Part 45

To Hever the King repaired on a visit, but probably suspecting the cause of his arrival, Anne, under the pretext of sickness, kept closely to her chamber, which she did not leave until after his departure. “But this reserve was more likely to animate than daunt a royal lover; and Henry, for the purpose of restoring the reluctant lady to court, and bringing her within the sphere of his solicitations,” created her father Baron and Viscount Rochfort, and gave him the important post of Treasurer of the Royal Household. He also surrounded himself with her relatives and friends. Among those who were his chief companions were her father, Thomas, Viscount Rochfort; her brother George; her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk; her cousin, Sir Francis Bryan; her near relative and admirer, Sir Henry Norris; her intimate friend, Sir William Compton; and the King’s old favourite, the Duke of Suffolk—a lively but dissolute society, not one of whom showed any high regard for marriage vows, or treated their infringement as anything but a jest. “Suffolk,” says Mr. Brewer, “had been betrothed to one lady; then married another; then abandoned her, on the plea of his previous contract, for the lady whom he had in the first instance rejected. Norfolk lived with his duchess on the most scandalous terms. Sir William Compton had been cited in the Ecclesiastical Court for living in open adultery with a married woman. The fate of Norris and George Boleyn is too well known to require comment. Sir Francis Bryan, the chief companion in the King’s amusements, and the minister of his pleasures, was pointed out by common fame as more dissolute than all the rest.” Sir Thomas Wyatt, though married, wore her miniature round his neck, and sang of her love. Still, however, Henry’s suit, which was dishonourable even to one so depraved and lost to honour as he was, was unprosperous when made; and she is said by an old writer, and one not favourable to her, to have replied firmly to the King, “Your wife I cannot be, both in respect of my own unworthiness, and also because you have a queen already; and your mistress I will not be.” Foiled in his attempt to gain her by any other means, the unscrupulous monarch now began seriously to set himself to the task of obtaining a divorce from Queen Catherine, who had been his wife for seventeen years, in order that he might replace her by Anne Boleyn. The history of these proceedings is a part of the history of the kingdom, and need not be here detailed. It is, however, a tradition of Hever that when the King came “a wooing” he sounded his bugle in the distance, that his lady-love might know of his approach. The divorce being obtained, Anne Boleyn, having previously been married to the King, became “indeed a queen;” and having given birth to two children—Queen Elizabeth and a still-born son—was arrested on a false and disgraceful charge, and was beheaded, to make room for a new queen in the person of one of her own maids of honour, Jane Seymour.

Of the personal appearance of Queen Anne Boleyn Mr. Brewer thus pleasantly discourses:—“The blood of the Ormonds ran in her veins. From her Irish descent she inherited—

‘The black-blue Irish hair and Irish eyes.’

And, like the Irish Isolt of the great poet, Anne Boleyn was remarkable for the exquisite turn of her neck and her glossy throat. She was a little, lively, sparkling brunette, with fascinating eyes and long black hair, which, contrary to the sombre fashion of those days, she wore coquettishly floating loosely down her back, interlaced with jewels. The beauty of her eyes and hair struck all beholders alike—grave ecclesiastics and spruce young sprigs of nobility. ‘Sitting _in_ her hair on a litter’ is the feature at her coronation which seems to have made the deepest impression upon Archbishop Cranmer. ‘On Sunday morning (1st September, 1532), solemnly and in public, Madame Anne being then at Windsor, _con li capilli sparsi_, completely covered with the most costly jewels, was created by the king Countess of Pembroke.’ George Wyatt, grandson of Sir Thomas Wyatt, the poet, one of her admirers, describes her, in the fantastic language of the sixteenth century, as having ‘a beauty not so whitely as clear and fresh above all that we may esteem, which appeared much more excellent by her favour passing sweet and cheerful. There was found, indeed, upon the side of her nail upon one of her fingers some little show of a nail, which yet was so small, by the report of some that have seen her, as the work-master seemed to leave it an occasion of greater grace to her hand, which, with the tip of one of her fingers, might be and was usually by her hidden, without any least blemish to it.’”

The Earl of Wiltshire (Sir Thomas Boleyn), father of the ill-fated queen, died in 1538—two years after witnessing the beheading of his only son, Viscount Rochfort, and of his daughter, Queen Anne Boleyn; and on his death the family of Boleyn, in the main line, became extinct.

After the death of the Earl, Henry, with the rapacity that kept pace with his profligacy, claimed and seized the castle of Hever in right of his murdered wife, and subsequently settled it upon one of his later wives. He also purchased adjoining lands from others of the Boleyn family, and thus enlarged the estate. The castle and manor of Hever, and other adjoining lands, were settled upon Anne of Cleves, after her divorce, for life, or so long as she should remain in the kingdom, at the yearly rent of £93 13_s._ 3½_d._ She made Hever her general place of residence, and died there according to some writers, but at Chelsea according to others, in 1557. In “the same year the Hever estates were sold by commissioners, authorised by the Crown, to Sir Edward Waldegrave, lord chamberlain to the household of Queen Mary, who, on the accession of Elizabeth, was divested of all his employments, and committed to the Tower, where he died in 1561.” The estates afterwards passed through the family of Humphreys to that of Medley.

In 1745 Hever Castle was purchased by Timothy Waldo, of London, and of Clapham, in Surrey. The family of Waldo is said to derive itself, according to Hasted, from Thomas Waldo, of Lyons, in the kingdom of France, and was among the first who publicly renounced the doctrines of the Church of Rome, “one of the descendants of whom, in the reign of Elizabeth, in order to escape the persecutions of the Duke d’Alva, came over, it is said, and settled in England.” In 1575 Peter Waldo resided at Mitcham. His eldest son, Lawrence—according to Mr. Morris Jones, who has made much laudable research into the history of the family—had issue, by his wife Elizabeth, no fewer than fifteen children. Of these the twelfth child, Daniel Waldo, is the one pertaining to our present inquiry. He was a citizen and clothworker of London, and was fined as alderman and sheriff in 1661. He married Anne Claxton, by whom he had issue nine children. Of these the eldest son, Daniel Waldo, some of whose property was burnt down in the great fire of London in 1666, married twice, and from him are descended the Waldos of Harrow. Edward, the second son, became the purchaser, after the fire, of the sites of the “Black Bull,” the “Cardinal’s Hat,” and the “Black Boy,” in Cheapside, on which he erected a “great messuage,” where he dwelt; and in which, when it was taken down in 1861, was some fine oak carving, now at Gungrog.

This Edward Waldo was knighted—“at his own house in Cheapside,” the very house he had built—by the King, who was his guest, in 1677. On this occasion “he had the honour of entertaining his sovereign, together with the Princesses Mary and Anne and the Duchess of York, who, from a canopy of state in front of his house, viewed the civic procession pass along Cheapside on its way to Guildhall.” Sir Edward married three times. He died at his residence at Pinner in 1705, aged seventy-five, and was buried at Harrow. Nathaniel and Isaac, third and fourth sons of Daniel Waldo, died unmarried. Timothy, the fifth son, we shall speak of presently. Samuel, the sixth son, citizen and mercer of London, and freeman of the Clothworkers’ Company, married, first, a daughter of Sir Thomas Allen, of Finchley; and, secondly, Susan Churchman; and had, among other issue, Daniel Waldo, one of whose daughters, Sarah (married to Israel Woolliston), died at the age of ninety-eight, leaving her cousin, Col. Sibthorpe, M.P., her executor; Isaac Waldo, one of whose daughters, Sarah, married Humphrey Sibthorpe, M.D., Sheridan Professor of Botany, whose son, Humphrey Sibthorpe, M.P. (father of Col. Sibthorpe, M.P.), assumed for himself and his heirs, by royal sign-manual, the additional name and the arms of Waldo on inheriting the property left him by his relative, Peter Waldo, Esq., of Mitcham and of Warton.

Sir Timothy Waldo, to whom allusion has been made, the purchaser of Hever Castle, was admitted attorney of the King’s Bench and solicitor in Chancery in 1730; in 1739 he was under-sheriff of the city of London, and he was a liveryman and the clerk of the Salters’ Company. In 1736 he married Catherine Wakefield, and had by her an only child, Jane, who married, in 1762, George Medley, Esq., M.P., of Buxted. Sir Timothy, who was knighted in 1769, died at Clapham in 1786, his wife surviving him, and dying in 1806, aged ninety-five.

Their sole daughter and heiress, Jane, wife of George Medley, inherited all the property, including Hever Castle. She had no issue, and died in 1829, in her ninety-second year, leaving her large possessions, the personalty of which was sworn under £180,000, to her cousin, Jane Waldo, only daughter and heiress of Edward Waldo, of London, who administered to the estate as cousin and only next of kin. This lady, who thus became the possessor of Hever Castle, died at Tunbridge Wells in 1840, when the family became extinct. The name of Waldo had, however, been taken by royal sign-manual, in 1830, by Edmund Wakefield Meade, Esq., of Newbridge House, Dawlish, son of Francis Meade, of Lambeth. Edmund Meade-Waldo, Esq., became resident at Stonewall Park, near Hever Castle, which memorable edifice is still in possession of this family. He married Harriet, second daughter of Colonel Rochfort, M.P., by whom he left issue two sons and one daughter; the eldest son and heir being Edmund Waldo Meade-Waldo, Esq. The daughter, Harriet Dorothea, was married, in 1850, to the Rev. W. W. Battye, Rector of Hever, to which living he was presented by his father-in-law.

There are few ancient houses in the kingdom more deeply interesting to the curious occasional visitor than Hever; it does not, however, convey ideas of grandeur or magnificence. It never could have been large. Certainly at no period did it supply ample room to accommodate the suite of a luxurious monarch; and there is little doubt that the visits of the eighth Henry were made, if not secretly, without state, when he went to woo the unhappy lady he afterwards—and not long afterwards—murdered.

In the small chamber of the ground-floor, which still retains its minstrel’s gallery and its panelling of oak, was the bad king entertained by his victims; and in a very tiny chamber slept in pure innocence the object of his lust—a most reluctant bride and most miserable wife.

Yet Hever Castle was a stronghold, and a place well calculated for safety in the troublous times in which it was built and embattled. It is surrounded by a moat, across which a bridge leads to the entrance gateway. The entrance is defended by a strong portcullis, composed of several large pieces of wood laid across each other like a harrow, and riveted throughout with iron, designed to be let down in case of surprise, and when there was not time to shut the gate. To this succeeds an iron portcullis. It is followed by an inner solid oaken door, riveted with iron, firmly bound with iron pieces going the whole length across, and studded with iron knobs. A wooden portcullis then follows. Immediately adjoining these are two guardrooms, in which a dozen men-at-arms might long dispute the passage of an enemy.

Over the external gate, directly under the battlements, a series of machicolations project boldly forward: from these molten lead and other deadly appliances and missiles could be poured and discharged on the heads of assailants with terrible effect. Passing through these gates and beneath the portcullises, the visitor enters a spacious court-yard, surrounded on all its sides by the building. From this court-yard or quadrangle he enters the old Dining-hall, where the racks for hunting-spears are still visible, and where grotesque decorations will not fail to be noticed. In the stained-glass windows are the arms of the Boleyns and the Howards. Near this is the Chapel, and continuing along the passages are two rooms bearing the names of Anne Boleyn’s Bed-room and Anne of Cleves’ Room. Anne Boleyn’s Room “is really an interesting apartment, beautifully panelled, and contains the original family chairs, tables, muniment box, and what is called Anne’s bed.”[46] To this apartment several ante-rooms succeed, and the suite terminates in a grand Gallery occupying the whole length of the building, in which the judicial meetings and the social gatherings of the ancient family were held. It is about 150 feet in length, by 20 feet in width, with a vaulted roof, and panelled throughout with carved oak. On one side, placed at equal distances apart, are three recesses: the first, having a flight of three steps, is fitted up with elbowed benches, where the lord of the castle in old times held his courts, and where Henry VIII. is said, on the occasions of his visits, to have received the congratulations of the gentry; a second was occupied by the fire; and the third was used as a quiet corner for the old folks, while the younger ones frolicked throughout the mazes of the dance. At one end of the Gallery a trap-door leads to a dark chamber, called the Dungeon, in which the family are believed to have sheltered themselves in time of trouble, although it is manifest that the height of the room, compared with that of the building, must have betrayed its existence to even a careless observer.

The interior of that part properly called “the castle”—_e.g._ the entrance—is approached by a winding staircase in one of the towers. “About midway the staircase opens into the narrow vestibule of the great state-room. The Gothic tracery over the fire-place is extremely beautiful both in design and in execution. It consists of two angels, each bearing two shields, showing the arms and alliances of the Cary and Boleyn families, of Cary and Waldo, Boleyn and Howard, and Henry VIII. and Boleyn.”

WESTWOOD PARK.

WESTWOOD—one of the very finest, most perfect, and most interesting of the Elizabethan mansions that yet remain in England—lies about two miles from Droitwich, in Worcestershire, and six or seven from the “faithful city.” It stands in its own grand old deer park of some hundreds of acres in extent, and studded with such an assemblage of noble forest trees as is seldom seen. The oaks with which the park abounds are almost matchless for their beautiful forms and for their clean growth (for they are clear from moss or other extraneous growth from bole to crest), as well as, in some instances, for their gigantic stature. One of these “brave old oaks” in front of the mansion we had the curiosity to measure, and found it to be no less than eighteen yards in circumference of bole on the ground, and thirty-one feet in circumference at three feet from the earth, with a stem hollowed by time. It is one of the lions of the place, and looks venerable and time-worn enough to have braved the tempests of a thousand years. Another oak, not far from this, is one of the finest in England, having a clear trunk, without bend or branch, “straight as a mast,” to some forty feet or more in height before a single branch appears.

There are two Entrance Lodges to the park from the road leading from Droitwich to Ombersley; the principal of these we engrave. Entering the gates at this Lodge, the drive leads up the park to the mansion, which forms a conspicuous and striking object in front, the house and its surroundings being effectively situated on rising ground. Immediately in front of the mansion is the Gatehouse, one of the most quaintly picturesque in the kingdom. It consists of twin lodges of red brick, with ornamental gables and hip-knobs, with a central open-spired turret covering the entrance gates. The gates, which are of iron, and bear the monogram J P (for John Pakington), are surmounted by an open-work parapet, or frieze, of stone, in which stand clear the three garbs and the three mullets of the Pakington arms. Over this rises the open tower before spoken of. Passing through these gates, the drive sweeps up between the smooth grass lawns to the slightly advanced front portico which gives access to the mansion.

Before we enter let us say a few words on the general design and appearance of this unique and remarkable building. The general block-plan of the house may be described as a combination of the square and saltire, the arms of the saltire projecting considerably from the angles of the square, and forming what may almost be called wings, radiating from its centre—the whole of the surface of this general block-plan being cut up with numberless projecting mullioned windows. The four projecting wings, which, like the rest of the building, are three stories in height, are each surmounted with a spire. Around the whole building runs a boldly carved stone parapet, bearing the garbs and mullets of the Pakington arms, alternating the one with the other, and producing a striking and pleasing effect, while the mullets also appear on the ornamental gables, and on the vanes and hip-knobs. The advanced porch, erected at a later period, is of stone, and is in the _Renaissance_ style; over its central arch is Jove on the eagle; and in front of the main building, over the porch, are the Pakington arms boldly carved.

Standing clear from the mansion, and at some distance in front of the north-east and south-east wings, are two so-called “turrets.” These are small residences, if they may so be termed, each three stories in height, and each having two entrance doors. They are surmounted with picturesquely formed spire roofs, covered with scale slating. Originally there were four of these square towers—the two now remaining, and two other corresponding ones at the opposite angles. They were all four in existence in 1775, but two have since been removed. At that time they were connected with the wings by walls, and then again were connected with the Gatehouse and other walls in a peculiar and geometrically formed device. A highly interesting and curious bird’s-eye view of Westwood, drawn by Dorothy Anne Pakington in the year above named, is preserved in the Hall, and shows the arrangement of the ornamental flower-beds, terraces, fruit walls, &c., with great accuracy.

From the Gatehouse, on either side, an excellent fence of pillar and rail encloses in a ring fence the mansion and its surrounding ornamental grounds, and kitchen and other gardens. These pleasure-grounds, several acres in extent, are admirably laid out, and planted with evergreens of remarkably fine growth. The hedges, or rather massive walls, of laurel, box, Portugal laurel, and other shrubs; the grand assemblage of conifers, which here seem to find a genial home, and to grow with unequalled luxuriance; and the cedars of Lebanon, yews, and numberless other evergreens, form these grounds into one of the most lovely winter gardens we have ever visited. Among the main features of these ornamental grounds are the “Ladies’ Garden,” a retired spot enclosed in walls of evergreens seven or eight feet in height, having on one side an elegant summer-house, which commands a beautiful view of the Malvern Hills and of the rich intervening country, and in the centre a sundial surrounded by a rosary and beds of rich flowers; and the Lavender Walk, where, between a long avenue of tall lavender-bushes, planted by the present Lady Hampton, the elegant and accomplished successors of the “stately dames of yore” can stroll about and enjoy the delicious scent. Another great feature is the splendid growth of some of the trees—notably a Wellingtonia, nine feet in girth at the ground, and fully thirty feet in height, and a magnificent specimen of _Picea pinsapo_, measuring ninety feet in circumference of its branches, and said truly to be the finest and most perfectly-grown tree of the kind in the kingdom. The kitchen gardens are of considerable extent, and well arranged, but there is no conservatory. Altogether the ornamental grounds are of great beauty, and harmonize well with the character of the building.

One of the great glories of Westwood is its water. It has three lakes, the largest of which, no less than seventy acres in extent, forms a grand feature in the landscape, and, with its many swans and the numbers of wild fowl that congregate upon and around it, adds much to the beauty of the park scenery. On one side the lake is backed up by a wood through which, on the banks, a delightful grassy walk leads to the Boat-house, from whose upper rooms delightful views of land and water are obtained.

The principal apartments in this noble mansion are the Great Hall, or Front Hall, as it is usually called; the Library, the Dining and Drawing Rooms, the Saloon, the Grand Staircase, and the Chapel; but, besides these, there are a number of other rooms, and all the usual family and domestic apartments and offices. To the interior, however, we can but devote a very brief space.

The Entrance Porch (shown in the preceding engraving), on the north front, opens into the Front Hall. This occupies the entire length of the main body of the building from east to west, and is about sixty feet in length. The entrance door is in the centre, and on either side are deeply recessed mullioned and transomed windows, and there is a similar window at each end. From one of the recesses a doorway and steps lead up to the Dining-room; while from the other, in a similar manner, access is gained to the Library. On the opposite side a doorway leads to the Grand Staircase. This hall, one part of which is also used as a billiard-room, contains some magnificent old carved furniture and cabinets, and the walls are hung with family portraits. In the windows are a series of stained-glass armorial bearings and inscriptions, representing the arms of Pakington and the family alliances. These are:—

1413. Robert Pakington and Elizabeth Acton.

1436. John Pakington and Margaret Ballard.

1490. John Pakington and Elizabeth Washbourne.

1537. Robert Pakington and Anne Baldwynne.

1559. Sir John Pakington and Anne Darcy.

1575. Sir Thomas Pakington and Dorothy Kytson.

1620. Sir John Pakington and Frances Ferrars.

1625. Sir John Pakington and —— Smith.

1633. Sir John Pakington and Margaret Keys.

1679. Sir John Pakington and Dorothy Coventry.

1727. Sir John Pakington and Hester Preest.

1727. Sir John Pakington and Frances Parker.

1743. Sir Herbert Perrot Pakington and Elizabeth Conyers.

1762. Sir John Pakington and Mary Bray.

1795. Sir Herbert Perrot Pakington and Elizabeth Hawkins.

“1822. John Somerset Pakington, Esq., born 1799, wedyd 1stly, Mary, dau. of Moreton Aglionby Slaney, of Shiffnall, Esq.”

1830. Sir John Pakington died unmarried.