Part 15

Fountains Abbey[72] ranks among the most picturesque and interesting of the monastic ruins of England. It was founded early in the twelfth century for monks of the Cistercian Order; the locality being then an “uncouth desert,” which supplied no better shelter than “seven yew-trees,” under which the monks made their habitation while their magnificent house was progressing. Yet, long after the stupendous structure was deserted and unroofed, their first dwelling continued in existence; for, so late as the year 1810, six of the seven trees were flourishing above the ground where the builders had congregated, and formed their projects for a great future. In process of time the abbey became richly endowed: such was its repute for sanctity, that princes and nobles “purchased with immense donations” the right of sepulture within its walls; the most illustrious of the northern families were among its benefactors. “Popes and kings seemed to emulate one another in granting to the monks privileges and immunities;” its possessions “stretched from the foot of Pinnigant to the boundaries of St. Wilfred of Ripon, without interruption.” Fountains-fell still retains the name of its ancient possessors; “all the high pastures from thence to Kilnsey were ranged by their flocks and herds;” and “their lands in Craven” amounted to sixty-four thousand acres. At the dissolution, its revenues exceeded a thousand pounds per annum; its site, with the estates thereunto belonging, were sold by the sovereign spoiler to Sir Richard Gresham, who resold them to Sir Stephen Proctor (the builder of the Hall out of the Abbey stones); and the Abbey became a ruin--of deep interest to the antiquary, the artist, and the lover of the picturesque.

HELMSLEY HALL,

YORKSHIRE.

Helmsley Hall is situate about six miles from Kirby-Moorside, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The date is early in the seventeenth century; but it occupies the site, and is, indeed, chiefly built from the relics of a structure of far more remote antiquity. The manor is in Domesday called Elmeslae, “from elm, and slae, a narrow vale,” and was given by the Conqueror to the Earl of Morton. Not long after the Conquest it became the property of Sir Walter de la Espee, from whom it passed to the noble family of Ross or Roos, and from them to the Earls of Rutland. Catherine, daughter of the sixth earl, married George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, to whom was thus transferred the estate, which the second Duke wasted by a career of profligacy and vice.[73] From his trustees, Helmsley was purchased by Sir Charles Duncombe, from whom it has descended to the present Lord Feversham.

Helmsley Castle, once a place of formidable strength, was built about the year 1200 by one of the family of Ross--one who, it is said, forfeited by rebellion during the reign of Richard I., but regained his estates by favour of Richard’s successor, the infamous John. The remains are still imposing, and give indications of having formerly covered immense space. They are thus described by the Rev. W. Eastmead:--“The grand entrance on the south has been very strong. Without the outer wall is a ditch, which has added to the strength of the fortification; then the gateway leading into the first court or ballium, which measures twenty feet in thickness. After that a second gateway, leading to the inner court, where were the lodgings, &c.; and then the keep, ninety-five feet high, under which was the dungeon: and these walls were defended by a number of towers, which were strong and magnificent. The walls of this castle were extremely well built, and the vast masses of them which were thrown down yet hang together with amazing firmness. Besides the south gate the remains of two others are yet visible, one on the north and another on the west; and it is said that the waters of the Rye were conducted through the ditches which surround the building. During the Civil Wars the castle, after a severe conflict, was taken by the Parliament forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, who, during the siege, was wounded in the shoulder. It was soon afterwards dismantled by order of Parliament.”

The Hall, as we have intimated, was built out of parts of the ancient castle. The apartment pictured by Mr. Richardson is the principal drawing-room, but the house has ceased to be inhabited by any member of the family to whom it belongs; it is, nevertheless, a good subject for the artist, and one which he is bound to rescue from the grasp of time.

This “state chamber” is approached by stone steps from the courtyard; several smaller apartments are contiguous to it, but are without decorations, unless their ample bay-windows may be so called. A lofty tower at the south-east angle has been divided into several stories, but the stairs and various floors are gone. Helmsley Hall is rapidly decaying, and will be ere long, like its far more powerful parent and neighbour “the Castle,” but a relic of the past; it will, however, always possess considerable interest. Here revelled the licentious Buckingham,--

“That life of pleasure and that soul of whim!”

And these now lonely walls suggest many a thought to connect the surrounding scenery with the brilliant career of the most famous of Helmsley’s lords.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Holland House is the manor-house of Abbots Kensington. “In Domesday Book (our extract is from Lysons) the place is called Chenisitun, in other ancient records Kenesitune and Kensintune. Chenesi is a proper name; a person so named held the manor of Huish in Somersetshire, in the reign of Edward the Confessor. Kensington manor, which had been the property of Edward, a thane of King Edward’s, was granted by the Conqueror to Geoffrey, bishop of Constance, Chief Justiciary of England, under whom it was holden (when the survey of Domesday was taken) by Alberic or Aubrey de Vere, ancestor of the Earls of Oxford. The manor,” says the Survey, “is taxed at 10 hides, and contains 10 caracutes; on the demesnes are four ploughs, the villans have five, and might employ six. There are 12 villans, holding each a virgate, and 6 who hold 3 virgates jointly. The priest has half a virgate, and there are seven slaves, meadow equal to two plough lands, pasture for the cattle of the town, pannage for 200 hogs and three acres of vineyards, valued altogether at 10_l._--in King Edward’s time at the same. The manor was afterwards the absolute property of the Vere family, and was held by them _in capite_ for several generations, being parcel of their barony by virtue of their office of High Chamberlain. [In 1264, on the death of Hugh de Vere, the demesne was valued at 4_d._ an acre, and the meadow-land at 3_d._; a dovehouse at 3_s._, a court and vineyard 3_s._, fishpond and moat 2_s._ In 1296 the whole value of the manor was 19_l._ 13_s._ 6¼_d._ In 1331 it was somewhat less.] Aubrey de Vere, grand justiciary of England, was created Earl of Oxford by the Empress Maud, and afterwards confirmed in that title by Henry II. Upon the attainder of John, the twelfth earl, who was beheaded in 1461 for his adherence to the house of Lancaster, the manor was seized by the crown and given to Richard, duke of Gloucester. It came afterwards into the hands of William, marquis of Berkley, who gave it to Sir Reginald Bray. John, earl of Oxford, son of the attainted earl, having been restored to his honours, recovered (probably by purchase) the ancient inheritance of his ancestors, and by his will, bearing date 1509, left it to John, his nephew, the next heir to the title. Subsequently it passed to Sir Walter Cope, and from him to Henry Rich, earl of Holland, to whose descendant maternally, Lord Kensington, it now belongs. In 1776 the only surviving son of Francis Edwardes, Esq., who married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Rich, earl of Warwick and Holland, was created an Irish peer by the title of Baron Kensington.”

[2] Campden House, now a ladies’ school, was built about the year 1612, by Sir Baptist Hickes, an eminent citizen of London, afterwards Viscount Campden. In 1691, it was the residence of Anne, then Princess of Denmark, who lived here for about four years with her son, the Duke of Gloucester, who, unhappily, died at the age of eleven years. Here, it is said, a regiment of boys about his own age was formed for his amusement, “with whom he sported in military evolutions.” The house has undergone many alterations, but retains many of its original features. The palace of Kensington was chiefly built by William III., but “considerably enlarged and altered by succeeding monarchs.” Until his death, it was the residence of his late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex.

[3] Clarendon, in his “History of the Rebellion,” has drawn the character of this peer:--“He was a very handsome man, of a lovely and winning presence, and genteel conversation, by which he got so easy an admission into the Court of King James,” that he abandoned the life he had previously led--that of a soldier. The favour of James was continued to him by his successor, Charles I.; and “whilst the weather was fair, he continued to flourish above any man about the court; but the storm did no sooner arise, but he changed so much, and declined so fast from the honour he was thought to be master of,” that he grew distrusted by the two State parties, and alternately deserted and betrayed both. Ultimately, however, he took part with the king, was taken prisoner at a skirmish near Kingston, tried, and sentenced to death: “the house being divided upon the question, whether he should be reprieved or not, and the Speaker giving the casting vote against him.” “Thus,” says Lord Orford, “perished the once gay, beautiful, and gallant Earl of Holland, whom neither the honours showered upon him by his prince, nor his former more tender connexion with the queen, could preserve from betraying and engaging against both. On the scaffold he appeared sunk beneath the indignation and cruelty he received from men, to whom and from whom he had deserted.”

[4] The death of Addison is thus touchingly described by Dr. Young:--“After a long and manly, but vain struggle, with his distemper, he dismissed his physicians, and with them all hopes of life; but with his hopes of life, he dismissed not his concern for the living, but sent for a youth nearly related, and finely accomplished (the young Earl of Warwick), yet not above being the better for good impressions from a dying friend. He came, but life now glimmering in the socket, the dying friend was silent: after a decent and proper pause, the youth said, ‘Dear sir, you sent for me; I believe and I hope that you have some commands; I shall hold them most sacred.’ Forcibly grasping the youth’s hand, he softly said, ‘See in what peace a Christian can die.’ He spoke with difficulty, and soon expired.” Dr. Johnson states that “Addison had been tutor to the young Earl, and anxiously, but in vain, endeavoured to check the licentiousness of his manners. As a last effort, he requested him to come into his room when he lay at the point of death, hoping that the solemnity of the scene might work upon his feelings. When his pupil came to receive his last commands, he told him that he had sent for him to see how a christian could die.”

[5] The second son of the first, and brother of the second, Lord Holland, was Charles James Fox, much of whose early life was passed at Holland House.

[6] Francis Cleyn was born at Rostock, and was originally in the service of Christian IV. of Denmark. For a proper education in art he visited Italy, and there became known to Sir Henry Wotton, by whom he was introduced to Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I. Soon after his arrival in England he was employed to give designs, “both in history and grotesque,” for the tapestry manufacture then recently established at Mortlock. At Somerset House he painted a ceiling of a room near the gallery, with histories and compartments in gold; the entrance of Wimbledon House he painted in fresco; Bolsover in Nottinghamshire, Stone Park in Northamptonshire and Carew House at Parson’s Green, were ornamented by him. He also executed several books for carvers, goldsmiths, &c., “made designs for various artists,” and was the master of Dobson. His two sons also were esteemed painters. He died in London--“a most pious man,” according to Evelyn--in 1658.

[7] Whilst mentioning the drama as connected with Holland House, it is worthy of notice that the tragedy of “Jane Shore” was acted there in the “late Lord Holland’s time” (Dodaley’s “Old Plays,” vol. xii. p. 345). The late Mr. Fox supported the character of _Lord Hastings_; his brother, the General, was _Bishop of Ely_; Lady Sarah Bunbury, _Jane Shore_; and Lady Susan O’Brien, _Alicia_.

[8] “The name Blickling,” according to Blomefield, “seems to signifie the low meadows at the Beck.”

[9] Among these odd substitutes for ancient heroes, are carved copies of foot-soldiers of the time of George III. It would seem as if the Earl of Buckingham--writing in 1765--had actually contemplated the “improvements” indicated in the following letter. “I have,” he writes, “determined what to do with the Hall. Some tributary sorrow should, however, be paid to the nine Worthies--but Hector has lost his spear and his nose; David his harp; Godfrey of Boulogne his ears; Alexander the Great his highest shoulder; and part of Joshua has fallen in. As the ceiling is to be raised, eight of them must have gone; and Hector is at all events determined to leave his niche. You will forgive my replacing them with eight worthies of my own times, whose figures are not yet essentially mutilated, viz., Dr. Shebbeare, Mr. Wilkes, Dr. Hill, Mr. Glover, Mr. Deputy Hodges, Mr. Whitfield, Justice Fielding, and Mr. Foote; and as Anne Boleyn was born at Blickling, it will not be improper to purchase her father Henry, the eighth figure (which by order is no longer to be exhibited in the Tower), who will fill with credit the space occupied by the falling Hector.”

[10] We borrow a passage from Mr. Robinson’s “Vitruvius Britannicus,” which conveys a compliment as justly merited as it is well expressed. “On the resignation of the Duke of Sussex, the Marquess of Northampton was elevated to the chair of the Royal Society; and if ardent zeal in the promotion of scientific truth, unaffected affability of manners, liberal and unostentatious hospitality, and exemplary private character, are deemed qualifications for the blue riband of science, his lordship’s claim to the distinguished honour must be universally admitted.”

[11] Among the pictures are portraits of Bishop Compton, Sir Stephen Fox, a “conversation piece,” by West, including the eighth Earl of Northampton, his lady, and two children. There is also a portrait of Spenser, second earl (in armour), who, as we have seen, devoted himself so bravely to the royal cause in the civil wars, and was killed at Hopton Heath: at an advanced age he raised a regiment of foot and a troop of horse at his own expense. Other portraits at Castle Ashby are, a curious and finely-painted head of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who was killed by Felton. In the Long Gallery are portraits of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his countess, painted on panel; these are valuable as examples of the art of the time of Henry VI. This Talbot was one of the most renowned heroes of his time, having gained no less than forty battles and skirmishes. At his death he was above eighty years of age. Walpole ranks these pictures among the most ancient specimens of English painting.

[12] “Kirby Hall is situated in Corby Hundred, about nine miles north-west of Oundle, partly in the Parish of Bulwick, and partly in that of Gretton--the Church of which contains several monuments to members of the family of Hatton.”

[13] The family of Hatton is stated to be descended from Ivon, a noble of Norway, whose sixth son, Wolfaith, obtained the Manor of Hatton, in Cheshire. Sir Christopher Hatton is said to have danced himself into Court favour; mightily pleasing the fancy of “the virgin Queen” by the graces of his person; and consequently rising with great rapidity through the several offices of Captain of the Guard, Vice Chamberlain, Privy Councillor, &c., until, in 1587, he obtained possession of the seals as Lord Chancellor. He died not long afterwards--and, it is believed, of a broken heart, in consequence of a demand, on the part of his fickle and heartless mistress, for the payment of an old debt, which he was unable to discharge. He was a liberal patron of learning,--one of the worthies of the Elizabethan age; “so great, that his sentence was a law to the subject; and so wise, that his opinion was an oracle to the Queen.”

[14] The name has been said to be compounded of _Bent_, an old English word for brow of a hill, and the Celtic _al_, or _hal_ (Lat. _altus_), a termination commonly found in names of hills. The motto of Benthall, “Ten_de_ _Bene et alta_ pete,” seems to allude to this interpretation of the name; but as, in Domesday Book, the name is spelt “Benhale,” the first syllable may be derived from the Gaelic word _En_, or _An_--water, the letter _B_ being only the prefix importing the article _the_. This suggestion receives some weight from the fact that the Benthall estate, and one of the same name in another part of Shropshire, are washed by a river--the Severn. The derivation of the second syllable is too plainly correct to be interfered with.

[15] Benthall MSS. Dugdale’s “Monasticon.”

[16] Polyd. Virg.

[17] Heralds’ “Visitations of Salop.”

[18] It is remarkable that a superior seigniory or lordship in this estate was retained by the Burnell family till so late a period as the close of the reign of Richard III., while the Benthalls, the subtenants, were lords of the manor, as appears by their descriptions in deeds and on the court-rolls.

So early as in the reign of Edward III., lords of manors began to neglect the military services, on condition of which they held their lands under the tenant _in capite_ (in most instances a powerful baron), who, on his part, owed and neglected services to the king, the supreme owner of the lands. The rights of the superior or intermediate lords becoming disused, the lords of manors gradually acquired the tenure which, in the present day, supposes only a superior right in the sovereign; yet it was not till Henry VII. had grasped the sceptre that the feudal system of military service was totally suppressed.

In effecting national improvement, that sagacious monarch acted on the just conviction that his own paid army was better to be relied on than the retainers of his nobles: he wisely conceived that, having already dethroned their sovereign, they might be little scrupulous of removing his successor, whose personal pretensions to the throne, though strengthened by his marriage, were by no means universally admitted.

[19] Buried in the family vault, near the altar of Benthall Chapel.

[20] This gentleman and his wife, Ann, daughter of Piers Cariswall, Esq. of Lilleshall, were interred in St. Clement’s Chapel, in the south aisle of the parish church of Much Wenlock. There is a small estate in the parish belonging to their descendants, the Benthalls of Buckfast, in Devonshire.

[21] Rot. Hund.

[22] At that time the head of the family of Cassey of Wightfield, Cassey Compton, and Kilcot, in the county of Gloucester.

These manors descended to John Cassey, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in the reign of Henry IV., and from him to Thomas, the subject of this note, who died while on a visit to his son-in-law at Benthall, A.D. 1634, and was buried in Wenlock Church.

[23] Hulbert’s “History of Shropshire.”

[24] This tower was erected by one of the family of the Phelips. The ascent to it is so gradual, that he is said, upon one occasion, to have visited the summit in his coach and four. The road winds round the hill.

[25] The family suffered considerably, in consequence of their devotion to the royal cause during the unhappy reign of Charles the First; and, afterwards, their loyalty being unchilled by their losses, Colonel Richard Phelips united with Colonel Wyndham in secreting, and subsequently conveying out of the kingdom, the Second Charles.

[26] “Skimmitting, or, as it is called in the north of England, stang-riding, is still kept up in many parts of the kingdom, for the purpose of exposing to shame and ridicule, the man who has been guilty of cruelty or infidelity towards his wife.” In the basso-relievo at Montacute, the wife, accompanied by a crowd of villagers, is represented bestowing a few sound blows with her shoe upon her faithless partner, and “the artist has with happy effect introduced a church in the back-ground, to intimate that certain vows and promises which had been there solemnly pledged ought to have been kept in remembrance.”

[27] “It would appear from the introduction of the elegant screens or door-cases in the principal living rooms, that the cold draughts of air, caused by the long passages, the extent of the rooms, and the great size of the windows, must have been felt even in the time of Elizabeth; these screens could have been made only for warmth and comfort. They are beautifully painted, and their effect is very quaint and pleasing.”--C. J. RICHARDSON.

[28] On a mural monument in the chancel of Caverswall Church, adjoining that of his father, which we have engraved, is the following singular inscription to his memory:--

“M.S.

“George Cradock, Esq., (for his great prvdence in yᵉ common lawes well worthy to be beav-Clarke of yᵉ assizes for this Circvit), did take to wife yᵉ most amiable, most loving Dorothy, yᵉ davghter of John Savnders, Doctor of Physicke, by whom he had a Pair-royall of incomparable davghters, to wit, Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Mary.

“It is easie to gvess that he lived in a splendid degree, if I shall bvt recovnt vnto you that

Sʳ. Thomas Slingsby, Baronet, } { Dorothy } yᵉ Right Honᵇˡᵉ Robt. Lord Cholmondely } Maried { Elizabeth } Coheir. Sʳ. John Bridgeman, Baronet, } { Mary }

“But! but! to our grief, George Cradock is assavlted by death in yᵉ meridjan of his age, not far off from his Castle of Caverswal (lately bvilt, even to beavty, by Mathew Cradock, Esq., his father, who lies inter’d near this place).

“And dying of yᵉ small pox yᵉ 16th of April, 1643, he tooke himselfe to yᵉ private masion of this tombe, erected for him at yᵉ cost of Dorothy, his obseqviovs wife, where he now rests (vnder the protection of an Essoine) vntil he shall be svmmon’d to appeare at yᵉ last great and general Assizes.”

The Sir Thomas Slingsby, of Scriven, Bart., who married Dorothy, the eldest of this “pair-royal,” was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell.

[29] William Chetwynd, who was Gentleman Usher of the Chamber to Henry the Seventh, in the ninth year of that king’s reign was barbarously and treacherously assassinated on Tixal Heath, near Ingestre, by Sir Humphrey Stanley, of Pipe, from motives of jealousy, having inveigled him from his house by a counterfeit letter. Pennant says:--“It does not appear that justice overtook the assassin, although his widow perseveringly evoked it.”