Part 10

Aston Hall, the residence of James Watt, Esq.--whose name has been rendered “famous for all time” by the genius and enterprise of his great father--is situate about two miles from the town of Birmingham, on an eminence which overlooks the river Tame. Although erected during the reign of James the First and his successor, it is certain that a baronial mansion previously existed adjacent to the present edifice: authorities are conclusive on this point, and its site was indicated until recently by some venerable trees, the relics of at least three centuries. Prior to the Norman conquest (according to Dugdale) the manor of Aston, or, as it was then written, Estone or East Town, was possessed by Edwin earl of Mercia. Upon the distribution of lands which followed that event, it was bestowed by the Conqueror upon William Fitz-Ausculf, lord of the neighbouring castle of Dudley, for whom it was held by one Godmund. It was certified to contain, at that time, viii. hides of land, valued at 100 shillings, a mill rated at iii_s._, a church, and woods extending three miles in length and half a mile in breadth. After passing through the hands of several successive lords of Dudley, it was presented by one of them, named Ralph Someri, in the beginning of the reign of King John, to William de Erdington and his heirs for ever; and we find the following curious grant respecting it, viz. “That the manour-house and demesne at Estone, with divers tenements thereto belonging, should be held by him, by the service of a pair of gilt spurs, or the value thereof, viz. vi_d._, payable yearly at Easter, for all services or demands whatsoever.” From the Erdingtons it passed to the family of Maidenhache, whose daughter Sibel conveyed it by marriage to Adam de Grymesurwe, whose daughter sold it in 1367 to John Atte Holt of Duddeston near Birmingham, and in whose family it subsequently continued for upwards of four hundred years. Originally of the people, they became powerful and wealthy “lords of the soil,” eminent for worth and probity, and occupying offices of high trust in Warwickshire and the neighbouring counties. Thomas Holt is especially mentioned as an eminent lawyer in the reign of Henry the Eighth; he was Justice of North Wales, and in commission as a justice of the peace for his native county during the greater part of that monarch’s sovereignty. To this “worthie gentleman” succeeded his son Edward, who, dying in the thirty-fifth of Elizabeth, was succeeded by his son Thomas, who was Sheriff of Warwickshire in the forty-second of Elizabeth, was knighted by King James on his accession to the throne, and in the tenth year of his reign advanced to the dignity of a baronet. It was this Sir Thomas who enclosed the spacious park, and erected the present mansion. The date and circumstances of the building are thus recorded over the entrance doorway:--

“Sir Thomas Holte, of Duddeston in the countie of Warwick, Knight and Baronet, began to build this house in Aprill, Anno Domini 1618, in the 16th yeare of the raigne of King James of England, &c., and of Scotland the one and fiftieth; and the said Sir Thomas Holte came to dwell in this house in May, in Anno Domini 1631, in the seaventh yeare of the raigne of our soveraigne Lord King Charles, and he did finish this house in Aprill, Anno Domini 1635, in the eleventh yeare of the raigne of the sayde King Charles.

“LAUS DEO.”

We may hence infer that “Sir Thomas Holte of Duddeston,” until the building of the mansion, chiefly resided at the old house at Duddeston, which, though still standing, is so completely altered that barely a trace of its ancient character remains. It is now used as a public place of recreation under the title of “Vauxhall.”

Sir Thomas was emphatically a good man and a loyal subject. He endowed alms-houses, which, to this day, give shelter to some aged people; and though too old to appear in arms for his sovereign during the wars of Charles with the Parliament, he was represented by his son in the army of the king, whom he received and entertained in his house a few days prior to the battle of Edgehill. For his devotion to his master he, of course, endured persecution; heavy fines were levied on his estate, and his mansion was more than once plundered. Sir Thomas was succeeded by his grandson and heir, Sir Robert Holt; subsequently the estate came into the possession of Sir Lister Holt, who, dying without issue the 8th of April, 1770. was succeeded by his eldest brother Charles, from whom it passed into the family of Bracebridge;[54] by them it was sold a few years ago to some parties in the neighbourhood of Warwick, who leased it to its present occupier.

The mansion, which is built of brick, with stone quoins and dressings, forms three sides of a square, and bears some resemblance to the letter E, a practice which originated in compliment to Queen Elizabeth, and was not altogether in disuse during the reign of her successor. The eastern or principal front derives its principal features from the massive character and judicious display of details; and a highly pleasing effect is given to the structure by its gables, numerous picturesque chimneys, bay windows to the wings, and, especially, the stately grandeur of the central and side towers.

The south, or garden front, is also an interesting portion of the structure; the appended vignette affords a correct idea

of it. It will be seen that its principal feature is an open arcade, around which are several antique carved seats, so placed as to facilitate views of the garden, with its quaint and venerable trees and shaded walks. Passing through a small door at the termination of this arcade, we step upon a noble terrace, which extends the whole length of the back or western front of the edifice. From this point we obtain an unbroken view of the park in nearly its whole extent. The house is, from this side, very imposing, from its great width and massive character.

Returning to the principal front, passing through the great doorway, which is elevated on four steps and is of good character, we enter the great hall. It is richly decorated; the fireplace is remarkably fine; along the sides are ranged various old pictures, which, combined with antique furniture profusely scattered about, take us back to the days of its early grandeur, when the mansion was the residence of a true and hospitable baronial lord. The apartments are fitted up in good keeping; the dining and drawing-rooms, entered from the hall, retain their ancient aspects; the panelling and ceilings are in excellent preservation, the chimneypieces comparatively unimpaired by time, and the whole interior is of a character sound and true.

We must not omit to mention that the fine oak staircase received considerable injury during the great civil war. It appears that a cannon was fired from a little eminence at a short distance from the south side of the house, the shot from which, after passing through two strong walls, lodged on the first landing of the great staircase, shattering in its course a considerable portion of the richly-carved balustrade--which, as a memorial of the event, has not been since repaired.

The house is reached from the main road by a noble avenue of finely-grown trees; these extend for nearly half a mile.

The entrance gates, of which we append an engraving, are directly opposite the very venerable church; and this church must be associated with the mansion, for it is the resting-place of nearly all its ancient owners. It is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, and consists of a nave with north and south aisles, a spacious chancel, and a substantial tower, surmounted by a tall spire, at the western extremity of the nave. The church bears evidence of being built at two distinct periods, or, at least, of having undergone considerable alterations. We find, according to Dugdale, that the south aisle was built by Henry de Erdington; for in the 12th Edward II. he gave a certain rent-seck of _vid._ per annum to the maintenance of the gutter betwixt the church and it. In this grant he terms it “Nova capella beatæ Mariæ de Aston;” thus proving it to have been (with the north aisle, which is precisely similar) erected during the prevalence of the decorated style. But, unfortunately, owing to some injudicious repairs a few years since, the whole of the windows, of which there are three, on each side, and one larger, at the eastern and western ends, were deprived of both mullions and tracery, and, no doubt, at the same time of several interesting portions of stained glass, of which we have a description in Dugdale, but which is now nowhere to be found. This, combined with the loss of the high-pitched roofs, gives a poor appearance to the interior. The tower and spire are by far the finest portions of the building, and add greatly to the beauty of the whole. The tower is of four stories, with battlements and pinnacles; but its chief peculiarity is the belfry story, which is decorated on three sides by six long and narrow compartments, the two centre ones of which are pierced, and have louvre boards for the better distribution of sound; on the fourth or south side are only four of these compartments, the space for the two others being taken up by an octagonal turret staircase, that adjoins this portion of the tower. The spire is octagonal, plain, but of a good substantial character; and from its details, with those of the tower, which exhibit some deviations from the true principles of pointed architecture, we may safely trace their erection to the early portion of the sixteenth century.

The pillars and arches of the nave, of which there are four on each side, seem to belong, like the exterior, to a transition period, as their general character is decorated, whilst there are several mouldings that may be ascribed to the early English period. Among the modern barbaric “restorations and improvements” to which this fine church has been subjected, may be mentioned the plaster ceilings, the altar-screen of Roman design, and an odious assemblage of pews of all shapes and sizes; but it may be hoped, from the good spirit that has lately directed the introduction of some ancient stalls from Leicester at the entrance of the chancel, a richly-carved lecturn, and last, though not least, the establishment of a choral service, that in a few years this noble edifice may resume its pristine splendour and magnificence.

In monumental architecture this church will be found to possess an interesting series. The most ancient, from the character of its design, evidently belongs to the latter part of the fourteenth century; it is supposed to be to the memory of one of the now extinct but once powerful family of Arden. It is an altar-tomb of alabaster, supporting effigies of a knight and lady, and is situated against the north wall of the chancel. Towards the eastern end of the north aisle are two monuments that will next require our attention. The first, an altar-tomb, around the side of which are angels bearing shields, and still retaining traces of their original painting and gilding; on the top are the painted effigies of William Holt, Esq. and Joan his wife, and the inscription (now obliterated) originally bore the date of 1423. Against the north wall, near this tomb, is a mural monument containing the effigies of Edward Holt, Esq. and Dorothy his wife, under an arch of Roman design, kneeling one on each side of a small lecturn or desk. This monument bears the date of 1592. In the pavement near is a large slab, containing the effigies in brass of the Thomas Holt and his wife Margaret, who, as we have mentioned, was Justice of North Wales during the reign of Henry the Eighth. The next monument demanding notice is situated against the north wall

of the chancel, and forms the subject of the accompanying vignette: it is of a bold character, but, in its minor parts, exhibits a sad falling off in execution as compared with the more ancient ones to which we have referred.[55] It is to the memory of Edward Devereux, Esq. of Castle Bromwich Hall in this neighbourhood (a seat now possessed by the Earl of Bradford), and the Lady Katherine his wife, and was erected A.D. 1627: it bears their effigies, with those of their children, painted and habited in the costume of the early part of the seventeenth century. There are also two other monuments, which, though not immediately connected with the text, may not be left unnoticed. One of these bears the effigies of Sir Thomas de Erdington and his lady, Joyce; the other is also supposed to belong to a member of the same family. They originally stood in the south aisle, which was erected by their ancestor, Henry de Erdington, in the reign of Edward II., and used as a chanting chapel for the family, but were removed a few years since to their present position on the south side of the chancel. They are both good specimens of the monumental sculpture of the middle ages.

Recently a beautiful memorial window of stained glass has been erected at the west end of the south aisle, which for excellence of design and richness and harmony of colour, is hardly surpassed by the best specimens of ancient days.

Among the very numerous series of mural monuments with which this church abounds, we need only observe that there are several to the different members of the Holt family, and one, in particular, to the good and worthy knight Sir Thomas, the builder of the present hall; but from their wholly unsuitable character for a Christian temple, and from their abounding in pagan emblems and decorations, they serve only to disfigure the walls of the sacred and very venerable edifice.

BEAUCHAMP CHAPEL,

WARWICK.

Beauchamp Chapel ranks among the most exquisitely beautiful examples of sacred edifices in Great Britain. It was founded by that famous Earl of Warwick, who, early in the fifteenth century, upheld the glories of his line, and transmitted his abundant honours unimpaired to his posterity,--the Talbots, the Dudleys, the Willoughbys, the Grevilles, and the Nevils.[56]

The purpose of its erection was to supply a fitting mausoleum for the noble family of its founder; yet few of his successors are there interred; for, having subsequently become entitled to the patronage of the Holy Abbey of Tewkesbury, they preferred it as their place of sepulture--and the great Earl is nearly the only one of his proud and lofty race whose ashes moulder beneath the fretted roof of the graceful and magnificent structure. It was commenced 21st Henry VI. and finished 3d Edward IV.; occupying a period of twenty-one years, and costing £2,481 4_s._ 7_d._--an enormous sum, of which some idea may be formed from the fact, that, at the time, “the value of a fat ox was 13_s._ 4_d._” The Chapel was not, however, consecrated until the 15th Edward IV., when John Hales, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, was specially commissioned for the purpose by John Carpenter, Bishop of Worcester.

The Church of St. Mary, Warwick--to which the Beauchamp Chapel is attached--is of very early date. Of its foundation, prior to the Conquest, there is conclusive evidence; for in “the Survey,” it was certified to have “one hyde of land in Myton, given to it by Turchil de Warwick, which land was then valued at ten shillings.” It was made collegiate by Hen. de Newburg, first Earl of Warwick; and his son Roger, in 1123, largely augmented its revenues.

The riches and piety of subsequent Earls of Warwick contributed to its grandeur and importance; and at the survey, 26th Hen. VIII., previous to the dissolution, its revenues were certified to amount to £334 2_s._ 3_d._ A fire, in 1694, destroyed the whole of the edifice, except the choir and the Beauchamp Chapel; and when the Church was rebuilt it was from a design of Sir Christopher Wren. It is, nevertheless, conspicuous for no architectural beauty, except the fine proportions of its Tower.

The choir--a part of the ancient church--is a rare example of the architecture of the period. It was built by Thomas de Beauchamp, about the 43rd Edward III.; and his remains, with those of his Countess, a daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, were interred in a sumptuous tomb, placed in the centre of the edifice erected for their reception. Nearly five hundred years have passed since the Earl was laid there, and the mason, the gilder, and the sculptor, laboured to perpetuate the memory of a great soldier, who led the van at Crecy, bled at Poictiers, “did great service in a sea-fight,” “warred against the infidels,” and drove a besieging army from before Calais, by the mere sound of his name,--yet the monument endures almost unimpaired by time; telling its high tale of glory after a lapse of half a thousand years.[57]

A vaulted corridor extends from the transept nearly the whole length of the choir on its north side. This has been divided by a screen of blank panelling, and the eastern portion formed into a “Vestrie.” The remainder is used as a north entrance to the Church, having also an entrance into the Chapter House. This building is hexagonal on its exterior end, and is now appropriated as a mausoleum, to which those who love the muse will resort as to a place of pilgrimage, for here repose the earthly remains of that “servant to Queen Elizabeth, Chancellor to King James, and friend to Sir Philip Sidney,” whose name will be as imperishable as that of the dear brother of his heart, whose friendship was the climax of his fame, and the consummation of all his ambitious hopes. The monument to the memory of Fulke Grevill consists of a sarcophagus, placed beneath a heavy canopy, supported by Corinthian columns. It is a heavy and ungraceful erection--rendered picturesque, however, by the ancient helmets and glaives laid upon it, and the moth-eaten banners, and rusted armour, that hang above the tomb.

The entrance to the Beauchamp Chapel is by a descent of several steps, from the south transept of the Church, beneath a doorway of finely-carved stone--the work of a

native artist, “a mason of Warwick,” in 1704. Entered, the spectator beholds a sepulchral chapel, built in the “style of the later Gothic,” of limited extent--its size being 58 feet in length by 25 in breadth, and its height being 32 feet--but of surpassing beauty. The light is supplied by three large windows in the upper part of the side walls (north and south), on the west by a window which looks into St. Mary’s Church, and by a large window on the east. Formerly, they were all richly adorned with painted glass, of which some valuable relics yet remain. The east window is, however, even now, nearly perfect, and may be considered one of the finest examples of the art to be found in the kingdom. “Indeed,” (we quote from a writer in “The Antiquarian and Architectural Year Book,”) there are few windows of painted glass remaining in ecclesiastical or other buildings

in England that can, for its dimensions, exceed, either in beauty or general treatment, this Eastern Window of the Beauchamp Chapel.” Its value has been diminished by carelessness in repairs; some parts having been displaced: but the figures, which form its primary objects, are gorgeous specimens of art, on many accounts of rare value to the antiquary. The ceiling of the Chapel is ornamented with groined ribs, at the intersections of which are bosses elegantly painted and gilt. Old oak seats, richly carved, antique desks, niches--which, according to Dugdale, formerly held images of gold, each of the weight of 20 lbs.--and various other objects--minor, though of considerable interest--demand attention; but their examination may be postponed until a small oratory--of exquisite beauty--has been inspected. It is reached by a short flight of stone steps--the roof is fan-work, groined--peculiarly light and elegant; and a range of high and narrow windows open into the Chapel. Scattered about are some reliques--save for their antiquity, out of keeping with the peaceful and secluded character of the small confessional--glaives and head-pieces--one of which bears indisputable evidence that the wearer died not in his bed. From this oratory, some half-dozen steps, “worn by the knees of fervent devotees,” afford ascent to a small confessional, formed in the thickness of the south wall of the choir. Both these interesting objects, are represented, by woodcuts, on the preceding page. The ceiling and sides partake of the elegant character already described; and here could the holy father, through a small opening, unseen, witness the elevation of the Host, or listen to the o’erburthened penitent.

The grand object of attraction in the Beauchamp Chapel, however, is the gorgeous tomb of its founder. It is an altar-tomb, of Purbeck marble, bearing the recumbent effigy of the Great Earl, in fine latten brass, gilt. His head, uncovered, rests upon a helmet, and at his feet are a Bear and a Griffon. The tomb is surmounted by one of the few “hearses” that yet remain in our churches. It consists of six hoops of brass, kept extended by five transverse brass rods, on which formerly was hung a pall “to keep the figure reverently from the dust.” Around the tomb, in niches, are fourteen figures, in “divers vestures, called weepers”--friends and relatives of the deceased, who mourn his loss. Between each weeper are smaller niches, raised upon pillars, containing whole length figures of angels, holding scrolls inscribed--

Sit deo laus et gloria: defunctis misericordia.

The following inscription is on the edge of the tomb, running twice round, in the old English character, and freely interspersed with the Earl’s crest, the bear and ragged staff:--

“Preieth devoutly for the Sowel whom god assoille of one of the moost worshipful Knyghtes in his dayes of monhode and conning Richard Beauchamp late Eorl of Warrewik lord de spenser of Bergavenny, and of mony other grete lordships, whos body resteth here under this tumbe, in a fulfeire vout of Stone set on the bare rooch, thewhich visited with longe siknes in the Castel of Roan therinne decessed ful cristenly the last day of April the yer of oure lord god M. CCCCxxxxix, he being at that tyme Lieutenant gen’al and governer of the Roialme of Fraunce and of the Duchie of Normandie. by sufficient Autorite of oure Sov’aigne lord the King Harry the vi. thewhich body with grete deliberacon’ and ful worshipful condiut Bi See And by lond was broght to Warrewik the iiii day of October the yer aboueseide, and was leide with ful Solenne exequies in a feir chest made of Stone in this Chirche afore the west dore of this Chapel according to his last will And Testament therein to rest til this Chapel by him devised i’ his lief were made. Al thewhuche Chapel founded On the Rooch, And alle the Membres thereof his Executours dede fully make and Apparaille by the Auctorite of his Seide last Wille And Testament And thereafter By the same Auctorite They dide Translate fful worshipfully the seide Body into the vout aboveseide, honured be god therfore.”[58]