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KIRBY HALL,

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

Kirby Hall.--Although now deserted, this very venerable and exceedingly beautiful Mansion ranks among the finest of the kingdom. For upwards of two centuries, it was the seat of "the Hattons,"--the famous Sir Christopher and his lineal descendants, the Earls of Winchelsea. It was built by Humphrey Stafford, the Sixth Earl of Northampton; the Architect was John Thorpe, and two plans of the building are preserved among his collection of sketches in the Museum bequeathed to the nation by the late Sir John Soane; one of them is thus distinguished:--"Kirby, whereof I layd the first stone, 1570." Not long afterwards, it came into the possession of the Lord Chancellor Hatton, who obtained it from Queen Elizabeth in exchange for that of Holdenby--a superb structure erected by him, and which Camden describes as "a faire pattern of stately and magnificent building which maketh a faire glorious show," and as "not to be matched in this land." It is more than probable that Kirby was largely added to--perhaps finished--by Sir Christopher; but that it was commenced by the unhappy family of Stafford, is evidenced by the "Boar's head out of a Ducal Coronet," and the name "Humfree Stafford," to be found on several parts of the building. The front was decorated by Inigo Jones about the year 1638. The mansion is the property of the present Earl of Winchelsea, who was born there. It remains in a comparatively good state of preservation; but it is certain that in its now neglected and deserted condition, the encroachments of Time will not be withstood much longer. Its situation, like that of so many structures of the same date in England, is unfortunately low, and the difficulty of drainage offers some excuse for removal to a more eligible site. The approach is through an avenue of finely-grown trees, extending above three quarters of a mile. The first Court-yard resembled that of Holdenby--a balustraded inclosure, with two grand archways. The external front is the work of Inigo Jones, by whom also much of the interior was considerably altered. Passing through this, the visitor enters the principal Quadrangle . "On each side of the arched entrance are fluted Ionic pilasters, with an enriched frieze and entablature; the arched window above, opening upon a Gallery supported by consoles, has a semicircular pediment, broken in the centre, and inclosing a bracket for a bust, with the date 1638." The window is, however, an insertion by Inigo Jones; and being of a much later date than the other parts of the front, sadly mars the effect of the architecture of old Thorpe. The third story contains the motto and date "Je. Seray 1572, Loyal." The Garden front has a raised Terrace--now a corn-field--in which the slopes and a few ornamental seats yet remain. This front supplies one of the grandest examples of Elizabethan architecture existing in England. It was built by Thorpe, and essentially agrees with the German School of Architecture of that day--which the British Architect had evidently studied. The Garden seats, vases, &c., of which there endure only broken fragments, are in the style, and believed to be the works, of Inigo Jones. The Garden was terminated by a remarkably picturesque little bridge, ornamented with a balustrade and scroll work, now, like all other objects about the structure, or connected with it, submitted to the wanton assaults of every heedless passer-by. Modern Vandalism has, indeed, been very busy everywhere within and around this venerable Mansion;--a farmer occupies a suite of rooms, the decorations of which would excite astonishment and admiration in a London Club-house; farm-servants sleep surrounded by exquisite carvings; one room in the south side of the Quadrangle, decorated with a fine old fire-place, in which are the arms of the Lord Chancellor, served, at the time of the artist's visit, the purpose of a dog-kennel; and an elegant Chapel, constructed by Inigo Jones, is entered with difficulty through piles of lumber and heaps of rubbish.

Our initial letter is copied from one of the Finials, which crown the pilasters and gables in the Quadrangle. They formerly held staves with moveable vanes , "turning with every winde."

WOLLATTON HALL,

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

Wollatton Hall, the seat of the Right Hon. Digby Willoughby, the seventh Baron Middleton, is situate three miles west of Nottingham, in the centre of a finely wooded park, remarkable for a judicious combination of wood and water. It stands on a considerable elevation, and is seen from all parts of the surrounding country; of which, consequently, it commands extensive views--not only of rich and fertile valleys, but of one of the busiest and most populous of manufacturing towns. We give on this page an engraving of the north entrance to the mansion.

The mansion was erected by Sir Francis Willoughby, Knt., towards the close of the sixteenth century, as we learn from an inscription

The exterior of the mansion is peculiarly grand and imposing. It is in the fashion of Queen Elizabeth's reign,--or rather the fashion just then beginning to be introduced,--and is in the Italian style, but of Gothic arrangement. It is square, with four large towers adorned with pinnacles; and in the centre the body of the house rises higher, with projecting coped turrets at the corners. The front and sides are adorned with square projecting Ionic pilasters; the square stone pillars are without tracery; and "the too great uniformity of the whole is broken by oblong niches, circular ones filled

with busts of philosophers, &c., and some very rich mouldings;" "In the richness of its ornaments it is surpassed by no Mansion in the kingdom." The accompanying engraving represents the Terrace and south entrance to the mansion.

The Hall is lofty, and the roof, which is supported by arches somewhat like Westminster Hall, has a very noble appearance. The screen in the Hall is supported by pillars of the Doric order: there is a variety of quaint devices under the beams, in conformity with the taste of the time; such as heads of satyrs, chimeras, &c. &c. The walls and ceilings were painted by Laguerre. The rooms in general are on a grand scale, lofty and spacious. The fabric, taken as one built by a commoner, exceeds the loftiest ideas of magnificence. It is wholly of stone, and must have cost an immense sum in its erection. Indeed the learned Camden, in the first edition of his "Britannia," pays to the builder a somewhat equivocal compliment, asserting that by the time it was finished he had sunk in its erection "three lordships;" "this Sir Francis," he adds, "at great expence, in a foolish display of his wealth, built a magnificent and most elegant house with a fine prospect."

BENTHALL HALL,

SHROPSHIRE.

The situation of Benthall has at all times enabled its proprietor to exercise considerable influence over elections in the borough of Wenlock, the franchise of which extends over the whole of this manor; but few of the preceding residents at the Hall have aspired to the office of bailiff, the chief magistrate of this borough--an office which, nevertheless, is of importance, since the liberties of Wenlock are more extensive, it is said, than those of any other borough in England. There is, however, in the Bodleian Library, a curious manuscript account of the honourable reception which Edward Sprott, deputy to Richard Benthall, of Benthall, the bailiff, and Richard Lawley, gave, on the 16th July, 1554, to the Lord President of the Marches of Wales, on his visiting Wenlock with Justice Townsend. Mr. Sprott was a member of an ancient family, who long held a considerable property, called "The Marsh," in the borough of Wenlock. Richard Lawley was a son of Mr. Thomas Lawley, who had purchased the then lately dissolved priory of Wenlock, and had converted it to a residence for himself. He was the ancestor of the present Lord Wenlock and Sir Francis Lawley, Bart., to the latter of whom the extensive property of the Lawley family in this neighbourhood now belongs. Richard Benthall was eldest son and heir of William, who has been before noticed. He married Jane, daughter of Lawrence Ludlow, Esq., of the Morehouse in this county.

The Hall stands on one of a chain of wooded hills called Benthall Edge, which rises from a sheet of water in front of the house to a point at some distance in its rear. In this direction the table of the hill is terminated by a precipitous wood, which skirts the river Severn, and, at the left, commands a distant view of mountains in Montgomeryshire, while the Severn is seen winding its course through the vale of Shropshire. In the foreground the river passes beneath the Wrekin hill, and washes the ruined walls of Buildwas Abbey. These objects are presented from a natural terrace raised some hundred feet above the Severn, which here, pent in by opposing hills, glides rapidly towards Bridgnorth.

The oak carving in the hall, dining-room, and drawing-room of the manor-house, were executed by order of John Benthall, Esq. , about A.D. 1618, and the arms of Cassey were impaled with those of Benthall in the ornamental panels, as a compliment to that family, upon the recent marriage of Lawrence, the heir of Benthall, with the daughter of Thomas Cassey, Esq., of Whitefield and Cassey Compton, in Gloucestershire.

Many were the damages sustained by the houses of the gentlemen of Shropshire at this troublesome period, through wanton acts of violence; but Benthall Hall remained in tolerably perfect preservation till A.D. 1818, when it was partly destroyed by fire, from which, however, the principal rooms escaped without injury.

The exterior of the mansion, though it would be commonly denominated Elizabethan, affords an example of the domestic architecture which was antecedent to the pure Elizabethan style. The landscape view of the front presented to the reader is taken from the avenue, which has been unfortunately deprived of its most stately trees by its present noble proprietor. The building is of stone; the extent of frontage being relieved by a slight projection on the left, and by two tiers of bay-windows, which are placed at equal distances on either side of a porch. All the windows have stone compartments and lozenge-panes. The roof is gabled without finials, and the chimneys, which are tastefully placed, are lofty, with ornamented shafts and mouldings. The porch stands somewhat out of the centre of the frontage, so as agreeably to subdue the regularity of the building, and surmounted by a windowed room, harmonises with the other projections. The front entrance is a round arched door, on the left of the porch.

The rooms in the interior are lofty. The entrance-hall has unfortunately lost all its wainscoting, except some carved oak over the chimneypiece, which represents the Benthall

coat of arms with that of Cassey impaled. On the right is the ancient with-drawing-room, completely wainscoted, and containing an oak chimneypiece, which is executed in the diminutive Grecian style essential to Elizabethan architecture. The uppermost tier of columns, which have Ionic capitals, enclose the Benthall coat of arms with that of Cassey impaled, and immediately beneath it is the coat of Harries, enclosed by a tier of Roman Doric columns. This room has an elegant bay-window, and a decorated ceiling; further on the right is a spacious, but modern dining-room, built by Francis Blythe Harries, Esq. of Broseley Hall, who resided here many years. On the left of the entrance-hall is the principal staircase-lobby, forming a passage to the ancient dining-room. This room is fully and richly wainscoted, and has a handsome oak chimneypiece extending to a decorated ceiling, and exhibiting on its panels the Benthall and Cassey coats of arms. The staircase is also of oak, and elaborately worked, in the angle of which a panel tastefully, though somewhat fantastically carved, represents a leopard, the crest of Benthall.

PITCHFORD HALL,

SHROPSHIRE.

The best general view of the house is from the public road, seen from a point nearly opposite the principal front: at a distance, the somewhat harsh contrast of the vivid interlacings of black and white is toned down into harmony with the general effect, still leaving point enough to give value to the full, rich masses of wood, by which three of its sides are encompassed. The house is highly picturesque; the walls seem to be composed, for the most part, of strongly framed timber, raised on a substructure of stone and brick. The whole is in a surprising state of preservation for its age, and seems to have suffered but little from the progress of time, or the assaults of "improvers." In front of the Hall a small stream of water flows, passing under a bridge, on one side of which it has been raised by means of a weir. This serves a double purpose--it gives the upper part of the stream a broad river-like appearance, and at the same time is an admirable defence to the extensive gardens, which skirt its banks for a considerable distance. The interior contains nothing peculiarly remarkable; it has some good rooms, wanting in height, however, as is almost invariably the case in houses of this description.

Pitchford is said to have derived its name from "a bituminous well, one of the greatest natural curiosities of the county, on the surface of which constantly floats a sort of liquid bitumen, in nature resembling that which floats on the Lake Asphaltites in Palestine."

Close to the Hall, screened on all sides by thick plantations, is the church, a plain, neat, "respectable" structure, of great age. It contains some interesting monuments of various members of the Ottley family, and also "a fine and curious oaken figure of a Knight Templar, a Baron de Pitchford, a crusader, who was buried here."

In October, 1832, Pitchford Hall was visited by her Majesty the Queen and her august mother, the Duchess of Kent; "on which occasion," says the loyal and zealous county historian, "it was the scene of genuine Shropshire hospitality and festivity."

MONTACUTE,

SOMERSETSHIRE.

Montacute. The village of Montacute is one of the most primitive and picturesque of the villages of England. It consists of a large Square, a Market-place, with its simple and beautiful School-house, an erection which dates so far back as the time of Henry the Seventh,--a very rare and fine example in a remarkably good state of preservation, which formerly stood against a quaint old Market-house, now destroyed. The principal street consists of stone hovels, built in a rude style, but still retaining proofs that the comforts of the inmates were duly weighed and considered. The village and its vicinity are flourishing, in consequence of the ample employment which the women obtain at glove-making, at which they are nearly all occupied in their own cottages. It is situated within four miles west of the town of Yeovil, and about the same distance south of Ilchester.

Montacute derives its name from a conical hill which overlooks the

village, and on which is a round tower, commanding an extensive view of the Vale of Somerset, and the British Channel. The prospect thence is, indeed, not only extensive but exceedingly magnificent; including "the hills below Minehead and Blackdown, Taunton, Quantock Hills, Bridgewater Bay, and the coast of Wales; Brent Knoll, the whole range of Mendip, with the city of Wells and Glastonbury Torr; Cheech and Knowl Hills, Alfred's Tower, and the high lands about Shaftesbury; also the Dorsetshire Hills, and Lambert's Castle near Lyme." At the foot, is the site of a Priory of black Cluniac monks, suppressed in the time of Henry the Eighth, of which only the Gatehouse endures; it is here pictured from a drawing by Mr. Richardson. It is somewhat extensive, and contains one room, little injured by time, with a good oak ceiling of peculiarly bold character.

Montacute House, and the estates adjoining, have been for several centuries the property of the family of Phelips; who originally "came over" with the Conqueror, and in consideration of military services were requited with large grants of lands in Wales, where they were long settled. In the fourteenth century they "migrated" into Somersetshire, residing for many years at Barrington, not far from the present seat. The "spacious and noble building" was commenced in 1550, and finished in 1601, for Sir Edward Phelips, Knight, Queen's Serjeant, the third son of Sir Thomas Phelips. Its cost is said to have exceeded the sum of ?19,500. It has since continued in the family of the founder, in the following line of succession. Sir Edward Phelips, Master of the Rolls, Chancellor to Henry Prince of Wales, and Speaker of the House of Commons, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First; Sir Robert Phelips, his son, in the reigns of James the First and Charles the First; Colonel Edward Phelips, during the Commonwealth, and in the reign of Charles the Second; Sir Edward Phelips, Knight, in the reigns of James the Second and William the Third; his nephew, Edward Phelips, Esq., in the reigns of Anne and George the First; Edward Phelips, Esq., in that of George the Second; William Phelips, Esq., in that of George the Third; and John Phelips, Esq., in that of George the Fourth; the present possessor is a minor. But, unhappily, the Mansion, so long the scene of comparatively uninterrupted hospitality, has been, of late years, deserted; stripped in a great degree of its internal decorations; and left to the mercy of time. It presents, however, one of the finest and most interesting examples of the architecture of the period, yet existing in the kingdom; "combining simplicity of design with richness of ornament,"--"a magnificent specimen of the style of Elizabeth's reign."

The form of the building is that of the Roman letter E; a form which the founder is said to have adopted in compliment to his Royal mistress. It is built entirely of brown stone, found on the Estate. "The length of the Eastern or principal front," according to Mr. Shaw, is one hundred and seventy feet; it is three stories in height, and is surmounted by gables and a parapet, crowned with pinnacles. Each story is marked by its entablature; the bays of its numerous windows are divided by stone mullions; and between each window of the uppermost story are recessed niches, containing a series of statues, the size of life, in Roman armour, resting on their shields." The wings, twenty-eight feet in width, are crowned by ornamental gables; the space between them being occupied by a terrace ascended by a flight of seven steps. The Western Front--we learn from the same source--was greatly improved, in 1760, by the acquisition of an ancient screen, removed from Clifton House, near Yeovil; "it is placed between the wings in front of the original edifice; surmounted by finials, crowned with grotesque figures rising from turrets connected by a pierced parapet." The Court, upon the Eastern front, is "a fine and appropriate accessory" to this stately Mansion. It contains two picturesque square Pavilions, or Lodges, at the angles facing the building. The sides are formed by an open balustrade, having a small circular temple in the centre of each; these latter are twenty-five feet in height, from the level of the Court. The whole composition exhibits great beauty.

Over the arched entrances in the centre compartment are the arms of the family--argent, a chevron between three roses, gules, seeded or, barbel vert, with lions rampant as supporters. Over the principal door of the building is the following couplet, indicative of the hospitality of its high-born owners:--

Through this wide opening gate, None come too early, none return too late.

This, however, is not the only inscription to convey their sense of duty to their guests. Over the North Porch is the following:--

And yours my friend.

And on one of the lodges,

Welcome the coming Speed the parting guest.

The interior is divided into suites of handsome and spacious apartments. The staircase is of the construction usual in the time of Elizabeth--stone steps round a

huge solid mass of stone. In the Hall, is a fine stone screen; and, at the end, a bas-relief, four feet six inches in height, representing the ancient custom of "skimmitting or stang-riding." The Hall contains also a curious old chest--the work, probably, of some Italian or French artist of the time of Henry the Eighth. The Rooms are generally panelled with oak; but the ceilings throughout, and the staircase, are quite plain; the walls of the principal apartments are, however, lined with finely-carved wainscotting to within a few feet of the ceiling--the intervening space being ornamented by rich plaster-work, which has a fine effect. The screen, which Mr. Richardson has pictured in the appended print, belonged originally

to the entrance to the Dining-room, and was removed to its present position by one of the later proprietors of the Mansion.

Although the Mansion at Montacute supplies us with many subjects for illustration by the pencil, we have preferred to introduce a copy of the graceful and venerable School-house--one of the most striking and interesting remains of a remote period, and one with which no other than agreeable memories can be associated. The initial letter is part of the sculpture of the western front.

Unhappily, the Destroyer is busily at work about this fine old Mansion--one of the grandest, most original, and most auspiciously situated of the few unimpaired structures of the reign of Queen Elizabeth by which the kingdom is still enriched. Although its present possessor is the direct descendant of its founder, and "the line" has been unbroken for nearly three centuries, it is now deserted. All its glories are of ancient dates: the "wide opening gate" gives admission to no gay revellers; and the yet existing motto seems a solemn mockery--

Welcome the coming Speed the parting guest.

CAVERSWALL CASTLE,

STAFFORDSHIRE.

Caverswall Castle.--The pretty and secluded village of Caverswall is seated in the centre of a rich level vale, through which runs the river Blithe,--here, not far from its source, a narrow stream, which gradually swells into size and strength. The venerable Castle of Caverswall, one of the most striking, picturesque, and interesting remains of a distant age, towers above this pleasant and appropriately named streamlet, overlooking the broad valley, the whole of which it completely commands, and of which it was formerly the guardian and the glory.

a large and strong stone castle here, surrounded by a deep moat. As additional security, when safety was worth a costly purchase, we are told he gave it the further defence of square turrets at the heads of extensive pieces of water. This is "the castel or prati-pile of Caverwell" of Leland's time. Of its founder, we know nothing more than is revealed to us by his marble monumental slab, now reduced to the level of the church-floor at the entrance into the chancel--strange transition!--to be trodden on by every foot that passes. This "goodly castle," as Erdeswick terms it, in his time, about two hundred and fifty years ago, he tells us, "was lately in reasonable good repair, but is now quite let to decay by one Browne, farmer of the demesnes, which he procured lest his lord should take a conceit to live there, and thereby take the demesnes from him." Now, it is probable no remnant of this ancient Castle is extant, unless in the chiselled stones which give support to garden-hedges about the village. Still, the lower portions of the wall which surrounds the platform of the Castle, with its graduated buttresses, and perhaps also the foundations of some of the turrets, give indications of an architecture at least much anterior to the present building. We are inclined to refer this ancient wall to the period of the original Castle.

We have here an indication of the peaceful, unwarlike purpose to which this sombre fortress is now devoted. On the decease of Matthew Cradock, Esq., who built the present Castle, it came into the hands of his son, George Cradock, Esq., who died in 1643, with whose descendants it remained only till 1655. From them it passed to Sir William Jolliffe, Knight; and from him, by marriage with his daughter, to William Viscount Vane, of Ireland. It subsequently passed into the hands of the family of Parker, one worthy descendant of which house, Thomas Hawe Parker, Esq., resides at Park Hall, near the village, and still retains the manor. During the disastrous wars of the French Revolution, it was purchased for the retreat of a religious community from Ghent, in Belgium,--the Benedictine Dames,--who emigrated hither in 1811, having previously settled at Preston, in Lancashire. These ladies, in their antique black dresses and hoods, as they traverse the terraces on the platform of the Castle, or engage in the cultivation of their flower-gardens, give an air of surprising interest, of living reality, to this castellated mansion of other ages. They have erected a good-sized chapel on the eastern side of the house, in which is a large picture over the altar representing St. Benedict and St. Scholastica praying to the virgin; and they devote much of their time to the purposes of education. On the opposite side of the moat, amidst the shade of surrounding trees, we perceive the final resting-place of the sisterhood. In this neat little plot is a number of tombstones, two of which are distinguished from the rest by bearing the cross and pastoral staff--emblems of ghostly superintendence. They mark the graves of Lady Abbesses. One lay sister, now rapidly descending the vale of years, is the only religieuse who came over with the original refugees.

A doorway, now closed, formerly led from the Castle to the Church, which is close by. It is a spacious village church, dedicated to St. Peter, embosomed in a grove of

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