Part 6

Entering a small vestibule the great hall lies to the right; it is ninety feet in length, twenty-seven feet wide, and twenty-nine feet high; it is too square to be considered in good proportion, a fault found by all since its first erection. Its principal feature is the magnificent oak screen, which occupies the entire north end. It is most elaborately carved and ornamented with a great variety of grotesque figures executed in bold relief, and is said to have been originally procured from Italy; but of this there may be entertained considerable doubt, as it is precisely similar in its details to many others which still exist and are of English workmanship. The fireplace is of similar design, and our initial letter exhibits one of its many beautiful compartments. The hall is wainscoted, and is lighted by five windows, that in the centre having a large projecting bow, extending from the cornice to the floor which is paved. It is hung with family pictures, among which those of the Cornwallis predominate--the ancestors of the present Lady Braybrooke. The ceiling is of plaster, divided into forty square compartments, formed by the massive oaken beams supported by richly-carved brackets. These compartments are filled with the crests and cognizances of the Howard family, worked in raised stucco and encircled by a border. A gay effect is produced by the many silken banners which hang from the walls.

Opposite the fine old wooden screen is an open one of stone, for which, says Lord Braybrooke, “we are indebted to the bad taste of Sir John Vanburgh, who removed the south wall to enlarge the hall, which had been censured by Evelyn and others as too small in proportion to the rest of the house, and being desirous at the same time to obtain sufficient space for a double flight of stairs leading to the saloon”--the subject of our second plate; it is in every sense a magnificent room, and is sixty feet in length, twenty-seven feet three inches wide, and twenty feet eight inches high. The description of the noble owner must be here quoted: “It was originally called the Fish-room, after the dolphins and sea monsters represented in bold relief upon the ceiling, which is of stucco, and divided into thirty-two compartments with raised borders. From each angle of these compartments hang pendants of considerable dimensions elaborately wrought, and producing a striking and singular effect. The fittings of the wall are of wood-work, painted in white and gold, and carved up twelve feet from the ground; the cornice and frieze, being supported by pilasters placed at equal distances, the spaces between which are allotted to portraits, in whole-length, of the different persons connected with the history of Audley End, let into arches serving as frames, and the spandrils of which are filled with rich foliage. Upon the wall above the cornice, which has a bold projection, are quatre-feuilles, worked in stucco, probably added after the room was finished, and not in character with the ceiling. The frieze is deep, and decorated with lions’ heads and a variety of other patterns, carved in wood. The pilasters are also surmounted by grotesque heads. The large western bow, to which we ascend by three steps, commands a

fine view of the grounds, the river Cam, and the ancient stables beyond, here engraved; they are of red brick and are exceedingly picturesque, embowered as they are in antique trees. The chimney-piece is completely in keeping with the rest of the apartment, and, though not dissimilar to those already described, greatly surpasses them in the beauty of the carved work and the brilliancy of the gilding. In the centre are emblazoned the arms of Thomas Earl of Suffolk, impaling Knivett and his quarterings, and encircled by the Garter. The female figures and ancient heads on each side, as well as the arms and crests of Lord Howard de Walden and his two wives, were painted by Rebecca.”

The suite of rooms in connexion with the saloon are fine and contain some good ceilings and fireplaces. In one of them is preserved the interesting relic here engraved. Its history is thus told on a brass plate inserted in the back:--“This chair, once the property of Alexander Pope, was given as a keepsake to the nurse who attended him in his illness; from her descendants it was obtained by the Rev. Thomas Ashley, curate of the parish of Binfield, and kindly presented by him to Lord Braybrooke in 1844, nearly a century after the poet’s decease.” It is apparently of Flemish workmanship, and of rather singular design; in the central medallion is a figure of Venus, holding a dart in her right hand, and a burning heart in her left. The narrow back and wide-circling arms give a peculiarly quaint appearance to this curious relic of one of our greatest poets.

The upper and lower floor of this wing are connected together by a fine oak staircase,

represented in the accompanying woodcut. It reaches from the ground to the upper story in such a manner that a person ascending the whole height goes two and a half times round the well which it includes. This well, a narrow oblong, is a frame-work of upright posts extending from top to bottom; and these posts, being divided into shorter lengths by the various traverse of the stairs and landing-places, are ornamented in a sort of pilaster fashion, and connected by arches at the top of each opening: the balustrade of the stairs being formed by a repetition of such an arcade on a smaller scale. A similar staircase of oak, of a plainer character, is in the opposite wing.

The chapel is in “Strawberry-Hill Gothic.” The library contains about seven thousand books of varied standard literature. The pictures throughout the house are not very remarkable. The park is extensive and contains some magnificent old trees, the views being relieved by sloping elevations.

Nearly opposite the dated gateway to the mansion, already engraved and described, is the entrance to the village of Audley End, which is approached through an avenue of trees,

which hide it from the road. The first view of its humble habitations, as delineated in our engraving, is very striking, and as simply antique as need be. Its old gables and deep-bowed windows, over which climb the honeysuckle and ivy, tell at once the age of their erection, and carry the spectator back to the days of Elizabeth. It is a compact little village, of about forty cottages, which form a narrow street of close tenements, all of which may be detected at a glance. The ground on which the village is built rises and falls in picturesque undulations; and at its farthest extremity, the gables seen in our next cut belong to the ancient brick tenements, picturesque in decay, of which a view is here given. They are thus described in the volume so

frequently quoted:--“The buildings surround two courts, one of which is appropriated to ten old women, permitted to reside there by Lord Braybrooke, to whom the premises belong. The other court is occupied as a farm-house, together with the old chapel, long since converted into a barn; but there are no traces of its former destination, excepting an iron cross on the eastern gable, and the lofty ceiling, supported by oak beams; and this part of the building is in a very ruinous state.”[21]

These premises were, doubtless, originally erected for purposes of charity, and perhaps placed under the control of the monastery, having no especial endowment. At a later period, Thomas first Earl of Suffolk made some allowance to the inmates, and the building is described in the parish register as “my lord’s almshouse;” but his widow discontinued the payments, nor is there any tradition of their having been since claimed as matter of right.

“It is recorded in one of the chronicles of Walden Abbey, that on the festival of St. Mark 1258, when Fulco Bishop of London, and Hugo de Balsham Bishop of Norwich, consecrated the church of Walden, Bishop Hugo performed the same ceremony for the chapel of the _Infirmaria_, and granted an indulgence to those who visited it on the feast of its dedication. It also appears from an inquisition, dated the forty-sixth of Edward III., that Humphrey Earl of Essex, Hereford, and Northampton, was seised, _inter alia_, of the advowson of the hospital of the Abbey of Walden; we may therefore suppose the almshouses, or the site which they occupy, to have been the place alluded to, and this conjecture is confirmed by the premises having been described in some old leases as the Hospital Farm.”[22]

FEERING HOUSE,

ESSEX.

accomplishment. Alas, for worldly grandeur! this mansion, upon which the art and expenditure of the sixteenth century was lavished, is now an ale-house; and not even one of a first-rate class--being only “licensed to sell beer.” Few but the poorest class of labourers sit in the parlour, which forms the subject of our plate, and its beauties are unappreciated. To which of the families of note in the olden time (and many resided here) this mansion belonged, cannot now be ascertained with any certainty; whether Ridley or Bonner (names which give rise to so many and such varied associations) once sat in these rooms is unrecorded, but the taste and expenditure here exhibited denote the superiority of the original occupant. It is seldom we see a more perfect and remarkable specimen of the in-door aspect of a gentleman’s house in the early part of the sixteenth century; all here is original, and all perfect; no plaster-work is any where visible, but walls, ceilings, and floor, are of oak; the massive beams of the roof boldly cut in a pattern of running leaves, the angles of the smaller ones tastefully chiselled and sculptured; figures of angels playing on the lute are upon the beams in the bay-windows, in which is preserved some of the original painted glass, “richly dight,” and exhibiting the crowned monogram of the Virgin, an eagle bearing a scroll, and the royal arms of England, with the initials E. R. on each side of them. The walls of the room are entirely covered with carving in a series of patterns, the lower ranges of which are of that species termed “the napkin pattern,” most delicately and beautifully chiselled, and untouched by the painter, as well as uninjured by time. The uppermost range of panels are cut in oval frames, from the centres of which peep forth, in high relief, a series of male and female heads, cut with a vigour and truth at once bold and effective; the head-dresses of all are remarkable, and present a singular variety of fashions. Mr. Fairholt, in his “Costume in England,” has noticed that the principal attention of the ladies was given to this portion of dress, and that they sometimes consisted of a mere “heap of finery, combining cap, coverchief, and hood, which was at that time the extreme of fashion.” This remark is fully carried out in the series we now describe, no two of which are precisely alike, yet all are elaborate in design and elegant in ornamental detail. Beneath them run a series of elongated panels, containing smaller heads in the centre of arabesque ornaments, which are thrown up in strong relief, as the ground of the panel is painted blue; the projecting pillars which support the main beams are similarly decorated; and the door is also carved all over with the napkin pattern, and has the original ring-handle upon it, as well as the chased steel lock. A more perfect interior of this peculiar period, or a more elegant one, could not be found. Our view comprehends one half of the room, reaching to the central beam, the other half of the room is dark and dingy, and has been separated in a more modern style from the older and larger room. A fire-place and a carved locker are preserved; and the pattern of the pomegranate and its leaves, rather lavishly introduced here, would seem to point out the period when the house was erected--as the pomegranate was the badge of Catherine of Arragon, the first wife of Henry VIII.

This fine old mansion stands on the boundary of the parish of Feering, the village and church being about half-a-mile, or more, distant, and a little out of the main road. It is, as we have observed, quiet and secluded, in a fertile county, embracing the ordinary flat, fertile, and extensive views for which Essex is remarkable; but little of modernisation appears there, and the visitors would seem to be “few and far between.” From the churchyard the view is very extensive. Morant says:--

“The church, dedicated to All Saints, stands high and pleasant. The body of the church and the chancel are tyled, but a north or south aisle adjoining to the church are leaded. The south wall and the porch are of brick; and in the windows are pictured a shuttle and three feathers, with the letters H. P., which gave rise to the vulgar tradition that they were built by a weaver. At the west end there is a square tower of stone, containing eight bells.

“This church was given with the manor to Westminster Abbey. It was originally a rectory and sinecure, but in Henry the Third’s reign a vicarage was here ordained, and endowed in the patronage of the rector or possessor of the sinecure: afterwards the rectory or great tithes were appropriated to the said abbey and convent, and they remained patrons of

the vicarage till their suppression; and then they were granted to the see of London, as hath been mentioned above.”

The most remarkable feature of the interior is the roof of oak, the beams and king-posts are richly sculptured, and in good preservation; it contains no old tombs or brasses; the font is simple, and the only objects worthy of note are some remains of distemper-painting on the north wall: a figure of St. Christopher bearing the infant Saviour is still visible, together with the fragments of an elegant diaper-pattern, which had probably originally covered the entire wall.

The porch, which we engrave, is entirely built of fine red brick, in which the elegant windows, niches, tracery, battlements, and pinnacles of the later Gothic architecture, are beautifully formed and finished with a sharpness and accuracy which may almost be said to be peculiar to this county, as we seldom meet with brick-work in this style so rich in design and execution elsewhere.

HOREHAM HALL,

ESSEX.

Thaxted eventually became the property of Sir William Smijth of Hill Hall, in whose family it has remained to the present time.

Of the learned Sir Thomas Smijth, the secretary to King Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth, there is still preserved an ancient portrait on panel, which is let into a circle over the carved fireplace of one of the parlours. It is remarkable as being one of the very few portraits painted by Titian. Another interesting relic preserved in the Great Hall is the side-saddle of Queen Elizabeth; the pommel is of wrought metal and has been gilt, the ornament upon it is in the then fashionable style of the Renaissance; the seat, of velvet, is now in a very ruinous condition; but it is

carefully kept beneath a glass case, as a memento of the queen’s visits to this place. When princess, Elizabeth retired to Horeham as a place of refuge during the reign of her sister Mary; the loneliness of the situation, and its distance from the metropolis, rendered it a seclusion befitting the quietude of one anxious to remain unnoticed in troublous times. A room on the first floor in the square tower, seen to the right in our view, is shewn as that in which Elizabeth resided. She found the retirement of Horeham so agreeable, that often after she had succeeded to the crown she took a pleasure in revisiting the place.

The exterior features of the building are characteristic of that period when strength and security began to give way to domestic comfort and elegance; there is a mixture of the

castle and the mansion in Horeham that marks a transition period in architecture. One great feature of an earlier style of defence still remains in the moat which originally surrounded the building, but which is now partly filled up: at the back of the mansion, as shewn in our cut, it seems still to encircle the building. The old walls which form the boundary of the garden, and are washed by the water, are stone, and antique. Some fine cedars of ancient growth still flourish by its side, to add a sombre, dignified beauty to the scene. There is a grandeur about old trees which cannot be imparted to a mansion by artificial aid, and which tell forcibly its antiquity. Modern antiques may easily be called into existence by the builder, but the “ancestral trees” are as proud a memento of the early date of an ancient mansion as the coat-armour sculptured on its front.

The Hall is small; it has a minstrel’s gallery, and the dais opposite is still preserved. It is lighted by a magnificent oriel window, and has a greater air of comfort than is found in those of grander proportions. The other rooms have been so much modernised, to suit the habits and tastes of the present age, that scarcely a relic remains to shew their original state.

ST. OSYTH’S PRIORY,

ESSEX.