Byz T33 +810A jFore/i JTfiU', JE/sea>. ALLINGTON CASTLE, KENT. ..—THE GATE-HOUSE AND MOAT. TUNBRIDGE WELLS, AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF ETCHINGS, AND HISTORICAL DESCRIPTIONS. FAVOURITE TUNBRIDGE WELLS DISTRICT OVER 550FT. ABOVE SEA LEVEL. LEASE OF NINETEEN YEARS FOR DISPOSAL. GENUINE TUDOR MANOR HOUSE, itlllili * ^ ^ TUNBRIDGE WELLS, AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF ETCHINGS, AND HISTORICAL DESCRIPTIONS. BY PAUL AM SINCE, ESQ. «< THE ETCHINGS EXECUTED BY LETITIA BYRNE, LONDON: PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM MILLER, ALBEMARLE, STREET; AND EDMUND LLOYD, HARLEY STREET, 1810. As the Author has not referred to his authorities in the body of his work, he deems it necessary to premise, that he has availed himself of the histories of Lambard, Phillipot, and Hasted; and of the unpublished papers of Sir William Bttrrell in the British Museum. From several of the respected Possessors of the different seats, he has received assistance ; and from all, the most polite attention. To his kind friends, Doctor Sattehley and the Reverend Martin Benson, he begs leave in this public manner to return his most grateful acknowledgments for the very useful infor mation their long residence in the place has enabled them to give him. Tunbridge Wells, January, 1810. SUBSCRIBERS. JL he Earl of Abergavenny Right Hon. and Rev. Lord Aston Right Hon. Sir John Anstruther, Bart. John Anstruther, Esq. Mrs. Towers Allen Mrs. Aldersey Thomas Amsinck, Esq. The Earl of Bristol Viscount Boyne Rev. Martin Benson Rev. Sack vi lie S. Bale Hiers. Burmester, Esq. 2 copies Thomas Barton Bowen, Esq. Robert Blake, Esq. Robert Blake, jun. Esq. George Frederick Beltz, Esq. John Richard Baker, Esq. Joseph Seymour Biscoe, Esq. William Bragge, Esq. William Blake, Esq. Henry Baring, Esq. 2 copies James Burton, Esq. John Blakeney, Esq. Miss Benson Miss Beckford Captain Boys, R. N. S. P. Beales, Esq. Rev. John Brock Earl Camden The Earl of Chesterfield The Countess of Chesterfield Sir Joseph Copley, Bart. James Cobb, Esq. George Children, Esq. John George, Children, Esq. Robert Chaloner, Esq. Rev. Richard Crawley The Duchess of Dorset The Dowager Marchioness of Donegal The Earl of Dunmore The Countess of Dunmore Dowager Lady Dering Charles Dixon, Esq. William Dalmeida, Esq. Mrs. James Dawkins Miss Dyne William Dunnington, Esq. Charles Douglas, Esq. Rt. Hon. William Downes, Chief Justice of Ireland Rt. Hon. Lord Ellenborough Thomas Butler Eyles, Esq. The Earl of Farnham Mrs. Farhill Mrs. M. Farran Mrs. Finey Edward Fawkes, Esq. T. F. Forster, Esq. The EarlofGosford The Countess of Gosford Major Gardner John Godley, Esq. Edward Gray, Esq. Rt. Hon. Lord Henley Lady Ann Hamilton Sir Isaac Heard, Garter SUBSCRIBERS. Henry Hughs, Esq. John J. Holford, Esq. Edward Hussey, Esq. George Hobson, Esq. Mrs. S. Homfray, 6 copies Henry Heyman, Esq. Thomas Hake, Esq. Thomas, Hope, Esq. Miss Harman Miss L. Harman Right Hon. Theophilus Jones Sir William Jerningham, Bart. Edward Jerningham, Esq. Mrs. Waller Jones Sir James Innes Ker, Bart. Rev. Doctor Knox Henry Kellett, Esq. Mrs. Keen Michael Keating, Esq. The Duke of Leeds The Duchess of Leeds Sir Henry Lushington, Bart. The Rev. Dr. Law, Archdeacon of Rochester Robert Lang, Esq, Mrs. Lang George Lowdell, Esq. George Law, Esq. Rev. Robert Churchman Long John Lloyd, Esq. Thomas Davenport Latham, Esq. James Langham, Esq. Lady Musgrave Sir John Macpherson, Bart. Sir Henry Martin, Bart. John Lewis Minet, Esq. Kenneth Mackenzie, Esq. John Maude, Esq. John Meyer, Esq. 2 copies Doctor Mayo William Alexander Morland, Esq. Rev. Doctor Marriott Lewis Montolieu, Esq. H. Mackenzie, Esq. Miss Machin Charles Mogg, Esq. Daniel Mildred, Esq. William Nodes, Esq. Mrs. W. A. Nesbitt Right Hon. Lord Henry Petty William Henry Pigou, Esq. Baden Powell, Esq. Charles Pole, Esq. 2 copies Walter Pye, Esq. George Patterson, Esq. Miss Phillips Charles Parker, Esq. Rev. George Pollen John Pullin, Esq. John Plummer, Esq. The Countess of Roseberry Willoughby Rackham, Esq. Thomas Roberts, Esq. Thomas Roberts, jun. Esq. Captain Ross, 19th Light Dragoons Frederick Ross, Esq. 7th Hussars Johu Richards, Esq. The Duchess of St. Albans The Right Hon. the Speaker The Right Hon. Thomas Steele Sir John Smith, Bart. Doctor Sherson Rev. A. Kirkpatrick Sherson Robert Sherson, Esq. Hon. W. R. Spencer Doctor Satterley James Charles Still, Esq. Robert Still, Esq. Peter Still, Esq. Mrs. P. Still - Thomas Scott, Esq. Mrs. Scott •* George Frederick Stratton, Esq. Mr. Sergeant Shepherd William Strong Esq. Miss Strong Miss A. Strong SUBSCRIBERS. Alexander H. Strong, Esq. Rev. Philip T. Strong Robert Sutton, Esq. Miss Schutz Mrs. Shorey Charles Stow, Esq. Thomas Sermon, Esq. William Sheddon, Esq. Mrs. H. Scott Mr. Sprange, 12 copies Lady Harriett Townshend Viscount Templetown Hon. Miss Townshend John Thuring, Esq. Mrs. Charles Thomson Robert Taylor, Esq. John Taylor, Esq. Mrs. Thistlethwayte Rev. Alexander Thistlethwayte John V. Taylor, Esq. Edward Vernon Utterson, Esq. Right Hon. Lord Whitworth Rev. Doctor Thomas Willis Mrs. Whittaker John Wilson, Esq. Robert Withy, Esq. David Pike Watts, Esq. John Wharton, Esq. M. P. William Francis Woodgate, Esq. Mr. Young TUNBRIDGE WELLS (NEAR) Situated on high ground within easy reach of the town and yet amidst glorious country. TO BE LET OR, SOLD. Genuinely 600 years_ql(L_ Delightful old \ _thatched House TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND GOUDHURST (BETWEEN) f ELIZABETHAN MANOR HOUSE (restored). . - A CHARMING EXAMPLE OF AN ELIZABETHAN MANOR HOUSE recently restored, containing many interesting features, including FINE OAK TIMBER staircase and open fireplaces ; lofty rooms. ht ~ ~~~ -« '<-'— — —~tt '*>*¦;-- THE COMMON The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells. mm wkl,'"- .''¦¦¦' , ¦'"¦ ¦ W&0F* ? '* s^ -. 1 ", • '¦¦¦¦ ' $* 9 & ¦¦¦¦ ¦ 1'< ' , ' ¦ _„, .__ .;.::,HHiiM3Bk»^^BiMnu«ni|ii|llliii i t\mm*.immmwe>zfmcz.. »..._. ->™!mrfflttfa^ THE PANTILES, TUNBRIDGE WELLS. "the pantiles," xxth century. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. Kent.— The inland spa with the well-known " Pantiles " walk. It was very popular a hundred years ago with the Society of that,, period. There is a wonderful common, the largest in'* the South of England, and the famous High Rocks and Toad Rock, are unique. PAGE Tun bridge Wells to face the Title The Bath House 34 Farm House at Speldhurst, vignette '• 36* Groombridge Chapel 38 Sand Rocks on the London Road, vignette 43 Rock on Rusthall Common, vignette 44 The High Rocks 45 Rocks on Tunbridge Wells Common, vignette 46 Eridge Castle • • 59 Ditto '• 62 Rotherfield Church, vignette 65 Mayfield Place 67 Bayham Abbey 73 Scotney Castle 81 Ditto 82 The Court Lodge 83 Lumberhurst Church, vignette 85 Combwell Priory 87 Bounds 89 Bidborough Church, vignette 91 Mabledon 93 Tunbridge Castle 101 Tunbridge Priory - 105 Somerhill • 109 JMereworth .115 Knole • • 122 Ditto 125 LIST OF PLATES. PAGE Sevenoaks Church, vignette 127 Penshurst Place • » 129 Penshurst Church, vignette ib. Penshurst Place 133 Penshurst Place 1 34 House at Pounds Bridge, vignette 138 South Park 139 Hever Castle 141 Buckhurst 147 Stoneland 1 60 Withyham 161 Bolebroke ¦ 165 Kidbrooke 169 Bramble-Tye 173 Moated House at Bramble-Tye, vignette 180 Chapel and Baths, Tunbridge, vignette •••••• 183 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. A he pleasant and much frequented hamlet of Tunbridge Wells may be considered as an object not unworthy of notice from several of its pro minent features. Nature has eminently favored it by the salubrity of its air, the potency of its mineral springs, and the adjacent appendages of a gay, romantic, and pleasing scenery, which art has not presumed to spoil by attempts at refinement unsuited to its character. This combination of favorable circumstances holds forth the promise of pleasure and advantage in no ordinary degree. It has accordingly become, for a long course of time, the resort of the fashionable, the refuge of the invalid, and the never-failing resourse of the inexhaustible tribe of listless Avan- derers? who seek a rescue from the ennui of a mere country retirement, when the gaieties of the metropolis have ceased. It may excite some curiosity on another account. There is now scarcely a county, a maritime one at least, which does not contain a place of similar public resort. Tunbridge Wells may be considered as the parent of the race. It is the most ancient public place (with the exception of Bath, its contemporary, but with which it admits not of comparison) in the kingdom. The customs, the habits, the arrangement of society, which are now so precisely modified and so widely diffused as to have become, in some measure, national charac teristics, were here originally formed and nurtured : and, although the R 8 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. parent place has materially varied from its origin, yet doth it still retain a character, with which it is presumed the public may not be sorry to be made further acquainted. The buildings, which constitute the hamlet of Tunbridge Wells, are dispersed partly through a valley and in part over the adjacent hills of a wild forest aspect, with rocks of considerable magnitude. It is situate at, the distance of thirty-six miles from London, in the three adjoining parishes of Tunbridge, Speldhurst, and Frant ; the two former being in the county of Kent and the latter in that of Sussex : the whole collectively occupying a spot at the point of contact of the antient forests of South Frith, Waterdown, and Bishop's Down. This singularity of position is to be accounted for by the different proprietors of the adjacent lands wishing to benefit themselves by a speculation from the influx of visitors to the neighbouring spring ; which of course gave the direction to the proper points for its exertion. As its mineral water partakes of the nature of those of the German Spa, so it is observed that the character and general aspect of the place much resembles that celebrated and favorite rendezvous of the fashionables of every European country. Of the hills the most considerable in point of extent and accommodation is that, which is called Mount Sion. Another less populous, but more picturesque, is appropriately named Mount Pleasant ; whilst the highest and that which affords the greatest range, overlooking the others, and combining with the intermediate common, enjoying from its greater elevation the salubrious and refreshing breezes from the Sussex coast, is dignified by the sounding appellation of Mount Ephraim. The valley which is formed by these surrounding hills (through which the small stream, whereby the counties of Kent and Sussex are divided, flows,) contains the baths, the mineral spring, the public rooms, walks, and taverns ; and is pre-eminently distinguished by the comprehensive name of the Wells. This assemblage of buildings, erected apparently without a plan or semblance of regularity, interspersed with trees, and aided by the wild aspect of the surrounding scenery, has a striking effect on a first view ; TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 3 and, as it presents itself from the various points of elevated ground in the vicinity, affords an endless variety of pleasing objects to the invalid in his pursuit of health, and to the admirer of picturesque scenery in his more extended researches. It is the intention of the following work to make the reader acquainted with some of the many objects, which are most calculated to excite the notice of strangers, within the range of a morning excursion. These the pencil, it is hoped, may faithfully represent. But the beauty of the country, through which the traveller must pass, before he attains a sight of these objects — the infinite variety of the rides — the exquisite purity of the air, peculiarly to invalids — and lastly, the interest arising from the local history of many of these places — admit not of description. It may however safely be asserted, that no single spot in the kingdom contains, within the same compass, so rich a variety of these particulars, or is better calculated to reward the enquirer, whatever may be his individual pursuit. But it will be expected that some information should be given on the discovery of the mineral water, and the consequent establishment of the public place. The chalybeate water, which has now, for so long a time, formed the principal attraction to Tunbridge Wells, was probably known and esteemed in the neighbourhood long before it excited general attention. Indeed it would appear that a similar spring, though of much inferior power, had heretofore been known for its medicinal qualities in the neighbourhood. This is situate in the Priory grounds at Tunbridge, and was called St. Margaret's Well. Such were the obstructions to travelling, and of so confined a nature were the prevailing habits of the times alluded to, that the peculiar features of a spot were little known beyond its immediate vicinity : and indeed, had its qualities been more extensively commu nicated, few persons were at that time able or willing to migrate far, even in the pursuit of health. About the commencement of the seventeenth century, accident made known the virtues of this medicinal water ; and its salubrious effects on a person of distinction, tended speedily to recommend it to general notice. 4 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. Dudley Lord North, a young nobleman of lively parts but dissolute manners, in the court of James the First, having in early life much injured his constitution, had retired, for the benefit of a pure air, and the accessory advantages of a retreat from his usual habits of dissipation, to Eridge House, the occasional residence of the Barons of Bergavenny. During this state of seclusion, his attention was excited in the course of his wanderings through this wild country, by the ochreous aspect of the water in the neighbourhood. Intent on the amendment of his injured constitution, he seems to have been struck with the singularity, and speedily cherished the hope that it might prove medicinal, and applicable to his own particular case. Experiment proved that it was so : and experience demonstrated that chance had thus cast in his way a treasure of the rarest worth. Having consulted his medical advisers on the subject, and derived encouragement from their opinions, he returned the ensuing summer and drank perseveringly of the newly-discovered medi cine. This effort was attended with the most encouraging success ; and, being in consequence completely re-instated in his health, he survived to the very advanced age of eighty-five. Numbers had probably, before Lord North, experienced similar benefit from these waters ; but, as with less notice, so likewise Avith smaller con sequence. His name, and the interest taken in his welfare, rendered the case of extensive notoriety ; and the effect has been, that the name of Dudley Lord North stands prominent, as being, in some measure, the founder of the^ celebrity of Tunbridge Wells. In a curious work of his, entitled, " A Forest promiscuous of several Seasons production," printed in the year 1637, written in the quaint style of the times, he states in a marginal note — " The use of Tunbridge and Epsom waters, for health and " cure, I first made known to London and the king's people : the Spaw is " a chargeable and inconvenient journey to sick bodies, besides the money " it carries out of the kingdom, and inconvenience to religion. Much more " I could say, but I rather hint than handle, — rather open a door to a " large prospect than give it." Yet did a considerable period elapse before any advance was made towards its establishment as a place of public resort. The nobility at TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 5 that time chiefly occupied their own splendid mansions ; duly exercising therein a dignified hospitality : the gentry of moderate fortune were, from necessity, attached and confined to the spots, from whence they derived their revenue ; whilst the mercantile world, now so liberal and enlightened, possessing few ideas beyond the limits of their occupations, rarely emerged from the confines of their counting houses. The other classes of society, possessing neither the means nor the leisure for loitering away their time in amusement or dissipation, rarely looked beyond the domestic circle for alleviation to their ordinary cares. Although, therefore, this medicinal spring soon attained a more extended celebrity, yet was it, for many of the succeeding years, visited only by the solitary wanderer in the pursuit of health; and persons of this description readily took up with such accommodations, as the adjacent villages and hamlets afforded. These were chiefly procured at Tunbridge, a small neat town situate on the river Medway, at the distance of six miles from the spring ; formerly distinguished for its strongly fortified castle, and now principally notice able for its venerable ruin. It is from this accidental circumstance that the Wells attained their present name, rather than that of Speldhurst or Frant, to which, from strict locality, they have a preferable claim. For several years this continued to be the case ; until a greater influx of visitors, some of them persons of distinction, gave a spur to industry and speculation ; when buildings were erected, some at Southborough, mid- way between the Wells and Tunbridge, and others on Rust-Hall Common, at a smaller distance, in the opposite direction. Still however the immediate vicinity of the spring retained its forest and dreary aspect ; and for a considerable time the accommodation for visitants on the spot was limited to two very humble cottages - the one, very near the spring, being a coffee-house for the ladies ; — whilst the other, near to the spot now occupied by the Sussex Tavern, was characteristically denominated the Gentleman's Pipe-house. In this state did the circumstances of the place remain during the turbulencies of the unfortunate reign of Charles the First ; and here, as elsewhere, the spirit of party tended to separate persons, who were attracted to the spot by a common object — the republicans holding their assemblies c 6 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. at Rust-Hall*; whilst the partizans of the court took up their residence in the opposite hamlet of Southborough. On the return of quieter times speculation took a safer and a freer range; the buildings for the accommodation of visitants increased in various directions ; still however, as it would appear, under the influence of party. Toward the close of the reign of Charles the Second the present divisions of the place seem to have been established ; and a few buildings erected thereon. The names, which they still retain, bespeak the parties, who projected and promoted these improvements. Mount Sion was the spot favored by the Presbyterians and Independants, on which hill they had their separate conventicles ; Avhilst Mount Ephraim was distinguished as the field of speculation Avith the Baptists ; where this sect, now dwindled almost to nothing, still retains a meeting-house and burial-ground on the spot now exclusively denominated Bishop's Down. These establishments Avere all anterior to any for the service of the Church of England, and tend materially to sheAV the religious and political principles, Avhich chiefly prevailed in the neighbourhood. It was not till toward the close of the seventeenth century that a place of worship for a congregation of the established church was deemed necessary. This Avas effected by a subscription, commenced in the year I676, and closed in the year 1688, Avhich exceeded the sum of ,£3000. Various landholders in the neighbourhood contributed timber, and the Lady Viscountess Purbeck, then the proprietor of Summer-Hill, gave land, in the parish of Tunbridge, for the purpose of erecting a chapel thereon; Avhich grant (in conse quence of some previous irregularity) was, by a deed of trust bearing date Feb. 15, 1703, confirmed by her son John Earl of Buckingham. On this ground, and with these funds, a handsome spacious chapel was erected ; Avherein divine service still continues to be regularly performed, every day during the summer season, and three times a week during the winter. The fund for the repair and maintenance of this building arises from * On passing over Rust-Hall Common, keeping the course of the turnpike road, a pit is observable on the right hand, immediately opposite a large pollard beach ; this pit was the cellar belonging to the tavern and assembly rooms. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 7 money collected at a charity sermon in the course of the season, and some casual bequests. The salary for the officiating minister is raised by a subscription among the visitors. An erroneous idea has long prevailed that this chapel is placed in the singular situation of occupying in its scite, portions of three parishes and two counties, viz. Speldhurst and Tunbridge in Kent and Frant in Sussex. Had such been the object it might certainly have been the case ; for these parishes are actually in contact at a very small distance from the chapel. But the idea is altogether unfounded ; and has probably arisen and been cherished from some motives of interest. The original deed of gift specifies the land, given by the Earl of Buckingham, to be all in Tunbridge parish : and indeed it could not well have been otherwise, for it is a gift from the lordof the manor of South Frith of a portion of his manor, which on this side was Co-extensive with the parish of Tunbridge, and is stated to abut on Water Dotyn Forest, which is the boundary of Speldhurst. About the same period of time the Avalks and assembly rooms Avere arranged according to their present form. It Avas somewhat earlier that the grounds had been cleared in the neighbourhood of the spring, and a turf terrace formed in the direction of the existing parade ; a toav of trees had at the same time been planted, and mean temporary buildings ereeted for the accommodation of the vagrant tradesmen, who attended during the season with wares of various description. Such was the state of the place during the residence of the court in the neighbourhood, as recorded in the Memoires du Compt De Grammont. About the year I676, an arrangement took place between the lord of the manor and his freehold tenants, whereby the latter were enabled to erect more substantial buildings, which they accordingly effected ; but a fire breaking out a few years after, the timber houses Avere speedily consumed ; and about the year 1687 the spot was re-occupied by the present buildings. This accommodating lease, whereby the tenants on the manor were enabled to improve the place, and doubtless to benefit themselves, became, at the period of its expiration, the source of much unpleasant contest betwixt the parties : but eventually df decided advantage to the place. The landlord claimed the buildings left on his freehold-, but the dis- 8 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. appointed tenants, who had expected a renewal of their term, exacted a compensation for the loss of their herbage, whereof they were deprived by the continuance of the buildings. The parties were little inclined to accommodation ; and, in pursuit of their arbitrary claims, spent more in litigation than the objects in contention Avere worth. Having thus dearly purchased experience, they were at last inclined to listen to terms ; which were finally settled by an amicable arrangement. The lord was adjudged to be entitled to two-thirds of the buildings in question, and the tenants were remunerated for their disappointment, and loss of herbage, by the other third. But the wisdom of the arbitrators did not stop here : it was determined that the spirit of dispute and litigation should be quelled for ever ; and accordingly, by general consent of parties, an act of parliament Avas procured, Avhich tended to put all questions of this description completely at rest. By this act, which received the royal assent April 29, 1740, various arrangements for the advantage of the property, and for the benefit of individuals concerned in it, are made : but that which has proved of most real benefit to the place, as well as of essential comfort to every one who frequents it, is a restricting clause, whereby it is declared illegal to erect any buildings on the Common, or, in short, to build on any spot whereon a building had not previously existed. To this act Tunbridge Wells may be said to OAve its continued prosperity; without it, it might have been increased by buildings, rivalling those of St. George's Fields ; and its houses tenanted by company issuing from the deserted brothels of the metropolis : but it would not have continued to yield attractions to the lovers of pure air and romantic scenery ; nor would it be distinguished, as is now the case, as the resort of the best and most respectable families. Thus has the general history of the place been brought down to its present state. But a difference in the manners of former times will render it necessary further to remark on some circumstances, which the existing case would not seem to countenance. As the place advanced in prosperity, so did the thirst of amusement keep pace. Dulce est decipere Avas the prevailing sentiment with all parties ; though diversity of opinion still seemed to keep up a separation, as to the place and mode of entertainmenL TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 9 The republicans transferred their ball-room and tavern from Rust-Hall to Mount Ephraim ; whilst the adverse party maintained similar places of amusement on Mount Sion and the Walks : and, in unison with the manners of those times, a bowling green, for the purpose as well of bowls as for dancing, Avas an appendage on each situation. These accommodations on Mount Ephraim, declining with the improvements in more convenient situations, have long ceased to exist. The bowling green on Mount Sion has continued and been frequented till within twenty-five years ; when the house of entertainment was converted into lodging houses, which were, from this circumstance, called the Bowling-green houses ; until one, which had for many years been the residence of Richard Cumberland, Esq. a Avarm friend of the place and the patron of every thing for its advantage, on his leaving it, Avas by the proprietor in token of his respect, distinguished by his name — a designation, in which the inhabitants have most readily concurred. About the commencement of the last century Mount Sion experienced a material accession of dignity and elegance from the bounty of John Earl of Buckingham ; the same who had, not long before, given the land Avhereon the chapel Avas erected. By a deed bearing the date of April 20th, 1703, this nobleman conveyed to a trust, for the amusement and recreation of the visitors to Tunbridge Wells, about four acres of land, covered with very fine oaks and beeches. It has ever since been maintained for this purpose : and although it has never obtained the public sanction, as a place of fashionable resort, yet it affords a pleasant retreat to invalids in sultry weather ; and, from its very fortunate position, adds materially to the general beauty of the place. As Mount Sion has its grove, it must not fail to be recorded that Mount Ephraim also possesses a similar ornament: which, although it cannot rival the other, yet derives its origin from a circumstance which gives an interest in its history. Tunbridge Wells has at various periods been honored with the presence of members of the Royal Family. That of King Charles the Second and his court has been already noticed; and will again be brought under revieAV. The queen of his unfortunate predecessor was also a visitor to this spot. But the place was especially D 10 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. indebted- for much of its early celebrity to the frequent visits of Queen Anne, previous to her accession to the crown. She was exquisitely fond of the place; and proved a liberal benefactor to it. She gave, as a lasting token of her bounty, the stone bason for the spring ; from which circumstance it was afterwards called the Queen's Well. She likewise contributed an hundred pounds towards the improvement of the Walks ; which, being in consequence paved with a baked tile, were thenceforth called the Pantiles. This name however (on the Avalks being, a few years since, handsomely repaved with stone, by means of a subscription among the inhabitants,) has now been exchanged for that of the Parade. On her accession to the throne, the inhabitants, wishing to perpetuate the remembrance of her many acts of kindness, planted, on that part of the common, Avhereon she had usually been encamped, a triple row of birch trees ; which from this circumstance has attained the name of the Queen's Grove. The spot, being one of the most cheerful, and partaking of the best air, not only of the vicinity, but perhaps of the whole kingdom, has become a general favorite with the visitors to the Wells. Here is always to be found a cooling breeze ; and till of late years a comfortable shade. But time begins to prove that the projectors of this scheme were less wise than loyal. They selected for their purpose too perishable a tree : and it is much to be apprehended that the monument, far from being cere perennius, will very speedily be lost, together with all recollection of the circumstance, which gave occasion to it. The rise and progress of the place having thus been detailed, it will be expected that some account should be added of the original system of manners and customs ; their advance towards perfection ; and the state, whereunto they have subsided in the present day. The customs, which prevailed in the very early periods of the place, can now with difficulty be ascertained. As, with most places in their infancy, the manners were doubtless simple : and as the associations were small, the diversions also were limited. As buildings for the accommodation of guests multiplied, so we find the provision for amusement kept pace. But this occurred in unquiet times — in times indeed of unusual acrimony ; when separation seems studiously to have prevailed, even in the pursuit TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 11 of pleasure. The first direct testimony, which we possess of a general system of amusement, prevailing in the place, is contained in the lively record of the Memoires de Grammont; wherein is detailed the visit of Charles's dissipated court. It would seem that at this period there were no houses on the spot now called Tunbridge Wells, capable of affording the requisite accommodation. Such at least is the tradition, which records that the court took up their residence chiefly at two houses, yet in exist ence, though now occupied only by paupers, near the turnpike road at Southborough ; whilst others were accommodated at Summer Hill, then the property and residence of Lord Muskerry. It is however to be observed, that there were at this time several houses in the vicinity of Southborough much better calculated for this purpose, which have been pulled doAvn. There was one in particular of large dimensions, adjoining to the spot now called Non-such Green, which was named Non-such House. It has long since been destroyed ; and the inn at Tunbridge and some adjoining houses, as report says, were built with the materials. At that time, it would appear that a certain foundation for social harmony was established in the place ; and the pursuit of pleasure was reduced to . a regular system. From hence we may date that arrangement of manners, Avhich has since prevailed. The company which assembled on the spot were then feAV in numbers, but select in rank and condition; and the assemblage tended to create that amcenity of habit, which under the influence of a dissolute court, altered in a considerable degree the national character. The description of the place, the system of amusement, and the general plan of occupation, is so admirably described by the lively pen of the author of these Memoires, that the end of elucidating this period of the social history of the Wells cannot be better answered than by transferring the extract in question into these pages. 1664. " La cour parti t un mois apres pour en passer prks de deux " dans le lieu de l'Europe le plus simple et le plus rustique, mais le plus " agr6able et le plus divertissant. " Tunnebrige est a la m£me distance de Londres que Fontainebleau " Test de Paris. Ce qu'il y a de beau et de galant dans l'un et dans 12 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. ' 1' autre Sexe s' y rassemble au tems des eaux. La compagnie toujours ' nombreuse y est toujours choisie : comme ceux qui ne cherchent qu' a ' se divertir, Y emportent toujours sur le nombre de ceux qui n' y vont ' que par necessity, tout y respire les plaisirs et la joie. La contrainte ' en est bannie ; la familiarit6 etablie des la premiere connoissance ; et la ' vie qu' on y mene est delicieuse. " On a pour logement de petites habitations propres et commodes, ' separees les unes des autres, et repandues par-tout a une demie lieue des 'eaux. On s 'assemble le matin a 1' endroit ou sont les fontaines. C'est ' une grande allee d' arbres touffus, sous lesquels on se promene en ' prenant les eaux. D'un c6t6 de cette all6e regne une longue suite de ' boutiques garnies de toutes sortes de bijoux, de dentelles, de bas et de ' gants, ou 1' on va jouer comme on fait a la Foire. De 1' autre c6te de ' 1' allee se tient le march6 ; et comme chacun y va choisir et marchander ' ses provisions, on n' y voit point d' 6talage, qui soit degoutant. Ce sont ' de petites Villageoises blondes, fraiches, avec du linge bien blanc, de ' petits chapeaux de paille, et proprement chauss6es, qui vendent du ' gibier, des legumes, des fleurs et du fruit. On y fait aussi si bonne ' chere qu' on veut. On y joue gros jeu, et les tendres commerces y vont ' leur train. Des que lc soir arrive, chacun quitte son petit palais pour ' s' assembler au Boulingrin. C'est la, qu'en plein air, on danse, si 1'on veut, sur un gazon plus doux et plus uni que les phis beaux tapis du ' monde." Mem. Du Comte De Grammont, torn. ii. 220 — 222. Those, who are acquainted Avith Tunbridge Wells and the adjacent country, will probably assent to the fidelity of the first part of the above description ; Avhilst others, who have long frequented the place, and paid due attention to the customs which have, till of very late years, prevailed, will be struck with the very minute coincidence, which has subsisted through so long a period of time. The account of the customs of the place Avould have exactly characterized those of twenty years past. Nor is the local description less accurate in appearance ; and yet neither the present buildings nor trees were at that time in existence. This has already been accounted for : the plan of the present scene of amusement is the original one ; and the buildings have been improved and renovated TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 13 on the very scites, whereon the meaner accommodations, above described,. had been erected. This visit of the Court however, not only proved a spur to exertion for the improvement of the place; but as the Queen had derived much benefit from the waters, and as the festivities, which had taken place, had attracted unusual numbers to the spot, the Wells attained a great increase of celebrity ; not only from the medicinal qualities of the waters, but as a place of gaiety and amusement. Gaming was the folly of the day. It was promoted at this time by the residence of the Court. It is one of the worst effects of this vice that it tends more than any other to level distinctions in rank ; and, by the introduction of degraded characters, to pollute the best sources of society. This evil was experienced in future at the Wells. In such a place there Avas an ease and facility of association, which gave a ready admission to all persons of an external decency of conduct : and, whilst public gaming tables held forth the invitation, there could be no want of candidates for the benefit of it. From this time Tunbridge Wells seems to have afforded attractions to visitors of every description. Persons of the highest rank did not cease to frequent it ; but henceforth the mixture was considerable : and the former simplicity of manners no longer prevailed. Like other commu nities, which, in an infant state, preserve internal harmony from a failure of the principles of discord, Tunbridge Wells had hitherto sub sisted without the necessity of laws : but, as its boundaries extended and its manners became irregular, something like coercion Avas found necessary to give stability to the more extended system of pleasure. This would appear for a time to have been effected by the decided influence of certain persons of rank, to which, at that time, it-Avas customary to yield a suitable degree of deference. But, as the community increased, and the influx became more promiscuous, this task of interference became obnoxious ; and something in the shape of an official character was wanted, who could frame laAvs for the regulation of pleasure, reduce them into system, and enforce their observance. In the early part of the last century this character presented himself to the public in the person of the celebrated Mr. Nash, commonly called E 14 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. Beau Nash ; the first Arbiter Elegantiarum of an English public place : and, if not actually the founder, at least their effective guide and regulator; Mr; Nash found this place, as well as Bath, the resort of the very best- company ; yet at the same time containing a mixture of the lowest and most degraded characters, who frequented it with a view to prey on the imprudent and unsuspicious. All were intent on amusement, and not disinclined to yield it to each other ; but with a reluctance and suspicion, characteristic of our countrymen, unable to forward their own wishes, and unwilling to sacrifice a little of their ease to promote general enjoy ment. He was well qualified to supply these deficiencies. A gentleman by birth and education, but an adventurer from necessity, and a gamester both from inclination and resource, he possessed the means of introduction to all parties. His manners were easy, his address insinuating, and his effrontery by no means inconsiderable. He speedily contrived to establish an authority in promoting and regulating the public amusements ; whilst he derived no trifling emoluments by the stipulated fees, Avhich he exacted from the gaming tables. These he encouraged, but at the same time restricted within bounds of tolerable moderation. These circumstances imperceptibly invested him with considerable poAver ; Avhich he asserted with jealousy, and enforced with rigour. His word became a kw; to which the proudest of the nobility found it useful to submit. In a word, he assumed the mock title of king ; and seems to have participated in many of its prerogatives. Under the arbitrary administration of this singular character it was the first law of the place that every visitant should live in public. The lodging houses were merely places of accommodation for eating and sleeping ; and, for the most part, the temporary inhabitants sought no further space in them than what was physically necessary for those purposes. The vvhole of their intermediate time Avas spent on the walks, in the assembly rooms, in pleasurable excursions, or at chapel : for this last formed a considerable part of every day's occupation ; the service was constantly performed twice in the day; how religiously attended cannot be ascertained. Pure and impure, however, participated ; and TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 15 possibly there was as little religion in the chapel as in the ball-room. But it Avas the fashion. Thus every hour of the day had its allotted occupation : the whole was regularly digested into system : and, from the nobleman of the first rank to the meanest visitor, all were compelled to obey, and yield to the established customs. But this character, who for so long a time swayed the sceptre of pleasure in this place, was not always able to do it under an equal range of indi vidual prosperity : his revenues Avere precarious, and these Avere indirectly attacked by a tribunal more arbitrary than his own. Gaming was, at the time alluded to, carried on to so alarming and injurious an excess as to provoke the interference of the legislature ; and successive statutes were passed, whereby the existing games were declared illegal, and the exercise of them subject to severe penalties and summary adjudication. Tunbridge Wells had long been the chief summer rendezvous of the most notorious professors of this art ; who, feeding on the more affluent visitors, in turn, contributed largely to the maintenance of the great minister of their pleasures. The new statutes acted as a severe blow on the administration of the place. But. the plans of gamesters are not so easily restricted. New games were invented, whereby the laws were for a time evaded ; and Mr. Nash's protection Avas secured by a larger participation in the default. This, however, did not permanently avail him. Duped by his associates, and restrained by severer provisions of the laAV, even these resources failed him ; and he was compelled to resume his professional occupations Avith lessened means, but, as would appear, Avith no considerable diminution of power. A character of this description, as may well be supposed, Avould often appear under very different circumstances. The money, rapidly and thoughtlessly acquired, Avas profusely expended ; and, on the failure of resource, a proportionate diminution of external appearance would take place. In the seasons of his prosperity he would make his entrance to the Wells in his chariot and six handsOme greys, preceeded by two out-riders with French horns. At other times, he would think himself fortunate if he could escape the grasp of his creditors, by favor of his involuntary state of degradation. 16 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. This statement is submitted, not merely as a prominent feature in the history of Tunbridge Wells, but as a singular characteristic of the social habits of the times. Motives of private interest induced Mr. Nash to attempt a free and unrestrained intercourse between persons, united only by a desire of amusement ; but separated by every common principle of society.' He became the agent to effect this : and by a mixture of decision and obsequiousness, with much knowledge of human nature, his exertions were attended with complete success. And, notAvithstanding the many obliquities of his character, he was enabled to establish a system of society peculiarly his own ; to maintain an influence amongst all ranks of people ; and even to reign over them with the most arbitrary sway. The local influence of his system continued to prevail at the Wells for a considerable time after Mr. Nash ceased to be the guide in its diversions. The support of the public place, and consequently the plan of living in public, was the law whereby every thing was regulated ; a plan, materially favored by the few comforts which were afforded in any of the lodging houses : and, till within these very few years, there were none of any other description in the place. Gradually, hoAvever, this system has undergone a change ; and although in some measure to the disparagement of the public place, certainly much to the amelioration of the state of society. The true principles of social intercourse are in the present day much better understood. Tunbridge Wells has, at every period of its celebrity, been the resort of the most fashionable. In what may be termed the zenith of its prosperity, being unrivalled, the mixture was considerable ; and the practice of every vice reigned with uninterrupted sway. At present it seems almost exclu sively to retain its character for good and select company. Its small distance from the metropolis, and, when compared Avith modern public places, its limited extent, has encouraged a degree of circumspection and even suspicion on the part of its regular frequenters, which tends to maintain this distinction : whilst, from the same caution, the suspicious, degraded and abandoned, have little opportunity of gaining an intro duction. Moreover, as the more dissipated habits of the metropolis TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 17 have increased, the fashionable part of the company, who frequent the Wells, seek rather the pleasures of retirement and the comforts of moderate society, than of dissipation. The customs of the place have consequently taken a different course. The public amusements are continued, on their ancient footing ; but are engaged in without compulsion, as occasional recreation : whilst the habits of private society are daily gaining ground, and social intercourse is promoted by the unencumbered resource of the public establishments. As the social habits have varied, so the general character of the place has changed in other particulars. Little more than half a century ago the season was limited to the short period between Midsummer and Michaelmas. After that time the trades-people themselves migrated, the taverns Avere closed, the chapel service was discontinued ; and the place remained a desert, till the following spring. As late as twenty years back, it was very unusual for a family to continue beyond the month of November. Now the case is very different. Many houses, formerly let as lodgings, are now permanently tenanted ; the inhabitants have been induced to amend the condition of their houses ; and winter residents have remunerated their speculation. The population of the place has accordingly become stationary : and, from a migrating colony, Tunbridge Wells has become a place of considerable wealth, consequence, and respectability. But this great change of character and habit is chiefly deducible from the circumstance of a permanent society having, of late years, gradually established itself in the place. Mount Ephraim, in particular, has im perceptibly become a cluster of country houses belonging to several respectable families ; whilst others in different parts are either private property, or are regularly occupied by the same tenants. Every one of these yields attraction to others. The state of the times also has been accessary to the same end. The man of large landed property does not find it so convenient as formerly to occupy his mansion in the country. The public place offers him a favorable resource : at a moderate expence he can there partake of a select society : and the circumstances peculiar to Tunbridge Wells give it a priority of recommendation over many others. F 18 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. This allusion to the altered circumstances of the place will induce us cursorily to review its several divisions, with the intent of pointing out the improvements which have of late taken place ; and of noticing the indi viduals by Avhom they have been principally effected. Mount Ephraim Avill here claim precedence, as comprising the greater number of objects worthy of notice. And here the first in point of beauty, comfort, and extent, is Bishop's DoAvn Grove ; the present residence of the widow of the late B. Gen. Yorke, of the Royal Artillery, who, in the year 1806, unfortunately perished on the coast of Brazil, when engaged in a military expedition destined against the Cape of Good Hope : an appointment, to which his distinguished services on its former capture, had principally recommended him. This place was formerly the property and residence of Sir George Kelly, Knt. a physician of some eminence, who had settled here, and become possessed of considerable property in the neighbourhood. Dying in the year 1772, his property vested in three sisters his coheirs. The only male descendant from whom is Thomas Christopher Gardner, Esq. late Major in the 95th Regiment of Foot ; in which corps he for some years served with the highest credit, in Holland, Egypt, and South America. On the demise of Sir George Kelly, Bishop's Down Grove AAras purchased by Martin Yorke, Esq. Avho, during an occupancy of about twenty-five years, so improved the house, and beautified the grounds, as, in a great measure, to have constituted him the maker of the place. But in the recollection of those who knew him, who shared in his friendship, and partook of his hospitalities, he has left testimonies to his merits, far beyond what the works of art, or the improved beauties of nature can record. Martin Yorke, one of the eleven children of the Rev. Martin Yorke, of Hemmington, in the county of Northampton, was educated at Woolwich for the military profession ; and having attained the rank of lieutenant in the King's service, accepted the offer, which, toward the close of the last reign, was made for the amelioration of the East India Company's service, of retaining his rank in the former, on accepting a commission in the latter. In this, having served for some years with credit, he obtained a majority; and in that rank distinguished himself under the command TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 19 of Lord Clive; more especially in the memorable battle of Plassey. Returning to his native country, Avith a competent fortune, and, although not advanced in years, with a shattered constitution; after a short residence elsewhere, he became the purchaser of this place ; to which he was induced by a previous experience of the salubrity of the air, and the appropriate utility of the Avaters to a constitution, debilitated by exertion in hot climates. Thenceforth he devoted himself to the improvement of his place, and the duties of his station. Whilst in India he had married a daughter of Governor Holwell ; by whom he had no family : but this privation did not suppress in him the parental affections; which, flowing in another direction, made him a parent to the fatherless amongst other branches of his relatives. Social in his habits, liberal in his principles, and fervent in his attachments, his house Avas the constant scene of friendly inter course and cheerful hospitality ; Avhilst his warm heart diffused throughout his neighbourhood the benefits of active exertion. He never courted popu larity ; but received it as the spontaneous tribute due to the most upright and honorable character. Having himself experienced the advantages of active exertion, he Avas a decided enemy to sloth; and constantly demonstrated a marked severity to the indolent trespasser on the bene volence of the affluent : but Avith an heart sensibly alive to real distress, and actuated by the fairest views of religion, his purse was liberally and unostentatiously open, in the form of loan to the embarrassed tradesman ; or in that of gratuitous assistance to the industrious pauper : Avhilst a sound judgment, matured by experience, yielded freely to those Avho sought it, the equally important aid of good advise, or candid, well-timed, and judicious remonstrance. He was, in short, the perfect exemplar of a country gentleman, formed on the reputable stock of an active, brave, and honorable soldier. His sense of religion dictated benevolence to his fellow creatures ; and his heart readily corresponded with his duty. As Mr. Yorke Avas among the first of those who, by fixing permanently their residence at the Wells, tended to give a new bias to the course of society, more has been said on his character, than in a work of this kind might seem to be required. The few, who yet hold him in their remem brance, will not be displeased at this tribute to his virtues. And what 20 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. the memory of those, who knew and loved him still retains, may be surely recorded for the benefit of others. Another place on Mount Ephraim, worthy of some remark, is that which was the property and residence of the late Sir Richard Heron, Bart. The original of this house (which has been added to and diminished till a very small part of the first structure remains) was built for the celebrated or rather infamous Judge Jeffries ; and, in consequence, long retained the name of the Chancellor's House : though it does not appear that it was ever occupied by him. It Avas, till purchased about thirty years since by Mr. Heron, only a lodging house. It was again let during his absence in Ireland, as secretary to the Earl of Buckinghamshire. During his residence there he was created a baronet ; and, on his return, meaning to make this place his future summer residence, he considerably enlarged it. A part of his improvements here was effected with materials brought from the magnificent seat of Sir Gregory Page, on Blackheath ; the doors, floors, chimnies, &c. having originally formed a part of that ill-fated mansion; It is to be lamented, however, that so little should have been done for the real improvement of this place ; which affords capabilities equal to any in the vicinity. The ground is beautifully varied ; and the views towards Holmesdale, and the Kentish and Surry Hills, are various and extensive. On this spot was the original bowling green, (the ball room and other accommodations being in the adjoining range of building, now occupied by the manufactory) and in later times, in the valley behind the house, were the fish ponds ; a place of public resort, for variety of amusements ; which have been discontinued since the property has fallen into private hands. In the valley between the house and the fish-ponds there is a well of the finest and purest water. Immediately adjoining to this is a place upon a smaller scale, called the Castle House, now the property of Mrs. Sheridan, widow of Charles Francis Sheridan, Esq. who died in it, June 25, 1806, very soon after he had made the purchase of it. It was for many years the residence of Mrs. Byng, the widow of George Byng, Esq. M. P. for Middlesex, and mother of the present member. It is now let as a lodging house. This house was formerly the Castle Tavern ; and from the beauty of TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 21 its situation, and the extensive view it commands in front towards the Wells, and behind towards the Kentish and Surry range of hills, was much frequented by occasional visitors to the place. About thirty years since it Avas brought into its present condition by Mrs. Johnson, sister to the late Bishop of Worcester, who retired to this place soon after her brother's death ; making it her constant summer residence. During Mrs. Johnson's residence at the Wells, her house was occa sionally the summer abode of an eminent character, whom the world had seen and admired in his days of activity ; and whom it was the delight of the Tunbridge world to witness in the enjoyment of the placid evening of life, and the gratifying contemplation of his efficient labours for the benefit of society. The exalted character alluded to, is the first and great Lord Mansfield. He had been the early friend and patron of Bishop Johnson : and, as report has surmised, the admirer of his sister. Be that as it may, he was her frequent guest here : and during these occasional visits, her hospitable board was open to a select society, of which her venerable guest was the animating spirit. Lord Mansfield possessed the singular talent of making every one pleased with himself: hence his social popularity. But he possessed also a peculiarity eminently pleasing in old age. He delighted in the society of young persons ; especially when distinguished by any superiority of talent. In this part of his character he shone more especially during these excursions to the Wells. He was a constant frequenter of the public rooms ; and on these occasions would draAv a circle of choice spirits around him ; when the ease of his manners and the benignity of his countenance would encourage the interchange of brisk conversation, in which his own lively talents would display themselves in the most amiable and attractive forms. If there is one character, which super-em inently interests in the decline of life, it is that of the great statesman, who seems to retire from his busy station with a pure heart and an unruffled mind, to the placid contemplation of his useful labours, and the self-satisfaction of an approving conscience : " Aptissima omnino " sunt arma senectutis artes, exercitationesque virtutum : quae in omni " eetate cultae, cum multum, diuque vixeris, mirificos efferunt fructus ; " non solum quia nunquam deserunt, ne in extremo quidem tempore G 22 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. " aetatis ; verum etiam quia conscientia bene actae vit33, multorumque " benefactorum recordatio jucundissima est." Such was the picture which Lord Mansfield presented to those, whom he honored with his society at Tunbridge Wells. Proceeding from hence along Mount Ephraim we are induced to notice the elegant and hospitable residence of Mrs. Whittaker. It is small, but contains much that is pleasing in itself; and from some points in the grounds affords the most picturesque views of the distant country, of any from this hill. This house Avas built by Sir Edmund King, physician to Charles the Second ; who made it his usual summer residence. It may possibly have been owing to this circumstance that the place was indebted for the visits of the Court, and so many of the nobility, at this period. Before it came into the occupation of the present proprietor it belonged to Mrs. Boone, the widow of Governor Boone ; and after her demise continued for many years to be the residence of her daughter. This lady may be classed among the prominent characters, which have of late years been resident at Tunbridge Wells : not, however, for her gaiety, though of that she was not destitute ; but for a whimsical eccen tricity, blended with much talent, vivacity, and benevolence, which constituted her a truly original character. Possessed of very superior talents, and of an enthusiastic and ardent mind, she sought and obtained distinction. Religion was the path in which she found it. It was a system of the wildest eccentricity ; yet eminently characterized by every christian virtue. But as she boasted of a courage beyond controul, so Avould she be biassed by no sect or party : yet would she have suffered martyrdom for any. She possessed the utmost deference and veneration for the Church of England ; but her love of freedom carried her the length of promoting every discordant sect ; and encouraging the fabricator of every novel creed. To these her house was open : with these she readily joined in their adverse expositions and prayers. But the same roof invariably yielded shelter to the indigent, and instruction to the ignorant : here too she would feed the hungry and clothe the naked. She was in herself the most singular instance of adverse and incongruous principles. Her life Avas an uniform course of humility and exertion ; TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 23 her conversation Avas lively, and always instructive ; her appearance the criterion in some respects of vanity, in others of total disregard of form and fashion : rouged, as for a dissipated court — clad in sackcloth, as for the conventicle. Her drawing-room (if that term may be applied to her case, Avithout profanation) exhibited on its walls the portraits and profiles of every known reformer ; Luther and Calvin, Melancthon, and John Knox, figured in front ; Avhilst Westley, Whitfield, and their motley followers, brought up the rear of a grotesque assemblage, which put religion and gravity at defiance : and to complete the scenery her own favorite monkey, and the living practitioners of her various religious creeds, were grouped in contact and contrast with the departed worthies, to the infinite mer riment of her occasional profane visitors. How is the scene changed ! In the same apartment the present worthy possessor of the mansion devotes her Wednesdays to the service of sociability and cards ; and the reformers are banished to make room for the elegant productions of her daughter's pencil. It will not be required from the writer of these pages to resolve the weighty question, " which most benefits society?" Giving all due merit to the good intentions of the former, he will be satisfied to record the good humour and hospitality, which prevails Avith the present possessor ; and Avish her a continuance of health and days to further the cheerfulness and sociability, Avhich she so well promotes, and so successfully diffuses through the place. To this account of the private residences on Mount Ephraim may be added two recently erected mansions, the property of Lord Viscount Boyne, and Sir George Buggin, Knt. adjoining nearly to each other, and constituting a considerable ornament to this part of the place. In these their respective owners reside during a great part of the year ; and con tribute largely to the comfort and benefit of the place, by fulfilling the most useful and respectable character of vigilant and active justices of the peace. This part of the place, extending from hence toAvards the London road, though generally termed Mount Ephraim, is strictly entitled to the designation of Culverden Roav: and the point, at which the road 24 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. separates, in the direction towards the Wells, is named the Culverden Gate. Here doubtless was one of the principal entrances into the adjoining royal chase, which commenced at this spot. The name is very antient, and was probably derived from the resort of the Culver pigeon to the den or grove of large trees, which formerly grew on this spot; of Avhich, until these few years past, many venerable oaks remained. At the extremity of the Culverden Row is a handsome house, standing in a large court, at a convenient distance from the road, and commanding from behind beautiful and extensive views. This was formerly called the Culverden House ; and was probably the residence of the owner of the adjacent property. It has of late years been more generally known as Lady Huntingdon's House : not that it was ever owned, or indeed inha bited, by any of that family ; though it owes much of its celebrity to their name. The lease of this house, of a small one adjoining, and of some acres of land in the vicinity, was many years since purchased by the late Dowager Countess of Huntingdon : when, on an adjacent spot, she built a small neat chapel, for the sect of methodists, under her more immediate pro tection. The smaller house she devoted as an abode for the officiating minister ; Avhilst the larger, together with the land, was let ; and the rent allotted for his salary. The sect, thus patronized, soon extended itself: and this meeting-house attained somewhat of a metropolitical character. Seceders of eminence from the established church officiated therein ; and the congregation was swollen by fanatics of every denomination from the neighbouring villages. The golden age of their schism is, however, past. Their patron saint is no more ; and the lease of these premises is expired. " No pay no play" was never better exemplified. The great orators have seceded from hence also ; and it is now left to the congregation to procure such a minister as their diminished funds will admit of. This casual mention of the parent methodist establishment of the place, will justify, it is hoped, a somewhat more extended account of the present state of religious dissent at Tunbridge Wells. It is unhappily a branch of the fashion of the times : and will not therefore be altogether misplaced in these pages. It Avill be recollected that, in the infant state of the place, TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 25 the dissenters constituted a majority of the population. This was appa rently much the case throughout this part of the county of Kent. When the chapel for the service of the established church Avas built, accom modation for the visitors rather than for the inhabitants seems to have been the chief object in view. There were at that time meeting-houses for the anabaptists, the presbyterians, and the independants. Whiston, in his Memoires, (A. D. 1748) testifies to the respectability of the anabaptist congregation, under their minister Mr. Copper. This was continued, in a dwindling condition, till it actually expired, with their late venerable and truly christian pastor Mr; Joseph Haines. Those, who remember the Rev. Mr. Johnson, will attest to the respectability of the presbyterian congregation under his ministry. The independants have ceased about twenty years ; and their meeting-house is converted into the lodging, now called Sydenham House. These congregations were all existing, and even flourishing, at the time when Lady Huntingdon's establishment took place : and, with the chapel of the church of England, constituted the sum of the religious departments of the place. The result of a few years is curious. Like Pharaoh's lean kine, the lank schismatics,, thus nobly protected, have actually devoured each of the other dissenting establishments. The independants are no more ; not a vestige of them remaining ; the deserted meeting-house of the baptists merely proclaims the spot, where formerly their congregations assembled ; whilst that of the presbyterians, is unblushingly given up, by a trust formerly deemed respectable, to another separation of the methodists. These, Avith another recently established on Mount Sion, having devoured their adversaries, and ranged their vanquished foes under their several banners, are now bitterly quarrelling among themselves : thus proving, for the admonition of the unwary, that however loud may be their boasts of faith, it is not of that description, which is productive of charity. Amidst this singular oscillation of principles, in a cause, which above every other should be characterized by stability, it Avill be pleasing and not uninstructive to recur to the case of the established church. During this period of religious inconstancy very feAv indeed have been the seceders from its communion ; Avhilst the more respectable of the old dissenters, H 26 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. who, having lost their associates, have yet retained a sober sense of religion, have laid aside their dissent, and silently subsided into this con gregation. The harmony of its proceedings yields the best encouragement to take shelter under its protecting Aving ; Avhilst its meekness and charity toAvards those, Avho differ on points of faith, read a lesson to schismatics, which it were Avell for their boasting could they be induced to imitate. The result has been union, peace, and increased congregations. Its resources indeed are but uncertain and of an eleemosynary nature : yet have they shewn no tendency to failure. May its success be progressive, and may it establish its claim to the motto once allotted to its parent, esto perpetua. Mount Pleasant Avhich next attracts our notice, contained originally but one house. About thirty years since, an indifferent lodging house Avas enlarged, and the adjacent grounds extended and embellished, by Elizabeth, the AvidoAV of Sir John Peachey, Bart, the elder brother of the first Lord Selsea. She made it one of the most desirable residences at Tunbridge Wells ; and occupied it, in the exercise of an extensive benevolence and liberal hospitality, till her death. It has since become the property, and is the occasional residence of Sir John Fagg, Bart, of Mystole House, near Canterbury. Still the great Mount Pleasant House retains its exclusive claim to that appropriate designation. It is now only a lodging house; let as one, or divisible into two, as the circumstances of the tenants may require. Many persons of distinction have Avished to become the purchasers of it ; captivated by the beauty of the situation, and the capability of improvement in the adjacent grounds; but having descended to the present proprietor as heir at laAV, on the last possessor having informally bequeathed it to a roman catholic establishment, some doubts, as to the validity of the title have been raised, which have hitherto proved obstacles to the transfer of the property. This place has heretofore been the occasional residence of many distinguished persons. It was formerly a seat of the Earl of Egmont. For twenty successive seasons it was the constant abode, for the precisely measured period of ten Aveeks, to Thomas, the fourth Duke of Leeds : TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 27 which he continued till his death in 1789*. This noble personage formed so conspicuous a feature in the costume of Tunbridge Wells, that it will be alloAvable to pause a little on his name and character. The antient system of the place prevailed during his abode in it : and he Avas inva riably seen on the parade at the usual hours of assembling there. He may be said to have precisely exemplified Mr. Burke's happy and elegant difinition of a nobility, " the Corinthian capital of polished society.'* Dignified in his manners, polite in his demeanour, affable withall, and actively benevolent; he so apportioned his attentions, and so encou ragingly displayed his goodwill to all, that he became the most popular character in the place ; and his implied wish on any subject Avas equi valent to a laAv. Although he divested himself of the aristocratic air in his conversation and countenance, never did he so in his equipage and exterior. His star invariably decorated his person, even on his great coat ; and his full equipage regularly conveyed him to the Wells, and for his airing. After the morning bustle of the day, his habits were retired. He had usually his small party at dinner ; and at the appointed hour, or rather minute, the coach and six was at the door for the evening excursion towards a spot on the London road, which his Grace denominated Turnham Green, from an open space, Avhich admitted of the turning of his cumbrous equipage. On one single day in the year he would make his evening appearance in the Rooms: this was on the birth-day of the Prince of Wales. On this occasion it had been his custom to give a public tea-drinking and ball to the company ; and, if the state of the weather permitted, the former part of the entertainment took place on the Parade ; at that time denominated the Pantiles. The tables were spread, according to the numbers to be accommodated, down the Avalks ; and it may be noticed, as a singular contrast to the unmannerly intrusion of the present times, that, although * The subjoined early testimony to the character of this truly respectable nobleman, occurs in a letter from Lord Oxford to Dr. Swift, bearing the date of June 19, 1735. " The " Duke of Leeds is returned from his travels a fine gentleman ; and has imported none of the " fopperies and fooleries of the countries he has passed through." 28 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. the novelty of such a scene might be supposed to yield attractions, and almost to justify some deviations from a rigid propriety, there never was any advance on the part of the loAver classes to disturb the comfort of the meeting. But not only the days of chivalry, but even those of decency and good order are gone by. After the death of the Duke of Leeds, for one season, the Duke of Chandos made this house his residence; and died there, honored and lamented by all Avho knew him. For many years it was, in the early part of the season, the residence of the venerable Dr. Moss, Bishop of Bath and Wells ; who for more than half a century had been a regular frequenter of the Wells : and died not many years since, in the full enjoyment of his faculties, at the great age of ninety- two. In the year 1795, her Royal Highness the Princess Sophia, having been recommended to drink the Tunbridge Avaters, resided for that purpose, about six weeks, in Great Mount Pleasant. On her arrival, she was in a most debilitated state of health : during her residence, she rapidly amended, and quitted the place completely restored. Two years after the same house was destined to receive royal guests, of a different description, and under different circumstances : — the Prince and Princess, with the hereditary Princess of Orange. The Duchess of York accompanied them; and the excursion was understood to have been chiefly undertaken on her Royal Highness's account. This visit took place in the early stage of those revolutionary scenes, Avhich have since proved so fatal and humiliating to crowned heads ; but so frequent, as almost to cease exciting Avonder. The near alliance of the parties to our own reigning family, and their steady adherence to the interests of this country, occasioned these royal exiles to participate largely in the compassion of Britons : and during their residence among them, the inhabitants of the Wells readily united with their felloAV citizens in yielding them the tribute of their utmost benevolence. The remaining parts of the place contain few residences of individual proprietors, Avorthy of notice. The three Grove Houses, so called from their vicinity to Mount Sion Grove, have frequently been occupied by TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 29 the same families for several successive seasons. Two of them have recently passed into private hands, and have undergone very great im provements. The largest having been purchased by William Pigou, Esq. and that nearest to Mount Pleasant being occupied by the Dowager Lady Dering, on a long lease. The former of these Avas, for several of the last years of his life, the con stant summer residence of Dr. Moore, the late Archbishop of Canterbury. This venerable prelate afforded a singular instance of well-merited profes sional success ; and he bore his high dignities with a singular moderation. He lived in times formidably threatening to the hierarchy ; and it is no mean token of his administration that he left the interests of the church unimpaired. If he did not possess or display talents and learning equal to some of his predecessors, his temper, moderation, and vigilance, may be pronounced to have effected purposes as meritorious as higher quali fications Avould have ensured. This place witnessed the last scenes of his active life ; and will long bear testimony to the amiability of his private character, and to the exemplary manners, whereby he recommended the duties, which it was an object of his station to enforce. The other Grove House, now occupied by Lady Dering, was in years someAvhat more remote, the residence of the late Earl of Guildford, better knoAvn to the world under the title of Lord North. The conduct and character of this nobleman, during his residence at the Wells, was more adapted to its general interests ; and consequently calculated for a more extended notice in this work. He may indeed be classed among the number of those friends to the place, who contributed to the establishment of that social system, which has recently grown into common usage. There Avas someAvhat more in the case of Lord North, than what is generally applicable to the retired public character. Disappointment in the main objects of life, is apt to create chagrin ; and if those objects have been of a public nature, the mortification is more sensibly felt ; being more level to common observation. Hence it is that a gloom and morose- ness is generally expected to mark the latter days of an unfortunate statesman : and if his other mortifications are aggravated by the expe rience of any private or personal calamity, the utmost climax of misery i 30 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. will be anticipated. That Lord North was an unfortunate minister, public events most incontrovertibly testify : it may, however, be doubted, whether his Avant of success did not result more from a perverse and unprincipled opposition, than from his OAvn incapacity. He certainly appeared to rise in the public estimation after his secession from office. This Avas a tribute paid. to his acknoAvledged purity of conduct, and to his many private virtues. And those, Avho saw him in the exercise of his domestic duties, those, Avho participated in the exquisite felicities of his social hours, Avhen one of the greatest calamities of life lay heavily on him, will readily bear testimony to the total absence of gloom or moroseness from his mind, and the gangrene of resentment from his heart. Lord North, in addition to those natural and improved talents Avhich had in early life placed him in a conspicuous station, possessed a variety of attainments, eminently calculated for private society. He had a mind finely stored with general information, polite literature, and colloquial anecdote ; at the same time, richly ornamented Avith classic erudition. His memory Avas retentive, his imagination lively, and his disposition easy and communicative. He possessed, moreover, a facetious manner of detailing his story, or communicating his information, that invariably gave an extraordinary zest to the subject imparted. It was impossible not to attach the greatest interest to the lively narratives of the blind communicator : and when these were heightened by the pleasing attentions of a singularly attached family, and such placidity was impressed on the grateful heart of the patient sufferer, as Would admit of his own facetious remarks on his infirmity — his case was more than interesting — it Avas edifying : he promulged an useful lesson ; and yielded a persuasive proof, how readily and gracefully it might be practised. A few years after Lord North's residence at the Wells had terminated, his great and coarse political antagonist, Colonel Barre, under a similar instance of privation of sight, took up his station in the place for his summer residence. Colonel Barre, under his misfortune, had lost much of that asperity of character, Avhich had distinguished him in earlier life ; and doubtless had these political combatants met under the impression TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 31 of a common calamity, they would have forgot their animosities, and in reality have verified Lord North's happy and facetious impromptu — that, " although no political antagonist had been more bitter against him than " had Colonel Barre, yet Avere there no two people in the world, who " Avould then be more happy to see each other." It is no inconsiderable alleviation to this calamity that it so generally excites notice, and awakens the desire of yielding consolation in the breasts of the youthful, the accomplished, and well-informed. The two eminent characters above noticed, afforded an ample and most impressive exemplification of this amiable and honorable trait in human nature. They passed much of their time in public ; and whether on the Parade, or in the Rooms, whatever the place contained, persons dignified by rank, or distinguished by youth, beauty, talent, or accomplishment, were seen proffering their guidance to the sightless step ; or combining, by plea santry and good-humour, to alleviate the privation of a sense. Nor shall the English, altogether, engross this testimony to the most amiable pro pensity of the female heart. It Avill be recollected by the feAv survivors, who can retrace the scene, that Tunbridge Wells was about this time honored Avith a transient visit from the amiable but unfortunate Princess De Lamballe. She visited the Rooms : and due respect was paid to the illustrious stranger. She was literally a stranger, having no acquaintance there beyond those of her own suite. But she selected the blind ex-minister as an object of her attention ; and by soothing expressions, and an exquisitely adapted compliment, cheered his feelings ; and, perchance, gratified the last dormant passion in the human heart, hi3 vanity. In the vicinity of the Grove Houses, but higher on Mount Sion, Lieut. Gen. Murray has, for many successive years (except Avhen diverted elsewhere in the service of his country) taken up his abode. Having long experienced the advantages of the situation, he has recently so improved it as to have actually renovated his dwelling ; and at the same time, from the taste displayed in the execution, made it a principal ornament to this part of the place. Mr. Cumberland's long residence at Tunbridge Wells has already been incidentally mentioned. We are noAv approaching the spot, which for ^ 32 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. above twenty years he inhabited. More would have been submitted on the subject of his residence and its effects, had not the description been already so faithfully given to the world from his own lively and instructive pen. This short account (had it been somewhat earlier submitted to the public) would have terminated with the lamentation that he had taken a fareAvell of scenes long cherished by his partiality, and benefited by his exertions ; but during the course of the last year, he has (at the instance of the Volunteers, whom he commands,) returned, not precisely to his old station, but to one in its immediate vicinity on Mount Sion. Little depressed by the advanced hand of Time, he has resumed his various local occupations with his wonted ardor: and faithful to that public, which by his literary exertions he has so long benefited and amused, he has recently announced himself, from hence, the champion of fair and liberal criticism, with a candour and ingenuity, equally honorable to his head and heart. The attempt is worthy of his established character ; and his perseverance Avould seem to indicate the coincidence of his ideas with those exquisite sentiments of the younger Pliny, " Et gaudium mihi " et solatium in Uteris : nihilque tarn laetum, quod his lastius : nihil tam " triste, quod non per has sit minus triste. — Porro ut ex studiis gaudium, " sic studia hilaritate proveniant." The object of the above detailed statement has been to trace to its source a gradual alteration in the system of society at Tunbridge Wells ; and, from existing circumstances to unfold that, which now prevails ; it is hoped that something has been effected, which may bring the reader acquainted Avith the past and present circumstances of the place. Of the present state of the public amusements a few words may suffice. The Rooms are constantly open, on the usual terms of subscription, for balls and cards : and a small neat theatre has lately been erected. These afford a resource to those, who choose to avail themselves of them. The terms of meeting are easy, and the forms regular. Occasionally a tea- drinking or concert vary the scene. But the prevailing spirit suggests ease as the criterion of enjoyment : and although the society of all be acceptable, yet none are compelled to meet in public, contrary to their inclination. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 33 Little notice has hitherto been taken of the spring, and its appendages. The chalybeate water itself will form the subject of a separate article. The mere relater of facts Avill confine his remarks to the notorious efficacy of these Avaters; the daily recurring circumstance of renovated health, restored strength, and improved beauty, affords, even to the visitant in pursuit of pleasure, the purest and most gratifying sensations. The spring remained in its original condition, surrounded merely by a rude wooden paling, until the year 1664, Avhen it was enclosed by a trian gular stone Avail, at the expence of the Lord Muskerry : and in this state it continued until within these few years. About the year 1789 the old stone bason was found to be in a very decayed state, from the corroding of the mineral, at the aperture through which the water arose. On this occasion, the lady of the manor deter mined to replace it, by a handsome marble bason : and it having been discovered, on removing the old bason, that much filth had accumulated beneath, from the exposure of the Avater, she was advised to add a fixed cover, to prevent such an inconvenience for the future. This was ac cordingly effected : and the water was drawn from the spout, at which it issued from the bason. The work was handsomely executed ; and the projector hoped to participate in the credit she so justly merited. On the arrival however of some old frequenters of the place, in the ensuing season, a storm arose, which had been as little anticipated, as it was found difficult to calm. Not experiencing the same benefit they had heretofore received, and never heeding that themselves had advanced in years, and that a time will come, when the most potent spells can no longer renovate, they imputed the whole and sole cause of their failure to the neAV marble cover. It had polluted or neutralized the water. Neither reason nor raillery could convince them to the contrary. Chemical experiments were made under the three different circumstances of the water, Avhen extracted by dipping in the uncovered state, when caught from the spout in a state of exposure, and again, when thus taken in a covered state. No perceptible difference could be ascertained. Prejudice, nevertheless, as usual, carried the day : the cover was laid aside ; and the triumphant party were indulged with the essence of K 34 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. the dipper's fingers, and the filtration from the accumulated filth beneath the bason. In this state did the well remain till within tnese very few years. Baths had frequently been demanded at Tunbridge Wells. There was indeed an excellent cold bath near Rust-Hall Common; which had formerly been an appendage on a place of public entertainment : but this was at too great a distance for invalids ; difficult of access ; and moreover, in a very dilapidated and uncomfortable condition. Warm baths there were none. It was suggested that some benefit might be derived from baths composed of the mineral water, and a desire manifested itself on the part of many of the inhabitants, to embark in an undertaking to this effect. Mrs. Shorey, however, as lady of the manor, put in her exclusive claim to the advantages of the undertaking ; and with a libe rality and zeal for the public good, which, it is apprehended, can scarcely in point of profit have answered to herself, erected about six years since the present handsome edifice, on the scite of the antient enclosure. Cold and warm, vapour, and shoAver baths are herein contained ; all excellent in their kind and well appointed. The Well still retains its antient situation, though better protected, in front of the building: but in a handsome room, facing the parade, the same water is supplied from a pump, for those who prefer that method of taking it. Over this pump-room and the baths, are various comfortable apartments ; intended for the accom modation of invalids, with small establishments, who might wish to make constant use of the baths. They have not, however, yet been fitted up for the purpose. The property of the spring is absolutely in the public ; so defined and ascertained by Act of Parliament : whereby also provisions are made for its security. The emolument derived from the water is limited to the dippers, who serve it to individuals ; these are usually selected from the wives or relatives of the inferior tenants on the manor ; and are nominated to their situation by the lord. Notwithstanding the spring, which is now used, has for so long a time enjoyed an exclusive preference, it is said not to have been that, which originally engaged the notice of the public. That is in an unfrequented ¦plni TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 35 spot, behind the Sussex Tavern, called the Folly. It yields a water apparently of equal power ; but, from issuing more superficially from the earth, is supposed to be more liable to be affected by changes in the atmosphere, and by heavy rains. Neither is it equally accessible as that in common use ; although, from its situation, it would present to many persons the recommendation of retirement and agreeable country scenery. About the middle of the last century, an attempt was made by Mr. Todd, then the proprietor of the Sussex Tavern, to bring this spot into notice ; and even to make it the fashionable rendezvous for the company. At a considerable expence the ground was cleared, walks were laid out, new plantations formed, and the muddy water put into new courses, so as to occasion what he meant to call cascades : but either the place was found to be inconvenient, or prejudices in favor of old haunts prevailed ; for the scheme did not succeed: probably to the injury of the projector; inasmuch as it quickly obtained the name, which it still retains, of Todd's Folly. It is now a complete wilderness ; though the Avell is occasionally made use of. It was observed in the early part of this statement, that the spring, although usually denominated from the neighbouring town of Tunbridge, was, in fact, situated in the parish of Speldhurst ; as were likewise the walks, and the more populous parts of the place. Before we proceed to the notice of the several places represented in the ensuing plates, it may not be uninteresting to add a few notices on this and some adjacent spots, which will not otherwise engage our particular attention. The parish of Speldhurst, like many others in this neighbourhood, was formerly respectably inhabited. The village is, and probably ever was, amongst the meanest and most obscure. Immediately adjoining the church however are still to be traced the remains of a mansion of con siderable extent ; formerly Avell inhabited, but now converted into a farm-house. The church of Speldhurst is singularly placed at the utmost extremity of this very extensive parish, within two fields of Penshurst. Such extra ordinary and inconvenient situations of churches, are usually to be accounted for from a vicinity to the residence of the founder. The 36 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. relative situation of this church and house, would seem to render it probable that the former owes its existence to some antient occupier of the latter. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 37 The family of most note among the antient inhabitants of Speldhurst, was of the name of Waller. Their residence was in the adjoining hamlet of Groombridge ; near to the road from the Wells, tOAvards East Grinstead. The scite of their mansion is still noticeable ; though occupied by a modern building : but the moat is still retained, and marks what was its character in antient times. This place, having been previously possessed by the families of Cobham and Clinton, Avas purchased in the reign of Henry the Fifth, by Sir Charles AValler. In his military capacity he attended that monarch in his wars on the continent, and having much distinguished himself in the battle of Agincourt, he had, as a reward for his bravery, the custody granted him of the Duke of Orleans, who had been made prisoner by him on that memorable day. He was detained a prisoner in this mansion of Groombridge for twenty-five years : and tradition states, that in token of the handsome treatment he experienced, besides the large ransom, Avhich he eventually paid, he rebuilt this mansion ; and so far repaired and beautified the parochial church, as to have been in some measure considered as its founder. This church, which Avas a simple gothic structure, with a most elegant timber spire, a singular ornament to the neighbouring country, (having many years previously been deprived of one of its aisles,) was on the 21st of October, 1791, burnt doAvn by lightning. Its place is occupied by a modern structure ; in which a poverty of design and meanness of execution are the chief characters, which distinguish it from its antient predecessor. Over the church porch remains a memorial of the munificence of the Duke of Orleans — his Coat of arms. The antiquary will lament that the original stone was not preserved. He will not be pacified probably when he is told that there is no ground for his lamentation. The original still retains its place : though, with a singularly active barbarity, the rust of antiquity- has been carefully removed from it, that it might not disgrace the modern building. In the hamlet of Groombridge, adjoining the mansion, and an ap pendage to the estate, is a chapel, in which the service of the Church of England is regularly performed ; apparently to the danger of the minister and his congregation : it being in a wretched state of dilapidation. This L 38 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. chapel, Avhich was built in the year 1625, is whimsically dedicated by John Packer, Esq. the owner of this estate, in an inscription over the porcKrto the happy return of Charles Prince of Wales, from his eccentric amorous expedition to Spain : a singular mode of perpetuating the remembrance of a wild exploit ; Avhich, however, if it is to depend on this memorial, will speedily pass into oblivion. In a field in this parish, adjoining the turnpike road, several French gold coins have been lately turned up by the plough. They are of the date of the tliirteenth century ; and of the value, by weight, of about thirteen shillings. It is difficult to account for their being found in such a spot. They are, however, possibly connected Avith the long residence of the Duke of Orleans in this parish ; the spot whereon they have been found, being in the direct line between the place of his residence and the parish church. The village of Frant stands in a south-east direction from the Wells. It commands a rich and extensive view over the Avild scenery of Eridge Park, and the adjacent country. From the church steeple, it is said, that the cliffs in the neighbourhood of Dover may be discerned ; but it does not appear that this point is satisfactorily ascertained. Dungeness, however, and Beachy-IIead are clearly discovered from hence: for betwixt the former of these places and the church toAverof Frant, Avas one of the bases in the trigonometrical survey of this part of the kingdom, carried on some years since, under the inspection of Lieut. Gen. Roj'. This spot being celebrated for a pure air, and its commanding situation, has afforded inducement to many persons to establish their summer residence in its vicinity : and within these few years a splendid mansion has been erected on an elevated spot, within extensive grounds, by Charles Pigou, Esq. The view from it is varied and commanding in every direction ; and the house itself an object of interest to all the surrounding country. On the opposite side of the road leading to Bay ham Abbey, on an eminence commanding extensive vieAvs towards the Wells and the Kentish hills, is a cottage lately improved and decorated in a style of suitable simplicity, by Sir John Macpherson, Bart. It has, of late years, been much deserted by its oAvner ; and is consequently not in the condition, J^X^r ^f I-"/?/'/./7 S ZonJvn.RiitUlu-J If JSAmmiZUyi, Mir/er S-oret.2f.ifj-j.Sog. The inscription over the porch of the chapel: DOM S OB FOELICISSIMVM CAROLI PRINCIPIS EX HISPANIIS REDITVM SACELLVM HOC D D 16 j p 25 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 39 which it formerly presented to the eye. It possesses, however, intrinsic beauties, which this partial neglect cannot obliterate ; and when consti tuted the scene of entertainment, as was frequently the case to numerous visitors from the Wells, in the public breakfasts here given by the hospi table proprietor, no spot could be better calculated for jocund merriment ; or scene more gay, than this cottage and its appendages. The roads, which pass over Frant Green, soon after quitting it, branch off in different directions toAvards various places on the Sussex coast ; and afford some of the pleasantest rides to the frequenters of the Wells. For the richness of the scenery they need not yield to any in the southern parts of the kingdom : and they have the additional advantage of gene rally conducting to some objects of curiosity at the termination of the excursion. In an eastern direction, following the course of the roads towards the coast, is the village of Pembury. The Rye and Hastings road passes over what is called Pembury Green ; the church and village being seen at some distance on the left. Leaving this Green on the left, and pursuing the road nearly a mile, the eye is gratified with some pleasing scenery,- which once formed the park to a considerable mansion, one half only of which is now remaining. In its barbarously mutilated state it was not thought worthy of representation in a plate ; yet it may yield a pleasing object in the course of a ride. It is called Bay-Hall : the present ruin is probably not a part of the original mansion, which, in remoter times, occupied this spot ; inasmuch as the vestiges of moats and terraces seem to indicate themselves appendages to a much larger edifice, than this Avould appear ever to have been ; though, in its perfect state, it formed no inconsiderable mansion. Bay-Hall Avas formerly part of the immense property of the family of Colepepper ; Avhich extended itself over great part of this county ; more especially on the western side of it. They were residents here in very antient times : one of them, John Colepepper, having kept his shrievalty here in the reign of Edward the Third. The estate was alienated from this family in the reign of Henry the Sixth, to Humphry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham ; and after various other transfers, which it is unnecessary 40 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. here to specify, it was purchased about the middle of the seventeenth century by the family of Amherst : Sergeant Amherst dying possessed of this estate in the year 1632. In this family, and its representative of the name of Browne, it has remained till within these very few years ; when it was sold, first to Thomas Streatfield, Esq. and since to Earl Camden. The house, of which the moiety is still to be seen, was a handsome edifice, built of the stone of the country, and in a good style. It was begun by Richard Amherst, Esq. during the most violent times of the civil wars. He is said to have been a favorer of the Royal interest ; but to have carried himself Avith so much prudence and address, as to have been enabled, whilst under the necessity of concealing himself, to proceed for some years with this building; Avhich he completed about the year 1664. It is said, that he Avould give his directions to his Avorkmen and agents from the place of his retirement; and occasionally, as he had intimations of probable safety, that he would avail himself of moon-light nights to take a survey of the progress of his building : and Avas fortunate enough to accomplish what he so ably planned, and courageously executed. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 41 It has already been noticed that the country about Tunbridge Wells presents, for the most part, a wild forest aspect. This description of it Avill not prove a recommendation to the agriculturist or the admirer of improved nature. In truth the soil is little calculated to remunerate the husbandman, except with much labour and expence on his part ; and hitherto little has been done in that line of patriotic exertion. This apparent apathy is to be assigned to various causes : principally to the very short duration of the leases, heretofore granted by the proprietors of the soil ; Avhich did not hold out to a wealthy speculator the prospect of an adequate return of his capital. Another reason, which still in some shape prevails, is to be deduced from the vast extent of smuggling in this neighbourhood. Not many years since every farmer in the vicinity was more or less a participator in illicit trade : and the necessary consequence ensued ; that, intent on the fraudulent gains of a clandestine occupation, he neglected his laAvful and ostensible business. But a sin gular prejudice, Avhich prevailed, till Avithin these few years, was an effectual means of checking those agricultural improvements, which might have been expected, and which are noAv rapidly taking place. So prevalent was the idea that all the Avater in the place was injurious to horses, that scarcely any of the visitors could be prevailed on to retain their cattle at the Wells. The inconvenience was remedied by hackney coaches, which plied near the Walks during the day ; and even these, it is said, retired, (their proprietor being actuated by the same prejudice,) to Southborough for the night. As this prejudice long prevailed, the barren soil of the neighbourhood was deprived of the advantages of manure, which the great influx of visitors Avould otherwise have supplied. But this has now in a great measure subsided ; and better prospects begin to sheAV themselves. But although the soil is sufficiently meagre, it covers treasures of various kinds ; some of which are competent to its amelioration. Marl of the very best kind abounds ; and the little improvement of the surface, which has taken place, has been principally effected by this useful manure : and as the terms of the leases are now extending, there is little M 42 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. doubt but a few years will produce a very signal advance toAvard agri cultural perfection. A good iron stone abounds throughout the country: and may be considered as the parent of the chalybeate, which has principally called the place into public notice. Until within these feAv years (when the smelting business has been carried on upon a large scale in cheaper countries, and where abundance of fuel, and the vicinity of navigations favor the undertaking) much business of this kind was done in the adjacent villages : almost every stream in the vicinity furnishing its aid to some mill and furnace. This resource to wealth and industry has now altogether ceased ; not a single furnace being at this time in existence. The same may be observed also of the clothing business ; which in the country betAveen the Wells and the Weald was formerly so considerable, that the cloth manufactured here was designated by the name of the Kentish grey ; and still continues to distinguish the facings of the county militia. The deserted workshops in many places remain ; but scarcely a loom is at this time employed. But the prevailing ingredient in the soil, and that which forms the characteristic feature of the country, is a sand stone of considerable hardness. Where this lies near the surface, as the light soil is washed away, various considerable prominences are presented to the eye ; which tend to vary the scene ; and when mixed with the verdure of intervening trees and shrubs, and enlivened with moving objects, present scenes highly fascinating to the admirers of the wild beauties of nature. In some places, where the inequality of the ground has favored more ex tensive failures of the adjacent soil, these protuberances are of considerable magnitude ; and the external surface of the stone having, from exposure, acquired hardness and a darker hue, they assume the majestic character of rocks. Within a short distance from the Wells there are three principal aggregations of them ; which are objects of notice and curiosity. The nearest are distinguished by the appellation of the High Rocks : the others, being named from the proprietors of the adjacent lands, are called Harrison's and Penn's Rocks : the former about five miles from the Wells; the latter about a mile further in the same direction. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 43 At a considerable depth below the surface, the sand becomes white and of a delicate fineness ; and is in such request for household purposes that it forms a tolerably profitable pursuit with poor persons to collect it for sale. The excavations for this purpose in one, which is here represented, are so A.n./Lftod* w^-Jm/en^M-'- l.,:,.1..„ TuhlishtJ by Htnamd Hwl l'-"l'7 -*»"'¦ it™"*':" 44 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. considerable, as to give them the character of caverns ; and cottages having been erected among the rocks above, not only is the general effect interesting, but between the increased pressure from above and the encroachments on the substratum, the idea of danger to the parties occupying either station, is so heigthened, as to make it a scene to be viewed with no inconsiderable apprehension. The rock, whereof a representation is annexed, forms part of a collection in a valley adjoining Rust-Hall Common ; which are not indeed so large as those already noticed, but no less remarkable for the singular shapes which many of them present. Here, with the aid of a little imagination, many counterparts of art or nature have been traced : and the walk through the valley is amongst the most agreeable in the immediate vicinity. .ZtmJtm . I"it2'luhcd l>y Jidnmnd< LicyJ.,]Lvley Street -Mayndog. TOAD ROCK, TUNBRIDGE WELLS. TUNBRIDGE WELLS COMMON RUSTHALL COMMON (TUNBRIDGE WELLS) PRICE £2,400, FREEHOLD, THE COMMON, TUNBRI DGE WELLS. ROMANTICALLY SITUATED AMIDST THE ROCKS. I lie unique and very attractive Freehold Property, known as gT. HELENA," TUNBRIDGE WELLS, /THE COMMON, TUNBRIDGE WELLS ..ituated AMIDST THE ROCKS, only half-a-mile from Tunbridge Wells Central Static y whence Cannon Street and Charing Cross are reached in 48 and 54 minutes resp^ THE UNIQUE AND VERY ATTRACTIVE FREEHOLD PROPERTY. "ST. HELENA," TUNBRIDGE WELLS, THE TOAD ROCK. / ON A HILL IN THE CENTRE OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS COMMON V ^ TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 45 All these bear evident marks of the origin, which has been assigned them. It would indeed require no great licence of imagination to induce the conjecture, that in all these instances they had formerly been the boundaries of some vast channel of waters. Their curved and serpentine directions, the edging of the valley, the fall of the ground, and the present existence of a small rivulet tracing its course through the intervening space, all seem to favor this idea. Yet is there no coincidence in the present circumstances of the country, which would establish the truth of such a surmise. But a minute inspection of the rocks themselves, an attention to the general regularity of their courses, and a partial irre gularity of their component parts, together with the adverse and opposing directions of their strata, would seem to connect them with some great convulsion of nature, whereof we have only conjectural traces : and perhaps there may be more than fancy in the idea, that they are indebted for their origin to the very remote existence of overwhelming torrents and convulsions, of which so many parts of every known country bear such evident testimony, to the perplexity of the naturalist, and the confusion of the historian. These rocks afford a principal source of amusement to the frequenters of Tunbridge Wells. Tne walk to the High Rocks is exceeded in point of beauty by nothing in the country : whilst the greater distance of the others, affords a pleasing variety to the riders^ Adjoining nearly to the High Rocks, but nearer to Rust-Hall, is an excellent cold. bath. It is situated in a beautiful romantic dell ; and for the coldness, and tran sparency of the water, may be pronounced as excellent as any in the kingdom : the accommodation for the bathers is not however what it ought to be. When. Rust-Hall was the principal rendezvous of the company, this was a place of much public resort; but on the failure of that, it Has declined in its celebrity. At a still later period accommodations for entertainment Avere provided at the High Rocks ; which induced many pleasant meetings under a rustic shed, at one termination of them ; where romantic scenery, combining with the wish to please and to be pleased, tended to create an agreeable relief to that tsedium, which will frequently encroach on a place of fashionable resort. Of late years these N 46 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. seem to have yielded to the superior attractions of a spot in the neigh bourhood of Harrison's Rocks : where, by the side of a lake of considerable extent, the worthy and benevolent proprietor has erected some rooms, with which he accommodates the public on these occasional visits. The naturalist will, amongst these rocks, find a source of much botanical amusement. Heaths of great variety and beauty; forest shrubs and rock plants abound. And that, which is peculiarly appropriate, being denominated, from the spot, the Trichomanes Tunbridgiensis, is here found in abundance and perfection. ¦ . .dmBL mm, 'n'^n6ruh& '(Us tommex/ Zondcn,. TubUsJial iv 'Ednuaid, IiloyH.HJD-Tey Sp-eet May 23.8 og . TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 47 THE WATERS. It has been remarked, that some of the greatest and most useful disco veries have not been the result of philosophical investigation, but that ignorant people have, as it were, stumbled upon them Avhen they had eluded the search of the philosopher. This observation applies strongly to the healing art ; for it has been to accident as much as to design that we have been indebted for a knowledge of several of our most poAverful medicines, and particularly of that large class of natural remedies — mineral waters ; in many of which chance has discovered virtues which the physician never dreamt of. The circumstance which brought to light the hidden quality of the Tunbridge waters has been already related, it remains now to investigate their chemical properties ; and here it is to be lamented that a neighbouring gentleman, whose talents have placed him deservedly high in the list of chemists, should have been diverted from his intended labours, as, through his kindness, the author had hoped to have enriched this work with a complete and satisfactory analysis of these waters ; and thus to have been enabled to have given that from original information, Avhich he must now derive from the more doubtful source of the writings of those, who, from their distance from the Wells, have been incapable of duly instituting such experiments as the nature of the subject required. It cannot be expected that this part of the work should be rendered deserving the attention of the medical reader, but such a concise analysis of the water, and such a narrative of their properties and effects, shall be given, as may enable the distant invalid, in some degree, to conjecture hoAV far he may be likely to derive benefit from them ; and such directions as may prevent the resident from bringing on himself inconvenience from the incautious use of them. 48 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. Those Avaters whose constituent particles are composed of saline, earthy, Or metalline substances, in such quantities as to become obvious to the sense of taste, have been termed mineral ; and of the great variety of these waters, those which are called chalybeate (especially such as have the iron suspended by carbonic acid) are by far the most numerous. The whole neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells abounds with springs of this description, and has been for a long time celebrated as affording the purest instances of the simple carbonated chalybeate. Tavo of these are chiefly used, Avhich, yielding each about a gallon in a minute, afford an abundant supply to the numerous invalids Avho yearly resort hither. The source of these springs is at a considerable depth, for the water, though covered with a sandy soil, is never affected by rain ; and preserves very constantly the temperature of 50 at all seasons, and experiences little if any change from the heat of the external atmosphere. Their mode of impregnation it is difficult to explain ; the most satisfactory theory is that contained in an analysis published in 1792. "It is pro- " bable (says the author of that wor,k) that the spring from which these " waters originate, is at a considerable depth within the bowels of the " earth, and that the iron which they contain is taken up in their passage " to the surface. We suppose them, in the first instance, to be a common " water, containing selenite, muriated magnesia, and common salt, " together with a quantity of aerial acid, as yet in an uncombined state. " After this, we suppose them to pass through a stratum of iron-stone, " with which this country abounds : in this stage, and not before, they " become chalybeate ; and from this time, till they reach the surface, " the only substance they meet with is sand, which being itself strongly " impregnated Avith iron, is rather calculated to improve than impair " them." The sensible properties of this water, as it is taken from the spring, are the following : it is quite colourless, bright and clear ; it is pleasantly steely to the taste, has no perceptible smell, though sometimes, in certain states of the atmosphere, ferruginous exhalations are distinguishable; it does not sparkle in the glass, but slowly separates a few bubbles, which adhere to the sides of the vessel in somewhat larger quantity than TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 49 common spring Avater ; after it has stood until it is wanned to nearly the heat of the atmosphere, these airy globules separate more rapidly, and in a few hours the sides of the vessel become covered with them ; the liquid grows turbid ; a light cOpper coloured scum incrusts the surface ; an ochreous sediment settles at the bottom, and the water loses entirely its chalybeate properties. The same effects take place more rapidly when the water is heated, shewing that the iron is suspended by the carbonic acid alone. The specific gravity of the fresh water is 1,0014. With the usual reagents, the following appearances are observed : Tincture of litmus is almost instantly changed to a light red or garnet colour. Lime Avater is rendered immediately turbid, though in a slight degree. Vitriolic acid produces no sensible disengagement of bubbles* Syrup of violets, on standing some hours, becomes of a lively green. Infusion of galls produces a fine purple in a few seconds ; and prus- siated lime gives a fine blue, both of Avhich colours remain for about tAventy-four hours. Nitrated silver gives an immediate precipitate, Avhite at first, but turning blue on exposure to light. Muriated barytes causes a slight cloudiness* Oxalic acid produces scarcely any change. The water renders a solution of soap in a slight degree turbid, but does not properly curdle it. On boiling Tunbridge water for a few minutes, it becomes turbid throughout, and when filtered, leaves an oxyd of iron, which dried, is strongly magnetical : the remaining water will no longer discolour tincture of galls, or prussiated lime. During the ebullition a small quantity of gaz is given out, which when examined in proper vessels is found to be chiefly carbonic acid, mixed Avith a small portion of azotic gaz, and a little oxigen : the remaining Avater evaporated to dryness, yields a very small quantity of solid residuum. o 50 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. The whole contents of a wine gallon, according to Doctor Babington-s analysis, are the following : Grains. Of oxyd of iron 1 0 common salt 0 5 muriated magnesia • • 2 25 selenite • • • » 1 25 5 0 Cubic Inches. Of carbonic acid gaz • • 10 6 azotic gaz 4 common air 1 4 16 Total 5 grains for the solid contents, and 16 cubic inches for the gazeous. On a revieAV of this analysis it will be found that it is a very pure water, as to the quantity of solid matter ; and that the saline contents4 (the iron excepted) are such as may be found in almost any water that is used for common drink : it is therefore admirably suited to the general purposes of life, and excellently adapted- to promote the great ends of the animal economy, nutrition and secretion. It is only as a chalybeate, and in the quantity of carbonic acid contained in it, that it differs from common water. Of this acid it contains about ^ of its bulk, enough to be indicated by chemical tests, though not to effervesce with the stronger acids, nor to give any striking properties of smell or taste. The quantity of iron according to this analysis, is very small, but it is sufficient to give the usual changes of colour with chemical tests, the very decided chalybeate taste, and (what is of more consequence) the well known effects of this metal on the human body. The sensible effects of this water are the following : soon after a person has taken a glass of it, he feels a pleasant sensation about the stomach, with a degree of warmth over the whole body ; his pulse is raised in strength ; his spirits are exhilarated, and he feels more alive to the active pursuits, whether of business or pleasure ; it creates a sharp appetite ; acts powerfully as a diuretic ; or when the weather is warm, and the body well cloathed, or when much and regular exercise is taken, increases perspiration. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 51 At the commencement of a course, it is not uncommon immediately after taking a glass, for the patient to experience giddiness, head-ach, and drowsiness ; or sometimes nausea, vomiting, and pain about the stomach ; but these effects are transient, and gradually diminish on the further use of the waters, in all cases where there is no impropriety in their exhibition. The effects of the waters on the boAvels are not marked, except when these are foul, and loaded with bilious sordes, Avhen it often purges; briskly ; they also tinge the faeces, black ; a circumstance of no other importance than as it sometimes excites a groundless alarm in the minds of patients. In their general operation then, they are tonic, diuretic, and diaphoretic ; a very gentle stimulus, increasing the power of the secretory system ; a mild but active medical compound, well calcu lated to strengthen the stomach, promote digestion, cleanse the first passages, and purify the whole glandular system : hence they are parti cularly indicated in chronic diseases, and in all convalescent states, Avhere Aveakness is the predominant symptom, and where organic disease and fever are absent. In debility of the digestive organs, especially if shewn by morning sickness, nausea and flatulent eructations, fain tness and pain in the stomach; and in all the various train of symptoms arising from free- living and hard-drinking (unless these have so far continued as to produce a schirrous- state of the liver, or dropsy), they are so eminently serviceable, that it would be Avorth Avhile for all those, who from such causes, labour under indigestion, continued diarrhoea, hiccup, difficult respiration from sympathy with the stomach, and vomiting of viscid fluid, to make full trial of them. In all cases where the mind is irritable and unsteady ; Avhere the desire for food fails, and unpleasant tastes are perceived ; where the boAvels are irregular, either constipated or lax ; where acidity, eructations, and dyspnoea, distress the sufferer ; Avhere the skin is dry, the body unusually cold, or uncommonly hot by turns ; where tremors, risings in the throat, and great depression of spirits, manifest themselves ; Avhere there is lassitude, and inaptitude to all kinds of motion, or great fatigue and profuse perspirations on moderate exertion ; in short, in most of those 52 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. symptoms known by the appellation of nervous, hysteric, and hypo chondriac, these waters are particularly indicated. Thus they possess a high and deserved reputation in cachectic constitutions ; in gouty affections and dyspepsia ; in venous haemorrhages, fluor albus, gleets, diabetes, and in scrophulous and ricketty cases ; in cases of dysury and gravel; in several diseases of the urinary organs; and in cutaneous affections . but it is in the cure of a variety of complaints incident to the female sex, that they are eminently serviceable. On the contrary, in diseases of an inflammatory nature, where a plethoric and too vigorous state of the system exists, the chalybeate acting as a tonic, and increasing that state of the body on which the disease depends, must be detrimental: hence in all constitutional head-achs, and determinations of blood to the head ; in vertigos, and tendency to apoplexy ; in all inflammatory affections of the lungs, and in all visceral obstructions, these Avaters, by aggravating the febrile heat, are highly pernicious ; and from their incau tious administration in such cases, have often obtained unmerited censure. Some persons are disposed to consider the influence of these waters on the human constitution as very trifling ; and deem them incapable either of effecting the cures related to be performed by them, or of occasioning the mischief of Avhich they have been frequently accused ; but such opinions are contrary to the theory of their chemical properties, and daily refuted by examples. Others, considering water as an universal medicine, are disposed to attribute the efficacy of mineral waters to the water itself; but the effects of pure and impregnated waters are by no means analogous ; for common experience and medical observations prove, that the incautious use of the latter produces symptoms which neither the water itself, nor even the quantity of the ingredient contained in it, will satisfactorily account for. The ingredients to which this water owes its medical agency are carbonic acid and iron ; the former gives the agreeable smartness and poignancy, and contributes much to the activity of the other ingredients : it is capable of diminishing thirst ; it lessens the morbid heat of the body, and acts as a powerful diuretic; it is also an excellent remedy in increased irritability of stomach, and is one of the best anti emetics we possess : hence it has been administered as a medicine in TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 53 various diseases. With respect to the latter, it is needless to urge any thing in support of its Avell-known power and influence. It is the safest and most friendly of all the metals as a remedy, and, as has been remarked by a celebrated chemist and physician, is perhaps the only metal among those possessing a medicinal agency that does not belong to the class of poisons. As a stimulant, it rouses the languid vessels to greater exertion, quickens the pulsation of the heart, and augments the heat of the body ; as a tonic, it gives strength to the muscular and nervous systems, bracing the stomach, improving digestion, and augmenting nutrition, so as to increase the elasticity of the muscular fibre, and excite the nervous energy. Farther, as it is a constituent part of the blood, and is also present in muscular fibre, it is evident that it must perform important offices in the animal body, and that material alterations must be pro duced, as it is present in greater or lesser proportions. It may be objected that the iron contained in these waters is in too small quantity to produce these effects ; but Avithout insisting upon the possibility (which is rendered more probable by the recent experiments of Mr. Accum on the Cheltenham chalybeate,) that some inaccuracy may exist in the analysis Ave have given, it should be recollected that the iron, though highly active in itself, is never used under the same form of composition elsewhere than in these waters ; the looseness of its adhesion to the water with which it is com bined, the mode in which it is dissolved, and the minute division of its particles, must all tend to increase the activity of this metal, and may thus enable the waters containing it, to perform cures, even Avhen they have been in vain attemped by the combinations in the shops. It is not easy to form physiological deductions of the medicinal agency of this water from the materials that are known to enter into its compo sition, and the author is aware how difficult it is, if not impossible, to ascertain the operation of any medical compound on the human body, and how subject speculations of that kind are to error, even when entered into by the ablest physicians ; but as the folloAving observations from an unpublished work (part of Avhich accidentally fell in his way,) appear in some degree to elucidate the subject, he has thought them worthy of quotation. 54 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. " The theory of absorption, as it is performed by appropriate vessels " from every cavity of the animal machine, as well as from the surface of " the body, has long directed physicians in the particular application of " various medicines. In order that any substance may act generally on the " system, it has been found necessary to reduce it, either by mechanical " means or chemical resolution, to such a state as shall render it fit to be " taken by these vessels into the circulation. Now, as there are several " vessels Avhose apertures are so small that they cannot receive the " red particles of which the blood is composed, but transmit a clear " pellucid lymphs it is not unphilosophical to suppose, that iron reduced " to so fine a state as it is in the Tunbridge spa, may have greater " influence by being carried into the circulation of the smaller capillary " vessels, than if its action Avas limited to those only which contain red " blood. That the smaller vessels are exceedingly irritable, no one will " doubt Avho has ever observed the very slight causes which sometimes " produce violent inflammation in the eyes. Acting therefore on such " vessels, the effects resulting from the iron of this spa will be in a direct " proportion to their irritability : these effects are not partial or unim- " portant, the great difference between health and disease arising, in all " probability, more from some change in the action of the finest vessels " than from any disorder in the larger. Where the insensible perspiration " of the skin is interrupted, the stomach and head are affected, and a " feverish heat or chilliness is occasioned ; where those vessels are relaxed " too much, the body is proportionately weakened, and if the relax- " ation exists in those vessels termed exhalants, which moisten the " internal cavities of the body, dropsies, with all their dreadful symptoms, " may often be the consequence. Certain it is, that the mineral waters " produce a more powerful effect than is observable from any artificial " preparation of iron ; whether this arises from the minute division with " which chemical bodies are united to water so as to render them more " diffusible over the whole system, and more active in the stomach ; or " that the acid of the stomach is more capable of acting upon the ferru- " ginous principle when so diluted, I will not attempt to prove. Nice as " is the accuracy of the modern chemist in investigating the component TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 55 " parts of mineral waters, yet analysis is not so far to be depended upon " as to supersede the experience of effects." Having thus attempted to prove that these waters act powerfully On the animal machine, it will not be surprising that the author should consider more precaution in their use requisite, than from a mere inspection of their ingredients, might seem to be necessary ; or that he should attempt to guard the inexperienced against that indiscriminate abuse of them which too generally prevails. Influenced by fashion, or the council of friends, numbers quit the most distant parts of the kingdom in the full confidence of repairing the waste of time, or the ill effects of imprudence, at these springs, no frame so shattered, but this fountain must strengthen^ no complaints so inveterate, but it must finally remove : ignorant of the cause or nature of their disease, and regardless of symptoms, they com mence a course in imprudence, and it is not surprising they should often end it in disappointment. As the cases in which these waters are prescribed are so various, the symptoms and degrees of inveteracy of diseases, as well as strength and peculiarity of constitution so very different, it Avould be a very great absurdity to pretend to give any general rule to be indiscriminately observed, either as to the quantity of water necessary to be taken by each person in a day, or the length of time necessary to continue to drink it; these circumstances can only be determined by the peculiarities attending the particular disease of every single person. Numbers, no doubt, are disappointed by their own impatience, discontinuing their use on the occurrence of some untoward symptom, or from not feeling immediate relief concluding they disagree with them, not reflecting how unreasonable it is to expect that the effects of a chronic disease, which have been years accumulating, should be removed or alleviated in a few days, or weeks, by any natural means whatever. Though these waters are efficacious at all seasons of the year, yet the summer being more favorable for taking the exercise requisite in a course of them, is generally esteemed the best. The usual season for drinking them is from May to the end of October, and the most proper period of the day is undoubtedly in the morning, fasting, using some 56 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. constant but gentle exercise for half an hour between every glass, and waiting at least the same space of time after the last glass, before breakfast. Those Avho have been used to indulge late in bed, and to eat as soon as they are out of it, often find it requires resolution, as Avell as time, to acquire this new habit of economy, and are apt to make complaints of a discouraging nature, all of which they refer to the waters disagreeing with them until a little perseverance convinces them of their error. The prescribed method of drinking these waters is judicious : the whole of the quantity daily used, is taken at tAVO or three intervals, beginning at about eight o'clock in the morning, and finishing at noon : the dose at each time varies from about one to three-quarters of a pint, according to the age*, sex, and general constitution of the patient, and especially the duration of the course ; for it is found that these Avaters lose much of their effect by long habit. The requisite duration of a course of these Avaters may be reckoned about from one to two months. If it does not disagree with the constitution, its beneficial effects in improving the appetite and digestive powers are soon felt, but if continued much longer than eight or ten weeks, without a considerable intermission, the stimulant effect gradually wears off, and becomes inadequate to complete a restoration to strength and vigour. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that this water should be drank on the spot, as it loses much of its activity on exposure, even for a short time, and that in most cases, its beneficial effects are increased by the exercise of riding or walking, according to the state of the patient, and the nature of the disease. The beauty of situation, and diversity of country, give a decided superiority to Tunbridge Wells over most other watering places ; and entice the invalid to take daily exercise in an air which is excelled by none in the kingdom. On beginning a course of these waters, it is absolutely requisite to premise some evacuation, either a gentle emetic Avhere the stomach is foul, or, what is preferable, some opening medicine. It is also a common and judicious custom to intermit its use for a day or two after it has been regularly taken for a week or fortnight, and to clear the bowels during that interval by some proper aperient ; or else to add a small quantity TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 57 of vitriolated magnesia, of soda, to the water, and thus in fact, to convert it into a purgative chalyheate. To persons of Aveak irritable stomachs, and especially females, the fresh drawn water is apt to prove too cold, and to occasion a nausea or sickness, which always defeats the general intention of the medicine : this inconvenience is easily prevented by giving the water a tepid Avarmth ; and to do this it is by far the best method to put it into a bottle closely corked, and to immerse the whole in hot Avater, thereby in part preventing the escape of the carbonic acid. It is frequently of considerable service during a course of these waters, especially in chlorosis, to employ the warm bath occasionally. With respect to diet it may be remarked, that most of the diseases in which this water is of use require a generous temperament rather than a a severe abstinence, but the patient should be cautious not to indulge himself too much, or to take this advice as a permission to exceed the bounds of moderation. His meals should be light (the use of vegetables, or of summer fruits, provided they are ripe and eaten sparingly, are not to be objected to), and care should be taken not to indulge the sharp appetite which the waters occasion, too freely. The golden rule of Armstrong should not be overlooked : " When dinner comes, amid the varied feast, " That crowns the genial board, where every guest, " Or grave or gay, is happy, and at home, " And none e'er sigh'd for the mind's elbow room ; " I warn you still to make your chief repast " On one plain dish, and trifle with the rest." One impropriety in the article of diet seems to have been overlooked by every physician except Dr. Garnet, who judiciously inveighs against the use of tea, during the course of the waters ; a simple experiment must convince every one of the truth of his remarks. If a little of the infusion of tea be mixed with the Tunbridge waters, the mixture assumes a purple colour inclining to black, nearly as Avhen tincture of galls is added to the water ; when the mixture is suffered to stand for some time, the iron will be all precipitated in the form of black poAvder : the same will Q 58 TUNBRIDGE WELLS. undoubtedly take place in the stomach and first passages, if a chalybeate water is drank Avithin an hour or two after tea. Since, therefore, the iron contained in the aerated chalybeate water owes its efficacy to its union with the carbonic acid, tea, by precipitating it from its solvent, must destroy its effects. From hence it must be obvious that, independent of the impropriety of tea to those Avho labour under nervous complaints, and disorders of the stomach, which almost any one will be ready to alloAV, it Avould be highly improper, during the use of these waters. The remedy is simple — a breakfast of chocolate, or cocoa, or (if it is found to agree) milk, may be substituted. USSEX gus J\a.i* --.'. 'mm* IBBBBitfflH mm wll 'l?| sl^^B Mi* ran a PS if:! flSnpiHi£& IF/1V9E 1'? 1 El ImHt^I n Star " - -'' ERIDGE CASTLE. -Hi ridge Castle, the seat of the Earl of Abergavenny , is situate oft the Sussex side of Tunbridge Wells, at a distance of about two miles ; in the parish of Frarit, and in the manor of Rotherfield. This manor is of very considerable extent, comprising, besides several subordinate manors, the great forest of Waterdown (described by Camden, as one of the three great forests of Sussex) which reaches from north to south, from Tunbridge Well's to Btixted1 ; and from east to west, from Stoneland Park to the parish of Wadhurst. Here was a park, or chase, even before the forming of the record of Domesday, surrounded by a pale fence, which the tenants of the manor were bound to keep up. This manor appears, from the very earliest times, to have been in the possession of persons of the highest distinction. Under the Saxon government it was heM by Earl Godwin ; in Domesday it is stated, under the name of Reredfelle, to have been among those domains, which were retained by the King. And afterwards it Was, in part at least, Owned by the Earl of Mortain, half brother, on the mother's side, to the Conqueror. In the reign of Edward the First it constituted a part of the large possessions of the Earl Of Clare ; being then called Eregge Hamlet ; as it was afterwards Ernregg Hamlet. From whence it would seem probable, that on what is rioAV caMed1 Ehidge Green, there was thus early somewhat of a village ; wheir all the adjacent country, now so Avell inha bited, was a- dreary and desolate forest. 60 ERIDGE CASTLE. From a commission issued by King Edward the Third, in the ninth year of his reign, for the purpose of taking an inquest as to the depre dations committed on this his free Avarren and free chase of Rotherfield, it appears that it Avas then in the king's hands. Two years after (1338) the same monarch, granted it, with all its rights and appurtenances, to Hugh Le Despencer, his kinsman. In the 12th of Henry the Fourth, (1411) this manor passed into the family of Beauchamp, Earls of Warwick, and Lords Bergavenny ; in consequence of a marriage Avith Isabella, an heiress of the family of the above Hugh Le Despencer : and afterwards it descended to Sir Edward Nevill, (fourth son of Ralph, first Earl of Westmorland, by Joane his second wife, the daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster) in virtue of his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of Richard Earl of Worcester and Lord Bergavenny; the son of Sir William, the fourth son of Thomas Earl of Warwick. This Sir Edward Nevill, the direct ancestor of the present Earl of Abergavenny, in the 14th of Henry the Sixth, did homage for the lands of his Avife's inheritance ; and had possession of them accordingly ; excepting the Castle and Lordship of Bergavenny. Notwithstanding his Avant of possession of which, he had (19th of Henry the Sixth,) in his wife's right, according to the antient usage of the realm, the title of Lord Bergavenny; though he Avas not summoned to Parliament till twelve years after. He died in 1480 ; and his descendants have continued to bear the title ; and, amongst other large possessions, to enjoy the property of. Eridge. In the reign of Henry the Eighth, George Lord Bergavenny, who died in 1536, entailed the manor of Rotherfield, and all his estates both in England and Wales, on the heirs male of his family ; and, in default of heirs male, then to heirs female ; and in default of both, an ultimate remainder to the Crown. These limitations Avere confirmed by Act of Parliament, and are still existing. It is probable there Avas always a mansion here from the earliest times : though it does not appear ever to have been the principal residence of the Nevill family. They possessed another estate at Birling, in the ERIDGE CASTLE. 61 county of Kent, which came into the family through the same channel and at the same time ; on a seat of which, called Comford, they for many generations resided. This place has been long deserted by them ; and scarcely any vestiges of it now remain. The house of Eridge was always, hoAvever, on a large scale ; and was probably made use of for the purpose of hunting over this extensive tract of forest : and became occasionally the residence of younger branches of the family. It would appear from the parts, which still remain, to have been built in the common form of a quadrangle; and this of large extent. The antient gallery, a large and handsome room, occupies the entire front of the present castle : but the foundations of the old building, Avhich extend considerably beyond the present front; make it probable that this gallery formed tne interior of the quadrangle. If so the antient range of the mansion might easily be traced : and must have been of considerable magnitude. It was, at all events, sufficiently large to admit of entertaining Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1573 : Avho, passing from Lord Bergavenny's house at Birling, towards Mr. Culpepper's at Bedgbury, swerved con siderably from her route, to visit Eridge ; Avhere she passed six days ; and gave audience to the French ambassador. It is said that she was induced to protract her stay here, that she might recover from her fatigue, after the perils she had incurred in her journey hither ; which appear to have been considerable. Lord Burleigh thus feelingly describes them in a letter to the Earl of Salisbury, dated August 10th, from Mr. Guldford's at Hempsted : " The Queen had a hard beginning of her progress in the " Wild of Kent and some part of Sussex ; where surely were more dan- " gerous rocks and valleys, much worse ground than was in the Peak ;" he continues that " they Avere bending their course tOAvard Dover, where " they should have amends." As late as the reign of James the First, Eridge continued to be occa sionally inhabited by the family. This Avas indeed the case to a later period, but this is particularly specified to recall to the reader's attention, that it was from hence that Dudley Lord North, a visitor here about the commencement of the seventeenth century, discovered, or rather made R 62 ERIDGE CASTLE. known the medicinal virtues of the chalybeate Avater, Avhich is so prevalent throughout this neighbourhood. From the time of Charles the Second, Eridge appears to have been altogether deserted. This desertion Avas chiefly occasioned by the title devolving on a younger brother, (on the demise of his elder, Avithout issue,) Avho was established elsewhere ; and was unwilling to remove to a place, now become inconvenient, from the growing celebrity of Tunbridge Wells. The house, already much out of repair, was gradually diminished, for the materials : and, after a few years of this kind of devastation, little more was left than what was sufficient for a farm-house. In the early part of the last century, William Lord Abergavenny, the grandfather of the present Earl, erected for himself a handsome mansion at Kidbroke, near East Grinstead ; on which the family resided ; and, till Avithin these few years, considered it as their principal English residence : Avhen the present Earl was induced to turn his attention towards this, the deserted and dilapidated mansion of his ancestors. There were yet considerable remains of the antient house ; but not sufficient to constitute a suitable place of residence. The -park was unfenced, and had grievously suffered from the most wanton and lawless depredations : whilst all trace of garden and demesne was lost. The antient scite of the house hoAvever encouraged renovation : and the beauties of the adjacent country, now daily improving, invited to the re-establishment of the former honors of the place. The noble OAmer began, and Avas speedily induced to extend his project : further improvements suggested themselves as he advanced. Having created an abode, worthy of his extensive domain, and of the ancestors he represents, he has been induced to part with the modern mansion of his family ; and permanently to re-occupy the spot, where Waravick has relaxed from his warlike toils, and where the princely Elizabeth, has partaken of the hospitalities of his ancestor. The bold eminence, whereon this house is placed, its castellated appearance, the beautiful woods, through Avhich it is approached, a park well wooded and watered, consisting of nearly two thousand acres, and a demesne of near seven thousand, all tend to make Eridge a splendid and delicious residence. Nor can it be Avondered, that Avith such advantages, « « « « s v\ I ¦i i ERIDGE CASTLE. 63 together with an extensive and commanding range of manor, free chase and warren, the noble owner of the place should have been induced to re-establish his family on so desirable a spot. The house is a good one ; calculated more for comfort than for ostentation : although the picturesque has been studied in its exterior. The new plantations have been arranged with taste, and nurtured with care; which they have amply remunerated by an astonishing growth. Within the park are a great variety of rides, which conduct to scenes of various kinds within ; and occasionally embrace the most interesting objects in the adjacent country. In Eridge Castle there is a portrait, which, if it were original, would be considered, as a choice piece of antiquity. It has been handed doAvn in the family as that of the great king-making Earl of Warwick. This certainly is the quarter Avherein, if any Avhere, to expect such a relick : but it will be with much hesitation that such pretensions can any Avhere be admitted ; and the exterior of this portrait seems to cast a doubt on its claims. It is, however, very probably a copy from a rude original, which has long since perished : and, if it can maintain that character, it is no inconsiderable curiosity. In Eridge Park, are the remains of a military station of the Saxon invaders of the country, which still retains the name of Saxon bury Hill. It is on the high ground to the right, as the traveller passes from Frant towards May field. On the summit of this hill (from whence the cliffs above Dover may be seen) are to be traced the remains of an antient fortification : the foss is still plainly discernible, enclosing an area of about two acres, from whence there is but one outlet : the apex of the hill within is formed of a strong compact body of stone, brought hither from a distance ; on Avhich doubtless was erected some strong military edifice. This was probably one of the stations occupied by the Saxons under Ella their famous chief, who, at the instance of Ilengist King of Kent, invaded England toward the close of the fifth century. It is said that they settled in Sussex ; whence they issued in force to attack the important British station of Anderida or Andredceaster. Anti quaries are not agreed as to the precise situation of this military station : 64 ERIDGE CASTLE. some imagining it to have been at Newenden, on the borders of Kent ; others, at Pevensey or Hastings in Sussex. It Avas within the district of the Comes Littoris Saxonici ; which would seem to favor the vicinity to Kent. Whichever Avas actually the case, this would have been a favorable station for the project : more especially, as Ella's reinforcements are said to have landed on the Sussex coast. This Avhole country, from the borders of Kent to those of Hampshire, comprised what was called the forest of Andredsweald, now commonly the Weald ; was full of strong holds and fastnesses ; and was consequently well calculated for the retreat of the antient Britons from before the regular armies of the Romans, as well as for the establishment of points of attack by the succeeding invaders, who coped with them on terms someAvhat reversed. The attack of the Saxons on Anderida was successful; and the consequence was their permanent establishment in Sussex and Surry : from which time they probably retained a military station on this hill. There is likewise within the park a place called Dane's Gate ; this was doubtless a part of a military Avay : and, as it would happen that the last successful invaders Avould occupy the same strong posts, which had been formed by their predecessors, this Dane's Gate was probably the military communication between Crowborough, undoubtedly a Danish station, and Saxonbury Hill. Of Roman antiquity this part of the country produces few specimens ; probably because the forest, which afforded a safe retreat to the unci vilized inhabitants, Avas unfavorable to the regular tactics of the, Roman legion. The invader therefore pursued the retreating enemy to this point; and was there compelled to leave him. The case was different with the Saxons and Danes : by treachery, and a different system of warfare, they were enabled to establish themselves in the strong holds of the country ; and accordingly it still retains many features of their abode in it. About four miles south of Eridge Park is the village of Rotherfield ; so called from the river Rother, Avhich rises in it : and thence taking its course in a south-east direction, through a beautiful and for the most part a rich country, at last forms a considerable basin, somewhat to the east of the port of Rye. This village stands on an elevated spot ; and its ERIDGE CASTLE. 65 church, Avith its elegant lofty spire, forms a conspicuous object throughout this part of the county. It is observable that a fashion prevails in parti cular districts with respect to churches. In some the massy square tower Lfmdo7bFuHishel by Edtmmd, Llovd,, Uarljy Street. May 1 280 a. 66 ERIDGE CASTLE. abounds ; in others it is more elevated ; and again elsewhere, this will be decorated by a smaller tower at the angle, rising considerably above the battlements. In other countries, chiefly where timber abounds, the spire prevails. Such is the case in the part of the counties of Kent and Sussex, to which our rambles are confined. These spires are built of timber and shingled on the outside. That of Speldhurst has been lost, as heretofore related ; those of Rotherfield, CroAvborough, Mayfield, Hartfield, Pem bury, Wadhurst, remain ; all within a very small distance from the Wells. Rising from above the masses of Avood, Avhich here abound, they enliven the views and add much to the picturesque scenery. They are, moreover, guides to the traveller and land-marks to the stranger in his more confined rambles : we will hope also they sometimes may prove attractive to the pilgrim, in aid of his devotions. Although Frant is the parish wherein Eridge Castle is situate, yet may Rotherfield in some measure claim a property in it. Frant was doubtless originally but a chapelry annexed to Rotherfield. It is now a vicarage, in the gift of the Rector of Rotherfield ; Avhich consequently has somewhat of the character of a mother church. The whole constitutes a very valuable benefice ; and is in the patronage of the Earl of Abergavenny. ^ v v, NX MAYFIELD. JYjLayfield, or as it Avas antiently spelt, Maighfeild, was long before the conquest among the possessions of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Eadmerus, a monk of Canterbury, in his account of St. Dunstan, (who lived in the tenth century) records not only the occasional residence of the Archbishops at Mayfield, but the great care of his hero for this and other distant parts of his possessions. " Idem pater," saith the monk, " a Cantuaria in remotiores villas suas, opportunis spatiis, hospitia sua " disponens, apud Magavedam, sicut et in alliis hospitiorum suorum " locis, ligneam ecclesiam fabricavit." The ecclesia lignea would not seem to convey any great ideas of a substantial establishment here ; but it is to be observed that wood was at that time in the greatest abundance in this part of tlie country; and that it was rather an object to get rid of it; it is therefore probable that most of our early churches were built of that material. The church was aftenvards dedicated to St. Dunstan ; the patron saint of that which still exists. Considering his zealous attachment to monachism, it is probable that he formed some establishment of monks thus early here ; the hospitia above-mentioned seem to confirm this idea : and the tradition, which fixes on this place, as the scene of some of Dunstan's miracles, would justify the conclusion that he was himself an occasional resident. Mayfield, as well as the majority of the churches in this neighbourhood, seems to have been an appendage to the conventual establishment of Black Canons of South Malling. This was a col legiate establishment in the neighbourhood of Lewes, of considerable 68 M AY FIELD. note ; and is said to have been as antient as the time of Cead walla, King of the West Saxons, who died A. D. 688. It is therefore probable that the monastic establishment of Mayfield Avas merely a cell from this of South Mailing. The palace, the ruins of which are represented in the annexed plate, is of a much more recent date than the time of St. Dunstan ; although certainly very antient. It became however one of the earliest residences of the Archbishops of Canterbury ; and Avas apparently on a large scale, and much frequented by them : for many of their deeds and official instruments are dated from this place in very early times. In the years 1332 and 1362 provincial synods were held here ; each on the subject of the number of church holy-days, and the suitable mode of observing them. From the commencement of the fourteenth century we have evidence to the continued and successive residence of many prelates in this palace ; and it was probably about that time that the chief of the buildings, Avhereof in its best state it consisted, were erected. The great hall, of Avhich there are still considerable remains, appears to have been of that date ; as are some other parts of less note : on a chimney, in what is called the kitchen chamber, is the date of 1371, which Avas during the incumbency of Archbishop Witlesey ; Avho probably erected that part of the palace. Archbishop Mepham in 1332; Stratford in 1348; and Islip in 1366, died in this their palace at Mayfield. The circumstances attending the death of Archbishop Islip, as exem plifying the habits of the times,, the mode of travelling, and the dangers incurred from the wretched state of the country and the deficiencies in every kind of accommodation, will be deemed sufficiently curious to justify their insertion here. As the Archbishop, then advanced in years, Avas travelling from his palace at Otford towards that of Mayfield, on the road between Sevenoaks and Tunbridge, he fell from his horse into a * dirty slough. It seems that his Grace was complely bemired and wetted, yet did he pursue his journey without changing his clothes ; and afterwards falling asleep, as the recorder of the event states, in quddam MAYFIELD. 69 lapidea camerd, he was in consequence seized with a stroke of the palsy, which occasioned his death shortly after at Mayfield. Singular as this circumstance may appear, it Avas probably a hazard, which Avas more or less incurred, whenever the Archbishop visited this part of his domain. Tradition says, that preparatory to these excursions, the Avhole labouring part of the community turned out, to make the ways practicable. Safety, it Avould appear, all their exertions did not effect. Whether the wooden church of Dunstan continued till the year 1389, or whether it had been repaired or renovated with the same material, it Avould appear that it was then so constructed ; for in that year it is recorded to have been burnt doAvn, together with nearly the whole village : and it is observable that Walsingham then records it as Ecclesia collegialis Cantuariensis Episcopi. It does not appear that the palace suffered. The present church probably replaced that, Avhich had perished on this occasion. This palace, which Avas of considerable extent, surrounded by a park, and having a large demesne, extending to and including the parish of Wadhurst, much patronage and large peculiar jurisdiction in the neigh bourhood, continued in the occupation of the Archbishops of Canterbury till the reign of Henry the Eighth ; when Archbishop Cranmer, Avith a view of silencing the clamours, and calming the jealousies, Avhich then prevailed against the large possessions of the clergy ; and in a vain hope, by sacrificing a part to be enabled to keep the remainder, granted the Avhole of this large domain to the King. It did not long remain Avith the Crown ; King Henry having granted it by letters patent, which bear date Jan. 5, 1545, to Sir Edward North, Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, for the consideration of ,£337. 6s. 8d. and the further payment of one-twentieth part of a knight's fee. Mayfield, with its large appurtenances, Avas shortly after purchased by Sir John Gresham, Knt. from Avhom it descended to his next brother, the celebrated Sir Thomas Gresham, who occasionally resided here in a style of great magnificence. A room in the palace still retains the name of the Queen's chamber; so denominated, it is said, from Queen Elizabeth T 70 MAYFIELD. having been entertained therein. In the account of that Queen's pro gresses there is no record of such a visit ; yet is it far from improbable that it did take place. Sir Thomas Gresham was a great favorite : it is well knoAvn that the Queen did visit him at his noble mansion of Osterly; and it is not very likely that he would have lost the opportunity of entertaining his royal mistress, when she was near this place of his occasional abode. The omission in the record may be thus accounted for. In the year 1573 the Queen passed no less than six days at Eridge, the seat of the Lord Bergavenny, which is but a short distance from Mayfield : the visit therefore to Sir Thomas Gresham was probably only an excursion from thence ; and consequently not deemed worthy of any particular notice in the detail, which records only the places, wherein her Majesty actually took up her residence. It has been said that Mayfield was Sir Thomas Gresham's principal seat ; and, on the authority of a manuscript life of him, prodigious accounts have been given of his style of living here, and the expensiveness of his furniture ; which is said to have been estimated at the large sum of £ 7,550. Wherever he dwelt, his style of living would probably have been magnificent, and his appointments sumptuous : but Avith the utmost allowance for his expensive habits, there does not appear to be sufficient ground for these assertions Avith respect to Mayfield. Osterly is well known to have been his principal and favorite country residence ; and, hoAvever this might have been the mansion to a very extensive domain, yet the present remains of it, probably not much diminished, do not seem to warrant these reports of its former excessive splendor and magnificence. By the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, who died Nov. 21, 1579, the manor and estate of Mayfield and Wadhurst, passed to Sir Henry Nevill, Knt. and to his heirs male by Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Thomas's elder brother ; the former possessor of it. In the 23d of Elizabeth an Act of Parliament passed, in regulation and further settlement of this property, as between Sir Henry Nevill and his son : and in the 40th year of the same reign (1598) Henry Nevill, Esq. the son of the above Sir Henry, of Billingbere in the county of MAYFIELD. 71 Berks, alienated it to Thomas May, Esq. of Burwash in the county of Sussex, for the sum of £_ 6,387- In the l6th of James the First it passed into the family of Baker, with whom it remained till a late alienation into that of the Rev. Mr. Kerby, the present Vicar of Mayfield. The palace of Mayfield occupies a considerable space to the east of the church and village. The whole stands on very high ground and commands a rich and extensive prospect in every direction. The ruins exactly represent what the palace was in its entire state : many of the apartments are totally dilapidated ; and others, of large dimensions, are converted into storehouses and granaries for the use of the farmer : but these are sufficiently entire to admit the visitor, and to gratify the inves tigator of antient manners. Others are in a perfect state ; and are occupied by the tenant on the farm. But that, which principally excites attention is the venerable ruin of the great hall. The Avails are perfect, and the three magnificent arches, whereby the roof Avas supported, remain as entire and solid, as when the building was in its perfect state. This hall, Avhich measures sixty-eight feet by thirty-eight, was the ordinary dining room ; and in the centre of the upper part, Avhere was placed the principal table, is still to be traced in the wall the back of a chief seat or throne ; doubtless the place occupied by the Archbishop. The roof, it is said, remained on this hall within the memory of persons now living; which will account for the very perfect state, in which much of the carved stone still remains. In the house are exhibited certain curiosities of the rarest kind — the anvil and hammer of St. Dunstan ; aye, and the identical tongs, with which he so uncivilly repulsed the Devil, when he assumed the amiable form of a fair lady. As the rustic ciceroni at the same time exhibits parts of Dunstan s armour, and as the legend no Avhere intimates that the saint was a warrior, this incongruity may occasion doubt, as to the genuineness of the whole : but still the presumption will be alloAved strong ; that if the saint uncourteously assailed his tempter with any, that these Avere as probably the tongs he made use of as any other. Having lost the name of Palace, under that of Mayfield Place, it 72 MAYFIELD. was, till of late years, the residence of the proprietor. It is now inhabited by the farmer ; and is consequently viewed to a disadvantage. But when it is considered that in its best days, the domain appendant on it was extensive ; indeed, that in some directions it extended as far as the eye could reach ; that it was immediately surrounded by a park, and other aids to magnificence, conveniency, and enjoyment, it will readily be allowed that Mayfield was an abode well suited to its former dignified inhabitants. None will lament that it has changed its owners. The most zealous advocates for our excellent establishment will admit that the metropolitical See is sufficiently endowed. But every one, who treads this classic ground, will be induced to lament that, when this place passed into lay hands, it was not so fortunate as some other similar possessions of the church, which experienced in the lay proprietor a zeal to perpetuate Avhat the clerical projector had so nobly established. Stat nominis umbra. THE MARQUESS CAMDEN'S LIBRARY Bayham Abbey, Lord Camden's seat near Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, is a modern residence built I only thirty years ago by the late Marquess, so that one Ipoks in vain for the antique interests of some of our historic homes. Bayham's history, indeed, is now represented in the ruins of the old <\.bb=y standing in the park. The residence, however, is extremely comfortable, and elegant too, AT BAYHAM ABBEY, KENT as our photograph of the well-stocked library shows. This — course, one of the important rooms of the mansion, and the s?lon, the dining, drawing, and billiard rooms are equally charming in their modernity. Lord Camden uses his library a great deal, a fact which accounts for its being so much pleasanter a place than some libraries one knows of, which are less used than talked of ^ V V BAYHAM ABBEY. Xjegeham, or as it is now called, Bayham Abbey, is situate partly in the parish of Lamberhurst and partly in that of Frant, in the county of Sussex ; at the distance of about six miles from Tunbridge Wells, in a south-east direction. It would appear, on the authority of antient records, that the monastic buildings formerly extended on the other side of the stream, which is the boundary of the county ; consequently into Kent. For, from thence we learn, that this abbey Avas originally founded at a place in this parish called Beaulieu; and that it was in both the counties of Kent and Sussex. This might very well have been the case ; though it is possible that an allusion might in those expressions have been made rather to the extent of the demesne, than to the actual position of the buildings. The monks, to whom it was allotted, belonged to the Canons Regular of the Prsemonstratensian Order. This order derived its origin from France ; and took its denomination from its parent abbey of Premonstre, near to Leon in the Isle of France. This order is said to have been there established about the year 1120 by Ncrbert, a saint of the Romish calendar, afterwards Archbishop of Magdebourg ; and the first abbot or general of the order. These monks derived their name of Pr;umonstra- tensians from a legend superstitiously maintained among them, which is to this effect : viz. that St. Augustine appeared to the founder by night, and presented to him his rule, elegantly bound in gold ; and addressed him in these terms : " This is the rule, which^ I have written ; if thy u 74 BAYHAM ABBEY. " brethren observe it, they, like my other children, need fear nothing at " the day of judgment." An angel afterwards pointed out to him the spot, whereon he was to build his first monastery ; which from that cir cumstance Avas called PrjEmonstratus. The order was approved by Pope Honorius the Second, in the year 1126. It Avas originally established in a desert, assigned to the founder for this purpose, in compliance with the supernatural direction above stated, by Barthelemi, the Bishop of the diocese of Leon ; and at first the monks seem to have been distinguished only by the poverty, which characterized their situation : for it is said their possessions were so limited, as to allow them to keep only a single ass, Avhich served to carry the Avood they cut every morning, and to bring them bread from the neighbouring town. Their condition however speedily improved ; for in thirty years after their foundation, their order possessed no less than an hundred abbeys in France and Germany : and, in process of time, it so prodigiously increased, that it had monasteries in all parts of Christendom, amounting to one thousand abbeys, three hundred provostships, a great number of priories, and five hundred nunneries. The rule folloAved by its members was chiefly that of St. Augustine ; though after the death of their founder, they are said to have deviated considerably from its austerity. At the time when this order Avas established in France, the intercourse with this country was frequent and intimate ; and, it would appear, that there was even then a fashion of adopting its manners here ; which was particularly observable in our religious establishments. This new and favorite order of monks Avas accordingly introduced into this country as early as the year 1146; when their first monastery, called New House, Avas erected in Lincolnshire, by Peter de Saulia, and dedicated to St. Martial. In the course of the following century there were no less than twenty-seven religious houses of this order in England. Begeham Abbey, Avas amongst the first of these : although its com munity was not originally established on the present spot. For it appears, that their first establishment was at Otteham in Sussex ; and after Avards at Brockley in Deptford. These primary foundations had taken place about the middle of the twelfth century, through the pious munificence,; BAYHAM ABBEY. 75 of Ralph de Dene. But the former place having been found objec tionable from its extreme poverty, they soon removed to Brockley ; and, hindrances to their comforts prevailing here also, Sir Robert de Thurnham, a great patron of monastic establishments, and one Avho had accompanied Richard the First to the holy wars, Avith the consent of the Earl of Clare, his lord, granted to these canons all his lands at Begeham, in pure and perpetual alms, for the purpose of building a new abbey, in honor of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, on a spot then called Beaulieu. Which being effected, the monks from either place, Avith the consent of Ella de Sackvile, the daughter of their original founder, moA~ed to this spot, and here permanently established their community. This event took place on the feast of the annunciation, 1200. Although Begeham Avas classed, to answer a particular purpose, among the smaller abbeys, yet it seems to have been sufficiently endoAved, and to have possessed considerable privileges. Pope Gregory the Ninth, in the year 1266, granted to the monks here certain valuable privileges and exemptions. In the year 1287 the abbot, being summoned on a quo warranto to shew Cause why he claimed certain extensive privileges ; although he did not establish, or indeed seemed ever to have claimed what had been alleged against him, yet obtained a verdict in favor of considerable rights, such as frank pledge, Sec. which were thereby esta blished. And in the 2d of Edward the Third, the King granted to the abbot and convent free warren over their demesne lands. From these circumstances, together with the extent and magnificence of the buildings, Avhich yet remain, as likewise of those, AvhiGh have recently been destroyed, it would appear that this abbey must have been one of considerable respectability. Nevertheless, after having occupied their station here for above three centuries, the community was dissolved, as classing among the smaller monasteries ; and its revenues appropriated by a papal bull, obtained at the instance of Henry the Eighth, to the establishment of the two new colleges, at IpsAvich and Oxford, then projected by Cardinal Wolsey : although its spiritualities were valued at ,£27. 6s. Ocl. and its temporalities at £125. 2s. S%d. in the Avhole ,£152. 9s. 4M per annum. 76 BAYHAM ABBEY. In consequence of the disgrace of the Cardinal, the revenues arising from this and the other dissolved monasteries, were diverted from their intended appropriations; and the lands became vested in the Crown. There appears, however, to have been something a little mysterious respecting the next immediate appropriation of Begeham Abbey. It seems to have been early conferred on the family of the Lord Viscount Montague. In the 22d Henry the Eighth an Act of Parliament vests it, with sundry other estates, in Sir William Kingston, Sir EdAvard Guldeford, and Sir John Gage, K. B. to the use of Lady Lucy, fourth daughter of Isabel Lady Montague : and in the 34th of the same reign, William FitzAvilliam, Earl of Southampton, devised them to his half brother, Sir Anthony Browne. It Avould seem however that there must have been a temporary alienation of this property from the family of Lord Montague ; into which it as certainly returned at a later period. For Queen Elizabeth, in the 25th of her reign, granted it by letters patent to Theophilus Adams and Robert Adams, of London. Yet towards the close of that century we find the son of the above Lord Montague alienating this manor and estate to Benedict Barnham, of London. When it is considered that the Lord Montague was a most zealous and rigid Roman Catholic, it is not impro bable that he might have fallen into disgrace, and have incurred a partial forfeiture of property : but that his future avowed and experienced loyalty induced its restoration. It seems clear that Anthony Lord Mon tague had an especial grant of it from Queen Elizabeth ; and it is certain that this abbey and the adjacent lands were alienated, toward the close of the sixteenth century, by his son to Benedict Barnham, an alderman of London, as has been already stated. Hence it descended by inheritance to his second daughter Alice, the widow of Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, and Lord Chancellor : she carried it in marriage to her second husband, Walter Doble, Gent, in Avhose family it remained till the time of the restoration. Soon after this it passed into another family of the name of BrOAvn ; from whom it Avas purchased about the year 1714 by the ancestor of the present noble owner of it, John Pratt, Esq. then sergeant at law, and afterwards chief justice of the BAYHAM ABBEY. 77 king's bench. He died in the year 1725. It has from that time continued in the same family : the present Earl Camden succeeding to it a few years since ; and on his father's elevation to the earldom, Bayham was adopted for his second title. The present remains of the conventual buildings consist of the nave of the church and its attached offices, a part of the refectory, and apparently of cloisters ; together Avith some cellars or appendages on the buttery. The church is a handsome edifice, perfect in its outline and principal walls ; and contains some beautiful gothic Avindows, and various goOd specimens of the architecture of the thirteenth century. At the north-east end of the church are the remains of a turret staircase, Avhich Avould appear to have conducted to a rood loft ; opening probably into the church, above the high altar. The traces of this also are very noticeable. It is said that when the estate came into the possession of Lord Chief Justice Pratt, the roof was still remaining on the church ; but that an officious steward, for the purpose of some extraordinary repair, took it off and made use of the materials. Hereby doubtless the ravages of time on this part of the building have been considerably accelerated. The family of Sackville Avere probably benefactors to this monastery even after the time of its first establishment ; for it appears that they made it their place of interment. Sir Thomas, son of Sir EdAvard Sackville, and Richard Sackville, Esq. are particularly stated to have been buried here. There are still to be traced several flat grave stones, Avithin the church, one of which has a crosier on it ; another has the sculpture of a cross pomel pierced. Bayham Abbey is placed in a very delightful country ; but, like most of the edifices of that description, is not in such a situation, as according to modern ideas, Avould have been deemed the most eligible. But our ancestors had their notions of comfort on this subject ; whereon they seem uniformly to have acted. Shelter yielded them greater inducements than prospect : nor did they seem to have our apprehensions of damp. The abbey is accordingly placed in a low, flat situation, imme diately surrounded by water ; and enclosed on all sides by the rising hills. But the soil is tolerably dry, and the water consists principally of 78 BAYHAM ABBEY. the stream, Avhich forms the boundary between the counties of Kent and Sussex. With the materials, which were procured from many parts of these extensive ruins, a former possessor of the place has built a small com modious dAvelling ; which, from being placed too near the ruins, has neither the advantage of a good view of them, nor in itself contributes to the beauty or character of the scene. And the zealous antiquary or visionary poet would complain, that the too near approach of modern manners, and the over niceties of trim gardening, have done away the solemn gloom of antiquity, and tend to destroy the reveries, which in such a scene might be indulged with a pleasing effect. The surrounding hills indeed abound Avith spots, Avhich invite to improvement. It is said that the present proprietor, under the direction of Mr. Repton, has a project of building on one of these adjoining elevations. England scarcely contains a spot better calculated for such a purpose. Wood, water, varied ground, and picturesque scenery, are amply provided by nature : whilst the venerable ruin, introduced as a prominent and appro priate feature in the landscape, would well entitle the place to the restoration of its antient name, Beaulieu. With this attractive object at its termination the ride to Bayham Abbey may Avell be supposed amongst the most favorite excursions froiri the Wells. At a short distance beyond the village of Frant it takes its course through a country, deeply wooded and of exquisite beauty ; Avhich has recently been opened to the public, through the munificence of the present Earl Camden. The former road, in this direction towards Lamberhurst, lay through the grounds of Bayham Abbey; taking a course somewhat more circuitous. This being inconvenient to the owner of the place, now a more frequent resident than his predecessors had been, an order was a few years since obtained to divert it, and open another in a course more advantageous to the public. The curious are still admitted to the ruins on two allotted days in the Aveek ; and have thus the advantage of a more commodious access to them. They have more : for in every direction this new road opens the view to the most exquisite -scenery; to which Lord Camden's neat and comfortable BAYHAM ABBEY. 79 accommodations for his farmers and inferior tenants afford a material and pleasing addition. Unlike the generality of land-owners, who hold forth large promises, when they solicit accommodation, but forget the per formance, he has largely benefited the country, by performing more than could reasonably have been exacted from him. <>3 SCOTNEY CASTLE. J. he manor and mansion of Scotney stand principally in that part of the parish of Lamberhurst, which is in the county of Sussex ; and at a short distance from the great road leading toward Hastings. This place derives its name from that of a family which was established here in very remote times. Walter de Scoteni, a person of eminence, and of great wealth, held it in the reign of Henry the Third ; and although he was found guilty and was executed for the poisoning of Richard Earl of Gloucester, and William de Clare, his brother, yet did this property continue with his family for many years afterwards. In the reign of Edward the Third, it Avas held by the family of Ashburnham, of Ashbumham in Sussex ; whence it passed, after an occupation of about half a century, to Henry Chicheley, the celebrated Archbishop of Canterbury, and founder of All Souls College in Oxford. The Archbishop, as appears from a mandate issued from hence, 1418, made Scotney (or as it is therein spelt, Scoteneye) an occasional place of residence ; perhaps only as he might be passing between his palaces of Otford and Mayfield, from the last of which it is not very distant. Archbishop Chicheley settled Scotney on his niece, one of the daughters of William Chicheley, his younger brother, (the widoAv of Sir William Pecke,) on her second marriage with John Darell, Esq. ; from whose elder brother, by a former marriage, are descended the family of the same name, which has long been settled at Cale Hill. In this family Scotney continued for nearly three centuries and an half; and it is Y 82 SCOTNEY CASTLE. principally OAving to this long tenure here, and the various intermarriages during that time with the different families in the neighbouring counties, that so many claimants, as founder's kin, have presented themselves in the contest for felloAvships of All Souls College, from the county of Kent. In fact there is scarcely an antient family therein, which is not enabled to establish their pretensions to it. But the value of their privilege is now done away, from the very great extent unto which it has branched out; and by a late decision of the Visitor, a certain proportion of founder's kin has been held to ansAver the intentions of the founder. The family of the Darells, having thus long been resident at Scotney, in the year 1774 John Darell, Esq. conveyed it, together Avith other property, to Mr. John Richards, of Robertsbridge ; who, five years after wards, sold it to the present worthy possessor, Edward Hussey, Esq. the eldest son of Thomas Hussey, Esq. of Burwash in the same county. Mr. Hussey has for many years been a constant resident at Scotney ; which he has much ornamented andT improved ; and whereon he has contributed, in the laudable and useful characters of a magistrate and country gentleman, to the general Avelfare of the neighbourhood, and to the pleasure and advantage of those, whom he has gratified by his social habits. There are but small remains of the antient place ; which was a cas tellated mansion, as early as the reign of Richard the Second ; and from what may be collected from the remains, the style of the building, as likeAvise from the characters of the various OAvners and occupiers of it, there is no doubt that it was a place of considerable consequence and extent. At each angle Avas a round machicollated tower, of which only the southern remains ; the other three were pulled down, and the materials employed in building the front of Mr. Merland's house, called the Court Lodge, at Lamberhurst. The gate-house was a strong building, with a guard-room over it ; of which two uprights are standing ; and the moat, with which the castle was surrounded, is still remaining. The modern house was built by the Darells, and is said to have been designed by Inigo Jones : it is reputed to be part in Kent and part in Sussex ; the river Bewle, which divides the counties, having once run through the centre of the ground-plot upon which the house stands. i -SCOTNEY: LOOKING DOWN FROM HOUSE LEVEL TO CASTLE HOLLOW. \o W THE COURT LODGE, IN LAMBERHURST. X he Court Lodge at Lamberhurst, the seat of William Alexander Morland, Esq. forms a conspicuous object, as the traveller descends the hill into Lamberhurst from the coast. The manor, to which it is the principal mansion, was antiently a part of the large possessions of the family of Crevequer ; and was a limb of the Barony of Leeds. Of this manor one part was held of them by a family of the name of Lenham. To these succeeded the Chidcrofts ; who resided here for some generations. Thomas de Chidcroft died possessed of it 1327. The other part was held by a family of the name of Kenith ; and in the reign of King John, it was given by Nicholas de Kenith to the abbot and convent of Robertsbridge ; which gift (apparently including the other moiety) was soon after confirmed by Hamo de Crevequer, the principal lord. Here the manor and estate remained till the suppression of the abbeys, in the reign of Henry the Eighth ; when, by an Act of Parliament passed in the thirty-first of that reign, the abbey itself, Avith all its possessions, came into the king's hands. The whole of this extensive property was granted by King Henry to Sir Henry Sydney, the same person to whom his son Edward the Sixth afterwards granted Penshurst. In this family it remained, with some alteration in the tenure, till the 5th year of James the First, wherj. 84 THE COURT LODGE. Sir Henry's grandson Robert, who was created Earl of Leicester, alienated it to John Porter, Esq. who rebuilt the house at Lamberhurst, and resided therein. Till this time there was probably no considerable mansion here. Hence, by the marriage of an heiress, it passed to Sir John Hanby, of Lincolnshire, about the end of the seventeenth century : from whom it again, by th^e like^channel, A^enf in marriagq to John Chaplin, Esq. of the same county ; whose grandson, John, left three daughters his coheirs ; one of whom, Elizabeth, carried this estate to her husband Edward AscOughe, Esq. the grandfather of the present owner of it. This family have, from the time of their possessing it, made it their chief place of residence ; and have likewise much improved and beautified it ; rendering it a very complete gentleman's abode., As it is a principal object of the present work to bring to the obser vation of the reader all that is Avorthy of notice in the vicinity of Tunbridge WellS, the author cannot find himself at Lamberhurst, without recom mending it and the adjacent country to a particular attention. From AArhatever quarter: the town, or more properly speaking the village, is approached, it presents itself in interesting points of vieAV. The road to it lies in every direction down a steep hill, and the main aggregation of houses, which constitute the village, are at the bottom of the vale ; through which runs the stream, Avhich divides the counties of Kent and Sussex. Yet on either side are objects, forming a pleasing variety on a different level : on the still lower ground, is the rectory house, on a spot well wooded and agreeably varied ; and on the higher, much above the village, are the church, the vicarage, and, in a commanding situation above all, the Court Lodge. But it is not for its own intrinsic beauties alone, which however are considerable, that Lamberhurst is recom mended to notice : it forms, as it Avere, a central point, from Avhence roads diverge in a variety of directions, all leading through a beautiful rich country, and most of them conducting to objects worthy of attention. From the separation of the road at the entrance, as you approach from London, a turnpike road breaks off to Goudhurst ; a small toAvn on an eminence, from Avhence the view is rich and prodigiously extensive : from hence at a short distance are the ruins of Milkhouse Chapel and THE COUUT LODGE. U those of Sissinchwrst, the former 5residefcce of the Bakers? wfoem Queen Elizabeth visited here, and conferred the honor of knighthood ty& the owner. At the other extremity of Lamberhurst, tfoe roads branch off m three directions : that, in a strait line towards Wadfourst aM TiCeli'K'fttj a very agreeable ride, but not marked by any pattsfcwlar ^bjje^t. Tfee turnpifce road to the left is ttiat, AvhScti conducts to Rye and Hastings ; and to that most emmetttiy curto>&fc place Wmcfeelsea. Zondari/, J.'ulUs7i<-d by Jidmund/ Zloyd/ JLv-lcy Sij-cet Ma.yjL.28 86 THE COURT LODGE. Swerving a little from this road is Bodiham Castle, a very interest* ing ruin ; built by the antient family of the Dalyngriggs ; ;the residence, in the time of Camden, of the Lewkneys ; and noAV the property of Sir Godfrey Webster, Bart. The third road, above alluded to, branching off from the high ground above Lamberhurst on the right. hand, leads back toward the Wells, by Bayham Abbey, through Frant. This road forms the best approach to Bayham ; exhibiting the ruins from many, elevated spots on the road to very great advantage. At a short distance from this road on the right hand is the spot, formerly occupied by the Gloucester iron furnace : a spot, Avhich now retains feAv traces of its former appro priation ; but which will always maintain a certain interest, from the circumstance, which occasioned the appellation, viz. in honor of the Duke of Gloucester, the son of Queen Anne, who visited it in an excursion from the Wells, in the year 1698 ; as likewise from its having had the honor of producing the magnificent balustrade, which encloses the church yard of St. Paul's in the metropolis. COMBWELL PRIORY. X he priory of Comb well was indebted for its endowment to the same munificent founder, Robert de Thurnham, as Bayham Abbey; and after running out the same course of years, was destined to experience a similar fate : having been surrendered under the Act of the 27th Henry the Eighth ; its revenues not amounting to the specified sum of £200. per annum. It Avas originally appropriated to canons of the order of St. Augustine : and is said at first to have been constituted an abbey ; but to have been subsequently reduced to the inferior condition of a priory, from its revenues having been found inadequate to the maintenance of an abbot. It was situate in the parish of Goudhurst : and was subject to the See of Canterbury. Its whole revenues, including spirituals, at the time of its surrender amounted only to the sum of £ 128. Is. 9\d. On the surrender of CombAvell Priory, King Henry granted it, with all its appendant manors and estates to Thomas Culpeper, Esq. from whom it speedily passed again, in the 34th of that reign, by a royal grant, to Sir John Gage, the ancestor of the Gages of Firle, in the county of Sussex. Sir John was a person of high distinction, and much consideration Avith the king : and this donation was in particular reward for his services, in the expedition, Avhich took place that year into Scotland. In the following year an Act passed to enable Sir John to exchange this property with Mr. Culpeper, of Bedgebury : whose son, Sir Alexander Culpeper alienated it, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to William 88 COMBWELL PRIORY; Campion, Esq< ; who made it the place of his residence. Combwell con tinued to be the usual abode of this family till about the year 1657 ; at which time the house and estate of Danny, in Sussex, falling into the possession of Henry Campion, Esq. in consequence of his marriage with the daughter and heir of Peter Courthope* Esq. of that place, he removed thither; and soon after the principal part of the priory of Combwell was pulled down. The building* which is represented in the annexed plate, was that part Avhich'was reserved for the use of the farmer, on the demolition of the better apartments ; and was probably the more antient part of the priory. This also was taken down about tAvo years since ; so that at present nO vestige remains of this antient monastic establishment, but that which is bere preserved. The annexed estates however still remain in possession of the Campion family. X ^ BOUNDS. X he ancient seat of Bounds is situate in the parish of Bidborough, and in the hundred of Wachlingstone, to the west of the London road, about midAvay betwixt the tOAvn of Tunbridge and the Wells. It is sometimes called Great Bounds, to distinguish it from another mansion somewhat nearer tO the Wells, named Little Bounds. It probably derived its appellation from the surname of its antient proprietors ; either corrupted from Boone or Bohun, (it being sometimes called in old deeds Boone's tenement, )ov accurately from a family of the name of Bounde : John Bounde, appearing to have been seized of it in the time of EdAvard the Third ; and in the 20th year of that reign paid aid for it, tOAvard conferring the honor of knighthood on the Black Prince. In remoter times it was held by the same proprietors as owned the castle of Tunbridge. Descending through families of the names of Chaune, Bounde, Palmer, and Fane, on the attainder and execution of Sir Ralph Fane, 6th Edward the Sixth, it was forfeited to the Crown. By Queen Elizabeth, in the first year of her reign, it was granted to her kinsman Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon ; who, on his death, bequeathed it to his son George ; Avhose only daughter, marrying Sir Thomas Berkeley, K. B. the eldest son and heir of Henry Lord Berkeley, carried the estate of Bounds into that family. About the commencement of the reign of James the First it Avas purchased by Sir Thomas Smyth, of Sutton at Hone, in this county. In this family it remained, and became the principal place of their residence, until the demise of the last male representative of it, Sir Sydney Stafford An 90 BOUNDS. Smythe, Knt. lord chief baron of the exchequer; Avho dying without issue in 1778, bequeathed this estate to his Avidow ; Avho survived him some years. Lady Smythe dying in the year 1790, by her will ordered this estate, among others, to be sold for the benefit of her nepheAvs and nieces : Avhereupon John Earl of Darnley became the purchaser ; and for some years it was inhabited by his most respectable mother, the Countess Dowager of Darnley. Since her death, Bounds has become the residence only of a yearly tenant ; and is at present in the occupation of Lord Henry Petty, second son of the late Marquis of Lansdown, and formerly chancellor of the exchequer. The principal part of the existing mansion (apparently the remnant only of one still more ancient,) Avould seem to be of about the date of Queen Elizabeth's reign ; and was probably built by the Lord Hunsdon. On one end of the house, from Avhich it would appear that some further building had been detached, are the arms of Queen Elizabeth ; as likewise those of Henry the Fourth of France, impaling those of Navarre and Beam, and surrounded by the collar of the order of St. Michael. They Avere doubtless placed there by Henry Carey Lord Hunsdon, who was a near relative of the Queen's, and had been employed on several missions to the French court ; particularly to carry the ensigns of the order of the Garter to the predecessor of Henry the Fourth. They Avere probably placed here about the commencement of his reign ; which happened in the year 1589. If this conjecture be accurate, it would seem to fix the date of the present mansion, at somewhere about that period. The house is not large, but venerable in its appearance ; and suitable to the present circumstances of the property. It stands in a park of beautifully varied ground, containing about an hundred and twenty acres. The late demand for timber of large dimensions has tempted the proprietor to rob it of some of its principal beauties ; yet does it remain one of the sweetest spots in the neighbourhood. Within so small a space feAv perhaps contain so great a variety : whilst its beautiful parish church, perched on an eminence, just beyond its boundary ; the modern parsonage, removed to a short distance from it; some larger and bolder objects somewhat further; and the Avhole surrounding country, rich and varied in every BOUNDS. 91 direction, present at every step a change of scene, which, without fatiguing the eye, sooths the mind, and exercises the imagination. The poet will here, as at Penshurst, fancy himself on classic ground : for this was the residence of the celebrated Lady Dorothy Sydney ; so passionately immortalized by the muse of Waller, under the poetical name of Sacharissa. She was married to the ancestor of the late Chief Baron Smythe, who was her grandson. The admirer of eminent character will not be displeased at the infor mation that this was the frequent resting place, from the fatigues of the circuit, with the venerable Earl Mansfield ; who on that occasion usually paid a visit here to his friend and associate the Chief Baron. * n j^jfrrr <%*u. tendon, FuhlUhecb ~by JSdmuniL Zioyd .Sarley Street, May xaS 92 BOUNDS. On the other hand, the intelligent observer of manners, and the accurate investigator of human intellect, will not pass over this soil without a commiserating sigh, when he is reminded that this spot witnessed the sad failure of a vigorous mind in its last proprietor; whilst the religious enthusiast, Avith different sentiments, will hail the recollection, and place the deterioration in the scale of amendment. So deeply had a religious enthusiasm preyed on this eminent character, in his latter days, that unmindful of the prominence, and heedless of the peculiar influence of his elevated station, he was seen assisting at the conventicles of the most irregular sectarists ; not hesitating by his example to Aveaken the authority of that establishment, which by his office he Avas bound to protect. Characters of eminence become interesting in their rise, progress, or decline. Too frequently hoAvever is the last stage of life sadly humiliating ; and in that shape reads an awful monition to human nature : " From Marlborough's eyes the streams of dotage flow, " And Swift expires a driv'ler and a show!" The case Avas the more to be lamented in this instance, as the former vigour of his intellect, his inflexible integrity, and, to the latest period of his life, his purest moral character, would appear to give authority to the irregularities, which his example thus santioned. But his is not a solitary instance in the dark records of human nature, Avherein a great name, under humiliating circumstances, may be adduced " To point a moral, or adorn a tale." BIDBOROUGH HALL I I; MABLEDON, THE SEAT OF JAMES BURTON, ESQ. X his elegant imitation of an ancient castellated mansion, situate on an eminence called Quarry-Hill, about a mile above the town of Tunbridge, in the direction towards the Wejls, was built about five years since by its present proprietor. The scite, upon which the house stands, together with several excellent farms, and their appropriate buildings, were pur chased by Mr. Burton, and iioav constitute an estate of considerable magnitude. Its elevated situation gives it a command of view in every direction, and the beauty of the adjacent grounds will recommend it to the admirers of rich and varied scenery ; Avhilst the Avell-conceived character of Avhat it is intended to represent, produces an admirable effect to the whole country from Avhence it is viewed, and will probably impose itself on the stranger to this neighbourhood, for the genuine remains of an ancient edifice. . In .fixing upon the style of Mabledon, it Avas very probably thought that neither the neatness, or rather spruceness of the Italian nor the elaborate elegance of the Grecian architecture, would harmonize with the bold character of the grounds. It was therefore determined to adopt the castellated form with a mixture of the Gothic. But however antique the exterior appearance may be, the interior is of the roost modern Bb 94 MABLEDON. description. The apartments are of good dimension's^; and are so disposed that each of the principal rooms looks upon a different prospect. The stone, of which the house is built, was dug upon the premises ; having the property of hardening by exposure; and is of a remarkably durable quality. It will be observed hoAvever, that in some parts there appears a rust of antiquity, which gives a stamp to the building favorable to its ostensible pretensions ; this is produced by the use of some materials brought from Penshurst Place, part of which has been lately pulled down and sold. This circumstance cannot be reflected upon without consi* derable concern : consecrated as the temple of those arts they love, and those virtues they admire, the scholar, the patriot, the warrior, and the poet, must see with emotions of poignant regret the dismantling of an abode, which contained within its walls the illustrious race of Sidney, and consider dilapidation, sacrilege. Thus are castles and palaces, equally Avith their frail inhabitants, subject to the vicissitudes incidental to all sublunary creation. In the notice of Mabledon it Avould be improper to omit an account of the improvement which has been made in the turnpike road since this seat Avas erected. It formerly passed near the spot now occupied by the house ; and the descent from thence to the town of Tunbridge, at all seasons unpleasant from its steepness and length of declivity, in Avinter was frequently dangerous. Mr. Burton, anxious to improve the access to his own place, and at the same time desirous of effecting a great public advantage, suggested the idea of cutting through the hill ; a labour almost herculean. The plan however Avas put into execution. The facility of travelling has in consequence been greatly increased, and the former perils of the road altogether obviated. Though the removal of the road to some distance from the house Avas a benefit to it, yet, for effecting the improvement, Mr. Burton from this circumstance should not be deprived of the praise of public spirit. It should be recorded that he guaranteed to the trustees the performance of the work for an inconsiderable sum, advanced the money that was required, and individually bore by far the greater part of the expence. It therefore should not be forgotten by those Avho were acquainted with MABLEDON. 95 the road in its former state, that although the owner and projector of Mabledon may have derived an advantage from the alteration, it is owing to him, that noAV undisturbed by a compassionate distress for the sufferings of their cattle, or a painful anxiety for their own safety, they can con template the magnificent scenery of Quarry-Hill. TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. A he town of Tunbridge Was formerly celebrated for its castle ; a fortress of great importance, in the feudal times ; to which it was then only as a suburb. In modern times it has again been brought into notice, from its name having been accidentally, though very improperly, given to the celebrated medicinal springs in its vicinity. The increased thoroughfare on this account, the attraction of a well-endowed and flourishing school, the opening of a considerable navigation, and the general improvement of the adjacent country, have combined to give it an air of business and opulence, which entitle it to be considered as one of the principal places in this division of the county. Although therefore its castle is now become a ruin, the town, Avhich is intimately connected with it, will necessarily engage some of our attention. The castle doubtless gave occasion to the situation of this town : which is built on a spot, intersected by five small branches of the river Med way ; and from the bridges over these several streams it obtained its name, the Town of Bridges. It stands in that part of the county, which is called the Weald, at the distance of thirty miles from the metropolis, six from the Wells, and fourteen from Maidstone. Good turnpike roads pass through it, as well from London and Maidstone toAvards the Wells, as likewise toAvards various places on the Sussex coast. The tOAvn stands nearly in the centre of the parish, Avhich is very extensive ; and is sur rounded by a district called the Lowy of Tunbridge, in old Latin deeds Districtus Leucce de Tonebridge, over which, in the days of its prosperity, C c 98 TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. the lords of the castle held an absolute sway, and enjoyed considerable privileges. The jurisdiction is of Norman original ; and will hereafter be particularly noticed. As this castle was of great strength and importance, so has it, with its appendant property, been held by persons of the highest eminence in their day. Before the conquest it appears to have formed a part of the vast domains of the Archbishops of Canterbury. During the turbulence and confusion which followed that event, this, with many other large estates, seems to have been violently usurped by the famous Odo, Bishop of Baieux, half brother to the Conqueror. Through the energy and per severance of Archbishop Lanfranc it was however recovered to the See ; but it was not destined long to continue there. As to the precise mode of its next transfer, the local historians are not agreed : but, with respect to the next proprietor, it is on all hands admitted to have been Richard Fitz Gilbert, Earl of Ewe and Brionne, Avhose grandfather, Geoffrey, a natural son of Richard first Duke of Normandy, had been advanced to those titles. Odo, it is said, during the time of his usurpation of this property, had shewn an inclination to give it to this Richard, his kinsman : and it seems probable that he was in actual possession of it at the time, Avhen a circumstance occurred, which fixed it permanently and legally in his family. Richard, in his character of Earl of Brionne in Normandy, was an earnest supporter of the designs of William Rufus on the territories of his brother. In consequence of this, Robert Duke of Normandy entered his Earldom of Brionne, laid waste his estates, and utterly destroyed his castle. To reward him for his exertions and sufferings in his cause, William Rufus determined to make Richard amends by the grant of equivalent possessions in England : and Tunbridge, of Avhich he had already an equivocal kind of possession, was selected for that purpose. To accomplish this, an arrangement of exchange was effected with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was to receive an equivalent in the territory of Brionne. Whether this exchange was altogether voluntary on the side of the Archbishop may reasonably be doubted : but it Avas TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. 99 effected with a semblance of rigour on his part ; and the manner of the arrangement, as characteristic of the simplicity of the age, is sufficiently curious. The Castle of Brionne was surrounded by a district, termed the Leuca, over Avhich the Earl claimed a more especial personal sovereignty. It was probably, from the name, of the extent of a reputed square league. This district was measured by a line, and the same being brought to England, was employed to measure out a similar portion of land surrounding the castle at Tunbridge ; which was relinquished as the equivalent. This land was conveyed to its new possessor, with all the peculiarities and privileges attached to it, which had distinguished his original possession in Normandy. It was called the Leuca de Tonbridge : a name, Avhich it still retains ; although the appropriate liberties and peculiar customs have been long since disused. Although this exchange was positive, yet it appears that a reserve was made in favor of the rights and privileges of the See of Canterbury : the owners of this castle holding it of the See on the condition of their serving the office of high stewards and chief butlers at the inthronization of the archbishops ; and further that the Archbishop should be entitled to the wardship of their children. Richard Fitz Gilbert, who, from estates in the county of Suffolk, took the name of Clare, being now in firm possession of this his favorite residence, built, or rather probably extended and improved the castle here. His successors in immediate descent, having become Earls of Gloucester and Hertford, and by grant, purchase, or intermarriage, having largely extended their property in the neighbourhood, continued for several generations to hold and improve this castle : and, if they did not make it their usual abode ; at least they considered it in troublesome times as their most secure retreat : for when in the reign of Henry the Third this castle was besieged, and forced to surrender, the Countess of Gloucester herself was found therein, amongst other persons of distinction. From whence it may be inferred that it was at that time considered as a principal mansion of those powerful chiefs. Tunbridge Castle passed from the direct line of descent in this family 100 TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE, on the death of Gilbert the last earl, in the year 1313 ; Avho, Avas slain that year in the battle of Bannocksbourne. Having died without male issue, his property was divided ; whence this part of it came to the share of his second sister and coheir Margaret ; then married to her second husband Hugh de Audley. This Hugh, after a troublesome and interrupted tenure in this property, the consequence of his OAvn rebellion and the turbulencies of the times, was at length not only confirmed in it, but furthermore, 11th Edward the Third, was created Earl of Gloucester. On his death, his only daughter Margaret carried it in marriage to Ralph Lord Stafford. This nobleman was one of the most celebrated characters of his day ; having greatly signalized himself in the glorious wars of Edward the Third. He appears to have resided much in this his castle at Tunbridge; where he died, and was buried in the church of the adjacent priory. The castle remained in the possession of this family till the time of Henry the Eighth. Humphry Lord Stafford had, in addition to his other titles, been created Duke of Buckingham by Richard the Second : and his descendant EdAvard, having incurred the displeasure of Cardinal Wolsey, was found guilty of high treason, and beheaded on ToAver Hill in the 13th year of Henry the Eighth. The castle and manor of Tunbridge with its extensive demesne became, in consequence of this event, the property of the Crown ; where they continued for the remainder of that reign. Edward the Sixth bestowed them on John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, afterwards created Duke of Northumberland ; who soon however re-conveyed them to the King in exchange for other lands. Queen Mary gave them, in the same manner as she did Knole, to Cardinal Pole, for his life ; and at his disposal for one year after. On the death of the Cardinal, Queen Elizabeth granted them to her relation Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon ; from Avhose family they passed by the marriage of his grand-daughter into that of Sir Thomas Berkeley, K. B. who soon after sold them. They have since passed through proprietors of undistinguished name and little consequence; having been divided and frittered down to an inconsiderable property. The castle and manor, Avith its immediate appurtenances (being the only ¦/. 'Wmm % £ 1 i l TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. 101 part with which Ave have any immediate concern), were purchased in the year 1739, by John Hooker, Esq. whose son Thomas succeeded him in this estate. Mr. Hooker having erected the stone house which imme diately adjoins the great tower of the castle, alienated the property to William Woodgate, Esq. of Somerhill. On the subject of this castle it is observed by that laborious and judicious antiquary, Edward King, Esq. that it is " one of the noblest " and most perfect structures of the kind, of any at present remaining " in England." Its chief curiosity consists, in its containing, as an ancient fortress, all the peculiarities of that obsolete mode Of defence ; and, as being one of the latest structures of the kind, all the improvements of the art ; it likewise presents a perfect specimen of the mode of living in those rude times of our country. The castle itself Avas built probably before the conquest ; enlarged perhaps by Odo ; but improved and completed to its present state by Richard de Clare, Earl of Brionne ; on the plan, doubtless, of the castle he had recently quitted in Normandy. But the great tOAver of the castle, the part now remaining most entire, was of more recent date, having appa rently been erected about the commencement of the thirteenth century. To explain what has been thus observed generally, as Avell as to afford a guide to those who may be tempted to visit it, a detailed account of this castle Avill be submitted ; in which Mr. King's scarce but clear and minute account of it, will be attempted to be compressed. The annexed view of the castle represents the entrance from the great tower into the interioF court : and this may be taken as a guide in the proposed description. The whole area of this fortress Avas enclosed by a strong wall, which, for the most part remains; to which were added out-works to a con siderable distance, Avith ditches and sluices, whereby the great foss might be filled up to the very entrance. The approach was by the opposite side of the great tower, here represented. The foss was passed by a draw-bridge ; on the right hand side of which was a round tower or barbacan, for its defence. This foss, though now filled up, may, as well as the foundation of the tOAver, be still traced. The curious observer, as Dd 102 TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLEi he passes through the long archway of this tower, will notice the* various provisions and precautions to resist the advance of an enemy. The first object of this kind, Avhich presents itself, is the groove for an immense portcullis, which descended from an opening at a little distance within the arch. In what might appear only ornamental projections over this arch, on the outside, are three machicolations, or openings, through Avhich hot water, sand, or boiling lead might be poured down, in case the enemy, having forced the drawbridge, was advancing to destroy the portcullis. SomeAvhat further within the arch Avas placed a pair of strong gates ; and in the interval between them and the portcullis, are three more machicolations in the roof. In this space moreover are, on either side, loop-holes, whence an enemy, who had advanced thus far, might be annoyed by bow-men from within. At a considerable distance forward Avas another pair of strong gates; and in this interval also (from Avhence there were passages to the loAver apartments, on either side, each however strongly defended) were machicolations from above. Advancing from this second pair of gates, at a short distance Avas another portcullis, not however so large as that at the entrance; and at the opening of the passage into the ballium or inner court, were again machicolations as at the entrance. From this detail it will appear how many ordeals an assailing enemy had to pass, before he could gain, a footing Avithin the interior of the fortress. Having thus entered the court, the whole plan of the fortress presents itself in a clear and distinct form. This great toAver of entrance con stituted the state and best apartments of the lord : but was not the strong part of the castle. That, called the keep, Avas placed on an elevated artificial mound at a small distance on the right hand, connected with it by a wall and covered way. This keep was the strong hold of the fortress. The base of this mound, which was formed of the earth taken from the ditch, is about an acre in extent; and it rises about seventy feet above the area of the court, and an hundred above the bed. of the river. On the point, whereon some fir trees now grow, was erected a strong oval structure, of the dimensions of eighty-six feet by seventy-six : the walls being eleven feet in thickness, and curiously constructed of TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. 103 wood and stone, so as to prevent any settlement of the building- on the artificial ground. This tower rose majestically over the whole of the adjacent Avorks ; overlooking, threatening, and protecting the domain of its powerful OAvner. In the centre was a well ; and various apartments around it As this keep constituted the main strength of the fortress, every precaution Avas taken to prevent surprise, and to secure safe ingress and egress from it. A covered Avay from the upper apartments of the tower of entrance secured a retreat to the keep, in case of a successful assault on that part. But besides this approach from the toAver to the interior of the keep, there was another from a great round tower at the western angle of the wall toward the river, which conducted to the top of it. This Avas intended for the soldiers ; whereby to throAV succours into the keep. From this round tower they proceeded toAvard the foot of the mound by a covered way on the wall; whence they descended by a steep flight of steps to a square subterranean vault, and hence again they ascended to the lower rooms of the keep ; but they had no further communication with the interior. From hence they mounted to the roof by a small Avinding staircase, formed within the substance of the Avail. At the eastern angle of the wall, which surrounds the area of the castle, are traced the foundations of another round tower, similar to that, from. Avhence the passage above noticed proceeds ; and in the Avail, Avhich connects them, but somewhat nearer to the eastern tower, was a sally port, Avith a flight of steps toward the river. The walls Avere in general about ten feet in thickness ; and, as has been already noticed, entirely surround the area of the castle. These Avere again defended by a deep foss or moat : the part toward the south being constantly filled from- the river Med way;- its channel having been diverted for that purpose: but the whole was capable of being filled with water, as occasion might require. Besides this, there was still another moat or fOss extending to a much greater distance, and enclosing neatly the whole area now occupied by the town. A spot in the vicinity is still distinguished by the name of the Postern; and was probably one of the out-lets from this exterior boundary of the fortification toAvards the river. 104 TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. Such is a general outline of this most curious and interesting fortress : the whole of which may very distinctly be traced at this time. The improvements Avhich have been alluded to, as particularly characterizing this castle ; and as marking parts of it as of a much more recent date than has commonly been supposed, are chiefly noticeable in the great tower, which contained the state and most commodious apartments of the governor. This is curious, as it elucidates the intermediate style of living between the mere rude castle of the coarse feudal chief, and the extensive castellated mansion, which succeeded with more prosperous and more civilized times. Heretofore the keep itself, the main fortress, was the residence of the lord and his dependants : which the necessary provisions for annoyance and defence rendered but a comfortless abode. In this castle the keep retained this portion of its character; but it was only an occasional residence in cases of emergency : it was the body and last retreat of the citadel. In the great tower the provisions for safety and comfort were in some measure separated ; and from its improved plan much attention was paid to the latter. We have already scrutinized the main passage of entrance ; wherein defence Avas most minutely attended to. The lower apartments, on either side of this passage, were merely offices and store rooms: beneath were vaults, and a dungeon accessible only by trap doors. In the towers on each side of the gate fronting the south, were stone staircases, conducting to the several apartments and to the top of the towers. The rooms on the first floor are of the same dimensions as those below, 28 feet by 15 feet 9 inches ; but here the space over the arch affords a third room. This part of the building however, being Avithin reach of the assailants, and likewise near enough to admit of annoying them with the cross-bow, Avas lighted only by the slender appertures of loops : the apartments consequently Avere gloomy, and, for any purpose but bed rooms, inconvenient. This however was completely obviated in the next, story : the whole of the upper floor was laid into one apartment ; which constituted the state room ; and the principal comfort of this species of building. This room was of noble dimensions ; and being too high for III,! Jt-tdietL by ZetztCz Hyrne. Zmiimi. TuiUo-lua ij Xdmmul. Ziyi .s,u-hv Street J&iy j_. j.8„g . TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. 105 any annoyance, was competently lighted by two very handsome windows toward the south. Here was a considerable advance towards amelioration in the system of living ; and what always tends to the introduction of better habits, the attainment of comfort even in pursuits connected with Avar fare. It Avas the intention of a former proprietor of this castle (Mr. Hooker) to have converted this tower into a house for his own residence ; but it Avas found to be scarcely practicable, consistently with modern habits and ideas : at least not without too glaring a trespass on the exterior and vital character of the ancient edifice. Having given up this idea, he fell upon a scheme, which, in the opinion of many persons, will be deemed equally objectionable ; he built a modern stone house within the area of the fortress, immediately adjoining the great tower. He cannot certainly be complimented on his taste ; it is a species of architectural sacrilege. It must be noticed however, that the present proprietor does not parti cipate in the sin. He found the modern intruder on the spot ; and has done every thing, which good taste could dictate to make it as little offensive as possible ; whilst the zeal Avith Avhich he preserves the ancient remains, and the liberality Avith which he alloAvs them to be inspected by the curious, proclaim that such a barbarism would not have originated Avith him ; and that the innovation will proceed no further. At a considerable distance from the castle, beyond the river, to the south of the toAvn, stood the priory of Tunbridge. This religious. house was founded toward the close of the reign of Henry the Second, by Richard, the first earl of Hertford, proprietor of the castle and lowy of Tunbridge. It Avas allotted to canons of the Premonstatensian order ; similar to those already described, as settled at Bayham Abbey. After this priory had subsisted in a prosperous condition nearly two centuries* it was totally destroyed, A. D. 1351, by fire. It was however soon restored, even with increased prosperity; and so continued till the fatal decree went forth, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, for the suppression of religious houses of a certain class. Tunbridge Priory, though competently endowed, fell within the description of those Avhich were devoted ; its revenues amounting only to the sum of £169. 10s. 3d. It was accordingly 106 TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. suppressed in the year 1524, and its revenues allotted to the support of the colleges, which Cardinal Wolsey was then building at Oxford and Ipswich ; but the grant not having been confirmed at the time of the Cardinal's disgrace, which happened soon after, the priory and its ap pendages became vested in the CroAvn. It afterwards passed in the same channel as the manor and castle, until the death of Cardinal Pole ; when Queen Elizabeth granted it to Sir Henry Sydney. Hence it afterwards passed to the Viscountess Purbeck ; and on the dissipation of her large property, was alienated to a family of the name of Poley. There are still traces of considerable buildings belonging to this priory; but very little in a perfect state. That, whereof a representation is here given, seems to have been the great hall or refectory. It is a handsome room ; robbed however of every kind of ornament ; and is now converted into a barn. There are adjoining some singular old brick and timber buildings, very ancient, though more modern than the priory. They bear a striking resemblance to those near Hever Castle. A tradition prevails that there Avas a subterranean passage, under the river Medway, from the castle to this priory ; Avhereof there is now no trace ; and for Avhich indeed there seems to have been no authority. The idea probably arose from the discovery of the passage, already noticed, from one of the towers near the river to the keep. The direction it seemed to take favored the idea, that it might have proceeded beyond the walls ; and a very little of that spirit of conjecture, Avhich so commonly distinguishes speculating antiquaries, was quite sufficient to continue it to the priory. It was not long after the suppression of this monastic establishment, that its place was supplied by one far more useful, which continues in a flourishing condition to the present day. The chief loss, which was incurred to the community, from the suppression of the religious houses, consisted in the failure of means for the education of youth. In this loss the town of Tunbridge probably participated : but here, as elsewhere, the injury Avas speedily redressed by the munificence of a Avealthy and pious individual. TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. 107 In the year J 554 Sir Andrew Judde, a citizen of London, but a native of this town, founded a grammar school here, Avhich is free for the children of the inhabitants of Tunbridge ; and having amply endowed it, he constituted the master, Avardens, and commonalty of Skinners, the governors. This school has subsequently received large additions to its revenues from other quarters : and has moreover attached to it scholar ships and exhibitions in both universities. This school has always supported a fair credit ; Avhich has of late derived considerable accession from its present master, the Rev. Vicessimus Knox, D. D. a character too well known in the literary world to need any other specification than his name. The school, a handsome building, admirably calculated for the purpose, stands at the north entrance to the town. Adjoining it is a commodious dwelling for the master ; which by the munificence of the governors has been lately considerably enlarged. The company of Skinners, in compliance with the injunction of their statutes, hold an annual visitation of this school in the month of May : Avhen they are attended by their chaplain, to examine the scholars, as to their due advancement in learning ; and by their purveyor and cook to guard against the possibility of famine during their excursion. To this epitome of a city feast the neighbourhood is usually invited ; Avhen merriment and good cheer are the order of the day. These periodical meetings have the further good effect of promoting a social and benevolent intercourse in the neighbourhood. The Skinner's Company, on these occasions, in the true spirit of the British commercial character, aptly exemplify the poet's adage, " Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci." Whilst their chaplain investigates the attainments of the youth under their patronage, and their treasurer dispenses to various claimants the charities committed to their trust, their purveyor liberally provides every delicacy of the season for appetites, which learning Avill not satisfy, and which have no claims on their charity. All the respectable part of the neighbourhood pay their attentions to the civic feast. The liberal patrons of it are sufficiently rewarded in witnessing the effects of their social 108 TUNBRIDGE TOWN AND CASTLE. exertions ; and amongst the most pleasing consequences of the meeting may be instanced the exchange of reciprocal good will and affection between the venerable master of this respectable seminary and many of his former pupils, who by their successful courses do credit to his labours in their behalf. It is in short a day ever anticipated with eagerness and recollected with delight. The river Medway, on which, as has been observed, this town is built, first becomes navigable here. The Act of Parliament, Avhereby the navigation is controuled, enables the commissioners under certain cir cumstances to extend it as far as Forest Row, near East Grinstead, in the county of Sussex. It is much to be lamented that those circumstances have not hitherto encouraged the extension of it as far at least as the neighbouring village of Penshurst. The public and individuals Avould thereby be benefited to a considerable extent : as likewise probably Avould the town of Tunbridge itself; not only by an advance of trade; but, it is conceived, that such an opening to the channel through the extensive and rich vale above the town, would be a means of preventing the frequent floods, Avhich prove so great an inconvenience. On the wharfs below the great bridge much and various business is carried on. Through this channel the whole neighbourhood to a great extent is supplied with fuel ; and the materials Avith which the London road is formed are conveyed to this point from the vicinity of Maidstone. The navigation extends to Rochester ; consequently connects this country with the Dock-yard at Chatham. Hence impoverishment to many an estate in the neighbourhood : but accession to the strength of the nation. The facility with which large timber is conveyed from hence to the Dock-yard, has been the means of robbing the country of some of its greatest beauties ; and the late years of war have much tended to increase this havock. It is a misery to the eye intent on picturesque beauty ; yet is it a misery, which brings with it its consolations. To the distressed proprietor, it is consolation in time of need : to every British heart it is consolation that our lost favorites float in another element to so noble a purpose ; and having gratified our eyes at home, now cheer our hearts by their annoyance to our enemies in every quarter of the globe. SOMERHILL. X hough now adorned with few appendages of magnificence, this place has in truth greater pretensions to notice than many in the neigh bourhood, which can boast of more present splendor. It was Originally the mansion to a very extensive domain ; and has been possessed by persons of the first eminence in the kingdom, and honored with the presence of royalty. The manorial estate, for whose lords it Avas the ordinary place of abode, was called the park or forest of South Frith ; which contained a wide range of forest or chase, extending in the southern district of the lowy of Tunbridge, as far as the Wells. This estate was among the original large possessions of the family of Clare, Earls of Gloucester and Hertford ; owners of the castle and manor of Tunbridge. It passed by descent from them, amongst others, through various branches of the royal family : and, from attainders in troublesome times, eventually came into possession of the Crown. This was the case in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; who in 1572 granted it for a term of years to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester : at the expiration of which she gave the estate in fee to Frances, the widow of Robert Devereux Earl of Essex. This lady had first been married to Sir Philip Sydney ; and, after the loss of her second husband, re-married Richard Burgh Earl of Clanrichard. This nobleman, having become, in consequence of his marriage, possessed of this estate of South Frith Park, built the present noble mansion, on an elevated and commanding spot, in the northern part of his estate ; overlooking Ff 110 SOMERHILL. the river Medway, the town and castle of Tunbridge, and the adjoining country, to a great distance, in every direction. The house was completed about the year 1624: and having named it Somerhill, he received about the same time from James the First the addition to his other honors of an English barony, with that title. In a curious account of the Life and Death of Robert Earl of Essex, in the Harleian Miscellany, this Earl of Clanrickard is mentioned in the following singular terms : " Her " third husband was the Earl of Clanrickard, a gallant gentleman, who " exceeded the Avildness of his native country by his second education ; " and who exceeded his education by the happiness of his wedlock. — " And though peradventure some vain men do account it but as two " threads put together, he did make it his band ; by the advantage of " Avhich he did so twist himself into the English virtues, that nothing " remained of him as spun from Ireland, as Ireland noAV doth stand." He resided at Somerhill; and dying in 1636 was succeeded in this property by his son Ulrick. This nobleman, having taken in Ireland a decided and active part in the cause of his sovereign Charles the First, his estates in this neighbourhood were sequestered, and given by the Parliament in reward, as it is stated " for his unspotted fidelity," to Robert Earl of Essex, the half-brother of the Earl of Clanrickard, for his life. He accordingly held it till his death in 1646, when the Parliament conferred it on the no less celebrated John Bradshaw, president of their high court of justice. On his death, it is said, that he bequeathed it to a natural son ; who was however, in con sequence of the restoration, which happened shortly after, ejected ; and the estate and mansion were restored to their lawful owner, Margaret,. only daughter and heir of Ulrick Earl of Clanrickard, who had been dispossessed of it for his loyalty; and who had died in the year 1659- This lady is a character not unfamiliar to the readers of the facetious histories of those times ; being in truth no less than la Princesse de Babylonne, La Monsery of the Memoires du Comte De Grammont. At the mention of her name, the readers of that lively record will recall to their minds certain extravagant scenea, wherein, in this neighbourhood as well as in the metropolis, she bore a prominent part; and from which; SOMERHILL. ill the impression will not be greatly in favor of her sense or discretion. The records and recollections of this neighbourhood, however, yield documents in her behalf much more favorable. She is stated to have been a Avoman of a high spirit, of great liberality, and unbounded exertion for the public good. To her Tunbridge Wells is indebted for its chapel and the grove on Mount Sion : and indeed, it is principally from her fostering hand that the first effective improvements of the place are to be imputed. It will however appear in the sequel, that her liberality much exceeded the bounds of prudence. She married, as her first husband, Charles M'Carty Viscount Muskerry, eldest son of the Earl of Clancarty. He appears to have been an active and amiable person ; but Avas unfortunately killed in early life, in a naval engagement with the Dutch, in the year 1665. His widoAV re-married with John Villiers Viscount Purbeck, eldest son of Sir John Villiers Viscount Purbeck, who was the elder brother of George Duke of Buckingham, the great favorite of James- the First and Charles the First. Lord Purbeck lived Avith her at Somerhill, in a style of great magni ficence. On the death of his mother, Mary Countess of Buckingham, he claimed the title of earl ; which hoAvever Avas not allowed him by the House of Peers. Nevertheless he, as well as his son, assumed the title, and constantly subscribed themselves in that style. On his death his Avidow married again with a Mr. Fielding ; and having, through a most expensive way of living, and by an improvident and misplaced liberality, brought herself into embarrassed circumstances, alienated considerable parts of her estate ; more particularly those in the vicinity of the Wells. Her son succeeded to the remainder ; a considerable part of which had in hia mother's time been let. He soon parted with the residue in several portions. The house- and park of Somerhill came into the pos session of a family of the name of Dekins ; which also retained possession of the manor, extending over the whole of the original estate. From hence it passed (with one intermediate possessor of the name of Cave) about the year 1712 to John Woodgate, Esq. of Chepsted, in the parish of Penshurst ; the ancestor of the present proprietor. 112 SOMERHILL. The mansion, as represented in the annexed plate, is precisely that, which was built by Richard Earl of Clanrichard, in the reign of James the First. It is maintained in good repair ; and, although divested of its former appendages of park and garden, has suffered no mutilations, or what is generally more offensive, modern improvements. Those Avho have approached it, and taken a view of the circumjacent lands, and in idea have subtracted the effect of the existing enclosures, which for agricultural purposes have been long since introduced, will have been enabled to form some estimate of what this place once was. The bold eminence, on Avhich the house is placed, commanded views over a vast range of park and chase. And, when this was actually the case, few noblemen in this county could boast of a residence better suited to their dignity. In that state it witnessed a great variety of occupiers ; from its first lord and projector, who lived here Avith a suitable dignity, to the singularly contrasted arch-rebels Essex and Bradshaw ; and lastly, to its rightfully restored owner, Viscountess Purbeck : avIio in the recovery of her rights lay the foundation of her own ruin, and eventually of the place and property. It has been noticed that much of the lands had been separated from the mansion house, before it came into possession of the Woodgates. It has been the fortunate lot of the present OAvner to have been enabled to re-unite much of this dispersed property ; Avhich is at present said to be fully equal to the support of this noble mansion, if it should ever be the wish of the proprietor to restore it to its former condition. It is impossible to tread on this ground (in connexion too Avith an account of Tunbridge Wells,) without again adverting to the mention of its ancient inhabitants and festivities, in the Memoires du Comte De Grammont. This place, which the author denominates une belle maison, appears to have been the residence of some of the Court, during the Royal visit to this neighbourhood, in 1664. From hence to the AVells the excursions were daily and joyous; and hither the royal family themselves would occasionally resort to partake of the hospitalities of its Lord, and enjoy the eccentricities of its Lady. It Avas the actual residence, amongst SOMERHILL. 113 others, of Mademoiselle Hamilton, and her friend Madame Whittnel *. The prevailing character of the Court ; somewhat of a chivalrous dis position in Lord Muskerry ; the singular propensities of his Lady ; the beauty and gaiety of Mademoiselle Hamilton ; and above all, the delicate distresses of La Whittnel, just emancipated from le triste Beckham, and her enneuyeux seigneur, will suggest to the reader's imagination many of the probable scenes, which have passed within these Avails ; where " Jests and youthful jollity, " Quips and cranks, and Avanton wiles, " Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles, " Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, " And love to live in dimple sleek ; " Sport that wrinkled Care derides, " And Laughter holding both his sides," have doubtless prevailed in a sufficient abundance. He will in idea join in the jocund throng ; or perchance he will moralize. A sombre epitome of departed grandeur is all that now remains ! But although Madame Whittnel might now find it as repulsive to her feelings and projects as le triste Beckham itself, yet does it retain its substance of originality ; and actually displays hospitalities worthy of its origin : which also tend to cherish the hope that it may yet be destined to experience a renovation of its pristine beauties, attractions, and magnificence. * Thus mis-spelt by the French author for Whetenhall. She was wife of Thomas Wheten- hall, Esq. of Hextall's Court, in the parish of East Peckham ; about six miles from Tunbridge. The place is now the property of Sir William Twysden ; who resides at his seat of Roydon Hall, in the same parish. It was intended to have given a representation of Hextall's Court in this work ; but the house, now converted into a farmer's dwelling, was found so mutilated and uninteresting, as not to be deemed worthy of an engraving. (j cr. m i 'iMm .'.I'ill II '%* f r i*^ »il ' i if IS » i 1 i ?l I IlifflSHlllffl I l 'Mitllllipi II MEREWORTH HOUSE. IVXereworth House, or as it is sometimes called Mereworth Castle, (having been erected on the scite of a more ancient house, which was so denominated) the seat of Lord Le Despencer, is situate in the parish of the same name, at the distance of about a dozen miles from the Wells; on the great road leading from Tunbridge to Maidstone. It is in that division of the county, which is termed the Weald ; and in the hundred of Littlefield. At the conquest, this manor and estate were conferred on Ha mo de Crevequer ; who was also appointed vicecomes or sheriff 'of Kent. They were afterwards enjoyed from the reign of Henry the Second till the 44th of Edward the Third, by a family, Avhich derived its name from the place; and who held them under the Earls of Clare. Hence the property passed by descent to the Malmains ; who, in the 46th of that reign alienated it tp Nicholas de Brembre : on Avhose attainder for high treason, his estates were forfeited to the CroAvn. Richard the Second granted MereAvorth to John Hermenstorpe, Avho soon after alienated it to Richard Fitz Alan Earl of Arundel ; from whose family it passed, by the marriage of an heiress, into that of the Beauchamps ; and thence, by the same channel, into that of the Nevills. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Mary, an heiress of this branch of the Nevill family, Avho were also Lords Bergavenny, carried this estate by marriage into the family of Fane or Vane. On the death of her father, Henry Lord Bergavenny, this lady claimed the title, it being a 116 MEREWORTH HOUSE. barony in fee. It was however determined against her, in favor of the heir male of her uncle : whereupon King James, in his first year, in compensation to the disappointed heiress, restored to her the ancient barony of Le Despencer, with the property and precedency of her ancestors. The Baroness Le Despencer, long surviving her husband, died in 1626, leaving two sons : the eldest of whom, Francis, was created Baron Burghersh, and Earl of Westmorland. In this family Mereworth con tinued till the year 1762 ; when, on the death of John, the seventh Earl of Westmorland, without issue, the barony of Le Despencer passed to Sir Francis Dashwood, of West Wycombe, Bart, his sister's son ; to whom the late Earl had bequeathed this estate, with remainder to his great nephew, Sir Thomas Stapleton, Bart. On the demise of Lord Le De spencer without issue in 1781, the estate of Mereworth passed, according to the bequest of John Earl of Westmorland, to Sir Thomas Stapleton, Bart. in Avhose family it now rests. The barony was vested in the first instance in Rachel, the sister of the last Baron, the Avidow of Sir Robert Austen, Bart, but on her death, 17 88, was re-united to the possessor of this estate ; with Avhom it still continues. The present mansion was built about the year 1748, by John, the seventh Earl ofWestmorland ; after a design of the celebrated Andrea Palladio, or rather in imitation of a villa, in the neighbourhood of Venice, designed and executed by that celebrated architect. All due credit will readily be given to the artist, as likewise to the builder ; for it must be allowed to be well designed, and admirably executed ; and is in itself certainly a very great ornament to the country. The noble projector of it, however, Avhen his taste was allured by its prototype in Italy, seems unfortunately to have forgotten that he was about to indulge his imitative vein in England ; to Avhich it is as inapplicable, as the climates of the respective countries are irreconcilable. The body of the house, consisting of a substantial stone building, occupies a space of eighty-eight feet square : the sides are uniform ; each being similarly ornamented with a handsome doric portico ; and the whole is surmounted by a well proportioned dome ; to the centre of which the MEREWORTH HOUSE. 117 chimneys are conveyed. The house is entirely surrounded by a moat ; and is approached by a deep flight of steps ; which forms, with a part of the portico, a bridge over the moat. The entrance to the house is through a small vestibule into a noble circular hall : from whence are the commu nications to the various apartmentsj all of which are of good dimensions, and' communicate with each other. In the gallery, which occupies the whole extent of the back-front, as likewise in the drawing room, are many good pictures ; some very curious for their remote antiquity : in the dining room are some valuable Avhole length family portraits by Cornelius Jansen. It will hoAvever be lamented by the connoisseur, that through the ignorance of an artist, who undertook to clean and varnish them, many of the best pictures have been consider ably injured. On either side, in front of the house, and at right angles with it, are two handsome buildings of corresponding architecture ; the one contains the kitchen and other domestic offices ; the other the stables and their appropriate appendages. The ground rises beautifully behind the house, is generally well wooded, and commands exquisite prospects over a Avell inhabited and richly cultivated country. In front is a stream, which affords a tolerable command of water, and even in its present state, is a principal feature in the scene. The addition of a bridge, and a little judicious direction and enlargement of the channel, would add materially to the beauty of the place. During the existence of the ancient castle of Mereworth, the church and parsonage-house stood in its immediate vicinity. These were such obstacles to the projects of improvement entertained by Lord Westmorland, that he procured a faculty for their removal ; when a new church was erected by him, in a situation equally convenient to the parish ; which also forms a pleasing object from the house. It Avas finished and consecrated in the year 1746. The parsonage was not rebuilt till some years after. A report is current, that when Lord Westmorland projected the removal of the church, he experienced a serious opposition from the prejudices of the inhabitants, whose relatives were interred there, against the desecration of the ancient cemetery. With a decision and magnificence of spirit, Hh 118 MEREWORTH HOUSE. which in all his undertakings characterised him, he met the difficulty and removed the objection : it is said that he excavated the whole of the ancient church-yard, and deposited the contents in a pit, destined to constitute a part of the new one : thus assuring to the surviving relatives the future consolation of reposing in this rich compost of the remains of their ancestors ; • si vera est fama— Tam ficti pravique tenax, quam nuntia veri. The excursion to Mereworth is, on a variety of accounts, one of the most pleasing in this neighbourhood, and it may be added, the most profitable. Here indeed is no gratification from rock or forest scenery ; neither is the country so rich to the eye, as those in the direction of Mayfield or Lamberhurst. The beauties here are all of a different cast ; varied on comparison with each other, and of unequal character. About Hadlow the country is flat and dismal ; noticeable only for the richness of the soil : from thence, by the Peckhams to Mereworth, it is gay and inviting; being agreeably studded with many comfortable dwellings, and ornamented by some handsome mansions. On the left hand is Sir William Geary's, at Oxenhoath ; and Mrs. Masters', at Yokes Place : and on the right Sir William Twysden's venerable old place of Roydon Hall. But that Avhich creates the greatest interest in this excursion, is the good specimen it yields of Kentish farming ; which is still further exemplified, if the ride be extended a little towards Maidstone. Throughout the whole course many spots might be selected Avorthy of notice. The first object, at a very short distance from Mereworth, is the pleasant village of Wateringbury ; highly cultivated, and eminently picturesque in every part. At its elegant vicarage, on the right hand, the patriotic traveller will pause, to notice the summer retreat of a character, to whom all England is indebted — the active coadjutor of his venerable father on a great and anxious occasion, — the Rev. Dr. Thomas Willis. But another, somewhat further on his road, will be especially recommended to the agriculturist, as of peculiar prominence ; viz. Teston, the seat of Lord Barham. The house and grounds are worthy of notice for their singular MEREWORTH HOUSE. 119 beauty ; but it is his farm, which is the chief object of attention. This is about two miles beyond Mereworth, in the direction of Maidstone ; and, for the general excellence of cultivation, his' various precautions for all the exigencies of the undertaking, the extent and utility of his buildings, the neatness of his stacks and fences, and the appropriation of every inch of ground to some useful purpose, it presents a picture even to the unscientific eye : those, who are competent and Avould justly appreciate, must examine more minutely. Having done so, and having deduced pleasure and improvement from the inspection, their general applause will be enhanced by the reflection, that these are the dignified amusements of a veteran of the British navy ; of one, who, having ploughed the main to the advantage of his country, and by his councils enabled the hero of Trafalgar to complete in that memorable day his glorious career, here ploughs his native soil to individual profit, Ave will hope; but more especially for the benefit of those, who may improve from his judicious examples, and costly experiments. But the feature, which most excites admiration in this excursion, is the extensive cultivation of hops. The specimen here afforded is the very best in the kingdom. A soil, well adapted to this capricious plant, aided by large capital, much industry, and incessant care, generally produces a favorable return. In a propitious season nothing can exceed the beauty of this quick succession of plantations, which for the height of the poles and luxuriancy of the growth, can no where be exceeded. It may be admitted that it is but a short portion of the year, in Avhich the hop can be said to be ornamental ; but during that time nothing can rival it ; especially when, as in this tract of country, it is interspersed with crops of grain of most exquisite weight and quality. But here the hop has a collateral advantage, which to be tasted must be explained. To those, who have long known this interesting part" of the country, there is nothing more striking than the recent additions and improvement of the buildings, which every where ornament its surface. These may all be considered as the production of hops ; the tests of suc cessful enterprise, and persevering endeavours. In many instances this success has enabled the tenant to become the purchaser of the soil. To a 120 MEREWORTH HOUSE. stranger these are pleasing exemplifications of that boasted and honorable character, the yeoman of Kent. In a return toward the Wells the gratified eye experiences a Avearisome mortification in witnessing the diminished, cankered, withered produce of the same plant, and the still more meagre crops of grain by its side. Hence a proof of the folly of attempting what is impossible. The great success of the neighbouring large capitalists in a favorable soil has tempted the needy farmer of the wilderness to adventure in the same pursuit. He starves and impoverishes all his farm to pamper an^acre or two of hops ; which may in a favorable season yield him a small return, at the certainty of losing crops in every other quarter. It were a Avise precaution with the landlords in the immediate vicinity of the Wells, with a very few exceptions, absolutely to bar this species of cultivation. Their tenants would quickly experience a permanent remuneration in the improved crops of grain ; whilst the landlord and the country would be repaid, by the quick conversion of barren heaths into pleasant verdure, and unpro ductive acres into smiling fields of corn. MARY, COUNTESS DE LA WARR (Married 1756— Died 1784) BY FRANCIS COTES, R.A. (1725—1770) K N O L E, THE SEAT OF THE DUKE OF DORSET. X he manor and estate of Knole, like many other places, in the early and unsettled periods of our history, very frequently changed their proprietors. Between the reign of King John and that of Henry the Sixth, a period of little more than two hundred years, Ave find them passing, sometimes in peaceable and regular transfer, often by attainder or coercion, between families of the greatest consequence. Amongst these occur the distinguished names of Betun, Earls of Albemarle; Mareschalls, of Pembroke; Fulke de Brent, a notorious character in the reigns of King John and his successor; Bigod, Earl of Norfolk ; Grandison; Say; Leghe ; and Fiennes. From the last named family this property took a course, wherein it maintained a more cognizable shape; and thenceforth became a place of decided conse quence in this division of the county. The contentions for power, which at this period took place between the favorers of the opposite interests of York and Lancaster, Avere the occasion of the greatest embarrassment to many of the large landed proprietors. It was owing to this cause that William Lord Say and Sele was compelled to part with this extensive and valuable property ; when it obtained a purchaser, who gave it a degree of celebrity, which in other hands it might never have attained. The Archbishops of Canterbury had at that time large possessions in ii 122 KNOLE. this neighbourhood. They had also a palace in the adjoining parish of Otford ; and to this the manor of Sevenoaks was an ancient appendage. The wealth of the clergy of those days is proverbial ; and among the most Avealthy and powerful were the Archbishops of Canterbury : it may be added, to their honor, that in works of splendour and utility none were more distinguished. Archbishop Bouchier at this time occupied the metropolitical chair. Induced by the great command of property, which in virtue of his See he owned in this neighbourhood ; and probably by the dilapidated condition of the palace at Otford, he purchased Knole, in the 34th Henry the Sixth. Having, in the following reign, obtained many additional privileges from the Crown, he rebuilt the house; and, in short, laid the foundation of the present extensive mansion. He at the same time enclosed the park ; and in other respects planned and executed a residence, suited to his dignified station and magnificent ideas. Having lived many years in the enjoyment of this property, and the place which he had formed, on his death, in the year I486, he bequeathed this noble seat to his successors in the See of Canterbury. Cardinal Morton, the immediate successor of Archbishop Bouchier, entered fully into the views of his predecessor respecting this place. He was a man of learning, vast spirit, and unbounded liberality. He resided much at Knole ; and expended large sums there, in enlarging the house, and beautifying the place. It was principally to the munificence of these two prelates that Knole was indebted for all its consequence. From the three succeeding Archbishops this place obtained but little favor. Archbishop Deane, the successor of Morton, abandoned it alto gether. His incumbency was short : nevertheless he testified his partiality for the ancient palace at Otford ; and, during the two years he held the See, expended very large sums there. This was apparently only in repairs ; for his successor Archbishop Warham, although for some years he resided at Knole, (probably whilst his works at Otford Avere in progress,) determining to make that his chief place of residence, is said to have expended there, in rebuilding the palace, the vast sum of .£33,000. Knole, however, appears to have been kept up in good condition ; and was probably occasionally inhabited. 5#"; KNOLE. 123 There are few circumstances which excite more surprise, in the present day, than the vast number of places of country residence at that time enjoyed by the occupiers of the See of Canterbury. Within the diocese, besides their palace at Canterbury, which Avas on a very large scale, they possessed several country houses. They had some also in distant situations : yet were not these to be considered as actually out of their diocese ; for they Avere in most instances, probably in all, within a portion of their peculiar jurisdiction. Such was the case at Croydon, in Surry; Mayfield, in Sussex ; and here also at Knole and Otford, in the peculiar deanery of Shoreham ; though locally within the diocese of Rochester. Their estates in these districts were large : and it is to be recollected, as one cause for this multiplicity of habitations, that in those times rents were chiefly paid in produce ; so that the great men, like the patriarchs of old, migrated from house to house ; and, Avith their large retinues, consumed what it was difficult to remove, and not easy to convert into the circulating medium. A time however came, when these immense possessions of the clergy excited jealousies and murmurs in the breasts of the courtiers. These were in many instances ruined by their attendance on an expensive court ; and a lavish and rapacious monarch Avas then on the throne, who was sufficiently inclined to listen to any suggestions for the replenishment of his coffers ; and not over-nice in his selection of the means to reAvard his officious advisers, to relieve his own necessities, and secure the means of future extravagance. The bait, Avhich here presented itself, was too tempting to be resisted. The See of Canterbury was at that time filled by a moderate and unambitious character ; one who felt and lamented the intricacies of the times ; dreaded the final result for the well-being of his order ; and, by his mildness and discretion, would fain have moderated that blow, Avhich he too plainly saAV impending. Two palaces of such extent and splendour as those of Knole and Otford, immediately contiguous, and having a command over an extensive territory and large patronage, could not fail exciting particular notice. Cranmer, with a view to conciliate, and as the only probable means of being able to retain much, resolved to 124 K N O L E. anticipate ; and accordingly, in conjunction with the prior and monks of his cathedral, made a voluntary surrender to his Majesty of several manors and estates, to the yearly amount of above £500. It is said that the Archbishop had hopes, by such means, to have been enabled to have reserved to the See one of these palaces, so conveniently situate, both with respect to the metropolis and so large a portion of his peculiar jurisdiction. He accordingly made the tender to his sovereign of Knole ; a place, at which his Majesty had been an occasional resident. The greedy monarch condescended to accept what was thus gratuitously offered him ; face tiously adding, that he Avould spare him the trouble of offering the other, by taking Otford also : nunquam libertas gratior extat Quam sub rege pio. Thus was Knole alienated from the See of Canterbury ; after it had been possessed by four archbishops; and the actual property of the See for somewhat more than fifty years. Remaining a short time in the Crown, it was granted by EdAvard the Sixth, to the great and ambitious John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland : and on his attainder, having again reverted to the CroAvn, it once more came for a short time into the private possession of an Archbishop of Canterbury. Queen Mary, in the first year of her reign granted Knole, Avith other considerable property in this neighbourhood, to her great favorite and adviser Cardinal Pole. The grant was made for his life ; and at his disposal for one year after. He survived his Royal mistress but a feAv hours. On the death of Cardinal Pole, Queen Elizabeth granted the manor and house of Knole to Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester ; who hoAvever, after a very short possession, again surrendered it to the Queen. For about eight years it would appear that her Majesty kept it in her own possession : and might possibly make it occasionally her residence. It is matter of notoriety that in the year 1573, in the course of her progress through the county of Kent, she passed some days at Knole ; it being then her OAvn house. .V KNOLE. 125 In the 16th year of her reign she conferred the reversion and fee simple of it on Thomas Sackville, afterwards created Earl of Dorset, subject to a lease then existing, and in possession of the family of Lennard ; who resided at Knole, during the term of its continuance. This lease expiring in 1603, the Earl of Dorset entered on the full possession of the property; on which his descendants have ever since continued to reside. A temporary embarrassment affecting the finances of Richard, grandson of the first Earl, a person of a most magnificent spirit . and enormously expensive habits, occasioned a short, but singular alienation of this property. This Earl alienated to a Mr. Smith, a citizen of London, the mansion, park, and greater part of the estate, reserving however to himself and his heirs, a lease of them at an annual reserved rent. This Mr. Smith was a person widely famed for his large charities ; extending nearly to every parish in the county of Surry. To perpetuate which he conveyed, amongst others, these his estates of Knole to trustees ; who in the year 1662 were empowered by Act of Parliament, for an adequate consideration, applicable to the purposes of the charity, to re-convey the manor, mansion, and estates of Knole to the Earl of Dorset. From this detail it will have appeared that fe\v places, in this county at least, have been the residence of more persons of distinction, or of extraordinary character than Knole. It may be added, there is scarcely a place in the county on so large a scale ; or according to the ancient system of domestic habits, so well calculated for the accommodation of such persons. It is recorded of Thomas, the first Earl of Dorset, and the first of that family who resided here, that during the fifty-three years, in which he Avas married to one wife, for thirty of them his family consisted, in one place or other, of little less than two hundred persons : and for more than twenty, besides workmen and others hired, the number was at least two hundred and twenty daily. For such an household large space Avas requisite : and the present appearance of Knole justifies the record of such a retinue. ? The house, which presents a noble and conspicuous object from the London road, is well placed, on an eminence, in a beautiful and well- timbered park. It is in the parish of Sevenoaks; at about the distance Kk 126 KNOLE. of half a mile from the town. It occupies a very considerable extent of ground ; consisting of three regular courts, surrounded by buildings ; besides offices of a more irregular form. The whole, as well as the park and a considerable extent of pleasure ground, are kept in good order ; although the present Duke, being a minor, does not much reside here. The connoisseur will here be gratified by many excellent pictures of ancient and modern masters ; particularly Avith the portraits of eminent characters ; which are here found in great abundance, and are in good preservation. The visitor, who approaches this place, expecting to be gratified with a view of fine architecture, noble apartments, splendid furniture, or a house calculated for modern ideas of comfort, will probably be disappointed. Knole was built for the system of living, which prevailed at the time when it Avas erected ; than which nothing can be more inconsistent with our ideas of enjoyment. The great hall was the chief scene of hospitality ; and as hospitality then consisted in the feeding of numbers, space Avas the object chiefly to be obtained. The hall at Knole is accordingly a handsome room, of suitable proportions and in a good style of architecture ; but from the alteration in the mode of living, it is become of little utility, and of much positive inconvenience. In general the house constructed on this plan affords no adequate substitute elsewhere. In Knole there are galleries of considerable dimensions, and some tolerable apartments : but none splendid ; and few, if any, cheerful. It is the number, the range, and perhaps the inutility of them, which excite notice. When the houses of this description Avere planned, the revenues of their projectors were princely; and every apartment had its use and its inhabitants. The times have altered : and the means of the owners, hoAvever elevated their rank, are rarely adequate to the original purpose. The greater part of them consequently is deserted by the proprietor, who for comfort shrinks into a corner of it, which, as a libel on his ancestors, he modernizes ; and the unwieldy pile is considered as an incumbrance on the estate : or seems to be retained only that it may be exhibited as a memorial of obsolete grandeur. This however is not said as peculiarly applicable to Knole ; it is the train of thought, which will generally KNOLE. 127 intrude* as we pervade any of these gloomy labyrinths of ancient English magnificence. They may excite sentiments of veneration; they may recall ideas highly pleasing to the visionary enthusiast ; they may gratify the pride of the bigoted antiquary : the ordinary beholder views them with satisfaction, as illustrative of the habits and customs of remote times ; and, when he re-passes the threshhold, will probably bless his stars that he is not doomed to be overwhelmed by a continuance amidst such tokens of gloomy grandeur. ^,U ^U^ ¦ J.m&ni lhhh-hr/1 bv Esbwind IZr\ d Harty Stnvt, JLtv I iflog. 128 KNOLE. Knole however occupies its station to the best gratification of every beholder ; in defiance of age and change of circumstances, unshaken, unmutilated, and unimpaired. It thus nobly stands the proud memorial of the munificence of Cardinals Bouchier and Moreton ; of the candour and moderation of Cranmer ; and of the laudable attentions and exertions of its present noble proprietors, the Sackvilles. P .'„..¦>- 1 :,'i"; ,':!' .'::: :'''M;MA''i ^ Ay ¦Zet£t£a,3FlW" 2cr>.ds>". I'uhlishtft ty JiUmuruL 'JJcyd .Mwfcy Strr<-t May u£<\ PENSHURST. X* ew are the places in the county of Kent, perhaps in England, which will be approached with greater reverence, or quitted with more melancholy impressions, than Penshurst; the ancient seat of the Sidneys, Earls of Leicester. It is from the high dignity, and the real worth and talent of its various members, that this family has stamped celebrity on this place, rather than from its remote antiquity : foT, when compared with the Sackvilles, Nevills, and some other families in the neighbourhood, the Sidneys are but of recent date. This house however, Li 130 PENSHURST. still magnificent, though in decay, is a dignified memorial of them. It has witnessed their prosperity ; it attests also their decline : and having seen its last male branch tottering under disgrace and imbecility, it seems, as it were, to sympathize, and hasten to a rapid decay. Penshurst is situate at the distance of six miles from the Wells, on the banks of the river Medway, (above the town of Tunbridge) which is here but an insignificant stream ; and in that part of the county, which is termed the Weald. From its situation it has probably derived its name ; which signifies the head of a wood : the parish being placed in this direction, at the commencement nearly of that vast forest, Avhich constituted the weald or woody part of Kent and Sussex. It was anciently the property and residence of a family, Avhich bare the name of the place ; Stephen de'Peneshurste, or Penchester, owning it in the reigns of Henry the Third, and Edward the First. This Stephen, whose rude monument still exists in the parish church, dying without male issue, the estate passed, on the death of his wife, (2d Edward the Second,) to John de Columber; by whose son it Avas sold to Sir John de Pulteney, a character celebrated in those times, for his magnificent spirit, his large and extensive charities during his life, and his munificent bequests, for similar purposes, at his death. This eminent person would appear to have laid the foundation for the subsequent celebrity of Penshurst. For, besides obtaining from the Crown a grant of free Avarren, and other valuable privileges, he likeAA ise procured, in the 15th year of Edward the Second, a licence to embattle this his house at Penshurst. This licence to fortify and embattle was, in the 16th of Richard the Second, repeated to Sir John Devereux, who had obtained the property by marriage with an heiress of the family of Louvaine ; to which it had devolved by a similar alliance with Mary, the widow of Sir John de Pulteney. From these proprietors it passed, by purchase, to John, the great and good Duke of Bedford, third son of King Henry the Fourth. And from hence, in consequence of his mysterious death, without issue, it descended by inheritance to his cousin and next heir Henry the Sixth. This monarch soon afterwards granted it to Humphry Stafford, Duke of PENSHURST. 131 Buckingham; on the attainder of whose grandson (13th Henry the Eighth) it was forfeited to the Crown. King Henry appears to have kept it in his own possession. -For a short time, in the early part of the reign of Edward the Sixth, it was owned by John Earl of Warwick ; on whose surrender of it, Edward, in the fourth year of his reign, granted it to Sir Ralph Vane ; and on his attainder it once more became the property of the Crown. Thus it appears that Penshurst was, from the earliest times, possessed by highly dignified individuals. From the failure of heirs male it frequently changed its proprietors ; in later times, from the political turbulencies, which prevailed throughout the kingdom, whereby its owners were induced to take an unfortunate part, the consequence was a forfeiture of their property. It Avas now however destined to a very honorable appropriation, as well as to greater stability of tenure. On the forfeiture of these estates, in consequence of the attainder and execution of Sir Ralph Vane, King Edward granted them by letters patent to Sir William Sidney, the father of his most worthy friend and favorite, Sir Henry Sidney : in which family Penshurst for a long time prospered, and has ever since continued. The eminent characters of this family croud so thick upon us, and occupy such prominent stations in the bright pages of English history, that it were impertinent in a desultory work like this, to dwell particularly on them. Some few will necessarily obtrude themselves. The celebrated Sir Philip Sidney, the pride and ornament not only of his family, but of his country, was the son of Sir Henry Sidney, and grandson of the first possessor of the place, of his name. He Avas born at Penshurst, November 29th, 1554. The military, social, and literary events of his life, and the glorious circumstances of his early death, are too well knoAvn to demand a record here. In the person of his successor, Robert, his next brother, the family was enobled ; he being created, by James the First on his accession, Baron Sidney of Penshurst; in the third year of the same reign, Viscount Lisle; and, in further consideration of his eminent services, the next year, Earl of Leicester. 132 PENSHURST. He was succeeded in his title and estate by Robert, his third but only surviving son. This Earl, Avho died in 1677, had by his lady, the daughter of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, a large family ; most of whom occupied conspicuous stations. On two of them we may make a short pause. The one a female, as connected Avith the history of Penshurst, will excite some interest : this was the Lady Dorothea Sidney ; so celebrated for her beauty, and indifference to " humble love," by the plaintive muse of Waller. She was married first to the Earl of Sunderland, and secondly to Robert Smythe, Esq. of Great Bounds, in the parish of Bidborough. The other, no less celebrated personage, was his second son Algernon; a noted theorist in government ; and, though executed as a traitor, the idol of modern patriots. He Avas a person of considerable literary attain ments, of an enthusiastic mind, and of undaunted courage ; by principle an avoAved and staunch republican. He is said to have proposed to himself, as his pattern in life and politics, the Roman Marcus Junius Brutus. By what trait in the conduct of his Roman prototype he justified his accepting the bribes and pensions of France, the enemy of his country, and the artful subverter of her independence, let those, Avho profess to admire him, attempt to explain. The fact has been but recently divulged ; but it stands on the faith of records, which it will require some ingenuity or effrontery to overcome. The earldom, and other subordinate honors, after passing through several descents of respectable, though less distinguished individuals, became finally extinct in the person of Joceline, the last Earl, an unfor tunate imbecille, who died without laAvful issue, in 1742. The estate in consequence devolved, after a long course of litigation, and finally a compromise with a natural daughter of the last Earl, (to Avhom by will he had given his large property), on two coheiresses, the daughters of Colonel Thomas Sidney, the third son of Philip Earl of Leicester, their uncle. The elder of these had married William Perry, Esq. ; the youngest Sir Brownlow Sherrard, Bart. The unfortunate consequence of this descent of the property was the necessity of its being divided. The share of the younger sister was for the most part alienated ; that of the elder, including Penshurst House, remained entire ; and became V X '"¦<**& PENSHURST. 133 the residence of its owners. But from hence arose unavoidable causes of deoay. A part of her sister's moiety Mrs. Perry was enabled to re-unite to the property : but it was still so reduced and enfeebled, that the head became too monstrous for the nutriment, which the body Avas enabled to yield* In addition to this, other causes contributed to accelerate the decline of this ancient family: of these, expensive law proceedings, ill-advised measures, and injudicious means of obtaining supplies, were amongst the most prominent. Mr. Perry died in 1757 ; as did his widow in 1783 ; bequeathing this her estate to her grandson John Shelly, Esq. (eldest son of Bishe Shelly, Esq. by Elizabeth, her daughter,) who, pursuant to her Avill, has taken the name of Sidney. For some time Mr. Sidney made it the chief place of his residence; But the mansion is iioav deserted ; and will probably before another generation passes, be known only as a ruin. In the year 1782 a singular claimant to these estates presented himself in the person of a Mr. John Sidney ; who assumed the title of John Earl of Leicester, as being the son and heir of Joceline, the late Earl. There was a something specious, not to say alarming, in the claim ; for the claimant was the undoubted son of the Countess of Leicester, born during the life of the Earl ; who had not, during the time of her pregnancy, been absent from the realm. But the separation of the parties Avas so entire, and the 'irregularities of her Ladyship so notorious, that universal assent gave him another father. The claim was prosecuted in the Court of Common Pleas, on a writ of right, by a grand assize. Against the claimant the will of his pretended father was exhibited; by which the estates in question were devised elseAvhere; consequently to the overturning his pretensions : arid, On the principle of law, which operates in favor of possession, an unanimous verdict Avas obtained for Mrs. Perry. Penshurst Place, the ancient residence- of this family, is a verjr noble mansion, situate at the south east extremity of a very extensive park, immediately adjoining the village and church. It consists of a large -irregular pile of buildings, erected at various times ; but containing a range of handsome, apartments, and seeming in its entire state to have possessed more principles of comfort than the generality of houses of the Mm 134 PENSHURST. same description. The plan (as far as plan may be expected in a work of many hands) is similar to that of most buildings of the same date. The principal entrance is through an handsome gateway, into a court, not of large dimensions, Avhich conducts through a passage to the great hall ; having the kitchen and buttery opposite. At the left hand corner, at the upper end of the hall, is the staircase, leading to the council chamber, the state apartments, and the gallery ; at the opposite corner is the passage to the chapel, and lower rooms, in common use. The hall is a noble room, and, till the barbarous hand of modernization fell upon it, was complete in its appropriate costume. The writer of this memoir not many years since remembers, when the fine timber roOf was entire, Avhen the side walls throughout Avere covered with pikes, lances, and match-locks ; and the upper end and piers with entire suits of plate armour. That of Sir Philip Sidney Avas pointed out to the spectator ; possibly spurious : but the cheat was allowable, and a very little enthusiasm Avas Avanting to give it reality. At the time alluded to, when the great gate creaked on its hinges, for the admission of a stranger, as he advanced, the responses of deep toned blood-hounds echoed through the house ; and by the time he reached the hall, he was prepared in imagi nation to meet some ancient knight of chivalrous notoriety : he viewed the place con amore. A paltry attempt at a perspective deception, yet unfinished, has been the occasion of mutilating the handsome timber roof, and of abolishing the ancient armour : and all pleasing deception has vanished. The classic antiquary Avill further lament, that, whilst this marring hand was at Avork, a simple but characteristic feature of this style of building should heedlessly have been done away. In the upper part of the hall, on the side immediately opposite the door conducting to the staircase, Avas a small window. Amongst the recent improvements this window has been stopped up. It was an index of ancient manners, Avhich merited a better fate. This Avas the window, in palaces, of the council chamber, or rather of a closet annexed to it; in mansions of less dignity, of the lord's room of business ; Avhence he could look into the great hall, the usual place of attendance, and summon to him whomsoever he Avanted. In this /'/,/mr /s a.f^foiw^ $rtAe. Zsri&ni. Zublisktd fo ZJmund Zloyd JZa-loy Street May u 8 II- flilllll^^ SOUTH PARK. Xhe spot on which this elegant villa is erected, was formerly part of the demesne and park belonging, to the Earls of Leicester, the owners of Penshurst Place. • On the division of that property between the coheiresses, on the demise of Joceline the last Earl, in 1743, South Park formed a part of the moiety, which came to the share of Mary, the younger sister; who married Sir Brownlow Sherrard, Bart, of Lowthorpe, in Leicestershire. Lady Sherrard, having survived her husband, died, without issue, in 1758,. and by her Avill gave these estates for her life to Anne,- the widow of Sir William Yonge, K. B. ; with remainder to her son Sir George Yonge, Bart, of Escot, in Devonshire. In the year 1770, they joined in the sale of a considerable part thereof, comprising, amongst others, this of South Park, to Richard Allnutt* Esq. who built this house and resided here, till his death in 1789- He was succeeded in this property by his grandson Richard, being then a minor : Avho, on his coming of age, established himself here; and has since enlarged the house, and considerably beautified and improved the place. South Park is in the parish of Penshurst, and is included in all the descents, which have been already detailed, in the notice of the Leicester property. It is situate on the opposite side of the turnpike road ; and, within a small range, consists of much pleasanter ground than the larger park, to which it formerly belonged. The house is admirably placed on the rising ground ; forming a pleasing object to the whole of the adjacent 140 SOUTH PARK. country ; and commanding a vieAV over the village and grounds of Penshurst, and a fine rich country in all directions. The projector of this place had advantages, which very rarely occur, under similar circumstances. Numerous spots presented themselves for the house ; from which he seems to have made a judicious choice ; and instead of the hopeless toil of obtaining shelter, and ornament by new plantations, his only task was the exercise of a prudent forbearance in levelling a sufficiency of the existing woods to admit of prospect, and to give relief to his grounds. In the valley before the house, a branch of the river Medway holds its winding course : it is not navigable here, though it flows with a tolerable body of water ; and, chancing at this point to fall over a shallow bed of stones, by a natural cascade, adds materially to the beauty of the place. The excursion from the Wells to Penshurst is very pleasantly varied, by returning in this direction. In that case, the traveller passes close to South Park ; when he will be gratified by a nearer view of so pleasing a spot. The contrast will strike ; and possibly he Avill be induced to lament an alienation of property, which has occasioned the decline of the venerable parent mansion. The aristocratic enthusiast may, perchance, cast an eye of reproach on the modern villa, which seems to smile contemptuously on its lordly predecessor, now falling and tottering beneath its own weight. But the real patriot, who contemplates the advanced state of our country, the energies which it has demonstrated, and the immense exertions of which it is proved capable ; will hail, in these scions from overgrown possessions, the means whereby these effects are produced; and the proofs of an ameliorated state of society. HEVER CASTLE. Th» mansion, manor, and estate were possessed in remote times by a family of the same name ; to whom the parish itself probably OAves its designation : since it appears that in times still more distant they resided on property in the parish of Ifield, Avhich from them was called Hever Court ; from Avhence they removed to this place about the time of EdAvard the First: in the second year of whose reign William de Hever served the office of sheriff for the county of Kent. In the reign of Edward the Third, another William, his descendant, rebuilt this mansion ; and had licence to embattle it : thereby laying the foundation for its claim to the distinction of castle; although it does not appear that it actually obtained that designation so early. This William leaving only tAVO daughters, on their marriages this estate and manor became divided ; and, from the families, into Avhich they married, the divisions obtained the distinguishing appellations of Hever Cobham and Hever Brocas. In the reign of Henry the Sixth, the descendants of the Cobhams alienated their part to Sir Geoffry Bullen, a merchant of London ; who served his mayoralty there in the 37th year of that reign. The grandson of this Sir Geoffry was the father of the unfortunate Anne Bullen ; who was created (in consequence of King Henry's attachment to his daughter) Viscount Rochfort, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and Knight of the Garter. Oo; 142 HEVER CASTLE. It is chiefly to the Bullen family that this place is indebted for its celebrity. The first owner of this name added considerably to the house, Avhich had been erected here by William de Hever; and his grandson completed it to the state in which it appears at present : and, having given it a more castellated appearance, named it Hever Castle. The decline of this unfortunate family is too prominent a feature in our national history to need any further detail. It will be therefore sufficient to notice, that on the death of the Earl of Wiltshire, without issue male, (his son having been executed during his father's life time) this estate Avas seized on by King Henry the Eighth, as his rightful inheritance ; in consequence of his marriage with his daughter. The next alienation of the property is singular : for in the 32d year of his reign this whimsical monarch granted this estate, which he thus obtained by the execution of one wife, to another, Avhom he repudiated. He then gave it, with certain others in this neighbourhood, as a provision for Anne of Cleves. On her death it reverted to the CroAvn : but it does not appear that she ever made it the place of her residence. Not long after her death Hever Castle, with its appendages, was purchased from the Crown by Sir EdAvard Waldegrave, the ancestor of the present Earl Waldegrave. From this family, about the commencement of the last century, it passed to Sir William Humfreys, Bart. ; from Avhose descendants it was conveyed in the year 1745 to the family, Avhich still own it, of the name of Waldo. j This castle is at the distance of about ten miles from Tunbridge Wells, and four beyond Penshurst. It is not easy of access (for carriages at least) unless by favor of Mr. Streatfield, of Chidingstone, who has made an excellent private road towards his own place, through some of the most impracticable country. For horses however there are roads to it in several directions ; and all through a country exquisitely beautiful. One of the principal features in the excursion towards Hever is the elegant mansion above alluded to ; which has recently been built by Mr. Streatfield. Had it been completed, when the draAvings for this work were made, it would have been added- to the collection. There are few places in this neighbourhood, which Avill be viewed with HEVER CASTLE. 143 greater interest than Hever Castle. Not however for the beauty of its situation or the magnificence of its buildings. It is far from large, nor could it ever have been splendid: its situation is bad; the adjacent country being Ioav, Avet and dirty. It is noAV indeed vieAyed under the disadvantage of having become merely the residence of a farmer, the tenant of the estate : somewhat better it might have been, when free from the unsightly objects Avhich noAV surround it ; when encompassed with its park ; and suitably inhabited. But, according to modern ideas, it never could have been an inviting place of abode. The house however was a good one, substantially built, surrounded by a moat, which is supplied by the river Eden, and approached over a bridge, through a gateway, embattled and machicollated, in which the portcullis still remains..;!; ,.•¦... . But the chief interest in this place arises from the view, which it presents of the residence, in a very entire state, of the mere country gentleman of the fourteenth century. Of those of the higher nobility Ave have many perfect specimens on the grandest scale: of those of the inferior orders there are few remaining; and, this is complete in its character and condition. In going over it, and noticing all its particulars, we are enabled to form a very accurate idea of the mode of living appropriate to this class in society, at the time alluded to. But this place will be interesting on other accounts. Who, can enter these walls, without recalling to his mind the unfortunate Anne Bullen? Who will enter the great hall, and there see probably the identical oak table, at Avhich ;the royal Henry has^sat a suitor and a guest ; and Avill not allow, his imagination some -play, of fancy toward those extraordinary scenes : and heave the mingled sigh of pity and indignation at the fatal termination of the events, unto which they were the delusive preludes ! Many are the stories, related on the, spot, respecting the royal visitor and his unfortunate mistress ; the fruits of ancient tradition, or rather perhaps of modern invention. Those, which relate to the Queen's confinement here during her disgrace ; whereby a place, evidently for the concealment of property, in unsettled times, has been converted into a dungeon; and a turret staircase, recently stopped up, has been imagined a strong, closet, 144 hever: CASTLE! wherein the queen Avas confined, are evidently fabulousl She never was here at that period. The interval between her disgrace and execution was short : and the intermediate time is otherwise and satisfactorily accounted for. But it is beyond a dOubt that she was an inhabitant here during much of the time, wherein the amorous monarch was addressing her; and that Henry visited her here. On this subject the King himself in one of his letters writes as follows ; " as touching abode " at Hever, do therein as best shall like you ; for you knoAV best what " aire doth best Avith you ; but I would it Avere come thereto (if it " pleased God) that neither of us need care for that; for I ensure you " I think it long." It is probable that, on her being somewhat abruptly dismissed the Court in the year 1528, whereupon she determined to absent herself altogether, she retired to this place under her father's immediate protection. There is a letter yet extant, addressed by the King and Anne Bullen jointly to Cardinal Wolsey, which though sufficiently known, yet as curious in itself, and as probably written from Hever Castle, during one of the King's visits, may not unaptly be subjoined in this place. From its contents the date of it would seem to be about the month of September, 1528: \MVfy Lord, in my most humblest wise that my heart can think, I " desire you to pardon me that I am so bold, to trouble you with my " simple and rude writing, esteeming it to proceed from her, that is " much desirous to knoAV that your Grace does well, as I perceive by " this bearer that you do. The which I pray God long to continue, as I " am bound to pray ; for I do know the great pains and troubles that " you have taken for me, both day and night, is never like to be " recompensed on my part, but alonely in loving you, next unto the " King's grace, above all creatures living. And I do not doubt, but the w daily proof of my deeds shall manifestly declare and affirm my Avriting " to be true, and I trust you do think the same. My Lord, I do assure " you, I do long to hear from you news of the legate ; for I do hope, " and they come from you, they shall be very good, and I am sure you " desire it as much as I, and more, and it Avere possible, as I know it is HEVER CASTLE. 145 "not V and thus, remaining in a stedfast hope, I make an end of my "letter, written with the hand of her that is most bound to be, Postcript by King Henry. " The writer of this letter Avould not cease till she had caused me " likewise to set too my hand ; desiring you, though it be short, to take " it in good part. I ensure you, there is neither of us, but that greatly " desireth to see you : and much more joyous to hear that you have " scaped this plague so well, trusting the fury thereof to be passed, " specially Avith them that keepeth good diet, as I trust you do. The " not hearing of, the legate's arrival in France, causeth us somewhat to " muse ; notwithstanding, Ave trust by your diligence and vigilancy (with " the assistance of Almighty God) shortly to be eased out of that trouble. " No more to you at this time, but that I pray God send you as good " health and prosperity, as the writer Avould. " By your " loving sovereign and friend, " Henry, K. " Your humble servant, " Anne Bullen." If seclusion was the object of Anne Bullen's retirement to this spot, she could scarcely have chosen one better suited to her purpose. When Henry visited her here, as it would have consisted with his views to have shrunk from public notice, he probably divested himself of the formalities of his court ; for very trifling could have been the accommodations for such a visitor, Avhich this place could ever have afforded. Tradition indeed states that his visits were ahvays divested of form : that when he came to the top of the hill in sight of the castle, he sounded his bugle- horn, to give notice of his approach ; which he would sometimes effect with difficulty, on account of the depth and tenacity of the surrounding mire. Here then we are to fancy the fierce and arbitrary tyrant, soothed into mildness by the fascinating charms of Anne Bullen; playing the lover; P P 146 HEVER CASTLE. condescending to the inconveniences of a contracted situation, and even sharing in the charms of private life. \ Three years possession, and the rise of another meteor to engage his fancy and excite his lust, alienated his affections from his amiable queen.' On the decline of her favor fell also the family, which had, through her influence, been raised to the first order in the state ; and which appears to have borne its honors with a becoming moderation. With them also this place fell into ,neglect, Having served as a portion for another, repudiated queen ; it afterwards passed into a family, Avho dis-parked it, and allowed it gradually to sink into its present forlorn state; Avherein it only remains a monument of the amorous tyranny of an unprincipled monarch, and of the instability of fortune, attained by the caprices of passion. ¦/ic.i by Zetztia- J3yme>. fS. / -) / / >"i •/,'//// /. j / .m.isn. ./n..'.. I /,, li\i,n,,,,.l ,'„.. BUCKHURST. Xjuckhurst, or Bockhurst as it Avas anciently written, with its appendages of manor, mansion, and park, has been the property of the ancient family of Sackville, for above six hundred years; and was previously held by the De la Denes, Avhence it descended to them by marriage, from the time of the conquest. It is situate in the parish of Withyham, in the county of Sussex ; and on the northern boundary of the ancient forest of Ashdown. If very remote and uninterrupted possession .by a family, consisting of a long and brilliant succession of Avarriors, statesmen, courtiers, and literary characters, Avill give extraordinary interest to the spot, -on which they have heretofore, resided, Buckhurst Avill arrest the attention of the visitor; Avill interest and delight, even though it can no longer exhibit the spacious mansion, Avherein these characters have figured in their respective ages. It still hoAvever displays marks of its former celebrity ; and under its present owners promises to revive, and possibly to attain a portion of its ancient importance. -"•^ According to the old system of tenure in this kingdom, Buckhurst is to be considered both with respect to its great baronial OAvner, and to its tenant holding under him by military service. After the conquest it formed' a part of the barony, which Avas conferred on Robert Earl of Mortain 'and Coriwall, the half brother of the Conqueror. This nobleman shared largely in the good fortune Of his relative : and, as he Avas doubtless eminently assisting to his success, he seems to have been locally rewarded, in a manner sufficiently expressive of the entire satisfaction of his brother 148 BUCKHURS T. and sovereign. Among other large donations, to the amount of above nine hundred manors, he received the castle and leucate or loAvy of Pevensey, the spot Avhereon the hostile debarkation had been effected ; and among other appendages on the barony the extensive forest of AshdoAvn. These possessions Avere enjoyed by the Earl of Mortain during the reign of the Conqueror ; and, Avith a short interruption only, in consequence of an act of rebellion against William Rufus, afterwards till the time of his own death. His successor in his titles and in these estates having taken offence against Henry the First, for refusing him the Earldom of Kent, rebelled against his authority. Whereupon the king seized his estates, razed most of his castles to the ground, and banished him the realm. These large possessions having thus become the property of the Crown, King Henry divided them amongst his adherents. The toAvn and castle of Pevensey, with its appurtenances, including the forest of Ashdown, he gave to Gilbert de L'Aigle, or, according to the Latin designation, de Aquila (a Norman, so called from the town of L'Aigle in Normandy) ; and in allusion to the name of the new proprietor, constituted them a barony, under the style and denomination of the Honor of Aquila, or, as it is familiarly, though somewhat barbarously expressed by modern writers, the Honor of the Eagle. Gilbert died possessed of this barony. During the life of his successor Ricker or Richard de Aquila, it became once more a forfeit to the Crown ; and was in consequence, for a time, vested in Henry Plantagenet, afterwards King Henry the Second : who, on his succeeding to the throne, restored it, as a pledge of conciliation, to its former owner. The indi viduals of this family hoAvever, notwithstanding the high merit, and important services, which procured them the property, and the distinction affixed to their name, appears to have largely partaken in the restless and turbulent spirit of the times. In the reign of Henry the Third, Gilbert de Aquila, the third of the name, having rendered himself obnoxious to his sovereign, passed over into Normandy, without the royal licence : an high offence in itself; but doubtless perpetrated as the means of evading BUCKHURST. 149 the consequences of the royal displeasure. Whereupon Henry seized his effects, his lands, and castles. In the 30th year of this reign, after one or two intermediate transfers, the King conferred this honor on Prince Edward and his heirs ; thereby intending to annex it absolutely to the CroAvn. NotAvithstanding this projected limitation, this honor was afterwards conferred on John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward the Third, on his marriage with Constance of Castile : and tradition states that he had an occcasional residence within it for the purpose of enjoying the pleasures of the chase. It however again reverted to the Crown, on the accession thereto of his son and heir Henry the Fourth. Camden observes that King Henry the Fourth gave " some part of " this Honor of the Eagle to the family of the Pelhams, for their loyalty " and valour." This refers to the castle of Pevensey ; which that family enjoyed till Avithin the last half century, Yet Ave find the integrity of the Honor itself, its ancient feudal integrity, specified so late as the reign of James the First; who granted, by letters patent under the seal of the Duchy of Lancaster, to EdAvard Earl of Dorset, the office of steward of the Honor of the Eagle, of the forest of Ashdown, castle of Pevensey, and port-reave of Pevensey for life. The absolute property of the forest of Ashdown is noAV vested in the Duke of Dorset ; in conse quence of a purchase effected not many years since. It seemed expedient thus to notice and enlarge on the origin and particulars of this Honor of the Eagle, to illustrate the nature of the ancient tenure of Buckhurst, (and it will apply equally to some other places, which Avill succeed to our notice) and some of the transfers of the property. It was a manor and estate held of the owner of this honor or barony as the liege lord, whoever he might be, on the customary terms of military service. The first individual, who thus held Buckhurst under them, after the conquest, Avas a Norman of the name of Robert De Dene, or as he Avas otherwise called, probably from his office of chief butler in the household of the Conqueror, Robert Pincerna. Robert Avas succeeded here by his Qq 150 B U C K H U R S T. son Ralph; Avho Avas a great and notable patron of the monastic orders? and amongst others the founder of a monastry of Premonstratensian Canons, at Otteham in this county; which afterwards^ under the patronage and munificence of his daughter and coheiress Ela De Dene, was removed to Begeham, or Bayham, in the adjoining, parish of Frant. In the reign of Richard the First this Ela De Dene, apparently a rich heiress, carried Buckhurst in marriage to Sir Jordan de Saukville; Avho appears by inquisition taken in the 2d EdAvard the First, to have holden the manor of Buckhurst of the Barony of the Eagle, by knight's service. The family of Sackville are, in this country, coeval Avith the conquest. They derive their name from the toAvn of Sauquevill, in Normandy; Avhere they had enjoyed large possessions. Herbrand de Sauquevill, or as the name Avas expressed in the Latin records of those times, de Salche- villa, accompanied the Conqueror to this country, and was reAvarded with large estates in Essex and Suffolk. Herbrand had three sons, Jordan, William, and Robert. Robert, the third son, Avas a warrior of high renoAvn, and accompanied his sovereign Richard the First into Palestine. According to the prevailing custom of those times he closed his life in religious seclusion ; retiring, in the character of a monk, to expiate the sins of his youth, to the monastry of St. John at Colchester ; where he died, and is buried. From this Robert was descended Jordan de Saukville the husband of Ela De Dene. He Avas his eldest son ; and enjoyed the title of a baron ; as appears by a deed, yet extant, Avherein he is styled Jordanus Saukvil, Miles, Baro de Bergholt-Saukvil, filius et hares Roberti Saukvil. In consequence of this marriage he became lord of this manor of Buckhurst ; and obtained besides large possessions both in England and Normandy : and from this time his descendants have possessed the manor of Buckhurst, and seem to have made it, if not their usual, at least the occasional place of their residence. The object of the present work being principally directed to an illustration of the plates, which it contains, places rather than persons must engage the chief portion of its space. Had its plan been more extensive, the author would gladly have pursued his researches into the BUCKHURST. 151 annals of this distinguished family : a family no less eminent for its loyalty and patriotism, than for its steady attachment to the genuine principles of the British constitution. Individuals will however be inci dentally noticed, in the description of this their former place of abode. At Avhat time Buckhurst House, the ancient mansion of the Sackvilles, was built, is matter rather of conjecture than of certainty. That the De Denes resided here is probable; as well from the manor being held by knight's service, immediately after the conquest, as from their munificence towards several monastic establishments in this immediate neighbourhood. The Sackvilles, who first allied themselves to this family, are known to have made their principal residence at Sackville Bergholt in Essex : yet is it probable that Avhat had been the abode of the De Denes was theirs also occasionally. This probability is further strengthened from their having made Bayham Abbey, in this neighbourhood, their burial place : and such Avas the case Avith them for several generations.. The circumstance hoAvever of selecting Bayham as their place of interment argues little in behalf of their having possessed any large or principal establishment at Buckhurst ; although in concurrence Avith other circumstances it might be valid. The superstitions of those times attached important advantages to burial in certain places. The De Denes and Sackvilles were founders and benefactors of this monastry ; and consequently had, in the pious services due to a founder, a manifest interest in depositing their remains Avithin its. consecrated ground. And this would have prevailed even though they had resided at a considerable distance. But Avhen a family altered their burial place from a conventual to a parochial church (and that the church belonging to their manor), and reoularly continued it ; the presumption becomes strong, that from the time of such alteration, they had made the adjacent mansion their chief place of residence ; and consequently had enlarged and improved it to a state suited to their condition. This inference is more than corroborated, it may even be considered as proved from some later instances in the Sackville family. Sir Thomas Sackville, who died A. D. 1432, Avas the last of the family who Avas buried at Bayham : but his will is dated at Withy ham ; wherein he bequeaths, 152 BUCKHURST. among sundry other curious particulars, " C. £. for various pious uses " and charitable purposes, to the repair of foule ways, to celebrate " masses, for the good of the souls of Andrew my father, Joanna my " mother, Margaret my late Avife, and my own soul, Avhen he shall depart " from this light, &c. Also to 50 poor virgins, such as his executors should " elect, 13s. and 4:¦¦ Those, who view it in its present state, will readily admit its many natural beauties and attractions. Those, who knew it previous to the late alterations, will bear a ready testimony to the success of these well conceived and judicious arrangements. The entrance on either side is striking : and 'although very different, it is not easy to say Avhich is the most pleasing, f The bold eminence, on which the house is placed, and the various points, in which it presents itself; with the opposing beauties of wood and water, render altogether the approach on that side eminently delightful. The AveH^directed road through the gloom of the woods, sin gularly varied by the strait mottled stems of some well groAvn beeches, and the most5 extraordinary and magnificent contortions of others, is on a grander scale. Such is the character of the approach from the Maresfield rOad ; where a lodge has been recently erected, in so strictly chaste a style, as might! cheat, the antiquary into the persuasion that it was an original cottage of the time of Queen Elizabeth. In these recent improvements Mr. Repton is said to have been the adviser. It is much for the artist to find nature preceding him in his work of taste ; it is more to his credit to find him judiciously aiding and improving on what nature had previously, as.it were, designed : this, it may be said, the improver of Stoneland has successfully accomplished. ; -¦ '«b'i>'''"( ii.. '.'i; ";' -'"3 •:''.;•" ¦ ''•;<"."¦ ;f;j .' " > ,l 'it:,-:' ih':- " Q-- ' » ; So much.has been, said of Withyham in the preceding pages, that it is -'presumed' the reader will not- be displeased to be made somewhat further acquainted with it. This parish is situate on the high road to East Grinstead, at the distance of seven miles from Tunbridge Wells. It is of considerable extent, well cultivated and inhabited; and contains much picturesque scenery, but has no village. The church and parsonage, with the immediately adjacent lands, present some of the choicest scenes. Tt 162 WITHYHAM. The parsonage is chiefly the work of the late incumbent, the Reverend Sackville Bale ; and has recently been greatly improved, as well in the house as in the gardens and grounds, by his son and successor of the same name. Few are the spots of a similar description, Avhich afford a parity of advantages ; and, it may be added, there are very few individuals, who would possess the same taste, and even, if so far favored, the requisite spirit to have so well accomplished the task of embellishment. The church of Withyham is situate on an eminence near the parsonage: at no great distance from the spot formerly occupied by Buckhurst. A circumstance Avhich clearly proves that a mansion existed there previous to the foundation of the church. From the style of the most ancient part of this building, it seems to have been erected in the fifteenth century ; and was probably founded by the OAvner of Buckhurst, about the time Avhen the national contentions between the Houses of York and Lancaster began to subside. The original church was destroyed by lightning, June 16, 1663, but was speedily rebuilt; the dates of 1666 appearing on the font, and 1672 on the porch. To the ancient church there was a spire, as appears by a rude drawing of it in an old map of Buckhurst Park ; and it will be lamented that the favorite ornament of this part of the country should not have been restored. It likeAvise contained a north, or as it was then called, from being dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a Lady Aisle. In this was the seat belonging to Buckhurst House ; and apparently the accustomed place of interment for the Sackville family. This also Avas not rebuilt ; at least not in a distinct form, as one roof now spans the whole fabric. The church is, in its present state, a handsome and commodious building ; and is kept in the best order. On the north side of the chancel a building has been added, Avhich is called the Dorset Chancel. This was erected in the year 1680 ; and contains a large vault, wherein all the Earls and Dukes of Dorset haAre been buried. In this chancel there is a sumptuous altar tomb, representing Richard Earl of Dorset, and Frances his Countess (daughter and heiress of the Earl of Middlesex), in great grief, on each side, lamenting over a youth, their thirteenth child and seventh son, Avho died in his thirteenth year. WITHYHAM. 163 It is a fine piece of art ; but has not the sculptor's name. A mural monument, by Nollekens, has lately been erected to the memory of John Frederick, the late Duke, by his surviving Duchess. The inscriptions in this church being attainable by those who choose to visit it, will not be inserted here : two of the most ancient, which were destroyed, with the church, in 1663, and are preserved in Collins's Peerage, must not be omitted. The first is that of Humfry Sackville, who is stated to have been buried under a porphyre stone ; with a recumbent figure, in armour; at his feet a greyhound : PRAY FOR HUMFRY SAKEVYLE ESQ THE WHICH DISESID YE XXIIII DAY OF JAYN YE YEARE OF OUR LORD GOD M°CCCC°LXXXVIir. ON WHOSE SOUL IHV. HAVE MERCY. AMEN. The other was on a monument erected to the memory of Richard Sackville and Isabel his Avife, with their six daughters on one side, and four sons on the other, all kneeling. OF YOUR CHARITIE I BESEECHE YOU PRAY FOR THE SOULS OF RICHARD SAKEVILE ESQ AND ISABELL HIS WIFE, ON OF THE DAUGHTERS OF JOHN DIGGS OF BARHAM IN KENT ESQ; WHICH RICHARD DIED THE XVIII DAY OF JULY A0 DNI M°V°XXIIII AND THE SAID ISABELL DIED THE DAY OF A° DNI M°V° FOR WHOSE SOULES OF YOUR CHARITIE EVERY GOOD CREATURE BY THE REVERENCE OF IHV SAY A PATER AND AN AVE. It is noticeable, and to be lamented, that Pope's beautiful epitaph on Charles, sixth Earl of Dorset, said in all the editions of his Avorks, to be in the church of Withyham, is not found here. As involving a specific character of a celebrated individual, and an elegant compliment to the family at large, it may here be introduced, as an appropriate conclusion to this long article. " Dorset, the grace of courts, the muse's pride, " Patron of arts, and judge of nature, died ; " The scourge of pride, tho' sanctified, or great, " Of fops in learning, and of knaves in state ; 164 WITHYHAM. " Yet soft his nature, tho' severe his lay, ^. " His anger moral, and his wisdom gay : " Blest satyrist! who touch'd the mean so true " As show'd vice had his hate and pity too ; " Blest courtier! who could king and country please, " Yet sacred keep his friendship, and his ease. " Blest peer ! his great forefathers' ev'ry grace " Reflecting, and reflected in his race, " Where other Buckhursts, other Dorsets shine, " And patriots still, or poets, deck the line." ii;J.'t ./«*¦,; by Simurui Zlnyi.JIarlxy, Street Jljyi.itaq. BOLEBROKE. 1 here are few circumstances, which tend more plainly to demonstrate the habits of our ancestors, and the great and selfish sway of the higher orders among them, in the feudal times, than the frequency of the places, jwherein the great families Avere established in the country, with all the discouraging appendages of park and extensive demesne. In the cursory view, which has been taken of the small district in the vicinity of Tunbridge Wells, this is a striking peculiarity. In a country, which noAV indeed presents a considerable population, but upon the whole certainly very inefficient agricultural improvements, it Avould seem that a very great proportion of the soil was formerly allotted to park and chase ; and consequently to pursuits little calculated to the furtherance of agriculture. A superficial enquirer Avould be someAvhat puzzled to discover hoAV the population of such a country could have been subsisted. But that population Avas probably small : indeed from many features, which are yet noticeable, it Avould seem that it consisted principally of the dependants on the several families which owned and occasionally occupied the larger portion of the soil. ' These observations Avill strictly apply to Bolebroke. Buckhurst was doubtless, from very early times, a chief residence of the ancient family of Sackville : yet have Ave here, in its immediate vicinity, at the distance only of tAVO miles, another seat ; Avhich appears to have been of a certain magnitude, and to have had moreover a park of considerable extent. But. these places were on the borders of one of the greatest forests Uu 166 BOLEBROKE. in this part of the country ; and the expressive names of Buckhurst, and Hartfield (the parish, wherein Bolebroke is situate) shew what were the principal recommendations of them to their owners. The wild forest, well stocked Avith game, was the great attraction to the wealthy land-owners ; and these cultivated spots, in the vicinity of the dreary waste, just afforded a temporary subsistence to those retainers, who ministered to their pleasures in peace, and folloAved their fortunes in Avar. The earliest known proprietor of Bolebroke was John de la Lynd, probably a Norman ; Avhose family owned it in the early part of the thirteenth century. His son Sir Walter succeeded him here. He is styled Lord of Bolebroke, in the reign of Edward the First. His daughter Joanna married John Dalyngrige, and appears to have carried the estate of Bolebroke to him ; the family De la Lynd becoming probably extinct in her person. The Dalyngriges had large possessions in the counties of Sussex and Hants : and, as hath been already noticed, resided at Bodiham Castle in this county : Avhich in the reign of Richard the Second, they had authority given them by letters patent " to embattle and surround " with a Avail made of stone and lime, as a defence of the adjacent country " from the entrance of the enemy." It Avas about this time that Margaret, the daughter of Edward Dalyngrige, the person to whom the above permission had been given, carried Bolebroke in marriage to Sir Thomas Sackville, Knt. the Lord of Buckhurst. This Sir Thomas died in the year 1432 ; desiring his body to be buried in the choir of the conventual church of Bayham. He was succeeded by his fourth and only surviving son, Edward. In this noble family Bolebroke continued in an uninterrupted line of succession till the reign of James the First ; when again it was alienated by the marriage of Margaret, the daughter and eldest coheiress of Richard Earl of Dorset, with John Tufton, afterwards Earl of Thanet. In this family it remained till the year 1729 ; when it was bequeathed by Thomas Earl of Thanet, who died Avithout male issue, to certain charitable pur poses. In furtherance of this bequest an act of Parliament passed ; and, on the estate being sold in 1770, under a decree of the Court of Chancery, it was purchased by Lord George Germain, Avho Avas afterwards created BOLEBROKE. 167 Viscount Sackville and Baron Bolebroke. Thus, after an alienation of more than a century, it returned into its ancient channel of occupation ; which in the year 1790 Avas still further confirmed ; when John Frederick, the late Duke of Dorset, became the purchaser of it from the present Viscount SackA'ille. In the year 1644 a petition Avas presented to Parliament, by the Earl of Pembroke and Anne his wife, in behalf of her daughter Lady Isabella Sackville, complaining of waste committed at Bolebroke, by the proprietor Lord Thanet. In this petition it is denominated Bolebroke Place ; and is stated to have a park and demesne ; and to have been then, exclusive of the park, of the yearly value of ,£419. 19s. Bolebroke House is said to have been built about the middle of the fifteenth century ; consequently by the Sackville family. Much of it still remains; Avhereby the original plan maybe traced. The tAVO turrets, noAV covered with ivy, form a picturesque object, and afford a specimen of the style of building. Most of the large edifices in this neighbourhood were built of stone ; Bolebroke Avas of brick. Of the cause or precise period of its decline no authentic account is to be traced. Whatever might have been its origin, it was probably enlarged and improved on the destruction of Buckhurst ; since it is stated to have been the occasional residence of Richard Earl of Dorset, after that event had taken place. On his demise it became the property of his eldest daughter and coheiress, Margaret, then a minor, but aftenvards married to John Earl of Thanet. It does not appear whether Lord Thanet ever resided here : but the petition to Parliament, Avhich has been alluded to, at the instance of Anne Countess of Pembroke, the widow of the Earl of Dorset, in behalf of the other coheiress of her late husband, Avho had a contingent remainder in the estate, would seem to point out that the decline of Bolebroke commenced Avith its transfer into that family ; the alleged Avastc probably originating in the owner being attached to a distant and more favorite mansion. Bolebroke then presents one more instance to the long list of places of much former respectability, which are passed into a state of decay : but it differs from most of them in the circumstances Avhich occasioned the 168 BOLEBROKE. failure. Generally the decline of the ancient proprietor has accelerated the ruin of the mansion. Here the case is reversed. The family of its former owners still remains with affluence and increased honors ; and Bolebroke seems to have failed only from an alteration in the times and the system of living. Great personages now no longer migrate from one abode to another, either for the purpose of field sports, or of consuming that produce of the soil, which it were difficult to convey, or impracticable to sell. Modern habits are more social ; and modern mansions more convenient : fewer consequently are necessary ; and the superfluous are neglected and suffered to pass into decay. Thus, where the feudal chief formerly revelled, and appropriated an extensive district to the unprofit able pleasures of the chase, a tenant now exerts his industry, and labors to feed a population, which the improved system has created : and Avhere formerly barren Avilds gave a sombre magnificence to the stately mansion, which seemed to command their sterility ; the smiling vallies now wave their corn, as it were in triumph, and laugh at the tottering ruins, which in decay are made accessory to the improvement. After what has been said in the preceding article on the family of Sackville, it can scarcely be necessary to add that no allusion is made in' the foregoing observations to them ; or indeed to any branch of the modern nobility. The comparison was intended between the former and the present times of our country. In those alluded to, the land had been conquered ; and the nobility were the conquerors. How severely they oppressed the subject is matter of notoriety : and even long after the actual system of military service and feudal tenures subsided, the spirit of oppression and subjection remained. The times have been long since altered ; and it may, Avithout offence, be added, improved. Those, who were formerly the oppressors, are now the protectors of the subject. An happy, free, and wealthy tenantry are substituted in place of servilely dependent villeins and slaves ; and a liberal aristocracy is become the best guardian and safeguard of liberty. v&m KIDBROOKE. Xhe residence of the first Commoner of England, the rural retreat of the Speaker of the House of Commons from the continual press of public business, from the fatigues of the senate, and the control of angry orators and self-opinionated politicians, to calm domestic happiness, to literary recreation, and philosophic research, is an object, which will interest every lover of his country, and every admirer of eminent merit. These are amongst the attractions, which will induce the visitor to extend his excursion to Kidbrooke. This respectable mansion, with its verdant and well timbered park, is situate near Forest Roav, on the great road leading from Lewes toAvards London, in the parish of East Grinstead ; and at the distance of about twelve miles from Tunbridge Wells. It Avas formerly a seat of the Earl of Abergavenny ; the place having been formed, and the house built* by the grandfather of the present Earl. William, the fourteenth Baron of Abergavenny, succeeded to the title on the demise of his cousin, Edward, without issue, A. D. 1724. This nobleman had previously fixed his residence at East' Grinstead, in the County of Sussex ; and noAV finding himself possessed of a large domain, Avithout a suitable English mansion (for Birling and Eridge were both in a state of decay)- he was induced permanently to establish himself in this his favorite neighbourhood. He accordingly procured an act of Parliament to enable him to alienate an estate in the county of Warwick, a part of the. original grant to his family; and with the sum it produced 170 KIDBROOKE. purchased Kidbrooke : and immediately erected the present mansion, as the future residence of his family. Having thus effected his purpose, another act of Parliament passed, 17th George the Second, 1744, vesting the mansion, by the name of Kidbrooke House, with the lands lying round and about it, in Henry Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery (his brother*in-law) and others, to the use of AVilliam Lord Abergavenny, and his heirs male, with remainder over to the heirs male of EdAvard Neville, son of Sir EdAvard Neville Avho was attainted and executed for high treason in the reign of Henry the Eighth ; and, after divers other remainders, over to other branches of the Abergavenny family, Avith the ultimate remainder to his Majesty, his heirs, and successors. Thus were the same terms of settlement and limitations extended to this, as Avere applicable to the other estates heretofore possessed by that ancient family. A few years since the present Earl, having in some measure restored Eridge, the ancient and long neglected seat of his ancestors, to a condition suitable to become his future residence, and being intent on the laudable undertaking, of improving a valuable property in its vicinity, a\~ailed himself of the poAvers, which a recent act of the legislature gave him, to alienate this distant and insulated part of his property, that he might relieve his other estates from the operation of the land-tax. On this occasion it Avas purchased by its present proprietor the Right Honorable Charles Abbot, one of the representatiA'es for the University of Oxford, and in three successiA^e parliaments the Speaker of the House of Commons. In this transfer each party may be said to have been fortunate ; for scarcely could the place have passed into hands, whereby future improvements Avould be better effected ; and it cannot fail being pleasing to the late noble owner to witness what his ancestors projected, so judiciously extended and improved. The country, by AArhich it is surrounded, principally the ancient and extensive forest of Ashdown, is well calculated to exhibit, by contrast, the fine verdure and handsome trees of Kidbrooke : whilst the improvements, lately undertaken by the scientific directions of Mr. Repton, promise to render it, at no very distant period, one of the most desirable residences in this part of the county of Sussex. KIDBROOKE. 171 The house, which is a structure of large dimensions and in a good taste, occupies a scite, more consistent Avith the notions of our ancestors, than Avith those of modern improvers ; wherein, hoAvever, it may be doubted whether the true principles of comfort were not more efficiently studied by them than by ourselves. Although in the judgment of many persons the situation of the house would be condemned, as too low, it is perfectly dry, and free from every inconvenience, which might be apprehended. It Avas built by Mr. Milne, the well-known architect of Westminster Bridge. The views of the rising grounds covered with judiciously arranged and flourishing plantations are eminently pleasing. The range within the park and demesne is well varied ; and the growing beauties from the recent improvements are of a nature at once to please and interest those, who have witnessed the progressive advancement in picturesque beauty. The approach to the house was formerly by an avenue in a direct line from the great road. The nature of the ground, falling toward the house, was ill calculated for this species of approach ; and the effect was bad. The present entrance has given a new feature to the place. Beauties are brought into notice, which were before concealed : and a proper use is made of one eminent advantage — a rarity in this part of the country — water. Before we take our departure from these scenes, it Avill be allowable once more to advert to the dignified owner of them. There is always Something peculiarly pleasing in the contemplation of the public character in his retirement : and Avhere the discharge of his function is of general interest, a corresponding gratification will ensue on seeing the place of his retreat suitable to the individual. The station in question is highly honorable ; and it will not be disputed that the present OAvner of Kidbrooke, during much of the time he has held it, has had to combat peculiar difficulties and unparallelled fatigues. That he has met the former Avith dignity, firmness, and ability, and the latter Avith complacency and exemplary patience, his approving country must readily admit. In the shades of Kidbrooke then he may enjoy the best solace of life, an approving conscience, and a well merited popularity. fuehed by Zelrtza Jiyrne Va?/?v/eA>.f London, Z'tddisked by Tldnuuhi /dsyd.ffarley Street .J/tiyj BRAMBLE-TYE. A his is our last and most remote object: yet is it far from being the least interesting or important of those, Avhich have been represented in this work. B-rambletye or Branbertie, as it occurs in Doomsday, is the very ancient designation of the manor and estate, to which the house, here represented in decay, (or ratlier one more ancient, which also accompanies this statement,) was the principal mansion. It is situate in the parish of East Grinstead, in the county of Sussex ; at the north-Avest extremity of the extensive forest of Ashdown ; and at a distance of about thirteen miles from Tunbridge Wells. The present verdant appearance of this place, and the well cultivated lands, Avhereby it is surrounded, would seem to contradict the assertion that it ever formed a part of the forest. Such nevertheless is the case, as well with respect to this place, as others in the immediate vicinity, which have heretofore been described. The altered appearance may be accepted as a pleasing testimony to the improved circumstances of the country and of the times : and may be urged as an encouragement to the present owners of the soil, to undertake similar improvements elsewhere. Not that it is to be inferred, because a place is said to have once constituted a part of an ancient forest, that it necessarily partook of the meagre and desolate appearance of its parent. The forest Avas a district containing great variety ; and embracing many privileges, extremely 174 BRAMBLE-TYE* valuable in those times. It is noticeable that all the places above alluded to were at the extreme verge of the forest. They were probably always amongst the best parts ; recommended as the scite for dwellings from some local advantages, or selected for improvement, from their natural fertility : and whilst the bare forest afforded the means of exercise and amusement, these contained all the inherent principles of profit and comfort. Bramble-tye became immediately after the conquest the property of the Earl of Mortain and Cormvall ; it forming a part of the barony then conferred on him ; and which was afterwards denominated the Honor of the Eagle. The person, av ho "held it under him by military service, is stated in Domesday by the name of Ralph. He was a Norman, who had earned the property by his services in the field. In the early part of the reign of Edward the First, the manor of Bramble-tye was held by a family of the name of Audeham: Francis de Audeham is particularly specified, as holding it, 1st Edward the Third, of the king in capite by knight's service, as of the Honor of the Eagle. This grant, it will be observed, took place on its first coming absolutely to the Crown ; under the restrictions made by Henry the Third. In this family it seems to have continued till the 9th of Edward the Third; when it is stated to have been possessed by John de Sancto Claro ; who died A. D. 1389 ; and upon an inquisition then taken, it appeared that he had held Bramble-tye of the Duke of Lancaster, as of the Honor of the Eagle. This family of Saint Clares continued here till the time of Queen Elizabeth ; in the 31st of Avhose reign Bramble-tye is found in the occupation of other owners of the name of Pickesse. It Avould seem probable that about this time it came into the Sackville; family : inasmuch as in the early part of the seventeenth century it was: become the property of Sir Henry Compton, K. B. : who married, as his first wife, Cicely, daughter of Robert Sackville, Earl of Dorset. Sir Henry. himself was the son of Henry Lord Compton by his second wife, Ann, daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorp, in the county of Northampton. BRAMBLE-TYE. 175 (the widow of William Stanley, Lord Monteagle) who survived him, and remarried with the aforesaid Robert, the second Earl of Dorset. Whether the Comptons obtained Bramble-tye by marriage or otherwise, it is certain they Avere the owners of it at the time abovementioned. It is supposed that Sir Henry Compton, who was made K. B. at the coronation of James the First, built, or at least began, this mansion. The arms of Compton, impaling those of Spencer, still remain over the principal entrance ; and the underwritten inscription, on a lozenge, still higher up, records the date when the house was completed. The initials refer probably to his son Henry and his wife, Mary, the daughter and coheir of John, only son of Richard Viscount Lumley ; by whom the house was completed. C H. M. 1631. The Compton family however appear to have resided at Bramble-tye before this mansion was erected : probably in the more ancient moated house in its vicinity. Entries of baptisms and burials in the parish registers of East Grinstead and Withyham prove their residence here as early as 1626, and their continuance even during a part of the Common wealth : John Compton, Esq. the son of Sir Henry Compton, K. B. being recorded to have died at Bramble-tye, July 28, 1659- This cir cumstance contradicts a prevailing report that the house had been destroyed during the great rebellion; and no more occupied by this family. It is however far from improbable that it might have suffered violence during that turbulent period. Indeed the wanton manner, in which many of the ornaments of the house appear to have been mutilated, countenances the idea that such might have been the case. The attack seems to have been directed with republican fury against every emblem of rank or gentility. The Comptons were a family of established loyalty and zeal in the royal cause. The Earl of Northampton, its head, and nephew to Sir Henry, the owner of this place, was slain (having 176 BRAMBLE-TYE. fought valiantly, and disdaining to take his life from rebels), at the battle of Hopton Heath, near Stafford. To his zeal and loyalty Lord Clarendon yields the highest testimony ; observing that " he had four sons officers " under him, whereof three charged that day in the field ;" and his eldest, Lord Compton, was wounded. Having thus adventured their lives for their sovereign in the field, they risked their . property also by accom panying his family in their retreat to the continent : and returning on the restoration, they enjoyed the fruits of their tried and laudable fidelity. This branch of the family Avere in possession of their residence at Bramble-tye, before the return of the royal family, and continued therein for some years after. Toward the close of the seventeenth century the manor and estate were alienated from the Comptons : but whether immediately to the ancestor of the present proprietor does not appear. The last court, held for this manor, under the Comptons, was in the year 1660, the year of the restoration ; the first act probably of the proprietor George Compton, Esq. on the return of peaceable times. The first court of the Bidulphs, which is also the next on record, is in 1714. From this extraordinary chasm there seems ground to presume that this family did not immediately succeed the Comptons here : Avhich is further strengthened by the circumstance of Sir James Richards, in his patent of baronetcy, dated February, 1683-4, being described as of Bramble-tye House in the county of Sussex. The possession by this family, whether as proprietors or tenants, seems to cast some light on the mystery of the premature decay of the mansion. There is a current tradition to the following effect. That a suspicion of treasonable practices attaching against a former proprietor of Bramble-tye, officers of justice were dispatched to search the house; which on inspection was found to contain a large depot of arms and military stores. The owner, it is added, was at this time engaged in hunting on the neigh bouring forest. On receiving intimation of the discovery, he deemed it most prudent to abscond : and having made his escape, the mansion was henceforth deserted, and suffered to go to decay. The Avell-known loyalty of the Comptons, has led to the sunnise that this occurrence took BRAMBLE-TYE. 177 place under their tenure, during the existence of the Commonwealth, in aid of their lawful sovereign : it is far more probable that it occurred under that of Sir James Richards, in furtherance of a different cause. This Sir James Richards Avas of French extraction. His father, a native of Thoulouse, came into this country in the suite of Henrietta, Queen of Charles the First. James was his youngest son ; and having been first knighted by Charles the Second, for an act of bravery and good conduct in the sea service, was afterwards advanced by him, in the year 1684, to the dignity of a baronet. Sir James married, for his second Avife, Beatrice Herrara ; apparently a Spaniard : and, as it is recorded of him, that he quitted this country and settled in Spain, where his posterity have till very lately, if not still, resided, and occupied high stations in the Spanish army, it seems probable that he followed the fortunes of King James on his abdication. The lineal descendant of this family, stiled, according to his adopted country, Don Richardos, was Captain General and commanded the Spanish army in Catalonia and Roussillon, in the year 1793. He died the following year, and is understood not to have left any issue. Although it is not quite clear whether Sir James . Richards Avas ever the actual owner of Bramble-tye ; his being denominated as of this place in his patent, would seem to favor the presumption that he was. He was to a certainty the occupier of it in the reign of Charles the Second ; and combining the circumstances of his foreign extraction, his political attachments, his marriage Avith a Spaniard, his emigration, and his final establishment in Spain, it seems more than probable that the destruction of this house, Avhich is coupled by tradition with the rebellious propensities of a former proprietor, may be placed to this time. His residence here might have extended to a later period ; and the preparations alluded to might have been in contemplation of the restoration of his sovereign. But this can only be conjecture. Had an application to the present owner of this place been successful, it is probable the author of this article might have been enabled to speak with greater precision on the subject. This must be his apology for thus vaguely endeavouring to account for the destruction of a considerable mansion ; which seemed to Zz 178 BRAMBLE-TYE. have been built for the duration of ages, after it had been inhabited for little more than half a century. Bramble-tye has now for many years been the property of a family of the name of Bidulph : an ancient roman catholic family, who reside at Burton near Arundel, in the county of Sussex. The part of the house, which attracts the notice of travellers, consists only of the two turrets and the principal entrance. Little more remains of the superstructure ; though the scite of the house, which was on rather a large scale, may yet be traced ; and the vaults, which are extensive and admirably constructed, are well worthy of notice. The principal parts of the house were standing within the memory of many persons; still living in the neighbourhood ; who report that the walls and timbers were taken doAvn, and carried to distant parts for purposes of building and repairs. There are at present no traces of park or pleasure ground ; it is doubtful indeed whether the former ever existed here. When however the mansion was in its perfect state, Bramble-tye was doubtless in itself a place of considerable beauty, and highly ornamental to the adjacent country. It is now a mere ruin, and decks the spot as an interesting object, which in the days of its prosperity it ornamented and improved. We have, in the course of these our various excursions from the Wells, had occasion to notice many places in a state of decay ; and some, which, though renovated, have materially departed from the vieAVS of their original projectors. We have seen respectable monastic establishments in a state of absolute ruin; the palaces of archbishops and dignified prelates lost to the church, and become the abodes of laymen or the mere habitations of farmers ; we have viewed also the old baronial residences of our ancestors, divested of their threatening aspect, exhibited only as ruins, or the appropriate ornament of a spot, which figures in our national history. Mayfield, the scene of Dunstan's munificence and impositions, and Knole, a fruit of the liberality of later prelates, by Cranmer's unsuccessful policy transferred into the hands of a tyrant; taking different courses on the tide of time, in one instance become a ruin, in the other the still flourishing abode of a prosperous and noble BRAMBLE-TYE. 179 family. Bayham, in venerable decay, ornaments the spot, which it once protected and fed. The lordly castle of Tunbridge no longer threatens and frowns over the adjacent domain ; but testifies by its failing battlements, that internal security no longer demands a fortress, to awe or defend a loyal and flourishing population. Hever, the birth-place of an unfortunate queen, and the scene of an unprincipled monarch's revelry, has withstood the ravages of time. It retains indeed no splendor ; it has lost its ancient consequence : but it serves to point and illustrate an interesting tale. In the above cases we were sometimes induced to moralize, to lament the change, and to heave a sigh at these existing proofs of the mutability of human affairs. Yet Avas there commonly a something involved in them, Avhich reconciled us to the change. In most a partial decay Avas the result of a much improved order of things : and in all, the establishment had answered its end ; and was brought to somewhat of a natural close. The tempus edax had enjoyed his full meal and was satiated. With Bramble-tye the case is different. It is not even yet two centuries since the design of it was conceived by its loyal projector : during more than one of those it has existed only as a ruin. A fruitless labour ahvays conveys a sense of disappointment. He, who builds* although but a cottage, labours for posterity : but he, who erects a mansion, means to perpetuate therewith his name and family. It is too frequent a case in the present day to see the mansion, erected by a respectable parent, alienated by a spendthrift heir : but in such cases the transfer is not unprofitable to society ; and even the transit of the Avorthless individual from his mansion to a gaol will scarcely excite the sigh of commisseration. But no such concomitants occur to reconcile us to the fate of this place. A mystery hangs over it : and that mystery seems connected Avith fruitless labours in an honorable cause ; Avith fair exertions unaccompanied by success. If the troubles of a ruthless rebellion lay the foundation for its decadency, the loyal will sympathize; and lament that such should prove the consequence of exertions in a noble cause. If, falling with the other possessions of an alien adherent of a tyrant, grasping at absolute power over a people free by principle 180 BRAMBLE-TYE. and nature, it experienced decay, in consequence of his failing fortunes ; we shall again lament that a superstructure so prosperously and laudably founded should have been doomed to totter Avith a bad cause : but we shall hail it as a monument of its decline, and a remembrancer of the eminent blessings, whereby it Avas succeeded. Thus may the ruins of Bramble-tye be considered at once as a memorial of the Restoration and the Revolution ; those tAVO great events in our national history : Avhereby a limited monarchy was established on just principles ; and Tyranny,. Papacy, and Despotism j fell in Great Britain to rise no more. •¦A&W*?!'*** Xt'ntk7i,l'u&lirh