a man to gather nuts for the lord of the
manor." One of the early records of the manor,
about the year 1220, is an agreement between the
Abbot of Waltham and the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's, by which the latter are exempted from
several payments and services before due to the
hundred of Waltham : among these were " ward-
peny" (money paid for watch and ward) and

Epping Forest.]

CHINGFORD HALL.

439

" borchal-peny." This manor, which enjoyed an
exemption from the forest laws, and sundry
privileges granted to the Dean and Chapter of St.
Paul's, was " surrendered " to Henry VIIL in 1544,
and has since been in private hands. Edward VI.
granted. it to Sir Thomas Darcy, but it was shortly
afterwards again surrendered to the Crown, and was
given by Queen Mary to one of the ladies of her
bedchamber, Susan Tongue, the widow of Thomas
Tongue, Clarencieux King-at-Arms. The property

Thomas Boothby, from whose family it descended 1
by marriage to the Heathcotes, by whom it is still
owned. The old hall stands near the banks of the
Lea, and is now a farm. Friday Hill, a house
about a mile to the east of the church, and the
seat of the Heathcotes, has long been used as the
manor-house of Chingford. A view of Friday Hill
House is given in the European .Magazine for
June, 1798.
Lysons identifies the old manor-house of

QUEEN ELIZABETH S LODGE.

afterwards passed to the Leighs, and later on to the
Snells of Brill, in Buckinghamshire. The manor
of Chingford St. Paul is now owned by Miss
Hodgson. The manor of Chingford Earls, at the time of
the Conquest, was held by " Orgar the Thane,
under Robert Gernon." It was at one time in the
possession of the Earls of Athol, and subsequently of
Lord Roos. In the fifteenth century it was granted
to the Bourchiers, Earls of Essex, but was soon after
restored to the Roos family, with whom it con
tinued till 1542, when it was given by Thomas,
Earl of Rutland, to Henry VIIL, in exchange for
other lands. In or about 1666 the manor-house,
called Chingford Hall, was purchased by a Mr.

Chingford Earls with the building known as Queen
Elizabeth's Lodge, of which we are coming to
speak. Another manor here, called Buckrills, is men
tioned by Kelly, in his " Directory of Essex," as
owned by Mr. James D. Waters ; but little or
nothing is known about its history.
In this parish is, or was, an estate called Brind-
woods, which was formerly held under the rector
of the parish by a singular tenure, thus described
by Morant, in his " History of Essex : " — " Upon
every alienation the owner of the estate, with his
wife, man-servant, and maid-servant, each single
upon a horse, come to the parsonage, where the
owner does his homage and pays his relief in the

44°

GREATER LONDON.

' [Epping Foresc.

following manner. He blows three blasts with his
horn, and carries a hawk on his fist ; his servant
has a greyhound in a slip, both for the use of the
rector that day. He receives a chicken for his
hawk, a peck of oats for his horse, and a loaf of
bread for his greyhound. They all dine ; after
which the master blows three blasts with his horn,
and so they depart." According, however, to
Lyson's " Environs," by the end of the last century
all memory of the custom had clean died out, so
far as the recror and the parishioners were con
cerned. It is strange to find a parish so little
conservative of ancient tenures.
Chingford is a very scattered parish, and ap
parently the chief population has drifted away from
its former centre, as the old church stands far away
from the abodes of man, except one old farm
house and the vicarage. Its site is high, for Essex
at least. In 187 1 the number of the inhabitants
was about 1,250, but during the next decade it
had increased to nearly 1,400. This increase may
be partly accounted for by the fact that since 1874
Chingford has been in direct railway communication
with London, the forest branch of the Great Eastern
Railway having been in that year opened, with its
terminus near the new church at Chingford Green.
Here are located the largest number of houses
forming the village ; others are at Forest Side,
about half a mile eastward, and others again form
the hamlet of Chingford Hatch, about a mile to
the south-east.
The old church, dedicated to All Saints, still
stands, though disused for these many years, except
for funerals ; it is rich in colour, and very pic
turesque, being almost covered with ivy, the growth
of several centuries. It consists of a nave, south
aisle, and chancel, with a tower at the west end
and a south porch of red brick. The walls are of
late Early English or of the Decorated period, but
the windows are Perpendicular, inserted at a later
date. The south porch has Tudor details. The
glass has been taken out from all the windows
except those in the chancel, so the wind whistles
through the desolate nave, into which the ivy also
has crept.
In the chancel are three fine mural monuments
of the Jacobean period, and others of a later date
on the floor, in memory of Sir J. Sylvester, Re
corder of London, and members of the Boothby
and Heathcote families. The brasses have been
carried off from all. The font was removed into
the new church (St. Peter and St. Paul), which
stands on Chingford Green, and proclaims as
loudly as its style can do that it was built early in
the reign of Victoria, before the principles of Gothic

architecture were well known. It is, in fact, a
nondescript Gothic structure of white bricks, inter
laced with squares of dark flints : a poor imitation
of Dunstable and Luton churches. It has a stone
spire, and looks pretty, but meaningless.
About half a mile to the north-west of this
church is an obelisk, built by the directors of the
Ordnance Survey, and kept up at the desire of
the Astronomer- Royal, as marking the exact
meridian of Greenwich. It is occasionally used
for the purpose of testing and verifying calcula
tions. In the Illustrated London News it is said —
but without the least proof — that this obelisk
marks the place of the death of Queen Boadicea,
and was erected to her memory ! Thus, indeed,
history is too often written.
The roadway running north-eastward from
Chingford Green, by the railway-station, opens
directly upon the forest at one of its most fre
quented points, by the front of Queen Elizabeth's
Lodge and the new Royal Forest Hotel, near
which is the broad green track to the left that
winds away through the forest to High Beech,
mentioned above, and also a most charming glade,
that of Fairmead, which stretches away towards
the north-west.
The old Lodge is a tall, irregular square structure
of the Tudor era, consisting of three storeys, with
gable ends and high pitched roof. It is built .of
brick and timber, somewhat rudely plastered, and
its exterior is very picturesque, resembling the
houses in the West of England. At its door were
two fine elms, but both were blown down in 1881--2.
The basement is used as a kitchen and parlour,
with capacious fire-places and antique fire-dogs.
The staircase, which projects into the hall, is wide
and large, and composed of strong timbers, which
will last till " the crack of doom ; " its width is
about six feet, and it is divided by six landings,
with four stairs between 'each, and each stair or
step consists of a solid oak sill.
The principal room on the first floor has its
walls hung with tapestry, in good preservation, and
a chimney-piece opening with a flattened arch.
The height of the basement and first floor has
been sacrificed to the storey above, as they occupy
about half of the whole elevation.
The top floor is not cut up into chambers, as
usual, but consists of one large room — or hall, if
such a term can be applied to an tipper room —
with an arched timber roof, and not unlike a chapel
in its general appearance. Its walls are said to have
been hung with tapestry when the manor courts
were held in it. It is now used for trade feasts
and other gatherings. It is entered from the

Epping Forest.]

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S LODGE.

441

staircase by a low wide doorway. It is about
twenty-five feet in width by about forty feet in
length ; it is open to the roof, the tiles being merely
hidden by plaster-work, and the sides consist of
massive timbers filled in with plaster. It was
originally lit by four windows. The roof, it should
be added, is supported by timbers springing into
two pointed arches, which render it probable that
the original roof was of a different form, as well as
material, to the present. The timbers of the stair
case sides and roof are massive, and spring into
arched forms, so as to impress the beholder with
their strength and durability ; and it is observable
that all the doorways in the building consist of
flattened arches. The local tradition reports that
Queen" Elizabeth was accustomed to ride up the
stairs on horseback, and alight at the door of the
large room upon a raised place, which was of old
called the horse-block. Marvellous as the story
may seem, the width and solidity and the many
landings of the staircase are in its favour ; and in
order to test its feasibility, it is stated that early
in the present century a wager of ten pounds was
won by a sporting celebrity riding an untrained
pony up the assigned route of the chivalrous queen.
It is well known that Queen Elizabeth was ex

tremely fond of the pleasures of the chase, and
that she hunted at the age of fifty-seven is an
established fact, so that her freak of riding up-stairs
would be but a trifle to her Majesty.
It is satisfactory to know that by the Act of
Parliament of 1878, under which the forest was
made over to " the people," the Corporation of
London are bound to keep Queen Elizabeth's
Lodge in repair, as "an object of antiquarian in
terest." The Royal Forest Hotel, which adjoins Queen
Elizabeth's Lodge, is the constant resort of London
excursionists and holiday-makers. Throughout
the summer, and especially at Eastertide, Whitsun
tide, and on Bank Holidays, the' glassy glades in
front of it are crowded with picnic parties.
Near the Lodge, on the road to High Beech, is
a large piece of water, still retaining all its rural
picturesqueness, frequented by wild fowl, and a
great resort for insects, and full of aquatic plants.
Hence it is constantly visited by microscopical
and naturalist . and field clubs. It is now called
Connaught Water, after the new royal ranger of1
the forest. The fine oaks which surround it
speak as plainly as in worfls that "this is the forest
primeval."

CHAPTER XLVII.
EPPING FOREST (continued)-- BUCKHURST HILL, LOUGHTON, AND THEYDON BOIS.
" In this lone open glade I lie,
Screened by deep boughs on either hand,
Where ends the glade — to stay the eye,
Those black-crowned, red-boled pine-trees stand." — Matthew Arnold.
Recent Improvements in Epping Forest— Connaught Water and other Lakes— Buckhurst Hill— Its Etymology— Census Returns— The Railway
Station — St. John's Church— Congregational Church — Langford Place— The Essex Naturalists' and Field Club — The Epping Hunt —
The "Bald-faced Stag"— The "Roebuck" — Situation of Loughton — Census Returns— Descent of the Manor— The Hall — The Old
Parish Church— A Memorial Church— St. John's Church— General Appearance of the Village— Staple Hill— The "Lopping" Process—
Loughton Camp— Debden Hall — Theydon Bois.

It has been remarked by one of our best writers
on landscape that " the forest, like other beautiful
scenes, pleases the eye, but its great effect is to
arouse the imagination." Mr. William Paul, Fellow
of the Linnean Society, in a lecture on "The
Future of Epping Forest," delivered in 1880
before the Society of Arts, spoke as follows : —
" The scenery of Epping Forest, as a whole, is
hardly of a character that can be correctly spoken
of as sublime or beautiful, although beautiful spots
may occasionally be met with, and it possesses the
elements of both picturesqueness and grandeur.
But there are no mountains or torrents, no frown
ing precipices, no furious eddies, no foaming cas
cades. It would, perhaps, be correctly described

as a tract of woodland and pasture, the surface
broken into hill and dale, interspersed with a few
fine trees and groves ; the old trees possessing a
rare and glorious beauty, 'but not being numerous
or prominent enough to impart dignity to a forest
of 6,000 acres. It is picturesque from its natural
ruggedness ; it is grand from its extent. These
two forms or expressions of beauty — picturesqueness
and grandeur, which are inherent — should never be
lost sight of, or suffer diminution at the hands of
the improver."
Since the forest has been taken in hand by the
Corporation of London, alterations have been
effected in different parts, which, if they may not
be called "improvements" so far as the mere

442

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

natural appearance of the forest is concerned, may
at any rate be put down as works of great utility
and convenience, and also as enhancing the en
joyment of visitors in the future. One of these
is the Ranger's Road, a new thoroughfare from
Chingford to Loughton, made in 1880, and for
mally opened by the Duke of Connaught as
Ranger of Epping Forest ; and another is the large
sheet of water mentioned at the end of the pre
ceding chapter, which, from being the dismal
swamp that it formerly was, when known as the
Forest Pool, has been converted into an orna
mental lake, some seven acres in extent, and re
named Connaught Water. This lake, which con
tains two islands, and is used for boating, &c, is
fed by, the little Ching rivulet. Another lake has
also been formed at Staple Hill, near Loughton.
As the forest is now well drained, and as many
new paths and roadways have been formed through
it — one of the latter extending its whole length, from
Woodford to Epping — the danger of losing one's
way is reduced to a minimum.
A broad roadway, called the Green Ride, skirts
the Connaught Lake on the west side, and then
passes on through the forest, crossing another
roadway called Earl's Path, and so on in a north
easterly direction, by Monk Wood, to Ambresbury
Banks and Epping; whilst on the south side of
the lake the Ranger's Road leads towards the
north-east in the direction of Loughton.
We now pass on eastward from Queen Eliza
beth's Lodge across an open part of the forest,
keeping in view the tall square tower of the water
works on the top of Buckhurst Hill.
Buckhurst Hill, it has been suggested, may have
been so named from Sackville, Lord Buckhurst,
the accomplished poet, and favoured flower of
Queen Elizabeth's court ; but more probably it
comes from the Anglo-Saxon Boc-hyrst, a beech-
forest. Thorne, in his " Environs of London,"
says that perhaps the name may be derived from
" Book-forest : i.e., a portion of the forest set apart,
or severed, by royal charter from the neighbouring
open forest." The vulgar name of the place is, or
was, formerly Buckett's Hill : hence John Clare, in
one of his sonnets on Epping Forest, writes —
" There's Buckett's Hill, a place of furze and clouds,
Which evening in a golden blaze enshrouds. "
Poor Clare, when he wrote these not very original
lines, it must be remembered, was an inmate of
Fairmead Asylum, not very far off
This locality was formed into an ecclesiastical
district out of the parish of Chigwell in 1838, since
which time the number of its inhabitants has very

largely increased. In 1871 it amounted to 2,500,
being nearly three times as many as it was ten
years previously, whilst according to the census
returns for 1881 it has now reached about 4,000.
At the foot of the hill, further eastward, is a railway-
station on the Epping and Ongar branch of the
Great Eastern Railway, around which are clustered
several small cottages and "villa residences."
From the top of' the hill some beautiful views are
obtained over the surrounding country, including
the high ground on the opposite side of the valley
of the Roding ; whilst a pleasant and picturesque
piece of the forest ground lies along the old Cam
bridge road to the left, between Woodford Wells
and Loughton.
The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist,
was built in 1837, and occupies a commanding
site at the top of the hill. It is in the Early
English style. It has been enlarged at different
periods, and now consists of a chancel, nave,
aisles, and a tower with spire. A Congregational
church is a handsome stone building of Gothic
architecture, of the Early Decorated style. The
pinnacled tower at its western end is about 100
feet in height, and, like the spire of St. John's
Church, is a conspicuous object for miles around.
At the lower end of Palmerston Road,
opposite the Congregational church, and on the
ground now occupied by a private house called
Langford Place, stood the hunting seat or palace
of Henry, VIIL, known as Poteles, or Langford
Place. It remained with the Crown till the reign
of Elizabeth, when it passed into private hands.
Mr. James Jones, in his " Directory of Woodford,"
&c, says : — " There is no traceable account when
the old building was pulled down. In the year
1773 a farm-house occupied the spot, known as
King's Place Farm ; this was, a few years ago, con
verted into a beautiful villa residence, and retains
the royal name of ' Langford Place.' The Congre
gational chapel is called King's Place Congrega
tional Church, and the carriage-way commencing
near the 'Three Colts' Tavern, Prince's Road,
and which crosses the Queen's Road to the en
trance of Roebuck Lane, is named King's Place.
Some fields to the north-east of the palace site,
by the river Roding, are known as the King's
Meadow." The Essex Naturalists' and Field Club has its
head-quarters at Buckhurst Hill. This society has
of late years done much towards throwing ad
ditional light on the antiquarian objects in the
neighbourhood. Here are two wayside inns of celebrity, both of
which, in their turn, have been the scene of the

Epping forest.]

THE EPPING HUNT.

443

"Epping Hunt," namely, the "Bald-faced Stag"
and the "Roebuck." This assembly took place
annually on Easter Monday at the former inn,
down to about 1853, when the landlord grew tired,
or ashamed, of the company that it brought down
from London, and handed over the arrangements
to his neighbour, mine host of the " Roebuck."
Subsequently, as stated in the preceding chapter,
the "hunt" was transferred to High Beech, where
a publican kept it going till 1882 ; but as in that
year and the previous year it had become a scene
of riot and a public nuisance, it was suppressed by
the aid of the police, and it is now a thing of the
past. The custom is said to have begun in 1226, when
King Henry III. granted the liberty of hunting
over this country to the citizens of London. Mr.
Rounding, who was the landlord of the " Horse
and Well," was the last huntsman, and for some
years it was not an uncommon sight to see him
with as many as 500 mounted followers. The
"meet" formerly took place on the ridge near
Buckhurst Hill, overlooking Fairmead. It is
asserted that the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of
London, as the recognised heads and leaders of the
citizens, used to attend the hunt in state ; but this
is probably untrue.
From Hone's " Every-day Book," Vol. II. (March,
1827), page 459, we extract the following interest
ing particulars concerning the Epping Hunt : —
"In 1226 King Henry III. confirmed to the
citizens of London free warren, or liberty to hunt
a circuit about their city, in the warren of Staines,
&c. ; and in ancient times the lord mayor, alder
men, and corporation, attended by a due number
of their constituents, availed themselves of this
right of chase 'in solemn guise.' From newspaper
reports, it appears that the office of 'common
hunt,' attached to the mayoralty, is in danger of
disuetude. The Epping Hunt seems to have lost
the lord mayor and his brethren in their corporate
capacity, and the annual sport to have become a
farcical show.
"A description of the Epping Hunt of Easter
Monday, 1826, by one ' Simon Youngbuck,' in the
Morning Herald, is the latest report, if it be not
the truest ; but of that the editor of the ' Every
day Book' cannot judge, for he was not there to
see : he contents himself with picking out the
points; should any one be dissatisfied with the
' hunting of that day ' as it will be here presented,
he has only to sit down in good earnest to a
plain matter-of-fact detail of all the circumstances
from his own knowledge, accompanied by such
citations as will show the origin and former state

of the usage, and such a detail, so accompanied,
will be inserted —
' For want of a better, this must do.'
On the authority aforesaid, and that without the
introduction of any term not in the Herald, be it
known, then, that before and at the commence
ment of the hunt aforesaid, it was a cold, dry, and
dusty morning, and that the huntsmen of the east
were all abroad by nine o'clock, trotting, fair and
softly, down the road, on great nine-hand sky
scrapers, nimble daisy-cutting nags, flowing-tailed
chargers, and ponies no bigger than the learned
one at Astley's; some were in job-coaches, at two
guineas a-day; some in three-bodied nondescripts,
some in gigs, some in cabs, some in drags, some
in short stages, and some in long stages ; while
some, on no stages at all, footed the road, smothered
by dust driven by a black, bleak north-easter full in
the teeth. Every gentleman was arrayed after his
own peculiar taste, in blue, brown, or black — in dress
coats, long coats, short coats, frock coats, great
coats, and no coats; in drab slacks and slippers;
in grey tights and black-spurred Wellingtons; in
nankeen bomb-balloons ; in city-white cotton-cord
unmentionables, with jockey toppers, and in Russian-
drill down-belows, as a memento of the late Czar.
The ladies all wore a goose-skin under-dress, in
compliment to the north-easter.
" At that far-famed spot, the brow above Fair
mead Bottom, by twelve o'clock, there were not
less than three thousand merry lieges then and
there assembled. It was a beautiful set-out. Fair
dames, ' in purple and in pall,' reposed in vehicles
of all sorts, sizes, and conditions, whilst seven or
eight hundred mounted members of the hunt
wound in and out ' in restless ecstasy,' chatting and
laughing with the fair, sometimes rising in their
stirrups to look out for the long-coming cart of the
stag, ' whilst with off-heel assiduously aside ' they
' provoked the caper which they seemed to hide.'
The green-sward was covered with ever-moving
crowds on foot, and the polfard oaks which skirt
the Bottom on either side were filled with men and
boys. " But where is the stag all this while ? One
o'clock, and no stag ! Two o'clock, and no
stag ! — a circumstance easily accounted for by
those who are in the secret, and the secret is this :
there are buttocks of boiled beef and fat hams,
and beer and brandy in abundance, at the ' Roe
buck' public-house, low down in the forest; and
ditto at the ' Bald-faced Stag,' on the top of the
hill ; and ditto at the ' Coach and Horses ' at
Woodford Wells; and ditto at the 'Castle,' at

444

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

Woodford ; and ditto at the ' Eagle,' at Snares
brook ; and if the stag had been brought out before
the beef, beer, bacon, and brandy were eaten and
drank, where would have been the use of providing
so many good things? So they carted the stag
from public-house to public-house, and showed
him at threepence a-head to those ladies and
gentlemen who never saw such a thing before ; and
the showing and carting induced a consumption of
eatables and drinkables — an achievement which was
helped by a band of music in every house, playing

looking round him with great dignity as he stalked
slowly and delicately forward down the avenue
prepared for him ; and Occasionally shrinking from
side to side, as some super-valorous cockney made
a cut at him with his whip. Presently he caught
a glimpse of the hounds and the huntsmen, waiting
for him at the bottom, and in an instant off he
bounded, sideways, through the rank, knocking
down and trampling all who crowded the path
he chose to take ; and dashing at once into
the cover, he was out of sight before a man
could say ' Jack Robinson ! ' Then
might be seen gentlemen running
about without their horses, and
horses galloping about without their
gentlemen ; and hats out of number
brushed off their owners' heads by
the rude branches of the trees; and
everybody asking which way the
stag was gone, and nobody knowing

THE " ROEBUCK."
hungry tunes to help the appetite ;
and then, when the eatables and
drinkables were gone and paid for,
they turned out the stag.
" Precisely at half-past two o'clock
the stag-cart was seen coming over the
hill from the ' Bald-faced Stag,' and
hundreds of horsemen and gigmen
rushed gallantly forward to meet and
escort it to the top of Fairmead Bottom, amidst
such whooping and hallooing as made all the forest
echo again, and would have done Carl Maria Von
Weber's heart good to hear. And then, when the
cart stopped and was turned tail about, the horse
men drew up in long lines, forming an avenue wide
enough for the stag to run down. For a moment
all was deep, silent, breathless anxiety; and the
doors of the cart were thrown open, and out
popped a strapping four-year-old red buck, fat as
a porker, with a chaplet of flowers round his neck,
a girth of divers-coloured ribbons, and a long blue
and pink streamer depending from the summit of
his branching horns. He was received, on his
alighting, with a shout that seemed to shake
heaven's concave, and took it very graciously,

THE "BALD-FACED STAG.

anything about him ; and ladies beseeching gentle
men not to be too venturesome, and gentlemen
gasping for breath at the thoughts of what they were
determined to venture ; and myriads of people on
foot running hither and thither in search of little
eminences to look from ; and yet nothing at all to
be seen, though more than enough to be heard ; for
every man and every womanj too, made as loud a
noise as possible. Meanwhile the stag, followed by
the keepers and about six couple of hounds, took
away through the covers towards Woodford. Find
ing himself too near the haunts of his enemy, man,
he there turned back, sweeping down the Bottom for
a mile or two, and away up the enclosures towards
Chingford, where he was caught nobody knows how,

Epping Forest ]

"JOHN HUGGINS AT THE HUNT."

445

for everybody returned to town, except those who
stopped to regale afresh, and recount the glorious
perils of the day. Thus ended the Easter Hunt of
1826." The above humorous and clever sketch -may be
regarded as a fair' sample of the Epping "Hunt"
as it was known to the parents of the present
generation — at all events down to a date long
subsequent to the accession of Queen Victoria.

sports ; and some surprise existed in the House of
Commons when, in 1863, the Epping Forest Pre
vention Bill being before the Committee, Mr.
Alderman Copeland, M.P., in response to an in
quiry as to whether the City of London did not
claim the privilege of hunting, answered, ' Not that
I am aware of.'" The real or supposed connection
of the civic authorities with the Epping Hunt has
been seized upon by other satirists than D'Urfey.
It was made the subject of a poem by Tom Hood,
to which George Cmickshank added illustrations.
In this poem the author gives the following

'Wmm-

THEYDON HOIS.

A correspondent of Notes and Queries* in 1872,
however, states that, being about to publish a guide
to Epping Forest, he has made inquiries, but
without success, in order to find out whether the
Lord Mayor and Aldermen ever attended Epping
Hunt in state. He adds : — " I have since come
across some lines, printed in Strutt's ' Sports and
Pastimes,' which relate —
" ' Once a year into Essex a hunting they go, &c.
Three stanzas are given, taken from an old ballad,
called the ' London Customs,' printed in D'Urfey's
collection. From time to time these lines revived
the assertion, but it is doubtful with what truth.
It is, nevertheless, the fact that the Lord Mayor
and Aldermen in times gone by took part in these

* Fourth Series, Vol. X., p. 373.

ludicrous account of the adventures of a Mr. John
Huggins at the Epping Hunt : —
" With Monday's sun John Huggins rose,
And slapped his leather thigh,
And sang the burden of the song,
' This day a stag must die.'
" Alas ! there was no warning voice
To whisper in his ear,
' Thou art a fool for leaving Chepe,
To go and hunt the deer.'
' ' Then slowly on through Leytonstone,
Past many a Quaker's box —
No friends to hunters after deer,
Though followers of a Fox.
" And many a score behind— before —
The self-same rout inclined ;
And, minded all to march one way,
Made one great march of mind.

38

445

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

" Now Huggins from his saddle rose,
And in his stirrups stood;
And lo ! a little cart that came
Hard by a little wood,
" In shape like half a hearse — though not
For corpses in the least ;
For this contained the deer alive,
And not the dear deceased !
" Now Huggins, standing far aloof,
Had never seen the deer,
Till all at once he saw the beast
Come charging in his rear.
" Away he went, and many a score
Of riders did the same,
On horse and ass — like High and I ,ow
And Jack pursuing Game..
" A score were sprawling on the grass,
And beavers fell in showers ;
There was another Floorer there,
Beside the Queen of Flowers.

"Away, away he scudded, like
A ship before the gale ;
Now flew to ' /alls we know not of, "
Now, nun-like, took the vale.
" ' Hold hard ! hold hard ! you'll lame the dogs,'
Quoth Huggins. ' So I do ;
I've got the saddle well in hand,
And hold as hard as you ! '
" But soon the horse was well avenged
For cruel smart of spurs,
For riding through a moor, he pitched
His master in the furze !
" Now seeing Huggins' nag adrift,
A farmer, shrewd and sage,
Resolved, by changing horses here,
To hunt another stage.
"So up on Huggins' horse he got,
And swiftly rode away ;
While Huggins mounted on a mare, .
Done brown upon a bay.
" And off they set in double chase,
For such was fortune's whim,
The farmer rode to hunt the stag,
And Huggins hunted him !
" And lo ! the dim and distant hunt
Diminished in a trice ;
The steeds, like Cinderella's team,
Seemed dwindling into mice.
* # * *
" Now many a sign at Woodford town,
Its Inn — vitation tells:
But Huggins, full of ills, of course
Betook him to the Wells.
' ' When thus forlorn a merry horn
Struck up without the door —
The mounted mob were all returned ;
The Epping hunt was o'er !

' ' And many a horse was taken out
Of saddle and of shaft ;
And men, by dint of drink, became
The only 'beasts of draught.'
"For now begun a harder ran
On wine, and gin, and beer ;
And overtaken men discussed
The overtaken deer —
" And how the hunters stood aloof,
Regardful of their lives,
And shunned a beast whose very horns
They knew could handle knives.
" And one how he had found a horse
Adrift — a goodly gray !
And kindly rode the nag, for fear
The nag should go astray.
" Now Huggins, when he heard the (ale,
Jumped up with sudden glee ;
' A goodly gray ! why, then, I say,
That gray belongs to me ! '
" And let the chase again take place
For many a long, long year —
John Huggins will not ride again
To hunt the Epping deer !
Moral.
' ' Thus pleasure oft eludes our grasp
Just when we think to grip her ;
And hunting after happiness,
We only hunt a slipper."
The anecdotes of " hair-breadth escapes " of
some of the gallant sportsmen, and of other in
cidents connected with the Epping Hunt, as may
be supposed, are '^plentiful as blackberries" among
the older inhabitants of these parts. Among
anecdotes of another kind, the following is per
haps worth recording : — Lord Brougham, when
staying in the neighbourhood, went on one oc
casion to witness the hunt, about which he was
" very facetious," and asked many questions. He
said to a man, " I suppose you are waiting for the
Lord Mayor and Aldermen? If you will show
me them when they arrive, I will give you a
crown." The man said, "I do not think I should
know them for certain ; but if you will give me
half-a-crown, I will show you Lord Brougham
alive." This so disconcerted his lordship, that he
went home immediately.
The " Bald-faced Stag," which stands by the
roadside, at a short distance south of St. John's
Church, is one of the oldest houses in the
neighbourhood ; it is a large, square, white
washed building, with a high-pitched tiled roof,
and is a favourite resort for Londoners during
the summer. It contains some curious carving, and
a fine portrait of Queen Anne. It was formerly a
manor-house. The old coach road, at the be-

Epping Forest.]

THE "ROEBUCK" INN.

447

ginning of the present century, ran in a straight
line northward of the " Roebuck," traversing in its
course the ground now covered by St. John's
Terrace. At that time the whole locality was
covered by forest, but later on the course of the
road has been carried in a more direct line.
If it be true that " the finest scenery in the
world is improved by a good inn in the fore
ground," the saying is certainly true of the spot
which we have now reached. The "Roebuck"
is on the main road from London, and between
Euckhurst Hill and Loughton ; it stands on high
ground, within a few minutes' walk of ' Buckhurst
Hill Station of the Great Eastern line, and close
to some of the loveliest parts of the forest. Over
looking as it does one of the finest panoramas in
the suburbs of London, no more charming des
tination could be found ¦ for excursions, picnic
parties, bean-feasts, trade dinners, school outings,
and bicycling club runs. The banquet hall, ad
joining the inn, will accommodate from 300 to
500 guests, and is available for balls, meetings,
concerts, dramatic performances, &c. The "Hunt''
room and the " Elizabeth " room will each seat
seventy guests at dinner. The pleasaunce, in the
rear of the inn, includes twenty-three acres of
meadow land, lawns, and fruit garden.
Loughton, which lies about a mile distant from
the " Roebuck," is long and straggling, extending
for nearly two miles along the Epping road. It
is about twelve miles from London, and six miles
south-east from Waltham Abbey. The parish is
all within the bounds of Epping Forest, and,
according to the census returns of 1881, contains
a population of 2,851, being an increase of about
400 during the preceding decade. On the east
side of the main road is the Loughton Station of
the Great Eastern Railway. The views in and
around the village are very picturesque, and the
ground of a remarkably undulating character, the
views from Golding's Hill and other elevated parts
extending to the Thames and the Kentish hills in
one direction, to Hampstead and Highgate in
another, and eastward across the valley of the
Roden to the vicinity of Navestock, some twelve
miles distant.
This parish formed a portion of the endowments
which were bestowed by Harold on Waltham
Abbey, and it continued a part of the abbey lands
until the. dissolution of that monastery. It was
granted by Edward VI. to Sir Thomas Darcy ; but
his possession was of short duration, for in the
reign of Queen Mary it again reverted to the
Crown, by whom it was attached to the Duchy of
Lancaster. In the reign of Elizabeth it became

the property of the Stonards, from whom it was
carried by the marriage of an heiress to Sir Robert
Wrothe, of Durants, in Enfield.* The manor
continued in the possession of this family for more
than a century, when it passed by bequest to the
Nassaus, Earls of Rochford. About the middle of
the last century it was sold to Mr. William
Whitaker, a merchant of London, from whom it
descended to the present owner, the Rev. John
Whitaker Maitland, the families of Whitaker and
Maitland having become united by marriage.
The Hall, which stood about a mile distant-
eastward of the high road, was burnt down in
1836. It was a large building in the Elizabethan
style, and it is said to have received many dis
tinguished visitors. In 1561 Queen Elizabeth
honoured the Stonards with a visit here. James I.
is reported to have been here on more than one
occasion ; and the Princess of Denmark (after
wards Queen Anne) is stated, in the " Beauties of
England," to have retired hither from the court of
her father, James II., "when she saw him pursuing
the arbitrary measures which terminated in his
expulsion from the throne." Mr. Thorne, in his
" Environs of London," however, considers that it
was most likely only for a night or so that the
princess was here, "when on her way to Notting
ham, under the escort of Compton, the military
Bishop of London."
The present Hall, now a farm-house, was con
structed partly out of the materials of the ancient
building. The great gates of the old Hall still
remain, and are elaborate specimens of hand-
wrought iron-work.
The old parish church of Loughton, dedicated
to St. Nicholas, stood near the Hall; but being in a
sadly dilapidated condition, and at an inconvenient
distance from the village, was pulled down in
1847, with the exception of the chancel, which has
been retained for use as a mortuary chapel. In
1877 a new "memorial church" was built on part
of the site of the demolished structure. It was
erected by Mrs. Whitaker Maitland, in memory of '
her husband, her sons, and all those members of
the family who lie buried in the churchyard. The
brasses from the old church have been placed
here : among them are three with effigies of John
Stonard and his wives, Joan and Catharine, and
dated 15 41 ; another to William Nodes, gentle
man, and his six sons, dated 1594, has the effigy
of a man in the costume of the period, with a ruff
round his neck ; and some to the Wrothe family,
dating back to 1673. * See ante, p. 373.

448

GREATER LONDON.

[Epping Forest.

St. John's Church stands on an eminence at the
north-east corner of the village, and is much more
conveniently situated for the parishioners than the
old parish church. It was erected in 1846, and is
a brick-built cruciform structure, in the Norman
style, with a low square central tower, containing
eight fine-toned bells. Some of the windows are
filled with stained glass. The church was enlarged
and partly re-seated in 1877.
In the village are six almshouses, founded in
1827 by Mrs. Whitaker, besides which the wants
of the necessitous poor are ameliorated by local
charities. A pretty drinking-fountain stands at the
corner of the roadway leading to the railway-
station, and altogether the village wears a " sober,
sylvan look."
Nearly opposite the railway-station a road winds
to the north-west through the forest by High
Beech, and so on to Waltham Abbey. To the
right of this road, immediately on entering the
forest, is Staple Hill, a spot which has become of
historic interest as that where the " lopping " pro
cess used to be carried out by the natives of these
parts, and of which we have spoken in a previous
chapter.* Mr. Coller, in his " People's History of
Essex" (1861), writes of Loughton: — "There
seems to be a want of energy, and an unwillingness
to move from their native place, which greatly
characterise the inhabitants, not only of this village,
but of this part of the county generally, and which
certainly impedes their advancement in the social
scale. The proximity of the forest, and the pre
text of procuring firewood by means of the
loppings of the trees, which the inhabitants claim
a right to cut during the winter months, encourage
habits of idleness and dislike of settled labour, and
in some cases give occasion for poaching, all of
which are injurious to the poor."
The forest, indeed, has been so constantly
" lopped " that most of its trees are pollards with
old and hoary stems, which, having been debarred
from their natural growth, have twisted their stems
and roots into all sorts of fantastic forms. It is
probable tfiat many of these trees, small as they
may look, are as old as our Plantagenet kings, if
not older still. Among them the beech, the holly,
and the hornbeam, are remarkable for their abun
dance. The walks in or near the forest at this point are
of such a character as to prove a great attraction
for visitors ; and consequently Loughton is largely
patronised by excursionists and others during the
summer months. At the top of Staple Hill a

* See ante, p. 428.

" shelter" has been erected for the convenience of
visitors, and at the foot of the hill a moderate-sized
lake has been formed.
Proceeding for about half a mile along the nevv
grass-covered forest roadway which skirts the base
of Staple Hill, and striking off into the wood on
the left on reaching the top of the next hill, the
rambler, by a little diligent searching, may explore
the remains of an ancient earth-work, which was
discovered in 1872 by Mr. B. H. Cowper. This
camp covers about the same amount of ground as
Ambresbury Banks — some twelve acres ; but it is
more irregular in shape, though, being surrounded
by trees on every side, it has stood the ravages of
time and the effects of rain and storms far better,
though in parts the earth-works and trenches have
been partially levelled. It has, however, lain for
centuries unnoticed in the shade, and apparently
its existence was unknown to Morant, the inde
fatigable historian of Essex. It follows the con
figuration of the hill which it crowns, and must
have been chosen and fashioned with great military
skill, as it commands a spur and ravine by which
alone it could have been approached. Mr. Cowper
is sanguine enough to believe that he has dis
covered at the north-west corner the place where
Boadicea must have led on her attack, and where,
being defeated, her soldiers must have been driven
down, the sides of the camp itself being partly de
molished and carried down into the valley.
In order to carry out the systematic examination
of these two entrenchments — the Loughton Camp
and Ambresbury Banks — which had not been cut
into before the examination made by the Essex
Field Club in 1881, it was resolved to commence
upon the Loughton Camp as early as possible in
1882 ; and permission having been granted by the
Epping Forest Committee of the Corporation of
London, the work was carried out in the months of
May and June of that year. The mode of working
was similar to that employed at Ambresbury Banks,
and consisted in cutting sections through the
rampart and ditch, in order to expose the old
surface line. With a view to facilitate the carrying
on of the necessarily tedious work of watching the
removal of the earth, a sub-committee of the Essex
Field Club was appointed to co-operate with those
engaged in the work. The first section was twelve
feet in width, and its cutting involved the removal
of one hundred and fifty cubic yards of earth. But
few objects were found in this cutting. On the
old surface, nearly under the centre of the rampart,
two or three fragments of pottery, several flint
" flakes," and pieces of charcoal, were turned up.
The pottery is extremely rude, and consists of

Chigwell.]

THEYDON BOIS.

449

badly-burnt rough clay, containing quartz grains,
and showing no traces of lathe turning. The great
amount of denudation which this earth-work has
experienced, owing to its exposed situation and
the light character of the soil, has caused the com
plete silting up of the ditch in most parts, and it
was found in this first section that the silting was
so very similar in appearance to the undisturbed
earth, that the form of the ditch could not be satis
factorily made out. This last circumstance, com
bined with the paucity of the evidence obtained,
determined the extension of the investigation, and
another cutting seven feet wide was therefore
commenced. In this second section no pottery
was found, but numbers of ^flint flakes and a par
tially-finished flint celt, all on the old surface line,
and buried well beneath the rampart. Further
evidence of human occupation in the way of char
coal and burnt clay, marking the sites of fire
places, were also found on the original surface.
The evidence thus far obtained did not appear to
those who had undertaken the work of excavation
sufficiently complete to enable them to form any
conclusive opinion as to the age of the earth-works,
although the relics thus far found, conjoined with
the absence of all Roman remains, point to a very
early, and most probably pre- Roman, period. In
side the encampment can still be traced the well,
and the ditch along which the water used to trickle
into a pond, the dam at the bottom of which is
almost perfect. The little stream still flows in the
winter months,
At a short distance further northward, and a
little to the right of the high road, in the midst of
some charming scenery, stands Debden Hall, a
picturesque and well-built mansion, in a park of
some 150 acres, adorned by grand old forest trees,
with wooded dells, stream and waterfall, &c.
About half a mile eastward from Debden Hall

is Theydon Bois, which lies on the very confines of
our survey, at the north-east angle of Epping
Forest. It is a pretty village, and with its
triangular green fringed with an avenue of oak-
trees, has almost a foreign appearance. It is called
Bois after a family who in early ages possessed the
manor, and who, in their turn, doubtless bore that
name from dwelling in the wood, which in Norman
and French was " le Bois."
The church here has been transplanted, the
original structure, which stood to the south on the
high ground, having been pulled down, and its
materials worked into the new structure — a tasteful
little building, with a tall and tapering spire. One
or two monuments and graves, with their contents,
were transferred, among them some members of the
Hall-Dare family, the squires and patrons of the
living. The old manor-house, called Theydon Hall,
long the residence of the Hall-Dares, is situated
on rising ground a short distance to the west of
the church and the common ; it is now a farm
house. In the church is a well-preserved painting of the
royal arms, and the initials "J. R.," clearly de
noting "Jacobus Rex," our first English James.
Below the escutcheon is a portrait of the king — an '
unmistakable Stuart, but more like Charles I. than
his father. It was probably owing to the remote
position of the church in " the woods " that this
royal heraldry escaped the hands of the Parliamen
tary Roundheads of Cromwell's time. The old
churchyard is still enclosed, and its tombs are
carefully kept.
Theydon has no literary history ; but it has
had one celebrated character as a resident within
its bounds. John Elwes,* the miser, lived here,
and from this place he used to ride up to London
with his bacon and eggs.

CHAPTER X LVI 1 1.
CHIGWELL.
ct Far as the eye may distant views command,
Here— there— vast oaks in pride of foliage stand." — Lord Leigh's Walks in the Country.
General Appearance of the Village of Chigwell— Its Etymology— Census Returns— Descent of the Manor— Rolls Park— Woolstons—
Lexborough— The Warren— Belmont— The Parish Church— Archbishop Harsnett— Local Charities— Club-room— The Grammar School—
''Maypole" Inn — Chigwell Row — Woodlands — Bowls— Gainsborough's Picture of

The " King's Head " Tavern— Charles Dickens's
' The Woodman "—The Mineral Waters.

At Chigwell we come once more face to face
with Charles Dickens, who has laid in this neigh
bourhood many of the most striking scenes in
his " Barnaby Rudge." It is a very rural and

retired village, with a "decent church" — as yet
happily unrestored — "topping the neighbouring
hill," and with one of the pleasantest and most
* See " Old and New London," Vol IV., p. 243.

45°

GREATER LONDON.

[Chigwell.

attractive of- old roadside inns directly oppo
site. Indeed, Chigwell is generally regarded as
one of the prettiest villages in Essex. Although
much of the beautiful woodland scenery with
which it was formerly surrounded has been given
over to the builder, or converted to agricul
tural purposes, much still remains. Down to
within the last quarter of a century or so por
tions of Popping Forest extended well into the
parish on its western and northern sides, whilst
eastward and southward lay Hainault Forest ; but

ings are afar off, and Chigwell does not partake in
their character.
The name of the parish is variously written in
ancient documents as Cinghewella, Cingnehella,
Chiwellia, Chickwell, and Cykewell. In Anglo-
Saxon times it was written Cingwella (cing signify
ing king), i.e., the king's well ; the name is sup
posed to be taken from a well in Chigwell Row.
According to a survey taken in the reign of
James I., the number of acres in the parish at that
time was 4,027, which included 1,500 acres of

ffltt

^m

¦

since the lat
ter hac been
disafforested
and the former
has been curtailed
by enclosures,many
characteristics of the
Chigwell of former
days have been ob
literated.
Chigwc" '3 about ten miles from London, on
the road to Ongar and the " Rodings," or " Rooth-
ings " — a district of Essex remarkable for the
stiffness of its clay, the poorness of its soil, and
locally for the dulness of its inhabitants. In a
word, if Essex be the Bceotia of England, the
Rodings are the Bceotia of Essex. But the Rooth-

WII.T.IAM PENN.

Epping and Hainault Forests. The present area
of the parish, including Buckhurst Hill, is a little
over 4,500 acres. The population a quarter of a
century ago was 2,600. In 187 1 this number had
nearly doubled itself; and according to the census
returns for 1881 it has now reached 5,400. A
fair is held here annually in September. The
parish is thickly studded with good mansions,
mostly the residences of City merchants ; and there
are also several fine old halls, and manor-houses,
where in bygone times dwelt the lords of the soil.
The principal manor-house of Chigwell, called
Chigwell Hall, lies a little to the north-west of the
church, by the side of the roadway leading to
Buckhurst Hill and Loughton. It was once part
of the possessions of Earl Harold, but at the time
of the Norman Survey it was held by Ralph de

Chigwell.]

ROLLS PARK, AND WOOLSTONS.

45i

Limeses, Baron of Ulverlie, in Warwickshire, with
whose descendants it remained for several genera
tions. The manor was subsequently owned by
the Fitzwalters, and in the sixteenth century it was
conveyed to Sir Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor
of England, for Brian Tuke, Treasurer of the
King's Chamber, and others, for the king's use.
Edward VI. gran
ted the manor,
together with
West Hatch,
which lies about
a mile south-west
from Chigwell
Church, to Sir
Thomas Roth,
with whose family
it continued till

tensive hamlet, with a church or chapel of its own.
Since the Conquest, however, it has been united
to Chigwell. In old records the name of this
estate is variously written Ulfelmstun, Wolfamston,
Woolvermeston, Walston, and Woolston. In the
time of Edward the Confessor, like the rest of the
neighbourhood, it belonged to Earl Harold ; but
after the Conquest it formed part of the royal
demesnes, and was farmed by a "sheriff." The
estate was given by Henry II. to the De Sandfords,
" to be holden by the ' grand sergeantry' of finding
a damsel to wait in the queen's chamber on the
day of her coronation."
Lexborough — the name of which alone survives
in Lexborough Lane — is said to have been a
mansion which in the last century was inferior to
few in the county. It has long since been pulled
down, and is now forgotten.

,'^§%\

Wfir'

CHIGWELL CHURCH.

the middle of the seventeenth century, when it was
sold to Sir William Hicks of Ruckholts, whose son,
Sir Harry, in 1720, built the plain brick residence
nearly opposite to West Hatch, called Bowling Green.
Chigwell Hall was sold by Sir Harry Hicks to Mr.
William Davy, Treasurer of St. Luke's Hospital; but
the Hicks family still retained the manor, with which
was included more than a thousand acres of theforest.
Rolls Park — or Barringtons, as it was formerly
called— about half a mile north-east of the church,
by the side of the high road to Abridge and Ongar,
comprises a well-built mansion, an estate of some
100 acres, and was for two centuries or more in
the possession of the family of the late Admiral Sir
Eliab Harvey.
On the opposite side of the road, but nearer to
Abridge, is another fine estate, called Woolstons,
or Wolverston, which appears at one time to have
been a distinct parish, or at all events a very ex-

The Warren, the " great house," the old red
brick house that stood in its own grounds within a
mile or so of the " Maypole," the seat of the Hare-
dales, is probably in part a creation of Charles
Dickens's fertile brain ; but it is popularly identified
in the neighbourhood with a house between Wood
ford and Chigwell Row, which has been of late
burnt down and rebuilt. The Warren, according
to Charles Dickens, was attacked by the rioters
because its owners were Catholics, and burnt
to the ground. It will be remembered how Mr.
Haredale found the mysterious murderer lurking
among the ruins, and, with the help of the sexton,
conducted his prisoner to Chigwell, and thence
to London.
At the west end of the lane, by the church, stood
at one time an old moated mansion, but faint
traces are visible. Across the meadows to the
left of this lane, adjoining the estate of Belmont,

452

GREATER LONDON.

[Chigwell.

is a large modern mansion of red brick, which
stands out pleasantly from amidst the surrounding
trees. The church is remarkable for its noble south
Norman door, and for a fine brass of very late
date (1631) to Archbishop Harsnett of York, who
founded the grammar-school in this parish. The
church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is ap
proached on the south side by two avenues of
clipped yews, whose interlacing branches have im
parted to them a close resemblance to the fan-
traceried roof of the late Perpendicular period. One
of these avenues leads up to the entrance of the
chancel, and the other to the wooden south porch.
The edifice consists of a nave and chancel, with
north aisle, and a tower and spire at the western
end. The chancel is modern, and several of the
windows are filled with painted glass. The
Norman doorway mentioned above is enriched
with a plain zig-zag moulding, and the windows are
mostly of the Perpendicular style. A gallery ex
tends across the western end of the nave, and in
the centre of the aisle is a private gallery, con
taining the sittings of the lord of one of the neigh
bouring manors. This gallery is approached by a
wooden staircase built on the outside of the north
wall, which does not add to the beauty of the
building. Among the monuments in the church is one to
Thomas Coleshill, who died in 1595, having been
" servant to Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen
Elizabeth ; " it bears the kneeling effigies of
himself and his wife. The brass to Archbishop
Harsnett is of the highest interest to antiquarians,
seeing that it is the latest known example of an
ecclesiastic of the Church of England, figured as
habited in stole, alb, dalmatic, and cope. The
figure of the archbishop is full-length, with mitre
and crozier. The inscription on the brass, which is
said to have been written by the archbishop him
self, is in Latin, of which the following is a transla
tion : — " Here lieth Samuel Harsnett, formerly
vicar of this church. First the unworthy Bishop
of Chichester, then the more unworthy Bishop of
Norwich, at last the very unworthy Archbishop of
York, who died on the 25th day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1631. Which very epitaph that
most reverend prelate, out of his excessive humility,
ordered by his will to be inscribed to his memory."
This brass was formerly on the east wall, but is
now on the floor of the chancel.
" Samuel Harsnett," writes the author of " Eng
land's Worthies," " born at Colchester, was Bishop
of Chichester, then of Norwich, and at last Arch
bishop of York, and Privy Councillor to King

Charles. He founded and endowed a fair grammar.
school at Chigwell. He bequeathed his library to
Colchester, provided they (his books) were kept in
a decent room, for the use of the clergy of that
town. He dyed a.d. 1631."
" Dr. Harsnett," observes Mr. Coder, in his
" History of Essex," " was the son of a baker in
St. Botolph Street, Colchester ; and probably at
an early age the eloquent preacher and the future
prelate might be seen dealing out from his father's
counter the bread which perisheth, his humble
parents little imagining he was destined to wield
the bishop's crozier instead of the baker's peel.
He was born in 1561, and having acquired some
learning, was sent to Cambridge, where he made
great progress. ' In 1586 he was elected master of
the free school at Colchester, which, after a year,
he resigned, and in 1597 became vicar of this
parish of Chigwell, for which locality, being per
haps his first ministerial charge, he ever after felt
a peculiar interest. Afterwards he became Arch
deacon of Essex; and having had charge of various
other parishes in the county, in 1609 he was made
Bishop of Chichester. On being translated to the
see of Norwich, in 16 19, he was fiercely assailed
by the Puritans, and was accused by the Commons
of various misdemeanours. He triumphed over all,
however, and in 1628 became Archbishop of York."
Archdeacon Paley was for a short time, about
1770, vicar of Chigwell.
The living of Chigwell is somewhat peculiar,
being both a rectory, which is a sinecure, and a
vicarage, to which the rector presents. From the
year 1329 down to 1408, as we learn from Mr.
Jones's local Directory already quoted, the rectory
was in the hands of lay patrons, being held by the
families of Goldingham, Bourchin, and Doreward.
In 1432 John Doreward gave the advowson of
this parish church and rectory to the priory and
brethren of St. Botolph, Colchester, and they pro
cured a licence to , appropriate it to themselves and
their successors, by virtue of which they presented
twice to the vicarage; but in the reigns of Henry VI.
(1451) and Edward IV. (1466) the rectors re
gained their right, soon after which Thomas Kemp,
Bishop of London, founded a chantry in St. Paul's
Cathedral, and endowed it with the advowson of
Chigwell, and with lands here and at Great
Clacton, united it to the office of confessor in that
cathedral. There are several local charities for the relief of
the poor, and also three almshouses, called " Coul-
son's," founded in 1557, and rebuilt by public
subscription in 1858; each occupant receives a
small sum of money quarterly.

Chigwell.]

THE "KING'S HEAD" TAVERN.

453

A club-room for working-men was built here in
1876, and is used for reading and recreation.
Near the eastern end of the churchyard is the
grammar-school founded by Archbishop Harsnett
in 1629. It had long been neglected, and its pupils
had dwindled to a very small number. But it is
now a spacious brick building, with good playground
and class-rooms, and has been very greatly enlarged
and improved under the provisions of a new
scheme lately given by the Educational Com
missioners and the Court of Chancery. Amongst the
numerous ordinances made by the founder for the
good management of the schools is the following : —
" I constitute and appoint that the Latin school
master be a graduate of one of the universities, not
under seven-and-twenty years of age, a man skilful
in the Greek and Latin tongues, a good poet, of a
sound religion, neither papist nor puritan, of a
grave behaviour, of a sober and honest conversa
tion, no tippler nor haunter of public-houses, no
puffer of tobacco, and above all that he be apt to
teach and strict in his government ; and all election
or elections otherwise made I declare to be void,
ipso facto, as if he were dead." The master was
also directed to teach Lilly's Latin and Cleonard's
Greek grammars ; for phrase and style he was to
infuse into his scholars no other than Tully and
Terence ; for poets, his pupils were to read the
ancient Greek and Latin ; " no novelties nor con
ceited modern writers." The qualifications re
quired for the other master were : — " That he write
fair secretary and Roman hands ; that he be skilful
in cyphering and casting of accounts ; and that he
teach his scholars the same faculty."
William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was
educated at Chigwell, most probably at Arch
bishop Harsnett's school.
But the chief interest of Chigwell is centred in the
"King's Head" tavern, opposite the church: a
long plaster-fronted inn, with projecting storeys,
fanciful gables, and small diamond-paned lattice
windows — a building evidently dating from the
Stuart era. " The King's Head " bears on its
swinging signboard a portrait of Charles I., painted
some years ago by Miss Herring, though the por
trait is stupidly supposed by some to represent his
father and predecessor, James I.
As we look on the pleasant front of this old inn
we fancy that we can recognise most of the features
of the old " Maypole " as described by Charles
Dickens : through the red curtains of the " common
room," by the light of the warm fire glowing within,
we can almost see John Willett, the " sturdy "
landlord, the "parish clerk and bell-ringer of
Chigwell," with his rusty black breeches and coat,

and the rest of the convivial company who congre
gated here in the winter evenings, among whom, of
course, were " Tom Cobb, the general chandler,"
and " Phil Parkes, the ranger." The large room
on the first floor is still popularly known as John
Chester's Chamber, in allusion, of course, to
" Barnaby Rudge." In this room the Verderers'
or Forest Courts were held till their abolition
in 1855.
Everything about Chigwell is particularised in
the most minute manner by Charles Dickens.
Even down to "the clock of Chigwell Church,
hard by the ' Maypole,' striking two at night,"
and poor brutish Hugh lazily loitering outside the
" Maypole " door : in fact, the village and the
whole neighbourhood figures largely in Dickens's
historical romance of " Barnaby Rudge," which
was originally published in " Master Humphrey's
Clock." Dickens was very fond of the village, and fre
quently visited it. " Chigwell," he writes to John
Forster, " Chigwell, my dear fellow, is the greatest
place in the world. Name your day for going.
Such a delicious old inn opposite the churchyard,
such a lovely ride (drive ?), such beautiful forest
scenery, such an out-of-the-way rural place ; such a
sexton ! I say again, name your day." The day
was named at once, and the whitest of stones
marks it in now sorrowful memory. " His promise
was exceeded by our enjoyment ; and his delight
in the double recognition of himself and of
Barnaby by the landlord of the nice old inn,
far exceeded any pride he would have taken in
what the world thinks the highest sort of honour."*
The quaint old kitchen of the " Maypole " is the
scene with which the story opens in "Barnaby
Rudge ; " but the " Maypole " does not, and did
not, really exist at Chigwell, though there is a
" Maypole " at Chigwell Row, a mile and a half
distant. Under Dickens's description of the "May
pole," the " King's Head " is really sketched in
such a masterly style as to render its recognition
unmistakable : — •
" In the year 1775 there stood upon the borders
of Epping Forest, at a distance of about twelve
miles from London — measuring from the 'Standard'
in Cornhill, or rather, from the spot on or near to
which the 'Standard' used to be in days of yore — a
house of public entertainment called the 'May
pole ; ' which fact was demonstrated to all such
travellers as could neither read nor write (and at
that time a vast number, both of travellers and
stay-at-homes, were in this condition) by the emblem

Forster's "Life of Dickens."

454

GREATER LONDON.

[Chigwell.

reared on the roadside over against the house,
which, if not of those goodly proportions that may
poles were wont to present in olden times, was
a fair young ash, thirty feet in height, and straight
as any arrow that ever English yeoman drew.
"The 'Maypole' — by which term from hence
forth is meant the house, and not its sign — the
'Maypole' was an old building, with more gable
ends than a lazy man would care to count on a
sunny day ; huge zig-zag chimneys, out of which
it seemed as though even smoke could not choose
but come in more than naturally fantastic shapes,
imparted to it in its tortuous progress ; and vast
stables, gloomy, ruinous, and empty. The place
was said to have been built in the days of King
Henry VIIL ; and there was a legend not only
that Queen Elizabeth had slept there one night
while upon a hunting excursion, to wit, in a certain
oatpanelled room with a deep bay-window, but
that next morning, while standing on a mounting-
block before the door with one foot in the stirrup,
the virgin monarch had then and there boxed and
cuffed an unlucky page for some neglect of duty.
The matter-of-fact and doubtful folks, of whom
there were a few among the 'Maypole' customers —
as, unluckily, there always are in every little com
munity — were inclined to look upon this tradition as
rather apocryphal ; but whenever the landlord of
that ancient hostelry appealed to the mounting-
block itself as evidence, and triumphantly pointed
out that there it stood in the same place to that
very day, the doubters never failed to be put down
by a large majority, and all true believers exulted
as in a victory.
" Whether these, and many other stories of the
like nature, were true or untrue, the ' Maypole '
was really an old house, a very old house, per
haps as old as it claimed to be, and perhaps older,
which will sometimes happen with houses of an
uncertain, as with ladies of a certain, age. Its
windows were old diamond-pane lattices, its floors
were sunken and uneven, its ceilings blackened
by the hand of time and heavy with massive
beams. Over the doorway was an ancient porch,
quaintly and grotesquely carved; and here on
summer evenings the more favoured customers
smoked and drank — ay, and sang many a good
song too, sometimes — reposing on two grim-
looking high-backed settles, which, like the twin
dragons of some fairy tale, guarded the entrance
to the mansion.
" In the chimneys of the disused rooms swallows
had built their nests for many a long year, and
from earliest spring to latest autumn whole
colonies of sparrows chirped and twittered in the

eaves. There were more pigeons about the dreary
stable-yard and out-buildings than anybody but
the landlord could reckon up. The wheeling
and circling flights of runts, fantails, tumblers, and
pouters, were perhaps not quite consistent with
the grave and sober character of the building,
but the monotonous cooing, which never ceased
to be raised by some among them all day long,
suited it exactly, and seemed to lull it to rest.
With its overhanging storeys, drowsy little panes
of glass, and front bulging out and projecting over
the pathway, the old house looked as if it were
nodding in its sleep. Indeed, it needed no very
great stretch of fancy to detect in it other re
semblances to humanity. The bricks of which it
was built had originally been a deep dark red, but
had grown yellow and discoloured, like an old
man's skin ; the sturdy timbers had decayed like
teeth ; and here and there the ivy, like a warm
garment to comfort it in its age, wrapped its green
leaves closely round the time-worn walls."
The chimney corner at the " Maypole " was, of
course, the head-quarter of village gossip —
" And news much older than the ale went round."
That the worthy host, John Willet, considered the
" Maypole " the very perfection of what an inn
should be may be inferred from the following
dialogue which occurred between himself and a
traveller whom he encountered as the latter was
making his way towards the village ;—.
" ' Pray,' said the gentleman, ' are there any inns
hereabouts ? '
" At the word ' inns,' John plucked up his spirit
in a surprising manner; his fears rolled off like
smoke ; all the landlord stirred within him.
'"There are no inns,' rejoined Mr. Willet, with
a strong emphasis on the plural number ; ' but
there's a Inn — one Inn — the " Maypole " Inn.
That 's a Inn indeed. You won't see the like of
that Inn often.'
" ' You keep it, perhaps ? ' said the horseman,
smiling. " T do, sir,' replied John, greatly wondering how
he had found this out.
" ' And how far is the " Maypole" from here ? '
"' About a mile ' — John was going to add that
it was the easiest mile in all the world, when the
third rider, who had hitherto kept a little in the
rear, suddenly interposed :
" ' And have you one excellent bed, landlord ?
Hem ! A bed that you can recommend — a bed
that you are sure is well aired — a bed that has
been slept in by some perfectly respectable and
unexceptionable person ? '

Chigwell.]

: BARNABY RUDGE," AND THE "MAYPOLE."

455

" ' We don't take in no tagrag and bobtail at our
house, sir,' answered John. 'And as to the bed
itself  '"
In what follows the reader gets a glimpse of the
interior of the " Maypole," painted in Dickens's
own masterly style.
" Having, in the absence of any more words, put
a sudden climax to what he had faintly intended
should' be a long explanation of the whole life and
character of his man, the oracular John Willet led
the gentleman up his wide dismantled staircase
into the ' Maypole's ' best apartment.
" It was spacious enough, in all conscience.
occupying the whole depth of the house, and
having at either end a great bay window as large
as many modern rooms, in which some few panes
of stained glass, emblazoned with fragments of
armorial bearings, though cracked and patched
and shattered, yet remained, attesting, by their
presence, that the former owner had made the very
light subservient to his state, and pressed the sun
itself into his list of flatterers, bidding it, when it
shone into his chamber, reflect the badges of his
ancient family, and take new hues and colours from
their pride.
" But those were old days, and now every little
ray came and went as it would, telling the plain,
bare, searching truth. Although the best room of
. the inn, it had the melancholy aspect of grandeur
in decay, and was much too vast for comfort.
" No effort had been made to furnish this chilly
waste, but before the broad chimney a colony of
chairs and tables had been planted on a square
of carpet, flanked by a ghostly screen, enriched
with figures grinning and grotesque. After light
ing with his own hands the faggots which were
heaped upon the hearth, old John withdrew to
hold grave counsel with his cook touching the
stranger's entertainment ; while the guest himself,
seeing small comfort in the yet unkindled wood,
opened a lattice in the distant window, and basked
in a sickly gleam of cold March sun."
It would seem as if Dickens could never exhaust
his pen in describing the comforts of this grand
and quaint old inn. "Cheerily," he tells us,
" though there were none abroad to see it, shone
the 'Maypole' light that evening. Blessings on
the red — deep, ruby glowing red — old curtain of
the window, blending into one rich stream of
brightness fire and candle, meat, drink, and com
pany, and gleaming like a jovial eye upon the
bleak waste out of doors ! Within, what carpet
like its crunching sand, what music merry as its
crackling logs, what perfume like its kitchen's
dainty breath, what weather genial as its hearty

warmth ! Blessings on the old house, how sturdily
it stood ! How did the vexed wind chafe and
roar about its stalwart roof; how did it pant and
strive with its wide chimneys, which still poured
forth from their hospitable throats great clouds of
smoke, and puffed defiance in its face; how, above
all, did it drive and rattle at the casement, emulous
to extinguish that cheerful glow, which would not
be put down, and seemed the brighter for the
conflict. " The profusion, too, the rich and lavish bounty,
of that goodly tavern ! It was not enough that
one fire roared and sparkled on its spacious
hearth; in the tiles which paved and compassed
it five hundred flickering fires burnt brightly also.
It was not enough that one red curtain shut the
wild night out, and shed its cheerful influence on
the room. In every saucepan-lid and candlestick,
and vessel of copper, brass, or tin,' that hung upon
the walls, were countless ruddy hangings, flashing
and gleaming with every motion of the blaze, and
offering, let the eye wander where it might, inter
minable vistas of the same rich colour. The old
oak wainscoting, the beams, the chairs, the seats,
reflected it in a deep dull glimmer. There were
fires and red curtains in the very eyes of the
drinkers, in their buttons, in their liquor, in the
pipes they smoked."
Lord George Gordon, according to the narrative
of the " Gordon Riots," as detailed in " Barnaby
Rudge," was one of the visitors of the " Maypole "
in March, 1780, a few weeks before he set London
in a blaze. The stirring events of that eventful
period form, indeed, the chief historical element in
the above-mentioned novel. Thus Dickens writes :
— " The ' Maypole ' cronies, little dreaming of the
change so soon to come upon their favourite haunt,
struck through the forest path upon their way to
London, and avoiding the main road, which was
hot and dusty, kept to the bye-paths and the fields.
As they drew nearer to their destination they
began to make inquiries of the people whom they
passed concerning the riots, and the truth or
falsehood of the stories, they had heard. The
answers went far beyond any intelligence that had
spread to quiet Chigwell. One man told them
that that afternoon the Guards, conveying to
Newgate some rioters who had been re-examined,
had been set upon by the mob, and compelled to
retreat ; another, that the houses of two witnesses
near Clare Market were about to be pulled down
when he came away ; another, that Sir George
Saville's house in Leicester Fields was to be
burned that night, and that it would go hard
with Sir George if he fell into the people's hands,

45^

GREATER LONDON.

[Chigwell.

as it was he who had brought in the Catholic
Bill." To the readers of "Barnaby Rudge," the
assertion that a century ago highwaymen and foot
pads were to be met with on the road between
Chigwell and Whitechapel will be no news at all.
This road too, probably about Stratford, must have
been in Dickens's eye when he drew the following
picture of the meeting of Barnaby Rudge and
Gabriel Varden : — " And now he approached the
great city, which, lay outstretched before him like

bark of dogs, the hum of traffic in the streets; then
outlines might be traced — tall steeples looming in
the air, and piles of unequal roofs oppressed by
chimneys; then the noise swelled into a louder
sound, and forms grew more distinct and numerous
still, and London — visible in the darkness by its
own faint light, and not by that of Heaven— was
at hand."
The following lines show us the same road
under a different aspect : — " Everything was fresh
and gay, as though the world were but that

THE "KING'S HEAD," CHIGWELL.

a dark shadow on the ground, reddening the
sluggish air with a deep dull -;ght, that told of
labyrinths of public ways and shops, and swarms
of busy people. Approaching nearer and nearer
yet, this halo began to fade, and the causes which
produced it slowly to develop themselves. Long
lines of poorly-lighted streets might be faintly
traced, with here and there a lighter spot, where
lamps were clustered round a square or market, or
round some great building ; after a time these
grew more distinct, and the lamps themselves were
visible — slight yellow specks, that seemed to be
rapidly snuffed out, one by one, as intervening
obstacles hid them from the sight. Then sounds
arose — the striking of church clocks, the distant

morning made, when Mr. Chester rode at a
tranquil pace along the forest road. . 4 . In the
course of time, the ' Maypole's ' massive chimneys
rose upon his view ; but he quickened not his
pace one jot, and with the same cool gravity rode
up to the tavern porch. John Willet, who was
toasting his red face before a great fire in the bar,
and who, with surpassing foresight and quickness
of apprehension, had been thinking, as he looked
at the blue sky, that if that state of things lasted
much longer it might ultimately become necessary
to leave off fires and throw the windows open,
issued forth to hold his stirrup ; called lustily for
Hugh."

.Chigwell.]

CHIGWELL ROW.

457

"It was a long time before there was such a
country inn as the ' Maypole ' in all England :
indeed, it is a great question whether there has
ever been such another to this hour, or ever will
be. It was a long time, too — for Never, as the
proverb says, is a long day — before they forgot to
have an interest in wounded soldiers at the
' Maypole,' or before Joe omitted to refresh them,
for the sake of his old campaign ; or before the
sergeant left off looking in there now and then ;
or before they fatigued themselves, or each other,
by talking on these occasions of battles and sieges,
and hard weather, and hard service, and a thousand
things belonging to a soldier's life. As to the
great silver snuff-box which the king sent Joe
Willet with his own hand, because of his conduct
in the Riots, what guest ever went to the 'May
pole' without putting finger and thumb into that
box, and taking a great pinch, though he had never
taken a pinch of snuff before, and almost sneezed
himself into convulsions even then ? As to the
purple-faced vintner, where is the man who lived
in those days and never saw him at the ' Maypole,'
to all appearance as much at home in the best
room as if he lived there ? And as to the feasting? ,
and christenings, and revellings at Christmas, and
celebrations of birthdays, wedding-days, and all
manner of days, both at the ' Maypole ' and the
' Golden Key ' — if they are not notorious, what
facts are ?
" Mr. Willet the elder, having been by some
extraordinary means possessed with the idea that
Joe wanted to be married, and that it would be
well for him, his father, to retire into private life,
and enable him to live in comfort, took up his
abode in a small cottage at Chigwell, where they
widened and enlarged the fire-place for him, hung
up the boiler, and furthermore planted in the little
garden outside the front-door a fictitious maypole;
so that he was quite at home directly. To this,
his new habitation, Tom Cobb, Phil Parkes, and
Solomon Daisy, went regularly every night, and in
the chimney-corner, they all four quaffed, and
smoked, and prosed, and dozed, as they had done
of old. It being accidentally discovered after a
short time that Mr. Willet still appeared to con
sider himself a landlord by profession, Joe pro
vided him with a slate, upon which the old man
regularly scored up vast accounts for meat, drink,
and tobacco. As he grew older this passion in
creased upon him ; and it became his delight to
chalk against the name of each of his cronies a
sum of enormous magnitude, and impossible to be
paid ; and such was his secret joy in these entries,
that he would be perpetually seen going behind the
39

door to look at them, and coming forth again,
suffused with the liveliest satisfaction.
# # * * *
" It was remarkable that although he had that
dim sense of the past, he sought out Hugh's dog,
and took him under his care ; and that he never
could be tempted into London. When the Riots
were many years old, and Edward and his wife
came back to England, with a family almost as
numerous as Dolly's, and one day appeared at the
'Maypole' porch, he knew them instantly, and
wept and leaped for joy. But neither to visit
them, nor on any other pretence, no matter how
full of promise and enjoyment, could he be per
suaded to set foot in the street ; nor did he ever
conquer his repugnance or look upon the town
again." About a mile and a half to the south-east of the
church is Chigwell Row, or, as it really ought to
be called, Chigwell Rough,* a hamlet running along
the high ridge which extends eastward towards
Lamborne and Romford. Half a century ago one
would have naturally described it as lying on the
borders of Hainault Forest ; but, thanks to the
lax administration of the Woods and Forests, and
the greed of the lords of the surrounding manors
and other landowners, those pleasant glades have
long since been disafforested and enclosed, and the
beauty of the district is gone. It may have come
to be called the " Row " because a series of villas
and mansions were built along the north side of it,
the south side being left open. It commands a
fine view of the Thames from London to Graves'-
end, and over Kent from Shooter's Hill to the
Knockholt Beeches near Sevenoaks. At its eastern
most end is a " Maypole " Inn, but not the verita
ble " Maypole " of Charles Dickens's novel. One
of the villas on the north side was occupied for
some years by Mr. Thomas Faed, R.A., the cele
brated Scottish artist ; Woodlands, the only large
house on the south, was the residence of the late
Mr. Joseph Walford, Q.C, a man whose name will
be long remembered in these parts, not only as a
lawyer, but as a ToxophUite, and the life and soul
of the Epping and Harlow Archery Balls.
Chigwell Row has lately been made a separate
ecclesiastical district, and a church has been erected
for its wants on some waste land, which abutted on
the forest.
At the corner of Chigwell Row stands Bowls, the
.seat of the Stuart family. It probably derived its
name from an old inn where bowls were played
which once covered its site.

* Indeed, it is generally supposed that the word "row" is only a
corruption of " rough."

458

GREATER LONDON.

[Woodford.

The celebrated picture of " The Woodman," by
Gainsborough, from which many prints and draw
ings have been made, was done from a hale
woodcutter who worked for Dr. Webster, of Chig

well Row. Near Chigwell Row was a spring of or popularity.

mineral waters, of a purgative character. It was
discovered about the reign of James II. or William
III., and written up by Dr. Frewen, a native of
Chigwell, but it never attained any great celebrity

CHAPTER XLIX.
WOODFORD AND WALTHAMSTOW.
" A noble horde,
A. brotherhood of venerable trees." — Wordsworth.
Boundaries of Woodford — Its Etymology — Its Subdivision — Descent of the Manor — The Manorial Custom of ''Borough English" — Woodford
Hall — Census Returns — Woodford Bridge — The Church — Claybury Hall — Ray House — Church End, Woodford — The Parish Church —
Woodford Hall — Mrs. Gladstone's Convalescent Home — A Pauper's Legacy — Woodford Green— Congregational Church — The Union Church
— Art and Industrial Society, and Social Institutions — Harts — Monkhams — The Firs — Prospect Hall — Woodford Wells — "The Horse and
Well " — Knighton House — The Manor House — Noted Residents — Walthamstow — Its Area and General Appearance — Walthamstow Slip —
Census Returns — Etymology of Walthamstow — Descent of the Manor — Highams — Salisbury Hall — Chapel End — Bellevue House — The
Parish Church — Almshouses — Walthamstow House — Benjamin Disraeli's School-days — Noted Residents of Walthamstow — The Town Hall,
and other Public Institutions — Hoe Street — Hale End — Marsh Street — St. James's — The Reservoirs of the East London Waterworks Company
— Geological Discoveries— An Old Bridge — St. Stephen's Church — Whip's Cross— St. Peter's Church, Forest Side — Forest Grammar School.
lordships given by Earl Harold to the Abbey of
Waltham, and was confirmed to that house by the
Charter of Edward the Confessor in 1062. The
canons of Waltham held it at the time of the
survey ; and when Henry II. converted the secular
canons there into regulars, in 1177, he confirmed to
them this manor, as did also Richard I. by his
charter of 1198. Among other liberties belonging
to this Abbey, they were permitted to assart their
lands in Woodford and many other places, and
enclose them with a ditch and a low hedge, that
they might take of their woods at their pleasure ; to
have the forfeitures and assarts of their own men,
to hunt the fox, hare, and cat, in the forest ; that
their dogs should not be repudiated." The
manor and church of this parish continued in
the possession of the abbots and monks of
Waltham Holy Cross down to their dissolution,
in 1540, when it passed to the Crown. In 1545
John Lyson had the property which, being ex
changed with Edward VI., was given by the king
to Edward Fynes, Lord Clinton and Tey, from
whom it was shortly afterwards conveyed to Robert
Whetstone, whose son, Sir Bernard Whetstone,
succeeded him in the manor. In 1624 the pro
perty was conveyed to the Rowes, by whom it was
sold in 1675 to Sir Benjamin Thorowgood, who
was Lord Mayor of London in 1685, and whose
son conveyed it early in the last century to
Richard, Earl Tilney, from whom it descended
(through the Tilneys and Longs) to the late Lord
Mornington. The manor-house had been in the
meantime disposed of, but the manor was de
vised by Lord Mornington to the present owner,
Earl Cowley.

Once more, as may be inferred from the lines
which we have chosen as a motto for this chapter,
we have found ourselves back amidst the -dingles
and shady groves of Epping Forest, of which there
is still a considerable slice remaining within the
boundary of the parish of Woodford. This is a
very large and scattered parish, extending from
Walthamstow in the west to Chigwell in the east,
and from Chingford and Buckhurst Hill in the
north to Snaresbrook and Wanstead in the south.
The parish derives its name from the " ford " over
the river Roding, where now is Woodford Bridge, on
the road to Chigwell, but which once, doubtless, was
in the midst of a " wood " of oaks and hornbeams.
The river Roding, it may be added, was at that
time of more importance than now, and is said to
have been navigable for light barges as high above
Woodford as Abridge.
Woodford includes the four districts of Old
Woodford (or Church End, as it is popularly
called), Woodford Green, Woodford Wells, and
Woodford Bridge. Of these, the three first lie, in
the order above named, along the high road from
London to Epping. They are all remarkable for
the broad belts or tracts of open woodland which
skirt the road on either side, compelling the
houses for the most part to retreat gracefully from
the dusty highway.
The parish forms part of the Hundred of Becon-
tree — the last hundred in the county Londonward.
This hundred, with the privilege of baronial
authority, anciently belonged to the monastery of
Barking, but after the dissolution it passed to the
Crown. " Woodford," writes Mr. James Jones in
his local Directory, " was one of the seventeen

Woodford.]

1 BOROUGH-ENGLISH."

459

" The custom of the manor here," remarks Mr.
Frederic Johnson, in Weldon's " Guide to Epping
Forest," "is what is called 'Borough-English,'
under which the youngest son inherits. Though
the origin of this is not clear, it certainly prevailed
greatly in the kingdom of the East Saxons. By
its name, it has been observed to have been chiefly
used in boroughs, as it is still at Maldon, in this
county, and elsewhere; and the term English

which stands near the church, was sold by Lord
Tilney to Mr. Christopher Crow, by whom it
was disposed of, in 1727, to the Hunts, from whom,
again, it was purchased by the Maitlands. A few
years ago the estate was bought by the British
Land Company, who, after making various
roads through it, sold it in plots for building
purposes, and it is now known as the Woodford
Hall Estate, the Hall itself being purchased by the

CHURCHES AT WOODFORD.

denotes its derivation from our Saxon ancestors.
According to Littleton's ' Tenures,' it is very im
properly called Borough-English. His words are :
'Some boroughs have a custom that if a man
have issue many sons, and dieth, the youngest
shall inherit all the tenements which were bis
father's within the said borough as heir unto his
father, by force of the custom which is called
Borough-English.' Upon which Sir Edward Coke
makes this remark : ' Neither in an uplande
towne can there be a custom of Borough-English,
or gavelkinde ; but these are customs which may
in cities or boroughs.' "
The manor-house of Woodford, called the Hall,

trustees of Mrs. Gladstone's Convalescent Home,
and most happily utilised in aid of suffering hu
manity, mostly in the person of Londoners.
The parish of Woodford contains within its
bounds some 2,150 acres. In 1821 the popula
tion was 2,700, which number had increased in
187 1 to 4,600, and this again during the next ten
years to upwards of 7,100. Woodford has two
stations on the Epping and Ongar branch of the
Great Eastern Railway, about a mile apart : one at
George Lane, for Church End; and the other
further eastward, in Snake's Lane, for Woodford
Green and Woodford Bridge.
The hamlet of Woodford Bridge, as stated

460

GREATER LONDON.

[Woodford.

above, is so called because it stands near a
bridge across the Roding, which here is quite a
pretty rural stream, making its way between green
meadows and pollard willows, and looking as if
it was the haunt of kingfishers and other aquatic
birds. A triangular village green, planted with tall elms,
stands on the rising ground by the roadside, near
Claybury Hill. Here a new church was erected in
1854. It is built in the Early English style, and
forms an ornament. It is sad to record the fact
that the beauty of this spot has been sadly spoilt
by speculative builders, who have contrived to dis
figure the green with most hideous and abnormal
structures. " The road over the bridge, leading to the
pretty village of Chigwell," writes a local historian,
" is one of the ancient Essex roads into Suffolk
and Norfolk. Along this road probably the monks
travelled when conveying from London the re
mains of King Edward the Martyr for re-inter
ment at Bury St. Edmunds in 1013, and which,
on their way there, were deposited for one night by
the monks in a wooden chapel, or shrine, now the
little ancient church of Greenstreet, or Greensted,
near Chipping Ongar, Essex."
The following brief notice of this place appeared
in the Ambulator, published in 1793 : — " Woodford
Bridge, a village in the parish of Woodford, nine
miles from London, on the road to Ongar, situated
on a fine eminence, forming a very picturesque
appearance. Near the bridge is a neat pump of
excellent water, brought hither in 1776 at a great
expense by the proprietor of the estate for the
accommodation of the poor inhabitants ; and
not far from this is a manufactory of artificial
stone. Near the village is Ray House, the seat
of Sir James Wright, Bart, (the proprietor of the
artificial stone manufactory), and ' a pretty villa
built by Caesar Corsellis, Esq., on the site of a
house that had been the residence of Mrs. Eleanor
Gwynne, mother of Charles first Duke of St.
Albans." But the abode of Nell Gwynne in this
locality, it is to be feared, is not z. vtry trustworthy
tradition. Claybury Hall stands on high ground southward
of Woodford Bridge, near the green, and at one
time commanded some extensive views of forest
scenery. Towards the end of the last century the
estate was enlarged by the then owner, Mr. James
Hatch, who had purchased the mansion and
grounds of Luxborough House, mentioned in the
preceding chapter, the former of which he pulled
down, and the latter, with some others, he added
to his own demesne.

Ray House is still -standing, in Snake's Lane, a
little to the west of Woodford Bridge. It was
formerly the seat of the Clevelands and Hannots,
and was purchased in 1770 by the above-mentioned
Sir James Wright, who was some time Governor of
Virginia, and afterwards minister at Venice. The
manufactory which he established here was for the
production of artificial slates, " by a process he
had learned at Venice." Lysons, in his " Environs
of London" (1796), in speaking of this manu
factory, says : — " This slate is used for covering
roofs and fronts of houses ; for making pendent
frames for hay-ricks and stacks of corn, and safe
guards to preserve- them from vermin ; it is also
used for water-pipes and gutters. The buildings
where the manufacture is carried on are of this
slate, and were erected about thirty years ago."
The western end of Snake's Lane opens into the
main road through Woodford to Epping. The
principal part of Woodford, or Church End, lies a
little to the south. It is a village of scattered man
sions, nearly all standing in their own grounds. It
comprises no regular High Street, and scarcely a
row of shops.
The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is, with
the exception of the tower, a commonplace speci
men of the Gothic style of architecture which was
in vogue at the time of its erection, in 181 7, when
it was built on the site of a previous structure, ruth
lessly demolished in the previous year.
There is a print of the old church as it was
before it was pulled down in 1816, but it is very
scarce. It was an irregular nondescript edifice,
covered over with plaster, so as to conceal any
distinctive features. The tower was surmounted
by a cupola, and had small pinnacles at the
corners, instead of being battlemented, as now.
The present church, which is built of brick, coated
with stucco, consists of a nave, aisles, Chancel, and
south porch, with the tower above mentioned,
which has been left standing. The nave is
separated from the aisles by six pointed arches,
carried up to the roof, which is of open wood-work,
supported by eight pillars, and surmounted in the
centre by an octagonal lantern. The east window
is filled with painted glass, containing figures of
our Saviour, the four Evangelists, and St. Peter and
St. Paul.
A monument in the north-east corner of the
church commemorates Elizabeth Lee, Countess of
Lichfield ; and there is a brass on the south wall
to'a Mr. Wynche, dated 1590. Near it is a tablet
to the memory of Mr. Errington, who died in 1595.
On the east wall is a tablet to the memory of a
daughter of Sir Josiah Child, brought from Wan-

Woodford.]

woodford Hall.

461

stead. A curious monument close by records a
Jady, Mrs. Anne Thelwall ; and on the north wall
is the monument to Mrs. Selwyn, grandmother of
Bishop Selwyn.
At the south-west corner of the churchyard is a
tall Corinthian column of veined yellow marble,
surmounted by an urn. On the pedestal is a long
inscription, setting forth that it commemorates
"the ancient and knightly family of Godfrey,
which flourished many years in the county of
Kent," one of whom was Sir Edmund Bury
Godfrey, whose murder excited much agitation in
the reign of Charles II. * This monument, which
was raised particularly to the honour and glorification
of Mr. Peter Godfrey, sometime M.P. for London,
who died in ^42, was designed by Sir Robert
Taylor, and- was erected at a cost of ,£1,500. The
pillar has lately been restored and re-painted.
In the north-west corner of the churchyard is a
mausoleum of the Raikes and Pelby families. Among
other tombs and monuments to local worthies is
one to Sir Thomas George, Garter •King-at-Arms,
who died in 1703.
On the south side of the church is a yew-tree of
enormous growth; the trunk, at three feet from
the ground, is over fourteen feet in girth, whilst its
boughs form a circle of nearly two hundred feet.
The local tradition is that this tree is as old as the
church, but it probably is older even than the
fabric which was pulled clown in 1816.
On the north side of the churchyard stands
Woodford Hall, a large and substantial brick
mansion, surrounded by pleasant grounds. The
house was formerly the seat of the Hickmans and
Maitlands, but, as stated above, is now converted
into a convalescent home for the poor of London.
The Home was established by Mrs. Gladstone,
whose name it bears, in 1866, at Clapton, during
the cholera epidemic at the east end of London.
In the following year it was incorporated with that
of Mrs. Charlesworth at Snaresbrook, and was
finally transferred to Woodford Hall in 1869. The
institution will accommodate about eighty inmates,
from either the hospital or sick-room, who may
have been suffering from any form of disease not
contagious. They are admitted free of charge. It
may be added that this charity depends largely for
its support upon voluntary contributions, and that
the offices of the Home are at 30, Clarges Street,
Piccadilly. Connected with this parish are several other
charities; those in money alone reach to about £80
a year, and some of them had a curious origin.
* Sec " Old and New London," Vol. V., p.p. 289-90.

For instance, a pauper lunatic, one Sarah Ginn — a
somewhat suggestive name for a pauper lunatic —
having had a legacy bequeathed to her, which
realised £$<), it was assigned to the parish in con
sideration of her maintenance, together with an
annuity to her husband. The said legacy, which
was ultimately to revert to the poor of the parish,
was invested in parish trustees, where it remains,
and the amount of dividends is included in the
distribution of bread to the poor at Christmas.
Full details of the various charities in this parish,
and also extracts from the old vestry-books, are
given in Mr. Jones's " Directory of Woodford,"
from which we cull the following singular entry : —
" Walter Hickman, who died at Woodford Hall in
1540, bequeathed to Clement, his son, four of his
best ambling mares, his best gown lined with
fitches, and his russit gown lined with fox ; to the
church of Woodford he left ten pounds to redeem
paschal money at Easter, so that everybody in the
parish, when they came to God's board, might say
a paternoster and an ave for his soul and all
Christian souls."
In Weldon's " Guide to Epping Forest " it is
stated that in one of the registers is an account
of all the collections for charitable purposes (in the
nature of briefs) made at Woodford during a great
part of the seventeenth century, commencing in
1643. "One of the most remarkable," adds the
writer, " is that for the benefit of King Charles's
chaplains and domestic servants, collected about
twelve months after he was beheaded. Their
petition states that they, the late King's Majesty's
domestic servants, to the number of forty, being
in present distress, by reason that their sole de
pendence was upon the late King's Majesty, and
that their m'eans from the revenue of his late
Majesty were still detained, upon some reason
known to the committee, and could not be paid,
they were therefore so necessitated that they could
no wise subsist for the maintenance of themselves,
their wives, and families ; and they prayed the
charity of all good Christians."
Woodford Green, around which are clustered
the principal portion of the shops, hotels, and
private houses, as well as one or two large and
imposing chapels, lies about half a mile northward
from the parish church.
The Congregrational church, an ecclesiastical-
looking edifice in the Gothic style, was built in
1873, and consists of an apsidal nave, aisles,
transept, and a lofty tower and spire. The
building will seat about 800 persons, and there
are schools adjoining. " The history of the
Congregational Church in Woodford," writes the

462

GREATER LONDON.

[Woodford.

author of the local Directory above quoted, " dates
back to the latter end of the eighteenth century,
when Christian men came from London, and
preached the Gospel under a fine old tree which
stood on the village green. This led to hiring a
room for Divine service in Horn Lane, and in 1798
the first chapel was built, under the direction of two
of the trustees of Cheshunt College, in which for
a considerable time the students of the college

The village is well supplied with water by the
East London Water Company.
Woodford has its Art and Industrial Society,
which was formed in 1879, for the purpose of
encouraging art and industry, especially amongst
the poor. Numerous prizes are competed for each
year, and the exhibitions are held annually, in
Easter week, in the lecture hall at the rear of the
Congregational Church.

BMW |ii.\W« Iff

preached. This chapel is now used as the Mission
Room, and is commonly known as the Old British
School." In 1837 a new and much larger chapel
was erected ; but though it was again enlarged in
1862, and otherwise improved, it was taken down in
1873, to give place to the present structure.
The Union Church, so called from its members
being composed of " Congregationalists " and
" Free Methodists," was erected in 1869, on the
site of a former chapel for the Independent
Methodists. A conspicuous feature of the build
ing is a tall clock-tower. The Wesleyans have a
chapel in Derby Road : it was built in 1876.
There are schools in connection with it.

Among other institutions
which have been established at
Woodford for the social improve
ment of the working-classes are
the Musical and Horticultural
Societies, the Becontree Philan
thropic and Debating Club, and a " Young Men's
Mutual Improvement Society." The "Temper
ance cause" is well supported here, for besides the
Woodford Temperance Society and the George
Lane Institute, which have been established for
the purpose of affording the working-men of the
district the means of social intercourse, mental
improvement, pleasant recreation, and non-intoxi
cating refreshments, there is on the Green, near
Higham Hall, a very large and conspicuous Tem
perance Hotel, or " coffee tavern," named after
Sir Wilfrid Lawson, who opened it in May, 1883.
It was erected under the auspices of Mr. Andrew
Johnston, late M.P. for South-Essex. This latest

Woodford.]

HARTS.'

463

addition to the public institutions of Woodford has
given rise to the following epigram : —
" All hops abandon ye who enter here :
The wicked Wilfrid haunts this watery cavern ;
No wine, no whiskey, not e'en bitter beer
Flows through the channels of the Coffee Tavern. '
The steaming coffee and the fragrant tea
Are ready where each eye can plainly see 'em.
' Tea-total ' then let each incomer be,
And while ' Te Total' let him sing ' Te Deum.'"
Several good mansions standing within their

widow of Mr. John Warner, a London banker, who
left it to her son, Mr. Richard Warner, the
naturalist, who here planted a botanical garden,
and very successfully cultivated rare exotics. Mr.
Warner was the author of "Planta Woodfordiensis,"
a work of great value to the botanist, though now
a little out of date, as he follows Ray's system of
classification and nomenclature ; and as several of
the ferns which he describes more or less minutely
are now extinct, the work is very much super-

THE "HORSE AND WRI.I.," WOODFORD WELl.S. (See page 46,, )

own grounds are still scattered round about in the
neighbourhood of Woodford Green. The oldest
of these, perhaps, is " Harts," which stands to the
north-east. It was built early in the seventeenth
century by Sir Richard Handforth, Master of the
Wardrobe to James I., who is said to have been
frequently entertained here when hunting in Epping
Forest. The house was afterwards the seat of the
Onslow family, to whom it was conveyed by
marriage ; and here Mr. Arthur Onslow, sometime
Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of
George II., was born. On the removal of the
Onslows into Surrey, this estate was sold to a Mr.
Sherman, a draper, of Cheapside. His daughter
and heiress disposed of it to Mrs. Warner, the

seded by the " Flora of Essex," by Mr. G. S.
Gibson of Saffron Walden. " Warner," writes Mr.
Thorne, in his " Environs of London," " was also
distinguished as a book-collector, for his critical
knowledge of Shakspere, and by translations from
Plautus ; and did what he could to advance and
perpetuate after his death the tastes he cultivated in
life by bequeathing his fine library to Wadham
College, Oxford, and a sum of money for founding
a botanical lectureship."
Monkhams, the seat of Mr. Henry Ford Barclay,
fronts the eastern side of the Green, which extends
from his gates northwards as far as the new church
of All Saints, the tall spire and fine proportions of
which form a charming picture, from whatever side

464

GREATER LONDON.

[Woodford.

you view them. The church is modern, having
been erected by subscription in 1874; it is of
stone, and in the Early English and Decorated style.
It was built from the designs of Mr. F. E. C.
Streatfeild, and consists of a nave, aisles, chancel,
north transept (used as a vestry), and tower
surmounted by a shingled spire. The north aisle
was added in 1876. The reredos, given by one of
the churchwardens, is constructed of stone and
marble, and is carved with a representation of the
Crucifixion of our Lord. The east window, of
stained glass, was the gift of Mr. Henry F. Barclay ;
the organ was presented by Mrs. Barclay, and the
font by Mrs. Buxton.
The Firs, on the west side of the Green,
opposite Monkhams, is the residence of Mr.
Andrew Johnston, who was the colleague of Mr.
Wingfield-Baker in the representation of South
Essex in Parliament from 1S68 to 1874. Mr.
Johnston served as High Sheriff of the county in
1881, and in the same year was chosen Chairman of
the Essex Quarter Sessions.
Prospect Hall, by the side of the high road at
the north end of the Green, is considered one of
the finest brick-built mansions in the parish. It
dates its erection from the middle of the last
century, and was for many years the seat of Mr.
Robert Moxon, by whom it was built. It was
subsequently occupied as a school, at which time
the south wing was added, but was subsequently
converted into two private houses.
Woodford Wells, about half a mile farther north
ward, on the road towards Epping, and lying at the
foot of Buckhurst Hill, is connected with Wood
ford Green by rows of humble roadside cottages,
and a few villa residences of a better kind. The
hamlet — which has a cheerful rural appearance,
situated as it is just on the borders of Epping
Forest — received its designation of Woodford
Wells from a medicinal spring which appears to
have been in repute about the middle of the last
century. History is silent as to when or how
it was discovered. The " Wells," however, have
never reached the popularity attained by those of
Hampstead, or Epsom, or Tunbridge, nor, so far
as I have been able to learn, is their memory en
shrined in any popular novel or comedy. In an
" Itinerary of Twenty-five Miles Round London,"
published towards the end of the last century, the
writer thus describes this locality : — " A mineral
spring, which rises in the forest at a little dis
tance from the ' Horse and Groom ' [now known
as the " Horse and Well "], was formerly in good
repute, and much company resorted to drink the
waters at a house of public entertainment called

' Woodford Wells ; ' but the waters have long lost
their reputation."
The house of public entertainment above- re
ferred to had been at that time converted into a
private dwelling-house ; but the memory of the
"wells" is perpetuated by. an ornamental drink-
ing-fountain, covered by a tall roof of enamelled
slate, which has been erected over a well in front
of some wooden cottages opposite the " Horse and
Well" Inn.
Among the more important mansions at Wood
ford Wells are Knighton House, the seat of Mr.
Edward North Buxton, one of the Verderers of
Epping Forest ; and the Manor House, which was
formerly used as the parish workhouse, but has
been again converted into a private residence.
This old house is said to have been once occupied
by Robert Devereux, the celebrated Earl of Essex.
Mr. James Thorne, in his " Environs of London,"
states that tradition has fixed upon Grove House,
which stood west of Woodford Church, as having
been a hunting lodge of the Earl of Essex, and
adds, " but there is no authority for the assertion."
Mr. Thorne gives the following particulars of
Grove House : — " It was spacious, and some of
the rooms were large and curiously fitted. . One,
known as the ball-room, had on the walls twelve
paintings in tempera of landscapes and subjects of
rural life ; the ' water-work ' for the walls Falstaff
recommends to Mrs. Quickly as a substitute for
her tapestry. The house was taken down in 1832,
and the site and grounds built over.''
A few names of note occur among the residents
at Woodford. The pious George Herbert, author
of " The Temple," lived here for some time with
his brother, Sir Henry Herbert, having removed
hither for the benefit of the air when suffering from
an attack of ague.
Woodford was the birthplace of Sydney Smith,
the witty canon of St. Paul's, of the late eminent
ecclesiastical architect, Mr. George Edward Street,
and also of Sir Thomas White, who was Lord
Mayor of London in 1877.
Sir James Campbell, who in 1649 founded a free
school at Great Ilford, was a resident "at Wood
ford, as also was Nicholas Lockyer, some time
Provost of Eton, but ejected for nonconformity at
the Restoration ; he died here in 1685. The Rev.
Thomas Maurice, the author of a work on "In
dian Antiquities," and an assistant librarian at the
British Museum, was for many years curate of
Woodford. Walthamstow, which adjoins Woodford on the
west, is a very extensive parish, as may be inferred
when it is stated in Kelly's " Post Office Directory

Walthamstow.]

A CURIOUS TRADITION.

4<5.5

of Essex '' that it contains over fifty miles of road
way. It is bounded on the north by Chingford,
and on the south by Leyton, and has a broad tract
of marsh land towards the Lea, by which river it is
separated from Middlesex. Altogether, the area of
the parish is some 4,500 acres, some considerable
portion of which is covered by the delightful wood
land scenery of Epping Forest. Its surface is
pleasantly undulated ; on the forest side are to be
found many spots of sylvan beauty, particularly in
the neighbourhood of the " Rising Sun," on the
new road made through the forest from Whip's Cross
to Woodford, on either side of which are banks and
hollows, well overgrown or partially hidden among
pollard oak, horn beam, and the luxuriant holly,
evergreen in the winter.
Down to about a century ago this district was
almost covered by the forest, which extended in
parts almost close up to the river Lea ; but in 1777
this was disafforested, and has since then been
largely cultivated as pasture-land, which is now in
turn being rapidly swallowed up for building pur
poses. A considerable portion of the parish,
however, on the north side, around Chapel End
and Hale End, two outlying hamlets, stretching
away to the river Lea, are still broad belts of
meadow land, through the centre 0/ which winds
the old road to Chingford and Waltham Abbey.
Previous to the embankment of the Thames
near the outlet of the river Lea, the marshes here
abouts were frequently overflown, the water extend
ing attimes to a mile in width. Even now, in
very wet weather or uncommonly high tides, the
marshes in the neighbourhood of Lea Bridge, at
the south-western extremity of the parish, are sub
merged. Running parallel with the entire southern boun
dary of the main portion of the parish, and divid
ing the adjoining parish of Leyton into two parts,
is a long strip of land, concerning which there is a
tradition that it was acquired by Walthamstow in a
very singular manner. In a " History of Waltham
stow," published in 1861, the author observes : —
"Tradition says that a dead body was found in the
river Lea at this point, and that the parishioners of
Leyton would not pay the expenses of burial ; that
in those days it was customary in such cases for the
parish who buried the body to claim as much of
the land from the other parish as those persons
who carried the body could reach, stretching out
their hands in a line, and walking together. They
were' allowed to walk from the point where the
body was found to the greatest extremity of the
parish, and claim the land ; if so, they certainly
availed themselves of the privilege, for they walked

through Leyton to the Eagle Point at Snares
brook." Walthamstow can scarcely be called a town, or
even a village, but is rather a collection of distinct
hamlets and clusters of houses, called " streets," or
" ends," each of which is known by some par
ticular name — as St. James's Street, Ploe Street,
Wood Street, Clay Street, Marsh Street, Hale End,
Church End, Chapel End, Shernhall Street, Whip's
Cross, Higham End, and Woodford Side. The
principal part of the parish lies on the roads lead
ing to Waltham Abbey and to Woodford ; it is
about six miles from the churches of Shoreditch
and Whitechapel, and there are four railway-sta
tions on the Chingford branch of the Great
Eastern Railway in its transit through the parish,
namely, at St. James's Street, Hoe Street, Wood
Street, and Hale End. In 187 1 the number of the
inhabitants was a little more than 11,000, which
almost doubled itself within the next ten years.
The more thriving parts of the parish lie on a
pleasant slope, well sheltered from the east and north
winds ; and that its climate is mild may be gathered
from the fact that two centuries ago, as we shall
see, the vine flourished here sufficiently to produce
good wine. It has already been mentioned that
the eastern suburbs afford a curious contrast to
those of the west and south-west of London, and
Walthamstow is an instance in point. It has really
next to no literary history ; at all events, it figures
scarcely at all in the biographical or historical
anecdotes of the last two centuries. It has reared
few poets, painters, historians, or men whose names
have become famous : in fact, its annals are almost
a blank ; and possibly on that very account it may
have been, and may be, all the happier.
The name of Walthamstow does not claim an
entry in the Diary of worthy John Evelyn. Horace
Walpole lived at its very Antipodes, as far south-west
of Charing Cross as Walthamstow lies north-east ;
and probably, surrounded by his fair Lepels
and Waldegraves, he would have disdained the
vulgar city whose houses rose on the slopes on the
east of the Lea. Besides,, though everybody knew
the Thames at Teddington and Twickenham, who
had ever heard of the Lea, except in connection
possibly with Izaak Walton, whom, doubtless, he
regarded as having been a sort of myth, and quite
out of society ? In fact, though he was an occa
sional visitor at Wanstead House, Walpole pro
bably would scarcely have been sure whether
Walthamstow was in Essex or in Hertfordshire.
The derivation of the name of the village is
simple enough ; for Stow, or Stowe, in the Anglo-
Saxon, denotes a place, or, according to Halliwell's

466

GREATER LONDON.

[Walthamstow.

Archaic Dictionary, " a place for putting things in,"
a word which still survives as a verb to " stow-away,"
and also as a substantive in " stowage." The term
is common both as a suffix and a prefix ; thus we
have Longstow and Bristow (now Bristol), as also
Stowmarket and Stow-on-the-Wold.
In the reign of Edward the Confessor the great
part of this parish belonged to Waltheof, son of
Seward, Earl of Northumberland, other portions
being in the possession of Peter de Valoines, Ralph
de Toni, and one Halden, "a freeman." Waltheof,
it is recorded, defended himself bravely against the
Normans ; but having submitted to the rule of the
Conqueror, was restored to his paternal estates.
His bravery and eminent qualities appear to have
stood him in good stead with William, for he not
only received back his confiscated broad acres, but
received in marriage Judith, the king's niece, and
had conferred upon him the Earldoms of North
umberland, Northampton, and Huntingdon. Wal
theof, however, in the end became drawn into a
conspiracy to bring about the king's deposition,
the secret of which he unwittingly confided to his
wife, who, as the story goes, "having placed her
affections upon another, betrayed him, and gladly
communicated the intelligence of the plot to her
uncle." The result was that Waltheof was con
demned and executed. In the Domesday Survey
this manor is entered as belonging to Waltheof's
widow, the Countess Judith. Waltheof left two
daughters, one of whom conveyed this estate by
marriage to the above-mentioned Ralph de Toni,
who was a son of Toni, standard-bearer to the
Conqueror; hence the designation of Walthamstow
Toni, which the chief manor bears to this day. It
continued with this family till the death of the last
heir-male, Robert de Toni, early in the fourteenth
century, when it passed, by the marriage of his
sister, who had inherited the estate, to Guy de
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. The manor re
mained in the Warwick family till the fifteenth
century, when it was conveyed by marriage to
Thomas, Lord Roos. In the seventeenth century
the manor was owned by Sir George Rodney, who
sold it to Lord Maynard, with whose descendants
it has since continued.
Besides the principal manor of Walthamstow
Toni, there are four other manors in the parish,
named respectively Low Hall, Higham Bensted,
Salisbury Hall, and the Rectory Manor.
The manor of Higham Bensted, or Highams,
belonged in the reign of Edward the Confessor to
the above mentioned Halden the freeman. It
would be not only tedious, but needless, to name
its successive owners since that time ; suffice it to

say that among them have been the knightly fami
lies of the Lovels and Herons.
Higham House, a large square brick mansion
with wings, occupying a commanding situation on
the north side of the parish, on the borders of
Woodford, was built in the last century by Anthony
Bacon, from whom it was bought by Governor
Hornby. It is now the property of the Warner
family. The manor of Walthamstow Sarum, or Salisbury
Hall, is situated at Chapel End, on the western
side of the parish. It took the name of Salisbury
from the unfortunate Margaret Plantagenet, Countess
of Salisbury, under whom the manor was held by
the Tyrwhit family. In the middle of the sixteenth
century it was granted to Sir Thomas White.
Chapel End is so called from having had in
former times a chapel there, dedicated to Edward
the Confessor. The present church of this district,
dedicated to St. John, is a plain, uninteresting
structure, of " mixed " — i.e., nondescript — architec
ture, and was built in 1829.
Bellevue House, a modern erection, is pleasantly
situated near the borders of the forest. It is built
of brick, with stone dressings, and has a semi
circular portico supported by Ionic columns. The
park and pleasure-grounds are extensive ; they are
beautifully wooded, and contain a fine lake. The
house stands on an eminence which commands the
vale of Lea, the forest, and a large tract of Essex,
with glimpses of the scenery in Herts, Middlesex,
Kent, and Surrey.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary the
Virgin, stands in the district called Church End,
about midway between the stations of Hoe Street
and Wood Street. The church is built of brick,
thickly coated over with cement, and is as devoid
of architectural interest as could be wished by the
most austere of Puritans. It comprises a nave,
aisle, chancel, and an embattled tower at the
western end, containing six bells. The building,
which stands on the site of an earlier structure,
was erected in the early part of the sixteenth
century. Sir George Monoux appears to have de
frayed the expense of the tower and north aisle,
and to have built the chapel at the east end of it,
in which he and Lady Monoux are interred ; the
south aisle was built by Robert Thorne, a merchant
of London and Bristol, and the founder of the
grammar-school at Bristol. The following inscrip
tion was formerly to be seen at the eastern end of
the south aisle : — " Christian people, pray for the
soul of Robert Thorne, with whose goods this syde
of the church was new edyfied and finished in
I535-"

WaUhnmstow.]

ALMSHOUSES AND CHARITIES.

467

In 181 7 the church was enlarged, repaired, and
" beautified," at a cost of upwards of .£3,000 ; in
1843 £l>°°° more were expended in remodelling
the nave and in enriching the east window with
stained glass; and in 1876 further alterations were
made in the interior by reducing the hitherto un
sightly galleries to about half their original pro
portions, converting the old-fashioned pews in the
body of the church into open benches, and re
placing the ceiling with a roof of stained wood.
The monuments in the church are interesting. o
Among them is one in the north aisle to Lady
Lucy Stanley, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas,
Earl of Northumberland, and wife of Sir Edward
Stanley; it comprises a life-size kneeling effigy
under an arch. On the east wall of the chancel
is an elaborate monument to Elizabeth, Lady Merry,
wife of Sir Thomas Merry, dated 1632. This
monument, which was executed by Nicholas Stone,
contains busts of Sir Thomas and Lady Merry,
and also of their four children. On the east wall
of the north aisle are brasses, with effigies of Sir
George Monoux, the founder of this part of the
church, and of Ann, Lady Monoux. Sir George,
who filled the office of Lord Mayor of London,
died in 1543; his wife died in 1500. The brass
is also engraved with the arms of the Drapers'
Company. At the west end of the south aisle is a
large white marble monument, with statues of the
deceased, life-size, to Sigismond Trafford, of Dun-
ton Hall, Lincolnshire, who died in 1723, and his
wife Susannah, - who died in 1689. Dr. William
Pierce, Bishop of Bath and Wells, lies buried in
the chancel. A small tablet on one of the pillars
commemorates Sir James Vallentin, sheriff of Lon
don, who died in 1870. There are also monuments
to the Bonnells, Maynards, Coles, Lowthers, &c.
The churchyard, at the north entrance to which is
a fine elm-tree, contains a large number of tombs
and monuments, one of which, to Thomas Turner,
dated 17 14, has a yew-tree growing at each corner.
In the Book of Chantries in Essex, under date of
1547, occurs the following entry: — "Lands and
tenements put in feoffment by George Monoux,
Gent, to the mayntenance of a priest to sing
masse in the church there, and also to teach a few
scholars there, during the term* of twenty years ;
and one Sir John Hughson, clerk, of the age of
forty years, and of good conversation, literate,
and teaches a school there, ys now incumbent
thereof. The said incumbent celebrateth in the
church of Walthamstow ; £1 yerely valew of the
same drth. amount to the sum of £6 13s. 4d. —
rent resolute none — goods and chatties none."
¦In 1650 the commission appointed to inquire

into the state of ecclesiastical benefices estimated
the annual value of Walthamstow vicarage at £40,
including tithes and glebe. The commission re
ports further that John Wood was their vicar ; but
that " he is questioned for his abilities, and is dis
liked by the greater part of the inhabitants, who
will not come to church to hear him, whereby
there is great distraction in the parish."
In " The Complete. English Traveller," pub
lished in 1771, the author writes: — "From the
architecture of the church at Walthamstow, it
appears to have been first built soon after the
monastery of the Holy Trinity in 1 1 1 2, and pro
bably by the same foundress, who was Matilda,
the wife of Henry I. However, if it was not built at
that time, it was at least soon after ; but it has had
so many additional repairs since that time, that
little remains of the ancient edifice are to be seen."
The author speaks of a gallery being at that time
at the west end of the church, and adds, " but there
are none in the side aisles."
Thomas Cartwright, afterwards Bishop of Ches
ter, was vicar of this parish in the middle of the
seventeenth century; and Edward Chishull, a
learned antiquary and divine, was instituted to the
living in 1708.
In Lyson's " Environs of London " it is stated
that among the Carta? Antique in the muniment-
room at St. Paul's cathedral, there is an order for
the more solemn observation of processions at
Walthamstow, bearing date 1328.
Close by the churchyard stands a picturesque
row of red brick almshouses for thirteen pensioners,
and also the Grammar School, founded and endowed
by Sir George Monoux, whose monument we have
seen in the church. Walthamstow is altogether well
off for almshouses and charitable institutions, for
besides those just mentioned, a Mrs. Mary Squires
founded in 1795 almshouses for six poor widows,
each of whom receives a certain yearly stipend ; and
in 18 10 Mrs. Jane Collard founded ten almshouses
for ten married couples, each couple receiving 4s.
weekly. The charities in this parish amount alto
gether to rather more than £1,150 annually. St.
John's Industrial Home, in Shernhall Street, at a
short distance eastward from the church, was
founded under the auspices of the Roman Catholic
body in 1873, and affords a comfortable home and
training in various useful pursuits for 150 boys.
Shern Hall is a large and ancient brick building,
standing in extensive grounds, and was for several
years the residence of Cardinal Wiseman.
Walthamstow House, close by, is another large
brick mansion, standing within its own grounds.
It was built and occupied by Sir Robert Wigram,

468

GREATER LONDON.

[Walthamstow.

the second baronet, but has since been occupied
as a school, and is now St. Mary's Orphanage.
It may interest many of our readers to know that
Benjamin Disraeli, the future Prime Mimster of
England, was partly educated at a private school
kept by a Unitarian minister, Mr. Cogan, at Higham
Hill, in this parish.
The writer may be pardoned for quoting from
his own " Life of Lord Beaconsfield " the follow
ing particulars of his lordship's schoolboy days : —
" One of his schoolfellows still living tells me that

" He is said to have had Mr. Milner Gibson
among his schoolfellows at the suburban academy
at Walthamstow. He never went to either of our
great .Universities, and the knowledge which he
picked up at school was fragmentary and out of the
beaten path, though naturally it was subsequently
enriched by Continental travel.
" It is remarkable that with botn of his early
novels he interwove a school-fight, in which an
oppressed boy rises against his oppressor, and gains
his revenge. Is it possible — or rather, is it not pro-

GRAM.MAR SCHOOLS AND ALMSHOUSES, WALTHAMbTOW CHURCHYARD.

as a boy young Disraeli was not remarkable for his
attention to his lessons, or for his fondness for
classical or mathematical studies ; but that he was
a great dandy, and also a devourer of curious and
out-of-the-way literature, old romances, plays, and
histories ; and that he would often keep the other
boys awake at night by telling them all sorts of
stories, which he would invent as he went along.
' The child,' in his case, ' was the father of the
man.' He was shy and reserved, and would
wander by himself in the glades of the forest hard
by, his only companions being a book and his
master's favourite dog. His holidays were doubt
less divided between his father's house in Blooms-
bury and his grandfather's villa at Enfield,

bable — that this sketch was so far autobiographical,
and that he fought his way among the boys at
Walthamstow, having found the finger of scorn
pointed at him on account of his Jewish origin ? "
Besides the houses already mentioned, there are
still several others to be met with in different parts,
which, from their spaciousness, and the fact of their
standing apart in their own grounds — to shun, as
it were, the obtrusiveness of their humbler neigh
bours — clearly show that they were in former times
the abodes of the flourishing and opulent citizen.
Sir Charles Pope, Bart., had a villa here ; as also
had Gwillim, the herald, as appears by his account
of Queen Elizabeth's funeral, printed in the
" Monumenta Vetusta." George Gascoigne, a

Walthamstow.]

SIR WILLIAM BATTEN.

469

celebrated poet of the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
is, according to Lysons, supposed to have been a
native of Walthamstow. Here, at all events, he
lived late in life. The dedication of his " Com-
playnt of Philomeal " is dated from his " pore house
at Walthamstow, the sixteenth? of April, 1575."
Here lived Sir William Batten and his wife,
Elizabeth, Lady Batten, who is frequently men
tioned in Pepys' "Diary" as a gossiping friend of his
wife, and as occasionally visited by the ill-matched

&c. He read all, and his sermon very simple.
Back to dinner at Sir William Batten's ; and then,
after a walk in the fine gardens, we went to Mrs.
Browne's, where Sir William Pen and I were god
fathers, and Mrs. Jordan and Shipman godmothers
to her boy. And there, both before and after the
christening, we were with the woman above in her
chamber : but whether we carried ourselves well
or ill, I know not, but I was directed by young
Mrs. Batten. One passage of a lady that eate

FOREST GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

couple here. Lady Batten married for her second
husband a foreigner with a title, possibly a Baron
or Count Leyenberg, for as Lady Leyenberg she
lies buried here. Her husband was a frequent
companion of Pepys in his travels about London
and its suburbs. The following entry in the Diary
of the latter occurs under date May 29, 1661 : —
"King's birthday: rose early, and put six spoons
and a poringer of silver in my pocket, to give
away to-day. Sir W. Pen and I took coach, and
(the weather and the way being foule) went to
Walthamstowe ; and being come there, heard Mr.
Radcliffe, my former schoolfellow at St. Paul's
(who is yet a merry boy), preach upon ' Nay, let
him take all, since my lord the king is returned,'
40

wafers with her dog did a little displease me. I
did give the midwife ten shillings, and the nurse
five shillings, and the maid of the house two shil
lings. But forasmuch as I expected to give my
name to the childe, but did not, it being called
John, I forebore to give them my plate."
It appears from Pepys' " Diary," July, 1667, that
good wine was produced from a vineyard adjoining
Sir William Batten's house here. " He did give
the company that were there a bottle or two of his
own last year's wine, grown at Walthamstow, than
which the whole company said they never drank
better foreign wine in their lives."
Pepys notes in the October following the death
of his friend, Sir William Batten, recording also the

470

GREATER LONDON.

[Walthamstow.

gratifying fact that his body was carried from Lon
don "with a hundred or two of coaches" to its
final resting-place at Walthamstow.
The Town Hall, in the Orford Road, a short
distance southward of the church, was built in
1876; it is constructed of brick and stone in the
"modern French" style, and contains offices for
the Vestry and Local and Burial Boards. The
building occupies the site of, and is in part incor
porated with, an old hall which had been for many
years used for meetings and public entertainments.
The parish can also boast of its Working Men's
Club and Institute, and a Social Club. A cemetery
was formed here in 1872. It covers about eleven
acres, and contains the usual mortuary chapels.
Besides the mother church of Walthamstow,
the parish possesses four or five district churches,
besides chapels for Roman Catholics and for the
various denominations of Dissenters, among which
the Congregationalists largely preponderate.
Hoe Street, or High Street, which crosses the
parish from the Lea Bridge Road in the south
to Clay Street in the north, was once the chief tho
roughfare leading from Walthamstow to Stratford
Langthorne Abbey, and thence over Bow Bridge
to London. A large number of houses have been
of late years erected close by Hoe Street Station,
and there are also several good shops.
Hale End, the most northerly hamlet of Waltham
stow, bordering upon Chingford Hatch, is for the
most part open meadow-land ; but a great part of
it is laid out in plots for building. This district
is said to have been named Hale End from one
Thomas Hale, who was the owner of a large house
there in the early part of the seventeenth century.
Marsh Street is one of the principal thorough
fares, east and west, through the parish ; it runs
parallel with the railway on its northern side, by
the district known as St. James's Street, and so on
towards the Lea and Tottenham. Many of the
old-fashioned houses and shops in Marsh Street
are giving place to new and more fashionable
buildings. The Congregational Church in this
street, erected in 1870, is a large stone building
of Gothic design, with a tall tower and spire.
The St. James's Street district comprises a large
collection of humble cottages, built mostly of wood,
and a few houses and shops lining the roadway
near the railway-station, a large brewery, &c.
St. James's Church, built in 1840, is a brick
building with semi-circular headed windows, &c,
but of no interest. St. Saviour's Church, in Mark-
house Road, about half a mile to the south from
St. James's, was erected in 1874, from the designs
of Mr. T. F. Dolman, the cost being defrayed by

Mr. Richard Foster and Mr. John Knowles. It is '
built of Kentish rag, in the Early Decorated style.
To the south-west of St. James's Street, and
covering a large space of ground between the rail
way and river Lea, some 150 acres, are the reser-
voirs of the East London Waterworks Company,
the construction of which was commenced in 1869.
These reservoirs, which have the appearance of
a miniature lake ornamented with tree-covered
islands, are capable of holding 500,000,000 gallons
of water. The formation of these reservoirs led to
important geological discoveries, the subsoil being
found to be very rich in remains of the pre-historical
period, extending back to the time when the whole
district hereabouts was fen and forest. The area,
as we have already shown, formed a portion of the
great forest of Essex, which, under the name of
Walthamstow Forest, was disafforested in 1777.
If history may be relied upon, wolves were met
with there so late as the end of the fifteenth century,
and early in the twelfth century it abounded in
wolves, wild boars, stags, and wild bulls. From an
account of the discoveries which were made during
the formation of the reservoirs, and which appeared
in the Leisure Hour of November 1st, 1869, we
quote the following interesting particulars : —
" First underneath the turf is about two feet of
clayey loam, a deposit from occasional floods ;
below this is an irregular bed of peat, usually about
three feet thick, abounding in oak and alder timber,
and hazel-nuts, now the colour of ebony ; next
comes a most interesting line of varying thickness,
formed of white marly matter, being, in fact, the
small shells and calcareous mud of the pools that
once dotted the surface. The shell beds may be
traced in winding courses, as the bottoms and sides
of former shallow pools. The shells are in myriads,
with both valves, and in their natural position, as
on the banks of the Lea now. Besides the fresh
water shells, there are land shells, blown or drifted
into the stream or pools. A pretty collection may
readily be made of six kinds of snail-shell, five
Limneas, three kinds of Planorbis, two of the
Unio, and others : twenty-six species in all.
"But the shells were not the only creatures
which resorted to the ponds of the old forest-
marsh. In the marl, and a bed of clay and peat
below it, there have been and are being found the
following : — A few bones of fishes ; a few bones of
birds ; the present ox ; the ancient ox (Primi-
genius) ; the elk, determined by Professor Owen
(see Geological Magazine, September, 1869; Times,
September 17th, 1869); reindeer, fallow-deer, abun
dant ; hog, horse, beaver, wolf, dog, goat ; and
lastly, the traces of man. AVe may mention two

Walthamstow.]

WHIP'S CROSS.

4/i

bronze spear-heads, one bronze arrow-head, one
bronze knife, one iron sword, late Celtic, part of
the bronze sheath of a late Celtic dagger, part of
an armlet turned out of Kimmeridge coal, a
pierced axe-head of stag's horn, a bone knife, a
stag's horn club, various antique pottery, flint
scraper, &c. Most of these objects have been sent
to the British Museum, and determined by Mr.
Franks. Csesar records the existence both of the
elk and the reindeer in -the forests of Germany in
his time. The remains above mentioned cover the
whole historic period, but do not go further back."
We shall have more to say with reference to the
geological discoveries which have been made in
what is called the London Clay when we reach Ilford.
Close by this spot there were formerly some ex
tensive copper mills. These were bought by the
Waterworks Company, and a canal made there
from to convey the water from the former mill-
stream to the filter beds. It is stated that in the
formation of this canal the remains of anchors and
boats were found in the marshes by the workmen.
A large number of persons were previously em
ployed at the copper mills. A coin was made
there, having on it the figure of a lion, and the
inscription, "British Copper Company Rolling
Mills, Walthamstow — one penny."
Many years ago, in consequence of the frequent
overflowing of the river Lea, a wooden bridge was
constructed from about the foot of Syborne's Hill
nearly to Lea Bridge, by which the inhabitants of
Walthamstow used to pass on their way towards
Hackney and London. In the place of that
wooden bridge, which is stated to have been
erected by Sir George Monoux, a large bridge of
brick and stone, about a quarter of a mile in length,
consisting of thirty-four arches, was built about a
century ago.
St. Stephen's Church, in the Grove Road, is a large
building of yellow brick, of Early English design,
and was consecrated in 1878: it consists of chan
cel, nave, aisles, transepts, baptistery, and a small
bell-turret. The "consolidated chapelry" of St.
Stephen was formed in 1880 from the parishes of

St. Mary, Walthamstow, and St. Mary, Leyton,
to meet the requirements of the district lying be
tween the Orford and Beulah Roads on the north
and theLea Bridgeon the south ; thelatter thorough
fare, which communicates with the forest at Whip's
Cross, lies almost wholly within the boundary of
Leyton. Here within the last few years building has
been actively carried on, streets and terraces having
sprung into existence with remarkable rapidity; and
tramcars ply on the road between Lea Bridge and
Whip's Cross.
Whip's Cross is at the extreme southern angle
of the parish, and forms the entrance to the
forest at the point where the roadway crosses
through to the " Eagle " at Snaresbrook. It is
supposed that Whip's Cross was so named from
having been in former times the starting-point
from which persons who were found stealing
wood or deer from the forest were whipped at
the cart-tail through Wood Street to Stoker's
Corner. No doubt this whipping process was of
frequent occurrence in former times : that is, if
the thieves did not escape with their booty scot
free. Among the Remembrancia of the City of
London is a letter from Sir E. Phellips, dated in
1 6 14, desiring the arrest of one Harte, as "the
greatest destroyer of Deere in Waltham Forest,"
probably about this neighbourhood.
The church of St. Peter, at Forest Side, is a
brick building of no architectural pretensions : one
of those, in fact, which may be commended more
for their usefulness than their beauty.
The Forest Grammar-school is pleasantly situated
in an open part of Epping Forest, near Snares
brook, but in Walthamstow parish, and forms a
large and handsome range of brick buildings, with
boarding-houses, spacious school-rooms, &c. This
school, which is in connection with King's College,
London, was founded in 1834 by a number of the
resident gentry of the neighbourhood. There are
about 130 pupils, and in each year two scholar
ships of ^35 and £4$ respectively are given.
The chapel, which is of Gothic design, was built
by subscription in 1856, and enlarged in 1874.

47 s

GREATER LONDON.

[Snaresbrook.

CHAPTER L.
SNARESBROOK AND WANSTEAD.
" Everywhere
Nature is lovely : on the mountain height,
Or where the embosom'd mountain glen displays
Secure sublimity, or where around
The undulated surface gently slopes
With mingled hill and valley — everywhere
Nature is lovely ; even in scenes like these,
Where not a hillock breaks the unvaried plain,
The eye may find new charms that seeks delight."
General Appearance of the Locality — Snaresbrook — The "Rights" of Commoners — The "Eagle" at Snaresbrook and the Eagle Pond —
The Infant Orphan Asylum — Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum — Christ Church — Almshouses of the Weavers' Company — Area and
Population of Wanstead — Its Boundaries, &c. — Etymology — Traces of Roman Occupation — Descent of the Manor — The Earl of
Leicester and Queen Elizabeth — A " Spa" at Wanstead — Pepys' Opinion of Wanstead House — Visit of John Evelyn — Wanstead
House Rebuilt by Sir Richard Child, afterwards Earl Tylney — Description of the House and Grounds — The Great Telescope — The
Maypole from the Strand — Death of Lord Tylney— Subsequent History of Wanstead House — Its Demolition — Wanstead Park secured
for the People by the Corporation of London — The Park, Gardens, and Grotto — Lake House, the Residence of Thomas Hood — Cann
Hall —The Parish Church — The Village of Wanstead — The George Inn— An Expensive Pie — Park Gate— Wanstead Flats — The Princess
Louise Home and National Society for the Protection of Young Girls — Dr. James Pound — The Maypole from the Strand — James Bradley,
the Astronomer — Admiral Sir William Penn — William Penn, the Founder of Pennsylvania.

Notwithstanding that the district through which
we are about to travel is singularly flat, and that
scarcely a " hillock breaks the unvaried plain,"
lying as it does on the southern margin of Epping
Forest, it contains many charming spots of forest
woodland, even if the scenery is too tame to be
styled beautiful. The Roding meanders through
broad green meadows, and in one part in its pro
gress through Wanstead Park opens out into a fine
expanse of water, dotted over with little islands.
Hence Snaresbrook and Wanstead have long
attracted crowds of pleasure-seekers from the
metropolis during the summer months, and no
doubt in many cases sent them back to the busy
world of London with agreeable memories of the
charms of country life.
Snaresbrook is really but a hamlet belonging to
the parish of Wanstead, but we have taken it first,
seeing that it lies nearest to Whip's Cross, the spot
with which we concluded the preceding chapter.
The forest at this point opens out in the form of a
fan, crossed by two good roads, that to the right
leading to Leytonstone and Wanstead " Flats,"
and the other direct on to the " Eagle " at Snares
brook, on the Woodford Road. If, before the
preservation of the forest was taken in hand by
the Corporation of London, the " rights " of the
commoners extended to gravel and sand-digging,
they seem to have exercised those rights to the
utmost extent in this part of the forest, causing the
destruction of a large number of fine trees, princi
pally oaks, and the formation of numerous cavities,
which become ponds in rainy seasons.
The three principal features of Snaresbrook are
the " Eagle " Inn, the Infant Orphan Asylum, and
the large lake, known as the Eagle Pond, that

fronts both of them — a sheet of water some eight
acres in extent, which has been secured for public
enjoyment, in the shape of angling and boating
in summer, and for skating in winter. As late
as the beginning of the present century herds of
deer roved freely about the forest glades in this
locality, whilst the large pond was a favourite haunt
for waders and other species of wild fowl. But
with the gradual encroachment which has been
made on the forest in the way of " enclosures,''
Snaresbrook has become almost severed from it,
whilst rows of " genteel " cottages and smart villas
have of late years sprung up, forming a strong
contrast to the few old-fashioned houses of the
wealthy citizen of which the hamlet at one time
mainly consisted.
The " Eagle " Inn, which stands by the side of the
roadway at the eastern end of the great lake, has
long been a well-known hostelry in this neighbour
hood, and, with its large gardens and pleasure-
grounds, has become a favourite resort of East End
holiday-makers. As to the " Eagle " itself, let it be noted here that
birds have never been plentiful as signs of inns in
this country, and of them, the " Cock " and the
" Swan " are decidedly the most popular. The
" Eagle " is of rarer occurrence, and when it does
occur, it is generally in combination, as the " Eagle
and Child," the " Eagle and Ball," or the " Eagle
and Serpent." It is probably of heraldic origin,
though here on the borders of the forest it may have
been suggested as a sign from some local occurrence,
in which that prince of birds played a prominent
part. Mr. Larbord, however, in his " History of
Sign-boards," omits all mention of the " Eagle " at
Snaresbrook. Tom Coryatt, who travelled over a

Snaiaesrook.]

THE INFANT ORPHAN ASYLUM.

473

large part of Europe in the reign of James I., and
wrote an amusing account of his travels, gives, in his
"Crudities,"* a curious instance of signs represent
ing birds in the neighbourhood of Paris, while in
his account of the bridges which span the Seine he
mentions one of them as being called the " Bridge
of Birdes," instead of the Miller's Bridge, as
formerly. He adds that the reason why it is called
the Bridge of Birdes is "because all the signes
belonging unto shops on each side of the street,
are signs of birdes."
On the south side of the lake, with its grounds
extending to it, stands the Infant Orphan Asylum,
an institution which was founded by Dr. Andrew
Reed, for the maintenance and education of the
orphans of persons who in former times had " seen
better days."
This charity was instituted at Hackney in 1827,
and incorporated in 1843, after the completion of
the present asylum, of which the foundation-stone
was laid by Prince Albert in 1841. It was formally
opened by the queen's uncle, Leopold, King of
the Belgians, in 1843. The building presents a
long front, with projecting wings, in the Elizabethan
or late Tudor style. It is built of fine brick,
pointed with stone, of which material also are the
dressings throughout. The object of this institution
is to " board, clothe, nurse, and educate (in accord
ance with the principles of the Church of England)
poor orphan children, or the children of con
firmed lunatics." It is designed more especially for
such as are " respectably " descended, and many
orphans of clergymen, of officers in the Army and
Navy, of members of the medical and other
professions, and of merchants once in affluent
circumstances, have found refuge within its walls ;
none, however, are excluded whose parents have
maintained themselves by their own honest industry,
independently of parochial aid. The children are
received from their earliest infancy, and can remain
in the asylum till they reach the age of fourteen or
fifteen years. Elections to fill up vacancies take
place in May and November, and the average
number admitted annually is about sixty. The
number of orphans received into the asylum from
its foundation till the year 1880 was 3,000. Nearly
the whole of the yearly income is dependent upon
voluntary contributions; it may, therefore, not be
out of place to state that the head offices of the
institution are at No. 100, Fleet Street.
Another very useful charity at Snaresbrook is the
Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum, situated to the
right of the Chigwell Road, a short distance beyond
* Coryatt's " Crudities," Vol. I., p. 29.

Snaresbrook railway-station. It was established
in 181 7 at St. George's- in-the-East, in the neigh
bourhood of Wapping, whence it migrated to the
Borough Road. The present building was erected
in 1 86 1, from the designs of Mr. G. C. Clarke, and
has been twice since enlarged. The buildings are
in the Gothic style, of red brick, relieved by bands
of black brick, and with white stone dressings. A
tall tower and spire forms a conspicuous feature of
the building.
The objects of this institution, which is under the
patronage of the Queen, and the head offices of
which are in Leadenhall Street, London, are the
,: boarding, education, and maintenance of the
children of British Merchant Seamen deceased
from all parts of the world." The income of the
institution is about ,£8,000 yearly, and up to 1880
more than 1,400 children had enjoyed its benefits.
The number of inmates at the end of 1882 was 270;
the premises are available for 300 children. The
addition of a chapel to the building in 1882
brought the Prince and Princess of Wales from
London to inaugurate it.
By the side of Sprathall Green, which separates
the hamlet of Snaresbrook from that of New
Wanstead, stands Christ Church, a building of
Gothic design, which was erected in 1861, as a
chapel-of-ease to Wanstead parish. It has since
been enlarged, and a tower and spire added. Some
of the windows are filled with stained glass.
A little further to the south are the almshouses
of the Weavers' Company, for twelve poor freemen
and twelve widows. They were transferred hither
about i860 from the densely-crowded neighbour
hood of Potter's Fields and Old Street Road,
London, where the charity had existed from the
time of its foundation, in 1725.
The parish of Wanstead, including the hamlet of
Snaresbrook, covers an area of some 2,000 acres,
and contains a population of about 9,500, having
doubled itself since 1871. This number, however,
includes the inmates of the Infant Orphan Asylum.
The village lies to the right of the Chigwell Road,
between it and the river Roding. It is about half
a mile south-eastward from Snaresbrook station on
the Ongar branch of the Great Eastern Railway,
and seven miles from Whitechapel or Shoreditch
churches. Wanstead Park stretches away on the
east; the long level waste known as Wanstead Flats,
some 800 acres in extent, lies beyond the village
on the south, and Leytonstone bounds it on the
west. The name of Wanstead seems to be derived,
according to Lysons, " from the Saxon words wan
and stede, signifying the white place, or mansion."

474

GREATER LONDON.

[Wanstead.

More recent authorities, however, observes Mr.
James Thorne, in his "Environs of London,"
suppose it to be a corruption of "Woden's stede, or
place," implying the existence here of " a mound,
or other erection, dedicated to the widespread
worship of Woden." Traces of Roman occupation
have been found in the southern parts of the parish,
in the neighbourhood of Aldersbrook, in the shape
of a tesselated pavement, coins, ruined foundations,
urns, paterae, calcined bones, and other relics.

time of the Domesday Survey. After many subse
quent changes of ownership, it devolved upon the
knightly family of the Herons. Sir Giles Heron,
a son-in-law of the great and good Sir Thomas
More, held it at the time of the Reformation, and
in consequence of his refusal to acknowledge the
king's supremacy, he was attainted, and his estates
confiscated. The manor of Wanstead remained in
the hands of the Crown until Edward VI. granted
it to Lord Rich, who made it his " country resi-

THE "EAGLE," SNARESBROOK.

These objects were discovered early in the last
century, during the planting of an avenue in
Wanstead Park. The piece of Roman pavement
which was laid bare measured about twenty feet by
sixteen feet, and was formed of small square coloured
tesserse, the centre of which was the figure of a man
mounted on a horse, and surrounding it was a
scroll pattern border. A small brass coin of the
Emperor Valens, and also a silver coin, were among
the objects discovered.
The manor of Wanstead was given in Saxon
times to the Abbey of St. Peter's, Westminster, and
the grant was confirmed to the monks by Edward
the Confessor. Soon after, however, it passed —
probably by exchange — to the Bishop of London,
under wnom it was held by Ralph Fitz-Brien at the

dence," and is supposed to have rebuilt the manor-
house, then called " Naked Hall Ha we."
Here Queen Mary arrived on August ist, 1553,
on her way from Norwich to London to assume the
crown; here she received the congratulations,
more or less sincere, of her sister Elizabeth ; and
from hence she made her formal entrance into
London on the 3rd of the same month.
The estate was sold in 1577 to Robert Dudley,
Earl of Leicester, who enlarged and greatly im
proved the mansion, and who, in May, 1578,
here feasted his royal mistress, Queen Elizabeth,
for several days during the time that he was bask
ing in her favour. For the entertainment of her
Majesty on this occasion, Philip Sidney con
descended to task a genius worthy of better things

Wanstead.]

WANSTEAD HOUSE.

475

with the composition of a masque in celebration
of her beauties and royal virtues, entitled " The
Queen of May." " In defence of this public act
of adulation," writes Miss Aikin, "the young
poet had probably the particular request of his
uncle and patron to plead, as well as the common
practice of the age ; but it must still be mortifying,
under any circumstances, to record the abasement
of such a spirit to a level with the vulgar herd of
Court flatterers."
From Wanstead the virgin queen [continued her

not particularised, were valued at £i i 13s. 4d. The
library, consisting of only an old Bible, the Acts
and Monuments, "old and torn," seven Psalters,
and a Service Book, was estimated at 13s. 8d.
The horses, however, were more numerous, or of
good breed, for they were valued at .£316 os. 8d.
On the death of the earl, in 1558, Wanstead,
with other lands in the adjoining parishes, became
the property of the countess, his widow, who after
wards married Sir Christopher Blount ; but by
some family arrangement this manor became vested

WANSTEAD HOUSE. (From an Old View.)

" progress " through Essex and Suffolk to Norwich,
where she was received with great enthusiasm.
At Wanstead, in September of the same year,
Leicester publicly married Lettice, Lady Essex, a
private marriage having previously been performed
at Kenilworth.
At the time of his death, in 1588, the earl was
much involved in debt, and in consequence an
inventory and estimate was taken of all his pro
perty, real and personal. From this it would
appear that Wanstead House was not very ele
gantly furnished, for the entire contents of the
mansion, including library, pictures, and furniture,
and also the horses, &c, were valued at only
^1,119 6s. 6d. The pictures, among which were
three portraits of Henry VIIL, the Queens Mary
and Elizabeth, Lady Rich, and thirty-six others

in Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire, on whose
death, in 1606, it appears to have escheated to the
Crown. In the autumn of 1607 James I. spent
some time here, after his return from a western
progress. The manor of Wanstead afterwards be
came the property of George, Marquis of Bucking
ham, from whom, in 161 9, it was purchased by Sir
Henry Mildmay, Master of the Jewel Office. Sir
John Chamberlain, a courtier of the reign of
James I., under date London, August 23, 1619,
writes to Sir Dudley Carleton at the Hague : —
" We have great noise here of a new spa or spring
of this nature found lately about Wanstead, in
Essex, and much running there is to it daily by
both lords and ladies and other great company, so
that they have almost drawn it dry already ; and
if it should hold on, it would put down the waters

47°

GREATER LONDON.

[Wanstead.

of Tunbridge, which for these three or four years
have been much frequented, insomuch that they
who have seen both say it is not inferior to the spa
for good company, numbers of people, and other
appurtenances." The spring, however, would seem
to have passed out of fashion, and so out of
memory also.
The estate subsequently became forfeited to the
Crown, but was granted by Charles II. to his bro
ther James, Duke of York, and he transferred it to
Sir Robert Brookes, who was here visited by Samuel
Pepys. The genial gossiper writes in his "Diary,"
under date of May 14, 1665 : — "To church, it
being Whit Sunday ; my wife very fine in a new yel
low bird's-eye hood, as the fashion is now. I took
a coach, and to Wanstead, the house where Sir
H. Mildmay died, and now Sir Robert Brookes
lives, having bought it of the Duke of York, it being
forfeited to him : a fine seat, but an old-fashioned
house, and being not full of people, looks flatly."
Sir Robert Brookes, who was for some time
M.P. for Aldborough, in Suffolk, held this manor
from 1662 to 1667. He afterwards retired to
France, and died there in bad circumstances. From
a letter among the Pepys MSS., Sir Robert appears
to have been drowned in the river at Lyons. As
we learn from Pepys' "Diary" (April 17, 1667), there
appears to have been some talk of Admiral Sir
William Penn, the father of the founder of Penn
sylvania, becoming the purchaser of Wanstead
House. Under date of May 1, Pepys writes : —
" Sir W. Pen did give me an account this afternoon
of his design of buying Sir Robert Brookes's fine
house at Wanstead : which I so wondered at, and
did give him reasons against it, which he allowed
of, and told me that he did intend to pull down
the house, and build a less, and that he should get
,£1,500 by the old house, and I know not what
fooleries. But I will never believe he ever in
tended to buy it, for my part, though he troubled
Mr. Ganden to go and look upon it, and advise
him in it."
From the Mildmays, Wanstead passed by sale to
Sir Josiah Child, who spent a large portion of his
fortune in improving the grounds, by planting fresh
trees and forming canals and a lake. Under date
of March 16, 1683, John Evelyn writes in his
" Diary" : — "I went to see Sir Josiah Child's pro
digious cost in planting walnut-trees about his
seate, and making fish-ponds, many miles in cir
cuit in Epping Forest, in a barren spot, as often
times these suddenly monied men for the most
part seate themselves. He, from a merchant's
apprentice and management of the East India
Company's Stock, being ariv'd to an estate ('tis

said) of ^200,000, and lately married his daughter
to the eldest sonn of the Duke of Beaufort, late
Marquis of Worcester, with ,£50,000 portional
present and various expectations." And again,
under the same date : — " I din'd at Mr. Houblon's,
a rich and gentile French merchant, who was build
ing a house in. the Forest, neare Sir J. Child's, in a
place where the late Earle of Norwich dwelt some
time, and which came from his lady, the widow of
Mr. Baker. It will be a pretty villa, about 5 miles
from. White-chapell."
Sir Josiah Child was an alderman and goldsmith
of London, and the founder of Child's Bank, at
Temple Bar.* He died in 1699, and was buried in
the old church at Wanstead. His son and succes
sor, Sir Richard Child, was successively created
Baron Newton and Viscount Castlemaine and
Earl Tylney. He pulled down the old house, and
built a new mansion near its site, called Wanstead
House. This building, according to the " Com
plete English Traveller" (1771), was regarded a
century ago as " one of the most elegant houses in
England, both for the building and the gardens."
In fact, it was a palace nearly equal to Canons in
its palmy days, if not superior to it. The writer
describes it thus in detail : — " It is constructed
according to the best rules in the Corinthian order,
and the front entirely of Portland stone. The por
tico in the centre is supported by pillars of the
Corinthian order, and under it is the landing place
that leads to the great hall, where there are a vast
variety of ornaments and paintings by the best
masters in Italy. The dining-room is on the left
of the hall, being twenty-four feet square, and ad
joining to it is the drawing-room, of the same size.
On the right of the hall is another dining-room,
twenty-five feet square, and a drawing-room thirty
by twenty-five. On the chimney-piece of the draw
ing-room is the representation of an eagle taking
up a snake, elegantly cut in white marble ; and
from this room is an entrance to the bed-chamber,
from which is a passage into the ball-room, which
is seventy-five by twenty-seven feet, and connects
the whole front line of apartments.
" The spacious gardens were laid out before the
house was begun, and are extremely elegant.
" Mr. Campbell, the author of 'Vitruvius Britan-
nicus,' was the architect employed in contriving
this noble house, or rather, palace ; and although
in particular parts it has beauties exceeding many
of the best houses in the kingdom, yet when all
the parts are taken together, it seems to want some
of that proportion necessary to set off the whole."
* See " Old and New London," Vol. I., p. 36.

Wanstead.]

A RICH HEIRESS.

477

The. author adds that the present lord has re
sided many years in Italy, without any prospect of
returning to England, artd much regrets the fact
that so magnificent a palace should be uninhabited,
and left to the care of a handful of servants. As
Lord Tylney had no heirs, he augurs that ere long
the estate will pass into the hands of some other
family, who will prefer English freedom to Italian
slavery. He was not far out in his guess ; for a
few years afterwards Wanstead passed to Sir James
Long, who took the name of Tylney.
I have said that Wanstead House was a palace ;
and in order to justify my words, I add some details
of the building. The principal front of the house
was 260 feet in length, and in the tympanum of the
grand portico in the centre were the arms of the
Tylney family, finely sculptured. The building itself
consisted of two storeys, the uppermost containing the
ball-room, state bed-chambers, and other principal
apartments. The great hall was lavishly decorated.
The ceiling, by Kent, was gilt, and enriched with
paintings of Morning, Noon, Evening, and Night.
The walls were ornamented with paintings from
Roman history, by Cassali, representing Coriolanus
and his mother Porsenna, and Pompey's last
interview with his family. Here also were two
large statues, brought from the ruins of Hercu-
laneum — one of Domitian, and the other of Livia,
the wife of Agrippa. The ball-room was magnifi
cently fitted up, according to the taste of the last
century, the furniture being richly embossed and
gilt, and the walls hung with tapestry. The
latter represented the story of Telemachus and
the battles of Alexander. Over the chimney was
a fine painting of Portia, the wife of Brutus, by
Schalken. In the saloon were several statues, and
also a picture of Pandora, by Nollekens, the father of
the sculptor of that name. The remaining rooms
contained a large number of paintings by the best
masters, including Guido, Titian, and Lely.
Lord Tylney, though he lived so much abroad,
appears to have been very proud of his new
mansion ; at all events, Horace Walpole writes
thus of him and the place in a letter to Richard
Bentley, dated 17th July, 1755 : — " I dined yester
day at Wanstead ; many years have passed since
I saw it. The disposition of the house and pros
pect are better than I expected, and very fine.
The garden — which, they tell you, cost as much as
the house, that is, £"100,000 — is wretched; the
furniture fine, but without taste. The present
earl is the most generous creature in the world ;
in the first chamber I entered he offered me four
marble tables that lay in cases about the room.
I compounded, after forty refusals of everything

I commended, to bring away only a haunch of
venison. I beliqye he has not had so cheap a visit
a good while. I commend myself as I ought ; for,
to be sure, there were twenty ebony chairs, and
a couch, and a table, and a glass, that would have
tried the virtue of a philosopher of double my
size." On the death of the earl, without issue, in 1784.
this manor, with other large estates, devolved upon
his nephew, Sir James Tylney-Long, Bart., of
Draycot, Wiltshire, whose only son, James, a
minor, succeeded to the baronetcy and estates in
the year 1794. He died shortly after, when Wan
stead became the property of his sister, Miss Tylney-
Long, also a minor, who thus became @ne of the
richest heiresses in England. During her minority
Wanstead House was taken as the residence of
the Prince de Conde\ Louis XVIII. and other
members of the exiled Bourbon family also occa
sionally lived here during that time.
There were many suitors for the hand of the
young heiress, and the prize was eventually won
by the Hon. William Pole- Wellesley, elder son of
Lord Maryborough, afterwards Earl of Mornington.
They were married amid great ceremony at St.
James's Church, Piccadilly, on the 14th of March,
1812, when he assumed the additional names ot
Tylney and Long. The following details of the
dresses worn by the bride and bridegroom, and
other particulars of the wedding, culled from the
newspapers of the time, may interest some of our
readers. The dress of the bride, we are told,
consisted of a robe of real Brussels point lace,
placed over white satin ; the bonnet was made of
Brussels lace, ornamented with two ostrich feathers ;
she likewise wore a deep lace veil and a white
satin pelisse trimmed with swansdown. The dress
cost 700 guineas, the bonnet 150, and the veil 200.
Mr. Pole-Wellesley wore a plain blue coat with yellow
buttons, a white waistcoat, buff breeches, and white
silk stockings. The lady's jewels consisted princi
pally of a brilliant necklace and earrings; the former
cost 25,000 guineas. Every domestic in the family
of Lady Catherine Long, the bride's mother, was
liberally provided for. The fortune remaining to
Mrs. Tylney-Long-Pole-Wellesley, after allowing
for considerable sums given as an additional
portion to each of the Miss Longs, and an annuity
to Lady Catherine, was ,£80,000 per annum.
At the time of the marriage Mr. Wellesley is said
to have been deeply in debt, and matters seemed to
have gone from bad to worse afterwards, for in the
course of a few years, by reckless expenditure, he
contrived to get through the whole of his recently
acquired fortune, and had so encumbered the

478

GREATER LONDON.

fWanstead.

estates, that in June, 1822, the whole of the con
tents of Wanstead House were swept away under
the hammer of the celebrated auctioneer, George
Robbins, of King Street, Covent Garden. The
sale produced as much excitement as the dispersal
of the contents of Strawberry Hill by the same
auctioneer, just twenty years later ; it lasted thirty-
two days, and realised the sum of ,£41,000. No
purchaser could be found for the house as it stood,
so it was accordingly taken down, the materials
being sold in separate lots. Among the objects of
antiquarian interest disposed of were the celebrated
ebony chairs and sofa, once the boasted gems of
Queen Elizabeth, and which are so particularly
mentioned by Horace Walpole in one of his letters
for their singular beauty and antique character.
After experiencing various transfers and vicissitudes
of fortune, these articles came into the possession
of Lord Tylney. They were purchased at the
sale here by Graham, of Waterloo Place, by whom
they were afterwards sold to Lord Macdonald.
At the sale of the contents of the mansion the
family portraits were reserved; but even these
subsequently shared a similar fate, for they, too,
were sold in 1851, at the auction-rooms of Messrs.
Christie and Manson, " in consequence of the non
payment of expenses for warehousing-room." Their
dispersion was the last event in the history of
Wanstead House, which once had vied with Canons
in its glories, and now came to share the same fate.
On the death.of his uncle, in 1842, and the con
sequent accession of his father to the earldom of
Mornington, Mr. Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley be
came Viscount Wellesley ; and three years later,
on the death of his father, he succeeded to the
title of Earl of Mornington, and became head
of* the noble house of Wellesley. His marriage
with the rich heiress of Wanstead turned out to be
altogether an ill-assorted union. He not only
treated her shamefully, but spent all her princely
fortune, and she died, it is said, of a broken heart
three years after the sale of her goods and the
destruction of her house.
Mr. Wellesley, notwithstanding all his reverses,
did not long remain a widower ; for, perhaps with
the view of retrieving his shattered fortunes, in
1828 he married, as his second wife, a daughter
of Colonel Thomas Paterson. The death of this
lady in 1869 was thus commented on in the
Athenaeum at the time :— " The Countess of
Mornington, widow of the notorious William Pole-
Tylney-Long-Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, who
died recently, in her seventy-sixth year, adds an in
cident to the romance of the Peerage. After the
ruin into which the reckless earl's affairs fell, some

forty years ago, this lady was for a brief time an
inmate of St. George's Workhouse, and more than
once had to apply at police-courts for temporary
relief. Yet she might have called monarchs her
cousins. She was descended from the grandest
and greatest of all the Plantagenets. Her mother
(wife of Colonel Paterson), Ann Porteifield of that
ilk, came, through the houses of Boyd, Cunning
ham, Glencairn, and Hamilton, from Mary Stuart,
daughter of King James II. of Scotland, and
seventh in descent from Edward I. of England.
The earldom of Mornington, extinct in the elder
line of the Wellesleys, has lapsed to the Duke of
Wellington." The manor of Wanstead, with some
adjacent lands, became the property of another
Wellesley, Lord Cowley.
" In the latter part of the eighteenth century,"
writes the author of " Provincial Excursions " in
1843, "Wanstead House still displayed all the
splendour which the Childs, the Tylneys, and the
Longs, had lavished upon a palace fit for the abode
of gentle and royal blood. Little did I dream that
in one quarter of a century I should see its proud
columns prostrate in the dust, its decorations an
nihilated, its pictures and sculptures dispersed by
the magic of the hammer ; at one period simply a
deserted mansion, at another a refuge for exiled
princes ; then for a brief space polluted by riot and
profligacy ; and ultimately its lawns and gardens
swept away, its stately groves and avenues re
morselessly destroyed, and myself present at the
sad catastrophe. Such, however, were its short
and painful annals ; and, except the grotto, not
one stone now remains upon another. The palace,
destined to stand for ages, and on which time had
made no inroads, was removed, with the approba
tion of the Lord Chancellor, when little more than
a hundred winters had passed over it : when its
features were just mellowed, its woods and planta
tions in full luxuriance, and all around it smiling in
perfection. Wanstead House was the most attrac
tive object (of its kind) near London, and a national
ornament." And the writer goes on to lament
that the Government did not purchase it for some
national institution, scientific or educational, adding
his belief that it would not have been allowed to
perish if its walls had been covered with ivy, and
the fabric been in the last stage of decay. "I
was familiar," he adds, "with every little bower
and secluded avenue ; I knew where its blossoms
were fairest and the fruits choicest ; could thread
the mazes of its delightful foliage and exotic
gardens, its limpid waters, and its verdant lawns,
all which I have visited at dawn and at sunset, in
midday and at night."

Wanstead.]

LAKE HOUSE.

479

Mr. Rush, the American Minister, in his " Diary
from 1817 to 1825," writes thus of Wanstead House :
— " With our boys we visited Wanstead House, in
Essex, the superb dwelling of Wellesley Pole, before
it was stripped of its furniture and the whole pulled
down ; the bare mention of which house makes me
remind you of what * * * * told us the rich pro
prietor once told him : that no wonder he was
brought to the hammer, when every one knew that
to keep it up with its accustomed hospitality,
adding the carriages and servants necessary for the
London season, when Parliament was sitting, re
quired at least seventy thousand sterling a year,
when all that he had was but sixty thousand."
The park and gardens are thus described by
Mr. William Tegg, in his " Sketch of Wanstead
Park " (1882) : — " In the avenue which led from the
grand front of the house to Leytonstone, but which
has since had a road cut through it, is a circular
piece of water, which seemed equal to the length of
the front. On each side of the approach to the
house was a marble statue: on the one side Hercules,
and on the other side Omphale. To compensate,
as it were, for the defect of wings, obelisks and
vases extended alternately to the house. The
garden front had no portico, but a pediment en
riched with a bas-relief, and supported by six three-
quarter columns. From this front was an easy
descent to the river Roding, which was formed
into canals ; and beyond it the walks and wilder
nesses rose up the hill, as they sloped downwards
before. A grotto, consisting of shells, pebbles,
fossils, and rare stones, looking-glasses, and a fine
painted window, &c, with domed roof, built at an
immense expense by the late Countess of Morning
ton, is now the only remaining monument of this
finely-situated estate, •'
The outlying portions of what once was the
estate of Lord Tylney, after lying waste for years,
were purchased from Lord Cowley by the Corpora
tion of London, and conveyed to the Epping
Forest Committee, in trust for the public. They
have been laid out as a "park"' for the people,
and were publicly inaugurated as such in August,
1882. The park includes two or three lakes, with
islands, on which the moor-hens and other aquatic
birds build their nests, and at the end furthest from
the high road a heronry. Near this is the grotto
mentioned above : it is much larger than Pope's
grotto, which we described at Twickenham.* It
is often said that the cost of erecting it was no less
than ,£40,000 : but it is to be hoped that this is
* See ante, p. 107.

an exaggeration. In the "Beauties of England" it
is stated that the cost of the construction of this
grotto was ,£2,000, independently of its costly
materials. The main feature of the park is its wild and
rustic appearance, the wood being thick and
picturesque. Nearly all the ponds are plentifully
stocked with fish, and especially perch, and their
surface abounds with water-lilies. The Corporation
secured this park of 184 acres by an exchange of
fifty acres of land scattered about and a payment of
,£8,000 to Lord Cowley, the latter putting up
fences to shut them off from the rest of his estate,
and making a road a mile long to give access to
them at either end, to Forest Gate Station on one
side, and Leytonstone on the other.
At a short distance to the south-west of the site
of Wanstead House stood a building called Lake
House, which was the last appendage of the
mansion, for which it was originally built as a
banqueting-hall or summer-house. In it, from
1832 to 1835, Thomas Hood, the author, resided.
The house was more generally called the Russian
Farm. In a description of the building given by
Thomas Hood, junior, in a memoir of his father,
the author writes : — " The fact was, it had formerly
been a sort of banqueting-hall to Wanstead Park,
and the rest of the house was sacrificed to one great
room, which extended all along the back. There
was a beautiful chimney-piece, carved in fruit and
flowers by Grinling Gibbons, and the ceiling bore
traces of painting. Several quaint Watteau-like
pictures of the Seasons were panelled on the walls.
But it was all in a shocking state of repair, and in
the twilight the rats used to come and peep out of
the holes in the wainscot. There were two or
three windows on each side, while a door in the
middle opened on a flight of steps leading into a
pleasant wilderness of a garden, infested by hun
dreds of rabbits from the warren close by. From
the windows you could catch lovely glimpses of
forest scenery, especially one fine aspen avenue.
In the midst of the garden lay the little lake from
which the house took its name, surrounded by high
masses of rhododendrons." Here Hood wrote the
novel of " Tylney Hall," much of the descriptive
scenery being taken from Wanstead and -its
neighbourhood; and here he also wrote a little
volume containing the poem entitled the " Epping
Hunt," from which we have quoted largely in a
previous chapter.*
The estate and manor of Canons Hall, now
known as Cann Hall, which lies to the south of the

* See ante, p. 445.

480

GREATER LONDON.

[Wanstead.

site of the Lake House, and is intersected by Cann
Hall Lane, connecting Leytonstone Road with
Wanstead Flats, was in former times held by the
prior and canons of the Holy Trinity in London,
from whom it passed successively to the Strelley,
Boothby, and Colegrave families.
The parish church of Wanstead, dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, stands within the park. It was built
in 1790, at the expense of Sir James Tylney-Long,

crowned Ionic turret at the western end. The
interior is extremely plain, but well finished : it
consists of a chancel, nave, and two aisles, separated
by Corinthian columns. The east window is of
stained glass. In the chancel is a superb marble
monument to Sir Josiah Child, who died in 1699.
This monument, which was preserved from the old
church, consists of a recumbent life-size effigy of
the baronet, with semi-recumbent effigies of his son,

MONUMENT TO SIR J. CHILD, WANSTEAD CHURCH.

i:i the place of an earlier structure, which had
become dilapidated and inconveniently small.
The old church is described by the author of the
"English Traveller" in 1771 as having been
lately " repaired, and fitted up in the neatest manner
for Divine service." But only twenty years after
wards the edifice was ruthlessly pulled down, to
make room for a bran-new Italian edifice which looks
as if it had been put there to match the stables at
the other end of the mansion. The new church,
built from the designs of Thomas Hardwick, is
constructed of brick, cased with Portland stone,
and has a Doric portico, and a small cupola-

Sir Richard Child, and his wife.* In the church
yard was buried, in 1647, John Saltmarsh, a noted
Puritan and divine.
The long, straggling village of Wanstead is
pleasantly situated at the southern extremity of
Epping Forest, and on the western side of the
park. It contains a few picturesque old houses, not
the least interesting, perhaps, being the " George "
Inn. Let into the side wall of this hostelry is a
stone bearing the date 1752, and commemorating
a somewhat ludicrous event which then happened.

* Another member of the Child family is buried at Woodford.
ante, p. 460.

See

Wanstead.]

WANSTEAD FLATS.

481

The inscription, which was restored in 1858, runs as
follows : — 'In memory of ye Cherry Pye
As cost }i a Guinea ye 17th of July.
That day we had good cheer,
And hope to so do many a year.
R. C. 1752. Dad. Terrey."
The story is that during some alterations which
were being made in the house at the above date,
while the labourers were at work a pie was sent
from the Rectory to the baker's shop, next door to

To the south-west of Wanstead Park are se
veral avenues, belts of trees, and broad strips of
greensward, which, have long been the resort of
holiday-makers and school parties in the summer
time. The principal avenue, composed of very
fine trees, is nearly a mile long ; and between it and
the park is a pretty residence, called Park Gate,
the seat of Alderman T. Quested Finnis.
Wanstead Flats — which stretch away southward
from the park towards Forest Gate Station on the

the " George." The men awaited its return, doubt
less in gleeful expectation of a cheap, but delicious,
feast. As the pie was being borne home, and as
the baker was passing the "George," the men leaned
over the scaffold, and took it off the baker's tray.
For this little freak they were summoned before
the, local magistrate, and fined half-a- guinea, which,
I presume, was duly paid, for after leaving the
court the men decided on placing a stone in the
wall to commemorate the joke — if such they
considered it — each contributing a small sum to
wards its expense.
In the village there are chapels for Congrega-
tionalists, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists,
and also a Friends' meeting-house.
41

Great Eastern Railway, and the Manor Park and
the City of London Cemeteries — are about 400
acres in extent, and their area was formerly over
grown with furze, heath, and a few scattered trees ;
but of late years its appearance has been con
siderably changed by the formation of brick-fields,
&c. Early in the present century George III. held
a review of 10,000 troops on AVanstead Flats,
and in 1874 the open portion was secured by
the Government for the purposes of military drill
and exercise. For very many years this locality
was a familiar haunt of the gipsy tribe, and of
others who follow the wandering life of that frater
nity, their caravans and tents being scarcely ever
absent from the borders of the Flats.

482

GREATER LONDON.

[Wanstead.

At Wood House, on Wanstead Flats, is " The
Princess Louise Home and National Society for
the Protection of Young Girls." This institution,
the objects of which are sufficiently indicated by its
title, was founded in the year 1835, since which
time it has been the means of rescuing upwards
of twelve hundred young girls between the age of
eleven and fifteen, who, from various circum
stances, had stood in danger of ruin. With such
an object and with such results, it need scarcely
be added that the institution is one which must
recommend itself to the hearty sympathy and
support of all.
Dr. James Pound, a distinguished naturalist and
astronomer, was rector of this parish from 1707 till
his death, in 1724. Pound, who was a friend of
Sir Isaac Newton, wrote several papers on astro
nomy, which were printed in the " Philosophical
Transactions." He also taught the science of
astronomy to his nephew, James Bradley, who
lived with him for some time as a curate, and who
later on, succeeded Halley in the post of Astro
nomer-Royal. When the maypole which " once o'erlooked the
Strand"* was taken down, about the year 17 17,
it was bought from the parishioners by Sir Isaac
Newton, who sent it hither as a present to Dr.
Pound, who had obtained leave from his squire,
Lord Castlemaine, to erect it in Wanstead Park for
the support of what was then the largest telescope
in Europe, being 125 feet in length. The may
pole, it should be stated, measured 100 feet. It
had not long stood in the park, when one morning
some amusing verses were found affixed to it,
alluding to its change of position and employment.
They are given by Pennant as follows : —
"Once I adorned the Strand,
But now have found
My way to pound
On Baron Newton's land,
Where my aspiring head aloft is reared,
T' observe the motions of th' ethereal lord.
Here, sometimes raised, a machine by my side,
Through which is seen the sparkling milky tide ;
Here oft I'm scented with a balmy dew,
A pleasant blessing which the Strand ne'er knew.
There stood I only to receive abuse,
But here converted to a nobler use ;
So that with me all passengers will say,
' I'm better far than when the Pole of May.' "
Bradley was born in 1692, and after taking his
degree at Oxford, in 17 14, resided principally with
his uncle at Wanstead. Dr. Pound had fitted up
here an observatory, furnished, amongst other in-
* See "-Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 88.

struments, with a transit-instrument, some time
before its introduction at the Royal Observatory by
Halley, and under him Bradley acquired that
accuracy and care in observing for which he after
wards became famous. On the death of Dr. Keill,
in 1 72 1, Bradley was elected Savilian Professor of
Astronomy at Oxford, and in 1727 he commenced
a series of observations, which resulted in the dis
coveries of aberration and nutation. Mr. Bradley
had begun his observations at Kew in 1726 with
a zenith-sector belonging to Mr. Molyneux, whose
telescope was rather more than twenty-four feet in
length; but in 1727 a sector of twelve feet radius
was made for him by Graham, and set up at Wan
stead. This famous instrument was afterwards
transferred to the Royal Observatory at Green
wich, and, on a grant being made in the year
1749 for new instruments, was purchased by
the Government.
Another distinguished resident at Wanstead was
Admiral Sir William Penn, the father of the foun
der of Pennsylvania. Born in the year 1664,
young Penn spent much of his boyhood at Wan
stead, whither his parents had removed soon after
his birth; and here, "playing by the pools or
rambling in the leafy shades of the widely-
spreading woods of Epping Forest, the lad com
menced his active life." Penn's father was one
of the greatest sea-captains of his age, and his
mother was the daughter of a rich merchant of
Rotterdam. "Thus," observes a writer in Sunday
at Home, "the union of British energy and
Dutch shrewdness which surrounded Penn's child
hood contributed some appropriate elements
towards the formation of that broad statesman
like mind which distinguished the founder of
Pennsylvania." At Chigwell, in the picturesque ivy-covered
grammar-school founded by Archbishop Harsnett,
as we have already seen,* young Penn's school
days began ; and at the early age of eleven years,
we are told, he became the subject of serious re
ligious impressions, which, together with the train
ing which he received there, were the determining
causes of his future piety. "His father and
mother, though by no means destitute of estimable
qualities, were emphatically ' people of the world '
— fond of the theatre and dance, the wine and the
gaming party." It was well for Penn that his stay
at home, after leaving Chigwell, was not long ; but
that, at the age of fifteen, he was sent to study at
Oxford University. During his stay at Oxford
Penn formed the acquaintance of a disciple of Fox,
* See ante, p. 453.

Wanstead.)

WILLIAM PENN,

483

named Thomas Loe, by whose preaching and
teaching he became converted to Quakerism. His
enthusiasm for his new faith took such a pug
nacious form, that he not only absented himself from
the services in the college chapel, or refused to wear
the surplice of a student, but, along with some
companions who had become Quakers, he attacked
some of his fellow students, and tore the obnoxious
robe off their backs : a proceeding which led to his
expulsion from the University. He was soon after
sent to pursue his studies on the Continent, and
during his residence abroad formed a close
friendship with Algernon Sydney. In 1668 Penn
found himself an inmate of the Tower, on account
of a publication which he had written, entitled
" The Sandy Foundation Shaken," and while im
prisoned in the Tower he wrote his most famous
wofk, "No Cross no Crown." In 1670 his father
died, leaving him an estate worth ,£1,500 a year, to
gether with claims upon Government for ,£16,000 ;
and in the following year he was again committed
to the Tower for preaching, and as he would not
take an oath at his trial, he was sent to Newgate
for six months. Here, among other works, he
wrote a treatise, entitled "The Great Cause of
Liberty of Conscience." After regaining his liberty,
he visited Holland and Germany in company with
Fox and Barclay, for the advancement of the cause
of Quakerism. On his return, in 1672, he married
a daughter of Sir William Springett, having
purchased an estate near Chalfont St. Giles, in
Buckinghamshire, at which village also resided
for a- while John Milton and his secretary, Thomas
Ellwood. About ten years later he turned his at
tention to the New World, obtaining from the
Crown, in lieu of his monetary claim upon it, a
grant of the territory now forming the State of

Pennsylvania. " His great desire," observes the
writer of his biography in Chambers's Encyclopedia,
" was to establish a home for his co-religionists in
the far West, where they might preach and prac
tise their convictions in unmolested peace." Penn,
with several friends, was well received by the set
tlers, and shortly afterwards he founded the city of
Philadelphia. Towards the end of the reign of
Charles II. he returned to England, to exert him
self on behalf of his persecuted brethren at home.
In 1699 he paid a second visit to the New World,
and found Pennsylvania in a flourishing condition.
He returned to England two years afterwards,
leaving the management of his affairs in the hands
of a Quaker agent, named Ford, who for years
cheated Penn in every possible way. On Ford's
death, his wife and son sent demands on him for
£¦14,000, and these claims were so ruthlessly
pressed, that Penn allowed himself to be thrown
into the Fleet Prison to avoid extortion. Through
the exertions of his friends, however, he was ulti
mately released, but not until his constitution was
fatally shattered, and he lingered on at his resi
dence at Ruscombe, in Berkshire, till July, 17 18,
when he died. He was buried at Jordans, near
Chalfont. Lord Macaulay wrote thus in praise of William
Penn : — " Rival nations and hostile sects have
agreed in canonising him. England is proud of
his name. A great commonwealth beyond the
Atlantic regards him with a reverence similar to
that which the Athenians felt for Theseus and the
Romans for Quirinus. The respectable society of
which he was a member honours him as an apostle.
His name has become throughout all civilised
countries a synonym for probity and philan
thropy."

CHAPTER LI.
LEYTON AND LEYTONSTONE.
Extent and Boundaries of Leyton Parish— Walthamstow Slip— Census Returns— Discovery of Roman Remains and other Antiquities— Ancient
Earthworks— General Appearance of the Village of Leyton— Railway Stations— Park House— Ruckholt House— The Manor House—
Leyton House— Etloe House— The Parish Church— John Strype— The Vicarage— All Saints' Church— Schools and Charitable Institutions-
Lea Bridge, and the East London Waterworks— Temple Mills— Eminent Residents of Leyton-Leytonstone— Census Returns— The Church
of St. John the Baptist— Holy Trinity Church— Congregational Church— Union Workhouse— Children's Home.

The parish of Leyton, which includes the rapidly-
increasing hamlet of Leytonstone, extends from
Walthamstow on the north side to Stratford on the
south ; it is bounded on the east by Snaresbrook
and Wanstead, whilst on the west the river Lea

separates it from the- county of Middlesex, Lea
Bridge being its extreme western limit ; and it is
from its proximity to the Lea that it is supposed
to be derived — Ley, or Lea Town : the Town on the
Lea. The village of Leyton, from its situation, is

484

GREATER LONDON.

[Leyton.

called Low Leyton; whilst the upper part of it
by a sort of reduplication, has gradually come to
be called Leytonstone, that is, Leyton's Town. The
entire parish covers a large area of ground, and
the whole district is fast losing its rural character ;
the sylvan scenery which it once possessed in those
parts where it abutted upon the forest, or in the
more open parts about Wanstead, being rapidly
encroached upon for building purposes.
A portion of land within the bounds of this
parish, hardly more than a hundred yards in width,
but running from the eastern to the western boun
dary, or, in other words, from near Wanstead
Orphanage to the river Lea, and embracing parts
of the Green, Capworth Street, and Beaumont
Road, is known as the " Walthamstow Slip." Its
singular acquisition by that parish has been already
referred to in a previous chapter.* Though lying
in the heart of Leyton, this slip of land belongs,
for ecclesiastical purposes, to the parish of Waltham
stow. For a long time the vicars of the two
parishes of Walthamstow and Leyton sought to
rid their respective parishes of this anomaly; a
scheme was matured, and with a view to the
transference of the above-mentioned slip from the
parish of Walthamstow to that of Leyton, that
portion of the latter parish which lies to the north
of Lea Bridge Road, from its junction with Chest
nut Walk, near Whip's Cross, to Copeland's Corner,
and to the east of Hoe Street from Copeland's
Corner to Boundary Road, has been transferred,
by an order of her Majesty in Council, to the new
parish of St. Stephen, Walthamstow.t
Some idea of the progress made in building here
may be formed from the fact that in 1861 the
parish, exclusive of the ecclesiastical district of
Leytonstone, contained a population of only 4,700,
which in 187 1 had increased to 10,300, whilst,
according to the census returns for 1881, it now
numbers nearly 23,000.
It is, or was, generally accepted that Leyton is
the same as the ancient Roman station called
Durolitum, though some antiquarians fix that at
Romford. The discovery of coins, bricks, and
pottery of Roman work here would seem to show
that it was a place of some importance during the
period of the Roman occupation. Indeed, various
antiquities have been at different times found in
this parish ; but the evidence of its having been
the site of a Roman station, though supported by
Camden and others, does not appear to be suffi
ciently strong to warrant it being positively asserted.
Camden himself speaks with hesitation; and

See ante, p. 465.

t See ante, p. 471.

though willing to suppose it the Durolitum of
Antoninus, from its name Leyton, or the Town on
the Ley, retaining some traces of the former
appellation, which "in British signifies Water of
Ley" acknowledges that, to justify this opinion,
the distance of Durolitum from London (fifteen
miles) must be regarded as inaccurate. " It is
most probable," remarks the author of the
" Beauties of England," " that the remains dis
covered at Leyton and in its neighbourhood be
longed only to some Roman villas. That the
arguments for the site of Durolitum being in this
parish are not incontestable is evidenced by the
contrariety of opinions respecting that station :
Baxter places it at Waltham, Salmon at Cheshunt,
and Stukeley at Romford."
The following particulars of antiquities discovered
here are given by Gough, in his " Britannia "
(Vol. II., p. 50), from a letter communicated by
Mr. Lethieullier : — " In the year 1718, Mr. Gansell
(then owner of the manor-house) having occasion
to enlarge his gardens, on digging up about two
acres of ground, found under the whole very large
and strong foundations : in one place all stone,
with considerable arches, an arched doorway with
steps down to it, but filled up with gravel. In
many of the foundations were a great quantity of
Roman tiles and bricks, mixed with more modern
materials, and several rough and broken pieces of
hard stone, some part of which, when polished,
proved to be Egyptian granite; two large, deep
wells, covered over with stone ; and in digging a
pond, after the workmen had sunk through a bed
of clay about ten feet, they met with a great
quantity of oak timber, mortised together like a
floor, grown very hard and black, but uncertain how
far it reached. Several Roman brass and silver
coins, both Consular and Imperial, to the time of
Julius Cffisar, were scattered about, as well as some
silver coins with Saxon characters. The ground
where these discoveries were made adjoins the
churchyard, where, some time before, a large urn
of coarse red earth was found."
At a place called Ruckholts, about a mile to
the south of the church, are the remains of some old
entrenchments with a square double embankment,
and fortified by what once was a moat. They
are about 100 feet across, and are supposed to
date from the Roman or Early British times.
These remains are situated on a small eminence
rising from the banks of the Lea, and trees have
been planted over the chief part of the area.
Before the Conquest the monks monopolised
the greater part of the lordships and lands of this
parish. Part of the lands were given by Harold as

Leyton.]

RUCKHOLT HOUSE.

485

an endowment to the Abbey of Waltham; the
manor of Leyton belonged to the Abbey of
Stratford Langthorne ; whilst the Priory of St.
Helen's, in Bishopsgate, owned the estate of
Marks. It is less, however, for its antiquarian interest
than for its fine old houses, half concealed amid
"ancestral" trees, the prim suburban villas
scattered about, the views oyer meadow and marsh
land, and the glimpses of forest scenery, that our
attention is arrested as we pass the twin villages
of Leyton and Leytonstone.
In spite of the efforts of the modern bricklayer
and builder, who has lined every roadway with
villas of the suburban type, Leyton still retains a
few old cottages, with timbered fronts and sides
and red-tiled roofs, which tell of the times when the
Stuarts sat on the throne. A few also of the limes
and chestnuts which once graced these roadways
remain in front of the houses to which they served
as screens ; but these are growing fewer year by
year, while " Trade's unfeeling train
Usurp the land and dispossess the swain."
The market-gardens, too, and the farm-houses
which gave the village a rural aspect at the accession
of her present Majesty, have nearly all been swal
lowed up in like manner by the building societies,
who have parcelled out the land into unsightly plots.
The village is between five and six miles from
London, and has a station on the Great Eastern
Railway. There is also a station at Leytonstone.
Like Chigwell and Walthamstow, and other sub
urban villages eastward of the metropolis which
we have visited, Leyton was in former times the
abode of a large number of City merchants and
other wealthy personages; these, however, have
mostly migrated westward, but many of their fine
old houses still remain.
At Knott's Green, a hamlet on the road from
Snaresbrook to Low Leyton, is the seat of Mr.
G. Gurney Barclay, surrounded by gardens and
grounds which have attained a local celebrity, and
which has become famous for its observatory.
Park House was another fine mansion ; but this
has been enlarged, and converted to educational
purposes, and is now known as St. Agnes' Roman
Catholic Poor School.
Ruckholt House, a good-sized modern building,
near the railway-station, occupies the site, or at all
events has been built in the place of the old manor-
house of that name, which was taken down about
the middle of the last century. The old house,
which was originally the seat of the Hickes family,
seems to have degenerated towards its latter years,

for in 1742 it was taken by one William Barton,
who opened it as a place of public amusement for
breakfasts and afternoon concerts, after the fashion
of Belsize at Hampstead, * and Kendal House at
Isleworth.f The concerts were held weekly
during the summer, oratorios being occasionally
performed. In some of the advertisements an
nouncing the performances here, the old mansion
is stated to have been one of Queen Elizabeth's
palaces, but there does not appear to have been
any foundation for the assertion. '
The seats of most pretension now standing are
the Manor House, belonging to the Pardoes ;
Leyton House, a large mansion, standing in its
own extensive grounds, some time the residence of
Mr. Alderman Sidney; and Etloe House, a large
white-fronted building, about a quarter of a mile
north-west of the church. This last-named house
was erected rather more than a century ago, and
was for some years the residence of Cardinal
Wiseman. The parish church of Low Leyton, dedicated to
St. Mary, is constructed of brick, in part plastered
over, and is altogether poor and ugly. It consists
of a nave, chancel, and north aisle, and a tower at
the western end.
The church is neatly modernised ; not a single
trace of antiquity remains. The tower was pulled
down and rebuilt in the seventeenth century, the
nave and chancel underwent the same process in
the eighteenth century; and all that remains to
show what once has been is a really fine collection
of Jacobean monuments. On the walls are one
or two modern specimens of the skill of Flaxman
and Chantrey. Near the vestry door, at the
south-east corner, is a rather boldly-sculptured
mural tablet to Sir Robert Beachcroft, Alderman
and Lord Mayor of London, with the date of
1721. Below are the insignia of his office: the
Lord Mayor's fur cap, sword, and mace.
At the north-west angle is a mural monument
with a Latin inscription to William Bowyer, the
printer, and friend of Dr. Johnson, who succeeded
Edward Cave as proprietor of the Gentleman's
Magazine. It was apparently erected by his son-
in-law, John Nichols, whose name is added below.
The monuments have nearly all been displaced
and replaced in the various beautifying processes
which the church has undergone of late. Two
large and stately memorials of the Hickes family,
which formerly stood on the north and south
of the communion table in the chancel, are now

* See "Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 495-
I See ante, p. 59.

486

GREATER LONDON.

(Leyton.

under the tower at the west end, where they are
lost to view. These are described by Lysons in
his " Environs of London." One of them, formerly
on the south side of the chancel, commemorates Sir
Michael Hickes, whose effigy in armour, life-size,
is represented in alabaster ; the monument also
comprises the effigy of his wife, in a mourning habit,
holding a book. Sir Michael Hickes died in 1612.
The other monument commemorates Sir William
Hickes, who died in 1680; another Sir William
Hickes, his son (1702), and Martha Agnes, Lady

GYLIELMV2 BOWYER

of either, stands erect, but helpless, at the other
end. The sculptor, however, has thrown great
spirit into his figures, though at the present day
they will appear to most people utterly unsuited
to a sacred edifice.
On the walls are two or three brasses, of different
dates and styles ; one of the time of Henry VII.
commemorates a maiden lady, Ursula Gasprey, her
father's only child, who utters a prayer in Latin
verse — ¦ '' Ursula Virgineis me pia junge choris ; "

IS^^^ste W^rnm^ 4 ~ -SUB

B;' ^ i mm m :

Hickes, wife of Sir William Hickes the younger
(1723). On the first-mentioned monument the
knight and his lady are lying with their feet
together and their heads apart, as if they had just
had a conjugal " row." This idea, however, is
negatived by the language of regret at parting, and
of hope to meet in another and better world which
are ascribed to them in Latin verses of doubtful
correctness and elegance. On the other monument
Sir William Hickes is dressed in a court suit, wig,
and ruffles, reclining in a semi-defiant attitude, with
his baton as Warden of Waltham Forest in his
right hand. At one end of the tomb stands his
son, also in a court suit, and in a military attitude ;
whilst his lady, who for her age might be the wife

another, apparently of the reign of James I. or
Charles I., exhibits a London tradesman in the
habit of the day, with his wife and a bevy of
children, also suitably attired.
The third brass has a quaint English inscription in
rhyme — I cannot say in poetry. It records the
death of a Lady Mary Kingestone in 1557: —
" If you wyll the truythe have,
Here lyethe in thys grave,
Dyrectly under thys stone,
Good Lady Mary Kyngestone ;
Who departyd thys world, the truth to say,
In the month of August, the XV day ;
And, as I do well remember,
Was buryed honorably 4 day of September,
The yere of our Lorde, rekynyd truly,

[Leyton.

JOHN STRYPK.

487

MVc fourty and eyght varely ;
Whos yerly obyte and anniversary
Ys determined to be kept surely,
At the costs of hyr sone, Sr Henry Jernynghame
truely ;
Who was at thys makyng,
Of the Quenes gard cheffe capteyn."
Lady Kingestone — or Kingston — was the wife
of Sir William Kingston, and daughter of Richard,
Lord Scroope. She had been first married to
Edward Jerningham.
Among other monuments in the church may be
mentioned those of Charles Goring, Earl of Norwich,

part of the last century. John Strype, the cele
brated historian and antiquarian, lies buried in
the chancel, but his gravestone has been covered
and concealed by the new flooring. He was duly
licensed by the Bishop of London, and though
never actually inducted, held this vicarage during
the long period of sixty-eight years. He died at
the residence of his grand-daughter, at Hackney, in
December, 1737, at the age of ninety-four.
Strype is said to have been of German descent,
but to have been born at Stepney in 1643. He
graduated at Cambridge, and on being admitted to

who died in
1670, and of
Sir Richard
Hawkins, dated
1735. Not the
least interesting
memorial, however,
is a tablet to the
memory of William
Bowyer, the eminent
printer, and author of
"Critical Conjectures on the Greek Testament," who
died in 1777, and whose " Life," as written by Mr.
John Nichols, " his apprentice, partner, and .suc
cessor," and at whose expense the tablet was erected,
contains many interesting particulars of the state of
literature and of literary characters through a great

PORTRAIT OF STRYPE.

holy orders, was presented to the incumbency of
Theydon Bois, but resigned a few months afterwards,
on being appointed minister of this parish. He
was for some years "lecturer" of Hackney, until
his resignation of that post in 1724, and he held
also with his Essex living the sinecure of Tarring,
in Sussex, to which he was presented by Archbishop
Tenison. The history of Strype's long life, in so
far as it is of any public interest, consists merely of
the list of his successive publications, among the
more important of which may be mentioned
" Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer," " Life of Sir
Thomas Smith, Principal Secretary of State to
Edward VI. and Elizabeth," "Historical Col
lections relating to the Life and Acts of Bishop
Aylmer," "Annals of the Reformation," Lives of
Archbishops Grindal, Parker, and Whitgift, and

488

GREATER LONDON.

[Leyton.

" Ecclesiastical Memorials of the Church of
England under Henry VIIL, Edward VI., and
Queen Mary." In 1720 he produced an edition of
Stow's "Survey of London." Strype probably
spent the first fifty years of his life in collecting the
materials of the voluminous works which he gave
to the world in the succeeding forty.
The churchyard is full of handsome tombs,
showing that the dead who lie here occupied highly
" respectable '' positions in life. Amongst others
who are so recorded are Sir John Strange, Master
of the Rolls, and author of some legal reports ;
and Pope's friend, David Lewis, author of the
forgotten tragedy of "Philip of Macedon." A
gravestone to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Wood
bears upon it the following punning inscription : —
" Wail not, my wood, thy trees untymely fall,
They weare butt leaves that autumn's blast could spoyle ;
The bark bound up, and some fayre fruit withal,
Transplanted only, she exchanged her soyle.
She is not dead, she did but fall to rise,
And leave the woods, to live in Paradise."
The Vicarage, which stands at the fork of two
roads in the high street, was built by Strype, and
has some nice carvings of the Stuart era on the
lintel and posts. The following extract from one
of the old parish registers, probably - written by
Strype himself, may interest our readers : —
" An Account ofye Building of ye Vicar's House of
this Parish." — " The Vicarage House of this.
Parish of Low Leyton, having been of a long time
very ruinous, and being at its best state but mean
and unfit to receive a Minister with his family, ye
present Incumbent, John Strype, M.A., having
lived seven years and upwards in ye said Parish,
and officiated there as their Minister, thought fit at
ye general Vestry at Easter, Anno 1677, to acquaint
ye Parishoners with a promise they had made him,
at his first coming among ym : wch was, to repair,
or rather if need were, to rebuild ye said Vicarage
House. Upon wch Motion, ye Vestry appointed
Matthias Goodfellow and Robert Harvey, Mer
chants, to take a view of ye old Vicarage House,
and to consider and report ye charge of rebuilding
it. Wch was done wtnin a short time after by ye
former of them, having taken a surveyor and work
men along with him. And a report thereof was
accordingly returned at ye next Vestry, wth a Model
drawn by Mr- Richard Sadleir, an Inhabitant of
this Parish, for ye intended new House, Containing
30 Foot in Front and 26 Foot in Rear. Here
upon a Voluntary Subscription was made by divers
of ye wel-affected Parishoners, towards ye charge of
ye work .... Upon this encourage™' ye said
Incumbent undertook y= Building thereof himself,

and entered into articles wth John Mount of
Walthamstow, Bricklayer, to build and finish y»
House wth al manner of Workmanship and Mate
rials necessary thereunto. And so ye Foundation
of this House was begun to be laid in ye Month of
August, Anno 1677, And al finished in y-e Month
of September ye year following. And ye above-
named John Strype came into it, to dwel and
reside there (by ye Favour of God), ye 26th day of
September, in ye year 1678."
During the time of the Civil War a captain of a
troop of horse, under the Parliament, named Kern,
was foisted on the parish as vicar or parson. He
preached, as Laud tells us, one Sunday in August,
1 641, in the chapel of the Tower of London, before
the illustrious prisoner, "in a buff coat and a scarf,
but with a gown on. He told the people they were
all blessed that died in this (Parliamentary) cause,
with much other such stuff."
In consequence of the great increase in the
population of Leyton of late years a new church
(All Saints') was built in 1864. It is constructed
of brick and stone, cruciform in plan, with south
and west porches. The architecture is of the
Decorated style, and the east window, of five
lights, and also two others in the chancel, are filled
with stained glass.
The National Schools, built in 1847, are m the
Elizabethan style, and were raised by subscription,
at a cost of ,£1,200, on the site of the old free
school founded at the end of the seventeenth
century by Robert Osier, who endowed it with a
rent-charge of .£12, for seven boys of Leyton and
seven of Walthamstow.
There are several charities in the parish, chiefly
gifts in money and bread to the poorest inhabitants.
The parochial almshouses, by the churchyard, a
low range of eight single-roomed tenements, were
founded by one John Smith, a merchant of London,
in 1656. In the Lea Bridge Road are the Alms
houses of the Master Bakers' Pension Society.
Lea Bridge and the road thence to Woodford
were made in 1756-7. The bridge itself is partly
in the parish of Hackney. It consists of a single
arch, built of iron ; the approaches to it being of
brick with stone dressings and facings. Close by
the bridge are the reservoirs of the East London
Water Company, the engine-houses, with their
tall brick shafts being conspicuous objects by
the roadside. Near the bridge is a station on
the Great Eastern Railway. The Lea at this point
divides itself into two or three different channels
in its course through Hackney Marshes. On one
of these branches, about a mile southward from Lea
Bridge, were the old Temple Mills, said to have

Leytonstone.]

TEMPLE MILLS.

489

anciently belonged to the Knights Templars, and
afterwards to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.*
In 1720 these mills were used for brass works ; but
at the beginning of the present century they were
appropriated to the manufacture of sheet lead, and
subsequently used as flock mills. The building,
which was principally of wood, was pulled down
many years ago ; and the stream which worked the
mill is now under the control of the East London
Water Company, above mentioned. The mill
spanned the stream, and adjoined the "White
Hart" public-house, an hostelry well-known to
anglers in these parts.
Among the natives of Leyton was Sir Thomas
Rowe, or Roe, Ambassador for James I. to the
Great Mogul and to the Sultan of Turkey, and
author of a narrative of his travels in that capacity.
On his return from the East, Sir Thomas was
made Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, and
also sworn a Privy Councillor. The celebrated
Alexandrian Manuscript of the Greek Testament,
of which a facsimile was published by Dr. Woide
towards the end of the last century, was brought
to this country by Sir Thomas. He died in 1644.
Thomas Lodge, the dramatic poet and actor,
known also as a translator of the works of Josephus
and Seneca, &c, lived at Low Leyton, as he dates
from that place one of his plays, " The Wit's
Miserie," which was printed in 1596.
The hamlet of Leytonstone lies to the east of
Low Leyton, and stretches for about a mile along
the Epping Road in its course from Stratford,
from which place it is about two miles north as
the crow flies. The main street runs parallel with
the Epping and Ongar branch of the Great Eastern
Railway, the railway-station being close to the
church. The district was formed into a separate

ecclesiastical parish in 1845. In 1861 the popula
tion of Leytonstone was about 2,400. This number
had doubled itself in the course of the next ten
years, since which time there has been a pro
portionate increase, streets and rows of " villas "
having rapidly sprung up in all directions, par
ticularly eastward, towards the districts once covered
by Hainault Forest.
The church of St. John the Baptist was built in
1843 ; it is constructed of white brick, with stone
dressings, and consists of a chancel and nave, with
a pinnacled tower at the western end, containing
a clock and six bells. The east window, a triple
lancet, is filled with stained glass.
In 1879 another ecclesiastical district was
formed at Harrow Green, at the north-western
extremity of the parish, abutting upon Ruckholts.
This new district has been made up of portions
of the several parishes of Leytonstone, Leyton,
Wanstead, West Ham, and St. Paul's, Stratford
New Town. The church, dedicated to the Holy
Trinity, was built in 1878.
The Congregational Church, built in 1877-78,
is a large edifice of Lombardo-Gothic design.
There are also chapels for other denominations of
Dissenters. The Union Workhouse for the parish
of West Ham, the inmates of which generally
number between 700 and 800, is situated at
Leytonstone, as also is the Bethnal Green In
dustrial School, which was erected in 1868, and
provides a home for some 400 children. Another
useful philanthropic institution here is the Chil
dren's Home, in Forest Place, established in 1865.
Much of the land in the parish which has not
been already swallowed up by the greedy builder
is cultivated either as market-gardens or as nursery-
grounds for choice flowers and ornamental trees.

CHAPTER LII.
HAINAULT FOREST AND ALDBOROUGH HATCH.
" To Hainault Forest Queen Anne she did ride,
And beheld the beautiful Oak by her side ;
And after viewing it from the bottom to top
She said to her Court, ' It is a Fair-lop!,' "—Old Song.
Situation, Boundaries, and Extent of Hainault Forest— Its Etymology— Its Ownership by the Abbey of Barking— It passes to the Crown-
Subsequent Disposal-Is Disafforested— The Hamlet of Barking Side— Census Returns— The Church-Dr. Barnardo's Homes for
Friendless Children— The "Maypole" Public-house— Fairlop Oak and Fairlop Fair— Aldborough Hatch.

Hainault Forest, as we have stated in a previous
chapter,t was that portion of the Forest of Waltham
which lay (alas ! I can no longer write "which lies")

" See " Old and New London," Vol. V..
+ See ante, p. 423

p. 510

to the south and east of the River Roding. In
former times, as already stated, it extended north
ward as far as Theydon Bois, embracing Chigwell
and Woodford Bridge, its southern entrance being
at Aldborough Hatch. The word Hatch, as my

49e

GREATER LONDON,

Hainault Forest,

readers are probably aware, was the old Saxon term
for a wicket-gate, and it still survives in the buttery-
hatch of our colleges and old manor-houses.
From constant enclosures, however, the area of the
forest had been so far diminished, that since the
commencement of the present century Chigwell
Row and Forest Gate may be said to have formed
its northern boundary, whilst it extended from
Woodford and Leytonstone in the west nearly to
Havering-atte-Bower in the east. According to the
survey of the Commissioners of Land Revenue, made
in 1793, and the estimate of the Commissioners
of Woods and Forests, the entire area of Hainault
Forest at that time was about 1 7,000 acres ; but
by 1 85 1, when it was resolved to "disafforest" and
enclose it, these acres had dwindled down to
about 4,000, of which nearly 3,000 were com
prised in the " King's Woods," or royal forest.
Almost the only part which has remained unenclosed
since 1853, when the work of reclamation began, is
Crabtree Wood, which lies a short distance east
ward of Chigwell Row. There are a few other
patches adjoining Claybury, and at Hog's Hall,
near Barking Side.
Hainault Forest is supposed by some writers to
have been named from Hainhault, in Germany, "on
account of its having been stocked with deer from
that place," and by others that it was so called out
of compliment to Philippa of Hainhault, the con
sort of Edward III. Mr. James Thorne, in his " En
virons of London," however, says :—" The name,
formerly Hen holt, has been derived from the
Anglo-Saxon hean, poor, of little value (having
reference to the character of the land, as in
Hendon, Henley, &c), and holt, a wood. Dr.
Morris has suggested that it may come from hayn,
a cleared and enclosed space, and holt* It is not
unlikely, however," adds Mr. Thorne, " looking at
the character of the district, that it was originally
Man holt, the high wood."
Down to the present century this district was
wild and uncultivated, in a great measure
covered over with forest trees — chiefly pollard
oak and hornbeam — and underwood, and with
here and there broad sweeps of turf dotted with
golden furze, and purple with broom and heather,
affording safe retreats for the gipsy tribes who
located themselves in these quarters.
The portion of Hainault Forest lying within the
manors of Barking and Dagenham belonged to the
Abbey of Barking, and at the Dissolution it passed
to the Crown. From the time of Charles I., how
ever, different portions of the forest have been

f Etymology of Local Names," p. 55.

sold, and the manor of Barking alienated, but
what was called the " soil of the King's Woods,
together with the timber growing thereon," was
reserved, as well as the right of "vert and venison."
In 185 1 an Act of Parliament was passed em
powering the Government, after giving full com
pensation to the lords of manors, -freeholders, and
others, in respect to their several rights in the
forest, to " destroy or remove the deer, cut down
the timber, enclose and appropriate the land, make
roads," &c. ; and in 1853, as stated above, the
work of clearance and reclamation was begun in
earnest, Messrs. Charles Gore and Thomas F.
Kennedy being then the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests. The trees, over 100,000 in number,
were laid low by the woodman's axe, and produced
nearly ,£21,000, which went a great way towards
paying the preliminary expenses of the proceedings.
The Crown had obtained, either by allotment or
purchase, some 2,000 acres and the whole of the
timber; and the remainder was appropriated to
the several parishes and lords of manors. The
Crown lands were thoroughly drained and fenced,
and now form a compact property, known as the
Crown Farm. What was once Hainault Forest
has thus become — from a wild and desolate, but
beautiful, waste — a broad expanse of productive,
fertile land, the property being cut up and divided
by roads, and for the most part put under cultiva
tion as farms. But the rights of the British public
were ignored, no village Hampden having up here,
as at Loughton, come forward to assert and vindi
cate them.
On the south-west side of this district, which
now figures on the map simply as Hainault — or
Henhault — is the straggling hamlet of Barking
Side. The village consists of a few small houses
and labourers' cottages by the roadside, a church,
a public-house or two, and a charitable institution.
It lies some two miles south from Chigwell Row,
and three miles north from Ilford station on the
Great Eastern Railway, and it was formed into an
ecclesiastical district in 1841, out of Great Ilford
and the civil parish of Barking. Its area is some
2,500 acres ; whilst its inhabitants, principally em
ployed in agricultural pursuits, number nearly
3,000, or about double of those enumerated in the
census of 187 1.
The name of Barking Side would seem at first
very inappropriate to a place which lies in the op
posite direction of Barking from Ilford ; but it
must be remembered that the name was given with
reference, not to that place, though it may have
been the Eald Ford, but to the Forest, which was
older still.

Hainault Forest

DR. BARNARDO'S ORPHANS' HOME.

49 1

The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a
small building in the Norman style, erected in 1840 :
it consists of a chancel and nave, with a bell-turret.
Dr. Barnardo's Village Home for Orphan and
Destitute Girls is the principal feature in this village.
This institution, called the East End Juvenile
Mission, and one out of eighteen depots established
in the eastern districts of London, was founded in
1866, for the purpose of "reclaiming, educating,
and benefiting, spiritually and physically, adults
and children of the poorest classes."
The Homes surround a space of about four acres,
which is laid out as a sort of college quadrangle,
the houses being grouped around it on all sides.
Each of these is fitted for the reception of twenty
girls, who are mostly between four and fourteen
years of age, though some remain till seventeen, and
some are infants only a few weeks old. The total
of the houses is at present thirty ; but ground has
been secured for the erection of ten or twelve more
as soon as donors are forthcoming. Many of those
already in working order were opened by the
Princess Mary of Teck, as recorded on stones let
into their fronts ; others were given or opened by
Lord and Lady Cairns, Lord and Lady Aberdeen,
the Duchess Dowager of Manchester, and other
titled persons ; whilst not a few commemorate a
parent or a child. The inscriptions on their fronts
are quite touching.
The girls are all brought up for domestic service,
and are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and
needlework; and all take their turns at laundry
and house work. The steam laundry alone, when
in full operation, is a sight worth a visit; and
the size of it may be inferred from the fact that
often 10,000 articles are washed in it in a single
week. The washing, not only of all the thirty
" Homes," but that of all the boys at the Home at
Stepney Causeway — a kindred institution — is done
here. The girls are allowed, in some cases, to
remain till seventeen, when they are drafted off
" into service. Some hundreds of them have been
despatched to Canada, for service there ; and they
cannot be sent too young for the wants of the
colonists. Some who are delicate have been sent
for a winter sojourn on the north coast of Africa.
Two adjoining mansions, with grounds and gar
dens, have been absorbed into the institution ; the
one serving as an infirmary, whilst the other is
appropriated as school-rooms for the various
classes. The whole of the school staff is under
Government inspection, and has a resident master
and mistress, who have a separate house assigned
to them.
The children have their meals and, for the most

part, sit and play in their respective Homes, though
they meet on equal terms in the common ground.
In the centre of the quadrangle is a dovecot or
pigeon-house, and little gardens are attached to
every cottage. Nothing can be prettier or neater
than the general appearance of these Homes ; and
the bright happy faces of the children tell more
plainly than words can do that they are well cared
for and well treated. In fact, after a month or two
in the Home, the faces of even the dullest and
stupidest-looking children show a marked improve
ment. It is said that the demand for servants from
the Homes average a thousand in a year, while the
supply can never reach a hundred. The average
death-rate of all the children in the several Homes
is under one per cent.
The whole of the large sum collected annually
by Dr. Barnardo is expended on the children, their
clothing, education, and maintenance; and some
of the ladies in charge of the Homes give their
services gratuitously from love of the work. All
the Homes have been erected by private donors,
individually or collectively. It is said that the
sums collected amount to over £40,000 yearly.
Prizes are distributed annually to a large number
of former occupants of these Homes who, by their
industry and good conduct, may have retained their
situations with credit, after leaving the institution, for
a number of years. At a meeting held at Exeter Hall
for the above purpose in June, 1883, presided over by
Earl Cairns, it was stated that during the preceding
year 4,100 boys and girls had enjoyed the ad
vantages of the Homes and institutions connected
with them. A new Home, the "Leopold," had
been opened during the year, and a Servants' Free
Registry added. A scheme had been elaborated
for sending 100 boys and 100 girls to the
Colonies — emigration being the best possible
mode of completing the rescue of many of those
who have been trained in the Homes. One of
the supporters of the Homes, having purchased
1,000 acres of land in one of the Midland counties,
had offered to take 100 boys to train as agri
culturists. The income of the year, it was an
nounced, had been £45, 136, a considerable in
crease over the most prosperous of previous years.
The old " Maypole " public-house here has
been popular in its time with East London holiday-
makers, on account of its proximity to the spot
whereon formerly grew the famous Fairlop Oak ;
but it is open to question whether the worthy host
was justified in placing in his bar the following
couplet : —" My liquor 's good, my measure 's just ;
Excuse me, sirs, I cannot trust."

492

GREATER LONDON.

[Hainault Forest.

The Fairlop Oak stood about a mile to the east
of the " Maypole," on ground which now forms
part of the Crown Farm. It has been noticed as
not a little singular that the survey of the Board of
Agriculture makes no mention of this oak in its list
of particular trees in the county.
Mr. Coller, writing of the forest in his " History
of Essex" (1861), observes: — "The parts of it
about Leyton and Woodford are pleasant airing-
grounds for the inhabitants of eastern London on
holidays, to whom it is a luxury to breathe the
fresh air of a real forest. Doubtless it is a special
delight for the fair labourers in the factories of
fashion to escape from their prison-houses, and, as
a wag has sung —

oak, and of the scenes enacted beneath its spread
ing branches : —
' ' Deep in the forest's dreary tracts,
Where ranged at large fierce Waltham blacks ;
Where passengers with wild affright,
Shrunk from the terrors of the night,
there stood that
pride of Hainault , . 
Forest, the Fairlop
Oak, which for so---"
many years over-
shadowed with its ";i .'.',_
verdant foliage .'¦•;;.ij!!:'';i-;!'i!!!';i|!ii:i'-
the thousands who

DR. BARNARDO S HOMES.

" ' Like Robin Hood, to feel themselves the free,
And draw their beaux beneath the greenwood tree.'
Even in this respect, however, the popularity of
the forest has fallen off since excursion trains
have stood at all the outlets of London, ready to
whirl the parties further countryward, though the
rabble rout that burlesques the grandeur of the
old royal hunting party is still to be heard in the
forest on Easter Monday. Fair and bright, too,
have been the days of forest life under the Fairlop
oak, which stood near Great Ilford." Not only,
however, as we have already shown,* has the
Epping Hunt become a thing of the past, but both
the Fairlop Oak and the saturnalia which for a
century or so were known as Fairlop Fair have
now altogether disappeared.
A writer in the Literary Chronicle for 1823
gives us the following particulars of this celebrated
* See ante, p. 443.

crowded under it, and the antiquity of which
the tradition of the country traces half-way up- to
the Christian era. This vegetable wonder, which
was rough and fluted, measured at three feet from
the ground about thirty-six feet in girth, and the
shade of its branches was proportionally large.
" Under this oak a fair was long annually held
on the first Friday in July, which was founded
by one Daniel Day, a block and pump maker, of
Wapping, commonly called Good Day, who died
on the 19th of July, 1767, aged 84. Mr. Day was
the proprietor of a small estate in Essex, at a short
distance from Fairlop Oak. To this venerable
tree he used, on the first Friday in July, to repair,
having previously invited a party of his neighbours
to accompany him, and here, under the shade of
its thickest branches and leaves, the party dined
on beans and bacon. For many years Mr. Day
continued annually to visit this favourite tree;
and attracting public curiosity to the spot, a sort of

Hainault Forest.]

THE FAIRLOP OAK

493

fair was established, which caused a great circula
tion of money, and introduced that kind of civilisa
tion which is the sure concomitant of commerce
in a part of the country which had for ages been
wild, dangerous, and almost unexplored. In
addition to the entertainment given to his friends,
Mr. Day never failed, on the day of the fair, to
provide several sacks of beans, with a proportionate
quantity of bacon, which he distributed from the
trunk of the tree to the persons there assembled.

was applied to the extremities of its decaying
branches, to one of which was affixed a board with
this inscription : — ' All good foresters are requested
not to hurt this old tree, a plaster having lately
been applied to its wounds.'
" But these precautions were insufficient to
protect it from thoughtless visitors, who would make
a fire within the cavities to cook their provisions ;
and in the month of June, 1805, the tree was thus
set on fire, and continued burning until the

FAIRLOP OAK, l800.

"For several years before the death of the
benevolent, though eccentric, founder of this fair
and public bean-feast, the pump and block makers
of Wapping, to the number of thirty or forty, went
annually to the fair in a boat made, like an Indian
canoe, of one piece of timber. The amphibious
vehicle was covered with an awning, mounted on a
carriage, and drawn by six post-horses, the whole
being adorned with ribands, flags, and streamers,
and furnished with a band of musicians.
"The oak, so long the great object of attraction,
after having endured the fury of the whirlwind
and the tempests of ages, at length fell, sub
dued by Time ; for ' what will not Time subdue ? '
About twenty years ago the tree was fenced round
with a close paling, and Mr. Forsyth's composition
42

following day, by which the trunk was considerably
injured, and some of the principal branches wholly
destroyed ; but though thus mutilated, ' the stately
ruin yet still wonder gained,' and might then have
been apostrophised in the language of the poet : —
" ' Thou wert a bauble once, a cup and ball,
Which babes might play with ; and the thievish jay,
Seeking her food, with ease might have purloin'd
The auburn net that held thee, swallowing down
Thy yet close-folded latitude of boughs.
Time was when, sitting on thy leaf, a fly
Could shake thee to thy roots, and time has been
When tempests could not.
Time made thee what thou wert — king of the woods ;
And time hath made thee what thou art — a cave
For fowls to roost in.'
"The high winds of February, 1820, however,

494

GREATER LONDON.

[Hainault Forest.

stretclied its massy trunk and limbs on that turf
which it had for so many ages overshadowed with
its verdant foliage ; and thus it exhibited a me
lancholy memento of the irresistible power of time
to bring to an end not only the flower of a season,
but the towering growth of many ages.
" But, although the oak is gone, and the only
remains of it, we believe, are to be found in the
neighbouring church of Wanstead, where the
pulpit has been made of a part of it, yet the fair is
still held regularly, and is a place of great resort to
the inhabitants of London, who flock in crowds,
and, forming gipsy parties, spend the day. But the
poet Gay must describe the scene : —
" ' Here pedlars' stalls with glitt'ring toys are laid,
And various fairings of the country maid.
Long silken laces hang upon the twine,
And rows of pins and amber bracelets shine.
Here the tight bass-knives, combs, and scissors spies,
And looks on thimbles with designing eyes.
The mountebank now treads the stage, and sells
His pills, his balsams, and his ague-spells ;
Now o'er and o'er the nimble tumbler springs,
And on the rope the vent'rous maiden swings.
Jack Pudding, in his party-coloured jacket,
Tosses the glove, and jokes at ev'ry packet ;
Here raree shows are seen and Punch's feats,
And pockets pick'd in crowds, and various cheats.' "
The pulpit of St. Pancras Church, in the Euston
Road, it may be added, was also made from the
wood of this famous oak.*
The author of a brochure, entitled " Fairlop and
its Founder," printed in 1847, varies the account of
the origin of the fair with a few additional details.
He writes : — " When entire, the oak is said to
have had a girth of thirty-six feet, and to have
had seventeen branches, each as large as an
ordinary tree of its species  Far back
in the last century, there lived an estimable block
and pump maker in Wapping, Daniel Day by
name, but generally known by the quaint appellative
of Good Day. Flaunting a small rural retreat
which he had acquired in Essex, not far from
Fairlop, Mr. Day became deeply interested in the
grand old tree above described, and began a
practice of resorting to it on the first Friday in
July, in order to eat a rustic dinner with a few
friends under its branches. His dinner was
composed of the good old English fare, beans and
bacon, which he never changed, and which no
guest ever complained of. Indeed, beans and
bacon became identified with the festival, and it
would have been an interference with many
hallowed associations to make any change, or even

See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 353.

addition. By-and-bye, the neighbours caught Mr.
Day's spirit, and came in multitudes to join in his
festivities. As a necessary consequence, traffick
ing people came to sell refreshments on the spot:
afterwards commerce in hard and soft wares found
its way thither; shows and tumbling followed : in
short, a regular fair was at last concentrated around
Fairlop Oak  Mr. Day had thus the
satisfaction of introducing the appearances of
civilisation in a district which had heretofore been
chiefly noted as a haunt of banditti.
" Fun of this kind, like fame, naturally gathers
force as it goes along. We learn that for some
years before the death of Mr. Day, which took
place in 1767, the pump and block makers of
Wapping, to the amount of thirty or forty, used to
come each first Friday in July to the Fairlop beans-
and-bacon feast, seated in a boat formed of a single
piece of wood, and mounted upon wheels, covered
with an awning, and drawn by six horses. As they
went, accompanied by a band of musicians, it may
be readily supposed how the country-people would
flock round, attend, and stare at their anomalous
vehicle, as it hurled madly along the way to the
forest. A local poet, who had been one of the
company, gives us just a faint hint of the feelings
connected with this journey : —
" ' O'er land our vessel bent its course,
Guarded by troops of foot and horse ;
Our anchors they were all a-peak,
Our crew were baling from each leak.
On Stratford Bridge it made me quiver,
Lest they should spill us in the river.
" The founder of the Fairlop feast was remark
able for benevolence and a few innocent eccentrici
ties. He was never married, but bestowed as much
kindness upon the children of a sister as he could
have spent upon his own. He had a female
servant, a widow, who had been eight-and-twenty
years with him. As she had in life loved two
things especially, her wedding-ring and her tea, he
caused her to be buried with the former on her
finger, and a pound of tea in each hand — the latter
circumstance being the more remarkable as he
himself disliked tea, and made no use of it. He
had a number of little aversions, but no resentments,
It changed the usual composed and amiable
expression of his countenance to hear of any one
going to law. He literally eveiy day relieved the
poor at his gate. He often lent sums of money to
deserving persons without any charge for interest-
When he had attained a considerable age, the Fair
lop oak lost one of its branches. Accepting the
fact as an omen of his own approaching end, he
caused the detached limb of the tree to be fashioned

Hainault Forest.]

ALDBOROUGH HATCH.

495

into a coffin for himself, and this convenience he
-took care to try, lest it should prove too short. By
his request his body was borne in its coffin to
Barking Churchyard by water in a boat."
Gilpin, in his "Remarks on Forest Scenery,"
written in the last century, describes the branches
of Fairlop oak as " overspreading an area nearly
300 feet in circumference. About a yard from the
ground," he adds, "where its rough fluted stem is
thirty-six feet in circumference, it divides into eleven
vast arms ; yet not in the horizontal manner of an
oak, but rather in that of a beech." In his day it
had "suffered greatly from the depredations of
time." In 1805, as stated above, it lost some of its
greater branches, and was otherwise considerably
injured by a gipsy party, who had kindled a fire in
too close proximity to its aged trunk ; and although
considerable care was afterwards taken to preserve
it, the work of decay went on gradually, until, in the
month of February, 1820, the " grand old oak " was
blown down in a violent gale. The fall of the tree,
however, did not put a stop to the "fair," notwith
standing that it was popularly supposed to have
been held "by charter, under the shadow of the
great oak." Even when the power of holding it
was supposed to have been taken away by the Dis
afforesting Act in 1852, so firm a hold had the idea
of celebrating Fairlop Fair taken on the minds of
the East Londoners, that they still hovered round
its site for their annual " outing " for some three or
four years, until the ground was actually enclosed.
Mr. Thorne, in his " Environs of London," says
that " even now (1876), on the ' first Friday in July,'
the block-makers of Wapping visit Barking Side in
their ships, drawn by six horses, and after skirting
the scenes of their old revels, dine at the ' May
pole,' or one of the neighbouring inns. A sort of

fair continues to be held on the unenclosed waste,
but it is a fragmentary, disreputable mockery . . .
It may be noticed," he adds, " as illustrating the
tenacity with which the memory of Fairlop is held,
that the London Foresters named the lifeboat
which they presented to the Lifeboat Society in
1865 ' The Fairlop.' " Indeed, down to within the
last few years Fairlop Fair, on the first Friday in
July, was a favourite Cockney holiday-making, and
almost as celebrated at the east end of London as
the Epping Hunt used to be at Eastertide. The
open space of ground whereon the old tree once
flourished was on this one particular day in the
year crowded by company of every description.
"Lord, what a group the motley scene discloses !
False wits, false wives, false virgins, and false spouses."
Aldborough (or Aldbury) Hatch is a small ham
let and ecclesiastical district of Barking. It lies-
about two miles north-east of Ilford, and is a strag
gling little place, with a population of about 500.
The church, a small Gothic structure, was opened
about the year 1863. Here, on the verge of the
old forest (as implied by the name), is a dreary
level district, lately disafforested, and largely built
over with straight roads and middle- class dwellings.
It is a woodland district simply spoiled.
Morant, in his " History of Essex," says that the
place was called Aldbury Hatch, as " denoting an
old seat near a hatch, or low gate, belonging to the
forest." According to Lysons, a mansion stood
here at the beginning of the present century. There
are other places in this neighbourhood bearing the
same affix to the name, as Pilgrims' Hatch, Howe
Hatch, &c, all of which mark the entrances at
former times to the once great Forest of Waltham,
just as Colney Hatch* has reference to a side
entrance to the Royal Chase of Enfield.

CHAPTER LIII.
ILFORD.
"There rolls the deep where grew the tree.
O Earth! what changes hast thou seen!
There, where the long street roars hath been
The stillness of the central sea."— Tennyson.
Chadwell Heath-Chadwell Street-The Old Coach Road-Will Kemp's Dance from London to Norwich-Great Ilford- Census Returns-
Etymology-The River Roding-Ilford Church-Public Reading-Room and Library, &c.-Ilford Ho^ital-Cranbrook House-Valen
tines—Discovery of an Ancient Stone Coffin— Elephants in Essex.

Making our way southward, by a winding country
lane, past Hatch Farm, towards the main road
which runs east and west through the heart of the
county of Essex from Colchester, Chelmsford, and
Romford, through Ilford and Stratford to London,

we leave on our left the uninteresting locality of
Chadwell, and the outlying hamlets of Padnall and
Great and Little Newberies. Chadwell Heath is in-

See ante, p. 342.

496

GREATER LONDON.

[Ilford.

tersected by the London road, about two miles west
of Romford. In the last century it was perhaps
as dangerous for the solitary wayfarer as Hounslow
Heath or Finchley Common, being in those days
much infested by highwaymen. The road across
the heath is now dotted with a few commonplace
cottages and a roadside inn, whilst a windmill or
two, at a short distance off from the main road, im
parts a picturesque variety to what might otherwise
be a very dull and monotonous scene. There is
also a station here on the Great Eastern Railway.
By the side of the high road, at the eastern end of
the heath, stands Whalebone House, so called from
two large whalebones which grace the entrance to
its grounds. These bones have long been objects
of curiosity to passers-by, being fixed in a con
spicuous position by the road-side. They are said
to have belonged to a whale caught in the Thames,
and placed here in memory of Oliver Cromwell,
it having been taken the same year in which he
died. Their original length was twenty-eight feet.
A little to the west of the heath is another cluster
of houses, of a similar character to those which we
have just left, and known as Chadwell Street. The
inhabitants of both these hamlets depend chiefly
upon agriculture for their means of livelihood.
One row by the roadside has been occupied for
generations by a colony of poor Irish. Chadwell
Heath is a hamlet of the parish of Dagenham,
whilst Chadwell Street forms part of Barking.
In the fields round about here, and also in the
neighbourhood of Ilford, Stratford, and other subur
ban parts in this locality, oxen were largely used
till lately by the farmers for draught and for plough
ing, instead of horses, as in most other counties.
The road from Chadwell Street to Ilford runs
almost in a straight line westward, passing between
broad stretches of meadow and tillage lands,
which have not been obliterated by the " demon
of bricks and mortar." The coaches and waggons
on this road in the good old days before railways
were invented were quite a sight just before Christ
mas and New Year's Day. A wag writes to Sir
Harry Bunbury : —
" Can you, dear sir, a man of taste,
Revive old whimsies gone and past ?
And fie ! for shame, without reproach,
Stuff as you do the Bury coach.
With strange old kindness send me presents
Of partridges and dainty pheasants?"
Along this road the Earl of Oxford and Lord
Robert Dudley conducted the Duke of Finland in
state from Colchester to London when he came as
a suitor for the hand of Queen Elizabeth, soon
after her accession.

Along this road, too, Will Kemp danced his frolic
dance for a bet, from London to Norwich, in 1600.
He writes : — " Many good fellows being there (at
Stratford and Langton) met, and knowing how well
I loved the sport, had prepared a bear-baiting ; but
so unreasonable were the multitudes of people that
I could only hear the bear roar and the dogs howl ;
therefore, forward I went with my hey-de-gaies
to Ilford, when I again rested, and was by the
people of the town and country thereabout very
well welcomed, being offered carouses in the great
spoon, one whole draught being able at that time
to have drawn my little wit dry ; but being afraid
of the old proverb, ' He hath need of a long spoon
that sups with the devil,' I soberly gave my boon
companions the slip."*
The " great spoon " at Ilford would appear, from
a marginal note in the original narrative, to have been
no spoon at all, but a jug holding above a quart.
Ilford, or rather, Great Ilford — for there is a
distinct village known as Little Ilford, some three-
quarters of a mile off to the south-west — is situated
between six and seven miles from Whitechapel
Church, and has a station close to the town, on the
Colchester line of the Great Eastern Railway. It
forms a " ward " of Barking parish, and is described
in the "British Traveller," in 1791, as "a small
village, where there are some agreeable houses."
Since that time, however, the little village has grown
into a town almost equalling in population that of
the mother parish, from which, for ecclesiastical
purposes, it has become separated, and constituted
a district parish. The population of Great Ilford,
according to the census of 187 1, was close upon
3,700, a number which, during the next decennial
period had swelled up to 4,400.
In the Domesday Survey the name of the place
is entered as Ilefort. As the River Roding here
crosses the road close by the western end of the
village, there can be little doubt that the name of
Ilford was derived from that circumstance ; but it
is doubtful whether the ford was of such a danger
ous character as to be called an "ill ford," as
Morant suggests ; it is far more possible, as Lysons
supposes, that in the Saxon times it was known as
the " eald (old) ford."
The Roding, or Roden, rises near Easton Park,
not far from Dunmow, and flows in a southerly
direction past Chipping Ongar, Kelvedon Hatch,
Navestock, Loughton, and Chigwell, to Woodford
Bridge, and so, past Ilford and Barking, into the
Thames. After passing Ongar, its banks are low

* See Kemp's " Nine Days' Wonder," performed in a dance from
London to Norwich. (Camden Society.)

Ilford.]

CRANBROOK PARK.

497

and rather marshy, and from Ilford and Barking its
course is protected by artificial embankments.
Under the name of Barking Creek, it is navigable
up to Ilford, and doubtless in former days it was in
this part of its course a " creek " rather than a river.
Its entire course is a little over thirty-five miles.
The district through which this river winds its
course north of Ongar is collectively styled " the
Rothings," or " Roodings," and its inhabitants are
thought by the rest of the county to be very dull.
Hence they say of a stupid fellow, all over Essex,
that he " comes from the Roothings." The stream
takes its rise a little to the south of the village of
Great Camfield, whence it passes through the
green meadows of several villages, which derive
their names from their position on or near the
river. These are : High Rothing, Aythorp Rothing,
Leaden Rothing, White Rothing (West), Margaret
Rothing (East), Abbot's Rothing, and Rothing
Beauchamp. Rothing Berners and Rothing
Morrell are also named from this river. We have
already made the acquaintance of the Roding at
Woodford.* There are large corn-mills and wharves
by the side of the river at Ilford, and some exten
sive lime-works and brick-fields not far distant ;
but the High Street is a dull and unthrifty-looking
place, with a mouldering air about it.
The "Red Lion" and "Angel" were great posting-
houses in former times, but their "occupation is
gone ; " notwithstanding that the town has a quieter
appearance than it had in the old coaching-days,
before the formation of the railway, much of its
prosperity is doubtless derived from the navi
gation of the Roding up to this point from its
junction with the Thames.
In 1830, Great Ilford, Barking Side, Aldborough
Hatch, Chadwell Street, and a portion of Hainault
Forest, were formed into a separate parish by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the combined district
being now known as the Vicarage of Great Ilford ;
but this is for ecclesiastical purposes only. As we
have already shown, a sub-division was made in
1 841 on the north side of Ilford, the ecclesiastical
district of Barking Side being formed, which was
followed in 1863 by that of Aldborough Hatch.
"The church of Great Ilford, dedicated to St.
Mary, was built in 1830, and enlarged in 1866. It
is constructed of brick, a poor specimen of the
Early English style, and consists of an apsidal
chancel, nave, aisles, western porch, and a
tower and spire. The last named portion, which
contains a clock and six bells, as we learn from
Kelly's " Directory of Essex," was erected in 1866,
* See ante, p. 458.

to the memory of Mr. J. Davis, of Cranbrook Park,
and his wife, by their children. The pulpit, of carved
stone, also a memorial of Mr. Davis, was erected
by subscriptions. The chancel windows are stained,
and were inserted in memory of Mr. Davis by
the magistrates of the Petty Sessions, of which
that gentleman had been chairman for many years.
Five other windows are also filled with painted
glass, in memory of some members of the family of
Thompson, of this parish.
A reading-room and lecture-hall for the benefit
of the working-classes, and also a drill-hall for the
use of the volunteers, were erected by the late
Miss E. Thompson. The reading-room has a
library attached to it.
On the south side of the road stands Ilford
Hospital, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Thomas
the Martyr, an institution founded by Adeliza,
Abbess of Barking in the reign of Stephen, for
a prior, chaplain, and thirteen poor brethren, or
lepers. It was endowed with the tithes of part of
Barking parish, and strict statutes for its regime
were drawn up by Stratford, Bishop of London, in
1346. At the Reformation its revenues were
valued at .£16 annually. Queen Elizabeth granted
these tithes and the site to the Fanshawes, by
whom it was converted into an almshouse for six
poor men, with a chaplain to perform Divine service
in the chapel. Each inmate receives the sum of
£2 us. annually, and the salary of the chaplain
was fixed at £14%. year. The estate is now vested
in the Marquis of Salisbury, who is the master of
this semi-ecclesiastical establishment, and who pays
the yearly stipends. The hospital occupies three
sides of a small quadrangle ; the apartments of the
pensioners are situated on the east and west sides,
the chapel being between them, on the south. The
chapel appears to date from the fifteenth century ; it
is a long and narrow structure, 100 feet by 20 feet,
and was the only place of worship for the inhabit
ants of Great Ilford before the erection of the new
church. In the garden court is an ancient well.
About half a mile northward from the village is
Cranbrook Park, a large old-fashioned mansion,
but in parts modernised and improved, in accord
ance with the tastes of the present day. It was the
seat of Sir Charles Montague, who died in 1625,
and whose monument we shall see on reaching
Barking Church. It contains a noble suite of
rooms overlooking the garden front.
Valentines,* which adjoins the above estate on
the north, was built towards the end of the seven-

* Valentines is the Essex mode of writing Valentine House, as it
was usually called a century ago. Thus we have Rochetts as an abbre
viation for Rochett House, and Dagnams for Dagnam Hall.

498

GREATER LONDON.

[Ilford.

teenth or beginning of the eighteenth century by
Mr. James Chadwick, son-in-law of Archbishop
Tillotson, and is now the seat of Dr. C. M. Ingleby,
whose name is so well known as a Shaksperian
scholar. In the house is some fine carving by Grin-
ling Gibbons. The mansion was enlarged and the
grounds improved by Mr. Robert Surman, who pur
chased the estate from the family of the Raymonds,
baronets. Gilpin, in his " Forest Scenery," speaks
of a remarkable grape-vine here, which would seem

and about eight feet high. A walk in the grounds,
between two rows of yew-trees that seem to have
long seen their best days, and which form an
avenue like those in the gardens of Trinity College,
Oxford, is known as Bishop's Walk : it was doubt
less so called in honour of Tillotson. Having
been in early days curate of Cheshunt, and after
wards the occupant of a country house at Edmon
ton, Tillotson must have been familiar with the
forest lands of the north-east of London, and

VALENTINES, NEAR ILFORD.

almost to have rivalled the famous vine at Hamp
ton Court,* of which, indeed, it is often said to be
the parent stem. It was of the Hamburg sort,
and was planted in a hot-house in the garden in
, 1758, and produced from three hundredweight to
four hundred and a quarter of fruit annually. The
profits on the grapes in some years have been sup
posed to amount to £300. It has, however, been
dead for many years past, and looks like a withered
gate-post, but it has thrown out from the root a
strong rod which still bears fine grapes. Mention
is also made of a fine tulip-tree planted here, which
was upwards of four feet and a quarter in girth,
* See ante, p. 170.

doubtless was a frequent visitor at his son-in-law's
quiet home, after his warm debates with Papists
and Calvinists. This estate has long been cele
brated for its trees and gardens, the latter being rich
in evergreens. The grounds include a lake about
nine acres in extent, formed by damming up a brook
that trickles down from what once was the forest.
Lysons states that "in a field behind Valentines
a stone coffin, containing a human skeleton, was
found in the year 1724;" and that "in the same
field was discovered, in 1746. an urn of coarse
earth, filled with burnt bones." These remains
were, no doubt, Roman, but they do not seem to
have been preserved.
The great Roman encampment at Uphall, now a

Ilford.)

GEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES.

499

farm, is in the Ilford ward ; but as it lies nearer to
the town of Barking, we shall deal with it under
that heading.
A large quantity of remains of elephants, and of
other animals belonging to a Pleistocene epoch,
have from time to time been dug up here and in the
neighbourhood. The Ilford brick-fields, by the
London road, and also at Uphall, have become
classic ground with geologists, in consequence of
the large number of these remains which have been

gether from various parts of the county. " In this
collection," observes Mr. Clarke, in his " History
of Walthamstow," " there are fossil bones of the
hya;na, hippopotamus, and other large animals, and
many tusks and teeth of the mammoth — an animal
of the size of which we may form some idea when
we consider that the head alone has been found to
weigh 400 lbs. There have also been found em
bedded in the London clay, which extends to, and
forms part of the soil of, Walthamstow, organic re-

ILFORD HOSPITAL.

found in them. They occur chiefly in the lower
brick-earth, underlying what is called the Thames
Valley gravels, and comprise not merely elephants,
but several other species of mammalia, among
them being the rhinoceros, the bear, tiger, wolf,
bison, great stag, ox, horse, and beaver. Mr.
Phillips, in his "Geology of the Valley of the
Thames," says that the place of these deposits in
time is probably " somewhere between that of the
late pre-glacial and early post-glacial ages, when
the levels of the country were different from what
they are at present."
Mr. J. Brown, F.G.S., of Stanway, a well-known
geologist of Essex, formed a very extensive collec
tion of fossils and organic remains, brought to-

mains of the crocodile and turtle, together with
various specimens of vegetable remains, and among
them some tropical plants ... At Ilford, in 1812,
while digging for brick-earth, the bones and teeth
of huge elephants, differing from those of Asia and
Africa, identical with the Siberian mammoth, were
found; and the teeth and tusks of the hippo
potamus, and bones of the rhinoceros and of large
oxen, have'also been found there. The remnants
of these giants of ancient days have enriched various
geological museums." The magnificent collection
of Pleistocene mammalia formed by Sir Antonio
Brady, and which found its way into the British
Museum, was formed almost exclusively from the
Ilford pits.

500

GREATER LONDON.

.[Ilford.

Mr. Manley Hopkins, in an interesting article on
this subject in Once a Week(i86o, Vol. III., p. 53),
writes : — " To ' those who understand their epoch,'
it is a result of exceeding interest to have witnessed
a great science grow in their own life of forty years,
from stammering childhood to adolescence : to have
seen almost the first uncertain beams of geology
struggling in the morning sky, and then, from hour
to hour, pouring in a flood of accumulating facts,
and classifying them into a marvellous system.
Persons born since the commencement of the pre
sent century remember geology in its pre-scientific
condition, and will recall with a thoughtful smile
the detached fact, the isolated mineral specimen, or
remarkable local formation which first drew their
attention to the subject.
" The long, grey, old church of West Ham,
which stands half a mile river-ward of Stratford, con
tained in years past some objects likely to attract
the wandering eyes of a child during a sermon.
The great silken colours of the West Ham Volun
teers hung dustily and discoloured below the tall
chancel arch. Below them, an elaborate lion and
unicorn, the size of cubs, smiled ferociously on the
preacher as he passed between them to his elevated
pulpit ; and at the east of the church, leaning
against an altar-tomb, two immense bones rested —
one being a shoulder-blade, three feet in length,
and the other a rib — concerning which relics the
inquirer was shortly answered that they were mam
moth bones. The spark of interest thus kindled in
our own breast towards osteology might have easily
died out again, had it not been followed, some two-
and-thirty years ago, by a neighbour presenting to
our youthful collection of curiosities a few pieces of
fossilated ivory, exhumed at Ilford, in a spot where
the ground had been opened for brick-making.
Many persons visited the diggings daily ; but until
lately, when an enlightened curiosity has been es
tablished, the discoveries ceased to command
attention ; and doubtless great numbers of mam
moth relics have been found, and then lost for ever.
During the last two years, however, greater care has
been taken. The proprietor of the brick-field gave
to a gentleman in the neighbourhood, much de
voted to geology, full powers over all the animal
remains discovered, and — what was of the highest
importance — left orders that his workmen should
notify to Mr. Brady their having come across any
bones. Thus he was enabled to examine them in
situ, and to prevent in a great measure their injury
or destruction. In this one field (and there are two
other brick-fields near it) the remains of at least
eight elephants have been brought to light. A
short account of their discovery was read by Mr.

Brady at a meeting of the British Association at
Aberdeen, in September, 1859. The bones of the
elephant (Elephas primigenius) are found asso
ciated with those of the rhinoceros, the Irish elk,
the horse, and the ox. An immense tusk was dis
covered fourteen feet below the level of the soil, to
see which, before it was disturbed, Sir Charles
Lyell and other eminent geologists were invited.
The tusk was deficient of both extremities, but the
portion rescued was nine feet long, and of great
thickness. Since that time a bone of enormous
thickness, belonging to a whale, has been extracted.
" The geological position of these relics is the
Pleistocene, or latest tertiary formation. The vein-
in which they occur varies from five to six feet in
thickness, and consists of sandy gravel. It under
lies the band of brick-earth already mentioned, into
which some of the bones intrude, and thus attract
the notice of the brick-makers. Above the brick-
earth is the extensive and valuable bed of scarlet
gravel for which this part of Essex is celebrated.
This bed, with the vegetable mould which covers
it in, is from four to six feet in depth at Ilford. In
other spots the gravel has been worked as deep as
twenty feet. Beneath all is the great deposit of
the London clay.
" Though the excavations at Ilford have been
singularly productive in the discovery of animal
remains, it is not to be understood that they exist
in that site only. In other parts of Essex, and also
in Middlesex, coming within the basin of the
Thames, similar bones have been brought to light.
Remains of the elephant have been met with at
Grays, at Harwich, at Erith, at Brentford, at Kings-
land, and, within a few months past, at Charing
Cross. At Erith the lion and hyaena, and at Grays
the bear, add the carnivora order to the list of
animals given above.
" A view of the circumstances leads to the
plausible conjecture that, in its main features, the
configuration of land and water was the same when
these herds of strangely-associated animals lived as
it is now. The estuary of the Thames probably
ran up farther inland, and the waters of the river,
before they had cut themselves deep channels, and
before the hand of man was at work to confine
them within useful limits, spread widely in marsh
and morass, till they touched the feet of the hills in
Kent and Essex ... It must always be remem
bered, in the case of the Essex deposits we have
described, that they are in the drift — a name at
once suggestive of the washing together, or other
transportation of rocks and organisms, which may
previously have been scattered, and distant from
each other. Indeed, where carnivora abound, the

Little Ilford.]

ELEPHANTS IN ESSEX.

5°i

weaker kinds among the other orders must neces
sarily disappear. To meet with traces of their
association in one place would indicate a disturb
ance either of the surface on which they dwelt
or of their very natures. We can hardly con
ceive of ' a happy and united family ' upon so grand
a scale, and without the restraints of a cage or a
keeper."

It is remarkable that along with these traces of
the elephant and the mammoth there are no ves
tiges whatever of man or of his works ; so that, in
all probability these huge beasts lived here in a
wide and lonely forest, which in a comparatively
recent age was submerged, and became in course of
time, first an arm of the sea, and ultimately a river
side plain, as we see it now.

CHAPTER LIV.
LITTLE ILFORD, WEST HAM, ETC.
" Miratur portas strepitumque et strata viarum." — Virg. A^n. I.
Boundaries and Extent of Little Ilford— Census Returns— The Parish Church— Mr. Lethieullier's House at Aldersbrook— Ilford Gaol— The
"Three Rabbits "—West Ham— Its Division into Wards— Population— Market and Fairs— Chemical Works and Factories— The Parish
Church— A Curious Fresco— Upton Park— Forest Gate— Taverns and " Tea-Gardens "—Emmanuel Church— St. James's Church— Extent
and Population of Forest Gate— Pawnbrokers' Almshouses— Legg's Almshouses— Former Condition of Stratford— The Abbey of Stratford-
Langthorne— Pumping Station of the Metropolitan Drainage Works— St. John's Church— Christ Church— St. Paul's— St. Francis ot
Assisi— Congregational Church— Town Hall— Stratford New Town— Vegetable Market— Old Ford— Bow Bridge— Roman Roads.

Little Ilford, which nearly adjoins its great
sister south-west, is a quiet, out-of-the-way village.
The River Roding, winding its way through fields
and market-gardens, forms its boundary on the east,
separating it from the parish of Barking. On the
south and west lie East Ham and Stratford, whilst
to the north the parish stretches away to Wanstead,
and includes within its boundary in that direction
the City of London and Manor Park Cemeteries,
the former covering upwards of 250 acres, and the
latter about 45 acres. They are both neatly laid
out, and planted with trees and evergreens of the
ordinary type.
In 187 1 Little Ilford had a population of 675,
which during the next decade had become nearly
1,000. The church, which hides itself in a grove of
elms and chestnuts, and is dedicated to the Virgin
Mary, is poor and uninteresting. It is built of
brick, and consists of chancel, nave, north chapel,
and bell-turret. From the frequent coats of
plaster it is impossible to make out the date of
its' erection, but two of the windows at the west
end of the nave are as early as the Norman era,
and may, indeed, be Anglo-Saxon. Among
the monuments preserved from the old church
is one on the north wall of the chancel to
William Waldegrave, who died in 16 ro, and his
wife, who died in 1595 ; it comprises coloured
effigies of the deceased, with kneeling figures of
their three sons and four daughters. There is a
brass to Thomas, son of Sir John Heron, pri
vate secretary to Henry VIIL He died at Alders
brook, in this parish, in 151 7. Another brass

records Anne, only daughter of Barnard Hyde, of
London, who died in 1630, and her brother
William, who died in 16 14. One of these brasses
represents a lady in a ruff of the Jacobean type,
and also includes a baby in swaddling clothes.
Two more brasses, long buried under the floor,
were discovered in 1883, by the Vicar, the Rev.
Arthur Shadwell, a son of the late Vice-Chancellor
Sir Lancelot Shadwell. There are also monu
ments to the Fry family, formerly residents, and
well known for their philanthropy; also to the
Lethieulliers, a family whose name occupied a
high position in Essex in the last century. One
of these latter monuments — to be seen in a sort
of chapel on the north side of the nave — com
memorates the learned antiquarian whose writings
we have had occasion to quote in describing
this neighbourhood. The inscription runs as
follows : — " In memory of Smart Lethieullier,
Esq., a gentleman of polite literature and elegant
taste, an encourager of art and ingenious artists,
a studious promoter of literary inquiries, a com
panion and a friend of learned men ; industriously
versed in the science of antiquity, and richly
possessed of the curious productions of nature,
but who modestly desired no other inscription
on his tomb than what he had made the rule of
his life — to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with his God. He was born Nov. 3rd,
1701, and died without issue Aug. 27th, 1760."
This Mr. Lethieullier lived for some years at
Aldersbrook, a manor-house in this parish. He is
said to have much improved the grounds, in which
he built a small " hermitage," as a shrine for many

502

GREATER LONDON.

[West Ham.

of the antiquities that he had collected in his
travels. This structure, however, was pulled down,
together with the manor-house, by Sir James Tylney
Long, who purchased the property a few years after
the death of Mr. Lethieullier, and built a farm
house on the site of the old mansion.
Ilford Gaol, or House of Detention for the
county of Essex, a large brick building, was erected
on the north side of the London and Romford
road, about fifty years ago. It has lately been
pulled down, and its site covered with cottages,
the only prison in the county being at Springfield
Hill, near Chelmsford, and the prisoners from this
district being conveyed to the metropolitan prison.
Lysons, in his " Environs of London," says that
in the parishes of Ilford, East Ham, West Ham,
Leyton, and Wanstead, on the level part of Epping
Forest — that is, on Wanstead Flats — "a great mart
for cattle brought from Wales, Scotland, and the
north of England, is held annually, from the latter
end of February till the beginning of May. The
business between the dealers," he adds, " is princi
pally transacted at the sign of the ' Rabbits,' on
the high road, in Little Ilford parish." This
"mart," whatever it may have been towards the
end of the last century, when Lysons wrote, has
long been done away. The "Three Rabbits,"
however, is still a favourite " house of call " for
graziers and cattle-dealers of Essex on their way to
and from London.
West Ham is a very extensive parish, stretching
from Wanstead and Leyton in the north to the
Thames in the south, and from Little Ilford and
East Ham in the east to the river Lea in the west.
It is divided into three " wards," namely, Church
Street, Stratford, and Plaistow. This division has
reference chiefly to secular matters ; for eccle
siastical purposes it is divided into several districts.
The population of the entire parish in 1871 was
62,900, and that of Church Street, or West Ham
proper, 7,900 ; but such has been the rapid ex
tension of building in the parish since then that
these numbers have more than doubled. In the
middle of the last century West Ham and the low-
lying district surrounding it was largely inhabited
by merchants and wealthy citizens of London ; but
the mansions which they occupied have mostly
disappeared, or been so altered to convert them
to other purposes that they are scarcely distinguish
able. In an official return made in 1 762, the number
of houses in West Ham parish was stated to be 700,
of which by far the larger proportion were entered
as "mansions." In Morant's "History of Essex,"
written about six years later, this place is de
scribed as " the residence of several considerable

merchants, dealers, and industrious artists." Even
at the beginning of the present century the number
of the inhabitants of the parish did not; amount to
6,500, the number of houses being about 1,100.
West Ham formerly had a market, the charter
for which was procured, in the middle of the
thirteenth century, by Richard de Montfichet,
whose ancestor, William de Montfichet, founded an
abbey at Stratford-Langthorne, in this parish, en
dowing it with the manor of West Ham and other
estates. An annual fair of four days' duration was
granted at the same time, but both have fallen into
desuetude for many years. Much of the prosperity
of West Ham and its adjoining townships is due to
the formation of the Victoria and Albert Docks at
Plaistow, the construction of the railway-works
at Stratford, and the establishment within the
bounds of the parish of extensive chemical works,
flour-mills, smelting and copper works, shipbuilding
establishments, and other large works and factories,
where employment is given to thousands of hands.
The parish church of West Ham, dedicated to
All Saints, occupies a central position in what
would formerly have been called the village",
and about half-way between the main road at
Stratford and Plaistow. It is a large building of
brick and stone, partly ancient and partly modern,
and principally of Perpendicular architecture. It
consists of a chancel, with north and south aisles,
nave and aisles, and an embattled tower at the
western end. The church contains the monu
ments of several eminent persons who have been
buried here, including Sir Thomas Foote, Bart.,
Lord Mayor of London in 1650, who died in
1688 ; Henry Ketelby, who held a law office under
the Crown in the reign of Henry VIIL, and other
members of his family are also commemorated.
Robert Rook, who died in 1485, has an altar-
tomb in the north chapel, with figures of himself
and family. Sir James Smyth, sometime Lord
Mayor of London, who died in 1706, has an
elaborate monument.
In 1844 a large mural painting was discovered
in this church, but after a brief exposure, was again
covered with lime-wash. An anonymous pamphlet
was published at the time, purporting to give a
description of the picture ; but, as Mr. H. W.
King observed at a meeting of the Archaeological
Institute in November, 1865, the writer evidently
did not understand the subject, and was unac
quainted with Christian iconography, therefore his
account was inaccurate and of no archaeological
value. "The renovation of the interior of the
church in September, 1865," remarked Mr King,
"afforded a favourable opportunity for endeavouring

West Ham.]

WEST HAM CHURCH.

S°3

to disclose the picture anew, and under the super
intendence of the Rev. R. N. Clutterbuck, of
Plaistow, it was successfully developed, though
apparently in a less perfect condition than when
exposed in 1844. Its situation was upon the
eastern part of the wall of the north clerestory, and
it extended as far as the second pendant of the
roof, measuring eight feet in width by five in
height. It does not appear that more than this
was visible when previously exposed ; but, from
some heads which were found on the south side
of the chancel arch, it seems clear that this is only
one wing of the subject, which probably extended
over the east wall of the nave, and to an equal
distance on the north and south sides. The whole
subject undoubtedly represented the ' Final Doom
of Mankind.' Upon the east wall was doubtless
depicted our Lord as Judge. The right wing,
which remained, represented the ' Reward of the
Righteous,' and the left the ' Condemnation of the
Wicked,' but not a trace of the latter could be
discovered. Was this a forecast of the theology
of to-day ?
The picture upon the north wall, representing
the 'Resurrection of the Just,' was executed
not in distemper, but in oil colours, on very
rough plastering, and covered also part of the
stones of the arch ; in one place, where a beam
of the aisle-roof comes through the wall, it was
continued upon the surface afforded by its section.
It appears to be the work of the latter part of the
fifteenth century, and was of inferior, though some
what elaborate, execution. The upper part of the
painting, extending as high as the wall-plate, and
forming a background to the whole, was richly
grouped, though rudely executed, tabernacle work,
chiefly white shaded with grey, the windows and
crochets strongly outlined in black ; and some of
the windows were coloured red. From the general
treatment, it seems clear that this tabernacle work
is a conventional representation of the Heavenly
Jerusalem. In the niches were several celestials,
each wearing a circlet, with a small cross over the
forehead, and among them two of the heavenly
choir playing upon gitterns. At the lower part of
the painting, below the basement of the canopy,
were two angels raising the righteous by the hand.
They seem to have issued through the portcullised
gates behind them. There are two of these gates
at the lower part of the picture, besides that in
the upper part of the canopy, into which one of the
blessed is entering. From one of them the angels
who are assisting the risen seem themselves to
have issued, and to be leading the righteous into
the other. The risen saints were grouped along

the line of the arch in that crowded manner usual,
as Mr. Clutterbuck remarks, with mediaeval lim
ners. They are singularly irregular in size, the
largest being placed just over the crown of the
arch, and diminishing as they approached the caps
of the columns. All were nude, with their hands
either joined in prayer or extended as if in ad
miration. Among the group were two eccle
siastics with red mitres, and a cardinal with a red
hat. The writer of the pamphlet above referred to also
noted a figure with a beard, which is supposed to
represent a 'monk, friar, or priest,' and a royal
personage wearing a crown of gold. The two
angels mentioned as raising the blessed were
larger than the other figures, and in pretty good
preservation : their faces painted with care, and
not without dignity. They were vested in white
albs, without cincture or apparels. Close to the
angle of the wall, where the painting was much
mutilated, three demons were visible ; one seemed
to be falling headlong, as if to denote the abortive
malice of the evil spirits unable to hurt the re
deemed, now placed beyond their power. It
appeared to the author of the pamphlet that the
lower one had a person in his arms, as if bearing
him away, with an expression of malicious pleasure
in his countenance. The writer also conceived
that he saw in this part of the picture the represen
tation of flames in which others were tormented,
which he supposed to be 'the suburbs of Hell.'
If such existed, it might possibly have represented
Purgatory, but it was not apparent either to Mr.
Clutterbuck or myself. ' The Doom of the Lost '
was no doubt depicted upon the opposite wall,
upon the left hand of the Judge, and there was
but the least possible space upon the north side
for the introduction of any other portion of the
Judgment scene. Since I offered a brief unpre
meditated description of this painting at the
meeting of the Institute, the Rev. R. N. Clutter
buck has kindly placed in my hands the memoir
which he has prepared for the Journal of the Essex
Archaeological Society ; and in the present report
I have, with his permission, availed myself of his
more detailed observations. As the picture was
very imperfect, and wholly unintelligible except
to those who could read it by a scaffold, Mr.
Clutterbuck observes that he could not suggest
any sufficient reason for its preservation, all the
rest of the plastering having, moreover, to be
removed, for the purpose of pointing the inner
masonry. There were indications that the whole
interior of the church had been freely polychromed
in distemper, but only one small portion of

5°4

GREATER LONDON.

[West Ham.

diapered pattern of late date could be copied.
We are indebted solely to the exertions of Mr.
Clutterbuck for the development of this interesting
example of mural decoration."*
In the churchyard lies buried a distinguished
naturalist, Mr. George Edwards, F.R.S., who was
born at Stratford in 1693, and died at Plaistow in
1773. He became celebrated for his knowledge of
natural history, more especially with regard to birds;
and besides various papers in the " Philosophical
Transactions," he published seven large quarto

Richard Jebb, who was some time physician-in-
ordinary to George III., who conferred upon him
a baronetcy.* West Ham is well off for charitable institutions.
Near the church are almshouses for twenty poor
women, each of whom receive a small sum of
money weekly. Roger Harris's Almshouses, in
Gift Lane, provide homes for six others ; and there
are also numerous bequests to the poor of the
parish, amounting in the aggregate to about £450
per annum, left from time to time by various

WEST HAM CHURCH.

volumes on subjects in natural history, upwards
of 600 of which, it is said, had never before been
described. Here, too, is the tomb of James
Anderson, LL.D., the editor of " The Bee," and
author of several papers on agricultural and in
dustrial subjects.
Dr. George Gregory, author of the " Economy
of Nature," a " Dictionary of Arts and Sciences,"
and a translation of Bishop Lowth's " Lectures on
the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews," was vicar here
from 1804 till his death, in 1808.
Dr. Samuel Jebb, a noted physician in his day,
author of several professional works, and editor of
the works of Aristotle and Bacon, was baptised
in West Ham Church, in 1729, and lived in the
parish for many years. He was the father of Dr.
* " Archaeological Journal," No. 89, 1866, pp. 63-65

benefactors, whose gifts are distributed by a local
charity board. In West Ham Lane is the West
Ham, Stratford, and South Essex Dispensary,
erected in 1878, on a site given by Mrs. Curtis.
The Congregationalists, Unitarians, Wesleyans,
and other Nonconformist bodies, have chapels here,
and there are several schools.
The hamlet of Upton lies about a mile to the
north-east of West Ham Church, its northern ex
tremity bordering on the London road. Here are
one or two interesting old houses, notably the
" Cedars," formerly known as Upton Lane House.
It was for many years the residence of Mrs. Eliza
beth Fry, the prison reformer, sister of the late Mr.
Samuel Gurney, the equally well-known philan
thropist, who lived at Upton Park, close by. His
* See ante, p. 368.

"West Ham.]

FOREST GATE.

5°5

residence, called Ham House, was taken down a
few years after his death, which occurred in 1856.
The park, comprising about eighty acres, lies
between Ham Lane and Upton Lane, and formerly
belonged to Dr. Fothergill, by whom the gardens
were laid out ; it still contains many trees which
he first introduced to this country in the early part
of the last century. Shortly after the house was
demolished an offer was made to purchase the
park for building purposes; but, fortunately, this

gardens is entirely defrayed by the Corporation of
London. Forest Gate, a rising and populous hamlet of
West Ham, lies to the north of the London road,
and stretches away to Wanstead Flats. It has a
station on the Colchester line of the Great Eastern
Railway, near the entrances to the Manor Park and
Ilford Cemeteries. Near the railway-station is the
" Eagle and Child " tavern, and not far distant is
the " Spotted Dog " ; each has " tea-gardens " and

WEST HAM PARK.

proposal was met by another to secure it as a
public park and recreation-ground for the poor of
this rapidly-increasing locality. Mr. John Gurney,
the grandson of Mr. Samuel Gurney, accepted the
latter proposition, and offered it for that purpose
for the same sum that had been named by the
building society, namely, ,£25,000, the Gurney
family at once contributing ,£10,000 towards that
amount. The Corporation of London also voted
,£10,000, and the remainder having been made up
by local subscriptions, the park — under the new
name of West Ham Park — was formally opened by
the Lord Mayor on the 20th July, 1874, and has
since proved an inestimable boon to the neigh
bourhood. The cost of maintaining the park and
43

pleasure-grounds attached, and both are well-known
resorts for East-end holiday-folk.
A district, embracing parts of Upton and East
Ham, was formed into a separate parish for
ecclesiastical purposes in 1852. The principal
church of the district, dedicated to Emmanuel,
stands at the corner of Upton Lane, in the main
road. It was built by Sir Gilbert Scott, but has
since been enlarged ; it is of Gothic design, and
consists of chancel, nave, aisles, and central bell-
turret. St. James's Church, built in 1881, is a
pseudo-Gothic structure of the most simple kind.
The district contains two or three temporary iron
churches, besides several chapels for different
denominations of Dissenters. The Jews' Cemetery,

5°6

GREATER LONDON.

[West Ham.

and also the West Ham Cemetery, are in this
district. The area covered by the district of Forest Gate,
although only 800 acres in extent, comprises a
population of more than 20,000, or nearly treble
of what it was ten years ago.
In Woodgrange Road are the Pawnbrokers'
Almshouses, which were founded in 1849 by the
Pawnbrokers' Charitable Institution — they provide
homes for seven couples ; whilst Legg's Alms
houses, in Forest Lane, founded in 1858 by one
Jabez Legg, of Stratford, afford homes to six poor
women. West Ham, although third in point of size of
the nine parishes comprised in the Hundred of
Becontree, is by far the most densely populated.
" West Ham," writes Mr. Coller in 1861, in his
"History of Essex," "from its traffic, trade, and
importance the capital of the Hundred, is the most
thickly-peopled parish in Essex, more than dou
bling the whole population of some of the smaller
Hundreds in the county. It has, in fact, become
a busy suburb of the metropolis, which has rubbed
off its once rural character. Its little hamlets have
grown into large towns. Fields over which the
plough passed a quarter of a century ago are
covered with workshops and teeming factories. On
its river bank have risen up the largest ship-build
ing works in the world. Its quiet creek and marsh
land have been converted into mighty docks,
furnishing a haven and a home for commerce from
all countries of the earth. Its pleasant spots, on
the edge of business, but just beyond reach of the
sound of the hammer and wheel, and the wearying
hum of the London hive, are studded over with
handsome residences."
We touched so lightly upon Stratford in Old
and New London,* that there is ample oppor
tunity for a further description. This place is
described in the "British Traveller," 1771, as "for
merly a small village, but now greatly increased by
a vast number of additional buildings. It stands,"
he adds, " in the parish of West Ham, and is only
parted from Bow in Middlesex by the river Lea,
over which there is a bridge." This is the celebrated
Bow Bridge, said to have been the first stone
bridge built in England, t
It is amusing to read in the work above quoted: —
" Many of the rich citizens of London have fine
houses in Stratford and its neighbourhood, it being
particularly convenient for such as live eastward of
the Royal Exchange. Almost all the lands in the

* See Vol. V., pp 571-2.
t See " Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 570.

neighbourhood are either let out to gardeners or
improved in the culture of potatoes. Vast quanti
ties of all kinds of roots, herbs, and greens, are
daily sent hence to the London markets ; and upon
the whole the place is in a very thriving condition,
having many good inns, with other places of public
entertainment. If the new buildings from Mile
End to Bow, and from thence to Stratford, are con
tinued, both these places will be, as it were, joined
to London." What would the writer have said if
he could have looked forward a century, to see a
population of 30,000 covering the market gardens,
and the place "joined to London" literally by
railways, tramcars, and omnibuses.
The Abbey of Stratford-Langthorne stood on the
marshes, a little to the west of West Ham. The
pumping-station of the northern system of the
Metropolitan Main Drainage Works at Abbey Mills
occupies part of the site, whilst a few fragments of
the old monastery may with difficulty be traced in
the walls of the " Adam and Eve " public-house,
close by. The abbey itself was founded about
the year 1135 by William de Montfitchett for
brethren of the Cistercian order, and was dedicated
to the Virgin Mary and All Saints. It was richly
endowed by its founder, who gave it all his lord
ship here. In the days of its splendour it possessed
1,500 acres of land in this parish, with the manors
of West Ham, Wood-Grange, East Ham, and
Plaiz (now Plaistow); thirteen manors in other
parts of the county, besides lands in other counties.
The abbey grounds and gardens covered sixteen
acres, and were enclosed by a moat ; but at that
time no scientific improvements had been made in
the way of drainage, and the consequence was that
the waters of the Lea occasionally invaded the
sacred precincts of the monks. On one occasion
they were actually driven away by the floods, and
were compelled to seek refuge on their property
at Billericay, some miles off.
The story is thus told by Leland : —
" This house, first sett amonge the lowe marshes,
was after with sore fludes defacyd, and removed
to a celle or graunge longinge to it called Burges-
tide, in Essex, a mile from Billirica. These monks
remained in Burgestide untyll entrete was made
that they might have sum helpe otherwyse. Then
one of Richards, kings of Englande, tooke the
ground and abbey of Strateforde into his protection,
and recdifienge it, brought the foresayd monks
agayne to Strateforde, where among the marsches
they re-inhabytyd."
Thus re-established, the abbey seems to have
gone on prosperously, and to have taken a leading
position among the religious houses in the kingdom,

West Ham.]

ABBEY MILLS.

5°7

many high -personages resorting to it. In 1307
the abbot was summoned to Parliament; in 1335,
John de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, High
Constable of England, was buried within its pre
cincts ; and the Countess of Salisbury, whom the
remorseless Henry VIIL caused to be beheaded
in her old age on a charge of high treason, appears
to have resided in the abbey about the time of its
dissolution, at which period its revenues .were
valued at .£652 3s. i£d. Its possessions were
subsequently granted to Sir Peter Mewtis, or
Meautis, who had been Ambassador to the Court
of France. The building itself, like many of these
religious edifices, was allowed to fall into decay
when the monks had been expelled. Early in the
seventeenth century a descendant of Sir Peter
alienated " the site of the abbey, with the abbey
mills and 240 acres of land," to Sir John Nulls,
and since that period the property has passed
through many different hands.
In the " Beauties of England," published in
1803, Mr. Britton writes : — " The chief remains of
the monastic . buildings now standing are a brick
gateway, which was formerly the entrance to the
conventual precincts, and an ornamental arch,
which appears to have been the entrance to the
chapel." Lysons, writing a few years previously,
observes : — " The foundations of the convent were
dug up and removed by the present proprietor, in
doing which, no antiquities worthy of note were
found, except a small onyx seal, with the impress
of a griffin, set in silver, on which is the following
legend : ' Nuncio vobis gaudium et salutem,' perhaps
the priory seal of one of the abbots." The " brick
gateway " and the " ornamented arch " have now
disappeared from the scene. Indeed, the oblite
ration of the abbey has been so complete that we
cannot even record of it, in the words of the poet,
that— " The sacred tapers' lights are gone,
Grey moss has clad the altar stone,
The holy image is o'erthrown,
The bell has ceased to toll ;
The long-ribbed aisles are burst and shrunk,
The holy shrine to ruin sunk,
Departed is the pious monk :
God's blessing on his soul."
With the exception of a few that may have been
worked into the walls of some of the neighbouring
houses, it would be difficult for the most diligent
searcher to discover a stone of the once important
abbey of Stratford-Langthome.
The pumping-station in connection with the
northern sewer of metropolitan main drainage at
Abbey Mills covers about seven acres of the

ground once covered by Stratford Abbey. The
sewer itself enters the parish at Old Ford, and
crosses the West Ham Marshes by a grass-covered
embankment. It afterwards traverses Plaistow,
and then passes eastward in a straight line through
East Ham, on its way to the outlet into the Thames,
at the mouth of the Roding at Barking Reach.
The works at Abbey Mills are of great capacity,
comprising sixteen pumps, worked by steam-engines
of immense power, their combined force being
capable of lifting some 15,000 cubic feet of sewage
per minute from the low-level sewer, and forcing
it through large iron cylinders into the outfall
sewer. The buildings, which are mostly of brick,
are of an ornamental character, two octagonal
chimney-shafts, each more than 200 feet high,
being conspicuous for miles round.
The ecclesiastical parish of St. John was formed
in 1844 from the mother parish of West Ham.
The church, a handsome building in the Early
English style, had been built about ten years pre
viously. It stands in the middle of the town, at
the point where the main road from the east of
London diverges towards Romford and Leytonstone.
Christ Church was formed into an ecclesiastical
parish in 1852 out of the parish of West Ham.
The church, which stands in the High Street, close
by the Main Drainage Works, is built of stone
in the Decorated style, and is conspicuous by its
tall spire.
St. Paul's Church, in the Maryland Road, Strat
ford New Town, dates its erection from 1865,
when the district was carved out of the mother
parish, and converted into a separate ecclesiastical
parish. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis of
Assisi, in Grove Crescent Road, was built in 1868,
and is in the Italian style of architecture. Near it
is a Congregational Church, also of Italian design,
but erected in a much larger and more costly
manner. The Town Hall, in the Broadway, at the corner
of West Ham Lane, is a large and handsome
building, of Italian design, opened in 1869. The
facade towards the Broadway consists of a portico
of two stages, formed with columns of polished
red granite. To the right of the main front is a
tower 100 feet high; the building itself is sur
mounted with statues of Science, Art, Commerce,
Britannia, St. George, &c. Stratford is included
in the Local Board district of West Ham.
Stratford New Town may be said to owe its
existence to the Great Eastern Railway, the two
main branches of which, leading respectively to
Cambridge and Colchester, diverge at this point.

5°8

GREATER LONDON.

[West Ham.

Here, about the year 1847, the company established
its chief depot for carriages, engines, and rolling
stock, and yards for their repairs. Employment
is here given to about 3,000 hands.
A market for the sale of vegetables, fruit, &c,
has been established, adjoining Stratford Bridge
Station, by the Great Eastern Railway Company,
warehouses and sidings being constructed for the
development of the trade.
In the olden days, when a pilgrimage to the
image of " Our Ladye of Berkynge " was thought
conducive to the health of the soul, a procession of
courtly equipages was no unfrequent sight on the
dull road leading through Whitechapel into Essex
and the other eastern counties, though now almost
wholly abandoned to farmers, graziers, and butchers.
For example, the Princess Maud, after she had
become the consort of King Henry I., would often
strive to keep alive the flame of that piety which,
as a child, she had imbibed in the convent of
Romsey, by going on this pilgrimage at Eastertide
or Whitsuntide.
At this period the river Lea was crossed by the
pilgrims and other travellers at the Old Ford, as
the place is still called, but the inconvenience and
danger of wading through so considerable a river
induced the royal devotee to turn the road to a
more convenient part of the stream, where she
erected Bow Bridge, which is said to have been
the finest example of pontine architecture then in
the kingdom, and of which, as well as of its suc
cessor, an account will be found in Old and New
London.* The name of Stratford evidently points to the
existence near this spot of a ford, which doubtless
connected London with the old Roman street or
road (stratum) to Camelodunum, whether that was
at Maldon or, as is more probable, at Colchester.
At Old Ford have been found several sarcophagi
of a plain description, with flat covers. They are
fully described, and some of them are engraved,
in the third volume of the "Transactions of the
London and Middlesex Archaeological Society;"
whilst in a lane at Stratford, called Blind Lane,
between Old Ford and Leyton, were dug up
about the middle of the last century a large Roman
urn and fragments of pottery, confirming the deri
vation of Stratford from the Latin stratum.
The line of communication anterior to the
erection of Bow Bridge was, in the opinion of
Dr. Stukeley, who wrote very largely — and some
times very fancifully — upon the Roman remains in
this country, by a road extending from Chichester

* See Vol. V., p 571.

to Dunwich, in Suffolk, which, having crossed the
Watling Street at Tyburn, passed along Old Street,
north of the city, continued forward to Colchester,
following as nearly as possible the course of the
high Essex road of the present day. The same
author also informs us that " when the Romans
enlarged the city, and enclosed it by a -new wall,
they also made a branch from St. Giles's, which
is now called Holborn, built a gate at Newgate,
and continued the road to Cheapside." This line
of communication was continued east of the city ;
and Maitland, in his " History of London," de
scribes it to be the " Roman vicinal way through
Aldgate by Bethnal Green, to the trajectus or ferry
at Old Ferry," where it, no doubt, joined the Via
Icenaia described by Dr. Stukeley. From this it
would appear that the great Roman road into
Essex crossed the river Lea by means of a ferry
at Old Ford, in which direction it continued for
many centuries after the Romans left this island,
or, in fact, until the erection of a bridge at Bow.
Morant, in his "History of Essex," has par
ticularly noticed these roads, as also the circum
stances which led to the erection of the bridge.
" The ancient road from this county to London
was by Old Ford, that is, through the ford there
without a bridge ; but that passage being difficult
and dangerous, and many persons losing their
lives or being thoroughly wetted, which happened
to be the case of Maud, Queen Consort of King
Henry I., she turned the road from Old Ford to
the place where it now is, between Stratford, Bow,
and West Ham, and caused also the bridges and
causeway to be' built and made at her own
charge." In the Itinerary of Antoninus, two of the great
Roman roads are stated to have passed through
Essex. One of these followed very nearly the
track of the present highway through Stratford and
Ilford, and some remnants of what appear to have
been parts of its banks are, or were till recently,
visible at West Ham, and again near Ingatestone,
this conclusion being strengthened by the fact that
this road was made long prior to the fixing of
boundaries of the ancient forest on that side.
The native Britons, as readers of ancient history
know, suffered severely under their Roman masters,
large bodies of them being forced to work in
making causeways across marsh lands, cutting down
woods, draining morasses, and embanking the
Thames with river walls. Campbell writes thus
of the Roman roads in England, Vol. II., p. 250 : —
"The commodious communication between the
several parts of a country by means of roads, cause
ways where necessary, and bridges over intervening

West Ham.]

ROMAN ROAD.

5°9

rivers, is of general convenience to the inhabitants,
a constant source of opulence, and a signal proof
of sound policy. The Romans were distinguished
by their attention to the straightness, solidity, and
admirable disposition of their larger and their
lesser roads, which, though used for other purposes,
were chiefly intended for military ways ; and this
wise economy of theirs was carried through all the
provinces of their extensive empire. It is, however,
remarkable that scarce in any of the countries
they possessed there are still remaining more authen
tic monuments of these useful and stupendous
works than in Great Britain, which, with indefati
gable pains and most extensive learning, have been
studiously traced, accurately described, and the
stations on them, with as much certainty as might
be pointed out by our industrious and laborious
antiquaries. " The Roman roads, while yet in a great measure
entire, appeared of such amazing grandeur and
- solidity, manifested such a wonderful sagacity in
the design, and such prodigious labour and expense
in the execution, that it is no wonder, in the bar
barous ages succeeding to the ruin of that empire,
we find these noble and stately works confidently
ascribed to giants and art magic. The intention
of these military ways was worthy of the genius,
and expressive of the policy, of that wise and
potent people. They were so many links or lines
uniting the provinces- to the seat of empire.
" They extended, therefore, from Rome to the

limits (however remote) of her dominions. To
form some idea of them, the shortest and surest
method is to consult the Pentingerian Tables. It
is evident from hence that they were very numerous,
and the certainty of this is confirmed by the re
mains which are still to be seen in many countries.
In our own, as Camden observes, they are most
visible, or, in other words, best preserved, and
the manner of their construction (by which they
have lasted more than twelve centuries) most
apparent in wild heaths, over which they were
carried, because near towns and villages they were
pulled to pieces for the materials. In the ' Itine
rary ' ascribed to Antoninus there are fifteen
roads, with the stations marked upon them, and
the distances between them in miles, which, taken
all together, make a total of two thousand five
hundred and seventy-nine miles, the construction of
whichmust havenecessarilyconsumed much time, re
quired much toil, and demanded immensetreasures."
The Saxons, on becoming masters of the south
of England, showed their appreciation of the use
and value of the roads bequeathed to them by their
predecessors, the Romans. The Danes, however,
wreaked their vengeance on them as well as on
the churches, and after the Norman Conquest,
when trade and commerce were at a low ebb,
they fell into disrepute, and were allowed to be
gradually destroyed, especially in the neighbour
hood of towns, where their materials were made
of use for building purposes.

CHAPTER LV.
PLAISTOW AND EAST HAM.
" Upon a fertile spot of land
Does Plaistow, thriving Plaistow, stand."
Flat and unattractive Appearance of Plaistow— Its Sedate Aspect in Former Times— Its Sources of Wealth— The Destitute Children's Home— The
Metropolitan Main Drainage Works— Census Returns— Silver Town, Canning Town, and Hall Ville— Plaistow Church— St. Andrew's Church
—Congregational Church— East London Cemetery— Poplar Small-pox and Fever Hospital— Chemical Works and other Manufactories— The
Royal Victoria and Albert Docks— North Woolwich— St. Mark's Church— St. John's Church— North Woolwich Gardens— Distinguished
Residents at Plaistow— Descent of the Manor of East Ham— St. Nicholas's Roman Catholic School— A Curious Manorial Custom— Situation
and Extent of the Parish— The Parish Church— Emmanuel Church— St. John the Baptist— Plashet House— Greenstreet House— Anne
Boleyn's Tower— St. Edward's Reformatory— The High Level Sewer— Beckton Gas and Coke Works.
product of the soil, whilst the grass-land in the
marshes served for the fattening of sheep.

Though level and dull, this locality has inspired
the poets ; at all events, there is extant a poem of
eight pages, " In Praise of Plaistow " — from which
the motto of this chapter is extracted — printed
anonymously, without the author's name, place,
or date, about the middle of the last century. At
that time the land hereabouts was to a great extent
unencumbered by houses, and no doubt highly
productive, from an agricultural point of view.
Potatoes would seem to have been the chief

" Potatoes now are Plaistow's pride,
Whole markets now are hence supplied ;
Nor finer mutton can you spend
Than what our fattening marshes send." *
Plaistow, as shown in. the preceding chapter,
is a " ward " of the parish of West Ham, and the
place is passed over in the " British Traveller "
* White's "Eastern Counties," Vol. II., p. 299.

5io

GREATER LONDON.

[Plaistow.

(1771) with the curt remark that it "contains
several genteel houses." These houses were
occupied mostly by wealthy citizens and mer
chants of London, among whom were the Howards,
the Gurneys, and the Sturges. Altogether, the
village in those days must have worn a very
sedate appearance. There was no church in the
hamlet, but there was a Friends' meeting house
and a Congregational chapel. The former now
serves the purposes of a School Board school, and
the latter has been adapted to business purposes.

The , huge sewer of the Metropolitan Main
Drainage Works passes through the village, and is
then carried over the level market-gardens and
meadow-land south-east to its outfall at Barking
Creek. From a little, straggling, obscure village
of " genteel houses," Plaistow has grown to be the
larger ward of West Ham parish ; and the popu
lation, which a century ago amounted to but a few
hundreds, may now be reckoned by thousands, the
combined districts of Plaistow (proper), Canning
Town, and Silver Town, containing rather more

The Victoria Docks, and the large manufactories
and centres of industry of Canning Town, Silver
Town, and Hall Ville — all of which places lie
southward of the village of Plaistow — have ab
sorbed the greater part of the marsh-land and
market-gardens between it and the Thames. Since
the introduction of these works into the neighbour
hood, the whole aspect of the locality has changed.
Most of the old mansions have been either pulled
down, cut up into tenements, or converted to
other uses than those for which they were built.
One antiquated building in the Broadway, formerly
known as the "great house," or Broadway House,
is now a "Destitute Children's Home;'' it was
established in 1872, is supported by voluntary con
tributions, and provides a home for sixty outcasts.

than 67,000 inhabitants, or more than double the
number when the census was taken in 187 1. Silver
Town is the name given to the district that has
sprung up around Mr. Silver's India-rubber Clothing
Works at North Woolwich; and Canning Town
and Hall Ville are also named after the principal
employers of labour in their respective districts.
The most thickly-populated parts are in the neigh
bourhood of the docks. The London and Tilbury
Railway Company have two stations here, and
the North Woolwich branch of the Great Eastern
line has a station in the Barking Road, Canning
Town. Plaistow was constituted an ecclesiastical parish,
formed out of the mother parish of West Ham, in
1844. The church, which was erected a few

PlaistcAv.J

THE VICTORIA DOCKS.

5"

years previously, is a small brick building of
Gothic design, consisting of chancel, nave, and
aisles, and containing a monument to the late Sir
John Henry Pelly. The first Sir John Pelly, a
friend of Sir Robert Peel, who died in 1852, was
the owner of the manor of East Ham Burnels. He
was also a Governor of the Hudson's Bay Com
pany, and for some time Governor of the Bank of
England. Pelly Road, in this parish, is, of course,
named after him.

The works and manufactories which have added
so largely to the growth of this neighbourhood of
late years cover an immense space of marsh
land, which had been used principally for grazing
purposes. These various branches of industry
comprise chemical, creosoting, artificial manure,
and other works ; but the most important sources
of employment in this district are the docks and
the various places of business adjoining connected
with the shipping.

ANNE BOLEYN'S CASTLE. (See page 515.)

St Andrew's Church, in St. Andrew's Road, was
built in 1870, and is a spacious and lofty edifice in
the Early English style.
The various bodies of Nonconformists are well
supplied with chapels, one of the most imposing
being the Congregational Church in Balaam Street.
There are several schools in the district; and on
the west side of the village, covering between forty
and fifty acres of ground, is the East London
Cemetery, which was opened in 187 1.
The Poplar Small-pox and Fever Hospital, in the
Southern Road, is among the most recent additions
to the public institutions of Plaistow. It was
erected in- 1880, and consists of three large blocks
of brick buildings, with accommodation for about
one hundred patients.

The Victoria Docks, which cover an area of
about 200 acres, are situated at a short distance
eastward of Bow Creek, or the entrance of the
river Lee. These docks were formed in 1855 ;
they contain upwards of a mile of wharfage and
quay frontage, and are under the management of
the London and St Katharine's Dock Company.
They are fitted with all the most recently invented
appliances for loading and unloading vessels,
whilst its basins are capable of accommodating
the largest-sized vessels that come into the port
of London. The entrance-lock is 320 feet long
and 80 feet wide, and has a depth on the sill of
28 feet at high water. The hydraulic lift dock,
which has long been worked here, is an ingenious
contrivance for the dry-docking of vessels. It is

5i'

GREATER LONDON.

[Plaistow.

thus described in the Globe Encyclopaedia : — " On
two parallel sides of a channel, 300 feet long and
60 feet broad, sixteen upright cast-iron columns,
in a row, are sunk in the ground. At the base of
each column there is a hydraulic press, and the
top of each piston or ram carries a cross-head,
from the ends of which two iron girders are
suspended by iron bars. These girders extend
across the excavation to the cross-head of the
corresponding column on the opposite side.
There are thus thirty-two girders, forming a kind
of platform capable of being raised or lowered.
On this platform rests a wrought-iron pontoon,
open at the top, having sufficient buoyancy to sup
port a vessel. To apply the apparatus, the girders
and pontoon, weighted with water, are sunk to the
bottom of the lift, and the vessel to be raised is
drawn in directly over the centre of the pontoon.
The rams are then slowly raised by hydraulic
power, the vessel being at the same time secured
by wedges and blocks. When out of the water,
the pontoon is emptied by valves, which are after
wards closed. The girders being again lowered,
the pontoon, with the vessel upon it, remains
afloat, and may be towed to a convenient spot.
As many vessels as there are pontoons can be
docked in a similar manner."
In cutting through a peat bog in the formation
of the Victoria Docks there were found a large
quantity of hazel, yew, oak, nuts, and other vege
table remains, more or less fossilised. The late
Sir Antonio Brady, by whom this discovery was
noticed at the meeting of the British Association
in 1859, afterwards came into possession of the
huge bones of a large whale, which had been dug
out of this peat bog at a depth of fourteen feet
below the surface of the soil, together with a very
perfect millstone, about twenty-two inches in
diameter, and a brass dish, " clearly indicating," as
Sir Antonio observed, " that the marsh, wherein
now dwell thousands of human beings, had been
formed in the historic period."
In 1880 an extension of the Victoria Docks
eastward was opened, the combined docks being
named the Royal Victoria and Albert Docks. By
this addition the quays of London have been
brought three miles and a half lower down the
river than they had hitherto extended, and great
ocean steamships have been enabled to avoid the
dangerous and expensive towage to Blackwall.
The Albert Docks help to separate the heavy
goods traffic from the lighter trade of the Thames ;
they are not merely a luggage siding, but afford
a direct route for reaching the Victoria Docks. A
line of railway extends the whole length of the

docks. There are three stations: so that from
Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street, as termini,
and from several junctions, travellers can be con
veyed to the river gates of the docks. The quays
are intersected and connected everywhere by rail*
ways for moving coal, iron, and other merchandise.
The land for the docks was bought in 1864. It
was at first intended to form merely a canal, to
avoid Woolwich Reach; but instead of a mere
channel, a basin was cut nearly 500 feet wide,
more than a mile long, and flanked by large sheds
for receiving and warehousing goods. The com
bined docks are two miles and three-quarters long,
with a water area of 175 acres, and about seven
miles of quays. The entrance for vessels is at the
point where the river, at the mouth of Galleon's
Reach, widens into a lake, and affords ample room
for the larger ships to manoeuvre in.
The entrance lock is 500 feet long, by 80 feet
wide, and has four pairs of wrought-iron gates.
The depth of water at the sills is thirty feet at
Trinity high water. Beyond the lock is a porch,
or entrance basin, of about twelve acres,' where
passenger ships take their living freights on board.
A passage 300 feet long and 80 feet wide, spanned
by a swing-bridge, leads thence into the main
dock, which is about a mile and a quarter long,
and has a uniform width of 490 feet. The walls
of the dock are about forty feet high, five feet thick
at the top, and nineteen feet at the base. The
sheds for the reception of goods are respectively
360 feet long by 120 feet broad. The sides and
roof are constructed of corrugated iron. On the,
north side alone these sheds are sixteen in number.
The hydraulic cranes, for loading and unloading
vessels, travel by wheels along the quays. The
great main basin of the Albert Dock is con
nected with the Victoria Dock by a passage 80 feet
wide. The total cost of construction of the Albert
Docks was a little more than £1, 000, 000. A
considerable saving in expense in their formation
was effected by the use of large blocks of concrete,
made chiefly of material dug on the spot, mixed
with Portland cement, instead of using bricks, for
the walls of the basins. Each leaf of the dock
gates weighs 80 tons, making 160 tons for the
gates; but they are adjusted to such a nicety that
four men at the windlass can move them, and
when they are closed a penknife could not pass
between the gate and the sill.
The Albert Dock, like the Victoria, was sunk
through peat soil, enriched with the remains of
successive growths of forest trees, marshy with
water which everywhere showed traces of iron, and

Plaistow.]

NORTH WOOLWICH GARDENS.

513

containing a few horns of deer and a few relics of
pre-historic man. A canoe twenty-seven feet long,
found during the excavations, was deposited in the
British Museum.
The effect of the construction of the Albert
Dock is that the part of the north shore of the
Thames which contains North Woolwich and
Silvertown is now completely cut through by a
straight line of water. The Victoria Dock pre
viously extended nearly half across the isthmus of
this peninsula.
An army of 12,000 labourers ply their calling
daily in this and the other docks (the St. Katharine,
the London, and the Victoria), under the control of
the London and St. Katharine's Dock Company.
The Victoria and Albert Dock is lighted through
out by electricity, by which means ships can be
loaded or unloaded at night in cases of necessity.
North Woolwich, which lies between the Vic
toria and Albert Docks and the river, and forms
the extreme southern point of the peninsula above
, referred to, belongs really to the county of Kent,
although it is surrounded by, and locally within, the
county of Essex. The place was formerly included
in the ecclesiastical district of St. Mark, Victoria
Docks, but in 1877 it was separated into a distinct
parish. The church, dedicated to St. John the
Evangelist, was built in 1872. Here is a terminus
of a branch of the Great Eastern Railway ; and
close by, skirting the river-side, are North Wool
wich Gardens and Royal Hotel. The gardens
form a popular resort for holiday-folks from London
during the summer. They extend for some
distance along the north bank of the .Thames,
beyond the steamboat pier and railway-station, and
at the entrance to the gardens is the large hotel
with which they are connected. One of the chief
attractions of this place of amusement is its
"monster platform" for open-air dancing, with
such occasional extra attractions as " barmaid con
tests," " baby shows," and the like ; the gardens,
however, have never acquired the celebrity of those
of Vauxhall or Cremorne, which to a certain extent
they have been designed to imitate.
Besides the personages already mentioned as
living at Plaistow, the parish has numbered among
its inhabitants one or two other distinguished
residents. Here, for instance, lived Aaron Hill, a
dramatic writer of some note in the early part of
the last century, and here he wrote several of his
poems. Here Edmund Burke, who was fond of
the country, resided for a short time before buying
Gregories, his favourite seat at Beaconsfield, in
1767. Prior, in his " Life of Burke," writes: —
" About this time (1759) he occasionally resided at

Plaistow, in Essex. A lady, then about fourteen
years old, and residing in the neighbourhood, in
forms me that she perfectly remembers him there.
His brother Richard, who found employment in the
City, was with him frequently, and both were
much noticed in the neighbourhood for their
agreeable and sociable qualities. Among their
visitors calculated to attract notice in the country
are several known as popular authors, and a few
as men of rank." Luke Howard, a distinguished
Fellow of the Royal Society, and author of an
important work on the " Climate of London," lived
for many years in a large house in Balaam Street.
The house, however, has been much altered since
Howard's time.
It may be added that there is another Plaistow,
near Bromley, in Kent, about which we shall have
to write in another volume.
East Ham, whither we now direct our steps, is
— or was till recently — a dreary, outlandish place,
of very little or no interest, except, perhaps, to
market-gardeners. At a very early period, before
the Conquest, East and West Ham formed one
parish, and this part of it, which then belonged to
the Crown, was given to the Abbey of West
minster — a grant which was confirmed by Edward
the Confessor. In the reign of Henry III. the
property belonged to the Montfitchets, and early
in the fourteenth century it was divided, the
easternmost manor — since known by the name of
East Ham — being given by John de Lancaster to
the abbot and convent of Stratford, in whose
hands it remained till the dissolution of monas
teries. The Manor House, near the church, was
many years ago converted into a farm-house ; it
now serves the purposes of St. Nicholas's Roman
Catholic School.
The parish comprises several hamlets and
manors, as Wall End, Plashet, Manor Park, Green'
Street, and East Ham Burnejs. Mr. Coller, in
his " History of Essex," tells us that there used to
be a tradition current amongst the " homagers "
of the different manors to the effect that " the
tenants of the manor of East Ham are obliged to
treat and entertain the tenants of the other manors
of West Ham, West Ham Burnels, and Plaiz, the
origin of which custom is said to be this : that
when the lord of these manors was taken prisoner
in France, and sent to his tenants for relief, the
tenants of all the other manors complied, and those
of East Ham refused ; so that, to punish them for
their disobedience, he laid the burthen upon them."
East Ham was originally a long, straggling
village, built for the most part along the sides of
the cross-road which runs from Little Ilford, in the

Si4

GREATER LONDON.

[East Ham.

north, to the Thames, opposite Woolwich, in the
south, and intersected by the road to Barking. It
is between five and six miles from Whitechapel ,
Church, with which it has a direct communication
by the lower road through Poplar, leading to
Barking and Grays. There is a station of the
Tilbury and Southend Railway on the north side
of the village, and the church stands at the south
side,nearly two miles distant. East Ham is described
in the "British Traveller," in 177 1, as "a small,
but pleasant, village, situated on an eminence, from
which there is a view of the Kentish coast, the
whole being extremely rural." For the "eminence "
and " the view of the coast " it is feared the writer
must have drawn largely upon a lively imagination.
The extent of the parish, according to Kelly's
" Directory of Essex," is about 2,500 acres ; whilst
the population, which in 187 1 was a little over
4,300, now amounts to upwards of 9,300.
The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, is
built of flint and stone, very ancient, and in a
dilapidated condition. In the " Transactions of the
St. Paul's Ecclesiastical Society" for 1882 will be
found a detailed account of this little church, cer
tainly a Norman structure. It stands near to what
was once the high road ; but it now seems as if
the village had deserted it, leaving it as an outlying
bulwark against the marshes, which stretch away
southwards towards the Thames at Barking. It
consists of nave and chancel, without side aisles,
and its eastern end is apsidal. In the chancel is a
Norman arcade of intersecting arches, carried
round continuously, but sadly spoiled and muti
lated by pews of the worst type. On the walls
are the remains of some good Early English fresco
paintings. It is sarcastically remarked that the
condition of the entire fabric is such as would
delight the Society for the Preservation of Ancient
Buildings with its " extreme simplicity, high pews,
modern windows, and obstructive gallery — a typi
cal unrestored church ! " The tower is low and
massive, with double buttresses at the angles, the
lower part being of Norman workmanship and the
upper part modern. Most of the windows are
modern and uninteresting, but there are traces of
Early English windows, now built up. The apsidal
sanctuary is lighted by three narrow lancets.
In the south wall is a piscina, with a double drain,
divided by a column forming two plain pointed
arches, between which is a bracket for a lamp.
Behind the communion-table is a sumptuous monu
ment of black and white marble to Edmond
Nevill, Lord Latimer, and (reputed) seventh Earl
of Westmoreland, of that family. The monument
comprises life-size effigies of Lord and Lady Lati

mer, with their seven children, in devotional atti
tudes. At the back, over some eulogistic verses,
is the following inscription : — " In memory of the
Right Honorable Edmond Nevill, Lord Lattimer,
Earle of Westmorland, and Dame Jane, his wife,
with the Memoralls of their 7 children, which
Edmond was lineally descended from the honor
able blood of Kings and Princes, and the 7 th Earle
of Westmerland of the name of Nevills." Close
by is the following epitaph to a daughter : —
" Upon the Death of the right Vertuous faire
Noble Ladie Katherin Nevell, first daughter of
Edmond, Earle of Westmerland, and Jane, his
wife, who died a Vergine, the fifth of December,
1618, being of the Age of xx3 years.
"Surviving Marble, choysly keep
This noble Virgine Eadye to sleep.
A Branch, untimely Fal'n away
From Nevelles Royallized Tree ;
Great Westmerland, too deere a Pray
For Death, if she could ransomd bee.
" Hir Name was Katherine, not in faine
Hir nature held referance,
Hir Beutie and hir parts againe,
Were all compos'd of Excellence.
"Blud, Beuty, Vertue, did contend —
All Thies avanc'd in Eminence —
Which of them could her most commend,
When Death, Enamord, tooke her hence.
"Yet Marble tell the time to come,
What Erst she was when I am Dumbe."
Edmond Nevill's claim to the earldom of
Westmoreland, which terminated in 1570 with the
attainder of Charles Nevill, the sixth earl, was ex
pressly disallowed by the Lords Commissioners in
1605. There are two seventeenth century brasses
in this church, and in the churchyard lies buried
the celebrated antiquary, Dr. Stukeley ; he was in
terred here in 1765, " in a spot which he had long
before fixed on, when on a visit to the Rev. Mr.
Sims, the vicar." His grave is not marked by any
monument, and the turf, agreeably to Stukeley's
own request, was laid smoothly over it.
In 1863 a new church, called Emmanuel, was
built near the Barking Road. It is in the Early
Decorated style, and was erected from the designs
of Mr. A. W. Blomfield. It is constructed of
Kentish rag, and is cruciform in plan, with a
central square tower, surmounted by a dwarf spire.
The church of St. John the Baptist, built in 1866,
is also cruciform.
There have been several charitable bequests to
the poor of East Ham ; and there are also in the
parish almshouses, founded, with property left for
the purpose, by Giles Bream, in 1621.

East Ham.]

ANNE BOLEYN'S CASTLE.

5^5

Plashet, a quiet little hamlet of East Ham, is
chiefly noticeable for its manor-house — called
Plashet House — which, from the early part of the
present century, was for many years the residence
of Mrs. Fry, the prison philanthropist, whom we
have already mentioned in our account of West
Ham.* Here she was visited by the King of
Prussia and other distinguished personages.
Green Street, about half a mile southward of
Plashet, and lying between Ilford Lane and Plais
tow, is another hamlet of East Ham. Greenstreet
House — commonly called " Anne Bpleyn's Castle "
— is a large, old red-brick mansion, supposed to
occupy the site of the seat of the Nevills, whose
tomb we have seen in the East Ham Church.
The most conspicuous feature of the building is a
tall tower, locally called Anne Boleyn's Tower,
from a tradition that that unhappy lady was con
fined in it. Indeed, there are many legends con
nected with Anne Boleyn lingering about this fine
old house. One is that " the tower was built for
her by her royal lover in the days of his court
ship; and that here the beautiful Anne sat
listening to the wooing of a king, with the parting
sigh of the cast-off Catherine still fresh in his ears.
The tale, as told by an old writer, is that — ' Anne
Boleyn was betrothed to a young nobleman, who
died. About ten months after his death the king
demanded her hand ; she, as was the custom,
requested to be allowed to complete the twelve
month of mourning for her lover, to which Henry
agreed, and for her amusement built the tower in
question, from which she had a fine view of the
Thames from Greenwich to below Gravesend.'
Further, it is asserted that when the fickle pas
sion of the king — and as fatal as fickle — had been
quelled, and the axe was sharpening for the beau
tiful neck which he had here embraced, the fair
victim was confined for a time in this building,
whence she was taken to Greenwich, and so
on to the Tower. These traditions have been
questioned ; and the sceptic has pointed to marks
about the building evidently of later date than the
eighth Henry. These, however, have been ac
counted for as modern reparations ; and it is not
improbable that upon these old window-sills Anne
Boleyn rested her fair arm while meditating, first
upon the sunrise, and then upon the clouded set
ting, of her greatness. Certainly some of the
apartments were at one period fitted up with royal
magnificence. "t It is stated that a room in the
tower was hung with leather richly embossed with
gold, but that an avaricious owner of the property

* See ante, p. 504.

t Coller's " History of Essex."

rent this down and burnt it, in order to collect the
precious metal.
From the Nevills this property passed to the
Holcrofts, and still later to the Garrards. In 1869
the house, together with fourteen acres, of land
adjoining, was purchased, and converted into St.
Edward's Catholic Reformatory School. The
house, which has been enlarged, now affords a
home for some 200 boys, who are taught agricul
ture and various useful trades and occupations.
The Metropolitan Northern High Level Sewer
crosses the broad expanse of East Ham Level
about midway between the church and Beckton
Road. The sewer itself, which is of brick in
three channels, each nine feet in diameter, is
covered in by a high turf-covered embankment.
During the excavations for ballast to form this
embankment in 1863, about 900 yards west of the
church, the workmen came upon what appears to
have been a rather extensive Roman cemetery. The
remains discovered consisted of leaden coffins, with
a sarcophagus of stone, which were disinterred on
the high ground abutting on the marshes. Cinerary
urns, with other Roman fictilia, were foupd near
the coffins, showing that the spot had been used as
a place of sepulture by a Roman colony.
East Ham Level was a portion of the estuary of
the Thames until the construction of the river wall.
Mr. Ynyr Burges, in describing before the Archs-
logical Institute the Roman vestiges which had
been discovered here, remarked that the Anglo-
Saxons could scarcely have had the ability to carry
out so gigantic an operation as the drainage of the
marsh, and added that we may reasonably con
clude that the undertaking had been achieved by
the Romans, who were, as Mr. Burges observed,
skilled alike in the arts of peace as in those of war —
the Roman general, as a rule, Idem pads erat
meduisque belli. A public roadway crosses East
Ham Level from the church to North Woolwich,
where there is a steam ferry to Woolwich.
A large portion of East Ham Level, between
he entrance to the Albert Dock and the River
Roding, is occupied by the Beckton Gas Works.
These works, which were established in 1869,
and cover some 150 acres, have a river frontage
of about 1,000 feet, protected by a substantial
wall of brick and stone, from which extends an
iron pier. The gas is conveyed from these works
to the City and West End of London through
several miles of tubes. These works, and the
buildings to which they have given rise in their
immediate neighbourhood, have converted the once
dreary waste of East Ham Level, into a thriving, if
not altogether picturesque and charming, colony.

GREATER LONDON.

[Barking.

ANCIENT BELL TOWER, BARKING ABBEY.

CHAPTER LVI.
BARKING.
"It hath a very ancient and fish-like smell."— The Tempest, Act II., Sc. z.
Situation and Extent of the Parish— Census Returns— Etymology— Early History and Foundation of Barking Abbey— The Abbey Burnt by the
Danes— Rebuilt by King Edgar— William the Conqueror takes up his Abode there— The Importance of the Abbey in Saxon Times— The
Convent Damaged by an Overflow of the Thames— Curious Entries of the Revenues of the Abbey -Dissolution of the Abbey— The Abbey
Gateway— Extent of the Original Buildings— Noted Abbesses— Manorial Estates of the Abbey— The Parish Church— The Rural Deanery
of Barking— The Manor of Barking— The Story of Osborne's Leap-The Manor of Clayhall— Malmains— Bifrons— Eastbury House— The
Road to Tilbury— Barking Town— Barking Creek— The Outfall of the Main Drainage Works— Powder Magazine, &c— The Roman
Entrenchment at Uphall.

Little or no romance now attaches to the parish
of Barking, though once it was holy ground. It
lies at a short distance eastward of the district
which we have just explored, on the opposite side
of the Roding, which, below the town, before
falling into the Thames, widens out into Barking
Creek, a great place for small coasters. But more
practical interests have superseded the halo of
sanctity which once hung around it. Barking is
by no means the little fishing village which it was
at one time reputed to be, but a town which has
been of late years much improved, with good
houses and shops, and a population of 8,000, the
number of its inhabitants having nearly doubled in
the course of the last quarter of a century.
Its name, possibly, is derived from the Anglo-
Saxon beroc, or beorce, "a birch-tree," and ing,

" a meadow," denoting a meadow of birch-trees ;
but more probably a corruption oiBurgh-ing, " the
meadow fortification." This latter presumption
seems to be borne out by the fact that an " en
campment" is still to be traced of the most
extensive dimensions — being more than forty-eight
acres in extent — on the north side of the town,
and which we shall visit in due course. It may be
remarked that the syllable — ing, generally as
a termination, is very frequent throughout Essex :
as Margarett^, Ingmvz, Mountness/tfg-, &c.
As was usually the case with parishes in
which large monastic houses stood, Barking was
very extensive, being nearly thirty miles round,
reaching up to the borders of Hainault Forest,
on the north of the Chelmsford Road, and in
cluding the hamlets of Ilford, Chadwell, Aid-

Barking.]

THE ABBEY.

517

borough Hatch, and Barking Side.* But most of
these have been cut off, and erected into separate
ecclesiatical districts. The advowson belongs to
All Souls College, Oxford, to which it was given
by William Pownsett, of Loxford, who had been
steward to the last abbess.
It was proposed as far back as 1650 that the
parish should be divided into three. The entire
parish contains upwards of 12,300 acres, and,
according to the census returns for 1881, the
population of the whole amounts to nearly 17,000.

London (the founder also of Chertsey), who died
here in a.d. 685, and was buried in St. Paul's,
where his shrine was one of the chief attractions.*
The abbey was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin,
and was of the Benedictine Order. St. Ethelburgha,
sister to Erkenwald, was abbess of the convent,
where she led an austere life, and where she died
in the odour of sanctity in 676. She was suc
ceeded by her sister, Hildelha, who died in 700.
Edilburga, wife of Ina, King of the West Saxons,
having lived during her widowhood as a nun here,

BARKING CREEK.

Barking is believed to have formed part of the
demesne lands of the East Saxon kings ; but little
or nothing is known of its early history until the
foundation of the abbey, about the year 670, in
the reigns of Sebbi and Sighere, kings of the East
Saxons ; the founder was a grandson of Uffa, the
first Saxon king of the East Angles, and the first
bishop who sat- in the see of London after the
erection of St. Paul's by Ethelbert. This was one
of the earliest, as well as largest, of conventual
houses near London, and its site must have been
chosen, not for its beauty, but its solitude. It
owed its foundation to St. Erkenwald, Bishop of

See ante, pp. 490, 495.

was canonised after her death, as also were two of
her successors.
The history of the abbey is briefly told. It was
burnt by the Danes, a.d. 870, and, after having
lain desolate for a century, was rebuilt by King
Edgar, as an offering in satisfaction for an insult
offered by him at Wilton to a holy recluse, the
same who became Abbess of Barking, and was
canonised as St Wulphilda. Under its Saxon
abbesses Barking became one of the sacred spots
of England, andBede gives us, in his "Ecclesiastical
History," a long list of the miracles worked within
its walls. t 
* See " Old and New London," Vol. I., p. 236-
t See Chapters VII.— XI.

44

5i8

GREATER LONDON.

[Barking.

At the Conquest it was a place of note, and the
Conqueror is said to have visited the place on his
way to take up his abode at the Tower of London.
Here, under the shadow of the venerable abbey
church, and within a few miles of the reputed tomb
of his rival Harold, William withdrew after his ill-
omened coronation ; and here he established a
Court, which gradually attracted many, if not most,
of the nobility of the south of England, thus
making it for a time the head-quarters of "rank
and fashion " — a strange contrast to the present
appearance of the place.
From the gate of Barking Abbey also William
is said by historians to have set out on his first
royal progress through his newly - conquered
kingdom. Richard of Barking became Abbot of West
minster, Councillor to Henry III., Chief Baron of
the Exchequer, and Lord Treasurer of England.
He died a.d. 1246, and was buried in his abbey
church. The convent, under Algifa, Queen Maude,
Adeliza, and other great Norman ladies, became
one of the chief places of education of the
daughters of noble families; here was also a school
for youths, and amongst the children here brought
up were the two sons of Catharine, widow of
Henry V. Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, after
her husband's murder, found a refuge in the Abbey
of Barking, and died here a.d. 1399. " On her
brass in Westminster Abbey,'"' observes Mr.
Thorne, " she is represented as a nun of Barking."
In right of their large temporal estates the
Abbesses of Barking held a seat in the great
council of the kingdom.
It has often been asked whether women ever
sat and voted in the Upper House of Parliament.
As a step towards the solution of the question,
attention may be drawn to the fact that in the
Saxon times four abbesses — those of Barking,
Wilton, Shaftesbury, and St. Mary's, Winchester —
held seats in the Witenagemot, or great council of
the kingdom. But whether they voted is not
satisfactorily known. It appears that the Abbess
of Barking enjoyed precedence above her other
sisters. It would seem that the first blow to the pros
perity of the abbey was caused by a breach of the
river banks at Dagenham, which flooded its low-
lying lands, and caused a " public appeal " for
assistance. The " Harleian Manuscripts " tell
us that King Richard III. issued a license to
the Prior and Convent of the Holy Trinity, in
London, to grant the Abbess of Barking an an
nuity of twenty pounds — which was a large sum in

those days — " probably," suggests Mr. Thorne,
" to assist her in her efforts to reclaim the drowned
lands." It may show the importance which was attached
to this abbey in former times when it is stated that
the Church of All Saints, or Allhallows, in Tower
Street, had the distinguishing title appended thereto
by the Abbess and Convent of Barking, to whom
the vicarage originally belonged. King Richard I.
added a chapel to the Church of Allhallows-
Barking; and Edward I. presented a statue of
" Our Lady of Barking " to the treasures of the
church. The abbess possessed thirteen knights' fees and
a half, and she held her lands of the king as a
barony ; and though her sex prevented Jier from
attending the king in the wars, yet she always
furnished her quota of men, and had precedence
over the abbesses. In her convent she always lived
in great state ; her household consisted of "chap
lains, an esquire, gentlemen, gentlewomen, yeomen,
grooms, a clerk, a yeoman cook, a groom cook, a
pudding-wife, &c."
The following curious entries from the records of
this house, extracted from the Harleian MS., 433,
are worth the notice of the antiquarian readers : —
" Maistr. William Talbot hath the psonage of Alhalowes
Berking, of London."
"Elizabeth abbess of Berking hath annuyte of xvli.
graunted by Docto. Talbot pson of Berking in London, and
the same graunt to hir and hir successors is confirmed by the
king." ' ' A licence given to M. Chaderton dean of Berking, and
to the chanons there to graunt to Elizabeth abbesse of Berking
an annuyte of xv li. to them graunted by yre."
" The pryor and convent of the Holy Trinitie in London
have a licence to graunt for 'ever unto th' abbess of Berking
an annuyte of xx li. of al yre lands in London."
The amount of the rents received from several
of the above places, as well as the kind of house
hold anciently kept up in this monastery, appears
from the following statement preserved among the
Cottonian manuscripts and in the Monasticon, and
which, for its curiosity, we are induced to give at
length. ' ' This is the charthe longynge to the office of the
celeresse of the monasterye of Barkinge as hereafter fol
io we the: —
" First she must luke whanne she commethe into here
office, what is owynge to the said office, by diverse fermours
and rent gedererers, and see that it be paid as soone as she
may." She was then to receive " yerly of the collectore
of Werley " at the two feasts of St. Michael and
Easter, each 1. s. And of the collectors of the
following places the following sums. Bulfanne

Barking.]

CURIOUS RECORDS.

5J9

yearly v 1. Mockinge iiii. 1. and of the " fermes
ther " lx. s. Of the collector of Hockley at the
two feasts of Easter and Michselmass x. 1. Tolles-
bury, * * * Wigberewe x. 1. Gynge at Stoneyxlviii. s.
Slapton viii. 1. Of the fermour of Lytlyngton xv. 1.
Uphall " by yere " vi. 1. xiii. s. iv. d. Dunneshall
lvi. s. viii. d. Wanynges iv. 1. x. s. Of the collector
of Barkinge " of the rentis and fermes of Barkinge
and Dagenham, to the longing to the sayd office,
by the yere, xij. 1. xviii. s." "Of the chanons of
Seynt Powles," a rent of xxii. s. " Of the prior and
convent of Seynt Bartholmewes in London," xvij.s.
And of John Goldington for a yearly rent of divers
tenements at "Seynt Mary Schorehogge," xxiipence.
For a tenement in Friday Street yearly xxiii. s.
and iiii. d. "but it is not knowen wher it stonds,"
and " she shuld receive yerly xxx. s. of the rent of
Tybourne, but it is not paid."
Then follow the various particulars the cellaress
was to provide for the convent. '
The Issues of the Larder. — "And also she must be
charged with all the orskeyns that she selleth ; and of all the
inwardes of the oxen ; and with all the tallowe that she
selleth, coming of hyr oxen : also of every messe of the
beyofe that she selleth : and all these be called the yssues of
the larder.The foryn Receyte. — "And also yf she sell oney hey at
ony ferme longynge to her office, she must charge her selfe
therwith, and it is called a foryn receyte.
" Some totalis of all the said charthe . . . .
Beyinge of Greynys. — ' ' Wher of what parte of the said
some sche must purvey yerly for three quarters malte, for the
tounes of St. Alburgh, and Cristmasse, eche of them xij.
bushell, and than'must sche pay to the brewer of each toune
xx. d. And then must sche purvy for a quarter and seven
bushells of whete fore pitaunce of William Dune, Dame
Mawte Loveland, Dame Alys Merton, Dame Mawte the
kynges daughter : and for russeaulx in Lenton and to bake
with elys on Scbere Thursday. And then must sche pay to
the baker for bakinge of every pitaunce vi. d. And also
sche . must purvey for one bushell of greyne beanes for the
covent ayenst missomer.
Beying of Store. — " And sche must purvy for xxii. gud
oxen by the yere fore covent.
Providence for Advent and Lentten. — "Also sche must
purvy for two cadys of heryngs that be rede for the covent
in Advent : and for vii cadys of red heryng for the covent
in Lenton : and also for three berell of white heringe for the
covent in Lentyn : and also sche must purvey for xii. c. lib.
almondes for the covents in Lentyn, and for xviii salt fish
for the covent in Lentyn ; and for xiv. or ellys xv. salt
salmones for the said covent in Lentyn : and for three
peces and xxiv. I. fyggis : and one pece reysenez for the
covent in Lenton. And also for xxviiil. 1. ryse for the covent
in Lenton ; and for viii galons mustard for the covent.
Ruscheaw Sylver. — "And also sche must pay to every
lady of the covent, and also to the priorisse, to two celeresse
and kechener, for ther doubls, for ther rushew sylver, by xvi.
times payable in the yere to every lady, and doubill at eche
time ob. but it is paid nowe but at two times, that is to say,
at Ester and Michelmes : also sche must paye. to every lady

of the covent, and to the said foure doubles, to eche lady
and double ij. d. for their cripsis and crumkakes alway payd
at Shroftyd. Anniversaryes. — "And also sche must pay for v anniver
saries, that is to say, Sir William Vicar, Dame Alys Merton,
Dame Mawte the kynge's daughter, Dame Mawte Love-
land, and William Dun : and also to purvey for xii gallon
good ale for the pittance of William at the day of an
niversary. Offeringes and Wages, and Gvftes of the Selleris. — " And
also sche must pay in offryng to two celleresses by yere xii. d.
and then shall sche pay to the steward of howshold, what
tyme he brynght home money from the courtis, at eche tyme
xx. d. and then schall sche gyve to the steward of howshold
at Cristymes xx. d. and to my lady's gentylwoman xx. d.
and to every gentilman xvi. d. and to every yoman as it
pleasefh her to doo, and gromes in like case : and then must
sche bye a suger looffe for my lady at Cristmas : and also
sche must pay to hyr clerk for his wages thirteen shillings
fourpence ; to hyr yoman cooke twenty-six shillings eight-
pence : and sche shall pay for a gown to her grome coke and
her poding wief by the yere ii. s.
Pitance of the Covent. — "And also sche must purvy
for iii. casse of multon for the covent, for the pitaunce of
Sir William Vicar : also sche must purvey for a pece of
whete, and iii. gallons melke for firmete on Seynt Alburgh's
daye : also she must purvey iiii bacon hojis for the covent,
for pitance of Dame Alys Merton, and Dame Mawte the
lunge's daughter, at ii times in wynter ; and sche must bye
vi grecys, vi sowcys for the covent, and also vi inwardys,
c. egges to make white podinges : also bred, peper, saferon
for the same podinjes : also to purvey iii galons gude ale for
besons. And also to purvey marybones to make white
wortys for the covent : and then must sche purvey at Seynt
Andrewestyd a pitance of fysche for my lady and the covent :
and then must sche pay at Shroftyde to every lady of the
covent, and to iiii doubles, for their cripcis, and for the
crumkakes to every lady and doubill ii. d. and thanne must
sche purvey for my lady abbess against Shroltyd, viij.
chekenes : also bonnes for the covent at Shroftyd. Also
iiii galons melke fur the covent the same tyme : and yen
must sche purvey for every Sonday in Lenton pituance
fysche for the covent : and also to be sure of xii stubbe elles
and lx. schafte eles to bake for the covent on Schere
Thursday : and also one potel tyre for my ladye abbess the
same day, and two galons of rede wyne for the covent the
same day : and also to purvey three galons of good ale for
the covent every weke in Lenton, and to have one galone
red wyne for the covent on Ester evyn : and also to purvey
for three casse of multon for the covent, for the pitaunce of
William Dune ; and also to purvey for every lady of the
covent, and v double to every lady, and double di. gose
delivered at the fest of the Assumption of our Lady.
Fy sylver. — " And also sche must pay to xxxvii ladyes of
the covent for their eysylver fro Michelmes tyll Allhallow-
day, to every lady by the weke i. d. ob. and then to
every lady by the weke fro Allhallowe-day tyll Advent
i. d. ob. q. and then to every lady be the weke fro
advent Sonday till Childermas day i. d. q. and then to every
lady for the same eysylver be the weke fro Cheldermesday
unto Aschwednesday i. d. ob. q. and then fro Ester unto
Michelmasse to every lady be the weke i. d. ob. and then
must sche paye to eche lady for ye eysylver for eche vigill
fallyng within the yere ob. and then must sche pay to the
priorie eche weke in the yere, except Lenten xxxii. egges,
or elles ii. d. ob. q. in money for them every weke, except

52°

GREATER LONDON.

[Barking.

iiii weke in Advent, in the wheche sche shall not pay but
xvi. egges be the weke : and also sche must pay to the said
priorie for every vigill fallynge within the yere viij. egges, or
elles ob. dim. q. and iiii. part of q in money for the same.
Beyinge of Butter. — " And then must sche purvey for
fest butter of Seynt Alburgh for xxxvii lades and iiij.
doubles, that is to say, the prioresse, ij. celleressys, and the
kechener, to every lady and double i. cobet, every disch
conteynyng iii cobettes : and then must sche pay to the sayd
ladys and doubles for the storying butter by v tymes in the
yere, that is to wite, in Advent, and three tymes after
Cristmas, to eche lady and double at every ob. and also sche
must purvey for the said lades and doubles for the fest
butter at Ester and Whitsontide, lyk as sche dyd at Seynt
Alburgh's tyde : also sche must purvey for the sayd lades
of the covent, and the said iiii doubles, and the priory for
ther fourtnyght butter fro Trinitie Sonday unto Holy
Rounde daye, that is to seyd, to every lady double, and
priory, at eche fourtnyght betvveene the sayd two festes
i cobette butter, iii cobetts makyng a disch : and also sche
must purvey to the said ladys with ther doubles to the fest
butter of Assumption of our Lady, to every lady and double
i. cobett butter.
Hyreing of Pashtr. — "And then must sche be sure of
pasture for her oxen in tym of yere, as her servants can
enfourme her.
Mowyng and making of Hey e. — "And also to see hyr
heye be mowe, and made in time of ye yere, as yeryng
requeryth. Costys of Reparations. — " And thanne must sche see that
all manner of howses within her office be sufficiently re-
payred as well withought at hyr fyrmes, manners, as within
the monastery.
This ys the Forme of brening of the Celeresse Beofe ;
foist the CI: rke shall enter into her Boke as followeth. — " The
Satyrday the xx daye of September she answereth of iiii or
v messes remayning in store of the last weke before, and of
lxiii messes of beofe comyng of an oxe slayn that same
weke : and also sche must answere of iiii. xx messes of beofe
be byr boughte of the covente, of that they lefte behynd of
ther lyvere paying for every messe i. d. ob. las in all by i. d.
ob. summa cxlvii. messe, thereof delyvered to eche lady of
the covent for iii dayes in the weke iii messe of beofe, that is
sonday, tewesday, and thursday : and thanne schall sche pay
to the priory for the seid iii dayes vi messes of beof, for eche
day ij messe ; and yff there fall no vigill in the sayd iii dayes,
and where there falleth a vigill in ony of the iii. and the next
settyrday sche must loke what beof every houshold will
have, and thereafter must sche purvey her beofe in the
market ; for she shall stey but every fortnyght, and yff sche be
a good huswyff.
The Lev.ry of Red Herynge in Advent. — " First sche
schall delyvere to eche lady of the covent every weke in
Advent for monday and wednysday, for eche day to every
lady iii heryngs : and to the priory every weke in Advent for
the sayd ij days viii heryngs.
The Levery of Almonds, Rysse, Fyggs, and Reyssons in
Lenton. — " First to my lady abbesse in almondes for Advent
and Lenttyn iiii. 1. and to every lady of the covent for Advent
and Lentten ii. 1. almondis, and to the prioresse ii celarisses
and kechenere for ther doubill to eche doubell ii. 1.
Rysse. — "And eche lady of the covent for all the
Lentten D. 1. ryse, and eche of the said iiii double to eche
double for all the Lentten D. 1. rysse.
Fyges and Reysons. — " And eche lady of the covent
every weke in Lenton i. 1. fyges and reyssons, and eche of

the sayd iiii doubles every weke in Lentton i. 1. fyges and
reysons, and to the priori every weke i. 1. fygs and reysons.
Levery of Herynge. — "And to every lady- of the covent
for every day in the weke in Lentton iiii heryngs red and
white, that is, every lady xxviii herynges be the weke, and to
the priori be v dayes, that is, monday, tewsday, wedynesday,
thursday, and sattyrday ; and the sonday they recevy fische,
and for the friday fygs and reysons.
Levery ¦>/ Fische.—" And to every lady of the covent in Lent
ton eche oder weke, one messe salt fysch, and to the prioresse
ii celleresses and kechener for the doubles eche other weke
in Lentten, to eche double i messe salt fysch ; and to the
priory eche other weke in Lentton ii messe salt fysch, every
salt fysch conteyning vii messe.
Levery of Salt Salmon. — "And to every lady of the covent
in Lentton eche other weke i messe of salt salmon ; and like
wyse to eche of the sayd iiii doubles i messe of salmon ; and
in lykewyse each other weke to the priorye ii. messe of salt
salmon yeldyng ix messe.
The Levery of Sowse — " Be it remembered that the
celeresse must se that every lady of the covent have hyr
levery of sowse fro my lady abbesse kychen at Martynmese
tyme ; and every lady to have three thynges ; that is to say,
the cheke, the ere, and the fote, is a levery ; the groyne and
two fete ys anodyr levery ; soe a hoole hoggs sowsse, shall
serve three ladyes. And thanne must sche have for three
doubles in lyke wyse, to every double three thyngs ; and the
three doubles be the prioresse, the high celeresse and the
kychener; the under celeresse schall not have of double : and
then must gyff to every lady and double beforesaid of sowce
of hyre owne provisione two thyngs to every lady ; so that a
hoole hogg sowse do serve four ladyes.
Pitaunce Pork. — " And sche must remember to aske for
the covent at my lady abbesse kychen allwey at Martynmesse
pittaunce porke for every lady one messe, and for foure
doubles, that is to sey, the priorisse, two celliresses, and the
kychener, to every double one messe : and then must sche
purvey pittaunce porke for the covent, wheche longeth
to hyr owne office, for to doo at two tymes in wynter, and
that is, ones for Dame Alys Merton and another for Dame
Mawte the king's daughter, at eche tyme to every lady one
messe, and eche double one messe ; and every hogge shall
yield xx messe.
Pittaunce Mutton. — ' ' And also sche must aske for the
covent at my lady abbesse kychen pittaunce mutton three
tymes in the yere, betweene the Assumption of our Lady
and Michelmasse, at eche tyme to every lady one messe, and
to the priorisse the high celleresse, and to the kychener- for
three doubles, for every double one messe, and every mutton
shall yelde xii messe. And then must sche purvey for
pittaunce mutton for the covent wheche longeth to hyr owne
office to doo at two tymes in the yere, that is, once for Syr
William Vicar, and another tyme for William Dune ; to
every lady and doubell beforesaid, one messe mutton at eche
tym, every mutton yeldynge xii messe.
Soper Eggs. — " And the under celeresse must rememder
at eche principal fest, that my lady sytteth in the fraytour ;
that is to wyt, five tymes in the yere, at eche tyme shall aske
the clerke of the kychen soper eggs for the covent, and that
is Estir, Wytsontyd, the Assumption of our Lady, Seynt
Alburgh, and Cristynmasse, at eche tyme to every lady two
eggs, and eche double two eggs, that is the priorisse, the
celeresse, and the kychener.
Rtisheaulx in Lenton. — "Also sche must remembir
rusheaulx in Lenton, that my lady abbesse have viii of
the ... .

Barking.]

THE FIRE-BELL GATE.

521

Leveray of Geese and Haines — " Also to remembir to
aske of the kychyn at Seynt Alburgh's tyme, for every lady of
the covent halfe a goose, and for six double, for every double
dim. goose, that is, the priorisse, two celeresse, the kychener,
and two chaunteresse. Also to eche at the said fest of Seynt
Alburgh of the said clerke, for every lady of the covent one
henne, or elles a coke, and for ix doubles, to eche double a
henne, or elles a coke, and the be iii priorisses, the chaunter-
esses, ij oellerysses, the kychener, and the two freytouresses.
Leveray Bacon. — "Also to remember to aske the levery
bacon for the covent alwey before Cristmasse, at my lady
abbesse kychyner, for every lady of the covent iiii messe,
and that is, to the priorisse the cellerysse, the kychener ; and j
sche shall understand that a flytch of bacon conteynigh
x messe. Levery Ottmeale. — " Also to remember to deliver every
lady of the covent every moneth in the yere, at eche tyme
iiii dyshes of otemelle, delivered to the covent coke for
mshefals, for Palme Sundaye, xxi pounder fyggys. Item
delyveryd to the seyd coke, on Sherthursday viii pounde ryse.
Item delyveryd to the said coke for Sherethursday xviii
pounde almans Memorandum that a barrell off herring
should contene a thousand herrings, and a cade off herryng
six hundereth, six score to the hundreth."
At the dissolution of monasteries, Barking had,
according to Speed, an income of ^1,085, and j
was surrendered to the greedy king by its last !
abbess, Dorothy Barley, who " retired on a \
pension." The king leased the abbey and its '
adjoining lands to one of his courtiers, Sir Thomas
Denny. It was granted under Edward VI. to
Lord Clinton, who sold it forthwith to Sir Richard
Sackville, and it has since changed owners re
peatedly, like most of such properties. The
Manor of Barking, which once was an appendage
to the abbey, was seized by Henry VIIL, has
passed from royal into private hands, and now
belongs to Sir E. Hulse.
Of all the once magnificent buildings of the
abbey nothing now is left, except a solitary em
battled gateway, once known as the " Chapel of
the Holy Rood Loft atte Gate," but now commonly
called the "Fire-bell Gate," from a tradition that
it contained the bell rung for curfew and for alarm
of fires. The gateway is substantially in good
condition, though the mullions and tracery of its
windows have been sadly mutilated. The gateway
still guards the entry into the churchyard and
church ; in the room over the entrance is still to
be seen a relievo of the Crucifixion, much defaced
by "pious" iconoclasts. It is needless to say
that the fire-bell is no longer there ; nor are there
any traces of its position. Another gateway leading
into the precincts of the abbey was needlessly
taken down in 1881.
A few yards north of the church stood the
abbey itself, but of the conventual buildings
scarcely a stone remains, except a few fragments

of the walls, which now serve as the walls of a
market-garden that covers the sacred spot. Bones
and other remains have often been dug up here.
Lysons, in his "Environs of London," gives a
ground plan of the abbey church, " taken from the
ruins of its foundation in 1724." But Mr. Thorne
sees reasons for doubting the accuracy of its
details. According to this plan, it was a hun
dred and seventy feet long, and cruciform in shape,
the width of the transepts being a hundred and
fifty feet. This was erected in the middle of the
thirteenth century, in the place of an older and
smaller structure.
No print or painting of the church remains, the
work of the " Reformers " being complete here ;
but it was doubtless a noble building in its time.
According to the plan in Lysons it consisted of nave,
chancel, and transepts, the two former with side
aisles, and the Lady Chapel east of the chancel.
Besides the high altar, there were in it altars of
Our Lady, of the Resurrection, and of St. Peter
and St. Paul, and the shrines of St. Hildelitha
and St. Ethelburgha. In the year 1876 the
foundations of the Lady Chapel and the skeletons
of two ladies, probably abbesses, buried in front
of the altar, were discovered in the grounds be
longing to the national school, a part of the site
which does not appear to have been excavated
previously. "As for Barking Abbey" (writes the author of
"Professional Excursions" in 1843), "where
canonisation descended as an heirloom, and mira
cles grew like mushrooms, the owl has forsaken
it and the bat disdains it. The curfew has fallen
from the belfry, and the pudding-wife's occupation
is gone." Mr. Thorne tells us that "the library of Magdalen
College, Oxford, possesses a relic of the abbey in
the shape of a beautiful French manuscript, con
taining the Lamentations of St. Bernard, the
Meditations of St. Augustine, and a Life of St.
Louis, presented to the convent by the Countess
of Oxford — the wife of the twelfth earl of the old
line of De Vere,"
Many charters and privileges, as might be ex
pected, were bestowed on the convent by our
Norman kings.
Among the names of the ladies who sat in the
abbess's chair are to be noticed those of De la Pole,
Montacute, Merton, De Vere, and a Becket— the
last named being a sister of the martyred arch
bishop. Among the possessions of the abbey long before
the Conquest, and possibly from its first foundation,
was the manor of Barking ; this was seized by the

525

GREATER LONDON.

[Barking.

greedy tyrant, Henry VIII., and remained vested
in the Crown until sold by Charles I. to the Fan-
shawes, from whom it passed, through some inter
mediate hands, to the Lethuilliers, and from them
again to the Hulses, its present owners.
The abbess had not only a host of dependants
and retainers, but also a prison in which to detain
offenders ; and if any of her servants married his
daughter beyond the limits of the manor, he had
to pay a fine to the abbey.
There were in Barking several subordinate

traces of Early English and Perpendicular work.
It contains some fine monuments : the best and
finest is in memory of Sir Charles Montagu, of
Cranbrook, Essex (brother of the first Earl of
Manchester), who is represented as dying on the
field of battle, a page holding his horse at the
door of a tent. There are three good brasses on
the chancel floor ; and other mural tablets deserve
attention, especially one to Sir Orlando Humfreys.
One or two curious aumbries still remain in the
north side of the chancel

EASTBURY HOUSE. (Afier Lysons.)

manors, as those of Wangay, Fulks, Loxford,
Malmains, Cranbrook, Westbury, Eastbury, &c.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is
large ; it comprises nave, chancel, and north and
south aisles, with a tower at the west end. It must
once have been fairly handsome, but it has been
terribly " beautified " and modernised, its once
open timber roofs having been replaced by orna
mental plaster ceilings of the Stuart period. It
was built chiefly in the fourteenth century, but its
date is not at all clearly shown by its architecture,
the tracery of its windows having been superseded
by modern insertions. One portion of the church,
including the piers between the nave and north
aisle, near the western end, is Norman, and there are

In the church were three chantries : one at the
altar of the Resurrection, in the north transept,
and others at the altar of King Edward and the
shrine of St. Ethelburgha.
It appears that the vicars of Barking were con
sidered as part of the household of the lady
abbess, and had a seat and a knife and fork (if
forks were then invented) at the chaplain's table,
their servants sitting "below the salt," with the
domestics of the convent; but this right, being
found troublesome, was commuted for a money
payment. Barking is a rural deanery, in the diocese of St.
Albans ; and the Bishop of St. Albans Fund, which
was established a few years ago, is, in point of fact,

Barking. ]

CLAYHALL MANOR.

5^3

a home mission and church extension society for
the metropolitan portion of the diocese situated in
this deanery. Its sphere includes thirty eccle
siastical parishes, embracing the town districts of
Stratford, Canning Town, Victoria Docks, and
North Woolwich, and suburban places like Barking,
Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Wanstead,
and Woodford. These districts now contain a
population of about 224,000, being nearly double
the population of 187 1. Many parts of the
deanery are inhabited by clerks and workmen
who have been forced out of London by the

has been already told by us in Old and New
London.*
The manor of Clayhall, in this parish, was held
under the abbess and convent of Barking by the
following singular services : namely, that every
tenant should come in person to the abbey church
on the vigil of St. Ethelburgha the Virgin, and
there attend and guard the high altar from the
first hours of vespers till nine the next morning ;
and that he should be ready at all times, with a
horse and a man, to attend the abbess and her
steward when going upon the business of the con-

stasia,

^«feii

iiii||iM in ,n i »WHi^ty^~^^^^^^^g^^.-^^?^^r-' |

reduction of cheap
house accommoda
tion ; and the pub
licans are often al
most the only people in the parish who keep a
domestic servant. At the commencement of 1883
there were 88 Dissenting and seven Roman Catholic
chapels in the deanery, with a total of 32,100
sittings, while the total provision made in churches,
with mission-rooms, &c, was 28,600.
After the Dissolution, the manor of Barking,
which was paramount over the Hundred of Becon-
tree, remained with the Crown till the time of
James I., when it was sold to the Fanshawes. In
the reign of Queen Elizabeth the property was in
the hands of Sir William Hewitt, Lord Mayor of
London. The story, as given by Strype, of the
manner in which it passed into the possession of
Mr. Osborne, the ancestor of the Dukes of Leeds,

vent anywhere within the four seas. And, lastly,
that the abbess should have, by way of heriot,
upon the death of every tenant, his best horse and
accoutrements ; these services, however, did not
exempt them from the quit rents. Besides the
above tenure, there were other "vexatious con
tingencies," namely, one Robert Gerard was,
among other services, "to gather a full measure
of nuts, called a pybot, four of which should make
a bushel; to go a long journey on foot once a
year to Colchester, Chelmsford, Ely, or the like
distances, on the business of the convent, carrying
a pack, and other shorter distances, such as
Brentford, &c, and maintaining himself upon the
road. He was to pay a fine upon the marriage of
his daughter, if she married beyond the limits of

See Vol. I., p. 401

524

GREATER LONDON.

[Barking.

the manor. If his daughter had an illegitimate
child, he was to make the best terms he could
with the abbess for the fine called Kyldwyte.
It appears, also, that he could not even sell
his ox, fed by himself, without the abbess's per
mission." In former times there were several manor-houses
in the parish, but they have mostly disappeared,
or been altered to suit other purposes.
Malmains, which stood about a mile and a half
north-east from the church, was the residence of
Sir William Hewitt, mentioned above. Bifrons, on
the road between Barking and Eastbury House, was
in the last century the seat of Bamber Gascoigne,
M.P., a maternal ancestor of the Marquis of Salis
bury. It was so fancifully named because of its
double front.
Eastbury House, on the road to Dagenham and
Rainham, about a mile from Barking, is a large,
dreary, tumble-down mansion, square in plan, of
an almost collegiate type, built of red brick, with
tall gables, square mullioned windows, and stacks
of graceful chimneys, which still retain their
original freshness. The rooms inside were pan
elled, and some of them were painted in fresco ;
but the interior of the house has been modernised.
A representation of the house, in Lysons'
" Environs of London," shows two tall towers,
which rise above the top of the house ; but now
there is only one : the other was destroyed by
lightning some years ago. It is said, but errone
ously, that Lord Monteagle was staying here when
he received the letter which, being submitted to
James L, led to the discovery of the Gunpowder
Plot. " Eastbury House," writes the author of " Pro
fessional Excursions," " has some pretensions to be
immortalised as the reputed residence of Lord
Monteagle, who was so singularly instrumental in
discovering the Gunpowder Plot, which still annoys
us with its barbarous ceremonies on the 5th of
November. It is a wretched, neglected building,
fit only for ' treason, stratagems, and spoils,' and
has only a few whimsical shafts to recompense the
trouble of leaving the highway and encountering
an ague." The old mansion is called by the
natives "Gunpowder House," from a tradition
that Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators used
it as a rendezvous; but there is no historical
evidence of this, and even the tradition is confused
and contradictory.
It is religiously believed by the natives that
preparations had been made by those connected
with the " Gunpowder Plot " to witness the catas
trophe from the top of the great tower, which

commands a view over London. We have, how
ever, shown in a previous chapter that the con
spirators hired a house for that purpose at White
Webbs, Enfield,* in which they also held their
secret meetings. The house belongs to the Sherry
family, and entrance to it is most churlishly refused
to visitors.
The road by Eastbury House leads on by
Grays to Tilbury and Southend. It must have
been by this road that Queen Elizabeth rode
down to her camp at Tilbury to inspect her
troops on that historical occasion just when the
panic of the great Spanish Armada had reached
our shores, and when she addressed to her gallant
soldiers those words which are recorded in every
English History : — " My loving people," said the
queen, "we have been persuaded by some that
are careful of our safety to take heed how we
commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of
treachery ; but I assure you I do not desire to live
to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let
tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself that,
under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and
safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will os my
subjects ; and, therefore, I am come amongst you
at this time, not as for my recreation and sport,
but being resolved in the midst and heat of the
battle to live or die amongst you all, to lay down
for my God, for my kingdom, and for my people,
my honour and my blood even in the dust. I
know that I have but the body of a weak and feeble
woman ; but I have the heart of a king, and of a
King of England too, and think foul scorn that
Parma, or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should
dare to invade the borders of my realms."
The town of Barking is mainly agricultural ; it is
straggling and irregular in plan, and is joined to
London by a double line of railway : the one to
Fenchurch Street, and the other by way of Stratford
to Bishopsgate. It is on the route to Southend.
In the High Street is an old market-house (said
by Lysons to have been built by Queen Elizabeth),
around which a market is still held on Saturday.
The streets are poor, narrow, squalid, and badly
drained. By the wharf at the end of the town
is a corn-mill, standing on the site of the old
Abbey Mill. From this wharf, Pepys tells us
in his "Diary," under date August 18th, 1662, the
timber cut down for the navy in the royal forests
of Hainault and Epping was shipped for Wool
wich. The chief traffic now consists of fish, coals,
and corn.
At Uphall, a farm a little to the north of the
* See ante, p. 369.

Barking.]

THE MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.

525

town, near the Roding, are the remains of a square
fortification nearly forty acres in extent. They are
certainly Roman, and are supposed to mark a
fortification, or else the site of a town or military
station, probably the first of a series on the road
between Augusta (London) and Camelodunum,
Maldon, or Colchester. The banks and trenches
minutely described by Lysons have been partially
effaced by the plough, but near the north-western
angle is still to be seen a "very fine spring of
water, which was guarded by an inner work and a
high keep, or mound of earth." The mound is
still there, ,and the spring still bubbles up as it
did in the days of Julius Csesar. Probably the
stones of the encampment were utilised in building
the abbey at Barking which the Danes destroyed.
The men of Barking would seem to have been
bold and adventurous. One of them, David In
gram, gives an account of his voyage to North
America, along with "Master" Hawkins, and his
travels in Mexico and in other parts of that
continent in 1582. His curious narrative is to be
seen in the first edition of " Hakluyt's Voyages,"
though omitted from later issues. It was probably
thought too wonderful to be true.
From the town wharf down to its junction with
the Thames, the banks of Barking Creek are
artificially raised by strong walls, along which there
is a public path. But the walk is not attractive.
Nor, perhaps, are its attractions increased by the
fact that just above it, on its western side, is the
outfall into the Thames of the main drainage works
of London, which were carried out under Lord
Palmerston's premiership by Sir Joseph Bazal-
gette.* Mr. Thorne, in his " Environs of London," states
that here 10,000,000 cubic feet of sewage are
brought daily down from London in a concrete
sewer which crosses the marshes, and deposited in a
reservoir, which is discharged into the Thames at
high water.
The reservoir, or main outfall, is constructed on
lands in Barking parish. It is built on the marsh
land on the west side of the mouth of Barking
Creek, and covers an area of nearly ten acres. It
is divided into four compartments, and will hold
39,000,000 gallons of sewage. The walls are of
brick, the floor of stone, and the concrete founda
tions are carried down to a depth of about twenty
feet. At Lodge Farm, Barking, some of the sewage
is scientifically applied to agricultural purposes, and
with great success ; and it seems a very great
pity, to say the least, that all the London sewage
See "Old and New London," Vol. V., pp. 41, 42.

is not applied in like manner towards reclaiming
and fertilising all the waste lands on the Essex
borders. "Primarily the duties of the Metropolitan
Board of Works," observes the St. James's Magazine,
" are constructional in character, and all the other
details of its finance and government are merely
subordinate to this original object. This fact has
endowed the body with more than ordinary
importance, for its main functions are spending
ones, and resulting in the realisation of great
structural works, designed for the benefit of the
inhabitants of the metropolis. Instituted almost
solely for remedying the defects and dangers of an
undrained, or at least imperfectly drained, city, its
first task was a solution of the vexed and unsatis
factory problem of ' London drainage.' The
polluted character of the river Thames at the
period of the Board's inauguration was a notorious
fact, and, aided by the designs of many eminent
engineers, it set about its work with well-meant and
disinterested energy. With almost unlimited funds
at its command, no obstacle prevented the carrying
out a scheme of efficient drainage, which it was
fondly hoped would set at rest for all time the
dangers associated with congested sewers, and their
intermittent efflux into a tidal river. The final
scheme as now carried out was the construction of
a series of main drains parallel to the Thames,
whose functions were to intercept everything
seweral in character from the houses within the
superficial boundary of the Board's jurisdiction;
in short, collecting, or rather directing, the overflow
of London's sewage (so as to prevent its mingling
with the river through the City and suburbs) to a
more distant point of disemboguement .... Let
us now, after a few years' interval, examine in all
seriousness the gain derived from so large an
expenditure. There was undoubtedly a fundamen
tal error in deciding to concentrate the daily
discharge of seven or eight hundred thousand tons
of sewage into the river Thames, at points abutting
on the eastern boundaries of the metropolis itself.
It was assumed by the engineers of the Board
that pumping out this large and fluctuating volume
of semi-liquid sewage could be beneficially effected
at the top of the tide, resulting in the final disper
sion of the corrupt mass by tidal and river influences.
In the early days of this great engineering feat,
adverse criticism from any quarter met with scant
courtesy. Even those experienced chemists and
agriculturists who besought the Board to consider
the value of that which was thus ruthlessly consigned
to what they regarded as annihilation, and beyond
the reach of being a danger to the metropolis, at

526

GREATER LONDON.

[Barking.

least were snubbed. The loss of ^4,000,000
(besides the cost of its dispersion) was as nothing,
for was the Thames not purified between the
bridges, so much so as to enable steamboat
passengers to enjoy a sail in warm weather without
the disgusting dangers of noisome smells from a
malodorous stream ? The first serious challenge of
dissent offered to this assumed happy condition
of things, and which somewhat disturbed the
equanimity of the Board and its engineers,
proceeded from the River Thames Conservancy,
which, from a carefully prepared river chart and
innumerable soundings, showed that mud-banks
of an abnormal character were being formed, and
that these were attributable to deposits from the
Crossness and Barking sewer discharges. Not
withstanding the apparent accuracy of these
asseverations, proceeding from an important body,
the whole affair was speedily settled by the Board
proving, from its own and independent engineering
evidence, that the very idea of such a state of
things was absolutely preposterous. The River
Thames Conservators did not need to be apprehen
sive of stoppage to navigation, for the millions of
tons of sewage matter pumped into the river
Thames in the course of the year was sent away,
by a happy condition of natural influences, to
seaward, where its baneful and dangerous character
would be utterly destroyed. The contentions of
the Metropolitan Board have been unavoidably
persistent as well as consistent, for it is invariably
argued, and with much plausible appearance of
reason, that all the filth of London, through its
agency, is rendered harmless and innocuous, and
that neither water, air, land, or sea can be injuri
ously interfered with, in consequence of its system
of drainage. A body of undoubted importance,
entrusted with an onerous task, was naturally
treated with much forbearance in the past ; for
during the early years of its existence much
allowance had to be made for the novelty of
dealing in so comprehensive a manner with a
leviathan undertaking such as the disposal of
London's sewage. Germs of disease deposited on
the river sides and at the bottom of the stream are
simply storehouses for future supplies of forces
charged with danger and death, the natural result
of the collection of London's sewage into vast
longitudinal sewers, which at intervals may be
dammed back to meet tidal or other exigencies,
and which, when so retarded must push back with
force the gases produced from the accumulation and

churning of such varied qualities of filth. Sewer
gas, as it is now called, under such circumstances,
readily escapes from the sources of its generation,
and with its deadly influences and surroundings
permeates the dwellings with which the system of
London drainage so effectually entangles the homes
of the ratepayers. New types of disease, fre
quently baffling the skill of the most accomplished
physicians, are the result of such baneful contami
nation from a source which is difficult to control.
The main drainage system of London (and by its
example and teachings provincial cities and towns
as well) has created new professions, in whose
ranks special experts have risen up to grap
ple with dangers and inconveniences before un
known." The drainage system of London, on the north
side of the Thames, comprises the High Level,
the Middle Level, the Low Level, and the Western
District Sewers, together with the Outfall at Barking
Creek. The High Level drains Hampstead, High-
gate, Kentish Town, Highbury, Stoke Newington,
Hackney, and passes under Victoria Park to Old
Ford ; its length is about nine miles. The Middle
Level runs by way of Kensal Green, Kensington
Park, Notting Hill, Bayswater, Oxford Street, and
so under a number of minor streets, to Old Ford,
being about twelve miles long. The Low Level
commences near Pimlico, and will pass along under
the Thames Embankment to Blackfriars, and
thence through the City and Whitechapel to West
Ham. The Western District Sewers drain Acton,
Hammersmith, Fulham, Chelsea, &c, on a plan
different from that of the main drainage in other
localities. The Outfall, an immense work, six
miles long, continues the Upper and Middle Level
Sewers from Old Ford to West Ham, and all the
three sewers thence to Barking Creek, where we
now leave it.
At the mouth of the creek, on the east side,
are a powder-magazine, a coastguard station, and
some large factories.
It is mentioned as a notorious fact by Camp
bell, in his " Political Survey of Great Britain,"
that the drainage and reclaiming of the fens and
marshes along our rivers was principally the work
of the clergy, who in the Saxon times were the
most learned and the most wealthy order in the
country. And there is no part of England where
such qualifications were more in demand than
along the banks of the Lea and the Thames, in the
neighbourhood of London.

Dagenham.]

SIR RICHARD ALIBON.

527

CHAPTER LVII.
DAGENHAM.

" Rivus multa mole docendus aprico parcere prato." — Horace.
Ripple Side, Barking— Ripple Castle— Extent and Boundaries of Dagenham— Census Returns— The Village— Church— Parslowes— Valence—
-Dagenham Lake— Its Proposed Conversion into a

Dagenham Breach— Discovery of a " Moorlog"— The River Walls of the Thames-
Dock— Failure of the Scheme— Origin of the Ministerial Fish Dinner.

Beyond Barking Level the land immediately abut
ting upon the Thames is mostly a dreary marsh,
crossed and intersected by straight dykes and slug
gish pools, but further inland are broad stretches
of pasture-land, serving as an admirable grazing-
ground for cattle. The roadway running eastward
from Barking towards Rainham, for the first mile
or two, till past the high ground whereon stands
Eastbury House, is called Ripple Side. A square
brick-built house by the roadside, near the com
mencement of Dagenham parish, erected about a
century ago, is somewhat pretentiously named
Ripple Castle, doubtless on account of the taste
of the builder having led him to ornament its
parapet with battlements, and to flank the front of
the house with circular towers pierced with narrow
loopholes, but it is a poor imitation of a castellated
structure, at best.
Dagenham, which is the next parish in succes
sion eastward of Barking, extends from the banks
of the Thames far northward, by Chadwell Heath,
into what used to be Hainault Forest, a distance
of some seven miles inland, the northern border
being fully five miles off from the straggling
village. The eastern boundary of the parish is
the Beam rivulet, which unites with the Rom.
The village lies away about a mile northward of
the high road from Barking to Rainham, two miles
north-west from Rainham Station, on the Tilbury
and Southend line of the Great Eastern Railway,
and twelve miles from Whitechapel Church. The
area of the parish is 6,600 acres, and the popu
lation in 1 88 1 was 3,400, being an increase of
about 600 during the preceding decade. This
number is inclusive of the inhabitants of Becon-
tree Heath, which gives its name to the Hundred,
and lies away towards the north, in the vicinity of
Chadwell Heath.
Dagenham is not mentioned in " Domesday
Book," being included under the general heading
of Barking, it having originally formed part of the
abbey demesnes. In Hodelerd's grant to the
convent it is called Dechenham. There are four
manors, or reputed manors, in this parish, namely,
the manor of Dagenham proper, and also those
of Cockermouth, Parslowes (or Parsloes), and
Valence. The village is surrounded on all sides by corn

fields and market-gardens. It is a long, straggling
village, made up of rows of small cottages, and
one or two houses of a better class, with the ordi
nary admixture of general shops, &c. The church,
which stands near the eastern end of the street,
is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, and consists
of chancel, with north aisle, nave, and an embattled
tower at the western end, surmounted by a slated
spire, and containing a peal of six bells, put up in
the early part of the reign of George the Third.
The stone-work of the tower is ancient, but has
been partly encased with brick and otherwise
altered, whilst on an arch above the doorway is
carved the inscription : " Wm. Mason, architect,
1800." The chancel and aisle date from the thir
teenth century. The nave was rebuilt, and the
remainder of the church in part " restored " by a
brief in 1800. But the restoration was not satis
factory ; at all events, the building was again
thoroughly "restored" in 1878, the walls of the
chancel being refaced, the floor of the church
lowered, open benches substituted for the old-
fashioned " pews," the north gallery taken down,
and the ceilings throughout fresh plastered, and
painted with a flowing leaf pattern. During these
repairs and alterations, the original altar-slab,
bearing the five marks symbolical of the wounds
of Our Saviour, was discovered ; it has been re
placed on the present table. The remains of an
ancient piscina, which had been bricked up and
obscured by plastering, was also brought to light,
and has been repaired.
In 1878 a stained glass window was inserted in
the chancel in memory of Mr. T. L. Fanshawe, of
Parslowes, in this parish. Among the memorials
in the church is a tomb, with brasses, to Sir Thomas
Urswyk, a former Recorder of London, dated 1470 :
it bears the effigies of himself, his wife, four sons,
and nine daughters. A monument of white and
grey marble, comprising the effigy of a judge in
his robes, and also one of his lady in a mourning
attitude, bears the following inscription : — " Here
lyes interrid the body of Sir Richard Alibon, Knt,
a person of extraordinary, both natural and ac
quired, parts, eminent in ye knowledge and prac
tice of the law, of the honourable Society of Gray's
Inn, recommended by his merits to the favour of
King James the Second, to whom he was a council

528

GREATER LONDON.

[Dagenham.

learned in ye laws, and advanced to be one of
the Justices of the Court of King's Bench, being
the first of ye Roman faith these 150 years who
had bin called to a place of so high a rank." He
died August 22nd, 1688, aged fifty-three. This
monument was erected by his widow, " Dame
Barbara Alibon, who was daughter to John Blake
stone, Esq., and granddaughter to Sir Wm.
Blakestone, Knt., of Gibside, in the county of
Durham." Two helmets and some fragments of
gauntlets of ancient date, belonging to the knightly

under the Abbess of Barking. The house is a good
old modernised mansion, surrounded by a moat.
The lawn and pleasure-grounds slope down to
the edge of the moat, and contain some fine
cedars. A turning out of the main road, by the side of .the
" Chequers " Inn, leads to the river-side at Dagen
ham Reach, about a mile distant. To the left of
the road thither is a large sheet of water, an inlet
from the Thames, nearly two miles in length,
and covering an area of upwards of forty acres.

family of the Fanshawes, or some other former
lords of the soil in these parts, are preserved in
the church. In the churchyard is a memorial to
George Clark, a police constable, who was mur
dered at Eastbrook End, in this parish, in 1846.
It was " erected by the inhabitants and his brother
officers of the K division."
Langhorne, the poet, was for some time curate
of Dagenham.
Parslowes, the seat of the Fanshawes for the
last two centuries, stands on the west side of the
parish, a little to the north of the Rainham Road.
It is a spacious brick building, with an embattled
pediment and turrets, but dating, however, only
from the beginning of the present century, when
the house was new fronted. The gardens and
pleasure-grounds alone surrounding the mansion are
about seven acres in extent ; the estate altogether,
however, extends to about 600 acres.
The estate of Valence, which lies a short dis
tance further to the north, is so named from having
been held by the Valences, Earls of Pembroke,

This sheet of water is a lasting mark of the inun
dation known as Dagenham Breach, which early
in the last century laid desolate this part of the
parish. Morant, in his " History of Essex," gives the
following detailed account of the breach : — " It
happened 17th of December, 1707, at an extraor
dinary high tide, accompanied with a violent wind,
and was occasioned by the blowing up of a sluice,
or trunk, made for the drain of the land-waters in
the wall and banks of the Thames. If proper
and immediate help had been applied, it could
have been easily stopped, with a small charge,
the ditch, or drain, of the marsh grounds, which
led to such sluice, being, at the first blowing up of
the sluice, not above fourteen or sixteen feet broad,

Dagenham.]

DAGENHAM BREACH.

529

and might in a day or two have been easily
stopped by the bringing on a small dam, in form
of a semicircle, to the Thames wall, if many hands
had been employed ; but, through the neglect
thereof, the constant force of the water setting in
and out of the levels soon made the gap wider,
so that a large channel was torn up, and a passage
made for the water, of one hundred yards wide, and
twenty feet deep in some places. By which un
happy accident, about 1,000 acres of rich land in the
levels of Dagenham and Havering, worth about

of Havering and Dagenham. By which Act, for
ten years, from 10th of July, 17 14, the master of
every ship or vessel coming into the port of Lon
don was obliged to pay threepence per ton,
coasters three shillings each voyage, and colliers
one penny per chalder, except fishing-vessels, ships
in ballast only, and coasters, particularly Harwich
boats. Colchester packet-boats to be charged with
the duty of three shillings a voyage only four times
in the year."
The work of repairing the breach was then

Hi

£¦$ an acre, were overflowed, and a sand-bank
was raised in the Thames, at the mouth of the
breach, which reached half across the river, and
near a mile in length, likely to prove a great
obstruction to, and even utterly to destroy, the
navigation. The expense of repairing this breach
was, at first, laid upon the proprietors of the lands,
but after many wearied and unsuccessful attempts
of theirs for about seven years, until they had
expended more than the value of the land, it was
given wholly over as impracticable. However,
being deemed a public concern, upon application
to Parliament an Act was obtained for the speedy
and effectual preserving the navigation of the
River Thames by stopping the breach in the levels
45

mm

undertaken by one William Boswell, who, for the
sum of ^16,500, agreed to stop up the gap in the
river-wall, and remove the shelf that had been
thrown out into the Thames, but after the trial
of various schemes he found himself unable to
complete the undertaking, and the work was aban
doned. In 1 7 1 5 an engagement was entered into
with Captain John Perry, who had been employed
by the Czar Peter in building the city of Veronitz,
upon the River Don. Captain Perry undertook
the work for ^25,000, and a promise that if that
sum was not sufficient he should be recommended
to Parliament for a further grant. By the time he
commenced his work the breach had been worn
into several large branches, like the natural arms
of a river, by the force of the reflux water from
the marshes on every turn of the tide. The longest
of these branches extended upwards of a mile and
a half, and was in some places between 400 and
500 feet broad, and from twenty to forty feet deep.
By extraordinary exertions, by driving dove-tail
pieces in a peculiar manner, and by various other
expedients, Captain Perry at length, after about

53°

GREATER LONDON.

[Dagenhai

five years' labour, succeeded in stopping the breach,
but not before the works had been three times
nearly destroyed and washed away by the strength
and rapidity of the tides. The expense of this
important undertaking amounted to ,£40,472, only
£25,000 of which was allowed by the original
contract; but £15,000 was afterwards voted by
Parliament to Captain Perry, who was, nevertheless,
after all, a loser of several thousands of pounds by
his successful work.
But this is not the only occasion on which the
river has proved wantonly destructive to the low-
lying districts on its north side. In 1376, we are
told, the tide made a breach at Dagenham, which
drowned so many acres of land belonging to the
abbey at Barking* as seriously to affect the wealth
and prosperity of that institution, and to drive
some of the " religieuses " to take refuge on the
high ground at Billericay. We do not learn how
the misfortune was repaired.
During the progress of the work carried out by
Captain Perry, the workmen cut into a "moorlog,"
or vein of buried wood, which appears to run for
miles along the side of the river, and they thought
that a buried " forest primeval " lay revealed be
neath their feet. It was discovered three or four
feet under the surface of the marsh, and was found
to be about ten feet in depth. "It contained yew-
trees from fourteen to sixteen inches in diameter,
and perfectly sound ; willows more than two feet
in girth, but like touchwood ; and mingled with it
was small brushwood, and even hazel-nuts, which
appeared sound to the eye, but crumbled to the
touch. Several stags' horns were also met with
lying about the moorlog. Coller, in his " History
of Essex," says : — " Some have indulged learned
surmises that these are the remains of the devasta
tion of the Deluge ; others that they are the
remnants of the old forest beaten down and buried
by storms and inundations at a later age ; but the
most practical conclusion is that they were pur
posely laid there by some of the rude engineers
of olden times, as foundations for works to shut
out the troublesome flow of the Thames on to the
neighbouring lands."
Mr. Smiles, in his work on "Engineers," informs
us that the Thames is kept in its bed by 300 miles
of embankment between London Bridge and
the Nore. How the River Thames came to be
reduced to reasonable dimensions and confined
to its present channel, how it is kept within it,
and how the thousands of acres of low land lying
between both banks and the higher grounds are
* See ante, p. 506.

kept protected from overflow at every tide, at full
and new moon, or during particularly wet seasons,
are questions of no common interest, and on which
a very general ignorance prevails. The average
rise of the tide in the Thames is, at London Bridge,
eighteen feet, at Deptford, twenty, at Purfleet,
seventeen, at Holy Haven, fifteen, and at the
Nore, fourteen.
" From Fulham to the Nore," observes a writer
in Once a Week* "every high tide would lay a very
large proportion of the neighbouring country under
water, and at spring tides would restore the appear
ance of the basin of the Thames to what it must
have presented to Caesar's eyes if he chanced to
sight it first at flood tide, were it not for the system
of embankments which line both sides of the river,
as well as of its tributaries.
"Conjecture has ever been busy among local and
general historians as to the origin of these embank
ments, and the credit of their construction has
been very generally given to the Romans. Indeed,
this mighty nation of fighting and paving men
share the honour of many of the most stupendous
works which are scattered over the face of Europe
pretty equally with a certain personage, who, if he
have rightly earned the titles of the 'first Whig'
and the 'first gentleman,' might seem equally
deserving — to judge from the works ascribed to
him — of that of the ' first engineer ' as well. . . .
What public works, however, of enormous dimen
sions and immense difficulty cannot be clearly
traced to the Great Enemy and his gang are
generally fathered next upon the Romans — and
with far more solid grounds for the conjecture.
Old Rome's public works stand to this day the
noblest memorial of her greatness, and are still
food for wonder to an engineering and scientific
age. A very curt enumeration of the baths,
sewers, aqueducts, amphitheatres, temples, and
other public buildings, which are due to Roman
enterprise, would fill a volume ; whilst the long
lines of hard, durable road which to this day in
tersect the countries they conquered are solid and
striking memorials of their large perception of what
are the tangible appliances of a centralised govern
ment, as well as of their skill as paviors. Roman
soldiers, we know, were ' navvies ' as well as fight
ing-men, and could handle the spade and basket
as well as ' the sword and the buckler.'
" No wonder that in the days of our youth, when
we were of that inquiring turn of mind which
prompts children to ask disagreeable questions of
their elders and betters, the sight of Romney

* See Vol. V., p. 66s.

Dagenham.]

THE WALLS OF THE THAMES.

53'

Marsh, with its four-and-twenty thousand acres
rescued from the tides, should have prompted the
question, ' Who did it ? ' and as little wonder that
the prompt reply should have been, ' The Romans,
my lad ! ' As little wonder that, travelling on the
long, dreary, monotonous roads that traverse the
huge flats of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, we
should have asked the same question about the
banked-out rivers there, and have met with the
same reply; or, again, that, peering over the side
of that primitive Ramsgate steamer, the old City
of London, in her tedious dawdle down the
Thames, the miles after miles of river embankment
which protected the low ground on each side from
inundation should have caught our observant eye,
and elicited the same question, with the same re
sult; or that thereupon our young, active imagination
should have fallen to work at once to conjure the
well-bleached stakes which, in tier above tier,
support the bank into the thigh-bones of the old
Roman soldiers of whom we had read so much at
school — not without much suppressed execration
of them and their historians — and should have
forthwith much commended this original mode
of utilising the remains of ancient heroes. It was
not, however, until years and years after those in
quiring days, when we had travelled between these
Thames embankments scores of times, in all sorts of
craft and at all periods of the tides, had taken long
walks along their summits, examined their con
struction, and lost ourselves in the prairie wilder
ness and among the network of drains that lie in
their rear, that we began to be conscious that they
constitute a national work, which, if hardly de
serving the higher title of ' stupendous,' may fairly
lay claim to that of ' enormous,' both in regard to
their extent and their utility. . . . The marsh-lands
on each side are intersected by tributary streams and
creeks, and a moment's consideration will elicit the
reflection that every one of these must be banked
on each side throughout the whole of its course
through the flat country, and until land of a higher
elevation than the highest spring tides is attained,
or of course the water would, as the tide rose, steal
round the back of the principal embankment by
the channel of these creeks and tributaries, and
render them simply useless. Indeed, nothing will
tend more to a due conception of the importance of
every yard of these enormous works than the re
flection that the failure of the smallest portion of
any part of them tends instantly to the destruction
of the object of the whole ; it is like the springing
of a leak in a ship, or the snapping of one im
perfectly welded link in a chain-cable. The failure
itself may be trifling, but its consequences are

almost illimitable. . . . The uplands on each side
of the River Thames below London, and with these
the swamps which fringed them, were in large
measure bestowed on ecclesiastical bodies in very
early times. The Abbey of Stratford, for instance,
was founded and endowed in n 35, and that of
Lesnes, near Abbey Wood, in Kent, 1178- On the
one shore were this Stratford Abbey, the famous
nunnery at Barking, the cell at Grays Thurrock,
St. Osyth, and others ; and on the south shore
Lesnes, Dartford, Ingress, &c. The monks and
nuns, finding themselves not unfrequently flooded
out of their dwellings, and obliged to seek refuge
in the higher lands, very early set on foot a process
of what was called then, and for many centuries,
' inning ' their marsh-lands, that is, enclosing them
with embankments ; and as early as Henry II.'s
time this process began to be deemed a matter of
national importance. It is remarkable, by the way,
that to the same monarch — as Count of Anjou —
the French historians ascribe the consolidation of
the great Loire embankment. But that from the
time of Edward II. downwards the 'inning' pro
cess continued to be considered a national affair
is evidenced by the perpetually recurring com
missions to view, take order for the repair of the
banks, ditches, &c, and for the safeguard of the
marshes from the overflowing of the tide, as well
as by the continued assessments or taxes on the
neighbourhood granted for defraying the expenses
of the works. According to the rule of these
more advanced days, however, there is also to be
detected a constantly recurring difficulty in collect
ing the taxes. . . . The works remained uncom
pleted, the low lands were constantly overflowed,
and at length private enterprise stepped in to
supply public torpor — and not without making a
good bargain for itself out of the transaction.
Thus, in Queen Elizabeth's days ' one Jacobus
Aconcius, an Italian,' undertook to 'in,' or reclaim,
about 2,000 acres of drowned land in Plumstead
and Erith Marshes, on condition of getting one-
half of his recovery in fee-simple for his pains. In
1622, one Jonas Croppenburg, a Dutchman, made
a similar bargain about Canvey Island, only,
more modest than Jacobus, he restricted his
demand to one-third of the land recovered ; and
about the same time one Cornelius Vermuyden, a
German, undertook the recovery of Dagenham and
Havering Marshes on similar conditions. The
same Vermuyden, some thirty years later, when he
is described as a Colonel of Horse under Crom
well, superintended the rescue of something
between four and five hundred thousand acres of
similar land in the counties of Lincoln, Cambridge,

532

GREATER LONDON

[Dagenham.

and Hunts, and must have been a genius and a
man well ahead of his age.
" By some such process, then, as these, it seems
most probable that the Thames embankments
gradually crawled into existence during the
centuries which intervened between the days of the
Henry Second and those of the Protector, com
paratively small detached portions of embankment
being pushed forward; like military outworks, from
the higher lands first of all, and by degrees being
extended and united, until the work resolved itself
into what at first sight might appear to be one
uniform settled plan, acted on at once and from
the beginning — an idea consistent only with the
exploded theory of Roman construction. That
the vestiges of the old approaches have been
gradually swept away in order to make the most
of the space, and in proportion as their utility was
superseded by the more advanced works, has, no
doubt, favoured the Roman theory. It is, however,
impossible not to regret that so much of them, at
any rate, as might provide for accidents was not
allowed by common prudence to remain, in spite of
the levelling and economising mania. A fracture
of even a small portion of the system is a disaster
the extent of which there is no foreseeing. This
has been already alluded to in the way of illustra
tion. A few facts will help out the theory. A
breach of the embankment, in 1324, laid 100
acres of the valuable land between what is now
St. Katharine's Docks and Shadwell under water
for a year. In 1376 the whole of the lands about
Dagenham, and those belonging to the nunnery
at Barking, were inundated. Some 1,000 acres at
Stepney were flooded in 1448. The whole of
Plumstead Marshes were drowned in 1527, and
not completely recovered until 1590. The entire
country from Purfleet to Grays was laid under
water in 1690. And even cockney anglers can
tell something about the great inbreak of 1707,
which swept away 400 feet of the river wall at
Dagenham, overflowed 1,000 acres, and was only
repaired after years of labour by Captain Perry, at
an expense of £40,472, leaving behind its mark in
the shape of that little winding lake in which
bream and eels so plenteously swarm."
The " Dagenham Lake Subscription Water " —
for such is the name by which this unreclaimed
portion of the drowned land has long been known
to London anglers — is well stocked with pike,
carp, roach, and eels. It is somewhat irregular in
shape, particularly on the north side ; on the east
side it unites with the Beam, and thence, flowing
on southward to the Thames, forms an island
nearly a mile square. In the " Memoirs of Eliza

beth Fry," it is stated that that lady used for some
years (1826 onwards) to spend her summers in a
cottage by Dagenham Lake, " surrounded by trees,
mostly willows, on an open space of lawn, with
beds of reeds behind them, and on either side
covering the river bank." This, in all probability,
was the cottage still standing on the west side of
the island : it is a picturesque old building, with a
thatched roof, and an external wooden gallery com
municating with the upper storey. On the south
side of the island, in former times, stood a building
known as the Breach House — or, as it was some
times called, the Beach House ; but this has long
ago disappeared, and has given place to a large
factory. About twenty years ago a company was started,
and an Act of Parliament obtained for the purpose
of purchasing Dagenham Lake, and converting it
into a dock. Sir John Rennie and Mr. J. Murray
were appointed engineers, and some progress was
made with the works ; but at the end of about a
twelvemonth they were stopped, owing to the
monetary difficulties at that time, and have not
since been resumed. According to the original
prospectus, this dock was to have been "one of
the largest in the Port of London, and be capable
of receiving the largest ships afloat." All that is
now visible in connection with the undertaking is
included in some half-dozen wooden sheds, stand
ing by what was doubtless intended as the entrance
to the great tidal basin, and another wooden struc
ture by the side of the lake ; an elevated tramway
running from the river-wall, or embankment, some
half a mile inland, for the carriage of material ; a
large brick building, that was for many years after
wards used as an ice-house ; and, finally, a large
board, placed conspicuously by the river-side, bear
ing the inscription, " Dagenham Docks to be Sold."
It would not be supposed a priori that there
would be any more intimate connection between
Dagenham Breach and the Ministerial Whitebait
Dinner than there was between Tenterden Steeple
and the Goodwin Sands. But the contrary is the
case. The annual whitebait dinner was originally
a private feast, given by Sir Robert Preston to
his friends, who went down the river annually to
inspect the sea-walls at Dagenham Breach, and it
gradually grew to the importance of a State enter
tainment. The story of the origin of this annual
festivity is thus told by Mr. John Timbs, in his
" Club Life of London " :— " On the banks of
Dagenham Lake or Breach, in Essex, many years
since, there stood a cottage, occupied by a princel)
merchant, named Preston, a baronet of Scotland
and Nova Scotia, and some time M.P. for Dover.

Dagenham.]

THE MINISTERIAL FISH DINNER.

533

He called it his ' fishing cottage,' and often in the
spring he went thither with a friend or two, as a
relief to the toils of his parliamentary and mercan
tile duties. His most frequent guest was the
Right Hon. George Rose, Secretary of the
Treasury and an Elder Brother of the Trinity
House. Many a day did these two worthies enjoy
at Dagenham Reach ; and Mr. Rose once inti
mated to Sir Robert that Mr. Pitt, of whose
friendship they were both justly proud, would,
no doubt, delight in the comfort of such a retreat.
A day was named, and the Premier was invited ;
and he was so well pleased with his reception at
the 'fishing cottage' — they were all two- if not
three-bottle men — that, on taking leave, Mr. Pitt
readily accepted an invitation for the following
year. '¦' For a few years the Premier continued a
visitor to Dagenham, and was always accompanied
by Mr. George Rose. But the distance was con
siderable ; the going and coming were somewhat
inconvenient for the First Minister of the Crown.
Sir Robert Preston, however, had his remedy, and
he proposed that they should in future dine nearer
London. Greenwich was suggested ; we do not
hear of whitebait in the Dagenham dinners, and
its introduction probably dates from the removal to
Greenwich. The party of three was now increased
to four, Mr. Pitt being permitted to bring Lord
Camden. Soon after a fifth guest was invited —
Mr. Charles Long, afterwards Lord Farnborough.
All were still the guests of Sir Robert Preston ;

and one by one other notables were invited — all
Tories; and at last Lord Camden considerately
remarked that, as they were all dining at a tavern,
it was but fair that Sir Robert Preston should be
relieved from the expense. It was then arranged
that the dinner should be given as usual by Sir
Robert Preston — that is to say, at his invitation —
and he insisted on still contributing a buck and
champagne ; the rest of the charges were thence
forth defrayed by the several guests, and on this
plan the meeting continued to take place annually
till the death of Mr. Pitt.
" Sir Robert was requested, next year, to sum
mon the several guests, the list of whom, by this
time, included most of the Cabinet Ministers. The
time for meeting was usually after Trinity Monday
¦ — a short period before the end of the session.
By degrees the meeting, which was originally purely
gastronomic, appears to have assumed, in conse
quence of the long reign of the Tories, a political
or semi-political character. Sir Robert Preston
died ; but Mr. Long (now Lord Farnborough) un
dertook to summon the several guests, the list of
whom was furnished by Sir Robert Preston's private
secretary. Hitherto, the invitations had been sent
privately; now they were dispatched in Cabinet
boxes, and the party was, certainly for some time,
limited to members of the Cabinet. A dinner
lubricates ministerial as well as other business ; so
the ' Ministerial Fish Dinner ' may contribute to
the grandeur and prosperity of our beloved coun
try."

CHAPTER LVIII.
MILLWALL, LIMEHOUSE, AND POPLAR.
" Where could I wish myself now?
In the Isle of Dogs." — Beaumont and Fletcher.
Situation and Boundaries of Millwall — Origin of the Name of the Isle of Dogs — The Chapel House — Blackwall — Millwall — Acreage of the Isle of
Dogs — Fertility of the Soil — Geology — A Submerged Forest — The Manor of Pomfret — Inundations of the Marsh — How Samuel Pepys
attended a Wedding Party — Ferries, and the Ferry House — Condition of the Isle of Dogs in the Last Century — Manufactories and Ship
building Yards — Roman Cement and Terra Cotta — The Great Eastern Steam Ship — Cubitt Town — St. Luke's Church — Limehouse — Poplar.
In the preceding chapter we have reached the
utmost limits of our perambulation in an easterly
direction, but there still remains a district north of
the Thames as yet unexplored by us in our pil
grimage, and to which we will now direct our
attention, as it is unrecorded in Old and New
London. Down to the end of the last or begin
ning of the present century, the region in question
was almost uninhabited, but of late years it has
become one of the busiest and most thriving ;

localities in the suburbs of London. Millwall — •
or, as it is commonly called, the Isle of Dogs —
forms part of the parish of All Saints, Poplar. It
is in the parliamentary division of the Tower
Hamlets, and it belongs to the Hundred of Ossul
ston, in the county of Middlesex. It was formerly
included in the parish of Stepney, and in ancient
times it was known by the name of Stepney Marsh.
The district is bounded on the north by the London
and Blackwall Railway, on the east by Blackwnll

534

GREATER LONDON.

(Millwall.

and the River Thames, on the west by Limehouse
and the Thames, and on the south by the Thames
opposite Greenwich. Its formation is that of a
horseshoe, the curve being described by the River
Thames between Limehouse and Blackwall, a dis
tance of about four miles.
There are various conjectures as to the origin of
the name of the Isle of Dogs. In Strype's edition
of Stow's " Survey," we read : — " The fertile soil of
the marsh here is much admired, usually known

Lysons similarly questions the tradition. " On the
common tradition of the origin of the name Isle of
Dogs," he remarks in a foot-note, " I much doubt
the fact, as it would have been much more con
venient to have their dog kennels on the other
side of the water.'' In Fearnsides Tombleson's
" Thames " appears the following version of the
story: — "The name of the Isle of Dogs is tra
ditionally derived from the circumstance of King
Edward III., when the court resided at Greenwich,

&&>4#-Ss

v3

<???:<, ^

¦f.*rrs—~'— —

.-.1.fj,i<ee.iuy)vtc/ia §

Tifeelrvic/ie

THE THAMES, FROM RATCLIFFE TO WuOLWICH, IN 1588.

by the name of the Isle of Dogs, so called because
when our former princes made Greenwich their
country seat, if for hunting (they say), the kennels
for their dogs were kept on this marsh, which,
usually making a great noise, the seamen and
others thereupon called the place the Isle of Dogs:
though it is not an isle, indeed scarce a peninsula,
the neck being about a mile in length." Mr.
Brewer, in the " Beauties of England and Wales,"
implies a doubt as to the above tradition. He
writes : — " The origin of this term is not known.
A futile tradition says that the place derives its
name from the king's hounds having been kept
there when the royal family resided formerly at
Greenwich Palace, to which it lies opposite."

having kept there his hounds ; '' whilst in the " En
cyclopaedia Londinium " the details are slightly
varied, thus : — " Although it is now converted to
commercial purposes, the Isle of Dogs derived its
name from being the depot of the spaniels and
greyhounds of Edward III., and this spot was
chosen because it lay contiguous to his sports of
woodcock shooting and coursing the red deer in
Waltham and the other royal forests in Essex, for
the more convenient enjoyment of which he gene
rally resided in the sporting season at Greenwich."
Mr. B. H. Cowper, in his " Historical Account of
Millwall," questions this derivation, and observes : —
" This same tradition has named Henry VIIL,
Charles II., and other monarchs as having kept

Millwall.]

THE ISLE OF DOGS.

535

their dogs here. But surely if it had been so there
would be some historical proof; in this case no
one has pretended to adduce it. Therefore, this
tradition must be for the present regarded as
uncanonical and apocryphal. There is, however,"
he adds, "another story, which is thus given by
Strype and Seymour : — ' The next place to be
noted on the Thames,' says the latter, ' is the Isle
of Dogs, a low marshy ground, so called, as it is
reputed, from a waterman's murdering a man in
this place who had a dog with him, which would

reign of Elizabeth." Among other instances, he
adduces the following : —
" In 1656, on the trial of James Naylor, the
celebrated Quaker, for blasphemy, mention is made
of the Isle of Dogs. The case of the prisoner was
debated by the Parliament. ' The debate turned
on the questions of slitting the tongue or boring
it ; of cutting off his hair ; of whipping ; of sending
him to Bristol, the Isle of Scilly, Jamaica, the Isle
of Dogs, the Marshalsea.' (See 'Footsteps of our
Forefathers,' by J. G. Miall, p. 281, London, 1851.)

DAGENHAM. (Seepage 527.)

not leave his master till constrained by hunger to
swim over to Greenwich, and doing this frequently,
it was observed by the watermen plying there, who,
following the dog, by that means discovered the
body of the murdered man. Soon after the dog,
swimming over to Greenwich, snarled at a water
man who sat there, and would not be beaten off,
which the other watermen perceiving, and knowing
of the murder, they apprehended this strange water
man, who confessed the fact, and was condemned
and executed for it.'"
Mr. Cowper, to whom we are mainly indebted
for the material for this notice of the Isle of Dogs,
writes : — " I have not met with any reference to
or use of this name earlier than the close of the

" In Beaumont and Fletcher's Thierry and
Theodoret, Act II., sc. 2 (Dyce's Edition, Vol. I.,
p. 154), this passage occurs : —
" Theodoret : 'There's something for thy labour.'
" Bawdber : ' Where could I wish myself now ?
In the Isle of Dogs, so I might 'scape scratching,
for I see by her cat's eyes I shall be clawed
wonderfully.' " Middleton and Dekker, in the Roaring Girl,
have this passage : —
" Moll Cutpurse .- ' O, sir, he hath been brought
up in the Isle of Dogs, and can both fawn like
a spaniel and bite like a mastiff, as he finds
occasion.' "I am indebted to Cunningham's ' Murray's

536

GREATER LONDON.

[Millwall.

Handbook of London ' for the two last references,
as well as for the next one.
" ' Thomas Nash wrote a play called the Isle of
Dogs, for which, in 1598, he was imprisoned in the
Fleet. Mr. Dyce is of opinion that it was a place
where persons took refuge from their creditors and
the officers of justice (Middleton's Works, Vol. II.,
p 535). But this I doubt'
"Norden, in his Map of Middlesex, 1593, desig
nates this locality ' Isle of Doges Ferme,' and indi
cates the existence of some building about where
Chapel House now stands. The sign used denotes
'Howses of Knightes, Gent., &c.' In this place
a stream is represented as running from Limehouse
to Blackwall, as well as others which do not exist
now. There is no furthei reference to the Isle of
Dogs in this work, but under Blackwall we read :
' neere which is a harbor in the Thamis for ship
ping. The place taketh name of the blackenes or
darkenes of the water bankes or wall at that place.' "
In a map entitled " Thamesis Descriptio," dated
1588, and of which a copy, drawn by Joseph Ames,
was published in 1738, two islets are shown be
tween the bed of the river and the embankment
which there curves inward, at the point now occu
pied by the "mast pond." The larger of these
islands is termed the " He of Dogges."
With reference to the Chapel House mentioned
above, which at the commencement of the present
century was used as a farm-house, Maitland writes :
— " The Chapel House, in the Isle of Dogs, or
Poplar Marsh, is the ruins of a stone chapel, but
when or by whom built is unknown." In Strype's
" Stow " the following particulars are given : —
" There is in this marsh, just opposite to Greenwich,
a house called the Chapel House, where are the
remains of a chapel built of stone. And near
this are foundations of houses found, and some
times hooks of a great size, as though if some
great gate taken up, which maketh it probable that
hereabouts were inhabitants formerly, perhaps fisher
men, or such as had their livelihood from the water.
And that, by some inundation, or the unhealthiness
of the situation, they left those parts for some more
safe and commodious settlement." Mr. Brewer,
in his "Beauties of England and Wales" (1816),
observes : — "The cold and swampy character of
this tract of land would appear repulsive to all
thoughts of human habitation ; but piety, which in
its obsolete modifications sometimes sought strange
recesses, induced an unknown devotee to found a
chapel in the midst of the marsh, which is believed
to have been dedicated to St. Mary. The site of
this small religious structure is now occupied b> a
disconsolate dwelling, termed Chapel House Farm.

This building exhibits no marks of antiquity, ex
cepting the lower part of the walls, which are com
posed of small stones and flints, but a Pointed
window was destroyed some few years back."
Again, the account of this place given by Lysons
in 1795 is as follows : — " In the Isle of Dogs stood
an ancient chapel, called the Chapel of St. Mary,
in Stepney Marsh. It is mentioned by that name
in a will of the fifteenth century.* The object of
its foundation does not appear. It is not likely
that the marsh should ever have had many inhabi
tants. Perhaps it was a hermitage, founded by
some devout person for the purpose of saying
masses for the souls of mariners. This chapel
has been converted into a neat farm-house, which
stands upon the same foundation, and is the only
dwelling-place upon the marsh. It exhibits no
remains of antiquity, except in the lower part of
the walls, which are full of small stones and flints.
A Gothic window was removed about three years
ago." For the above string of quotations we are in
debted to Mr. Cowper's " History of Millwall,"
wherein the author observes : — " In all probability
Lysons derived his principal fact — that of the desig
nation of the chapel — from Strype. His theory is
confessedly a mere supposition. My own view of
the original design of this place is that it was a
chapel connected with and dependent upon the
monastery of St. Mary of Graces, near the Tower
of London. This hypothesis is borne out in part
by facts, and is, in the whole, more probable than
any of the many I have heard. It is matter of
regret that our information is so exceedingly scanty,
that during its existence this chapel has not been
observed to be mentioned more than once. . . .
I think it was connected with the monastery in
question, which we know held possessions in the
marsh ; and we cannot say this of any other. St.
Thomas of Aeons and St. Katharine's do not
appear to have had any possessions here at the
dissolution of the monasteries ; in fact, after the
estate of St. Mary of Graces fell into the hands of
the Bishop of London, he appears to have been
sole proprietor for some years. Another fact
worthy of consideration is that the chapel was
* "Strype, writing in 1720 (Appendix to Survey, i., p. 120), says,
In the Bishop of London's Register of Wills are mentioned these places
in this (i.e., Stepney) parish, above 300 years ago.
" Capclla Beata? Maria? in Marischo in parochia de Stepney (i.e.,
the Chapel of St. Mary in the Marsh, in the parish of Stepney).
" Lymeostes, otherwise Lymchouse, in Stepney.
" Roger Potter de Popiler in parochia de Stebunheaih (i.e. ^ Roger
Potter, of Poplar, in the parish of Stepney). These references must
relate to about the year 400.
" I may observe, in passing, that an ancient ferry in the Isle of Dogs
is known as Potter's Ferry. The coincidence is noticeable, but no
proof of the ferry being named after such an individual."

Millwall.]

THE CHAPEL HOUSE.

537

also dedicated to St. Mary. A third fact worth
notice is that the lands in this marsh must have
been owned by the monastery prior to any men
tion made of the chapel. My impression is that
its situation and its distance from the monas
tery on Tower Hill rendered this appropriate as
a retreat for spiritual exercises, or as a species
of penal colony, to which refractory and erring
brethren (for such there were sometimes) were
commanded to retire for salutary discipline and
penance." Thirty years ago the condition of Chapel House
was much the same as it was when Lysons wrote
his description. Two or three additional tenements
had been erected on the west side of it, but they
were mean and inconvenient, and the trees had
been nearly all removed. The ground near Chapel
House in every direction showed traces of having
been at some remote period occupied with buildings,
&c, but more especially to the south-west, from
the Chapel House to the river. On the formation
of the Millwall Dock, in 1867-8, all traces of the
Chapel House were swept away, its site being
absorbed in the new docks.
Mr. Cowper, in his work already quoted, inclines
to the opinion that the term " Isle of Dogs" was
not originally applied to the whole of the district
of which we are treating, but to the larger of two
islets indicated in Adam's Map of the Thames
(1588), above referred to. This map Mr. Cowper
regards as "teaching us the important and satis
factory truth that what is now known as such is
not the Isle of Dogs proper. The Isle of Dogs,"
he continues, " is the little spot or island which
lies within the curve of the river wall, at the place
indicated. Unfortunately for us, this part has been
very much altered, and hence we should scarcely
expect to find many or any of its original features.
However, there is an almost island which answers
pretty well to the position of that laid down in the
map. This is in the mast pond at the establish
ment of Messrs. Ferguson. It is a small spot on
the south side of the pond, adjoining Tindall's
Dock and the mast house (which pond is an in
dentation of the river bank, and called Drunken
Dock), and appears to remain as the last vestige
of the primary Isle of Dogs. There is no difficulty
in saying how the name became applied to the
entire marsh, it being natural to suppose that this
was gradually accomplished. Norden's Map is
confirmatory to some extent, and explanatory,
inasmuch as he calls the portion of the marsh
adjacent to Chapel House ' Isle of Dogs Farm.'
It seems reasonable, then, to suppose that the term
was applied first to the islet in question ; secondly,

to the farm nearest to it, and to which it perhaps
belonged ; and afterwards to the entire marsh.
Such is the conclusion to which I have come ; and
I have called it satisfactory because it shows that
there was nothing in the place itself which should
make it deserve such a cynical and uninviting
name as this. The existence of the original Isle
of Dogs has not been noticed by any previous
writer on the subject, so far as I am aware.
"The question, however, still remains unan-
wered — how was the name Isle of Dogs originated ?
Those who have passed along Millwall (i.e., the
western embankment) may have observed, what
renders it very probable, that the vast majority of
dogs, &c, which find a grave in the river are
thrown up and left here by the tide. Indeed,
some portions of the embankment, where it slopes
toward the river, are a perfect charnel-house of the
canine race. Probably it has long been so, and
the original Isle of Dogs would stand as a net to
the stream, by which such substances or objects
would be arrested in their course, and left high
and dry at low water. Hence, I suspect, the elegant
appellation under consideration. I should have
been more diffident in reference to this delicate
theory, had I not (since it first occurred to my
own mind) heard it propounded by others, and
stated to actually exist in print."
The Isle of Dogs — or, as it was called, Stepney
Marsh — was included in the parish of Stepney
probably as far back as the time when England
was first divided into parishes ; but it now forms
part of the parish of Poplar, which, with Lime
house and Blackwall, is of more recent origin than
Stepney. Blackwall is the name given to the
eastern side of the district under notice. The
earliest mention of the locality under that name,
observes Mr. Cowper, on the authority of Dugdale,
occurs in a deed dated 1377, wherein John Bamp-
ton, William Rykhill, Thomas Aspale, and Thomas
Mylende, were appointed commissioners for viewing
and repairing the banks of the Thames between
" Blakewale " and the Hospital of St. Katherine.
" In 1480 (20th Edward IV.), Thomas, Bishop of
London, Edmund, Abbot of Graces, William Wurs-
ley, Dean of Paul's, Sir J. Ebryngton and Sir
Thomas Frowyk, Knts., and others, had the like
assignation for those embankments, &c, betwixt
the town of Lymeostez and the wall called Black
Wall." The reference here made to "the wall
called Black Wall " justifies the theory propounded
in 1592 by Norden, who wrote: — -"Black Wall, neere
which is a great harbor for shippinge in ye Thames,
known also by ye name of Black Wall, so called of
ye blacke banke or wall of the Thamise." This

538

GREATER LONDON.

[Millwall.

quotation, remarks Mr. Cowper, is literal as it
stands in the MS. ; probably the first Black Wall
should be Bleak Wall, or Blake Wall. Stow, in
his "Survey" (1603), calls it Blake Wall.
The name of Millwall originated from the cir
cumstance of a number of windmills standing along
the river wall on the west side of the marsh.
These mills were seven in number, and occupied
the marsh wall, overlooking Deptford. In a view
of London, taken from One Tree Hill, in Green
wich Park, and published in the middle of the last
century, these seven mills are represented upon
the river bank, opposite Deptford, together with
the same number of smaller buildings, one be
side each of the mills. Chapel House is also
shown in this view. Another view, dated 1754,
in the Gentleman' s Magazine, is similar in all
respects. Mr. Cowper, in his " History of Millwall "
(1853), says that the foundations of two or three
of the mills may yet be traced, and adds that
" one of them without its sails still exists on the
premises of Mr. Weston." The premises here
referred to, which have long been known as Weston's
Roman Cement Works, are now partly occupied
as a rosin-oil distillery. The basement of the old
mill stands in this part of the premises, now called
Barrell's Wharf, and down to very recently it was
in use as a flour-mill, but worked by steam power
instead of as a windmill. The remains of the mill
form an octagonal brick building of three floors,
and it still contains some of the internal fittings
which were used in the grinding of corn. These
works adjoin the old " Windmill " public-house,
close by Millwall pier.
The whole aspect of the Isle of Dogs is altogether
changed from what it was previous to the end of
the last century. By a survey taken in 1740 it
was estimated that there were 836 acres of land in
marsh. This was reduced to 500 by the formation
of the West India Dock at the beginning of the
present century, and more recently further re
ductions have been made in the marsh-land by the
construction of Millwall Dock. The island is now
traversed from north to south by the North Green
wich and Cubitt Town branch of the Blackwall
Railway, whilst the various dock basins and ware
houses, &c, have usurped the greater part of the
land, which at one time was famous for its fertility,
and consequently for its value for grazing purposes.
In Strype's edition of " Stow " we read : — " Such is
the fertility of this marsh, that it produceth sheep
and oxen of the largest size, and very fat. They
are brought out of other countries, and fed here.
I have been assured by a grazier of good report

(saith the Rev. Dr. Woodward) that he knew eight
oxen sold out of this marsh for £34 each. And
all our neighbourhood knew that a butcher under
took to furnish the Club at Blackwall with a leg
of mutton every Saturday throughout the year
that should weigh twenty-eight pounds, the sheep
being fed in this marsh, or he would have nothing
for them, and he did perform it." Again, in the
same strain, Maitland writes : — " The Isle of Dogs,
or Poplar Marsh, is a spot of ground of such
fertility and excellence of grass, that it not only
raises the largest cattle, but it is likewise the great
restorative of all distempered beasts." Middleton
says : — " It is, perhaps, the richest grass in the
country, but if it were the most barren in the king
dom, it might be enriched by the easiest of all
possible means : namely, by only opening the
sluices to admit the tide, and thereby lay the land
under water ; and after the water had remained
long enough for the rich substances which are
constantly floating in the river, so near the metro
polis, to have subsided, permitting the water to
drain off by the same sluices into the Thames
again. This operation repeated a few times would
not fail to improve the land in a very -high
degree." " The surface soil of the marsh," observes Mr.
Cowper, " is dark, and underlaid in general by a
bed of clay or mud, belonging to the Pleistocene
formation. In some places beneath the soil a bed
of pebbles is met with near the surface ; in other
places, however, beneath the surface soil and clay,
and above the gravel or pebbles which overlie the
great clay deposit of the London basin, a stratum,
consisting of mud and vegetable matter, is met
with." Brewer says : — " Small quantities of peat
have been found in this marshy district." In
Weale's " Survey of London " we find :'—" Sub
terranean forests exist at Purfleet, Grays, Dagen
ham Marsh, and Tilbury Fort. In the Isle of
Dogs a forest of this description was found at eight
feet from the grass, consisting of elm, oak, and fir
trees, some of the former of which were three feet
four inches in diameter, accompanied by human
bones and recent shells, but no metals or traces of
civilisation. The trees in this forest were all laid
from south-east to north-west, as if the inundation
which had overthrown them came from that quar
ter." " In making the excavations for the Docks,"
observes a writer in the " Encyclopaedia Lon-
dinensis," " a wonderful phenomenon of nature
was discovered. Eight feet beneath the surface
appeared a forest, concealed for unnumbered
centuries from every human eye. It presented a
mass of decayed twigs, leaves, and branches, en-

Millwall.)

A SUBTERRANEAN FOREST.

539

compassing huge trunks rotted through, yet perfect
in every fibre; the bark was uninjured, and the
whole evidently torn up by the roots. A great
deal of this timber was dried and burnt by the in
habitants of Poplar. Some violent convulsion of
nature, perhaps an earthquake, must have over
turned the forest, and buried it many feet below
the present high-water mark ; but when or how it
happened is beyond the tradition of the most re
mote ages."
The extent of this deposit appears to have been
considerable. When the City Canal was in course
of formation, large quantities of submerged wood,
with bones, &c, were brought to light ; and
Lysons tells us that during the construction of
"the Brunswick Dock (now the export basin of the
East India Dock), in 1789, "a great quantity of
fossil nuts and wood were found." As far back
as the middle of the seventeenth century these
discoveries appear to have been going on, as the
following entry in Pepys's " Diary" will show. Under
date of September 22, 1665, he writes : — "At
Blackwall. Here is observable what Johnson*
tells us that in digging the late dock, they did,
twelve feet under ground, find perfect trees over-
covered with earth. Nut-trees, with the branches
and the very nuts upon them ; some of these nuts
he showed us, the shells black with age, and their
kernal upon opening decayed, but their shell
perfectly hard as ever. And a yew-tree, upon
which the very ivy was taken up whole about it,
which, upon cutting with an addes (adze), was found
to be rather harder than the living tree usually
is. The armes, they say, were taken up at first
whole about the body, which is very strange."
Pepys's description of the nuts, &c, found at
Blackwall two hundred years ago would answer
exactly for similar discoveries which have been
made during excavations which have been carried
on within the last twenty or thirty years. " The
extent and character of these relics," remarks Mr.
Cowper, " justify the opinion that they are found
where they grew, and that they were submerged
either by the elevation of the bed of the river, or,
as I consider the more probable view, by the
subsidence of the entire district in which they
are found. . . . The subterranean forest which is
thus from time to time disturbed is, it would
appear, of considerable extent. It is traced from
the river-side opposite the dockyard at Deptford,
across to the East India Docks, and reappears in
Essex. The species of wood which have been

1 Johnson appears to have been the originator of Blackwall Dock
during the Commonwealth. He was a friend of Samuel Pepys.

identified appear to be chiefly these :— elm, oak,
fir, yew, and hazel; besides which there are
ivy, rushes or reeds, land and fresh-water shells,
and traces of man, the elephant, and the deer. . . .
As it respects the human and elephantine re
mains, there may be some mistake ; it is, however,
asserted that such have been found here."
With reference to the early history of the Isle of
Dogs, we cannot do better than quote from Mr.
Cowper's very interesting work : — " By many it is
conjectured that this tract of land was reclaimed
under the Romans, who, it is well known, executed
many important works in all parts of the kingdom.
They possibly commenced this work by raising
mounds and banks to define the course of the river,
for the guidance and safety of the vessels which
navigated it, and they may have actually reclaimed
it. There may be said, however, to be nothing
certain known. Whether the land was recovered
in successive portions or by one effort, history
says not. When such enclosures were made by
private individuals or the lord of the manor,
records could scarcely be expected at so early
a period as that to which we must refer part at
least of those in the Isle of Dogs. . . . The date
of its recovery must have been considerably
earlier than the reign of Edward the Confessor.
" In endeavouring to arrive at a fair conclusion
respecting the period of our embankments, a care
ful consideration of data is necessary. It has
been stated that our history does not reach back
to the period of their construction, and yet we
have more than vague conjectures in support of
the opinion which would assign them to the time
of the Roman occupation of Britain."
It is somewhat singular that the number of
"mills" enumerated in " Domesday Book " as be
longing to Stibenhede (Stepney) is seven, the
precise number which we have seen occupied Mill-
wall at the commencement of the century.
In the " Testa de Nevill," which relates to
times of Henry III. and Edward I., William de
Vere is described as holding of the Bishop of
London a fourth part of his estate in " Stubeneth."
Mention is also made of Ricardus de Ponteffact,
or Pomfret, who held a third part of his estate
in Stebeneth. " It is not stated," remarks Mr.
Cowper, " in what part of the parish the estate of
De Vere lay. It seems to have been parted with
in 1396, when the reversion of the manor of Poplar
was granted by the celebrated William de Wick
ham (of Wykeham), Bishop of Winchester, Sir
Aubrey de Vere, and others, to the Abbey of St
Mary de Graces." The estate of the Pontefracts,
or Pomfrets, was in Stepney Marsh. The manor

54°

GREATER LONDON.

[Millwall.

of Pomfret consisted of eighty acres of land, a
windmill, &c. Maitland, speaking of the old
chapel in this marsh, supposes it may have " be
longed to the manor of Pountfret, which anciently
lay in this parish, the capital mansion whereof, by
the discovery of large foundations and gate hooks,
may not only be presumed to have stood here, but
likewise diverse other houses, which probably were
inhabited till the great inundation toward the close
of the fifteenth century, occasioned by a breach in

the Blessed Virgin, in the 26th year of Henry VI.,
a breach made in the said bank of the before
specified John Harpour for the length of twenty
rods, unto the land of John Fyloll, insomuch as a
thousand acres of land lying within the said Marsh
were drowned. And that he, the said John, and
all those whose, estates he then had, were obliged,
in respect of their land adjoining to the said bank,
to take care of its amendment."
The portion of the embankment thrown down on

MILLWALL DOCKS.

the bank of the River Thames near the great ship
yard at Limehouse Hole."
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries con
siderable repairs seem to have been rendered
necessary to the river wall and embankments, in
consequence of the damage caused by inundations.
Upon an inquisition taken in 1449, the jurors pre
sented, " that by the violence of the tides upon the
banks of Stebenhithe Marsh, a great part of the
banks adjoining to that Marsh was then ruinous
and broken, through the neglect of the landholders
there. And that through the default of one John
Harpour, gentleman, in not repairing his banks
opposite to Deptford Strond, there was, on the
Monday, being the Feast of the Annunciation of

the above occasion has preserved to modern times
the name of the " Breach," in the same manner as
Dagenham Breach, already described* From this
breach it has been considered probable that what
was called " Poplar Gut " derived its existence.
About the middle of the seventeenth century the
river again broke in at the same place, which, it
would appear, had never been properly repaired.
This breach is referred to by Pepys in his " Diary,"
under date of 23rd March, 1660, which was
probably within a few days of the occurrence : — " In
our way we saw the great breach which the late
high water had made, to the loss of many thousand
* See ante, p. 528.

Millwall.)

PEPYS IN DIFFICULTIES.

54i

pounds to the people about Limehouse." In a
survey of the parish by Gascoyne, taken in 1703,
this part of the river wall is called " Old Breach,
the Forland, now a place to lay timber; " and the
long strip of water known as Poplar Gut, till its
removal on the construction of the West India
Docks and City Canal, was designated the Breach.
Among the plans and designs published by order
of Parliament, in reference to the docks projected
in the Isle of Dogs, &c, at the close of the last
century, there is one in which this part of the

buttons, and gold broad lace round my hands, very
rich and fine. By water to the Ferry, where when
we come, no coach there ; and tide of ebb, so far
spent as the horse boat could not get off on the
other side the river to bring away the coach. So
we were fain to stay there, in the unlucky Isle of
Doggs, in a chill place, the morning cool and
wind fresh, above two, if not three hours, to our
great discontent. Yet, being upon a pleasant
errand, and seeing that it could not be helped, we
did bear it very patiently ; and it was worth my

MILLWALL, FROM THE RIVER.

embankment is named the Breach. Even down to
the present day the spot is remembered by this
name by the older inhabitants, and also as a place
where timber was laid.
There have been ferries across the Thames from
Greenwich and Deptford to the Isle of Dogs from
a very early period, and two of the principal
thoroughfares in the island are the " West Ferry "
and " East Ferry " Roads. Our old friend Pepys
favours us with one or two amusing entries in his
"Diary" respecting these ferries, and the condition of
the locality in his time. Under date 31st July,
1665, he writes :— " Up and very betimes by six
o'clock at Deptford, and there I find Sir George
Carteret and my Lady ready to go ; I being in my
new coloured silk suit, and coat trimmed with gold
46

observing to see how upon these two scores, Sir
George Carteret, the most passionate man in the
world, and that was in great haste to be gone, did
bear with it, and very pleasant all the while ; at
least, not troubled much so as to fret and storm at
it. Anon the coach comes ; in the mean time,
there coming a news thither with his horse to go
over, that told us he did come from Islington this
morning, and that Proctor, the vintner of the
Miter, in Wood Street, and his son are dead this
morning there of the plague ; he having laid out
abundance of money there, and was the greatest
vintner for some time in London for great enter
tainments. We, fearing the canonical hour would
be past before we got thither, did, with a great
deal of unwillingness, send away the licence and

542

GREATER LONDON.

tMlllwatl.

wedding ring. So that when we come, though
we drove hard with six horses, yet we found
them gone from home; and going towards the
church, met them coming from church, which
troubled us."
The troubles of the genial secretary, however,
notwithstanding that he was too late to witness the
wedding ceremony, soon wore off, for on the
conclusion of the day's festivities, and the retire
ment of the bridal party for the night, he had the
satisfaction of kissing the bride in bed. But it
will be best perhaps to record the fact in Pepys's
own words : — " I kissed the bride in bed, and so
the curtaines drawn with the greatest gravity that
could be, and so good night. But the modesty
and gravity of this business was so decent, that
it was to me indeed ten times more delightful
than if it had been twenty times more merry and
jovial." From the above quotation it would appear that
there was a communication between the Deptford
Ferry and the old ferry opposite Greenwich ; it was
probably a footway, by what is mentioned by Peter
Cunningham in his " Handbook of London "
as a " Half-penny Hatch." Norden, writing in
1592, mentions the Ferry House in the Isle of
Dogs, and adds that there are " horse ferreyes at
Greenwich." Mr. B. H. Cowper considers it pro
bable that the one referred to was " the old
Willow Bridge Ferry, or not far from thence." He
adds : "no doubt this ferry was the means of com
munication between Greenwich, Chapel House, and
Blackwall." The " news," or postman, alluded to
by Mr. Pepys took this route on his way from
Islington to Greenwich. Later on, we find Pepys
again in the Isle of Dogs. He had evidently been
enjoying himself with some friends, probably at
Hackney. In his record of the event he writes : —
" We set out so late that it grew dark, so as we
doubted the losing of our way ; and a long time it
was, or seemed to be, before we could get to the
water side, and that about eleven at night, where,
when we came, all merry, we found nd ferry boat
was there, nor no oares to convey us to Deptford.
However, afterwards " oares " was called from the
other side at Greenwich ; but when it come, a
frolick, being mighty merry, took us, and there we
would sleep all night in the coach, in the Isle of
Dogs. So we did, there being now with us my
Lady Scott ; and with great pleasure drew up the
glasses and slept till daylight ; and then, some
victuals and wine being brought us, we ate a bit,
and so up and took boat, merry as might be, to
Sir George Carteret's : there all to bed." Again,
he writes under date of 17th December, 1665 : —

" Word brought me that Cutler's coach is, by
appointment, come to the Isle of Dogs for me, and
so I over the water, and in his coach to Hackney ;
a very fine, clear, cold, frosty day."
Beyond the seven mills on the west side of the
island, of which we have already spoken, there
appears to have been but few, if any, buildings stand
ing near the river-side down to the beginning of
the last century. In "An Actual Survey of the Parish
of St Dunstan, Stepney, alias Stebunheath," taken
in 1703 by Joel Gascoyne, the circuit of the Isle
of Dogs is thus laid down. Starting from north-west
corner, we first come to "Fowler's yard," and then
to the " Star," a public-house lying a little off from
the river-side. The " Old Breach," of which we
have already made mention, is next indicated ;
after which come the " seven mills.'' Then follows
the " Drunken Dock," near the mast house, and
further on is a building called "Starch House,"
which stood close to the ferry. Proceeding along
the river-side, the next places marked are — " Roult's
Yard," occupying the site of the present Canal
Dock; " Cold Harbour," " Globe Stairs," and "Sir
H. Johnson's upper dock." " In the body of the
map," observes Mr. Cowper, to whom we are
indebted for this description, " the ' Chappell ' is
the only building indicated. The old road is laid
down, and its direction very exactly indicated.
The other road, which crossed over the east end of
the Breach (Poplar Gut), is also given ; it appears
to have been at this time a field-way, and to
have gone south no further than Chapel House,
with which, however, it does not appear to have
been connected. The ditches seem to be all
marked, and the number and form of the fields
well defined."
In a survey of the Marsh, taken in 1740 by Dr.
Scattiff and T. Willson, the mills are represented
as eleven in number, and extend from the Breach
to the inlet called the mast-pond. A little to the
south of the Canal Dock yard is " the Folly," or
" Folly House," which stands upon the river wall :
this'house is not marked in the survey of 1740, but
in 1790 it is mentioned by Pennant, who writes : — •
" We finished our walk, and dined at a small house,
called the Folly, on the water's edge, almost
opposite to the splendid hospital at Greenwich,
where we sat for some hours, enjoying the delicious
view of the river, and the moving picture of a
succession of shipping perpetually passing and
re-passing." On the 2nd of February 1791, there was a
very high tide ; the Thames again overflowed
its banks; and the Isle of Dogs was once more
inundated.

Millwall.]

CEMENT AND TERRA-COTTA WORKS,

543

As we have shown in the preceding chapter, the
basin of the Thames, between London and the
Nore, consists of a long and very irregularly-shaped
flat, lying between high grounds, which sometimes,
as at Purfleet, Greenhithe, and Northfleet, come
quite down to the river itself, and sometimes recede
for miles up into the country, as at Pitsea, where
the basin is seven miles in width. The river, as
we have seen, is prevented from periodically or
occasionally covering the whole of the floor of this
basin by a system of embankments, which extend,
with occasional interruptions by high lands or
houses, from Fulham and Putney above bridge
down to the sea, a distance of upwards of fifty
miles. A great extent of the river-side streets and
houses form, in effect, part of the system of em
bankment of the river in its course through Lon
don — most of Southwark, Lambeth, Deptford, and
Greenwich on the one side, and of Shadwell and
Limehouse on the other, lying below the level of
high water spring tides, and being, in fact, all afloat
whenever the tide flows higher than usual. The
long straggling street at Millwall presents a good
specimen of this sort of embankment ; for in
walking down it it is impossible not to be aware
that it is constructed on artificially raised ground,
from which one looks down on the Thames on one
side and the flat Isle of Dogs on the other; indeed,
the very name of the place, or rather, its termination,
is suggestive, the title of "wall" being — both in
Kent and Essex — universally applied to the em
bankments ; and the names "Millwall," "Black-
wall," " Rotherhithe-wall," "Narrow-wall," "Broad-
wall," all denote either places built upon the em
bankment, or streets which owe their existence to
its protection.
Since the commencement of the present century
there has been a constant growth of factories and
establishments of various kinds in the Isle of Dogs,
and consequently a corresponding increase in its
population and the number of its houses. The
East and West India Docks, and the Millwall
Docks, which occupy what may be called the
central part of the island, we shall describe in the
next chapter.
With reference to the progress of factories here,
Lysons, in 1811, makes the following remarks in
the supplement to his "Environs of London": —
" Some very extensive iron-works have been lately
established at Millwall, near the Canal and West
India Docks, by Jorkes, Coulson, & Co. In their
forge and rolling-mills, which are worked by two
powerful steam-engines, one of sixty, the other of
twenty-horse power, are manufactured from scrap
iron bar and bolt iron, for the use of ship-builders

and coachmakers, and iron-hoops, sheet and rod
iron for home consumption and exportation.
Various other articles are made at the manufac
tory, such as anchors and mooring-chains of any
size ; and all kinds of heavy forged iron-work for
the navy and land service, for various purposes of
machinery, &c. Near the same spot Sir Charles
Price & Co. have a mill for crushing rapeseed and
linseed, a turpentine distillery, and a manufactory
of rosin."
At the present time there is almost a complete
belt of docks, factories, and engineering establish
ments extending along the bank of the Thames
from Limehouse to Blackwall ; these include,
besides the above-mentioned works, a large number
of others, mostly connected with ship-building and
mercantile interests. Among the largest establish
ments are armour-plate rolling-mills, chemical
works, rope manufactories, constructive iron and
bridge works, timber wharves, and works for the
manufacture of anchors, chains, buoys, &c. Among
the oldest establishments on the island are the
extensive premises of Messrs. Ferguson, mast and
block manufacturers, which have been in existence
here upwards of a century.
Messrs. Blashfields' cement and terra -cotta
works, which were established here early in the
present century, have acquired celebrity for the
manufacture of Roman cement, plaster of Paris,
Portland cement, and useful and decorative objects
in terra-cotta. The following account of these
works, communicated by Mr. J. M. Blashfield,
appears in Mr. Cowper's " History of Millwall " : —
" The cement commonly known as Roman cement
was first discovered by Parker in 1796, and was
then made from nodules of indurated clay, or
septaria, found upon the beach of the Isle of
Sheppy. Since the expiration of Parker's patent,
it has been chiefly made from similar material
found off the coast of Harwich. Nearly two-thirds
of the brick-work of the Thames Tunnel is united
with a cement formed by a combination of the
Harwich and Sheppey stones, and was made at
these works. Here was also made the cement for
the Nelson Pillar, the Royal Exchange, the founda
tion walls of the new Houses of Parliament, the
Lyceum Theatre, the St. James's Theatre, many of
the great railway tunnels, and other important
works. " The largest manufactory for plaster of Paris in
England is at these works. The raw material is
procured partly from Rouen, in Normandy, and
partly from Newark, in Nottinghamshire; the
latter is most celebrated for its whiteness of colour,
but is not so hard as that made from French

544

GREATER LONDON.

[Millwall.

stones. The cement invented by Mr. Aspdin, of
Wakefield, and known as Portland cement, is
now made here, and is composed of clay and
limestones, washed together in given proportions,
then dried, burnt, and ground to powder ready for
use. " Terra-cotta of a light colour is made by com
bining the clays of Dorset and Devon with silica
and other fusible bodies, and mixing them to the
consistence of painters' putty or bakers' dough.
It is then wrought by an artist into the required
shape by hand, somewhat similar to the mode
adopted for modelling a statue which is intended
to be carved in marble or cast in bronze. The
work, when finished, is slowly dried, and when quite
dry removed into a reverberatory kiln, and burnt
to a white heat in the same mode as burning
china. If a number of articles are required of
similar design, a plaster mould is made from the
clay model, into which the prepared clay is pressed ;
and after about an hour's time the mould is re
moved, and the pressed model worked, finished,
and dried. By this latter mode, architectural
works which are to be repeated may be made
with great economy.
" The red terra-cotta made at these works is
from a marble obtained in the township of Bedford,
near Bolton, and is, when burnt, equal in hardness
and colour to the best ancient specimens of pottery.
Etruscan and Greek vases are made of this, and it
is of this material the roof of the Alhambra courts
of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham is made. The
roof of the Pompeian House at Sydenham was also
made here, and is, in part, of this red marble.
" Statues of heroic size, and the largest pieces
of pottery ever fired, have lately been wrought at
this place, in the Dorset and Devon clays. The
great statue of Australia, modelled by Mr. Beli
for the terrace of the Crystal Palace, was made
here in this way. So also was the Venus de
Medici and the colossal Triton for the fountains
of the same place. Capitals of columns, busts,
vases, consoles, balustrades, chimneys, flower-pots,
and a variety of other articles, are constantly being
fabricated here, and artists of the first eminence
are employed upon the models."
On the portion of Millwall immediately opposite
Deptford are some extensive iron-works and ship
building yards. The premises known as Millwall
Iron-works were filled out in 1836, by Mr. (after
wards Sir) William Fairbairn, the celebrated engi
neer, of Manchester, and were planned on a very
elaborate scale, comprising engineers' fitting and
erecting shops, joiners' and pattern-makers' shops,
iron and brass foundries, smithies, &c, besides

every appurtenance in the yard for constructing
vessels of the largest class, both in wood and iron.
Here were built several vessels of war for the navy,
including the Grappler, Megaera, &c. These iron
works were for many years held by the eminent
ship-building firm of Messrs. Scott Russell & Co.,
and were partly destroyed by fire in 1853, when
the damage done was estimated at £60,000. Mr.
Scott Russell became well known in the engineer
ing and mercantile world for his researches and
experiments, which resulted in the practical appli
cation of the "wave-line" theory in connection
with ship-building, and he also acted as the secre
tary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, of which he
was one of the original promoters.
These premises possess a river frontage of great
extent, and are an object of great attraction to the
steamboat traveller, from the interest naturally
excited in witnessing so many vessels constantly in
course of construction.
Here was built the largest vessel that ever floated
in the Thames, or, indeed, anywhere else : namely,
the Great Eastern. This huge steamship, whose
subsequent career perhaps has hardly been on a
par with the interest which was evinced during
her construction, occupied about six years in
building, having been commenced in 1853, and
equipped ready for sailing by January, i860. It
was built for the Eastern Steam Navigation Com
pany, and was intended for the Indian and Aus
tralian route by the Cape of Good Hope. During
the construction of the vessel, the proportions of
the ship were seen to great advantage as she lay
with her broadside to the river, her form being to a
great extent free from the forest of poles which
usually serve as the stages used in ordiliary ship
building. The hull of the vessel is built entirely of iron,
and is 680 feet in length, 80 feet in breadth, and
58 feet in height from keel to deck. The ship is
divided transversely into ten separate compart
ments of 60 feet each, rendered perfectly water
tight b)' bulkheads, having no openings whatever
lower than the second deck, whilst two longitudinal
walls of iron, 36 feet apart, traverse 350 feet of the
length of the ship.
Some idea of the magnitude of these dimensions
may be formed when it is stated that the Great
Eastern is six times the size of the Duke of
Wellington line-of-battle ship ; that her length is
more than three times that of the height of the
Monument on Fish Street Hill, while her breadth
is equal to the width of Pall Mall ; and that a
promenade round the deck affords a walk of
more than a quarter of a mile. She was designed

Millwall.]

THE "GREAT EASTERN" STEAMSHIP.

545

by Mr. Isambard Kingdom Brunei, F.R.S., the
" father of Transatlantic steam navigation." The
hull of the ship, together with the paddle-engines,
were built by Messrs. Scott Russell and Co., whilst
the screw-engines were manufactured by Messrs.
Watts and Co., of Birmingham. Mr. Scott Russell,
to whom the entire merits of the ship as a piece of
naval architecture belong, wrote during its con
struction : — " It is to the company's engineer, Mr.
J. K. Brunei, that the original conception is due of
building a steamship large enough to carry coals
sufficient for full steaming on the longest voyage.
He, at the outset, and long before it had assumed
a mercantile form, communicated his views to me,
and I have participated in the contrivance of the
best means to carry them into practical effect. I
think, further, that the idea of using two sets of
engines and two propellers is original, and was his
invention. It was his idea also to introduce a
cellular construction, like that at the top and bottom
of the Britannia Bridge, into the construction of
the great ship. These are the main characteristics
which distinguish this from other ships, and these
are Mr. Brunei's. Her lines and her structure in
other respects are identical with those of any other
ships which are constructed like this on a prin
ciple of my own, which I have systematically
carried out during the last twenty years, and which
is commonly called the 'wave' principle. In other
respects, also, her materials are put together in the
manner usual in any other ships."
The bottom of the ship is almost flat. Up to
the water-mark the hull is constructed with an
inner and outer skin, nearly three feet apart, and
each composed of three-quarter inch plates. Be
tween these, at intervals of six feet, run horizontal
webs of iron plates, which materially increase the
power of resistance both of the inner and the
outer skin. About 10,000 tons of iron plates were
used in the construction of the hull. These plates
are 30,000 in number, and are each secured by 100
iron rivets.
The distinguishing feature of the Great Eastern,
in addition to her vast size, is the combined ap
plication of steam-power through the paddle-wheel
and the screw. The engines are considerably
larger than any hitherto made for marine purposes.
The vessel has ten boilers and five funnels, and
the boilers are placed longitudinally along the
centre of the ship, and are entirely independent of
each other. Each paddle-boiler has ten furnaces, •
and each screw-boiler twelve furnaces, thus giving
to the whole the large number of one hundred and
twelve furnaces. Independent of her steam-power,
her means of propulsion is aided by six masts, no

less than 6,500 square yards of canvas being used
in the construction of her sails. The paddle-wheels
are fifty-eight feet in diameter, and the weight of
each wheel is computed at ninety tons, whilst the
screw propeller is twenty-four feet in diameter, and
the engine shaft 160 feet in length. The ship was
designed to accommodate 4,000 passengers — 800
first class, 2,000 second class, and 1,200 third class
— independently of the ship's complement of about
400 hands. Her registered tonnage is 23,000.
The first attempt to float this monster vessel was
made in November, 1857, but unsuccessfully. On
Sunday, January 31st, 1858, however, in the pre
sence of a vast concourse of spectators, she yielded
to the hydraulic pressure that was brought to bear
upon her, and glided slowly, but gracefully, into the
Thames, where she lay at rest, while being fitted
for sea, till September, 1859, when she was towed
down the river to Gravesend. In the following
June the Great Eastern made her first sea trip. It
may be of interest to record that when first floated
the vessel registered sixteen and a half feet aft, and
fourteen feet eleven inches forward, or within six
inches of the amount calculated.
In a work entitled " A Floating City," by Jules
Verne, some interesting particulars of the great
ship and its subsequent career are given. From it
we learn that "after twenty passages from England
to America, one of which was marked by very
serious disasters, the use of the Great Eastern was
temporarily abandoned, and this immense ship,
arranged to accommodate passengers, seemed no
longer good for anything. When the first attempt
to lay the Atlantic cable had failed — partly be
cause the number of ships which carried it was in
sufficient — engineers thought of the Great Eastern.
She alone could store on board the 2,100 miles of
metallic wire, weighing 4,500 tons. She alone,
thanks to her perfect indifference to the sea, could
unroll and immerse this immense cable. But
special arrangements were necessary for storing
away the cable in the ship's hold. Two out of
six boilers were removed, and one funnel out of
three belonging to the screw-engine ; in their
places large tanks were placed for the cable, which
was immersed in water to preserve it from the
effects of variation of the atmosphere ; the wire
thus passed from these tanks of water into the sea
without suffering the least contact with the air.
The laying of the cable having been successfully
accomplished, and the object in view attained, the
Great Eastern was once more left in her costly
idleness." The vessel was afterwards taken in hand by a
French company, which was floated with a capital

546

GREATER LONDON.

[Millwall.

of 2,000,000 francs, with the intention of again
conveying passengers across the Atlantic, and the
immense ship was accordingly re-arranged for that
purpose. The interior of the ship was fitted with
every convenience, and even luxury, to suit the
requirements of passengers. The ladies' saloon
and the grand saloon were ornamented with lustres,
swinging lamps, and pictures, and the magnificent
rooms lighted by side skylights, supported on

Since the launch of the Great Eastern the Mill-
wall Iron Works have been in the hands of Messrs.
Mare & Co. ; and more recently the premises
known as the Northumberland Works have been
utilised for the manufacture of the machinery and
other necessaries used in the supply of the electric
light. The Northumberland armour-plated ship
was launched from these premises in 1866.
Immediately beyond Potter's Ferry, which lies

LAUNCH OF THE GREAT EASTERN.

gilded pillars, and communicating with the upper
deck by wide staircases with metallic steps and
mahogany balusters. The laundries and the crew's
berth are shut off at the fore part ; on deck are ar
ranged four rows of cabins separated by a passage,
and at the stern three immense dining-rooms run
in the same direction as the cabins ; a passage
leads from the saloons at the stern to those at the
bows round the paddle-engine, between its sheet-
iron partition and the ship's offices.
The ill-fated vessel, however, never seems to
have prospered ; and more than once she was
nearly lost in the Atlantic, through failing to answer
her helm, or through some other accident. Now it
appears that she is likely to be used for conveying
coals from Newcastle to the port of London.

directly opposite Greenwich Hospital, is Cubitt
Town, so called from the fact of a large portion of
the land here having been some years ago taken
by Messrs. Cubitt & Co., builders, for the con
struction of works in the manufacture of all kinds
of ceramic ware used in building, &c. Rows of
streets and houses were built in the neighbourhood
of the works, and in 1853, Mr. William Cubitt,
M.P., erected a church here for the use of the
inhabitants. This edifice, built of brick, with stone
dressings, and in the Early English style, stands at
the south-eastern extremity of the island, its tower
and spire being a conspicuous object from the river.
St. Luke's Church, in Stratford Street, Millwall,
consecrated in 1870, is a stone building of modern
Gothic design, with a heavy-looking tower and spire.

Limehouse ]

LIMEHOUSE CHURCH.

547

Limehouse is situated on the north-western side
of the canal which separates the Isle of Dogs from
the mainland. It is so called from a lime-kiln,
generally known as the lime-house, which stood
here. Pepys, under date of October 9th, 1661,
writes, in his " Diary " ;— " By coach to Captain
Marshe's at Limehouse — to a house that hath been
their ancestors' for this 250 years, close by the
lime-house, which gives the name
to the place."
Norden, writing in 1592, adopts
the derivation of Limehouse from
the lime-kiln, which, according
to Mr. Cowper's statement in his
work above quoted, exists to this
day ; but Stow gives the derivation
as a corrupt spelling for Lime-
host, or Lime-hurst, the latter of
which denotes a plantation, or

designs of Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of Sit
Christopher Wren, and was consecrated in 1730.
The original drawings and plans for the building
are preserved in the British Museum. The steeple
of the church is conspicuous from the river, but is
not remarkable for its beauty ; indeed, this church,
like others of which Hawksmoor was the architect,
exhibits a style remarkable for its solidity of ap-

LIMEHOUSE CHURCH.

a place of lime-trees. It may be remembered
that Shakespeare introduces the name in the play of
Henry VIII. (Act v., sc. 3), where Porter says : —
" These are the youths that thunder at a playhouse,
and fight for bitten apples : that no audience but
the Tribulation of Tower-hill or the limbs of Lime
house, their dear brothers, are able to endure."
¦ The district was originally a hamlet of Stepney,
but was made into a distinct parish in the reign of
Queen Anne. The church is one of the fifty
which were authorised to be erected by an Act of
Parliament passed in the ninth year of that reign.
It is dedicated to St. Anne, and was built from the

pearance and singularity of design, which may be
described as Romanesque. The edifice is con
structed of Portland stone, and was built at a cost
of about £38,000. The principal entrance, ap
proached by a flight of stone steps, is formed in
front of the segmental vestibule, which is finished
with square pilasters, with enriched capitals, sup
porting an entablature and semi-dome roof. The
third storey of the tower forms in the plan a curious
outline, and in its elevation is equally unsightly
with the part rising immediately above it. The
walls forming the vestry-room at the north-east
angle of the church, and those corresponding on

548

GREATER LONDON.

[Poplar.

the opposite side, are carried up several feet above
the large cornice, and form two curiously orna
mented towers. In the interior of the church there
is nothing remarkable as to the general arrange
ment The Roman style is preserved throughout.
Stone columns, of the composite order, standing
upon square pedestals, support an enriched cor
nice, continued only over part of the side aisles.
Small Ionic columns of wood are placed as sup
ports under either gallery, the entrances to which
are equally crude in design with many other por
tions of this edifice. The east window, of painted
glass, from a design by West, was executed by
Mr. Buckler, the painter of the window in the
" Barons' Hall " at Arundel Castle. The pulpit is
an elaborate specimen of carved work, and is stated
to have occupied two years and a half in its execution.
The " fine and beautiful " Commercial Road, as
Baron Dupin calls it in his " Commercial Power of
Great Britain," constructed under the direction of
Mr. Walker, an eminent engineer in his day, runs
directly through the parish. It is seventy feet in
width, and forms a direct communication between
Whitechapel and the West India Docks.
The Lea Cut and the Regent's Canal both enter
the Thames at Limehouse. The former was
executed in 1772 for the purpose of obtaining a
more direct communication between the Pool and
the River Lea, which it joins at Bromley. The
Regent's Canal is of more recent formation. Its
route is traced through nine parishes ; it is eight
miles in length, and its mean width thirty-seven
feet. It rises eighty-four feet by means of twelve
locks, is crossed by about forty bridges, passes by
means of a tunnel (upwards of half a mile in length)
under the New River and part of Islington, and by
another tunnel (a quarter of a mile in length) at
Paddington, and communicates with the Grand
Junction Canal.
Poplar, which adjoins Limehouse on the east,
was likewise originally a hamlet of Stepney, from
which parish it was separated in 18 17. The dis
trict embraces the Isle of Dogs. Dr. Woodward,
in "Strype" (Circuit Walk, p. 102), writing in
1720, observes: — " Popler, or Poplar, is so called
from the multitude of poplar-trees (which love a
moist soil) growing there in former times. And
there be yet remaining, in that part of the hamlet
which bordereth upon Limehouse, many old bodies
of large poplars, standing as testimonials of the
truth of that etymology."
The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, was
consecrated in 1823. It is a large building, with a
handsome steeple, which contrasts favourably with
that of Limehouse Church. Poplar Chapel, called

also the East India Company's Chapel, was built
during the Commonwealth, and contains two or
three monuments to distinguished men, among
them being one to Robert Ainsworth, the Latin
lexicographer, who died in 1743, and whose epitaph
was his own composition ; and another to George
Steevens, the Shakesperian critic and editor, who
died at Hampstead in 1800, and was buried here.
This latter monument was executed by Flaxman.
The old manor-house of Poplar, an ancient
wooden building, was situated on the south side
of the present East India Dock Road, but was
partially pulled down early in the present century.
The old house was formerly owned by Sir Gilbert
and Sir William Dethick, who held successively
the appointment of Garter King-at-Arms in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. The Town Hall and
the offices of the Local Board of Works for Poplai'
are handsome and commodious buildings, the latter
being of recent erection.
"To Poplar adjoineth Blackwall" — so wrote
Dr. Woodward in " Strype's Appendix " ; and added
that -it is "a notable harbour for ships, so called
because it is a wall of the Thames, and distin
guished by the additional term Black from the
black shrubs which grow on it, as on Blackheath,
which is opposite to it, on the other side of the river. '
In the reign of Edward III. Sir John de Pulteney
possessed the manor of Poplar. His London house
was at Cold Harbour, in Upper Thames Street.
Mr. Cowper conjectures that if he ever resided in
this neighbourhood, it was at Blackwall, where there
is a place called Cold Harbour. " Near the ancient
ferry, called Globe Stairs, opposite the ' Artichoke '
Tavern," he observes, " there stands an ancient
house, which tra.dition says was successively occu
pied by Sebastian Cabot and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Whatever value may attach to the tradition, the
house in question is both curious and interesting.
Its framework is of wood, and still likely to last for
years. Some grotesque heads and other carvings
adorn the outside. The floor of the house is
considerably below the present level of the street,
and the principal entrance is blocked up. Though
now in a narrow and confined situation, originally
its windows looked out upon the rising sun, and
commanded an extensive view up and down the
river, as well as across into Kent. By the gradual
encroachments of buildings all around, it has been
hemmed in as we now find it."
The Brunswick Wharf, at Blackwall, was opened
for the reception of steam-packets in 1840.
Lovegrove's Tavern, the "Brunswick," was for
many years famous for its fish, and particularly
for whitebait dinners.

West India Docks.]

THE COMMERCE OF LONDON.

549

CHAPTER LIX.
THE EAST AND WEST INDIA AND MILLWALL DOCKS.
" Where has commerce such a mart,
So rich, so thronged, so drained, and so supplied,
As London — opulent, enlarged, and still-
Increasing London 1 " — Cowper.
The Vastness of Trade and Commerce— Arrival of Coal-ships and other Vessels in the Port of London— Number of Barges and other Craft
required for Traffic in 179?— Plunder carried on in the Lighters on the River— Institution of the Thames Police— Proposals for the Es
tablishment of Docks— Foundation of the West India Docks— The Opening Ceremony— Description of the Docks— A Curious Museum—
ew Dry Docks— The Wood Wharf— The Rum Quay— The South West India Dock— The Wool Warehouses— The East India Docks—
Millwall Dock — Insecurity of Merchandise before the Establishment of Docks or Institution of the Thames Police.

The docks of London show at once to the most
casual observer the great enterprise and prosperity
of the metropolis. It will readily be conceived
that a .population of more than 3,000,000 souls
must necessarily, to a great extent, be supported
by its trade and commerce, its proceeds in money
value far exceeding in amount that of any other
community in the world. The merchant is the
dealer with the trading universe, the tidal Thames
bringing with its flow the treasures of near and
distant nations ; and, with the aid of steam, persons
of all nations come to us with objects of business
and mutual interchange.
Charles Knight, in his " London," says : — " The
stranger, especially from an inland county, who
takes a passage by one of the steamers which leave
London Bridge every half-hour for Greenwich, will
be astonished at the apparently interminable forests
of masts which extend on both sides of the channel,
where a width of three hundred feet should be kept
for the purposes of safe navigation, but which the
crowd of ships from all quarters of the globe, of
colliers, coasters, steamboats, and river craft, ren
ders it difficult for the harbour-masters to maintain.
If the tide be running upward, laden coal-barges
are thronging the channel, proceeding to the wharves
in the upper part of the river, and colliers at their
moorings are at all times discharging their cargoes
into barges alongside. By the regulations of the
coal trade, only a certain number of coal-ships are
allowed to unload at the same time, the others
remaining lower down the river until their turn
arrives ; and the coal-meters, who are appointed by
the City, are also limited in number. But for
these restrictions the river would present a still
more crowded appearance, as it has happened that
above three hundred colliers have arrived in the
lower pool in one day, and even now a very large
portion of the river is occupied by this one branch
of commerce. Seventy years ago, not only coal-
ships, but vessels of every other kind, discharged
their cargoes into lighters while at anchor in the
stream ; but such a practice would now be impos

sible, so great has been the increase of commerce.
East Indiamen in general came only as far as
Blackwall, where they discharged their cargo into
decked lighters of from fifty to one hundred tons,
and, the hatchways being secured under lock and
key, they proceeded to the wharves. West India
ships discharged in the river, and the cargoes also,
were conveyed in lighters to the legal quays. All
other vessels, except they were of small size, were
in like manner compelled to use lighters in dis
charging their cargoes. At the present time the
majority of the barges and river craft are solely
employed in transporting the cargoes of coal, corn,
and timber ships : comparatively speaking, only a
small proportion being required for the conveyance
of all other commodities, the chief of which are of
a bulky kind, and do not offer any great temptation
to pilferers."
In 1792 the number of barges and craft re
quired for the traffic between the ships in the river
and the quays was 500 for timber and 1,180 for
coal, each averaging 33 tons ; 402 lighters of 39
tons ; 338 punts of 20 tons ; 57 lugger boats of 24
tons; 6 sloops of 27 tons; 10 cutters of 71 tons ;
and 10 hoys of 58 tons : making a total of 3,503
craft. Property of the most costly and valuable
description, and every kind of merchandise, was
daily exposed to plunder in these open boats, for
only the lighters of the East India Company were
decked, and it was considered that even they
afforded a very insufficient protection. The temp
tation to pilfering was almost irresistible, those who
were honestly disposed taking their share, under
the plea that waste and leakage were perquisites.
So many persons were engaged in the work of
depredation on the river that it was carried on in
the most daring and open manner, lightermen,
watermen, labourers, the crews of ships, the mates
and officers in some instances, and to a great
extent the officers of the revenue, being combined
in this nefarious system, while on each side of the
river there were hosts of receivers, some of them
persons of opulence, who carried on an extensive

55«

GREATER LONDON.

[West India Docks,

business in stolen property. In 1798, the Thames
Police, called then the Marine Police, was insti
tuted for the repression of these offences, but the
source of the evil was still untouched, the temp
tation remaining undiminished so long as the
exposure of property was rendered unavoidable by
the absence of sufficient accommodation in quays
and warehouses.
During the last century scarcely an effort had
been made for the accommodation of the vastly
increased trade of London, and the mercantile
interests experienced, in consequence, impediments
and losses, which it is wonderful did not arouse
them earlier to provide a remedy. About the year
1 793 the complaints of the merchants began to
attract more attention than they had hitherto re
ceived, and they held meetings, at which various
remedies were proposed, but for a time no sub
stantial improvement resulted therefrom. Many
plans were brought forward, among them being
the following, each of which embraced the Isle of
Dogs in their scheme : —
The City plan, of which the chief feature was a
dock of 102 acres in the Isle of Dogs, to con
tain above 400 ships, and another at Rother-
hithe, of the same extent, for colliers. Another
plan, drawn up by a Mr. Walker, was to excavate
fifty-five acres for docks, thirty-five acres additional
being intended for quays, wharves, and warehouses.
One of the entrauces was to be by a canal intersec
ting the Isle of Dogs, at a point near the southern
shore. The cost was estimated at £880,000.
The last of these plans was designed by Mr.
Reaveley ; it displayed considerable ingenuity, and
its chief features were :— (1) To form a new chan
nel for the river in a straight line from Limehouse
to Blackwall, the Long Reach round the Isle ol
Dogs thus constituting a dock, with flood-gates at
each entrance, (2) To continue the new channel
below Blackwall towards Woolwich Reach, so as to
convert another bend of the old channel into a
dock. (3) To make a new channel from Wapping,
and to form three docks out of the three bends,
to be called Ratcliffe Dock, Blackwall Dock, and
Greenwich Dock.
In 1799 an Act of Parliament was passed for
rendering more commodious and for better regu
lating the Port of London ; and in that same year
another Bill was also passed for the formation of
the West India Docks. These docks, which oc
cupy the whole length of what may be called the
" neck " of the Isle of Dogs, from Limehouse to
Blackwall, are said to be the largest in the world.
They are nearly three times as extensive as the
London Docks, and are almost 300 acres in extent.

The West India Docks were the first public
wet-docks constructed on the north bank of the
Thames in the port of London. There had, how
ever, been for many years a wet-dock at Blackwall,
at the ancient ship-yards there ; besides which, a
Mr. Perry, in 1789, had constructed the Brunswick
Dock, which, as we shall presently see, was after
wards enlarged to form the export basin of the
East India Docks.
The Act empowering the formation of these
docks includes the City Canal, or South Dock;
and the preliminaries having been duly arranged,
the works were commenced in February, 1800, and
the " first stone " was laid in July of the same year.
Inscriptions setting forth the objects for which
the docks were made, written on two rolls of
vellum, one in English and the other in Latin,
together with several coins of different values, were
enclosed in glass bottles, which were deposited in
the first stone, at the south-east corner of warehouse
No. 8.
The docks were formed from the designs of Mr.
Jesson, and were formally opened on the 27th
August, 1802, the opening ceremony being per
formed by Mr. William Pitt, the then Prime Minis
ter, in the presence of a vast concourse of spec
tators. The first ship to enter the new docks was
the Henry Addingion, a vessel newly built, and one
of the finest in the West India trade. For twenty-
one years after the opening of the docks all vessels
in the West India trade frequenting the port of
London were compelled to use them.
The principal, or western, entrance to the docks
is near the West India Dock Station of the Black-
wall Railway, a little to the east of Limehouse
Church. It is surmounted by the model of a
sailing-vessel, and over the entrance is inscribed: — •
"The West India Import Dock — begun 12th Jul}',
1800 ; opened for business 1st September, 1802."
At the principal entrance is a bronze statue,
erected to perpetuate the memory of Robert
Milligan, "a merchant of London, to whose
genius, perseverance, and guardian care, the sur
rounding great work principally owes its design,
accomplishment, and regulation." This statue,
which was executed by Sir R. Westmacott, is of
life-size, placed on a granite pedestal, and enclosed
by an iron railing. Close by are two guard-houses,
which were erected for the accommodation of small
detachments of troops, detailed by the Govern
ment when first the docks were constructed for the
more efficient protection of the company's property.
These troops supplied a cordon of night sentries
round the docks, each sentry having in his sentry-
box a bell, which he sounded at regular intervals.

West India Docks.]

A CURIOUS MUSEUM.

55i

There were originally only two docks, one for
I'mports and the other for exports. The original
plan was not filled up by the completion of the
docks before 1805. Since that period many addi
tions and alterations have been made.
The whole system of West India Docks now
comprises three parallel docks, with warehouses,
quay sheds, and sheds for export goods, covering
an area of 264 acres, of which 160 acres are land,
and 104 acres water. The storage capacity of the
,. warehouses in the West India Dock system is
166,700 tons of goods. The area of the Western
and South Dock quays is 1,566,500 square feet,
and of the warehouses 1,141,000 square feet. The
Dock Company employ on their permanent staff
about 2,500 persons. In addition to these a very
large number of persons are employed as the exi
gencies of the work may require. The staff
employed at the West India Docks alone is as
follows : —

WEEKLY ANNUAL

Major or controlling Staff..
Minor Staff 
Porter and Labour Staff ) . .
and extra Labourers averagea < W 2'336

...(184) ^400
¦¦• (454) 525

^21,000 27,000
120,000

Visitors usually commence their inspection at
the northernmost or Import Dock. This dock
contains in water space thirty superficial acres ; it
is 2,600 feet long, and 500 feet wide, with ware
houses half a mile in extent. Ships from all parts
of the world discharge here, and their cargoes are
housed in the adjoining warehouses, which contain
canes, horns, camphor, tea, pepper, pimento, rice,
tin, copper, ginger, sugar, molasses, coir, coffee,
plumbago, oils, &c.
At No. 11 warehouse, which was partially de
stroyed by fire on the 28th December, 1873, is a
small museum, containing specimens of the various
kinds of goods housed at the docks. As a sample
of the interest attaching to this museum, it may be
mentioned that cochineal, one of the products here
exhibited, is the dried carcase of an insect, and pro
duces a brilliant crimson dye. About 70,000 of the
insects are required to weigh one pound. They
are of two kinds : the black, females which have
produced young ; and the grey or white, which
have arrived at maturity and have not bred. As
the finest dye is in the skin, the black insects are
the most profitable, being apparently all skin, and
being hollow are known as "shelly cochineal."
The insects are suffocated and dried in ovens.
In this warehouse can be seen a machine worked
by hydraulic pressure for sampling tin. One ingot
of tin in each ten is "sampled" for the market, and,
the sample being sent to the brokers in the City,

the sale is effected and the value of the ten ingots
is fixed by the evidence of the sample cut from
one. The value of the metals, tin and copper,
lying at this warehouse is nearly £30,000, and the
weight is 350 tons. The weight of an ingot of tin
is from ninety to a hundred pounds, and the value
about £3 1 os.
The vessels from China, which arrive early in
July laden with the new season's teas, are generally
discharged here ; and when, as is now usual, pres
sure is put upon the company, it is not uncommon
for a ship bringing 50,000 packages of tea to be
discharged within twenty working hours.
On the north quay of the Import Dock many
cargoes are to be seen. In the warehouses along
the quay the article chiefly housed is sugar ; the
floors and quay are stained with sugar drainage,
and in some parts saturated with molasses from the
lower-class sugars. Sugar is imported of many
different qualities, and in various kinds of packages,
the large hogsheads being the most unwieldy.
Mauritius sugar comes in mats formed of leaves,
and East India sugar in bags woven from jute.
Jaggery is a very low quality sugar from the
Madras coast, and the bags in which it is imported
become so thoroughly soaked with sugar that after
being emptied of their contents they are sold to
itinerant dealers, who boil them to extract the
sugar, and sell the bags to the paper-makers. AH
the bags are raised from the hold of the ship by
cranes, worked like the majority of cranes in the
docks, by hydraulic pressure.
The coffee imports are concentrated at No. 10
warehouse, and about one-sixth of the imports of
coffee into London comes to this warehouse. The
warehouse is supplied with machinery for the
bulking, re-filling, and beating of casks of coffee by
hydraulic power, superseding manual labour. All
coffee of one mark and of the same quality or
description, frequently from fifty or more packages,
has to be mixed together on the floor of the ware
house, to ascertain the net weight for Customs
duty and for trade purposes, and also to ensure the
quality being of one average. In former years" this
mixing was done by hand, and as the company's
housings of coffee are about 20,000 casks in a year,
in addition to about 70,000 bags, it follows that
much labour was required. It is now the practice,
after turning out the contents of the casks, to
scoop the berries into iron hoppers, whence they
run into the casks on the floor below. In order to
make the coffee lie close, so that the actual quantity
turned out might be re-filled into the package, it
was the practice for a gang of five men to beat the
casks with wooden mallets, and even then the

55=

GREATER LONDON.

[West India Docks.

whole of the contents could frequently not be re
turned to the packages, and bags, named by the
trade " overtakers," were used to take the surplus ;
but the mechanical beaters of this patent machinery
perform in one minute the work which occupied
five men six minutes ; moreover, the whole of the
coffee can now be easily returned to the original
packages. There are eleven of these machines in
use. In passing to the West Wood Wharf, a siding or
line of railway will be observed at the south end of
No. 10 Warehouse, in which trucks are placed
with goods from the steamers, which discharge at
Southampton. The trucks are loaded alongside
the vessels at Southampton, and run direct to this
siding, whence the goods are raised by the crane to
the loophole, and manipulated as if coming from
vessels discharging alongside the quay in these
docks. The swing bridges carrying the railway over the
adjoining locks weigh 300 tons each, and are
moved by hydraulic machines, requiring only one
man to set them in motion.
Blackwall Basin, which is on the east side of the
northern bridge, is the tidal basin for the reception
of ships entering the West India Dock ; and on the
south side of the basin is a dry dock for repairing
and painting ships, which was opened on the 6th
March, 1878, and was constructed at a cost of from
£60,000 to £80,000. Its dimensions are : length
480 feet, breadth of bottom 80 feet, and entrance
64 feet, depth on gill 23 feet.
At the Wood Wharf, large quantities of mahog-
iny, furniture wood, and teak, amounting to about
50,000 tons per annum, are stored, and the heavy
logs are carried with comparative ease by
travelling machinery.. Quantities of lignum vita
from Jamaica are seen; this is used chiefly- for
blocks, pulleys, rulers, &c. Satinwood and ebony,
in considerable quantity, are also to be seen here,
as also logwood, sapan wood, red sanders wood,
and other woods used for dyeing purposes.
The largest log of mahogany ever known to have
been imported arrived on the 30th of October,
1879, by the Grizzehaum from Tabasco. It was
more than 60 feet long, and nearly 12 tons in
weight. The Rum Quay is the depot for all wines and
spirits in the Company's charge, and is capable of
storing 40,000 puncheons. The average quantity
of the rum in the vaults and warehouses is 35,000
puncheons, containing about 3 J million gallons,
and of the value of £700,000, the Customs duty,
at 10s. 2d. per proof gallon, being in addition about
£1,800,000. The vaults are good specimens of

groined brickwork, the arches being elliptical, and
springing from octagonal stone piers. Notwith
standing the forest of casks (which, however, do
not intrude themselves in the prevailing darkness,
though the odour of rum does), the visitor might
easily suppose he was in the crypt of some immense
cathedral. The only light obtained is from side
windows, outside which are fixed concave re
flectors; and as the vaults are 154 feet wide, the
centre, without the aid of the reflectors, would be,
in winter time, totally dark.
Each puncheon is marked in white paint with
the " rotation " number and year of bonding, and
the contents and "ullage," and a reflector formed
of a piece of tin, nailed on a stick, is used to throw
the borrowed light on these marks by the cooper-
whose duty it is to sound each cask daily, to
ascertain that it remains in good condition. By
the sound which the blow of the hammer produces,
he is able to tell within half a gallon the vacuity of
each cask, and should it appear to increase he
marks the cask to watch it, and have it removed
for examination should any flaw develop itself.
The plan of using reflectors is adopted on the
score of safety from fire, no candle or lamp being
allowed to be taken on the Rum Quay. Balmain's
luminous paint has been used in the vaults with
success. On the vatting floor of this department are vats
varying in capacity from 320 to 15,000 gallons,
their aggregate capacity being 59,210 gallons. In
these vats merchants are allowed to mix rum
intended for exportation.
The centre dock is the Export Dock, covering
24 acres of water, 2,600 feet long by 400 feet in
width, in which ships of light draught are accommo
dated to load.
The South West India Dock, commenced in
1866, and opened on 5th March, 1870, contains
upwards of 26 acres of water, is 2,650 feet in length,
and 450 feet in width, with a uniform depth of 29
feet. Some of the largest ships carrying colonial
and East Indian cargoes which arrive in the Port
of London discharge and load in this dock. The
Import ships discharge usually on the south side,
and the Export ships load chiefly on the north side;
two berths, however, at the eastern and western
ends of the south side are reserved for loading.
In the basin at the east end of the dock are
loaded the fine vessels of the Glen Line, trading
between London and China.
The extensive wool warehouses, situated on the
south quay of this dock, were erected in 1873, for
the storage and showing of wool, and have show
room for 15,000 bales at one time. 113,000

WEST INDIA DOCKS.

554

GREATER LONDON.

[East India Docks.

bales were housed and shown here in 1879, and
133,000 in 1880.
Other objects of interest to visitors are the steam
fire engines, the cooperage, chain-testing house, and
sawmills, together with the various workshops,
where at times 400 mechanics and labourers are
employed, in connection with the maintenance and
repair of the docks, warehouses, and machinery of
the company.
The East India Import and Export Docks and
basin, at Blackwall, contain a water space of 32
acres ; they were formerly the property of the East
India Dock Company, and were constructed chiefly
for the accommodation of East India shipping.
The then capital or joint stock of the company was
£463,876, and with, or out of, this capital were
constructed the above-mentioned docks, including
necessary warehouses, quays, roads, &c.
As far back as 1592 Blackwall was noted for its
" great harbour of shipping," which harbour in all
probability gave rise to the idea and subsequent
formation of docks. Before the East India Docks
existed, there was a wet dock constructed in 1789
by a Mr. Perry, called the " Brunswick Dock,"
which was afterwards enlarged to form an export
dock to the East India Dock. In excavating for
this dock a great quantity of fossil nuts and wood
were found.
Pepys, in his "Diary," dated September 22nd,
1665, writes : — "At Blackwall, in digging the late
docke, they did, twelve feet under ground, find
perfect trees over-covered with earth. Nut-trees,
with the branches, and the very nuts upon them ;
some of these nuts he [Johnson] showed us. Their
shells black with age, and their kernel, upon open
ing, decayed, but their shell perfectly hard as ever."
The following inscription is placed under the
clock tower of the principal entrance to the dock
in the East India Road : — •
"Under auspices of our most Gracious Sovereign George
III., the sanction of his Majesty's Government and the
patronage of the East India Company, these Wet Docks
appropriated to the commerce of India and ships in that
employ, were accomplished in those eventful years 1804,
1805, and 1806, the first stone being laid March 14th, 1804.
They were opened by the introduction of five ships from
1,200 to 800 tons, with valuable cargoes, on August 4th,
1806. The grand undertaking originated in the laudable
endeavours of the managing owners of ships in the Com
pany's service, and the important national objects of in
creased security to property and revenue, combined with
improved accommodation, economy, and dispatch, were
thus early realised through the liberal subscriptions of the
proprietors, and the unremitting attentions of the Directors
of the East India Dock Company. — Joseph Cotton, Chair
man ; John Woolmore, Deputy Chairman ; John Rennie,
Ralph Walker, Engineers."

In May, 1838, the East India Dock Company
was amalgamated with the West India Dock Com
pany, and the name of the Company was changed
to the " East and West India Dock Company."
The East India Dock Basin was originally five
acres in extent, but in 1874, in consequence of the
increase in the size and draught of ships using the
port of London, it was deepened and enlarged,
and a new river entrance lock was constructed to
the eastward of the old entrance. These works,
from the peculiar situation of the basin between
the rivers Thames and Lea, involved considerable
engineering difficulties; but they were all success
fully surmounted, and the basin, in its present
form, was opened for business by the admission of
one of the large steamers of the Orient Steam
Navigation Company, in August, 1879.
The basin now has a depth of thirty-three feet
of water at ordinary spring tides, with thirty-one
feet of water on the sills of the new entrance lock.
It thus provides, even at the worst neap tides,
sufficient water to admit the largest vessels using
the port of London, and is superior in depth and
consequent accommodation for deep-draughted
vessels to any other dock on the Thames.
On the north and east quays of the basin ex
tensive warehouses have been erected, the ground
floors being constructed for the reception of export,
and the upper floors for import goods. A novel
feature in the construction of these warehouses and
quays is the overhead gallery, or crane-road, at the
first floor level, on which travelling hydraulics for
discharging cargoes into the loopholes of first and
upper floors are worked without interference with
the lower quay, and the railway lines thereon pro
vided for the accommodation of export business.
Numerous loopholes opening into reception and
delivery yards at the rear or sides of the ware
houses are also provided to enable the extensive
land carriage business to be conducted without
interference with the quay-side work. Contiguous
to the East Quay berth are the extensive premises
of Messrs, Donald Currie and Co.
In July, 1879, nearly the whole of the south
quay of the Eastern Import Dock subsided sud
denly, owing to the disturbance of a treacherous
vein of quicksand on which the walls were founded.
The accommodation at this quay was formerly
insufficient for the rapid discharge of the large
vessels using the docks, and advantage was taken
of the accident to reconstruct it in the present
form, increasing the width of quay space con
siderably, and providing sufficient quay shed ac
commodation to enable the Company to at once
land any cargoes under cover.

Millwall Dock.]

RIVER PIRATES.

555

A special feature in this quay is the adoption of
the plan of having two-storey quay sheds, which
was first introduced in the South West India Dock
of this Company.
Owing to the great variation in the length of the
ships using these docks, it was found convenient,
and for the greater facility of the Company's busi
ness, to substitute movable for fixed cranes. The
Dock Company, therefore, in reconstructing the
quay, converted all the existing fixed hydraulics
into travelling cranes, by which means any number

The whole of these extensive works, involving
an outlay of nearly £60,000, were completed in
the very short period of sixteen months from the
date of commencement.
Millwall Dock is situated in the centre of the
Isle of Dogs, to the south of the West India Docks,
and has entrances in both Limehouse Reach and
Blackwall Reach. This dock, and the adjoining
land belonging to the Company, cover altogether
an area of nearly 200 acres. The dry dock, inside
the wet dock, is 430 feet in length, and 65 feet

VAULTS AT THE DOCKS.

required can be concentrated at one ship, and the
goods, as discharged, can be placed direct from
the ship's holds on to the ground or first floor of
the quay sheds.
The new quay was constructed without inter
fering with the business of the dock, or using any
cofferdam, the system adopted being a close timber-
piled quay, strongly secured by land ties at the
rear of the old wall, the dock bottom behind the
timber piling being dredged down to the London
clay, and a massive concrete wall built in situ.
Special means were adopted for mixing and putting
the concrete into position, without the large per
centage of loss of cement which frequently occurs
in the construction of concrete work under water.

wide at the bottom. Millwall Dock, which was
opened in 1868, has a trade with all parts of the
world, but is especially the dock for grain import.
Not only was the last* vestige of the old Chapel
House swept away on the formation of this dock, as
mentioned in the preceding chapter, but the work
saw also the removal of the last of the old metro
politan turnpike gates.
Some idea of the immense advantage to mer
chants and others obtained by the formation of
the docks of London may be gained when we
state that the number of ships entering the East
and West India Docks alone is upwards of 2,000
annually. Even the entries in the port of London
during a single week are enormous, as will be seen

556

GREATER LONDON.

[The Docks.

from the following return for the week ending
June 30th, 1883 : — Number of vessels entered in,
238 ; number of steamers entered in, 154. Number
of vessels entered out, 133 ; number of steamers
entered out, 93. Number of cargo vessels cleared
out, 1 23 ; number of cargo steamers cleared out,
92. Tonnage of vessels entered in, 149,593 ; ton
nage of steamers entered in, 109,252. Tonnage
of vessels entered out, 81,949; tonnage of steamers
entered out, 59,568. Tonnage of vessels cleared
out, 78,092 ; tonnage of steamers cleared out,
60,523. Total number of British vessels cleared
out, 96; British tonnage cleared out, ,64,372.
Number of British steamers cleared out, 75; ton
nage of British steamers cleared out, 50,304.
Number of British sailers cleared out, 21 ; tonnage
of British sailers cleared out, 14,068.
To form a proper conception of all the benefits
to society, and to the mercantile world in par
ticular, from the establishment of the India Docks,
would require a mind of no common powers, and
no small share of acuteness. What has been
saved by these docks, and by the adoption of a
general warehousing system, assisted by the river
police, can be appreciated only by a recapitulation
of what had been lost, previous to the introduction
of the measures connected with these valuable
improvements. Mr. Colquhoun, in his work on " The Commerce
and Police of the River Thames," written as long
ago as the beginning of the present century, says : —
" Let the mind only contemplate the commerce of
a single river, unparalleled in point of extent and
magnitude in the whole world, where 13,444 ships
and vessels discharge and receive in the course of
a year above 3,000.000 packages, many of which
contain very valuable articles of merchandise,
greatly exposed to depredations, not only from the
criminal habits of many of the aquatic labourers
and others who are employed, but from the temp
tations to plunder, arising from the confusion
unavoidable in a crowded port, and the facilities
afforded in the disposal of stolen property. "It
will then be easily conceived that the plunder
must have been excessive, especially where, from
its analogy to smuggling, according to the false
conceptions of those who are implicated, and from
its gradual increase, the culprits were seldom
restrained by a sense of moral turpitude, and this
at a time too when, for want of a marine police,
no means existed whereby offenders could be
detected on the river. The fact is, that the system
of river depredations grew and ramified as the
commerce of the port of London advanced, until at
length it assumed a variety of shapes and forms,

each having as many heads as a hydra. The first
of these were River Pirates.
" This class was mostly composed of the most
desperate and depraved characters ; and their
attention was principally directed to ships, vessels,
and craft in the night, which seemed to be unpro
tected. Among many other nefarious exploits
performed by these miscreants, the following was
not the least remarkable : — " An American vessel
lying at East Lane Tier was boarded in the night,
while the captain and crew were asleep, by a gang
of pirates, who actually weighed the ship's anchor
and hoisted it into their boat, with a complete new
cable, with which they got clean off. The captain,
hearing a noise, came upon deck at the moment the
villains had secured their booty, with which they
actually rowed away in his presence, impudently
telling him they had taken away his anchor and
cable, and bidding him good-night."
Much about the same time the bower anchor of
a vessel from Guernsey was weighed and carried off
with the cable. " Previous to the establishment of
the docks, ships being very much lumbered were
considered as the harvest of the river pirates, with
whom it was a general practice to cut away bags of
cotton, cordage, spars, oars, and other articles from
the quarter-deck, and to get clear off even in the
day-time. And as all classes of labourers, lumpers,
&c, were in a manner guilty, they naturally connived
at each other's delinquency, so that few or none
were detected. It was frequently the practice of
river pirates to go armed, and in sufficient force to
resist. Their depredations were extensive among
craft wherever valuable goods were to be found ;
but they diminished in number after the commence
ment of the war ; and now, since the establishment
of the docks and the marine police, a solitary
instance of robbery is scarcely ever heard of. ... .
What were called Night Plunderers were composed
of watermen, associated in gangs of four or five in
number, and their practice was likewise to get
connected with watchmen employed to guard
lighters and other vessels while cargoes were on
board, and to convey away in lugboats every
portable article of merchandise they could lay their
hands upon.
" These corrupt watchmen did not always permit
the lighters under their own charge to be pillaged ;
but their practice was to point out others which lay
near their own, perhaps without a guard, and which
on this account might be easily plundered. An
hour was fixed upon for effecting this object; and
the receiver, a man generally of some property, was
applied to to be in readiness at a certain hour
before daylight to warehouse the goods. A lugboat

The Docks.]

MUD- LARKS.

557

was seized on for the purpose, and the articles
removed into it out of the lighter, conveyed to a
landing-place nearest the warehouse of deposit.
The watchmen in the streets leading to the scene
of villainy were generally bribed to connive at it,
under the pretence that it was a smuggling trans
action, and thus the object was effected. Several
cargoes of hemp obtained in this manner were
conveyed up the river, and afterwards carted in the
day-time, till, by the vigilance of the police-boats,
a detection took place, and the whole scene of
mischief was laid open. In many instances where
goods could not be plundered through the conniv
ance of the watchmen, it was no uncommon thing
to cut lighters adrift, and to follow them to a
situation calculated to elude discovery. In this
way, whole lighter loads, even of coals, have been
discharged at obscure landing-places on the river,
and carted away during the night. Even the
article of tallow, from Russia, which, from the
unwieldiness of the packages, appears little liable
to be an object of plunder, has not escaped the
fangs of these offenders. The class called Light-
Horsemen, or nightly plunderers of West India
ships, are said to have originated in a connection
between some mates of West India ships, and some
criminal receivers residing near the river, who used
to apply to them to purchase what is called sweep
ings, or rather, the spillings or drainings of sugar
remaining in the hold, and between decks, after the
cargo was discharged, and which were generally
claimed as perquisites.' In getting these articles on
shore, it was necessary the revenue officers should
connive, which they did, and the quantity of
1 spillings was, of course, gradually increased year
after year. In fact, to such a pitch of infamy was
the business carried that, an agreement being
entered into with those concerned on board, and a
gang of plunderers on shore, composed of receivers,
coopers, watermen, and labourers, they were
permitted, on payment of from thirty to fifty
guineas, to come on board in the night ; to open as
many hogsheads of sugar as were accessible, and
to plunder without control. For this purpose, a
certain number of bags, dyed black, and which
went under the appellation of Black Strap, were
provided. The receivers, coopers, watermen, and
lumpers, all went on board at the appointed time.
The hogsheads of sugar, packages of coffee, &c.,were
opened, the black bags filled with the utmost
expedition, carried to the receivers, and again
returned to be re-filled, till daylight, or the approach
of it, checked the pillage for a few hours. On the
succeeding night the depredations we're renewed,
and thus, on many occasions, from fifteen to twenty

hogsheads of sugar, a large quantity of coffee, and
in many instances rum (which was -emoved by a
small pump called a jigger, and fillea into bladders
with nozzles), was plundered in a single ship, in
addition to the excessive pillage committed in the
same ship by the lumpers, or labourers employed
during the day in the discharge of the cargo. And,
previous to the establishment of the docks, it has
been estimated, upon credible authority, that above
one-fifth of the vessels on the Thames suffered by
nightly plunder. The ships subject to this species
of robbery, generally known from the character of
the mates or revenue officers on board, were
denominated Game Ships. On board some of
these, the labourers, called lumpers, would fre
quently solicit to work without wages, trusting to
the liberty of plundering. Another class called
Heavy Horsemen, made up of lumpers, &c, were
exceedingly depraved. They generally went on
board ships furnished with habiliments made on
purpose to conceal sugar, coffee, cocoa, pimento,
ginger, and other articles, which they generally
conveyed on shore by means of an under-waistcoat,
containing pockets all round, and denominated a
Jemmie ,- and also by providing long bags, pouches,
and socks, which were tied to their waists under their
trowsers. These miscreants have been known to
divide from three to four guineas apiece every night,
from the produce of their plunder, during the dis
charge of what they called a Game Ship, besides the
hush-money paid to officers and others for conniving
at their nefarious practices ; Game Watermen were so
denominated from their having been known to hang
upon ships under discharge for the whole of the
day, in readiness to seize and instantly convey on
shore bags of sugar, coffee, and other articles,
pillaged by the lumpers. By such connections as
these, mates, boatswains, carpenters, seamen, and
shipboys have been seduced, and even taught to
become plunderers and thieves, who would other
wise have remained honest and faithful to the
trust reposed in them. Many of these watermen
lived in ease and affluence.
" Game Lightermen were those who used to be
in the habit of concealing in the lockers of their
lighters sugar, coffee, pimento, ginger, &c, which
they received from mates and others on board of
West Indiamen. The lockers in these lighters
were generally secured by a padlock, and these
were seldom taken out till after the lighter had
been supposed to have been completely unloaded.
It was then the practice to remove to the road
where empty craft used to be abreast of the
Custom House quay, and* then carry away the stolen
or smuggled articles. And it ' has not seldom

558

GREATER LONDON.

[The Docks.

happened that many of these Game Lightermen
have, under pretence of watching their own lighters,
actually plundered the goods under their charge to
a very considerable amount, without detection.
The artful and insidious conduct of these lighter
men was also exhibited in a very glaring point of
view in the case of a Canada merchant, who had
been accustomed to ship quantities of oil annually
to the London market. Finding a constant and
uniform deficiency in the quantity landed greatly
exceeding what could arise from common leakage,

the effect of design, he began now to discover one
of the causes at least of his great losses. He
therefore attended the discharge of the lighter until
the whole of the casks were removed, when he per
ceived a great quantity of oil leaked out, which
the lightermen had the effrontery to insist was their
perquisite. The proprietor then ordered casks to be
brought, and filled no less than nine of them with
the oil that had thus leaked out. He next ordered
the ceiling of the lighter to be pulled up, and found
between her timbers as much as filled five casks

ENTRANCE TO THE EAST INDIA DOCKS.

which his correspondents were unable to explain,
and having occasion to visit London, he was re
solved to see his cargo landed with his own eyes, so
as, if possible, to develop a mystery heretofore in
explicable, and by which he had regularly lost a
considerable sum for several years. Determined,
therefore, to look sharp after his property, he was
in attendance at the wharf in anxious expectation
of a lighter which had been laden with his oil on a
preceding day, and which, for reasons that he
could not comprehend, did not get up for many
hours after the usual time. On her arrival at the
wharf, the proprietor was confounded to find the
whole of his casks stowed in the lighter with the
bungs downwards; and convinced that this was

more. And thus, but for his own attendance
fourteen casks of oil would have been appropriated
to the use of the lightermen who, after attempting
to rob him of so much property, complained
bitterly of his ill-usage in taking it from them.
" Mud- Larks were those who played a smaller
game, being accustomed to prowl about at low
water under the quarters of West India ships, with
pretence of grubbing in the mud for old ropes,
iron, coals, &c, but whose object in reality was to
receive and conceal small bags of sugar, coffee,
pimento, and sometimes bladders containing rum.
These auxiliaries were considered as the lowest
cast of thieves. As for the revenue officers, many
of them found means not only to promote pillage

River Lea.]

ETYMOLOGY OF THE LEA.

559

in West India ships, "but also in ships from the
East Indies, and in every ship and vessel arriving
and departing from the River Thames. This class
of officers generally made a point of being punc
tual upon duty, and, never being found absent
by their superiors, they obtained preference to
those particular ships which afforded the best
harvest, either from being under the care of mates
or others with whom they were connected ; or from
the cargo being of a nature calculated to afford a
resource for plunder. They were also generally
acquainted with the copemen, or receivers ; and at
those seasons of the year when the crowded state
of the port rendered it necessary to have extra and
glut officers, the general distress of this class of
men rendered them very easy to seduce, and to
become the willing instruments of plunder.
" Scuffle-Hunters were so called from their re
sorting in numbers to the quays and wharves where
goods were discharging under pretence of finding
employment as labourers, &c, and then taking ad
vantage of the circumstance of disputes and scuffles
arising about who should secure most plunder from
broken packages, &c. These men were reckoned
the very scum of society. But with the establish
ment of the docks, these and every other pest

of the community already mentioned have sunk
into that obscurity and nothingness best befitting
the present improved state of commerce and
morals." Still, as a memento of the dangerous
depravity to which we are no longer subjected, a
few more instances, as quoted by Mr. Colquhoun,
may not be without their effect : — " The receivers,
or copemen, he observed, who formed the junto of
wholesale dealers, and were accustomed to visit
ships on their arrival, carried on their negotiations
in a language whose terms were peculiar to them
selves. They also procured bladders with wooden
nozzles for the purpose of containing rum, brandy,
and other liquors, and furnished boats to convey
the plunder from the ships during the night. Some
of these receivers, to tempt and seduce those who
would permit them to plunder the cargo, would
advance them considerable sums, which, however,
rarely amounted to a moiety of the value of the
goods obtained, and frequently not one-fourth part.
Other classes of receivers being generally engaged
in business as small grocers, or chandlers, and old
iron and junk sellers, they were accustomed to
protect the plunder in its transit from one criminal
dealer to another by means of small bills of
parcels."

CHAPTER LX.
THE RIVER LEA.
'* This Prince in many a fight their forces still defyd,
The goodly River Lee he likewise did divide ;
By which the Danes had then their full fraught naives tew'd,
The greatnesse of whose streame besieged Harford rew'd." — Drayton's Polyolbion.
Etymology of the River Lea — Its Source — Luton — Brocket Hall — Hertford — Ware -Amwell and its Quaker Poet— Haileybury College — The
Rye House — Stanstead Abbots — Hoddesdon — Broxbourne— Cook's Ferry — Bleak Hall — The East London Waterworks — Lea Bridge —
Fishing on the Lea — Hackney Marshes and Temple Mills — The Navigation of the Lea — Conservancy of the River.
By some of the older historians it was spelled Luy.
In Shakespeare's Henry VI. it is written Ley.
Drayton, in his " Polyolbion," spells it both Lea
and Lee ; and Sir John Hawkins, in his " Life of
Walton," spells it Lea.
The Lea, however, belongs really more to Hert
fordshire than to Essex or Middlesex, as it bounds
the latter counties on the west and east for only
the last ten or twelve miles nearest London. It
meets the Essex border at the point where it
receives the Stort,* at Roydon, and flows nearly
* The Stort, which gives its name to (Bishop) Stortford, rises in
Hertfordshire, but soon enters Essex, along the western border of which
it flows till it meets the Lea at Roydon. Its whole course is not above
twenty-four miles, the last ten of which are navigable. The Stort and
Lea, in spite of modern railways, are still largely used to convey corn
malt, wood, and agricultural produce to London.

During our perambulations, since we first reached
the banks of the Lea, in the neighbourhood of
Enfield Highway and Waltham Abbey,* we have
occasionally touched slightly upon this very " fish-
ful " stream. The Lea, however, is so essentially
the Londoner's favourite river, next to, if not
equally with, the Thames, that we may well be
excused if we dwell a little longer upon its charms
before we take our leave of the north suburban
district once and for all.
The name of the river, which is of Saxon origin,
has been variously written, but the most common
spelling in the present day is Lea. The Conser
vancy, however, still adhere to the old form Lee.

See ante, pp. 375 and 404.

560

GREATER LONDON.

[River Lea.

due south near Broxbourne, Hoddesdon, and Ches
hunt in Herts, and Waltham Abbey, Chingford,
Leyton, and Stratford in Essex, in its course to the
Thames, a distance of about twenty miles. Its
banks are low and marshy, and greatly overspread
by floods in the winter. The marshes are from
half a mile to a mile in width. The stream is
frequently divided into several channels, so that
it is difficult of navigation. In some places also
cuts have been made to shorten or improve its
course. Some of the Acts of Parliament relating
to this navigation are 400 years old.
The source of the river, according to Drayton,
is to be found in some springs at Lea Grave, about
a mile north of Luton, of which he sings as —
"The head,
Whence Lee doth spring, not farre from Kempton* towne."
A quaint account of the course of this river,
wonderfully exact and accurate upon the whole,
may be seen in Vallen's " Tale of Two Swannes "'
(1590), from which I have taken some few of the
mottoes for my chapters, and which is reprinted
in extenso at the beginning of Mr. J. E. Cussans'
" History of Hertfordshire."
Lambarde, however, describes its course in a
more prosaic manner. He writes : — " It begyn-
nethe near Whitchurche, and from thence passinge
by Hertforde, Ware, and Waltham, openethe into
the Thames at Ham, in Essex, whence this place
is at this day called Lea-mouth. It hath of long
tyme borne vessels from London twenty myles
towards the head, for in the tyme of King Alfrede
the Danes entered Ley-mouth, whence King
Alfrede espied that the channell of the ryver might
be in such sorte weakened that they should want
water to returne. He caused, therefore, the water
to be abated by two greate trenches, and setting
the Londonners upon them, he made their batteil,
wherein they lost four of their capitaines. Not
long after they were so pressed that they forsoke
all, and left their shippes as a prey to the London
ners, which breakyne some and burninge other,
conveyed the rest to London."
The actual source of the Lea, however, is in a
field at Houghton Regis, about a mile from Dun
stable, and, like that of most other rivers, it soon
spreads out in the form of a pond. Although
there may be nothing particularly attractive in the
spring or its immediate surroundings, the village of
Houghton Regis, with its clusters of thatched-roofed
cottages and its fine old church, is one which may
be admired for its picturesque rural scenery. For
-- Kcrnpston-

some distance from its source the Lea is little
more than a ditch in appearance, and it is not
until it reaches Luton — a place of note for its
straw-hat factories — that it becomes anything like
a respectable stream. Luton Church, a large build
ing of Perpendicular architecture, contains many
interesting features, but has suffered much from
the hands of would-be restorers. The river next
passes through Luton Park, the seat of Mrs. Gerard
Leigh, in its course supplying two large lakes in
the grounds, said to contain, the one fourteen, and
the other forty acres. The mansion, called Luton
Hoo, was visited by Dr. Johnson and his friend
Boswell when it was the seat of Lord Bute. It
was almost wholly burnt down in 1843, but has
since been rebuilt. Having passed the little town
of Whethamsted, the river flows on for about two
miles to Brocket Hall, once the seat of Lord Mel
bourne and of Lord Palmerston. The house is a
large brick structure, and the Lea spreads out
before it in the form of a spacious lake. After
leaving Brocket Hall, the Lea flows on through a
fertile country — -somewhat level, perhaps, but plea
sant withal — and, leaving the town of Hatfield on
the right, winds its way through a corner of Hat
field Park, the seat of Lord Salisbury. The man
sion, called Hatfield House, is a large and stately
building of brick with stone dressings, in the Tudor
style, and it contains the finest collection of
ancient manuscripts of any mansion in the king
dom. Elizabeth was for some time a prisoner
here before her accession to the throne, and an
old oak at a corner of an avenue on the northern
side of the park is called the " Queen's Oak," from
a tradition that it formed the boundary of her daily
walk. On reaching Hertford the Lea is joined by
another stream, and is visibly increased in volume.
Although the town of Hertford is one of great
historic interest, a portion of the castle is almost
the only antiquarian object existing ; this consists
of two or three brick towers with a few chambers
attached, and some portions of the outer walls.
The first lock on the River Lea is about midway
between Hertford and Ware. This latter place is
supposed to have derived both its origin and its
name from a ' ' weare " or dam constructed by the
Danes in the reign of King Alfred (a.d. 896), for
the purpose of protecting a large fort which they
had erected at the spot whereon the town of Ware
now stands. By the concurrent testimony of old
writers, the Lea was once navigable for ships as
far as Hertford, up to which the Danes came by
water. Alfred blocked them up in the fortress
which they had built, and deprived them of their

River Lea.]

AMWELL.

56i

ships. The injury done to the river was not
repaired till the seventeenth century, and the
navigation restored. On the banks of the Lea,
a short distance from Ware Church, and just beyond
Ware lock, are slight remains of a Benedictine
priory, which was founded here in the reign of
Henry III.
A little to the south of Ware, nearly opposite
Ware Park, and at a point where the Lea trends
southward towards Essex and Middlesex, lie
Chadwell Springs, which form the source of the
New River, by means of which so large a portion
of London is supplied with water. The site of the
principal spring is marked by a stone erected by
the New River Company, and bearing an inscrip
tion which sets forth that it was opened in 1608,
and that the water is conveyed forty miles.
As we leave Ware a vision of Alfred rises up as
we think of his memorable exploit of diverting the
channel of the Lea, leaving the Danish ships high
and dry behind their weir. Following the course
of our river, we soon reach Amwell — the Etnme-
well of the Domesday Book — perhaps the prettiest
village on the banks of the Lea. This spot,
which is well wooded, is invested with an interest
of its own, as having been the residence of the
Quaker poet, John Scott, on whom a pleasant and
chatty paper from the pen of ' Charles Knight
appears in the first volume of Once a Week. The
house which Scott formerly occupied still stands.
It is an old-fashioned, comfortable, red-brick build
ing of no great pretensions. Its gardens and
grounds, which once covered upwards of twenty
acres, were sold in 1864 for building purposes;
but his curious grotto, inlaid with spar, shells,
and fossils — once regarded as a rival to that of
Pope at Twickenham, and visited by " the quality "
from London, and by such learned philosophers
as Dr. Samuel Johnson — forms now the central
attraction in some tea-gardens, and visitors are
admitted to it on payment, of 6d. a head. The
grotto is curiously cut out in the chalky soil on
which the village stands, and comprises six or
seven chambers.
Amwell can boast of having numbered among
its residents one other poet at least in the person
of William Warner, an " attorney of the Common
Pleas," who held fair rank as a poet in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, and was the author of
" Albion's England " and other poems. Warner is
said to have been a AVarwickshire man, and to
have been educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford.
He died here in 1608—9.
On Amwell Hill are traces of ancient fortifica
tions or earthworks, and others are visible between

Ware and Hertford. These are supposed to be
the remains of those thrown up by the Danes and
King Alfred.
On a stone upon an eyot, or ait, at the source of
the New River at Amwell, are the following lines,
from the pen of Archdeacon Nares : —
"Amwell ! perpetual be thy spring,
Nor e'er thy source be less,
Which thousands drink who little dream
Whence flows the boon they bless.
" Too often thus ungrateful man
Blind and unconscious lives ;
Enjoys kind Heaven's indulgent plan,
Nor thinks of Him who gives."
Nowhere in its entire course does the Lea
run clearer or purer than about Amwell, where the
soil is chalky. It must have been about here that
was caught " that great trout, near an ell in length,
which had his picture drawne, and now to be seen
at mine hoste Rickabie's at the ' George,' in
Ware," as honest Izaak Walton writes in chap
ter iv. of his delightful " Angler." Amwell was
one of the favourite meets of Walton and his
friend " Venator," as all readers of his " Complete
Angler" are aware ; and it was probably about here
that " Piscator '' conducted his friend to " an honest
alehouse," where is to be found " a cleanly room,
lavender in the windows, and twenty ballads stuck
about the wall."
Scott has paid his tribute to Izaak Walton, who,
he writes : — ¦
" Oft our fair haunts explored ; upon Lea's shore
Beneath some green turf oft his angle laid,
His sport suspending to admire their charms."
On a woody knoll, just above the New River,
and in the midst of the village, stands Amwell
Church, an exceedingly picturesque old edifice.
Its situation has been beautifully described by John
Scott in the following lines : —
" The pleased eye, which o'er the prospect wide
Has wandered round, and various objects marked
On Amwell rests at last, its favourite scene.
How picturesque the view ! where up the side
Of that steep bank her roofs of russet thatch
Rise, mixed with trees, above whose swelling tops
Ascends the tall church tower, and loftier still
The hill's extended ridge."
Scott's style throughout is strictly pastoral, 'as his
description of the view from Amwell Hill will
show : — " How beautiful,
How various is yon view ! Delicious hills
Bounding smooth vales, smooth vales by winding streams
Divided, that here glide through grassy banks
In open sun, there wander under shade

562

GREATER LONDON.

[River Lea.

Of aspen tall, or ancient elm, whose boughs
O'erhang grey castles, and romantic farms,
And humble cots of happy shepherd swains.
# * # * *
Far towards the west, close under shelt'ring hills,
In verdant meads by Lea's cerulean stream,
Hertford's grey towers ascend ; the rude remains
Of high antiquity, from waste escaped
Of envious time and violence of war. "
Amwell Church displays the architecture of the
fourteenth century ; its very perfect apse peeps
from behind the richest foliage ; and, altogether,
the place would be interesting without its associa
tions. Besides William Warner, mentioned above,
and whom John Scott calls " the gentle bard, by
fame forgotten," here lie at rest among the "rude
forefathers of the hamlet " Robert Mylne, the
engineer of old Blackfriars Bridge, and the Rev.
Richard Jones, some time Professor of History and
Political Economy at Haileybury College. Scott
himself lies buried in the Quakers' burial place at
Ware. Within the limits of the parish of Amwell, though
nearly two miles from that village and church,
stands Haileybury College, once the chief place of
training for cadets destined to enter the old East
India Company's Civil Service, as Addiscombe was
for its Military Service. The buildings are very
extensive, and surround a quadrangle larger than
that of Christ Church, Oxford, and equal to
Trinity College, Cambridge. They are in the
classical style, and heavy and dull to the last
degree ; they were designed by W. Wilkins, R.A.
In this college Sir James Mackintosh, Malthus,
Empson, and other well-known men, were pro
fessors ; and Lord Brougham and other leaders of
the old Whig party were frequent visitors within its
walls. In 1862, the buildings having been closed
since the abolition of the great Company whose
nursery it was, a public school was founded here
by a proprietary connected with Hertfordshire.
Fresh buildings, and a handsome new chapel, from
the designs of Mr. Blomfield, have been added.
The result is a public school of 500 boys, mostly
destined for a university career, and holding its
own in the competition for Oxford and Cambridge
scholarships, and in the cricket-field and at foot
ball, with the rest of our public schools. Its first
master under the new regime was the Rev. Arthur
Butler, who was succeeded by Dr. E. H. Bradby.
But we must leave Amwell and follow as closely
as we may the windings of the Lea as it meanders
in " silver thread " through the green pastures of
Hertfordshire to the old Rye House — that favourite
retreat of the thoroughbred cockney, where he may
find " art, science, history, romance, boating,

fishing, horticulture, a lovely English landscape,
and jolly English cheer, all in one short holiday."
We can scarcely wander through the valley of the
Lea as honest Izaak wandered ; for the river has
been made navigable by long formal cuts, and the
old stream is in most places strictly preserved ; so
we are compelled to pursue ,'our way in part along
by the less picturesque New River.
The celebrated Rye House, so well known as a
place of entertainment to Londoners, especially
those from the northern and eastern parts, is
situated in the parish of Stanstead Abbots. It is
so called from being within the manor of Rye,
formerly belonging to the Abbey of Waltham. It
was alienated about 1440 to Sir Andrew Ogard,
who erected on it a small castle, which is described
by William of Worcester in the minutest detail,
with the exact measurement of each court, the
moat, the granary, &c. The purchase-money, he
tells us, was .£1,130, a large sum in those days.
The Rye House was noted for the " plot " laid
there in 1683 against the lives of Charles II. and
his brother James. The place, which lay on the
then road to Newmarket, was in the occupation of a
maltster named Rumbold, one of the conspirators,
and the place was hit upon as the most convenient
to intercept the royal party on their return from the
races ; but the scheme failed, owing to the king's
return taking place some days sooner than was
anticipated. The stoiy of the " Rye House Plot," for alleged
complicity in which the noble Sidney and Lord
William Russell were brought to the scaffold, is
told in every History of England, but nowhere
better than in Mr. A. C. Ewald's "Life and
Times of Algernon Sidney." Russell, Sidney, and
Hampden, with three other Whig statesmen, had
formed themselves into a " Council of Six," and were
concerting measures to exclude James, Duke of
York, from the throne. " Whilst the Council of Six
were meditating their plans, whatever they might
be, an inferior order of conspirators were holding
meetings and organising an insurrection perfectly
unknown to the Council. The chief of these con
spirators were West, an active man, who was sup
posed to be an Atheist; Colonel Rumsey, an
officer who had served under Cromwell, and after
wards in Portugal ; Ferguson, an active agent of
the late Lord Shaftesbury ; Goodenough, who had
been Under-Sheriff of London; lieutenant-Colonel
Walcot, a Republican officer ; and several lawyers
and tradesmen. The aim of these men seems to
have been desperate and criminal in the extreme.
They talked openly about murdering the King and
his brother, and even went so far as to organise a

River Lea.]

THE RYE HOUSE.

5^3

scheme for that purpose. Among this band was
one Rumbold, a maltster, who owned a farm called
the Rye House, situated, on the road to New
market, which sporting town Charles was accus
tomed to visit annually for the races. Rumbold
laid before the conspirators a plan of this farm, and
showed how easy it would be to intercept the King
and his brother on their way home, fire upon them
through the hedges, and then, when the deed of
assassination was committed, escape by the by-
lanes and across the fields. The murderous scheme
of the maltster was, however, frustrated by Charles
having been obliged to leave Newmarket eight
days earlier than he had intended, owing to his
house having taken fire. Treachery now put a stop
to any further proceedings of the conspirators."
False witnesses, however, were found to connect
the honoured names of Russell and Sidney with
this villainous scheme, and the result was that
orders were given for the arrest of the members of
the Council of Six. The sequel is but too well
known.* "The Rye House,'' writes Mr. Cussans in his
noble " History of Hertfordshire," " has become
celebrated in history for its having been tenanted
by Rumbold, a maltster, one of the persons en
gaged in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate
Charles II. and his brother the Duke of York, on
their journey from Newmarket to London ; but
the scheme failed, in consequence of the royal
party returning sooner than was anticipated. Lord
William Russell and Algernon Sidney were said to
have been inculpated in the plot ; and after a trial
in which their connection with this scheme was by
no means satisfactorily proved, however much they
may have been concerned in other treasonable de
signs, they were publicly executed."
Mr. Cussans adds that for many years, till the
passing of the new Poor Law Act, the Rye House
was used as a workhouse for the parish of Stanstead.
"Little of the old building," he writes, "remains.
A tavern has been built in the ancient forecourt,
upon the banks of the Lee, and is much frequented
by the lower classes from London. The moat, at
one time an important part of the fortification of
the castle, is now used as a bed for water-cresses.
Mr. Teale, the present tenant, purchased the pro
perty in 1867."
The remains of an embattled gate-house of brick,
with a stone doorway and vaulted chambers, are
shown to visitors as part of the original structure
built in the reign of Henry VI. The place now
forms one of the attractions of a modern hostelry,

* See " Old and New London," Vol. III., p. 45-

and the grounds are pleasantly laid out, with the
extra advantages of a maze, bowling-green, &c.
Among the curiosities preserved here is the "great
bed of Ware." Little if anything is satisfactorily
known of the origin of this curious piece of furni
ture, which is said to be sufficiently capacious to
accommodate six couples. At the head is carved
the date, 1435, and it is referred to in Shakespeare's
"Twelfth Night":—
Sir Anthony Aguecheek .- — " Will either of you
bear me a challenge to him ? "
Sir Toby Belch : — " Go write it in a martial
hand ; be curt and brief; it is no matter how
witty, so it be eloquent and full of invention.
Taunt him with the licence of ink; if thou thou'st
him some thrice, it shall not be amiss ; and so
many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, although
the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in
England." Charles Knight, in the article in Once a Week
above referred to, thus sums up the attractions of
the Rye House : — " Hither come for their annual
festivals clubs of Odd Fellows and of Jolly Fellows
— the skilled artisans of great London establish
ments, such as printers and pianoforte makers.
They dine in a vast saloon, formed out of an ex
tension of the old offices of Rumbold the maltster,
who dwelt in the Rye House. Up the old turret
they climb, and look out upon the green fields
through which the Lea flows amidst osiered banks.
They crowd into punts, and aspire to angle where
Walton angled. They speed over the meadows,
and try their unaccustomed hands at trap-ball and
quoits. The provident host of the Rye House
is justly proud of the patronage of these great
associations of ingenious workmen, who dine
economically, and care more for ale than cham
pagne. His dining-room is radiant with bright gilt
frames, holding pleasant certificates of their ex
cellent fare from the representatives of the merry
and contented hundreds who have thus forgot
their accustomed lot for the summer holiday long
to be remembered. The form of enjoyment is
changed : the conveniences for enjoyment have
multiplied since Walton described his holidays —
' stretching our legs up Tottenham Hill;' ' taking
our morning draught at the Thatched House at
Hodsden ;' 'leading our mates to an honest alehouse,
where we shall find a cleanly room, lavender in
the windows, and twenty ballads stuck about the
wall ; ' listening to the song of ' a handsome milk
maid, that had not yet attained so much age and .
wisdom as to load her mitid with any fears of many
things that will never be.' We have no time in our
days for such lingering delights ; we have no taste

5 64

GREATER LONDON

[River Lea.

for such simple luxuries. We ourselves rejoice to
find as good a dinner at the Rye House as at the
Bedford, instead of bringing out of our fish bags ' a
piece of powdered beef and a radish or two. ' We
sit contentedly sipping our sherry and water and
puffing our cigar under alcoves festooned with
roses, instead of indulging in such rare gratification
as that with which happy Isaak finished his three
days' sport — 'a bottle of sack, milk, oranges, and
sugar, which all put together make a drink like
nectar — indeed, too good for anybody but anglers,'

No milkmaid's mother sings ' an answer to it, which
was made by Sir Walter Raleigh in his younger days.'
The forms of our pleasures and their accompani
ments in other respects incessantly change, but
their natural backgrounds are eternally fresh and
perennially welcome."
Stanstead Abbots is so called because it formerly
belonged to the Abbey of Waltham. Of the
church there is little to say, except that it contains
some fine monuments, and dates from , the latter
half of the 14th century. In this parish is an old

COOK'S FERRY. (See page 566.)

The habitual economy of those times enabled the
industrious tradesman to be occasionally expensive
in his tastes. The cheapness and rapidity of
modern conveyance permits the London artisan to
have a full day's relaxation with that best of
economies, the economy of his time. Our holiday
enjoyments are perhaps not quite so poetical as
when the cheerful old Piscator went out with a
determined purpose to be happy. On the banks of
the Lea no milkmaid now charms us with 'that
smooth song which was made by Kit Marlow,' of
' Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, or hills, or field,
Or woods and steepy mountains yield.'

endowed school and almshouses, founded in 1636
by Sir Edward Baish, a gallant Royalist, who spent
nearly all his fortune in the cause of the King.
Close by is Easney, more properly Isenye, a seat
of the Buxton family, erected by Waterhouse in
1868-70. At Stanstead Bury are the remains of a
Roman fortress, in which was a small chapel.
Once more resuming our pilgrimage along the
banks of the Lea, we soon pass under the railway-
bridge of the Cambridge branch of the Great
Eastern Railway, and shortly after arrive at the
junction of the Stort with the Lea, at which point
Essex begins. Close by is a fishing cottage, which
stands on the most northerly detached portion of
Epping Forest, whence a footpath across a couple of

River Lea.]

HODDESDON.

565

fields leads to Nether Hall ; little is left of the old
moated building, however, beyond the ruined gate
way, which is of brick, consisting of two floors,
with a half hexagon tower on each side of the
entrance. Our river now flows on a little to the east of
Hoddesdon, or, as it was formerly written, Hods
don. The village possesses no interesting features
to detain us on our way ; but it is worthy of note
from its association with the River Lea through the
pens of Izaak Walton and Matthew Prior. The

" Rambles by Rivers," says that a cottage at the
northern extremity of the village has been pointed
out as the original " Thatcht House " where Vena
tor proposed to " drink his morning's draught ; "
but, he adds, it is very doubtful if it be so. The
river about this part has long been a favourite
resort of the London angler; trout, chub, pike,
perch, barbel, gudgeon, dace, and roach, are
enumerated in almost every chapter of Walton's
"Angler" as found about Amwell, Hodsdon,
and Waltham Abbey ; indeed, the first-named fish

AT LEA BRIDGE.

latter, in his ballad of " Down Hall," makes men
tion of the " Bull" Inn here as the place where he
stopped on his way to take possession of his resi
dence of that name : — ¦
"Into an old inn did their equipage roll
At a town they call Hodsdon, the sign of the Bull,
Near a nymph with an urn that divides the highway,
And into a puddle throws mother of tea ;
* # * * * *
She roasted red veal, and she powdered red beef ;
Full well she knew how to cook up a fine dish,
For tough were her pullets and tender her fish,
Down, down, derry down."
The " nymph with an urn,'' it may be added, has
long ago disappeared, and the "Bull" has been
rebuilt since Prior's time. Mr. Thorne, in his
48

gave its name to Trout Hall, which is so con
stantly mentioned by Walton, though its exact
site is disputed, and near which the pretty milk
maid sang to the "brethren of the angle'' Kit
Marlow's well-known lines, above quoted. The
scene must be laid somewhere near Hodsdon,
for Peter says, " My friend Coridon and I will go
up the river towards Ware;" to which Piscator
replies, " And my scholar and I will go down towards
Waltham." The " fresh sheets " at the inn "smell
of fresh lavender," and the discourse on the way
to the river-side and back is on the nature of the
trout. The spreading birches and sycamore trees,
of which honest Izaak Walton talks so much,
should surely help to identify the spot.

566

GREATER LONDON.

[River Lea.

"Coridon and I," observes Piscator later on,
"have not had an unpleasant day, and yet I have
caught but five trouts ; for, indeed, we went to a
good, honest alehouse, and there we plaid at shovel-
board half the day. All the time that it rain'd
we were there, and as merry as they that fished."
Sir John Hawkins, in his notes on the " Com
plete Angler," relates the following story : — " A
lover of angling told me he was fishing in the
river Lea, at the ferry called Jeremy's, and had
hooked a large fish at the time when some Lon
doners, with their horses, were passing : they con
gratulated him on his success, and got out of the
ferry-boat ; but, finding the fish not likely to yield,
mounted their horses, and rode off. The fact was,
that angling for small fish, his bait had been taken
by a barbel, too large for the fisher to manage.
Not caring to risk his tackle by attempting to raise
him, he hoped to tire him ; and, for that purpose,
suffered himself to be led (to use his own expres
sion) as a blind man is by a dog, several yards up
and as many down, the bank of the river ; in short,
for so many hours that the horsemen above-men
tioned, who had been at Walthamstow, and dined,
were returned, who, seeing him thus occupied,
cried out — ' What, master, another large fish ! ' —
' No' (says the Piscator), ' the very same.' — ' Nay'
(says one of them), ' that can never be ; for it is five
hours since we crossed the river!' and, not
believing him, they rode on their way. At length
our angler determined to do that which a less
patient one would have done long before : he made
one vigorous effort to land the fish, broke his
tackle, and lost him."
After passing Dobbs' Weir and the lock, the Lea
forms a decided curve westward to Broxbourne,
the next place of interest at which we arrive. The
church and parsonage, standing on rising ground
above an old water-mill, look highly picturesque, as
seen from the river. The church dates from the
time of Henry II. ; it is of considerable size, and
the tower is surmounted by a plain spire and
beacon turret. On the north side of the chancel is
a chapel, built by Sir William Say, and containing
an altar-tomb in memory of the founder, who died
in 1559. This church contains many other monu
ments and brasses, which will be regarded with
interest, as illustrating the costumes of the Tudor
period. The parish of Nazing borders the Lea for some
distance on the opposite, or Essex, side of the
stream. Nazing Church is visible away on a dis
tant hill, whilst Holyfield Hall,* with its contiguous
* See ante, p. 417.

farm-buildings, surrounded by venerable elms,
occupies the rising ground nearer the river, which
now flows onward in almost a direct line due
south. Wormley Church, a little farther on — on the
Hertfordshire side of the river — is a small building,
partly of Norman workmanship, and containing
several ancient brasses. The remains of Cheshunt
Nunnery lie near the river-side, just beyond Worm-
ley; and, farther on, we pass Cheshunt Mill Lock
and Waltham Common Lock, above which a pri
vate canal runs across the Gunpowder Wharves.
Our river about here is divided Linto several dif
ferent channels, narrow and tortuous ; the Naviga
tion Cut, however, affords an almost direct route
for the next half-dozen miles. Enfield and Waltham
Abbey, with the Small Arms Factory and Powder
Mills, which we now pass, have each and all been
fully described in these pages.*
At Cook's Ferry, which is now occupied by a
bridge, and forms the communication between
Edmonton and Chingford, stands or stood a small
building called " Bleak Hall," the house to which,
by tradition, Piscator is said to have taken his
" scholar," and which was then, according to
Izaak Walton, "an honest alehouse, where might
be found a cleanly room, lavender in the windows,
and twenty ballads stuck about the walls ; with a
hostess both cleanly, and handsome, and civil."
This house is generally called Bleak Hall, and is
pointed out and engraved in Sir H. Nicolas's
Notes to the " Complete Angler " and elsewhere
as the original Bleak Hall of Izaak ; but, unless he
made a slip of the pen, it cannot be so, for in the
conversation on the night spent there (Chap, v.),
as quoted above, Piscator speaks of going with his
scholar " down towards Waltham," whereas this is
some miles below Waltham.
Stonebridge and Tottenham locks come next in
order as we follow the course of the Lea, and then
we arrive at the reservoirs belonging to the East
London Waterworks Company, at the point where
the old copper-mills of Walthamstow formerly
stood.f A canal as straight as an arrow, formed
by raised embankments, connects the Waltham
stow reservoirs with those by Lea Bridge, of which
we have already spoken. The East London
Waterworks Company draws largely on the Lea
for [its supply. This company is the largest pur
veyor of any of the metropolitan water companies ;
the quantity of water sold by it in the course of a
year amounts to upwards of n,ooo million gallons,
against 10,000 million gallons supplied by the New

See ante, pp. 376, 395, and 404.

t See ante, p. 470.

River Lea.]

THE LEA FISHERIES.

567

River Company, the next largest; but while the
working expenses of the latter during the same
period absorbed nearly .£146,600, those of the
former amount only to about £89,800.
"In the year 1828," writes Mr. F. Johnson, in
" Weldon's Guide to the Lea," " objections were
made to the source from whence the East London
Company obtained their water, it. having been
asserted that, as the tide of the Thames affected
the water of the Lea in that part where the Com
pany raised their water, the water ' partook of the
nature of Thames water.' To remove all doubt on
the point, the Company obtained Parliamentary
powers, in the year 1849, to change the source of
supply ; they constructed the reservoirs and canal
at Lea Bridge, for the purpose of bringing water
from a part of the river which was far above tidal
influence. They had already purchased out the
Hackney Common, which had been established
here about 1750, whose water-wheels drove ma
chinery to grind corn and raise water for the supply
of the neighbourhood."
Lea Bridge was built in 1821, at a cost of
£4,500. Close by it, and extending some distance
along the banks of the river, are places for the hire
of boats for rowing on the Lea ; here are also the
head-quarters of several rowing-clubs. Both fish
ing and boating are carried on in the neighbour
hood of Lea Bridge to a very great extent ; indeed,
the incipient cockney fisherman and aquatic sports
man generally seem to regard the several streams
and channels into which the Lea is divided in its
course between Walthamstow and Bow as the
chosen and highly-favoured scene of their diver
sions. Bathing also is here largely indulged in
during the summer months, notwithstanding the
very dangerous condition of the stream for that
purpose, being full of weeds and deep holes. The
result is that, with the reckless boating exploits of
inexperienced young men and women from the
eastern quarters of London, and the frequent fatali
ties resulting therefrom, as well as from bathing,
the deaths by drowning in the River Lea add con
siderably to the death-roll of the metropolitan area.
During each of the five years ending December 31,
1 88 1, the number of bodies found in the Lea were
respectively 47, 49, 55, 39, and 46; making a
total of 236.
One of the most noted houses resorted to by
anglers in the neighbourhood of Lea Bridge was
the " Horse and Groom," but it was swept away
on the extension of the waterworks. The fishery
along the Lea is carefully preserved, with the ex
ception of two or three intervening spots from
Ware to Temple Mills, and let out for the most

part to the persons who rent the several public-
houses on its banks. From these the angler
obtains permission to ply his cunning on payment
of a yearly subscription, or the occasional angler
may pay by the day.
At the old "White House," on the banks of
the river, about the middle of Hackney Marshes,
are the head-quarters of a fishery extending to
Temple Mills. This house is traditionally said
to have been the residence of the noted highway
man, Dick Turpin, before he took up his abode
in the recess in Epping Forest now called Turpin's
Cave. The " Navigation Cut " crosses the marshes
between high embankments a little to the west of
the old river, which forms picturesque bends and
meanderings, through the level meadows of which
Hackney Marshes are composed. At Hackney
Wick Bridge the old turnpike-road — following the
course of the Roman road spoken of in a previous
chapter* — after passing through Homerton, enters
Essex. It crosses the Navigation Cut by a high,
narrow bridge, and thence continues over the marsh
to the " White Hart," at Temple Mills. The ford
which was in use when this road was the ancient
way into Essex has continued as a ford to this day,
but a bridge is now (July, 1883) in course of erec
tion on the spot, so that the ford will be no longer
necessary. It is not quite clear whether Mr. J. T.
Smith wrote only in fun or seriously, in his " Book
for a Rainy Day," about crossing " the Lea " with
" the lowing herd ; " but, at all events, the fording
of cattle at this point is a frequent occurrence, the
meadows affording excellent pasturage.
Of Old Ford, Bow, and Stratford, and other
places through which the Lea passes in its course
to join the Thames, we have already spoken.
It is stated by Campbell, in his " Political Sur
vey of Great Britain," that the Lea was the first
river distinguished by the care of the Legislature in
rendering it navigable, t
The first instance of a Parliamentary provision
for the navigation of the Lea, however, was made
as far back as the reign of Henry IV. (1424). The
Act passed in the thirteenth year of Elizabeth
(1570) was for making the navigation more perfect
by the formation of a new cut from London to the
town of Ware, and ten years later the river was
cleansed and widened as far as that town, and
made navigable by an Order in Council. It was
ultimately determined by the Star Chamber that
the river should be made free for barges and boats,
and several Acts of Parliament dealing with the
* See ante, p. 508.
t See Statute 13 Eliz., cap. 18.

568

GREATER LONDON.

ffhe Thames.

matter were subsequently passed. Towards the
end of the last century, it having been shown after
a careful survey that great improvements could be
made in the navigation by the formation of new
cuts or canals out of, or into, the channel of the
river between Hertford and Bromley, a sum of
money was granted by Parliament for that purpose,
and the formation of what is now known as the
"Navigation Cut" was carried out. In 1868 an
<Vct of Parliament was passed constituting a Board
of Conservancy for the management of the River Lea,

instead of trustees, as of old. Of this Board five
members are appointed by the landowners on the
banks of the river and its tributaries, one by the
barge-owners, one by the heads of the local
authorities of towns on the river, two by the New
River Company, two by the East London Water
works Company, one represents the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Common Council of London, and
one the Metropolitan Board of Works. The
funds arising from tolls are laid out in the im
provement and maintenance of the navigation.

CHAPTER LXI.
THE RIVER THAMES.
" Oh, could I flow like thee, and make thy stream
My great example, as it is my theme !
Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull
Strong without rage ; without o'erflowing full." — Sir John Denham.
The Thames as a Political Boundary, and as a Boundary of Counties — Tributary Rivers — Breadth of the River — Its General Aspect and
Character of Scenery — The Embankments — Shoals and Floods — Tides — The Thames as the Common Highway of London — Anecdote
of Cardinal Wolsey — Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth — Abdication of James II. — Funeral of Lord Nelson — Water Traffic in
the Time of Richard II. — The Conservancy of the Thames — Boating on the Thames.
In the pages of Old and New London mention
has been made, at some length, of the river Thames
as the " silent highway " of London * ; but as only
the part " above bridge " was there dealt with, our
discourse here will be of the Pool and the lower
reaches in the course of the river to its confluence
with the German Ocean.
"At a very early period of English history,"
writes the author of Bonn's " London and its
Vicinity," "the Thames appears to have been
considered as a political boundary of great import
ance. The division of the country into shires is
supposed to have been established on its present
basis by King Alfred ; and we therein find that the
Thames was taken as the boundary of many of
these districts  Long before the time of
Alfred the river was adopted as the political
limit of the Roman provinces of Britannia Prima
on the south, and of Flavia Cssariensis on the
north. In the seventh century, also, it formed one
of the boundaries of the Saxon kingdoms of Mercia
and West Seaxe, in the middle of England ; and of
those of East Seaxe, South Seaxe, and Cantium
on the eastern coast."
The Thames, we may remark in passing, rises
in the south-eastern slopes of the Cotswold Hills,
near Tetbury, and near Cheltenham. For about
twenty miles it belongs wholly to Gloucestershire,

See Vol. III., pp. 287-322.

when, for a short distance it divides that county
from Wiltshire. It then separates Berkshire first
from Oxfordshire, and then from Buckinghamshire.
Next it serves as the boundary line between the
counties of Surrey and Middlesex ; and afterwards,
to its mouth, between those of Kent and Essex. It
falls into the sea at the Nore, which is about no
miles nearly due east from the source of the river,
and about twice that distance measured along its
windings. The Thames is navigable for sea-going
vessels as far as London Bridge, forty-five miles
from the Nore, or nearly a fourth of its entire
length, and for large barges, for nearly 130 miles
above London Bridge, whilst the area of the basin
drained by the river is estimated at above 6,500
miles. In that portion of its course with which we have
now to deal the Thames is joined by some half-
dozen rivers of minor importance. The Lea, as we
have seen, unites with it a little below Blackwall,
on the northern shore ; whilst a little higher up, on
the opposite side, the Deptford Creek forms the
mouth of the Ravensbourne, which rises among the
Surrey hills, in the neighbourhood of Hayes Common
and Addiscombe. This river winds its course
through Lewisham, and is navigable for a very
short distance inland, when it dwindles down to a
very insignificant mill-stream.
The next affluent of importance, on the Essex
shore, is the Roding, which flows into the Thames

The Thames.]

TRIBUTARIES OF THE THAMES.

5^9

at Barking Creek,* and is navigable as far as that
very ancient town. A rivulet, called the Beam,
springing from the hills round Havering-atte-Bower,
falls in at Dagenham Reach ; and at Rainham
Creek the Ingerburn, or Bourne brook — a stream
which has a rather long course, but is of little size
or importance— discharges itself. Further down,
at Purfleet, another small stream from Childerditch
Common is swallowed up in our mighty river.
Passing again to the south side, we find that the
Darent and the Cray, from the Kentish hills, join
in the marshes of Dartford, shortly before falling
into the Thames. In the last twenty miles of its
course the Thames does not receive any affluent
worth notice ; for the Medway does not join it
till the Nore is reached.
In its passage through the metropolis the Thames
varies in breadth from 260 to 500 yards. At
London Bridge, the river at high tide is 290 yards
across ; at Blackwall Wharf it is 380 ; at Gravesend
it is 800 ; at Coal-house Point, where the Lower
Hope Reach commences, it is 1,290 yards — being
an increase of some 1,000 yards in about 29 miles ;
about ten miles lower down, at the London Stone,
by Yanlet Creek, where the jurisdiction of the
Corporation of London ends, the river is nearly
four miles and a half across ; whilst, as it
approaches the Nore, it expands to seven miles
broad. " Though there are none of the wilder features of
nature observable at the estuary of the Thames,"
writes Mr. James Thorne, in his "Rambles by
, Rivers," " the prospect is at least one of mingled
amenity and grandeur. The broad calm river
passes imperceptibly into the majestic sea. Along
the entrance of the united Thames and Medway
ride some of those magnificent ships whose
thunders have made the prowess of the British navy
memorable in the annals of the world. In con
tinual passage are vessels of every class and of
every nation, bringing hither the fruits of every
clime, or bearing to every shore the products of
British skill. One who has followed the Thames
from its parent rock, through so many beautiful and
fertile districts ; past so many places dignified by
the memory of great events and illustrious men,
of British worth and British genius; by so many
trophies which mark the peaceful triumphs of
British wealth and commerce, now that he con
templates this parting scene, may well regard
with pride and admiration the noble river which so
greatly contributes to the grandeur and the glory of
his country and his countrymen. And as he looks

See ante, p. 525.

forth on the ocean sprinkled over with the shipping
of the world, it will almost seem that the language
is verified in which one of our older poets addressed
his native land :
" ' Now all the riches of the globe beside,
Flow into thee with every tide ;
And all that Nature doth thy soul deny
The growth is of thy fruitful industry j
And all the proud and dreadful sea,
And all his tributary streams,
A constant tribute pays to thee,
And all the liquid world is one extended Thames.' "
Cowlev.
" It will require no very great stretch of imagina
tion," writes Mr. S. C. Hall in the " Book of the
Thames," "to pass from the little streamlet in
Trewsbury Mead to the ' Pool ' below the Tower.
The river, born in a sequestered nook, grows and
gathers strength until it bears on its bosom * a
forest of masts ; ' enriches the greatest and most
populous city of any age ; ministers to the wants
and luxuries of nearly three millions of people —
there alone ; becomes the mainstay of commerce,
and the missionary of civilisation to mankind,
carrying innumerable blessings throughout the Old
World and the New ; yet ever the active auxiliary,
and never the dangerous ally — keeping from its
birth to its close the character so happily conveyed
by the famous lines of the poet :
' Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull ;
Strong without rage ; without o'erflowing, full.'
Few, therefore, are the poets of England who
have no word for ' Old Father Thames ! ' Even its
minor enjoyments have been fertile themes for the
muse ; and numerous are they who laud the 'gentle
craft ' of the angler, whose ' idle time is never idly
spent ' beside the river, which, above all others,
invites to contemplation, and promotes familiar
intercourse with Nature. Here, too, the botanist
and the entomologist gather a rich harvest of
instruction ; while to the landscape painter, wander
where he will, it is ever an open volume of natural
beauties, which are the only veritable teachers of art."
The general character, of the scenery of the
Thames is that of a calm and tranquil beauty, •
rather than of bold and romantic grandeur. The
scenery on either side, and particularly on the
Essex shore, is somewhat flat and dull, rising,
however, into little hillocks away in the distance ;
but this dulness is compensated for by the broad
expansive reaches that occur all along its course.
The banks, or river walls, along the Essex shore,
as we have shown in a previous chapter, * are
* See ante, p. 530.

57°

GREATER LONDON.

[The Thames

mostly artificial, the meadows being, in places,
below the level of the river at high water. The
general construction of these embankments is what
is technically called the " earthen mound." It
consists of a heap of earth, the section of which
forms a scalene triangle, with the side towards the
river inclined at an angle of about 200, and that
towards the land at one of about 45°. They are
fortified chiefly by tiers of stakes, driven into the
river face of the wall, and the intervals filled in with
lumps of chalk or stone, rammed in to a level
with the heads of the stakes or " stalks," as they
are more generally called. Since the river steamer
has added its " churning " power to the influence
of tide and wind, however, the wall has been faced
with a granite pavement.
" The banks of the lower part of the Thames,"
observes the author of Bohn's " Pictorial Hand
book of London," " are marked by the same want
of a definite plan which renders the upper part of
the stream less useful than it might be made. The
period at which they were first formed is very
remote, being by some supposed to date as far
back as the time of the Romans. This, indeed,
seems very probable, for the manner in which the
banks are executed, though eminently successful, is
marked by all the clumsiness of a first essay. The
marshes they protect from the river are sometimes
(as at Woolwich) not less than four feet three
inches below the level of the high water in spring
tides. Those of the Isle of Dogs are now (1854)
being enclosed by an embankment upon piles, with
a superstructure of brickwork, executed in con
formity with a plan prepared by Mr. Walker, under
the direction of the Navigation Committee ; thus
indicating that the attention of that body has been
fairly called to the necessity of co-ordinating all
encroachments upon the channel of the river to
one general system. The result of the several
works upon the bed of the Thames, and the
demolition of the old bridge, has been hitherto to
lower the bed, and to compromise the safety of
several of the bridges in the stream, and of some
of the buildings on the shore  Moreover,
in the lower Thames, that is to say, in those parts
of its course below London Bridge, numerous
shoals exist, which are highly prejudicial to the
safety of the navigation, whilst at the same time,
there is no reason why they might not be carried
further out towards the embouchure if the course
of the river were regularised, and the dredging
operations made to conform to the necessities of
the port. The shoals exist in the parts of the
Thames in which the deep sea navigation termi
nates, where, in fact, from the more energetic action

The Thames.]

SHOALS.

57i

of the tides, the floods from the upper country
begin to deposit the matter they hold in solution."
The occasional floods which occur in the valleys
of the Thames and the Lea arise entirely from the
surface waters, hardly ever from the melting of
snow in the higher lands near their sources.
Indeed, the climate of this part of England, and
the feeble elevation of its hills, does not admit of
the fall of snow in quantities sufficient to affect
the sources of the river supply. Under these
circumstances the floods are found to occur in the
rainy seasons — in November and December, in

of the London Dock on the north, and the St.
Saviour's Dock on the south ; a similar shoal was
formed opposite to the Lime Kiln Dock ; another
in a wide reach a little above the Greenland Docks ;
a fourth near Deptford Creek. Opposite Saunders
Ness, shoals have been formed on each side of the
river, owing to the check given to its velocity by
the abrupt bend which it here assumes ; whilst a
small shoal in the middle of the stream, a little
lower down than these side ones, appears to have
owed its origin to the interference which it produces
in the direction of the currents. Another small

THE THAMES — WOOLWICH REACH.

April and May, without, however, being in any
manner peculiarly confined to those months. The
flood waters brought down to the rivers are highly
charged with earthy matter, and the germs of
organised life ; they, in fact, materially influence
the formation of the alluvial deposits of the rivers.
The volume of water brought down by the
Thames not being sufficient to form a delta, the
particles which the stream holds in solution are
gradually deposited on the mudbanks, and form
shifting shoals, which extend from about Woolwich
to the Nore, and even beyond.
Numerous shoals have existed in the bed of the
river near the entrance to the Pool, but in most
instances these have been reduced by dredging.
For instance, a shoal existed on the north shore,
opposite to the recesses formed by the east entrance

shoal has been produced in the still water opposite
the entrance of the West India Docks.
Below the above-mentioned points of the river
it is very difficult, from the nature of the currents,
to define with certainty the exact position of the
shoals ; still less would it be possible to effectually
remove them, or to stop their formation. A writer
on the physical geography of the Thames, observes,
"At Woolwich the water becomes brackish at
spring tides, and the greater specific gravity it
thence attains modifies the conditions of the de
position of the matter it holds in suspension. The
difference between the lengths of time during
which the flood and the ebb tides prevail also
diminishes as the river approaches the sea. More
over, the action of the current upon the shores of
the embouchure at the same time that it removes

572

GREATER LONDON.

[The Thames.

the land on both sides, and thus changes the form
of the outfall, so also does it carry into those por
tions of the estuary where still water is to be met
with the materials resulting from the degradation
of the shores. The variations of the tides from
the neap to the spring, the changes in the force and
direction of the deep-sea current — possibly from
the effects of storms in very different and distant
latitudes — the irregularities of the volume of fresh
water brought down from the upper regions of the
Thames, combine to render its regime in the lower
and wider portions of its course very irregular and
capricious. The sands of the Nore vary often in
their outline, and their distance from the surface of
the water ; the erosive force of the current upon
the banks also varies in intensity, according to the
action of the causes shortly enumerated above.
"The tide in the Thames ascends about fifteen
miles above London Bridge to Teddington, below
which place the river is exposed to the action of
the tides from a peculiar combination of causes.
The tide-wave from the Atlantic divides at Land's
End into two streams, one of which runs up the
British Channel, and enters the Thames round the
North Foreland ; the other passes along the west
coast of England and Scotland, and returns south
ward by the eastern shore and enters the Thames
also, after passing the Yarmouth Roads. The tide
in the river is then composed of two tidal waves,
distant twelve hours from each other, so that the
day and night tides are equal ; the tides meet
between the Foreland and the Kentish Knock.
The velocity of the wave from the North Foreland
to London is very great, being about fifty miles
per hour ; above the bridges, from the resistances
it meets, the velocity is so much diminished that
the wave is not propagated more rapidly than
twelve miles an hour on the average. The dif
ference of time of high water between London
Bridge and Richmond is one hour eighteen
minutes . . . Professor Airy observed that
the rise of the water in the Thames, at a given
interval from low water — in half an hour, for
instance — is considerably more than its descent in
the same interval before low water. There exists,
in fact, the rudiment of a bore. The duration of
slack water, or the interval between the change of
direction of the stream, is forty minutes during the
spring tides and thirty-seven minutes during the
neaps, at Deptford. The vulgar establishment is the
interval by which the time of high water follows the
moon's transit on the day of new and full moon.
What Sir John Lubbock calls the corrected estab
lishment, or the lunar hour of high water, freed
from the semi-menstrual irregularity, is found to

be, at the London Docks, one hour twenty-six
minutes. The interval of the high tide and
moon's transit is, however, affected by a consider
able inequality, which goes through its period
twice in a month, depending on the moon's dis
tance from the sun in right ascension, or on the
solar time of the moon's transit. Its value is two
hours. The direction of the winds has a great in
fluence on the tides of the Thames, not only as to
the height they attain, but also as to their duration.
Thus, with north-westerly gales, they do not rise
so high, nor does the flood run so long as with the
wind in any other quarter. With south-westerly gales,
however, and with those from the east, the tides often
rise as much as four feet above their usual levels."
In the old chronicles and memoirs that have
been rescued from oblivion will be found many a
graphic description of the use made of the river as
the common highway of London. "These old
writers," observes Charles Knight, in his "Lon
don," " were noble hands at scene-painting. What
a picture Hall gives us of the populousness of the
Thames ! — a perfect contrast to Wordsworth's —
' The river glideth at his own sweet will ' —
in the story which he tells us of the Archbishop
of York, after leaving the widow of Edward IV. in
the sanctuary of Westminster, sitting ' alone below
on the rushes, all desolate and dismayed,' return
ing home to York Place in the dawning of the day ;
1 and when he opened his windows and looked on
the Thames, he might see the river full of boats of
the Duke of Gloucester, his servants watching that
no person should go to the sanctuary, nor none
should pass unsearched.' " Cavendish, in his
" Life of Wolsey," furnishes as graphic a descrip
tion of the great cardinal hurrying to and fro on
the highway of the Thames between his imperious
master and the injured Katharine, when Henry
had become impatient of the tedious conferences
of the Court at Blackfriars, sitting on the question
of his divorce, and desired to throw down with the
strong hand the barriers that kept him from the
Lady Anne :—" Thus the court passed from session
to session, and day to day, in so much that a
certain day the king sent for my lord at the break
ing up one day of the court to come to him into
Bridewell. And, to accomplish his commandment,
he went unto him, and being there with him in
communication in his grace's privy chamber from
eleven till twelve of the clock and past at noon,
my lord came out and departed from the king, and
took his barge at the Black Friars, and so went
to his house at Westminster. The Bishop of
Carlisle, being with him in his barge, said unto
him (wiping the sweat from his face), ' Sir,' quoth

The Thames.]

STATE PROCESSIONS.

573

he, ' it is a very hot day.' ' Yea,' quoth my lord
cardinal, ' if ye had been as well chafed as I have
been within this hour, ye would say it were
very hot.'"
But it is rather with " below bridge" than "above
bridge " that we have to deal here. Not only
between Westminster and Blackfriars, nor even the
Tower, but also between the Tower and Green
wich, was the Thames especially the royal road.
When Henry VII. willed the coronation of his
queen, Elizabeth, she came from Greenwich, at
tended by " barges fleshly furnished with banners
and streamers of silk." When Henry VIII.
avowed his marriage with Anne Boleyn, she was
brought by "all the crafts of London" from
Greenwich to the Tower, " trumpets, shawms, and
other divers instruments all the way playing and
making great melody." The river was not only
the festival highway, but the more convenient one,
for kings as well as subjects. Hall tells us in his
"Chronicles": " This year (1536), in December,
was the Thames of London all frozen over, where
fore the king's majesty, with his beautiful spouse,
Queen Jane, rode throughout the City of London
to Greenwich." The " Privy Purse Expenses of
Henry VIII." contain several items of sums paid
to watermen for waiting with barge and boat. The
barge was evidently always in attendance upon the
king, and the great boat was used for the con
veyance of household stuffs and servants from
Westminster to Greenwich or to Richmond. On
one occasion, in 153 1, we find a record of payment
" to John, the king's bargeman, for coming twice
from Greenwich to York Place with a great boat
with books for the king." Later on we see the
" great Eliza " on the Thames in all her pomp, as
Raleigh saw her out of his prison window in the
Tower, in 1592, as described in a letter from
Arthur Gorges to Cecil : — " Upon a report of her
majesty's being at Sir George Carew's, Sir W.
Raleigh having gazed and sighed a long time at his
study window, from whence he might discern the
barges and boats about the Blackfriars stairs ; sud
denly he brake out into a great distemper, and
sware that his enemies had on purpose brought her
majesty thither to break his gall in sunder with
Tantalus' torment, that when she went away he
might see death before his eyes ; with many such
like conceits. And, as a man transported with
passion, he swore to Sir George Carew that he
would disguise himself, and get into a pair of oars
to ease his mind with but a sight of the queen."
James II., on his abdication, availed himself of
the river transit as far as Gravesend, in his journey
to France. The provisional government and the

Prince of Orange had come to the conclusion that
James would turn his face towards France, his
majesty having had the choice of either returning
to London or retiring to the Continent, as he
should think fit. James accordingly returned to
London, and invited his son-in-law, the Prince of
Orange, to meet him at Whitehall, that they might
"amicably settle the distractions of the nation."
What William and his party wanted, however, was
the immediate expatriation of the king, which could
be converted into a virtual abdication ; and to this
end they drove, being assisted by some whom
James still considered his personal friends. The
king was waited upon at the palace by his ex-
minister, Halifax, and told that he must go to
Ham House, near Richmond, as the Prince of
Orange intended entering London on the following
morning. James, we are told, merely said that
Ham was cold and damp, and that he should
prefer going to Rochester. " As this was a step
towards France," writes the author of the " Com
prehensive History of England," " he was soon in
formed that his son-in-law agreed ; and about
noon on the following day James embarked in the
royal barge for Gravesend. He was attended by
the Lords Arran, Dumbarton, Lichfield, Aylesfbrd,
and Dundee, and followed and watched by a
number of Dutch troops in other boats. . . .
That night he slept at Gravesend, and on the
morrow he proceeded to Rochester." Thence, as
readers of English history know, the king was
rowed down the Medway in a small boat, and then,
embarking on board a fishing-smack, which had
been hired for the voyage, passed over in safety
to the coast of France.
Among the " processions " on the Thames in
more recent times, was that which conveyed the
remains of Lord Nelson, after lying in state in the
Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital, to Whitehall,
on the 8th of January, 1806, preparatory to their
interment in St. Paul's Cathedral.
From the time of Fitz-Stephen, at the beginning
of the thirteenth century, to that of " the moral
Gower," as Chaucer calls him, it may be easily
imagined that the water-communication between
one part of London and another, and between
London and Westminster, was constantly upon the
increase. A portion of London Bridge was
movable, and this enabled vessels of burden to
pass up the river to unload at Queenhithe and
other wharves. " Stairs (called bridges) and water-
gates," writes Charles Knight, " studded the
shores on both sides. Palaces arose, such as the
Savoy, where the powerful nobles kept almost regal
state. The courts of law were fixed at West-

S74

GREATER LONDON.

[The Thames

minster, and thither the citizens and strangers from
the country daily resorted, preferring the easy
4 highway of the Thames to the almost impassable
road that led from Westminster to the village of
Charing, and thence onward to London. John
Lydgate, who wrote in the time of Henry V, has
left us a very curious poem, entitled ' London
Lyckpeny.' He gives us a picture of his coming
to London to obtain legal redress of some
grievance, but without money to pursue his suit.
Upon quitting Westminster Hall, he says —
' Then to Westminster Gate I presently went .'
This is undoubtedly the Water-gate ; and without
describing anything beyond the cooks, whom he
found busy with their bread and beef at the gate,
' when the sun was at high prime,' he adds,
' Then unto London I did me hie.'
By water he no doubt went, for through Charing
he would have made almost a day's journey.
Wanting money, he has no choice but to return to
the country, and having to go 'into Kent,' he
applies to the watermen at Billingsgate :
' Then hied I me to Billingsgate,
And one cried hoo! — go we hence ?
I pray'd a bargeman, for God's sake,
That he would spare me my expense ;
"Thou 'scap'st not here," quoth he, "under two pence." '
" We have a corroboration of the accuracy of this
picture in Lambarde's ' Perambulation of Kent.'
The old topographer informs us that in the time of
Richard II. the inhabitants of Milton and Graves
end agreed to carry in their boats, from London to
Gravesend, a passenger, with his truss and farthell,
for twopence. The poor Kentish suitor, without
twopence in his pocket to pay the Gravesend
bargemen, takes his solitary way on foot home
ward. The gate where he was welcomed with the
cry of hoo — ho, ahoy ! — was the great landing-
place of the coasting vessels ; and the king here
anciently took his toll upon imports and exports."
" In the beginning of the seventeenth century,"
writes Charles Knight, " the river was at the height
of its glory as the great thoroughfare* of London.
Howell maintains that ' the river of Thames hath
not her fellow, if regard be had to those forests of
masts which are perpetually upon her ; the variety
of smaller wooden bottoms plying up and down ;
the stately palaces that are built upon both sides
of her banks so thick ; which made divers foreign
ambassadors affirm that the most glorious sight in
the world, take water and land together, was to
come upon a high tide from Gravesend and shoot
the bridge at Westminster.' Of the ' smaller
wooden bottoms,' Stow computes that there were

in his time as many as two thousand; and he
makes the very extraordinary statement that there
were forty thousand watermen upon the rolls of the
company, and that they could furnish twenty
thousand men for the fleet. The private watermen
of the court and of the nobility were doubtless in
cluded in this large number."
The Conservancy of the Thames by the Cor
poration of London, as shown in a previous
chapter,* extends from Staines in the west to
Yantlet Creek in the east, a distance of about
eighty miles, the Lord Mayor acting as bailiff over
the waters, in preserving its fisheries and channels,
and as meter of marketable commodities — fruit,
vegetables, salt, oysters, corn, and coal. The rules
and bye-laws for the regulation of the watermen
and lightermen, and also for the regulation of the
steamboat and other traffic on the river, are drawn
up by the court of mayor and aldermen in their
capacity as Conservators of the Thames. By the
Thames Conservancy Acts and the Thames
Navigation Acts, passed between the years 1857
and 1878, special bye-laws have been framed for
regulating the traffic on the river during boat-
races. One of these bye-laws is to the effect that
"any vessel being on the river Thames between
Cricklade, in the county of Wilts, and Yantlet
Creek in the county of Kent, on the occasion of
any boat-race, regatta, public procession, or launch
of any vessel, or any other occasion when large
crowds assemble thereon, shall not pass thereon so
as to obstruct, impede, or interfere with the boat-
race, regatta, procession, or launch, or endanger
the safety of persons assembling on the river, or
prevent the maintenance of order thereon ; and the
master of every such vessel, on any such occasion
as aforesaid, shall observe the directions of the
officer of the Conservators engaged in super
intending the execution of this bye-law; and if
any such master fails in any respect to comply with
the requirements of this bye-law, or does anything
in contravention thereof, he shall be deemed guilty
of an offence against this bye-law, and shall for
every such offence be liable to a penalty of not
exceeding £$."
Boating has always been a favourite pastime
with Londoners, who still largely indulge in it ; and
it is but right, therefore, that stringent rules should
be laid down to guard against accidents.
The loss of life upon the Thames, by collision
of vessels and other accidents, is of frightful
amount; as many as 500 persons are, on an
average, annually drowned in the river, and one-

* See ante, p. 187,

The Thames.]

BOATING ON THE THAMES.

575

third of that number in the Pool. The most
disastrous catastrophe that has taken place on the
river of late years occurred at Gallion's Reach, near
Blackwall, on the evening of the 3rd of September,
1878, when upwards of 500 persons lost their lives
through a collision between an outward-bound
vessel called the Bywell Castle, and a river steam
boat named the Princess Alice, which was returning
from a pleasure-trip heavily laden with passengers.
"From steeple-chasing," writes Lord William
Lennox in " Drafts on my Memory," "I turn to
boating, a delightful pastime before the introduc
tion of river steamers played such havoc with it in
the more frequented parts of the river.
' Some o'er the Thamis rowed the ribboned fair,
writes Byron in ' Childe Harold'; and unquestion
ably, however agreeable it might have been in the
days of the noble poet to have found oneself like
Dibdin's ' Jolly Young Watermen, never in want
of a. fair,' we should scarcely like in these days to
trust any lovely daughter of Eve in a frail wherry
subject to the tender mercies of the steamboat
captains. The Thames, like the roads of England,
have been completely sacrificed to steam ; and a
morning sail or an evening pull on the water is
now only to be ranked among the pleasures of
memory. Some seventeen years ago boating was
a great amusement, both to the higher and the
humbler classes ; and in those days there were
some splendid six, eight, and ten-oared boats,
manned by the flower of the English nobility.
Now the steamboats have entirely monopolised
Father Thames; and since the time these fire-flies
have taken possession of the no longer 'silent
highway,' oars and sculls are at a sad discount.
Who now would venture his life in a wherry, when,
owing to the modern invention of ' steam for the
million,' boats are whizzing up and down the river
from sunrise to sunset, dodging in and out, dashing
and slashing very much after the principle of the
cutting-in, panel-breaking coachman of the Fourth
George's time ? What would the water poet, that
renowned king of scullers of 1630, John Taylor,
have said, had he lived during the present period ;
he that was wont to boast that he often ferried the
immortal Shakespeare from Whitehall to Paris
Garden, or his contemporary Ben Jonson from the
Bankside to the Rose and Hope playhouses? With
his tirade against coaches, then but lately intro
duced, what would he have said to the modern
importation of cabs, 'buses, and other vehicles,
from the well-appointed four-in-hand ' team,' to a
Whitechapel cart? The poor water poet must
have drowned himself in his own element: for mark

what a picture he drew even then of the fearful
calamity that assailed his vocation : — " I do not
inveigh,' says honest John, 'against any con
veyances that belong to persons of worth or quality,
but only against the caterpillar swarm of hirelings.
They have undone my poor trade whereof I am a
member ; and though I look for no reformation,
yet I expect the benefit of an old proverb, ' Give
the losers leave to speak.' This infernal swarm of
trade-spillers (coaches) have so overrun the land
that we can get no living upon the water ; for I
dare truly affirm that every day in any term,
especially if the court be at Whitehall, they do rob
us of our living, and carry five hundred and sixty
fares daily from us. I pray you look into the
streets, and the chambers or lodgings in Fleet
Street or the Strand, how they are pestered with
them, especially after a masque or play at the
Court, when even the very earth quakes and
trembles, the casements chatter, patter, and clatter,
and such a confused noise is made, so that a man
can neither sleep, speak, hear, write, nor eat his
dinner or supper quiet for them.' "
In 1815 a sporting event came off on the Thames,
namely, a grand rowing match for two hundred
sovereigns, between " Squire " Osbaldeston, with
Mitchell, of Strand Lane, and Captain Bentinck,
of the Guards, with Cobb, of Whitehall ; the terms
being to row a pair of oars from Vauxhall to Kew
Bridge. The details of this race, and of one or
two others shortly after, are thus given in Lord
W. Lennox's " Drafts on my Memory " : — " At
the word 'off' Mr. Osbaldeston's boat shot half
a length ahead, and the boats remained in this
position until within a few yards ofS Battersea
Bridge, when the Captain laid out, and the
boats were about even. Soon after the church
had been passed the opponents changed places,
and from this point the gallant Guardsman con
tinued to gain, winning the match at length by
four minutes and a half. A wonderful feat took
place in September of the same year, when Messrs.
Bishop and Horneman accomplished the task of
rowing with a pair of oars from London Bridge to
Gravesend, up to Richmond Bridge, and back to
Westminster (a distance of nearly a hundred miles)
in the short space of thirteen hours and thirty-five
minutes — an hour and twenty-five minutes within
the time of the wager. What made this exploit so
wonderful was, that from Gravesend to Erith
Reach, they had a heavy sea and a dead ' noser,'
as I can vouch for, for it nearly water-logged their
boat, and capsized mine.
" In 1830 I was present at a most extraordinary
match against time, made by a distinguished

57°

GREATER LONDON.

[The Thames.

amateur, F. Cresswell, Esq., for fifty sovereigns,
that he and William Lewis, a waterman of Old
Swan Stairs, would row in a Thames wherry from
Billingsgate down to Gravesend, up through Rich
mond Bridge, and back to the Old Swan, in
thirteen hours and a half. At starting the odds
were two to one in favour of time. The day was
calm, although it rained heavily for some time, and
the tide in their favour almost the whole of the
way to Gravesend. They turned without landing,
so as to avail themselves of the flowing tide, and

on their return, the tide above Sion House being
favourable, they reached the Swan Stairs at 5. 20,
winning their match by an hour and forty minutes.
Having thus far laid before the reader a general
view of the chief features of Old Father Thames,
we will, in the opening chapter of our next volume
deal with the Pool and its commercial activity,
and then ask the reader to accompany us in an
imaginary trip as far as the most easterly limits
of the Thames Conservancy, and jurisdiction of
the Lord Mayor.

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The Early Days of Christianity. Eighth
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St. George for England. Sermons for Children,
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Some Difficulties of Belief. By the Rev. T.
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Sunday Musings. A Selection of Readings-
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Quiver, The. Illustrated Religious Magazine. Pub
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Energy in Nature. By Wm. Lant Carpenter,
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