The Project Gutenberg eBook ofOld English MansionsThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Old English MansionsEditor: Charles HolmeAuthor: Alfred YockneyIllustrator: James Duffield HardingJoseph NashC. J. RichardsonHenry ShawRelease date: November 1, 2018 [eBook #58218]Most recently updated: January 24, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chuck Greif (This file was produced from imagesavailable at The Internet Archive)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD ENGLISH MANSIONS ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Old English MansionsEditor: Charles HolmeAuthor: Alfred YockneyIllustrator: James Duffield HardingJoseph NashC. J. RichardsonHenry ShawRelease date: November 1, 2018 [eBook #58218]Most recently updated: January 24, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chuck Greif (This file was produced from imagesavailable at The Internet Archive)
Title: Old English Mansions
Editor: Charles HolmeAuthor: Alfred YockneyIllustrator: James Duffield HardingJoseph NashC. J. RichardsonHenry Shaw
Editor: Charles Holme
Author: Alfred Yockney
Illustrator: James Duffield Harding
Joseph Nash
C. J. Richardson
Henry Shaw
Release date: November 1, 2018 [eBook #58218]Most recently updated: January 24, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Chuck Greif (This file was produced from imagesavailable at The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD ENGLISH MANSIONS ***
List of Plates(In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers] clicking on the image will bring up a larger version.)
DEPICTED BYC. J. RICHARDSONJ. D. HARDINGJOSEPH NASHH. SHAW& OTHERSEDITED BY CHARLES HOLMEMCMXV“THE STUDIO” LTD.LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK
Overmantel at Hardwick Hall, DerbyshireOvermantel at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
JOSEPH NASHHAMPTON COURT PALACE, MIDDLESEX-ENTRANCE GATEWAY TO THE FIRST COURT
JOSEPH NASH
JOSEPH NASH
HAMPTON COURT PALACE, MIDDLESEX-ENTRANCE GATEWAY TO THE FIRST COURT
HAMPTON COURT PALACE, MIDDLESEX-ENTRANCE GATEWAY TO THE FIRST COURT
WHY do distant objects please? It is a question which has exercised many minds. William Hazlitt once had the inspiration to write an essay on the subject, saying, among other things, that the reason for our pleasure is that we clothe distant objects with the indistinct and airy colours of fancy. There is truth in this argument when applied to landscape, and still more so in regard to history and antiquities. We look on the distant past as we do on a beautiful sunset, conscious only of warm, glowing reflections. Forgetfulness and ignorance play a great part in our estimate of bygone days and things. The invasion of Britain by Julius Cassar and the later Romans has been the joy of the archaeologist—descendants of those who suffered at the time; and if we wander through Hastings Castle it is the personality of William the Conqueror which inspires us rather than remembrance of the troubles endured by the vanquished. We believe that tribulation, especially that of other people in a previous generation, had compensations.
In the same way we take pleasure in imagining pictures of the peaceful past, rich in colour and pleasant in tone. Those days in which our fore-fathers usedyinstead ofiand almost invariably ended their words with ane, seem so picturesque and delightful. How many paintings have been shown at the Royal Academy under the title of “Merrie England” or its equivalent? Only Mr. Algernon Graves knows. The poets have been not less backward than the artists in proclaiming the romance of life in those distant days, and novelists have led us astray with equal regularity. For, almost certainly, we have been led astray. It is inconceivable that the days and nights in the olden times were filled with masques and continual merriment. Joviality there was, of course, and an absence of those assets of civilization which sometimes trouble us now: but life was a very serious thing, and even when there was no war at home or abroad, there were political and social movements which at times must have made the lives of the people intolerable. So history teaches us.
To destroy illusions, however, is not the way to earn popularity, so few but pessimists and the most severe historians look back with a keen eye for defects in our national romances. Most of us may take a generous view of the lives of our remote ancestors. Let them be supposed to have had the advantage of us in their environment, occupations, pastimes, and sentiments. It is futile to institute comparisons, and those who made England are entitled to the benefit of the doubt. That they did possess certain privileges is beyond question, and as other blessings have been substituted for the benefit of later generations, we can afford to look back with a certain amount of envy on the time when traditions werebeing made and events followed one another with less disturbing frequency than they are doing in the twentieth century.
The days of our youth are regarded, not without reason, as the period of our greatest happiness. It is often a transparent fiction, but on the whole there is an element of truth in the idea. For one thing our lives are then before us, and even if we have no definite course to be followed steadily there is generally the beacon of hope to inspire our progress. In after years, especially if we have been successful, the obstacles seem to have been lower and fewer. We may imagine, therefore, that the relentless advance of time is regarded with equal anxiety by inanimate things. If the stones, bricks, and timbers of ancient secular edifices could speak they would wish us to believe, as human beings do, that their early days were the best. Perhaps they would be right in this supposition, for buildings when first erected serve the purpose for which they are required and generally satisfy those who own and live in them. No doubt perfection was not attained in regard to the full utilisation of the site, the accommodation provided, and so forth, in the past any more than in the present, but ancient buildings would receive a certain measure of praise on completion. So it would be natural that the structure itself, given the power to absorb impressions, would look back to its earliest and most useful existence with the same feeling of regret experienced by most people in maturity or old age. If it were an Elizabethan mansion, the principal facade would recall with pride the arrival on horseback or otherwise of those notable guests who, dim years ago, conferred splendour and everlasting honour on the establishment, each projecting bay meanwhile looking down with mingled wonder and disparagement on the apparently lifeless motor carriage now bringing visitors to its time-worn entrance. The interior of the ancient mansion would be inclined no less than the exterior to look upon modern beings as usurpers and unheroic characters, compared with those who once walked through the stately halls and corridors. It would be interesting indeed if we could interpret the feelings of these monuments of the past. Such a chronicle would be as full of pathos as any history of a noble race or family, once powerful and magnificent, now crest-fallen or defunct. For building materials are subject to stranger vicissitudes than those who cause them to be manipulated. Even if they have only decay to contend with it is a constant struggle against their eventual fate, but as often as not they have to face destruction sooner or later. Sometimes the stones which have been used in an historic building are forced to do service again and again until their record and significance are lost. Occasionally we have a clue to the past, as in the case of “Nonsuch,” the beautiful palace begun by Henry VIII, and once an attraction on the road to Epsom. It is supposed that when this building was pulled down, to the perpetual disgrace of the first Duchess of Cleveland,some of the materials were used in the construction of “Durdans,” the prototype of the existing Surrey residence of Lord Rosebery. The fate of the Holbein Gateway, which once adorned Whitehall, was to be dismembered by order of the hero of Culloden, the idea being that it should be re-erected in the Great Park at Windsor. This was never done, though Thomas Sandby drew up a scheme at the time; and with the exception of a few fragments, this most interesting relic of Tudor architecture only survives in illustrations and models. A better destiny was in store for a later structure which outlived the esteem of the authorities, namely Temple Bar. That this work by Sir Christopher Wren should have been removed from Fleet Street was essential, no doubt, through the press of traffic which had arisen; but it is astonishing that the stones should have been permitted to lie about in the Farringdon Road for some years until rescued and re-erected at Theobald’s Park by Sir Henry Meux. The City Corporation struck a medal to commemorate the demolition in 1878, but it may be hoped that some day another one may be issued simultaneously with the restoration to London of this unique relic. Such examples of vandalism could be multiplied indefinitely; and when buildings destroyed by other means, such as fire, are added to the list, it is a matter for congratulation that so many remains of architectural design and craftsmanship are available for study in something approaching their original state.
Two main features contribute to the chequered existence of historic buildings. The first is restoration, which includes alterations and additions, and the second is decay, the variety which renders a house uninhabitable as well as obsolete. In the former case the old work has often been utterly spoiled by drastic measures of reconstruction or by good-intentioned but fatal efforts to repair and beautify: in the latter case the building gradually goes to pieces until it becomes a ruin, splendid still perhaps in its suggestion of other days, but becoming year by year a monument needing continual attention if it is to survive. We are then immersed in the depths of antiquarian lore, and the problems of archaeology which arise are only equalled by the diversity of methods brought forward for keeping the object intact. Conservation is a science as well as an art, but even so it is difficult to obtain unanimity of opinion from experts when work is contemplated. The case of Stonehenge may be mentioned, although it is beyond our field. Century by century this imposing group of stones has suffered, and different generations of engineers as well as architects, individually or as societies, have made suggestions for its maintenance and partial reconstruction. Yet in spite of great care it is always in jeopardy, partly because it is private property. At the time of writing this relic of Druid architecture is for sale, and if it could be made the national monument it deserves to be,special measures could be taken for its preservation. Another instance of disagreement between those experienced in restoration occurred when Mr. F. Baines, acting for the Office of Works, proposed to strengthen the fourteenth-century hammer-beam roof of Westminster Hall with the aid of steel as well as oak (1914). This modern method of preservation was duly adopted, and it will be for the experts in the years to come to praise or blame the restorers and the craftsmen engaged in the work at the present time.
With the institution of new legislative machinery it may be hoped that there will be no more instances of misapplied enterprise in removing objects of historic interest from their original positions. The case of Tattershall Castle, since presented to the nation by Lord Curzon, is fresh in the memory of all. The iniquity of taking away the fine sculptured stone fireplaces, now happily restored to their positions, has been matched time after time by similar acts, and it was not without much evidence of artistic crime that the Government rightly took action. Too much sentiment has overflowed, perhaps, in certain cases of alleged vandalism. Owners, including public bodies, have been neglectful of their possessions, and only when someone else has speculated on the commercial value, have the objects been appreciated for their artistic interest. It seems strange, for example, that some treasures of craftsmanship and antiquity from Westminster Abbey, Winchester Cathedral, and other sacred places should have been available for erection elsewhere at the call of the highest bidder. Innumerable relics of domestic architecture and decoration have been taken from English homes for transportation. Anyone who wished to do so could make out a list of indignities which would cause almost as much chagrin as the record, published recently by the National Gallery Committee, of important pictures sold out of the United Kingdom in modern times. The sale of a Gainsborough might be bracketed with the exportation of the Elizabethan panelling from Rotherwas, Herefordshire. In all such cases, however, the word desecration must not be used, for it often happens that without the intervention of those who understand the importance of these things, the decorative details of many houses would have ceased to exist or would have been obscured. A generation which could paint or whitewash the fine panelling it had inherited deserves and receives nothing but censure. Such acts of depreciation were once common, however, and it required a new order of intelligence to cause the removal of blemishes which did great injustice to the original work and really deprived the owners of desirable surroundings. In private houses this unappreciative attitude towards the past was evidence of personal taste gone wrong and might be attributed to narrow influences. But that the germ of destruction should appear in the most hallowed places is more remarkable. Occasionally there is compensation for such curious actions,as in the case of Hampton Court. About a year ago, during the redecoration of a suite of apartments, some fine oak panelling was discovered behind the battening and papered canvas, together with two stone fireplaces and other features which had been hidden for many years. These had been Wolsey’s private rooms, and their restoration to their original state provided a remarkable contribution to our imaginative picture of the great Cardinal.
A visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum will reveal evidence of the modern regard for details once completing and adorning buildings which have been demolished or have seen better days. The front of Sir Paul Pindar’s house, transferred from Bishopsgate to the Museum, is of epic grandeur; while the inlaid oak panelling from Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland, with the bedstead to match, reminds us in an exceptional way of sixteenth-century accomplishments. It is fortunate that many fine examples of exterior and interior workmanship have escaped the perils to which they have been exposed since the days of their pristine elegance, and are now preserved in comparative safety. Though there is little reason to doubt that some really desirable objects have always commanded a certain degree of respect, sufficient care has not been exercised in many notable cases. The history of the housebreakers’ trade is full of artistic tragedies, and the awakening of public interest might have come sooner for the benefit of the national reputation. Exactly when the movement began for the full appreciation of such works of art and industry cannot be stated. The influence of the Society of Antiquaries, dating from the eighteenth century, has been considerable, and other bodies have worked quietly also for the purpose of recording the existence of objects worthy of attention. With such efforts of tabulation and description the good work generally ceased, and the worship of the things themselves being confined to a limited circle the warmth of appreciation was seldom of sufficient power to ripen the fruit of the tree of knowledge. It was the plucking of the fruit which was responsible for a better appreciation of its quality. When astute business men perceived that there was money in the more or less abandoned relics of the past, and proceeded to find new owners for them, the British public discovered that the derelict objects were rare and beautiful. The work was not always artistic in the accepted sense, but it possessed character, individuality, and charm. It was not machine-made or finished with the precision of a later taste in handiwork, but it was good and English to the core. Museum directors, connoisseurs, architects, and craftsmen like William Morris, had their share in the enlightenment of the people to the real significance of the work of men’s hands, but the mainspring of the movement for preservation was the competition of professional antiquity hunters. Once the best attributes of old house fittings had been pointed out by various means, butchiefly in the language of value sterling, the future of relics existingin situseemed brighter. Eyes were turned jealously to the equipments in old houses, and a new race of students arose to safeguard national and more or less private treasures. All this has happened in the last half of the nineteenth century. There remains much to be done, however, before the real lessons of the past are impressed upon the public.
While certain acts of vandalism have been committed by dealers able to turn their knowledge to account, considerable tolerance must be exercised on their behalf. In the first place they demonstrated the importance which should be attached to many objects of antiquity, and in the second place the business men put their weight into the scale against destruction. In the most practical way they prevented examples of craftsmanship from sharing the fate of firewood and rubble. They have kept things of singular merit intact when extinction was probable, and if sometimes they have exaggerated the importance of work which is merely old and not really interesting, their services in educating public opinion more than counterbalance their transgressions. Even the latter may be condoned to some extent, for through them the fame of English craftsmanship has been spread far and wide, developing a desire among students abroad to visit this country and to see in all their glory the priceless works of architecture and decoration remaining supreme in spite of the attacks by man, time, fire, and vandals.
When Goldsmith wrote that he loved “everything that’s old—old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine,” he unaccountably forgot to mention old houses. It may be assumed that the author of “The Deserted Village” included among his delights the actual haunts of his old friends, suggestive of still older times and manners. Looking back on the eighteenth century, when Johnson was uttering his sonorous observations, and Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Romney were immortalising the illustrious people of the day, we are envious of the opportunities presented to Goldsmith and his contemporaries to study and admire the monuments of the preceding centuries in something approaching perfection. At that time the majority of buildings grouped under the heading of Old English Mansions were unspoiled by decay and environment. They were just mellow and satisfying in every respect. Some of them, of course, had suffered in the Civil War, and bore witness then as now to their unsuitability as places of defence. But on the whole it was Tudor and Jacobean architecture without alloy.
Since the eighteenth century a gradual change has come over most of the buildings, until at the present time but few of them are in anything like a habitable state, though they may still be studied for what they reveal of the past. Some stately mansions like Hatfield House, Holland House, Knole, Penshurst, Charlton House, Kent (Plate XV), and Moreton
HENRY SHAWSIDE OF DRAWING-ROOM AT BOUGHTON MALHERBE, KENT
HENRY SHAW
HENRY SHAW
SIDE OF DRAWING-ROOM AT BOUGHTON MALHERBE, KENT
SIDE OF DRAWING-ROOM AT BOUGHTON MALHERBE, KENT
Old Hall (Plate XXIII), have descended from father to son or through allied families, and the inheritance has been maintained, though possibly the structures have been reduced in size or otherwise altered. In some cases the buildings have passed into the hands of strangers willing and able to keep them in repair without modernising them out of recognition. Others, however, have ceased to be anything more than reminders of bygone days, and in various stages of preservation they appeal more or less to students and tourists. In some cases it requires abundant imagination to reconstruct the scenes of which they were the central features. It is easy enough with a few buildings, but we are confronted often by some structures which have become almost de-naturalised under the pressure of urban expansion. They remain as oases in the desert of modern bricks and mortar, dignified still in spite of the affronts of unsympathetic neighbours; but their beauty has faded and no amount of sentiment can gloss over their obvious defects, robbed of their original uses and maimed by their present purposes. The parks which occasionally remain around these old buildings save us sometimes from intensified regret.
Among the most interesting relics of antiquity still retaining an appearance of prosperity are many of the hostelries scattered throughout the country. It gives everyone genuine pleasure to visit the establishments which share with the local church the architectural honours of the village or town, even though, as in the case of a building within easy reach of London, the sign of the inn and the date 1604 are supplemented by the magic word “Garage.” This is typical of many such places for rest and refreshment which are renewing their youth through the revival in travel by road. One may drive beneath archways to the extensive courtyards where proprietors have welcomed the arrival of kings, queens, and courtiers in the olden times, and but for the total difference in costume and the means of conveyance there is very little change in the scene or in the accommodation provided. It often happens that such old places have been devoted originally to domestic purposes, as in the case of the Nag’s Head Inn, Leicester (Plate LIX), once a private house, and Feering House, Essex (Plate X), which, at the time Fairholt visited it to reconstruct its past, was far from presenting the scene of family happiness the artist so quaintly imagined. The somewhat florid structure which spanned the highway and included the sign of the White Hart Inn at Scole, Norfolk (Plate XLV), was removed before the nineteenth century, and Richardson relied for his drawing on an earlier picture. Similar, if not quite so ornate structures are still to be seen in many places. Historians never fail to relate the tradition that at the White Hart Inn, besides this wonderful carved wood structure, was a round bed large enough to hold twenty couples, accommodation which dims the importance attached to the great bedat Ware, that Tudor or earlier piece or elaborate carpentry with a capacity for a mere dozen people. Apart from such freak productions the bedsteads of olden times were usually of ample proportions and were often works of art. Beautifully designed, carved, and inlaid, they were in keeping with the other possessions of the fortunate owners. The example shown from Cumnor Place, Berkshire (Plate LII), with its massive pillars and roof, is a reminder of the great and perhaps excessive care bestowed on the manufacture of such pieces of furniture.
Distant history as represented by architecture is a subject which has engaged the attention of all students of national development, and to their extensive researches the public is deeply indebted. Architects and archaeologists also have pieced together the evidence available and have reconstructed the past with great thoroughness. The mode of life at different periods has been revealed by means of plans and other drawings, often prepared with infinite labour. By such illustrations and by the records which have been transcribed it is possible to visualize the appearance of the country and its inhabitants from the beginning. In this supremely interesting occupation we are helped by imagination and, moreover, we have the advantage of the imaginative efforts of others better qualified to clothe the framework of the story. To Sir Walter Scott the highest tribute must be paid, for though his visions and word-pictures cannot be relied upon always for minute accuracy, he caught the spirit of the past and with wonderful insight restored it in vivid language. His heart was in the work of making the past live again, and he succeeded in giving verisimilitude to the scenes he described.
Illustrations abound of the buildings of Elizabethan and Jacobean date, from the measured drawings which owe their origin to prize competitions among students, to the elaborate pictorial reconstructions which sometimes astonish us by their wealth of detail and fanciful accessories. Painters in Victorian days attempted with varying success to interpret the past, generally introducing architectural backgrounds as settings for thedramatis personæ. One of the chief artists of the period to attain success in this direction was George Cattermole (1800-1868), who in such pictures asThe Hunting PartyandOld English Hospitalityproved himself to be well equipped with the necessary imagination and knowledge. He successfully illustrated Scott, and, indeed, founded his fame on his drawings inspired by the great author’s romances. One of Cattermole’s most distinguished contemporaries was Joseph Nash (1808-1878), in whose work the figures as a rule are subordinate to the architecture. This was to be expected from one who had been trained in the office of an architect, namely, the elder Pugin. Yet Nash, while treating buildings with the respect due to them, did not err on the side oftechnical hardness. He made the beauties of architecture intelligible to the public, contriving also to appeal to the professional mind. His object was to produce essentially picturesque interpretations, to make a set of views of the mansions of England from a new and attractive point of view. To use his own words, he tried to make them interesting, “not as many of them now appear, gloomy, desolate and neglected, but furnished with the rude comfort of early times or exhibiting the more splendid luxury and elegant hospitality of later periods; in short, the stately homes of England glowing with the genial warmth of their firesides and enlivened with the presence of their inmates and guests, enjoying the recreations and pastimes or celebrating the festivals of our ancestors. The artist has endeavoured to place himself in the position of a visitor to these ancient edifices, whose fancy peoples the deserted halls—stripped of all movable ornaments and looking damp and cheerless—with the family and household of the old English gentleman surrounded by everyday comforts, sharing the more rare and bounteous hospitalities offered to the guests or partaking of the boisterous merriment of Christmas gambols.”
Nash deserted the practice of architecture to good purpose, for he produced the standard books illustrating the mansions of the olden times existing in his day, and he made a greater name probably than he would have done had he stuck to the medium of bricks and mortar. The influence of his work was good, and as a transcriber of architecture for popular appreciation he occupies a similar place to that attained by the Lambs in their prose interpretations of Shakespeare. Both Cattermole and Nash were members of the “Old” Water Colour Society. They established traditions which endured and which are still to be detected in the exhibitions at the gallery in Pall Mall East.
Among other early Victorians who won fame by their representations of domestic architecture and accessories was C. J. Richardson (1806-1871), who was articled to Sir John Soane, and remained an architect, but devoted himself mainly to his task of illustrating the great work of the past. His drawings are more precise and laboured than those of Nash, but they are excellent records and enable us to realise the beauties of many buildings and details now destroyed or scattered. Thomas Allom (1804-1872), also a practising architect, produced some exceptionally good pictorial work, his Haddon Hall (Plate I) being typical. Ewan Christian (1814-1895), the architect of a large number of buildings, including the National Portrait Gallery, was a recipient of the Royal Gold Medal, and is better known by his building work than otherwise; but in his earlier days he executed many drawings of popular interest, such as Ince Hall (Plate III). Henry Shaw (1800-1873) is mainly known to fame by his architectural illustrations, many of which are included in this book. F. W. Fairholt (1814-1866) combinedthe life of author and artist with conspicuous success, his Horeham Hall (Plate XI) showing evidence of his deep love of pageantry as well as his architectural sympathies. A Belgian artist who lived and worked in London, Louis Haghe (1806-1885) established a considerable reputation for his able interpretations of old Flemish architecture, chiefly interiors. He was a most accomplished draughtsman, and, like other artists of the period, made great use of lithography as a medium. Though the drawings by Nash and other artists with similar ambitions come within the category of made-up pictures—that is to say, were inspired by the past rather than the present—they were often of considerable charm and bore few traces of being rather second-hand in design. To achieve success with a composition relying for its incidents and accessories on scenes enacted, or supposed to have been enacted, two centuries or more previously requires gifts of no mean order. Not only must there be a proper understanding of the sentiments of the times, but the people introduced must be dressed appropriately and must take their part in the proceedings naturally. Nash, of course, studied his backgrounds on the spot, and chose the point of view which would be most picturesque. For him it was then a comparatively simple matter to imagine what scenes had taken place there long years before. He saw with his mind’s eye and recorded his impressions with due regard to historical probability and artistic requirements.
Posterity owes much to the painstaking and capable artists who toured the country in search of likely material and who published the results of their labours in such a permanently attractive way. Without such drawings nothing would exist to remind us of some of the most interesting examples of craftsmanship produced in the preceding centuries. The illustrations are useful also for comparison with the modern views of buildings by means of photography, and it is curious to notice how much alike are some of the records. One often suspects photographers of taking up the same point of view as the less speedy draughtsmen of nearly a hundred years ago, not because one vantage-ground inevitably suggests itself, but because artists of the camera are inclined to follow the lead of their predecessors. This plagiarism may be forgiven, however, for it enables us to see exactly what changes have taken place in the interval of years.
Our thanks are due not only to those who illustrated but to those who published the drawings which are so valuable for reference, with the appropriate comments which accompanied them. The authors made light of difficult travel, and with much evident pleasure elaborated in prose the now hackneyed lines of Mrs. Hemans: