Part 9

“The Manor of Loseley,” according to Mr. Kempe, in his introduction to “The Loseley Manuscripts,”[47] “bore its present appellation from the Saxon times.” Osmond gave it to King Edward the Confessor; the Conqueror gave it to Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, a stout leader of the Normans at Hastings fight; and after passing into the possession of various persons by inheritance or purchase, it was, early in the reign of the Eighth Henry, bought by Christopher More, Esq., whose grandfather was Thomas More, of Norton, in the County of Derby, Gent., with whom the pedigree of More of Loseley, in the Books of the Heralds’ College, begins. His son and successor, William, who was knighted by the Earl of Leicester--“the Queen being present at the ceremony”--built the Mansion at Loseley, commencing the work in 1562--it is conjectured “to the north of an older edifice.” It was evidently intended to form three squares of a quadrangle, if not a complete square. The centre of the building, which remains to this day, was completed in 1568. The Gallery and Chapel were added subsequently, but these have been “of late years demolished.” The accompanying wood-cut is of the South front; and, fortunately for the picturesque effect of the subject, a group of trees on the

lawn conceals from view the ungainly modern porch, and some other monstrous additions to the venerable building of the sixteenth century.

To Sir William More succeeded, in 1600, Sir George More, who had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth; and who, under James the First, was Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, Lieutenant of the Tower, and Receiver-General and Treasurer to Henry Prince of Wales. The last male heir of the Mores dying in 1689, the estate devolved to Margaret his sister, who married Sir Thomas Molyneux, Knight, the ancestor of the present possessor of Loseley--a name even more renowned than that with which thenceforward it became united.

It was during the Lordship of Sir George More--between the years 1600 and 1632--that the history of Loseley became deeply interesting, as associated with some of the most remarkable events and illustrious worthies of the epoch. The famous Dr. Donne--Poet, Scholar, and Divine--privately married the daughter of Sir George. Donne was at that time Secretary to the Lord Chancellor Egerton, the husband of the Lady’s aunt. The marriage was “to Sir George so immeasurably unwelcome,” that he successfully exerted his influence to procure the Poet’s dismissal from his honourable and profitable service, and consigned to a gaol the clergyman by whom the knot had been tied. His father-in-law--although earnestly intreated in a letter, still preserved at Loseley, “so to deal in the matter as the persuasions of nature, reason, wisdome, and Christianity should dictate”--separated the couple, imprisoning one “offender,” and involving the other in a tedious and ruinous law-suit, for the recovery of his “deare life.” His friend and biographer, exquisite Izaak Walton, has in his own simple and natural manner recorded the story of this young affection, and of the sad trials and pecuniary difficulties in which the Poet and his wife were for a long period involved; presenting us with a beautiful though a mournful picture of a high and generous mind struggling against the most galling of all troubles; to him the more intolerable, because of her whom he had “transplanted into a wretched fortune, which he laboured to disguise from her by many honest inventions.” At length, however, fate was not only borne but conquered; Dr. Donne entered into holy orders, became a prosperous man--King’s Chaplain and Dean of St. Paul’s--and the gates of Loseley did not for ever remain closed against him. Other names--equally immortal--are associated with this ancient house. Sir George More was the guardian of Lord Herbert of Cherbury--the Knight “whose chivalry was drawn from the purest founts of the Fairy Queen”--the history of whose life is a brilliant romance.

Queen Elizabeth paid frequent visits to Loseley during her “progresses;” and among the “manuscripts” there exists a letter, not very complimentary to the hospitality of the Mansion, in which Sir Anthony Wingfield warns his friend Mr. More that he will find the visit “a very great trouble and hinderance,” and advises him how to get himself excused from the honour. It is certain, however, that her Majesty did receive entertainment there, several times. There are letters from Sir Christopher Hatton, in 1583, and from Lord Hunsdon, in 1591, ordering Sir William More that his house be “kept sweete and cleane” to receive her Highness--and the former intimates, that a past excuse will not again serve a turn; “for,” writes Sir Christopher, “I have been heretofore informed that you had some sycke of the infectione the last yeare, and of other dangerous diseases of late in it, w’ch is now reported here as a misinformacion and for otherwise than the brute (bruit) declared.” The letter is addressed “from the Court at Otlands, to the Right w’shipˡˡ my very good frende, Sʳ Will’m More, Knight.”

ARUNDEL CHURCH,

SUSSEX.

The church at Arundel--of which we give a print of the interior from a drawing by Mr. Prout--is of very ancient date. For a series of years down to our own time, it was suffered to fall into decay; and age was gradually removing all tokens of its former splendour. The roof had disappeared from the chancel; and ivy had overgrown its carved pillars and mullioned windows; the few repairs to which it had been subjected had been carried out in bad taste; and for a long period it remained a discreditable evidence of the apathy of successive Dukes of Norfolk, rather than a monument to record the honours and glories of the race. It is now, however, in progress of restoration; its

claims upon the noble family have been recognised; the inroads of time have been effectually arrested; and it is undergoing such necessary changes (at the cost of the present Duke) as are dictated by judgment and good sense. The church occupies an elevated position north of the town, and nearly opposite the principal entrance into the Castle. Its exterior has many traces of antiquity, and not a few remains of early beauty. Age, and the slovenly hands of stonemasons, have, however, materially injured its venerable character and imposing effect--its principal injury having been sustained by the addition of a wooden spire placed above a low square tower which rises from the centre of the edifice. The church is of large size, and consists of a double arcade, dividing the nave from the aisles, above which are placed, “in what in the architecture of the age was termed the cleoestory, a row of circular windows enclosing quatrefoils--a shape of rare occurrence.” The south transept was, we are told, formerly occupied by the parochial altar; it now contains the communion-table and the font; the latter being octagonal upon an octagonal shaft, with a corresponding pedestal. It is composed of Sussex marble, and is of very early date. In the north transept was “the chantry of St. Christopher, commonly called Salmon’s”--to which was attached a priest whose endowment was the appropriation of the Church of Rudgwick, “with two acres of land, one in Rudgwick for his use, the other in Arundel for the site of his residence.” The foundation of this chantry was created by the benefaction of Edward Mille, Esq. “The first incumbent, William Baynton, took possession of the benefice on the 9th May, 1440.”[48]

The original ecclesiastical foundation was that of the alien priory, or cell, dedicated to St. Nicholas, established by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel, soon after the Conquest, and subjected to the Benedictine Abbey of Seez, or De Sagio, in Normandy. It consisted only of a Prior and three

or four Monks, who continued to conduct the establishment for nearly three centuries, until the 3rd year of the reign of Richard II., when Richard Fitz-alan, Earl of Arundel, obtained a license to extinguish the Priory and to found a Chantry for the maintenance of a master and twelve secular canons with their officers. Upon this change, it was styled “the College of the Holy Trinity.”[49]

The Collegiate church being intended as the mausoleum of his family, the founder supplied ample means to enrich it with examples of monumental splendour. The tomb of his son Thomas Fitz-alan and his wife Beatrix, daughter of John, King of Portugal, was the earliest of those placed in the church. It is of alabaster, finely sculptured.[50] It was formerly painted and gilt. It contains the effigies of the Earl and his Lady; at the feet of the Earl is a horse, the cognizance of the Fitz-alans, and at those of the Lady are two lap-dogs. Around, in niches, are small standing figures of ecclesiastics or pleureurs, with open books, as performing funeral obsequies, and above them as many escutcheons, the emblazoning of which is nearly obliterated. Other “stately tombs” are erected to the memories of John Fitz-alan and Eleanor his wife; Thomas, Earl of Arundel, and his wife, “one of the eyres of Richard Wodevyle Earl Rivers, sister to Elizabeth Queen of England, sometime wife to King Edward IV.”--recording the date of the Earl’s death, 1524; and to Henry, Earl of Arundel, the last of the Fitz-alans, erected by his son-in-law, John, Baron Lumley, with a Latin inscription, of which the following is a translation:--

“The magnanimous hero, whose effigy is here beheld, and whose remains are deposited beneath this monument, was the Earl of this place, the last of a family deriving its lengthened descent from the son of Alan. His name was Henry, Lord and Baron Maltravers, Clunne and Oswaldestre, senior knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, only son and successor of William, Earl of Arundel, and the worthy representative of his father’s virtues. To Henry, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, he discharged the duty of Privy Councillor. Under the first, he was Governor of Calais, Marshal of the army at the siege of Boulogne, and afterwards Lord Chamberlain. At the coronation of Edward, he officiated as Earl Marshal; at that of Mary, as Lord High Constable. To the former, as to his father, he was Lord Chamberlain: to the latter, as well as to her sister, Queen Elizabeth, he was Lord High Steward, and President of the Council.

“Thus, this man, illustrious in his descent, more illustrious in his employments, and deemed most illustrious both at home and abroad, rich in honour, but broken with labour and worn out with age, having attained his sixty-eighth year, calmly and piously fell asleep in the Lord, in London, on the 25th of February, 1579.

“To the kindest of fathers-in-law, and the best of patrons, here interred, John Lumley, Baron Lumley, his affectionate son-in-law and executor, with many tears, and as a last testimony of his love, has consecrated this monument, and adorned it with his own armour, not for the sake of preserving his memory, which his virtues have rendered immortal, but for the sake of that mortal body, which is here deposited, in the hope of a happy resurrection.”

There is one monument of a peculiarly striking character; it occupies an opening cut in the wall, between the chancel and the Lady’s chapel--the chapel which forms the subject of our principal engraving. They are divided by low arches. The tomb is an open feretrum or bier, carved in alabaster, and formerly painted, under which lies an emaciated figure extended on a shroud. Upon the upper slab is an effigy in plate armour, with a close tabard, emblazoned with Fitz-alan and Maltravers, quarterly, the feet resting on a horse. Two angels support the head. It represents John Fitz-alan, Earl of Arundel, who died at Beauvais of wounds received at the siege of Gerberoy, in 1435. He had selected this spot as the place of his interment; and although his remains were buried in the Cathedral of Beauvais, this singular monument was erected to his memory here.

The church encloses several monuments in addition to those we have enumerated; and in the chancel are many brasses, containing epitaphs “in obsolete Latin and monkish verse” to masters and fellows of the college and to servants of the noble families--the Montgomeries, the Albinis, the Fitz-alans and the Howards--who have held sway over Arundel for centuries, for--

“Since William rose and Harold fell, There have been Counts of Arundel; And Earls old Arundel shall have While rivers flow and forests wave.”

The decorations of the church and its magnificent tombs were either seriously injured or destroyed by soldiers quartered in the church during the siege of the castle in 1643. The windows were formerly filled with richly stained glass, the eastern window containing a series of kneeling figures, male and female, in coat armour and mantles, with their respective armorial bearings.[51]

It is to the honour of the present Duke of Norfolk, that although a member of the Roman Catholic Church, he has deemed it his duty to restore this ancient and venerable edifice from the state of dilapidation in which it has for many years existed.

BOXGROVE CHURCH,

SUSSEX.

The Priory, Boxgrove--part of which is now in ruins, but portions of which are still used as the Parish Church--was founded by Robert de Haiâ, Lord of Halmacro, A.D. 1117, in the reign of King Henry the First, in honour of the Virgin and St. Blaise, for three monks only of the Benedictine order. The sole daughter of the founder was married to Roger St. John, who added three more; and the number was augmented to fifteen, by their two sons, William and Robert, in the reign of King Stephen. It remained, however, subordinate to the Abbey of L’Essay, or De Exaquio, in Normandy, A.D. 1149. Before the suppression, the monks were reduced to nine. But when Edward the Third assumed possession of other alien Priories, that of Boxgrove secured the privilege of being “indigena,” by which it was rendered independent, and retained its endowment--considerable in proportion to the extent of the establishment. In the year 1535, its annual revenue was £185 19_s._, without including the income derived from fines and renewals.

The Ruins of Halnacre, or Halnaker, House, the mansion of Robert de Haiâ, or De Haye, still exist in the grounds of Goodwood, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Richmond. To this “worthie and valourous knight,” the estate was given by Henry the First; from his descendant it passed, by marriage, to the family of St. John. In the reign of Edward the Third it was transferred, also by marriage, to the Poynings; subsequently, it passed through the hands of the Bonvilles into those of the Lords de la Warr, who gave it to Henry the Eighth in exchange for the Abbey and lands of Wherwell, in Hampshire. Halnacre remained an appanage of the Crown until towards the close of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, when the Morleys received a grant of it. In 1701, it became the property of Mary, Countess of Derby,[52] who inherited from her father, Sir William Morley. At her death in 1752, it devolved to her cousin, Sir Thomas Ackland, Bart., who sold it for the sum of £50,000 to the Duke of Richmond. The Remains are of very limited extent; sufficient, however, to indicate the former magnitude and splendour of the edifice.

Of the conventual buildings (the great extent of which may be estimated by the old walls which form enclosures to neighbouring farm-yards) little remains except the Refectory, now used as a barn; and the present Parish Church, supposed to be the Choir of the original building. Some portions of the ancient Nave, which appears to be of a

more remote era, may be traced in the broken arches westward of the Church; and the Chapter-house is attached, externally, to the North Transept, having a Norman doorway, with arches on each side of it, leading, it is believed, to a Cloister which extended to the Refectory and the habitation of the monks. It is this fine relic of the once extensive and richly-decorated structure which Mr. Prout has pictured in the appended Print. A considerable portion of it has been removed by time; and the Church is now separated from the Refectory by a huge gap, where sheep were feeding quietly at the time of our visit. Marks of a Piscina, and a place for the Bell, may still be detected by a minute scrutiny. In an old MS., which came accidentally into our hands, it is surmised that this portion of the edifice was the Private Chapel of the monks.

The exterior of the Church (represented on the opposite page) is of very imposing character, bearing indubitable tokens of remote antiquity. The Tower is low, with windows; in its general form it resembles that of Winchester, and seems to be of the era of Henry the Second. The interior consists of a Nave and Chancel, without division, with aisles on each side, north and south Transepts; and a space, westward of the Tower, which is certainly the most ancient part of the structure. In length it is 126 feet; the width of the Nave being 24 feet, and that of the aisles each 13 feet 6 inches. The Eastern Window, of three large lights, is separated internally by tall shafts and flourished capitals, and is ornamented, externally, with the nail-head moulding. This mixture of ornament affords almost conclusive proof that the structure is of the date of Stephen or Henry the Second, when the round Norman arch was first abandoned, and several novelties, which prevailed only in a few instances, were introduced. Pillars, somewhat similar in character, support the roof; but they have been consigned, from time to time, to the hands of the “white-washer,” who has effectually hidden the fine Purbeck

marble of which they are composed.

The sepulchral remains in the Church of Boxgrove are remarkable, and worthy of investigation, although it is difficult to ascertain with any degree of certainty to whom the Tombs severally belong. They are six in number, two situated against the north wall of the north aisle, and another of large dimensions under one of the arches which divide the Chancel from the north aisle; and three others, placed against the south wall of the south aisle. Two of these probably contain the bodies of a sister and daughter of William de Albini, Earl of Arundel, who left a donation to the Church for prayers to be made “pro animâ Adelizæ reginæ (his mother, and Queen-Dowager of Henry the First), et pro animabus Oliviæ; sororis meæ, et Oliviæ filiæ meæ, quæ ibi jacent.” Out of this circumstance has probably arisen a tradition, that Queen Adeliza was here interred; but there is sufficient evidence to prove that her remains were deposited in the Conventual Church of Reading.[53] Dugdale asserts, but erroneously, that Gundreda, wife of William Earl Warren, was here buried; her husband, it is believed, was a benefactor to the establishment. Thomas de Poynings and Philippa his second wife (daughter of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, Countess Dowager of Arundel and Pembroke), are also said to have been here interred; and upon the key-stone of one of the tombs in the north aisle are the arms of the family of St. John (argent in a chief gules, two mullets pierced or)--the tomb possibly of Thomas de Poynings, summoned as Lord St. John of Basing, 1369, (42 Edw. III.), obit. 1429. It is left mainly to conjecture, aided by the uncertain light of tradition, to determine whose dust is covered by these stones. There is, however, one Monument, concerning which no doubts can exist. It is a Sacellum, or Shrine, belonging to the family of West, or La War. The date, as may be seen on the pendant ornament between the two north-eastern arches, is 1532, which was during the lifetime of Thomas West, second Baron La War and Cantilupe; but it is supposed to have been erected after his death by his daughter, Dorothy, who married Sir Edward Owen. The inscription under the Altar in the Shrine--

Of yʳ charite pray for yᵉ souls of Thomas La Ware and Elyzabeth hˢ wyf,

seems to sanction the supposition. In other parts of the Shrine may be read the words,

Thomas La War Anno Dni MVXXXII.

and

Elizabeth La War.

Between the niches of the Shrine, over the arcades, are four coats of arms, supported by angels, with the quarterings of La War, Cantilupe, Mortimer, St. John, Poynings, Bonville, Wingfield, &c. The Tomb is a peculiarly interesting and remarkably beautiful object. It has recently been cleaned and repaired by order of the Duke of Richmond--somewhat clumsily, however, for the workman has disarranged several of the decorations, and one of the figures he has placed “upside down.” It is richly carved in stone, and abundantly ornamented. Mr. Prout has introduced it into the Drawing which exhibits the Interior of the venerable Church, with its Pulpit of carved oak, black with age. An ancient Font has been recently removed from the Nave to the foot of the Pulpit. In the Chancel are many encaustic tiles--one of which supplies us with an initial letter.

The Church is situated about eight miles west of Arundel, a short distance out of the road to Chichester, from which it is distant about four miles.

ASTON HALL,

WARWICKSHIRE.