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Architectural Letters.
Architectural Letters.
Designed by Lonsdale. Painted by Backler. Engraved by Allen. Signing of the Magna Charta by King John. FROM THE GREAT WINDOW OF THE BARONS HALL ARUNDEL CASTLE. page 27 . LONDON, GEORGE VIRTUE. The Castles and Abbeys of England may be justly regarded as the great fixed landmarks in her history. They stand like monumental pillars in the stream of time, inscribed with the names of her native chivalry and early hierarchy, whose patriotic deeds and works of piety they were raised to witness and perpe
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THE CASTLE OF ARUNDEL,
THE CASTLE OF ARUNDEL,
Sussex , PRINCIPAL SEAT OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NORFOLK, K.G. The Castle of Arundel enjoys a twofold celebrity, in its great antiquity and in its peculiar privilege of conferring the title of Earl on its possessor. The former reverts to a period much anterior to the conquest; the latter was hereditary in the eleventh century, and confirmed by Act of Parliament in the sixth year of the reign of Henry the Sixth. But its chief and enduring interest is derived from the long list of warriors and sta
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THE ABBEY OF ST. ALBANS.
THE ABBEY OF ST. ALBANS.
T HE profound interest connected with the Abbey of St. Albans, has been much increased of late years by the prospect still held out of seeing its magnificent church converted into a cathedral. That this may be speedily and permanently effected, is a hope which every admirer of ecclesiastical architecture, every lover of that soil which has been hallowed by the blood of martyrs, will rejoice to see realised. In the short historical introduction to this subject, we shall adopt the testimony of the
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ELTHAM PALACE, Kent.
ELTHAM PALACE, Kent.
T HE royal palace of Eltham is a subject which has often engaged the historian’s pen and the pencil of the artist; and, as intimately associated with many national events, it possesses an interest to which neither the lapse of time nor its own decay can ever render us indifferent. A visit to the “old Hall of Eltham,” forms one of those incidents in life to which we look back with as much pleasure as the pilgrim was wont to do after he had paid his devotions at the “shrine of our Lady of Walsingh
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THE ABBEY OF TEWKESBURY, Gloucestershire.
THE ABBEY OF TEWKESBURY, Gloucestershire.
FOUNDATION. —In his desire to do more especial honour to Tewkesbury, William of Malmesbury has fancifully traced its etymon to the Greek word Theotocos [152] —the Mother of God—because the monastery which was built here was dedicated to the Virgin Mother. It is certain, however, that the town occupied the ground long before the monastery was erected. The popular tradition is, that a religious recluse, named Theocus, had a Christian cell or chapel in this place about the end of the seventh centur
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NETLEY ABBEY.
NETLEY ABBEY.
F EW monastic ruins are equally interesting with that of Netley Abbey; yet we know of no monastery of the same importance of which the history is so imperfectly known. Its position in a secluded spot, where the ground it occupies might be spared from other purposes, and accidental circumstances of different kinds, have so far preserved its walls from destruction, that we may here still trace with accuracy the arrangement and internal economy of those great religious establishments which, in form
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
A RUNDEL CASTLE. — King Alfred’s Will. —The portion from which the text is a translation is thus given in Asser. de Ælfredi Reb. Gestis , fol. 23: “Athelmo, vero fratris mei filio , do villā de Edingburn et de Cumptune et de Erundele , et de Bedingn et de Dinghā, et de Burnham, et de Thumesfelde, et de Aschōgum.”—“Forty-nine Castles are enumerated in Domesday Book; that of Arundel only as existing in the time of Edward the Confessor. Many single towers were built during the Heptarchy and by King
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THE CASTLES AND ABBEYS OF ENGLAND,
THE CASTLES AND ABBEYS OF ENGLAND,
FROM THE NATIONAL RECORDS, EARLY CHRONICLES, AND OTHER STANDARD AUTHORS. BY WILLIAM BEATTIE, M.D., GRAD. OF EDIN.; MEMB. OF THE ROYAL COLL. OF PHYS., LONDON; OF THE HIST. INSTIT. OF FRANCE; AUTHOR OF “SWITZERLAND,” “SCOTLAND,” “THE WALDENSES,” “RESIDENCE IN GERMANY,” ETC. ETC. ———————————— ILLUSTRATED BY UPWARDS OF TWO HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS. ——————————— SECOND SERIES. [Image unavailable] GEORGE VIRTUE: LONDON AND NEW YORK. STERIOTYPED AND PRINTED WILLIAM MACKENZIE, 48 LONDON STREET. GLASGOW. [Image
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THE CASTLE OF CHEPSTOW, Monmouthshire.
THE CASTLE OF CHEPSTOW, Monmouthshire.
I T has been justly remarked by statistical writers, that, in point of fertility, picturesque scenery, and classic remains, the county of Monmouth is one of the most interesting districts in the kingdom. Highly favoured by nature, it is literally studded over with the labours and embellishments of art. Watered by noble rivers, sheltered by magnificent woods and forests, interspersed with industrious towns and hamlets, and enriched by the labour and enterprise of its inhabitants, it presents all
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TINTERNE ABBEY.
TINTERNE ABBEY.
“There are some, I hear, who take it ill that I mention monasteries and their founders; I am sorry to hear it. But, not to give them any just offence, let them be angry if they will. Perhaps they would have it forgotten that our ancestors were, and we are, Christians; since there never were more certain indications and glorious monuments, of Christian piety than these.”— Camden’s Britannia, Pref. Ages of Faith , Book xi. T he Abbey of Tinterne , though one of the oldest in England, makes no cons
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Appendix.
Appendix.
Of the Abbots of Tinterne the historical notices are very scanty. The following occur in the “Parliamentary Writs,” by Sir Francis Palgrave:— [187] A.D. 1294.— Abbas de Tynterne is summoned to a council of the clergy, to be held before the King in person, at Westminster, on the Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle, on the twenty-first day of September, and twenty-second of Edward I. Again— 1295.—The Abbas de Tynterne is summoned to Parliament at Westminster, on Sunday next after the feast of St. Ma
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RAGLAN CASTLE, Monmouthshire.
RAGLAN CASTLE, Monmouthshire.
The Castle of Raglan is one of the most picturesque ruins in the kingdom, and closely associated with a momentous period of our national annals. Though roofless, tenantless, and dismantled, it still presents a majestic and venerable aspect. No visitor of taste or sensibility will ever traverse its spacious but long-deserted halls, without feeling a deep interest in its eventful history. It was on a bright autumnal evening that we quitted the comfortable little inn, the “Beaufort Arms,” at Raglan
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LLANTHONY ABBEY, Monmouthshire.
LLANTHONY ABBEY, Monmouthshire.
S AINT DAVID , uncle of the renowned King Arthur, and titular Saint of Wales, was the first who introduced the rites of Christian worship into these mountain solitudes. Selecting for his hermitage a spot which had all the characteristics of a rude and unfrequented wilderness, he built a chapel on the banks of the Honddy—the stream by which it was watered—and there spent many years of his life in the exercise of an austere devotion. The reputation of his sanctity having spread over the surroundin
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USKE CASTLE, Monmouthshire.
USKE CASTLE, Monmouthshire.
T HE CASTLE of Uske occupies a commanding position—an abrupt rocky eminence which overlooks the town, river, and valley, which were once the property of its feudal lords. It is a domestic fortress of great antiquity, and with the advantages of its natural site, strengthened and improved by all the appliances of military art—art as it was practised in the days of chivalry—these mouldering walls, though now stripped of all their massive proportions, must have presented a bold and almost impregnabl
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PEMBROKE CASTLE, Pembrokeshire.
PEMBROKE CASTLE, Pembrokeshire.
“In agro totius Walliæ amœnissimo, principale provinciæ municipium Demetiæq. caput, in Saxosa quadam et oblonga rupis in capite bifurco complectitur. Unde Britannis Pembro dicitur, quod caput marinum sonat, et nobis Penbroke.”— Gyrald. Earldom. —“There have been divers Earls of Pembroke,” says Camden, “out of sundry houses. As for Arnulph of Montgomery, who first wonne it, and was afterwards outlawed, and his castellan Girald , whom King Henry the First made afterwards president over the whole c
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CARDIFF CASTLE, Glamorganshire.
CARDIFF CASTLE, Glamorganshire.
C ARDIFF , a neat and well-built town, stands at the mouth of the river Taafe, from which it probably derives its name. [386] Its chief ornaments are the church and the castle—the latter a structure of great antiquity, and now converted into a modern residence, in which the features of a Norman stronghold are made to harmonize with the embellishments of a refined age; and where, instead of prancing steeds and bristling spears, the ballia are lined with wallflower, shrubberies, and all those tran
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TENBY CASTLE, Pembrokeshire.
TENBY CASTLE, Pembrokeshire.
“Terra hæc triticea est marinis piscibus, vino que venali copiose referta; et quod omnibus præstat, ex Hiberniæ confinio aëris salubritate temperata.”— Gyraldus. T ENBY , so justly celebrated in the present day as a delightful watering-place, possesses in its traditions and antiquities many features of deep interest to the archæologist; and although not selected as a subject of special illustration in this work, it is fully entitled to the admiration of the tourist—whether in search of health, t
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MANORBEER CASTLE, Pembrokeshire.
MANORBEER CASTLE, Pembrokeshire.
Manober turribus et propugnaculis erat eximium, ab occidente portum extensum a Circio et Barea, sub ipsis muralibus vivarium habens egregium tam sua venustate, quam aquarum profunditate conspicuum.”— Gyrald. MANORBEER , another of those feudal strongholds with which the Principality abounds, possesses an additional interest as the birth-place of Giraldus Cambrensis, a sketch of whose life will be found in these pages. The Castle, says Leland, “stands between two little hillettes”—the rocky bases
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NEATH ABBEY, Glamorganshire.
NEATH ABBEY, Glamorganshire.
WE learn from Bishop Tanner, that Richard de Grainville , and Constance, his wife, gave their chapel, [397] in the Castle at Nethe , the tithes belonging to it, a large tract of waste land, and other possessions, in the time of Henry I., to the abbot and convent of Savigny, near Lyons, that they might build an abbey here in Wales. And a very fair abbey, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was built accordingly on the west side of the river, a little below the town of Neath, for monks of the order of
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KIDWELLY CASTLE, Carmarthenshire.
KIDWELLY CASTLE, Carmarthenshire.
K IDWELLY is supposed to have been erected by Rhys, Prince of South Wales, at the close of the twelfth century; and even now, after the lapse of five hundred years, it presents, in strength and appearance, one of the most striking examples of feudal architecture in Wales, where the science of castle-building attained the highest perfection. The old town of Kidwelly, over which the Castle once threw its protecting arms, is now ruinous; but a new Kidwelly, reared in happier times, and thriving und
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LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE, Carmarthenshire.
LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE, Carmarthenshire.
This Castle —one of the oldest in Wales—crowns a bold eminence projecting into the bay of Carmarthen, and defends the entrance of the river Towy, which falls into the sea at this point. It is a military fortress of great strength and antiquity, but by whom founded—whether by Roman or Briton—or to what precise era it belongs, are questions which have never been satisfactorily answered. Yet the very obscurity which hangs upon it imparts to its dilapidated walls, mouldering turrets, and grass-cover
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LAUGHARNE CASTLE, Carmarthenshire.
LAUGHARNE CASTLE, Carmarthenshire.
T OWARDS the south end of the town, close on the Bay of Carmarthen, are the ruins of the Castle, supposed to have been founded by Guido de Brian, in the reign of Henry III., or, according to others, to have been rebuilt by him; for it is said that the original castle was destroyed by Llywelyn-ap-Iorwerth as early as 1215. If so, the said Guido de Brian rebuilt it in the following reign. The remains, which have been many years enclosed within the walls of a private garden, and consist of a large
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CAREW CASTLE. Pembrokeshire.
CAREW CASTLE. Pembrokeshire.
The lordly towers and quadrangular pile of Carew Castle rise conspicuously above the waters of the surrounding creek, and are intimately connected in the spectator’s mind with scenes of bygone splendour. [408] It was one of the demesnes belonging to the sovereign Princes of South Wales, and, with seven others, was given as a dowery to Nesta, daughter of Rhys-ap-Tewdwr, or Tudor, on her marriage with Girald de Windsor, who, as already mentioned, was appointed by Henry I. lieutenant of these count
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MARGAM ABBEY, Glamorganshire.
MARGAM ABBEY, Glamorganshire.
Of this renowned Abbey the existing remains convey but a very inadequate idea. The parish church is formed out of part of the original abbey-church; of the chapter-house the walls only remain; and of the ruins scattered around, the original use, size, and distribution have not yet been ascertained. That it was an extensive edifice, and exhibited in its style and proportions all the higher characteristics of Cistercian monasteries, may be taken on the credit of what remains. The foundation is fix
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