[ Charles Dickens, junior, formatted his book alphabetically. That reduced its usefulness to boaters who by definition want what's next
geographically. This version is sorted from Source to Sea, geographically.
Note that the text may contain elements from more than one alphabetical entry.
The banks of the river are named by Charles Dickens in the traditional conventional way, facing the sea.
The Environment Agency have now gone against this and today use the opposite convention - SORRY! - ignorance of tradition ...]
Clicking the links will take you to the relevant page on "Where Thames smooth waters glide" (where the modern convention is grudgingly used!)
Trip from Cricklade to Oxford:
Although scarcely any of the scenery of
the Thames above Oxford is to be
mentioned in the same breath with the
beauties of Nuneham, of Henley, of
Marlow, or of Cliveden, there is still
much to attract the lover of nature who
is content with quiet and pastoral landscapes, and to whom the peaceful solitude
through which the greater part of the
journey lies, will have a peculiar charm.
It is not advisable to take boat at Cricklade.
For some distance below this little
Wiltshire town the stream is narrow, and
in dry seasons uncomfortably shallow.
Travellers, therefore, who come to Cricklade, with the intention of seeing as much
of the river as possible, may be recommended to take the very pretty walk of
about ten miles along the towing-path of
the Thames and Severn Canal to Lechlade.
The Source of the Thames: As is
the case with many other respectable
rivers, there is some little doubt as to
what is the actual source of the Thames.
Some authorities have regarded a river
called the Churn, which has its rise at a
place called Seven Springs, a short
distance from Cheltenham, as the real
source of the Thames; but others, including such writers as Leland, Stow,
and Camden, give the distinction to
Thames Head near Cirencester.
Between
Thames Head and Cricklade, however,
where the Churn and the stream from
Thames Head amalgamate, the river is
a small matter enough, and it is not
advisable to take boat even at this point,
as the stream, though navigable for small
boats, is still very narrow - in dry seasons
inconveniently so.
Isis: A name frequently given to the
Thames until it is joined by the Thame a
mile below Day's Lock, near Dorchester.
Camden thus derives the word Tamesis,
or Thames, from the junction of the
names of the two rivers.
This fanciful
derivation appears to have no foundation
in actual fact, but has been perpetuated
by the poets who have sung of the nuptials
of Thame and Isis;
"Beautiful Isis and her husband Thame",
Warton calls them.
In Julius Caesar's time the river was
known as Tamesis, and the Anglo-Saxon
name was Temese; very like the "Tamise ripe" of other days.
Whether Camden
considered that he had sufficient evidence
to justify Isis, or whether, misled by the
other river Thame, he merely invented the
derivation as the shortest way out of a
difficulty, is not quite clear.
Probably he followed Leland, as other
chroniclers in their turn followed him: a
sheep-like practice much in favour in such
cases, and productive of considerable confusion.
But as there can be no good
reason why a river for a portion of its
course should bear one name, and
presently change it for something quite
different, it seems desirable that, except
as a poetical conceit, the Isis legend
should be abandoned, and the river
throughout be called the Thames.
Cricklade, Wiltshire, on the right
bank, distant from Oxford 43 miles.
Soil,
loam; population, about 2,000.
The
nearest railway station is Purton, about
4 miles off, an omnibus plying between
the station and the town.
The fast trains
from Paddington, distance 82 miles,
perform the journey in two hours and a
quarter, or thereabouts.
This is a
straggling and fairly picturesque little
place on the Thames and Severn and
North Wilts Canals, and it is here that
the Thames, at its junction with the
Churn, begins to assume the appearance
of a navigable river.
Though in itself a
small place, Cricklade is the centre of a
number of other parishes which have for
many years united in returning two Members to Parliament, the constituency at
the last general election numbering 7,473.
the present Members are Mr.M.H.N.Story Maskelyne (L.) and Sir Daniel
Gooch (C).
Cricklade is a pleasant
little town, clean and well-paved, but has
not been the scene of any particularly
remarkable events, since it shared the
fate of so many of the other Thames
towns and was plundered by the Danes
in 1015, and now contains few objects of
interest, except the church of St.Sampson, a very handsome building, with
chancel, nave, and side aisles, and a
remarkably good square embattled tower,
with parapet and four pinnacles.
This,
which is said to date from 1400, was built
of stone from the same quarries as
supplied the materials for the construction of Cirencester and Gloucester cathedrals, and which are now exhausted.
On
the north side of the tower are carved
a pair of reaping hooks and a pair of
shears, and above them a wheel projects.
A local legend says that these
objects refer to the three men who were
most concerned in building the tower -
a farmer, a tailor, and a clock-maker.
This, however, is more than doubtful,
seeing that whatever meaning may be
supposed to attach to the shears and the
reaping hooks, the wheel is simply a
Catherine wheel, and a very good one
too.
But the builders of the tower delighted in quaint and out-of-the-way
decoration, as is instanced in the walls
and beautifully groined roof of the interior.
Here, in addition to numerous
coats of arms - including, on the south
side, that of the Hungerford family, by
whom the tower was, in all probability,
built - are sculptured the aces of the four
suits of the pack of cards, the shears
again, two pairs of ladies' stays, and a
number of other quaint devices.
The
church, which contains some excellent
Early English windows and a very good
west window and door, was undoubtedly
the work of different periods, of which
three may distinctly be noted at the
flying buttress outside the east end, and
is both handsome and commodious.
Among the tablets on the floor is one in
memory of one Simon Wild, jun., 1710,
who is oddly enough said to have been
"in Jenis for singing, ringing, and
writing", and the tomb of Robert Jenner
informs the world that he "deceased
this life" in 1651.
There is an empty
niche in the north aisle to which it is
probable that a curious and much-defaced
stone figure, which lies by the side of the
path to the church, of right belongs;
although here again local tradition steps
in, and declares that the effigy in question
represents the mangled body of a man
who fell from the tower during its construction.
At the west end of the pretty
churchyard is a good old farmhouse, and
on the north-east side a picturesque
building dating from 1652, which, having
started in life as a school, afterwards
became a workhouse, and is now a school
again.
In the churchyard there is also a
fine old cross, which formerly stood in the
marketplace.
Another good cross stands
in the churchyard of St.Mary's at the
other end of the town.
This church,
though much smaller than St.Sampson's,
is architecturally interesting, notably by
reason of a Norman arch of the eleventh
century.
The town also contains Baptist,
Congregational, Wesleyan, and Methodist places of worship, and a Town Hall
capable of holding about 300 people.
Bank: the Gloucestershire Banking
Company.
Fire Engine: Church-street.
Market Day: third Tuesday in the
month.
Hotels: "White Hart" and "White Horse".
Places of Worship: St.Sampson's
and St.Mary's.
Police: the station is the last house
at the north end of the town, just across
the bridge over the Thames.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), High-street.
Mails from London: 3am, and 2.30pm
Mails for London, noon, and 9.45pm
Nearest Bridges: down, Eisey, for foot passengers, about a mile, and Castle
Eaton, about 4 miles.
Lock: St.John's, about 10½ miles.
Railway Station: Purton, 4 miles.
Omnibus: three times a day.
Fares to Paddington, 1st, 14/4, 25/-; 2nd, 10/9, 18/9; 3rd, 6/9
Trip from Cricklade to Oxford:
Although scarcely any of the scenery of
the Thames above Oxford is to be
mentioned in the same breath with the
beauties of Nuneham, of Henley, of
Marlow, or of Cliveden, there is still
much to attract the lover of nature who
is content with quiet and pastoral landscapes, and to whom the peaceful solitude
through which the greater part of the
journey lies, will have a peculiar charm.
It is not advisable to take boat at Cricklade.
For some distance below this little
Wiltshire town the stream is narrow, and
in dry seasons uncomfortably shallow.
Travellers, therefore, who come to Cricklade, with the intention of seeing as much
of the river as possible, may be recommended to take the very pretty walk of
about ten miles along the towing-path of
the Thames and Severn Canal to Lechlade.
Castle Eaton - A little village in
Wiltshire, on the right bank, about 39
miles from Oxford, with the small church
of St.Mary, chiefly noteworthy for a fine
old bell turret.
The river increases considerably in its volume and width about
here, and is spanned by a bridge.
Population about 320.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Fairford (the nearest money-order and telegraph office).
Nearest Bridges: up Eisey 3 miles;
down, Hannington.
Lock: down, St. John's about 6½miles.
Railway Station: Fairford 3 miles.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 18/6, 27/6;
2nd, 12/-, 20/-; 3rd, 8/3½.
Kempsford: A village in Gloucestershire on the Thames and Severn Canal,
and not far from the Thames at Castle
Eaton, situated about 4½ miles from Lechlade and 6 from Cricklade.
Kempsford
is of no particular importance, but is
worth visiting for the very fine square
tower, with two noble windows, which
rises from the centre of the church of St.
Mary the Virgin.
The interior of the
church, though possessing many features
of architectural interest, is rather plain,
except for the roof of the tower, which
is very rich in colour, and for some good
stained glass.
In the chancel is a stone
altar tomb with figures considerably mutilated; and in the vestry, which is notable
for a good Norman arch, is a curious old
picture which apparently represents King
David, and was "the gift of Robert Pope,
London".
The population is about 1,000.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office in the village.
Letters through Fairford.
Mails arrive at 7.30am, and are despatched at 6.10pm
Nearest Railway Station: Fairford, distant about 3 miles.
Fares to Paddington, 1st, 18/6, 27/6; 2nd, 12/-, 20/-; 3rd, 8/3½
Lechlade, from Oxford about 33 miles.
Lechlade, Gloucestershire, on the left
bank, distant from Oxford 33 miles.
A
station on the Great Western Railway,
86 miles from Paddington, the time
occupied by the fast trains being about
2¾ hours.
The station is some little distance from the town, but an omnibus
meets the trains.
Population about 1,300.
Soil: loam; subsoil, gravel.
Lechlade
is situated a short distance below the
junction of the Thames with the Thames
and Severn Canal.
The river Lech here
falls into the Thames, which at Lechlade
first becomes navigable for practical purposes, and runs, except in very dry
seasons, in a goodly stream under the
handsome arch of the bridge.
Lechlade
is a pretty little place, with a sheep and
cattle market on the last Tuesday in
each month, but, except for its position
on the river, is not of any importance.
The ideas of its inhabitants on the subject of paving are, it may be
remarked, open to considerable exception.
Its church of St.Lawrence, which
was built by one Conrad Ney, the then
vicar, in the time of King Edward IV.,
is, with its tower and spire, a conspicuous
object in the landscape for many miles
round, and is a rather plain but handsome
building in the Gothic style.
It appears,
however, to have been somewhat severely
restored.
The most pretentious monument it contains is on the south wall of
the chancel, and consists of a medallion
of Mrs.Anne Simons (1769), to which
one of the fat and ugly naked boys, who
were so popular with the sculptors of that
period, is pointing; and in the east of
the south nave is a mural tablet with coats
of arms and two fat marble children, the
whole being dedicated to the memory of
certain members of the Coxeter family.
Nearly under this is an imperfect brass
and in the north nave are two more, one
of a male and another of a female figure,
in good preservation.
Lechlade is the point at which boats
may be taken for the trip down the river
(see Trip from Lechlade to Oxford), and
boats may either be sent from Salter's at
Oxford by van or by the Great Western
Railway Company, who make arrangements for conveying them from the station
to the river.
There is a good hotel in
the town (the "New Inn"), but boating
parties occasionally prefer to put up at
the "Trout Inn", at St.John's Bridge,
about half a mile down the stream, which
is also favourably spoken of, but of which
the Editor has no personal experience.
Banks: County of Gloucester Banking Company and Gloucestershire Banking Company.
Fire Engine: In the town.
Hotels: "New Inn", in the town; "Trout", St.John's Bridge, about half a mile off.
Market Day: Last Tuesday in each month.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, telegraph, savings bank,
and insurance) near the "New Inn".
Mails from London, 4.50am, and 1pm;
mails for London, 10am, and 8.45pm
Nearest Bridges: up, Hannington, 3 miles; down, St.John's, about half a mile.
Lock: down, St.John's, about half a mile, the first lock on the Thames.
Fares, from Lechlade to Paddington,
1st, 15/9, 26/3; 2nd, 11/7, 19/6; 3rd,
7/11½.
Here the river proper may be said
to begin.
To this point boats may be
sent by the Great Western Railway, or,
if hired by Salter of Oxford, in the usual
way in his vans.
Should short journeys
only be taken, the "Trout Inn", at Tadpole Bridge, may be noted as a clean
little place, making up a small number of
beds; and the market-town of Bampton
is only a couple of miles distant should
the little inn be full.
Perhaps the best
course, however, is to push on at once to
Eynsham, and, leaving the boat at the
bridge, to sleep in the town.
Excursions
can then be made next day to Cumnor,
Stanton Harcourt, or other interesting
places in the neighbourhood, and the
journey finished at Oxford the same
afternoon.
[Father Thames arrived here in 1956]
St Johns Lock;Half a mile after leaving Lechlade, on the right is St.John's Lock, with an average fall of 3 feet;
and just below it is the St. John's Bridge, with the "Trout Inn" on the left bank.
and just below it is the St. John's Bridge, with the "Trout Inn" on
the left bank.
For some distance below
this stream is very narrow, and generally
weedy;
with the "Trout Inn" on
the left bank.
For some distance below
this stream is very narrow, and generally
weedy;
Buscot, a village in Berkshire on the
right bank, about 31 miles from Oxford.
Soil, clay; population, 500.
Buscot is
only a small agricultural village, and,
with the exception of the fine estate of
Buscot House, contains nothing of any
interest but its old church of St.Mary,
with its rather low, square, embattled
tower.
The interior of the church is
plain, but a fine Norman arch divides the
nave and chancel; and there is a piscina
of apparently considerable antiquity.
Buscot church is further adorned by a
couple of mural monuments, dating from
the end of the eighteenth century, quite
in the taste of that period, and fitted with
the customary angels, fat boys, and generally hideous emblematical devices.
There
is a lock at the village, the second from
the source of the river, with a fall of
rather more than four feet in ordinary
seasons.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Lechlade.
Nearest Bridges: up, St.John's, about 2 miles;
down, Radcot about 5 miles;
Locks: up, St.John's about 2 miles;
down, Rushy 8½ miles.
Railway Station: Lech-
lade, distant about 2 miles {which see).
and, after passing Buscot Church, a couple of sharp turns bring us on the left to Buscot Lock, from Oxford 30½ miles, with an average fall of rather more than 4 feet.
[Eaton Weir was removed and replaced by a footbridge in 1936]
After passing the lock the
river pursues a most tortuous course for
some distance, and about a mile further
down, after the first good stretch of water
we have had, is Hart's Weir, which in
ordinary seasons will be found open, and
with little or no fall.
Should the season
be a dry one, a good deal of care is necessary in shooting this and the other weirs
on the Upper Thames.
A couple of miles lower down is the little village of Eaton Hastings; Faringdon Hill, with its large clump of Scotch firs, being a conspicuous object on the right bank
Radcot Bridge, distant from Oxford
26 miles.
Approaching this bridge, the
stream divides, and in anything like a
dry season the right-hand channel
should on no account be taken, as the
navigation immediately below the bridge
is awkward by reason of weeds and shoals.
Old Man's Bridge, 25 miles from Oxford,
and after about two miles of rather monotonous travelling, we come, sharp on the left, to Rushy Lock, 23 miles from Oxford, with a very slight fall;
and a mile further to Tadpole Bridge, 22 miles from Oxford, with the "Trout Inn", a convenient
place for luncheon, if the traveller is
going from Lechlade to Eynsham in one
day.
Tadpole Bridge is situated in a
pretty country, especially on the Berks
side; and, for some distance below, the
river, which is hereabout very narrow and
with many aggravatingly sharp turns,
runs through a prettily wooded landscape.
Rather more than a mile from Tadpole is Ten Foot Bridge,
and two miles lower
down are the village and ferry of Duxford.
A mile or so below this there is considerable shoaling, and half a mile further an
island with Poplars, where the Berks
bank should be followed.
After making
two or three bends, beyond this point,
there is a prettily wooded bank on the
right,
and a short mile of capital water
for rowing brings us to New Bridge, from Oxford 15 miles,
which, notwithstanding its name, is of
great antiquity.
Convenient for refreshment is the "Rose Inn", and just above
the bridge the little river Windrush falls
into the Thames.
About 4½ miles from New Bridge is Bablock Hithe Ferry, 10½ miles from Oxford, below which there is a fine stream, the scenery becoming very good, with fine bold hills and the Earl of Abingdon's woods at Wytham.
Cumnor, a very picturesque village in
Berkshire, on the right bank, about a
mile and a half from Bablock Hithe
Ferry, and distant from Oxford 4 miles
by road.
Population, about 1,000.
The
walk from Bablock Hithe to Cumnor is
very pretty, though rather steep - the
path past the cottage, immediately
opposite the ferry, should be taken - but
except from its association with Sir Walter
Scott's noble romance of "Kenilworth",
the village itself has little to recommend
it to the notice of passing travellers.
Cumnor House or Place has now entirely
disappeared, and except the tomb of Sir
Anthony Forster (Scott's Tony "Fire-the-Faggot") in the church, nothing
associated with the sad story of Amy
Robsart now remains in Cumnor.
The
Church of St.Michael (the keys of which
can be obtained at the post-office) is
charmingly situated, and consists of nave,
chancel, north aisle, and south transept,
with a plain square tower.
Inside it has
some handsome pointed arches, and on
the north wall of the chancel is the
sculptured stone altar-tomb of Sir Anthony
Forster, with brass of himself, his wife,
and his three children.
This monument
has a long and florid Latin inscription,
eulogising Sir Anthony and his lady in
the highest terms, and especially attribut-
ing to the gentleman the possession of
the highest Christian virtues in a very
unusual degree.
From this it would seem
to follow that, unless the writer of the
epitaph had even less regard for truth
than such gentry are usually credited
with, Sir Walter Scott's account of the
facts connected with the death of Amy
Robsart cannot be considered as in the
least degree historically correct.
The
church also contains an old chained Bible,
and on the south wall, on a brass, is the
following curious
Epitaph upon ye Death of James Welsh.
the body of James Welsh lyeth buryed here,
Who left this mortal life at fourscore yeare;
One thousand and six hundred twelve he dyed,
And for the poore did Christianly provide.
According to the talent God had lent,
Five poundes he gave of zeale and good intent;
the fruite makes knowne the nature of the tree,
Good life the Christian, even so was hee;
Whose tyme well spent unto his soul did gaine
The heavenly rest where holy saints remaine.
Yhis memory a loving wife unto her husband gave,
To show her heart remembers him, though death inclose his grave.
The gyfte he gave unto the poore she hath inlarged the same,
With five poundes added to his five, unto her Christian fame;
Hath placed them both to ye churchmen here, nowise to be delay'd,
But that yearly to the poor of Cumner be a mark of silver pay'd;
Which is the full apoynted rent of the whole beqveathed some,
And so for ever shall remaine untill the day of dome.
In Cumner, for the poore's releife, Margery Welsh doth will,
The charge of this, when she is deade, may be performed still.
The lady certainly got a thorough good advertisement for the money.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
in the village.
Nearest money order,
telegraph office, &c., Oxford.
Letters
through Oxford.
Nearest Railway Station, Oxford;
distant 4 miles {which see).
Stanton Harcourt, a village in Oxfordshire, about two miles from Bablock
Hithe Ferry, is distinguished in county
history as the manor of the Harcourt
family, to whom it was granted in the
time of Henry I., and who resided here
until late in the 17th century, when they
removed to Nuneham Courtney.
To
students of English literature Stanton
Harcourt is still more interesting as
having been frequently visited by Pope,
who finished the translation of the fifth
book of "Homer" in the study which
was allotted to his use by the Harcourt
of that time - a circumstance which he
recorded with a diamond on one of the
panes of the window, a curious and
interesting autograph still preserved at
Nuneham Courtney.
Of the old manor house little now remains, except the
tower, on the second floor of which
Pope's study still exists, the view from
it over the surrounding country being
very charming.
The kitchen of the old
house also remains, and is almost unique,
there being, it is said, but one other of
the period in England.
It is of enormous
size, with prodigious arrangements for
furnaces, but without a chimney, the
smoke being allowed to escape by an
ingenious arrangement of loopholes and
shutters in the lofty roof.
The present
pretty house is built upon the site of the
old lodge.
The village itself is very
charming, and possesses a remarkably
handsome church with chancel, nave,
transepts, and a fine square tower, at the
north-east corner of which is a tourelle.
There is excellent Norman work in the
building, and some remarkably good
windows, &c., of the Early English
period.
A fine old piscina in the chancel
and the old rood screen are also interesting.
On the south of the chancel is the
private chapel of the Harcourt family,
containing four altar tombs with recum-
bent figures representing distinguished
members of the family, among them Sir
Robert Harcourt, in plate armour and the
mantle of the Garter, who died in 1490;
another Sir Robert Harcourt, who fought
at Bosworth; George Simon, Earl Harcourt, who died in 1809; and Archbishop
Harcourt, dated 1847.
The chapel also
contains a brass memorial tablet to members of the family, the list beginning with
"Bernard the Dane", 876.
In the south
of the church is a curious marble mural
monument, with half-length figures holding skulls, of Philip Harcourt and his
wife, 1688, and a passable statue of Field
Marshal Harcourt, 1830.
Noticeable
also is a large marble mural tablet with
two allegorical female figures as supports.
Two well-preserved brasses will be found
on the chancel floor, and in the chancel
is an altar-tomb with a painted recumbent
female figure; and another, which probably also at one time had a figure under
its canopy.
Among the minor celebrities
of Stanton Harcourt are John Hewitt and
Sarah Drew, two virtuous villagers, who,
just before the day fixed for their marriage,
in 1717, were struck dead together by
lightning.
This incident greatly exercised the sentimental feelings of Lady
Mary Wortley Montague and Mr.Pope.
The lovers are buried in Stanton Harcourt
churchyard, and on the south side of the
church is a tablet bearing the following
epitaph from the pen of Pope himself,
whose genius would appear to have somewhat deserted him during its composition:
Think not by rigorous judgment seized
A pair so faithful could expire;
Victims so pure Heaven saw well pleas'd,
And snatch'd them in celestial fire.
Live well and fear no sudden fate;
When God calls virtue to the grave,
Alike 'tis justice soon or late,
Mercy alike to kill and save.
Virtue unmoved can hear the call,
And face the flash that melts the ball.
Some half-mile from Stanton Harcourt
are two large stones called the "Devil's
Quoits", which are said, on doubtful
authority, to have been set up to commemorate a great battle fought in 614
between the Britons and the Saxons under
that Cynegil who was subsequently baptized by Birinus at Dorchester.
The soil of Stanton Harcourt is gravel,
and the population of the village numbers
between 600 and 700.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
in the village (nearest money order,
savings bank, and telegraph office, Eynsham).
Nearest Railway Station, Eynsham,
about 3 miles (which see).
After passing Skinner's Weir, rather more than 1½ mile further, the river twists and turns about A great deal, until we reach Pinkhill Lock, 8½ miles from Oxford, with a fall of about three feet.
Round a good many corners, and rather more than a mile off [from Pinkhill Lock], is Eynsham [Swinford] Bridge, from Oxford 7 miles,
Eynsham, Oxfordshire, on the left
bank, distant from Oxford about 7 miles,
a station on the Great Western Railway,
70 miles from Paddington, the time
occupied by the fast trains being about
2¼ hours.
Eynsham is a sufficiently uninteresting little town; situated on a hill,
about three-quarters of a mile from the
river, which is here spanned by a handsome bridge; and, except as a centre for
excursions, headquarters for anglers, or
a resting-place for oarsmen travelling
between Cricklade and Oxford, offers no
attraction to the visitor.
The church of
St.Leonard is an old stone building of
considerable size, with a square embattled
tower, and presents many varieties of
architecture to the examination of the
student.
The interior, which contains
several mural monuments and a brass of
1632, is chiefly remarkable for the arches
which divide the nave from the aisles.
there are also Baptist and Methodist
places of worship in the town.
The soil
is various, and the population about
2,200.
Fire: Engine opposite the church.
Hotels: "the Swan" and "Red Lion".
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph), opposite the church.
Mails from
London (via Oxford) 6.48am, 12.30pm
Mails for London, 10.40am, 9pm
Nearest Bridges, up, Langley's (or Ridge's Weir) foot, about 7 miles, and New
Bridge, a mile farther;
down, Godstow, 2½ miles.
Locks, up, Pinkhill, rather more
than a mile; down, Godstow, near the
bridge.
Ferry, Bablock Hithe, 3½ miles.
Fares: From Eynsham to Paddington, 1st, 12/8, 21/3; 2nd, 9/6, 16/-; 3rd, 5/10.
and just below, round a very sharp corner, which necessitates a considerable deal of caution, is the [Eynsham] weir.
[Kings Weir was replaced by a lock in 1928]
Good reaches
for about three miles [from Eynsham Lock] bring us to King's Weir, sharp on the right, the
stream to the left going to the Duke's
Lock, the junction with the Oxford
Canal.
Our route lies over King's Weir,
which is provided with a roller slip.
[1961: "Thames" Bridge over the "Isis" built; A34, Western Bypass]
Passing presently under Godstow Bridge at the end of the cut, the ruins of Godstow Nunnery being on the right ...
Godstow: Of the "house of Nunnes beside Oxford", as Stow calls it, in which
Fair Rosamond was buried, nothing now
remains but some ivy-covered walls and
its association with the story, or rather
the legend, of the lady who was certainly
no better than she should have been, but
who almost as certainly never had that
interview with Queen Eleanor and a
bowl and a dagger which was for so
many years accepted as an historical fact.
Travellers who wish to inspect the ruins
will find them on the Berkshire shore,
while those who are more interested in refreshing the inner man will find a snug
little house on the opposite side of the
bridge.
At Godstow, which is 3½ miles
from Oxford, is a lock as well as a bridge.
Passing presently under Godstow Bridge
at the end of the cut, the ruins of Godstow
Nunnery being on the right, is
Godstow Lock, 3½ miles from Oxford,
on leaving which a pretty view of the
city is obtained.
A little distance lower down is an island where a number of boats are kept for hire;
Medley Weir was removed in 1937]
and on the right of this is Medley Weir, with a fall of about a foot.
From this point the river runs past the railway and some very unaesthetic cottages to Osney Bridge, the weir on the right requiring attention.
Three hundred yards further is Osney Lock.
{1883: with a fall of 4½ feet}
{1885: Extensive alterations are now (1885) being made here.}
Trip from Oxford to London:
Twenty years ago [1860] this delightful excursion was almost unknown except to
ardent devotees of aquatics, and although
at that time there were comparatively few
hotels along the river-bank, there was
generally very little difficulty in obtaining
accommodation.
Of late years the
journey has become one of the regular
things to do, and in a fine season the
river swarms with boats for some four
months.
Hotels have sprung up and
have been enlarged in all directions to
meet the demand; but, especially if there
be ladies in the party, it will be found
discreet not to trust to the chance of
getting rooms at the end of the day's
journey, but to write or telegraph beforehand to secure what is wanted.
The
drawback of this plan of course is that it
binds the traveller to a fixed itinerary,
and parcels the journey out into so many
days, whatever may be the temptations
to linger on the way or to push forward.
On the other hand, to arrive at a
landing-stage about dinner-time, wet
through and hungry, and with perhaps
three miles and a couple of locks to the
next hotel, it is, to say the least, annoying to find that some more wary wayfarers have occupied the quarters which
you had hoped to obtain.
In the height
of the season, indeed, especially on
Saturday and Sunday, considerable
notice is necessary to ensure even the
humblest quarters.
One week allowed for journey, after which extra hire will be charged, unless notice be given
that the boat is done with, and where left. 2s 6d to be paid for care until van calls.
Boat vans
from Oxford to Kingston, Richmond, or Wandsworth, and back, usually every week during the
summer. Gentlemen's boats carted.
Competent watermen at reasonable charges.
Cooking stoves and requisites for camping supplied.
There are many ways of making this
excursion; perhaps the pleasantest form
of conveyance is a randan skiff with two
sitters, as there is thus plenty of rest and
variety in the work.
People who do not
own suitable boats would do well to
engage what they want from Mr. Salter,
of Oxford, who lets boats specially for
these excursions at rates which include
carriage back to Oxford, thus relieving
the hirer of any responsibility after he
has finished his trip and deposited his
boat with one of Mr. Salter's agents,
from whom he will take a receipt.
It is, of course, undesirable to take
much luggage in the boat.
There are so
many railway stations on or near the banks
of the river that the heavy luggage which
may be required for a lengthened stay
can be forwarded from place to place
without difficulty.
Good waterproof rugs
or sheets to protect such bags, &c, as
are taken must not be omitted from the
outfit.
The most convenient stopping
places are Abingdon, Wallingford, Streatley, Pangbourne, Sonning, Wargrave,
Henley, Medmenham, Marlow, Cookham,
Maidenhead, Bray, Windsor, Staines,
Chertsey, Halliford, and Hampton
Court.
At all of these places there is
good hotel accommodation.
The prices
of the Thames hotels are, as a rule, fairly
reasonable; although, like all similar
matters, they have shown a considerable
tendency to increase of late years.
The
fashionable places, such as Oxford, Henley,
Maidenhead, and Windsor (so far, at least,
as regards the two big hotels, opposite
the Castle), are, of course, more expensive
than the others, and may be called even
high in their charges.
The hotels at the
other places vary but little.
Generally
speaking, 14s or 15s a day will cover
the expense of bed, breakfast, lunch,
dinner, and attendance.
To say that
the majority of Thames hotel-keepers
still have fossil ideas as to the value of
wines is only to say that they are human,
and hotel-keepers.
It is astonishing
that nobody can be induced to try the
experiment of stimulating a largely-
increased consumption by a system of
reasonable charges.
There is, undoubtedly,
a fortune waiting for the sensible man
who is first in the field.
So many accidents have occurred and
continue to occur, not only to novices
but to practised oarsmen familiar with
the river and its vagaries, that without
any desire to assume the office of mentor,
or to lay down the law to people who
may quite well know what they are about,
a word of caution may be added here
before starting on the trip.
The river is
safe enough for anyone who can manage
a boat, but too much care cannot be
observed in all boating excursions.
"Sky-larking", which sacrifices almost as many
lives as incautious boating, will of course
be avoided by all sensible people; but it
cannot be too strongly or too often urged
that a very little carelessness may produce
a very great disaster, and that, although
it is very easy to get into the river, it is
sometimes uncommonly difficult to get
out again, more especially if the scene
of the accident be in a lock.
Locks should
always be treated with the greatest respect both in entering, passing through,
and leaving, and a wide berth should be
given to all weirs, mill streams, and
lashers.
Towing against a strong stream
requires more care on the part of the
coxswain as well as of the person on the
bank than people are generally disposed
to believe.
A typical accident occurred
near The Grotto at Basildon on the bank
holiday of August, 1879, when a boat,
which was being towed up against a
strong flood, and was steered suddenly
too far into the stream, was absolutely
pulled over by the tow-rope, and capsized
with a loss of two lives.
{1883: and a short distance beyond this is the weir just above Folly Bridge, Oxford.}
{1885: A little further is Folly Bridge, Oxford.}
[1884: The Folly Bridge Lock gates were removed and passage left open
I assume the weir was also removed at that date]
Oxford City: From London 111½ miles.
By rail from Paddington, 63 miles,
Population, 32,000.
Mr.John Richard
Green, in his "Stray Studies from England
and Italy", is hard upon the city of Oxford:
"To most Oxford men - indeed, to the
common visitor of Oxford - the town
seems a mere offshoot of the University;
its appearance is altogether modern ...
In all outer seeming, Oxford appears a
mere assemblage of indifferent streets
that have grown out of the needs of the
University, and the impression is heightened by its commercial unimportance ...
as a municipality it seems to exist
only by grace or usurpation of prior
University privileges ...
The peace of
the town is still but partially in the hands
of its magistrates, and the riotous student
is amenable only to University jurisdiction."
Mr.Green goes on to show, that
so far from the above being the fact,
Oxford had been a prosperous city hundreds of years before the foundation of
the University, and opines that its connection with the University
"has probably been its commercial ruin ...
The University found Oxford a busy, prosperous borough, and reduced it to a
cluster of lodging-houses."
It is certainly not given to the casual visitor to see anything of the commercial ruin of which
Mr.Green speaks.
The town has a
thriving and money-making air; even out
of term the streets, especially about Cornmarket-street and Carfax, are thronged,
and although the business done maybe
of a retail sort, there is no doubt plenty
of it.
Its modern appearance, however,
cannot be denied; and although its history is surpassed in importance and
romantic associations by that of few cities
in the empire, it is for its University surroundings that it presents the most attractive features for the tourist and sightseer.
Only a few ruins of the castle, which was
built by Robert D'Oilly after the Conquest,
and of the massive city walls remain.
Oxford City is only old in its annals.
Oxford is governed by a high steward,
mayor, recorder - W.H.Cooke, Esq. Q.C: sheriff, ten aldermen, and thirty
councillors.
It is a Parliamentary borough,
constituency, 6,134, and has returned
members to Parliament since the time of
Edward I., but is at present unrepresented.
It is the capital of the episcopal
see of Oxford; the original abbey at
Osney, which was at one time the cathedral, has long been destroyed, and the
present cathedral is Christ Church.
Oxford is an infantry brigade depot, is the
headquarters of the Oxfordshire Militia
and of the 1st (University) and 2nd
Administrative Battalions Oxfordshire
Rifle Volunteers.
The University boat-races attract many
visitors, especially in the spring, and the
great event of the year, which should be
attended by all who wish to see Oxford
from its best and brightest - but it must
be owned most expensive - side, is the
Encoenia or Commemoration of Founders
Com mem. as it is generally abbreviated.
The festivities of this function are spread
over almost a week, and include public
orations and recitations of prize exercises
in the Sheldonian, which is annually
filled by a crowd of ladies who, one
would think, must find the proceedings
dull; balls, garden parties, processions
of boats, picnics to Nuneham, excursions
to Blenheim, Godstow, and Woodstock,
flower-shows, interspersed with little dinners and breakfasts, the engineering of
which your Oxford Don well understands.
As the capital of an important agricultural district, Oxford is naturally selected
as the headquarters of many county
institutions.
Among them are the Oxfordshire Agricultural Society, established in
1811 to encourage the rearing and breeding of live stock, &c., and for organising
shows in various parts of the county; the
Oxfordshire Horticultural Society, established i830,a flourishing institution whose
objects are indicated by its name; the Charity Organisation Association, established
1844; and to take another point of view,
the Labourers' Union, an offshoot of
that which had its origin at Leamington.
The charities are numerous, the most
interesting and ancient being Cutler
Boulter's Charity; Stone's Hospital,
founded 1700 by the Rev.W.Stone,
Principal of New Inn Hall; and Richard
Wooten's Charity for 14 pensioners.
The Radcliffe Infirmary, founded by that
Dr.Radcliffe whose name occurs so often
in the annals of the University, opened
in 1770, has a weekly average of 112 beds
occupied, and treats, besides, a large
number of out-patients.
A Provident
Dispensary has been established within
the last two or three years with satisfactory results.
The Boys' and Girls'
Blue Coat Schools date respectively from
1710 and 1756, and educate about 110
children.
Naturally Oxford is the home
of numerous educational establishments,
of which the Diocesan Training College
for schoolmistresses deserves notice.
Very important and significant are the
Colleges for Ladies, founded under the
auspices of the Association for Promoting
the Higher Education of Women.
Following the example of Girton and Newnham at Cambridge, the Lady Margaret
Hall and Somerville Hall provide for
ladies such educational opportunities as
would qualify them for taking the University degree, if Alma Mater took as
much interest in the girls as she does in
the boys.
At Lady Margaret, or Lady's
Hall, the expense is about £75 per
annum, in addition to about £15 per
annum fees for instruction.
At Somerville Hall, the expenses are rather less.
The
terms correspond generally with those of
the University.
Full particulars in regard
to these novel and useful institutions may
be obtained, as to Lady Margaret Hail,
from Miss Wordsworth, the principal,
the Hon.Mrs.Talbot, Keble College, or
Mrs.A.H.Johnson, 22, Norham Gardens, Oxford; and as to Somerville Hall,
from the secretaries, the Hon.Mrs.Harcourt, Cowley Grange, Oxford, and Mrs.T.H.Ward, 5, Bradmore-road, Oxford,
or the Principal, Miss M.Shaw Lefevre.
The City Public Library of about 9,000
volumes is at present located in inconvenient quarters under the Town Hall.
The Masonic body musters strongly;
and there are two Masonic Halls, one in
Alfred-street, High-street, where three
lodges meet, and the other, that of the
Apollo University Lodge, in Frewen-court, Cornmarket-street.
Two political
clubs, the Conservative and the Reform
(entrance fee, £1 1s, subscription, £1 1s)
keep the fire of party politics alive and
there is also the Clarendon Club with
social and literary objects (entrance-fee,
£2 2s, subscription, £2 2s), admission
being by ballot, excluding black balls
being calculated in proportion to number
of voters.
There is also St.Catherine's
Club, Broad-street, founded in 1874 for
the benefit of the scholares non ascripti
of the University, and conducted by the
undergraduates themselves.
The ordinary
subscription is 15s per term.
A dinner
at a very reasonable price is served every
evening, and co-operative stores, etc.,
are connected with the club.
There is an extensive corn exchange,
county hall, and courts where the assizes
are held, and the county gaol, the city
prison having been lately dismantled.
The Town Hall in St.Aldate-street is a
spacious chamber, and has at the back
of the dais a quaint carving of the city
arms, dating from 1577.
In the council
chamber will be found numerous portraits, the most important being one of
the third Duke of Marlborough by Gainsborough.
Among others are portraits of
Queen Anne; Alderman Nixon, 1638, and
Joan his wife, principally noticeable for
her curious conical hat; Richard Hawkins,
Alderman, 1638; Sir Thomas White,
Alderman of London, "a worthy benefactor who gave unto the Cite of Oxford
and xxiii other cities and townes everie
23rd year one hundred and fiv poundes
for ever".
St.Mary the Virgin, the University
church in the High-street, is, with curious
twisted pillars, elaborately-decorated
facade, and beautiful spire, one of the
most prominent buildings in the city.
It was built under the superintendence
of Adam de Brome, almoner to Eleanor
of Castile, whose tomb is in the north
chantry.
On the south wall, under the
tower, is a brass, apparently to Edmund
Crofton, 1507, and over the door are
some very curious carvings.
The chancel
and nave are separated by an organ-screen
and loft.
The Lenten University Sermon
and Bampton Lectures are delivered
here.
In the south part of the nave is a
brass inscription to William Tillyard,
1587, Peter Pory, 1610, and Elizabeth
their wife, 1621.
The stained glass on
the south side of the nave is exceedingly
good.
By the reading-desk in the chancel,
covered by a mat, is a marble slab let
into the pavement, bearing the following
inscription: "In a vault of brick, at the
upper end of this quire, was buried Amy
Robsart, wife of Lord Robert Dudley,
K.G., on Sunday 22nd September, A.D. 1560."
St.Aldate's is dedicated to a
British Saint, who lived about 450, and
is supposed to have been originally
founded by the Britons.
Speed says it
was founded or restored about 1004.
It
subsequently belonged to the Priory of
St.Frideswide and to the Abbey of
Abingdon.
The present building is of
various dates and styles.
The oldest
remains - an arcade of five small circular-headed arches, apparently of Norman
work - were removed at the enlargement
in 1862 from the chancel to the east end
of the north chancel aisle.
A recess in
the north wall of the chancel, with a flat
pointed arch of later date, probably once
used as an Easter sepulchre, now contains
a good alabaster altar tomb to the memory
of John Noble, Principal of Broadgates
Hall (the original of Pembroke College),
who died 1522.
The north aisle, originally
called St.Saviour's Chapel, was built
in 1455 by Philip Polton, Archdeacon of
Gloucester.
The south aisle was built
early in the reign of Edward III. by Sir
John de Docklington, several times
Mayor of Oxford, and in its original state
must have been a fine specimen of
decorated work.
The old tower and
spire were of about the same date, but
being in a dangerous state were taken
down and rebuilt 1873-74.
During the
incumbency of the present rector more
than £6,000 have been expended under
the superintendence of Mr.J.T.Christopher, of Bloomsbury-square, London, in
the enlargement and restoration of the
church.
A number of brasses are in the
church, but, as is unfortunately the case
in too many of the Oxford churches, the
interior is so dark as to preclude the
possibility of deciphering the inscriptions.
The church possesses a fine old carved
font, supported at the foot by carved
monsters.
Hearne states that it was the
custom for the people of this parish to
eat sugar sops out of the font on Holy
Thursday.
The present sexton has a
lively recollection of hot rolls and butter
in his youth at Pembroke on the same date.
St.Mary Magdalen, between Balliol
and Cornmarket-street, is a very ancient
church, the original edifice dating from
before the Conquest, but has been rebuilt,
repaired, and restored from time to time
down to 1875, when the tower arch was
opened up.
It has a perpendicular
battlemented tower, partly built from
materials taken from Osney Abbey, on the
Cornmarket side of which will be observed
in a niche a small cunningly-wrought
stone effigy of St.Mary.
The north, or
martyr's aisle, was added by Sir Gilbert
Scott in 1841.
Here is the old oak door,
surmounted by carvings of Ridley, Latimer,
and Cranmer, which formerly stood in
the old city gaol, the Bocardo, at the
entrance to the cell in which the martyrs
were confined.
On the wall facing the
old font are one or two old brasses: one
to Jane Fitzherbert, 1574; another with
a kneeling figure to General Smithers,
1580.
Against the west wall of the south
aisle is a slab (1735) to the memory of
Francis Seely, late of the University of
Oxford, Barber and Periwig Maker,
"who, in the relation of a husband, a
father, or a friend, was equalled by few,
excelled by none".
A slab in the vestry
records in peculiar language the virtues
of Mrs.Elizabeth Baylie, "niece to yt
glorious Martyr and Asserter of the
Church of England, Dr.William Laud,
Arch-Bpp. of Cant".
Under the west window by the organ is a finely-carved
old oak-chest, called the Jewel Chest,
formerly used as a receptacle for the old
Catholic communion plate.
St.Michael, in Cornmarket-street, was
restored by Mr.Street in 1855, and has a
coloured marble altar-piece, his gift.
In
the lady-chapel on the north is an
elaborately-painted brass with kneeling
figures of Alderman Randolphus Flexney
and Catarina his wife, who died respectively in 1578 and 1567; close to
which will be found an extraordinary stone
carving of a man and a woman, apparently
having high jinks with a skeleton.
Here
also is a brass, "Joannis Pendarves",
1617, and a stone with an incised portrait,
dated 1603, of Walter Dotyn.
St.Peter's-in-the-East, by St.Edmund Hall, the
back of which runs along the churchyard,
is a very ancient church, dating probably
from the 12th century.
The crypt, sometimes called Grymbald's with its rows of
squat columns, is probably the oldest
part of the building.
A door is here
pointed out, in connection with which is
a Fair Rosamond legend.
The south
door, which is a unique specimen of
Norman work, and the groined roof of
the chancel with its appropriate chain
ornaments, should be noted.
The Petworth marble tomb to the memory of Sir
R. Atkinson, 1574, four times Mayor of
Oxford, is in the choir-room; but as it is
covered with a deal bookcase it is quite
impossible to say more of it.
On the
right of the entrance to the crypt is a
small but fine window.
The Catholic
church of St.Aloysius, St.Giles's-road-west, was opened in 1875, and is a lofty
though rather bare and cold building,
with a fine reredos and altar, the gift of
the Marquis of Bute.
Banks: Gillett and Co., 54, Cornmarket-street;
London and County, 121, High-street;
Oxford University and City, 119, St.Aldate-street;
Parsons, Thomson, and Co.
, High-street.
Fairs: May 3; Monday and Tuesday after St.Giles; Thursday before September 29.
Fire: Volunteer: Engine-house, New Inn Hall-street.
Hotels: "Clarendon", Cornmarket-street; "Mitre", High-street: "Randolph", corner of Beaumont-street;
"Roebuck", Cornmarket-street.
Infirmary: Radcliffe.
Markets: Every second Wednesday (cattle); Saturday (corn).
Places of Worship: Christ Church Cathedral; All Saints, Cowley; St.John; Holy Trinity; St.Ebbe's; Magdalen College Chapel;
New College Chapel; St.Aldate's; St.Barnabas; St.Clement's; St.Cross or Holywell; St.Ebbe's; St.Frideswides;
St.George the Martyr; St.Giles's; St.John the Baptist; St.John the Baptist (Summertown); St.Mary Magdalene;
St.Martin's (Carfax); St.Mary the Virgin; St.Michael's; St.Paul's; St.Peter's-in-the-East; St.Peter-le-Bailey;
St.Philip and St.James; and St.Thomas the Martyr.
The Roman Catholic Church of St.Aloysius, and numerous chapels
belonging to the Baptist, Congregational,
Independent, Methodist, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan bodies.
Police: Station, High-street; County Police Station, New-road.
Postal Arrangements: Post
Office (money order, savings bank, telegraph, and insurance), St.Aldate-street.
Mails from London, delivered at 6.30 and 9.30am, and 12.30 and 6.45pm; Sunday, 6.30am.
Mails for London, 8.25 and 11.15am, 3.20, 6.45, and 12pm; Sunday, 12pm
Nearest Bridges: Folly; down, Abingdon 7¾ miles.
Lock: down, Iffley about a mile.
Railway Station: Oxford.
Fares to Paddington or Euston-square,
1st, 11/-, 18/6; 2nd, 8/4, 14/-; 3rd, 5/3½.
Cab Fares, Distance:
Not exceeding a mile and a quarter, one person: 1s
For every additional person: 6d
For each succeeding half-mile: 6d
For every additional person: 6d
For every fifteen minutes' detention: 6d
Persons hiring by distance may return
to the place of hiring, or any portion of
the distance, on payment of one-half the
proper fare.
Time:
One or two persons, one hour; 2s 6d
For every additional person: 6d
For every additional fifteen minutes: 6d
For every additional person: 3d
If a carriage be hired by time, and the
driver cannot return to the nearest cabstand within the hour, half-hour, or such
other time for which he shall receive payment, he shall in such case be entitled to
charge one-half the proper fare for so
much time as may be necessary to enable
him to return to the nearest cab-stand.
Children being Passengers:
Infants carried in the arms or on the lap,
or one child not so carried, but under
seven years of age, and accompanied by
an adult, shall not be charged for as passengers; but every two children under
seven years of age, not so carried, shall
be charged for as one adult passenger.
Night Fares:
An additional half
fare, both by distance and time, shall be
paid for every fare or so much of every
fare as may be performed by any carriage
after twelve o'clock at night and before
six o'clock in the morning.
Luggage:
Luggage allowed not to exceed 112 lbs. in weight;
9d to be paid for every 112 lbs weight carried in excess
of the weight allowed.
Computation of Distance:
the distance travelled shall be computed from
the stand or place where the carriage may
be engaged or hired, and shall extend to
any distance not exceeding five miles
within the district to be computed from
the General Post Office aforesaid.
Distances:
(as given in the "Oxford Chronicle Railway Guide").
From the Great Western Railway
Station (down platform) to the following
places is one mile and a quarter:
To the south end of Magdalen Bridge,
To the Banbury-road, opposite Shrub-lands (north of Bevington-road).
To Plantation-road, Woodstock-road.
To Kingston-road, midway between Tackley-place and Farndon-road.
To Abingdon-road, near Whitehouse-lane.
From Oxford Post Office (St.Aldate-street) to the following places is one mile
and a quarter:
To Iffley-road, midway between Henley-street and Stanley-street.
To Cowley-road, about 20 yards short of
Divinity-walk (Local Board boundary).
To Woodstock-road, at the Small-Pox Hospital, about 230 yards north of
Rackham-lane.
To Abingdon-road, at Cold Harbour.
To Botley-road, 60 yards short of Seven Arches Bridge.
Oxford, from London Bridge about
111½ miles.
The towing-path, after
leaving Folly Bridge, Oxford, follows the
right bank.
On the left are the boatrafts, and the barges of the various
colleges moored off Christ Church
Meadows, where in the winter, after a
flood, there is sometimes capital skating.
Neptune Rowing Club, Oxford:
the object of this club, which consists of
effective members, members, and honorary members, is to encourage amateur
rowing.
Effective members pay a subscription of £1, members one of 10s,
and honorary members not less than 5s.
The members elect; one black ball in four excludes.
Colours, orange, black
and red.
Headquarters, "three Cups"
Hotel, Queen Street, Oxford.
[c.1950s: Boathouse replaced the College barges]
About three-quarters of a mile from
Folly Bridge are the long bridges, across
a backwater, which re-enters the Thames -
in this part of its course sometimes
called the Isis - half a mile below Iffley.
Here is the University bathing-place.
The passage is impeded by weirs, and
the course of the river must accordingly
be followed.
[1962: Donnington Road Bridge opened]
Rather more than half a
mile farther is the "Isis Tavern" (right
bank).
Here the right bank must be
followed, with a careful eye on the lasher,
which appears rather unexpectedly, as
the weir-stream which turns Iffley Mill,
and which is marked by a large Conservancy "Danger" board, is very rapid
and unprotected,
[1924: Iffley lock was completely re-sited and the weir between it and the Isis Inn was removed.]
Iffley, called in Domesday Book Giftelei,
Oxfordshire, on the left bank, 110 miles
from London, 1½ miles from Oxford.
Population about 1,000. Soil, loam.
Iffley is noticeable chiefly for its old mill
on the river, and for its church, which is
one of the best specimens of Anglo-Norman
architecture now left to us in a building of
this size.
It is hardly necessary to visit
Iffley to see the mill.
It has been painted
in every kind of medium, and photographed in every sort of camera, till it
must be as familiar to most people as
Windsor Castle itself.
Rarely, indeed, is
there an exhibition of the Academy, or the
Dudley, or of any of the water-colour
societies, without at least one bit from
Iffley.
From the lock, the village is approached by a bridge over the weir, passing
through a gate at the mill.
This is kept
locked, and a toll is required from each
person of 1d.
About five minutes' walk
from the lock is the post-office, and about
200 yards to the right is the church, dedicated to St.Mary, which is known to have
been built prior to 1189, so that a tablet
on the outer north wall, dated 1659, which
elsewhere might lay claim to a decent antiquity, here appears to be even absurdly
juvenile.
The fine embattled tower rises
between the chancel and the nave, and is
in common with the rest of the church, in
singularly fine preservation.
Perhaps the
best point about the exterior is the west
front, which has a grand doorway with a
noble arch, enriched with carving, about
which there is even something Saracenic,
as is indeed the case with some of the
carved and fretted work of the interior.
The east bay of the chancel is as built by
Robert de Efteley, a prior of Kenilworth,
about 1270.
The ornamented piers and
capitals of the south and north doorways
and the chevron and sunflowers of the
tower arches in the interior, are very noteworthy.
The vaulted chancel roof is boldly
groined.
The building appears to be unusually narrow in proportion to its length.
Above the doorway at the west end is a
characteristic circular window.
The font
is large and massive, and is said to be
coeval with the church itself.
The windows
are of stained glass of no great interest,
except in so far that the west window
commemorates the author of "the Crescent and the Cross".
The churchyard
is famous for its yew, certainly one of
the finest old trees of that class in the
country, and which it requires no great
stretch of imagination to believe might
have been planted at a date not very
much later than the foundation of the
church itself.
Near it stands a monumental cross of ancient date, which has
recently been restored by Mr.G.Street,
R.A.
The rectory house, which abuts
on the churchyard, harmonises well with
its venerable neighbours.
The west side
contains some excellent perpendicular
work, and with the old Norman tower
behind it, and its garden sloping to the
river, forms one of the prettiest pictures
on the Thames.
The Manor House
(which overlooks the lock), though perhaps older by a century than the rectory,
has been altered and patched until scarcely
any traces of what it was remain.
Dr.Johnson visited this house with Boswell
on 11th June, 1784, when Dr.Nowell
resided there.
Boswell says:
"We were
well entertained and very happy at Dr.Nowell's, where was a very agreeable
company, and we drank 'Church and King' after dinner with true Tory cordiality."
The name of the village has,
it is said, been found spelt in eighty
different ways during the last 1,000 years.
Iffley lock is on the right bank of the
lasher, immediately on passing which the
lock comes into view, leaving the river a
little distance up stream.
The weir, on
which is the mill, has a very rapid stream,
and has a somewhat evil reputation for
accidents.
Some care, therefore, should
be exercised when waiting for the lock to
open.
The lock is of stone, in good repair except as to the gates.
A roller slip
has been recently added.
The fall is from
2½ to 3 feet.
Excellent dace-fishing with
the fly on the scowers and shallows from
Iffley Mill-tail to Rose Island, Kennington.
Inns: "Isis" (Grandpont on the river); "the Trees", in the village.
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Postal Arrangements: Mails from London, 6.23am, 2.05pm; Sundays, 6.23am
Mails for London, 6.20pm; Sundays, 3.19 pm
Nearest money order and telegraph office: Cowley.
Nearest Bridges, up, Oxford; down,
Abingdon about 7 miles.
Locks: Iffley; down, Sandford 1¾ miles.
Railway Stations: Oxford and Littlemore.
Fares, Oxford to Paddington: 1st,
11/-, 18/6; 2nd, 8/4, 14/-; 3rd, 5/7.
From
Littlemore the fares are a trifle lower.
Iffley Lock, average fall 2 ft 6 in, is reached.
The lock is in good condition, but the upper gates want repairing.
It has a roller slip.
[1908: Iffley Mill destroyed by fire]
[1962: Isis Bridge, A423, Southern Bypass, was built]
Half a mile below Iffley is the iron bridge of the Great Western Railway, from beneath which is a very pretty view of the spires of Oxford, particularly of the tower of Magdalen College,
and at the bottom of the next reach (left bank) is Rose Island
(sometimes called Kennington Island,
the little village of that name being on
the opposite bank), with its plain but
snug little inn, the "Swan".
Here the
river takes a sharp curve to the right,
and just below the island is a rustic
bridge to the Oxfordshire bank, and the
tow-path just below crosses a backwater
by an iron bridge.
The course of the
river is, however, quite plain.
Kennington Island, sometimes called
Rose Island, opposite the little village of
Kennington in Berkshire, about 2½ miles
from Oxford.
Here is a good little inn,
"The Swan", to which is attached some
private fishing.
Nearest Bridges, up, Oxford about
2½ miles; down, Abingdon about 5½ miles.
Locks: up, Iffley ½ mile; down, Sandford 1½ mile.
Railway Station: Littlemore.
Fares, Littlemore to Paddington: 1st, 10/9, 18/-; 2nd, 7/6, 12/6; 3rd, 5/2
Fares, from Paddington: 1st, 10/9, 18/-; 2nd, 7/6, 12/6; 3rd, 5/2.
(the mill, weir-stream, and "King's Arms Inn" are [on the] left [bank])
Sandford, Oxfordshire, on the left
bank, 108¾ miles from London, 2¾ miles
from Oxford.
Population, 348. Soil,
heavy clay.
Sandford is a village nestling
in a well-wooded country, its most picturesque portion lying in a dip at the back
of the churchyard, where is an old farmhouse, dating from the beginning of the
17th century, which deserves attention.
A walk of about seven minutes from the
river leads to the church, which was
originally founded in the time of William
the Norman, and which has been twice
extensively restored within the last thirty
years, the last time in 1864.
A memorial
of a former restorer exists in the shape of
a tablet over the porch, bearing the
following inscription:
"Condidit me Dnina Eliza Isham Anno Gratiæ 1652.
Porticus patronæ.
Thanks to thy charitie religiose dame,
Wch found mee old, and made mee new againe."
Within the church is a mural monument
to one William Powell, dated 1661, and
adorned with the cherubs and skull so dear
to the monumental designer of that period.
On the east wall is an elaborate carving in
a somewhat defaced condition, which is
said to represent the Assumption of the
Virgin.
This interesting specimen of
16th-century art was found buried in the
churchyard, where it had probably been
concealed from the spoiler.
The church
stands in a quaint little walled churchyard,
containing very ancient grave-stones, and
made bright and cheerful with standard
roses along the main pathway.
From
one side of it is a view of the old farm-
house and of some fine trees, which,
together, make a picture such as Creswick delighted to paint.
Abutting on the churchyard at the west end are the schools,
built in 1860 and 1868; and opposite are
the village shop and post-office.
A Preceptory of Knights Templars
was founded in Sandford by Queen
Maud, which latterly fell into the possession of the Knights Hospitallers.
The pool here is good for pike and
perch, and where the water is quiet,
heavy bags of roach may be made in the
season, particularly during September
and October, when the aquatic vegetation upon which the fish feed becomes
sour and unpalatable.
All the way down
below Nuneham good swims may be
found for roach and gudgeon, while
under the overhanging trees of Nuneham
Park very handsome chub lie in wait for
the insects that breed and fall from the
foliage.
Inn: The "King's Arms".
Place of Worship: St.Andrew's.
Postal Arrangements: Mails from
London, from 6.45 to 9; same on Sunday.
Mails for London, 5.45pm; Sunday, 2.45pm
Nearest telegraph office, Cowley.
Nearest Bridges, up, Folly Bridge,
Oxford 2¾ miles; down, Abingdon 5
miles.
Locks: up, Iffley 1¾ mile; down, Abingdon 4½ miles.
Railway Station: Littlemore, near Oxford.
FARES, from Littlemore to Paddington: 1st, 10/9, 18/-; 2nd, 7/6, 12/6;
3rd, 5/-.
Falcon Rowing Club, Oxford:
Number of members not limited.
Election by ballot of general meeting, one
black ball in three excludes.
Members
proposed and seconded at one meeting
and balloted for at the next, except in
the boating season, when names of candidates are posted in the Barge for six clear
days before the meeting for election.
Headquarters, King's Arms Hotel.
Entrance fee, 2s 6d.; subscription, £1;
honorary members, 5s.
Colours, black,
blue, and yellow.
On the right is Sandford Lock, average fall 7 ft, from London 108 miles 7 fur[longs ie 108⅞ miles], from Oxford 2 miles 5 fur [2⅝].
The pools at
Sandford Lasher are very dangerous for
bathing, and the obelisk that stands on
the bank should warn bathers to avoid
the spot.
It is notorious to all rowing men
and habituis of the river that Sandford
Lasher has almost yearly demanded its
tale of victims, and it is almost inconceivable that people will continue year
after year to tempt fate in this and other
equally dangerous places.
Radley (St.Peter's College),
near Abingdon, in the county of Berks,
was opened by the Rev.Dr.Sewell, of
Exeter College, Oxford, on June 9, 1847.
It is situated on rising ground within
easy distance of the Thames, 4½ miles
from Oxford, and about a mile from the
Radley station on the Great Western
Railway.
The design of the college is
to give a thorough public school education to boys of the upper classes on the
principles of the Church of England, and
boys are admitted between the ages of
10 and 15.
Each boy is assigned to the
special care of one of the masters, who
is called his social tutor, and who is entrusted with a general supervision over
his progress and welfare.
The gymnasium is made a special feature.
The
Sewell Scholarships were founded in
memory of the late Dr.Sewell, value
£55 per annum.
Scholars are elected
every second or third year.
Four Entrance Scholarships (value £50, £50, £30, and
£20 respectively) are filled up each year,
and are open to boys who were under 14
on the 1st of January preceding the examination.
The entrance scholarships
are tenable for four years.
The other
scholarships are: one founded by Sir
Walter C.James, Bart., for boys under
18, value £30; two in memory of the
late Rev.W.Beedon Heathcote, formerly
warden, for boys under 17 and 18 respectively, value £20 each (one for
classics and one for mathematics); one,
founded by the late W.Gibbs, Esq., for
boys under 16, value £20.
All these
scholarships are tenable for one year
only.
There is an entrance fee (for boys
over 12) of £10 10s, and the college fees
vary from about £105 to £126 per
annum.
Railway Station: Radley.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 10/4, 18/-; 2nd, 7/9,
13/6; 3rd, 5/2
At a safe distance below [Sandford] are
the boat-houses and bathing-places of
St.Peter's College, Radley.
Radley Boat Club is composed of
students at St.Peter's College, Radley, in
Berkshire, and is consequently a private
club.
Its training course is from Abingdon Lasher to Nuneham Island, and the
club annually puts on an eight for the
Ladies' Plate at Henley Regatta. Boathouse at Sandford Lock.
Colours, red
and white. Flag, white with red Maltese
cross.
[1948: Sold to Oxford University
1993: Oxford University leased Nuneham Park to the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, as the Global Retreat Centre.]
Leaving
Sandford, the woods of Nuneham Courtney form the background of the prospect,
and two miles from Sandford is Nuneham
Park, the seat of E.W.Harcourt, Esq., M.P.
Nuneham Courteney (Oxfordshire) [now spelt 'Courtenay'], a seat of the Harcourt family, is
one of the most delightful residences on
the Thames.
The house, which is fortunately free from the inconvenience of over
magnificence, is large and roomy, and
gardens and park are second to none on
the river's banks.
The property was
purchased in 1710 by Simon, first Viscount
Harcourt and Lord Chancellor, it is said
for £17,000.
The house was built by
him from designs by Leadbetter.
It consists of a central block, united to its two
wings by curved corridors, and from
almost all its windows commands beautiful views.
It is a perfect storehouse of
curiosities and relics, with a fine library
and many excellent pictures, and with
literary associations of special value,
Mason, Pope, Prior, Horace Walpole,
and many others having been frequent
visitors at Nuneham.
The library contains a most interesting and valuable
collection of autograph letters and family
documents; among the former being a
very curious letter from Lord Salisbury
after the Gunpowder Plot, which completely upsets the theory that the King
behaved with courage and presence of
mind on hearing of the threatened danger,
as it expressly states that James was not
told of the plot until all was safely over.
There is a strange and melancholy interest about a collection of letters of
George III., from his schoolboy days to
the time when his brain failed him, in
which the progressive steps of the fatal
malady can be clearly traced.
George III.
was on very intimate teams with General
Harcourt, and among the pictures now
at Nuneham are drawings by the King,
Queen Charlotte, and the Duke of York -
not very successful, it may be added, as
works of art.
Among the most remarkable pictures in the extensive collection
may be mentioned Sir J.Reynolds, by
himself, age 17; Michael Harcourt, by
Velasquez; a portrait of Sir Simon Harcourt, said to have been the first man
killed in the conflict between Charles I.
and the Parliament (fortunately for the
family, Sir Simon's widow married General
Waller, and so saved Stanton Harcourt
from confiscation); a portrait of Lady
Anne Finch, by Van Dyck; portraits of
Rousseau (from a bust taken after death)
and John Evelyn; a fine Sir Joshua (in
the drawing-room) of the Earl and
Countess and Hon.W.Harcourt.
In
the same room hangs a very noteworthy
Rubens, "the Two Lights", and another
laudscape by the same master; good
specimens of Ruysdael, Van der Neer,
and Van der Velde, and another
beautiful Reynolds, a portrait of a
Duchess of Gloucester.
In the octagon drawing-room, from the windows of
which the views are specially delightful,
are a portrait of Pope, by Kneller;
another of Mary Countess Harcourt, by
Opie; and a good Velasquez.
The
dining-room contains a boy with an asp, by Murillo; a landscape by Ruysdael, with figures by Wouvermans;
and a portrait of Georgiana Poyntz,
Countess Spencer, by Gainsborough.
This lady was the mother of the beautiful
Duchess of Devonshire, and alludes to
her daughter, in a letter now at Nuneham, as a lanky girl, with no pretensions
to good looks, but who hopes to have
something of a figure.
The family portraits in this room are very interesting;
one of Lady Harcourt, the wife of Sir
Robert Harcourt, is specially odd, from
its extraordinary costume.
Near it hangs
a portrait of Sir Robert himself, one of
Raleigh's men, who parted with hundreds
of broad acres to fit out an expedition to
Guiana, with no result but the subsequent
publication of a little book.
There is a
good portrait of Lady Anne Harcourt, by
Jackson, and a large picture of Simon,
Earl of Harcourt (the earldom was
granted by George II.), with his little
dog, by Hunter.
To this a curious bit of
family history is attached.
Lady Nuneham, the earl's daughter, who was staying in the house, was one night much
disturbed by a dream, in which she saw
her father lying dead in the kitchen at
four o'clock in the afternoon - Lord Harcourt being at the time in perfect health.
Lady Nuneham was so impressed with
the vividness with which the dream presented itself to her, that she was unable
to persuade herself that some disaster
was not impending, and confided her
fears to her husband, and subsequently
at breakfast to the rest of the family.
After breakfast the earl went out into the
park, for the purpose of marking trees,
and nothing further was seen or heard
of him until a labourer was attracted by
the violent barking of a dog to a well in
the grounds.
There he found the body
of the earl head downwards in the mud
at the bottom of the well, having, it was
supposed, overbalanced himself in an
attempt to rescue his little dog, who had
fallen in.
A stretcher was brought, and
the body taken into the house.
The
nearest room was the kitchen, and on the
dresser the corpse was laid - strange to
say, at exactly four o'clock in the afternoon !
The coincidence is, to say the least of it, very remarkable, and the story
is undoubtedly well authenticated.
In the small dining-room is a portrait
of Aubrey Vere, twentieth Earl of Oxford,
by Walker; a Salvator Rosa, "Ulysses
and Nausicaa"; and two portraits by
Reynolds of Simon Lord Harcourt and
his son, respecting which the family
accounts have the following curious entry;
"£24 10s paid Mr.Reynolds, the painter".
The library contains many
portraits valuable in themselves and for
their associations.
There are portraits
of Horace Walpole, Prior, Mason, and
Pope, all presented by themselves; a
portrait of Rowe; a good specimen of
Kneller; and a very fine portrait of
Milton as a youth, by Van der Gucht,
probably the earliest portrait of the poet
in existence.
The curiosities and relics,
whose name is legion, comprise the service of Sevres made for the great fete at
Ranelagh Gardens on the occasion of
the king's recovery in 1789, and given by
Marquis del Campo to Earl and Countess
Harcourt; a locket which once contained
a portion of the heart of Louis Quatorze,
brought from Paris, in 1793, by Lord
Harcourt; Rousseau's Tasso and pocketbook, with numerous papers and memoranda, given by his widow to Lord
Harcourt; a piece of glass from Stanton
Harcourt, on which Pope scratched,
"Finished here the Fifth Book of Homer"; Queen Charlotte's snuff-box,
still containing a little high-dried; her
majesty's box of rouge, &c.; a tiny
watch, given by the Queen of Bohemia,
daughter of James I., to Frederick Harcourt; a piece of Charles II.'s oak; and
a box said to be made from the tree
against which Sir Walter Tyrrell's arrow
glanced.
Strict belief in the latter article
is not considered absolutely necessary at
Nuneham.
There is also a curious piece
of 14th century needlework, and some
tapestry worked by Mary Queen of
Scots.
The gardens on the right of the house
were laid out by Mason in rather a formal
style, and abound in monuments and
tablets with somewhat pompous inscriptions, grottoes, and high hedges.
The
present owner has made great improvements, which have had the effect of
opening up fine views which were formerly shut out.
Beyond the gardens is
the old church (now closed), dedicated
to All Saints, which was built in 1764
by the second Lord Harcourt, and is
modelled on the design of an Early
Christian church.
On the left of the
house run for some distance along the
river's bank, and amidst most beautiful
trees, the walks constructed by Capability
Brown, where artfully-devised vistas, cut
through the foliage, afford lovely and
unexpected peeps of Oxford, Abingdon,
and Radley.
At what is known as
Whitehead's Oak, there is a particularly
fine view of Oxford, although it must be
confessed, from a landscape-painter's
point of view, Sandford Mill, with its
ugly chimney, is decidedly in the way.
On a knoll in this part of the park stands
Carfax Conduit, which was built by Otho
Nicholson in 1590, and being taken down
in 1787 to enlarge the High-street, Oxford, was presented by the University to
George Simon Earl Harcourt.
The village, which formerly stood near
the house, was removed to some distance
down the road by Earl Harcourt, who at
one time had an odd idea of improving
the villagers by the institution of orders
of merit, prizes of virtue, &c. &c.
It is scarcely necessary to add that the attempt
did not answer the sanguine expectations
of its promoter.
The population of the
village is 304.
The nearest railway station is Culham, a station on the
Great Western Railway, 56 miles from
Paddington.
Divine Service is celebrated
in the new church, close to the village
(which was consecrated on May 18th,
1880) on Sundays, Holy Days, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
The house is not
shown to casual visitors, but the park is,
owing to the kindness of Mr.E.W.Harcourt, M.P., its present owner, a
famous place for picnics and water-parties.
The regulations for admission
to the park are as follows: the season
for admission commences on the 1st of
May and ends on the 1st of September.
The days of admission are Tuesdays and
Thursdays only, by ticket.
Each ticket
admits ten persons to the lock and Carfax.
Tickets for private parties, giving admission to the gardens between the hours of
2 and 5, are granted for Tuesdays only.
Members of Oxford University and their
friends are admitted on Tuesdays and
Thursdays without tickets, but are required to inscribe their names in a book
kept for that purpose at the lock.
Tickets
can be had on application by letter from
F.Mair, Esq., Nuneham Courteney, Oxfordshire.
Dogs are not admitted, and
it is particularly requested that all broken
glass and other debris of picnic parties
may be carefully removed.
Accommodation for small parties can be had at the
lock cottages.
Fares to Paddington, see Culham.
[The Northern Bank (Old River) side is no longer used and may be blocked.]
Three-quarters of a mile farther is an island,
which may be passed on either side.
The
stream on the right is, in fact, a cut made
by Earl Harcourt.
The old river on the
left, which is more convenient for picnic parties going to Nuneham, is slightly
the shorter of the two, but care must be
observed in passing under the rustic
bridge at the bottom of the island, as in
dry seasons the water shoals considerably.
Pleasure parties land at the cottages by
the bridge, where once stood a lock.
For regulations, &c, see Nuneham
Courtney.
Along the left bank for
some distance is one of those grand
pieces of woodland scenery for which the
Thames is so renowned.
The woods extend as far as the iron railway-bridge, after passing which the spire of Abingdon church appears above the trees to the right.
Rather more than a mile below
the cottages at Nuneham is the fall on
the left where the old and present channels diverge.
Below the fall is a ferry, and the tow-path crosses to the left bank.
Abingdon Lock, average fall 6 ft,
from London 104¼ miles, from Oxford 7¼
miles.
This is a good stone lock, with
a strong stream rushing over the weir.
A little farther is Abingdon Bridge, with the Nag's Head landing-place for the "Crown and Thistle", and the Anchor for the "Queen's Hotel".
Abingdon, Berkshire, on the right bank, from London 103¾ miles, from Oxford 7¾ miles.
A station on the Great Western Railway, from Paddington 60 miles.
The time occupied by the trains varies from one hour and three quarters upwards; the station is about twelve minutes' walk from the river.
Population, 6,506.
Soil gravel.
Abingdon is situated at the junction of the Ock with the Thames, and can boast very considerable antiquity.
It appears to have grown up round a great abbey which was founded here so far back as the 7th century, but it is probable that much of the early history of Abingdon
is entirely of a legendary kind and that litt1e is known about it with absolute certainty until the time of the Conquest.
The evidence of Domesday book goes to show that the abbey at that time was rich in landed property.
Desperate quarrels occurred between the monks and the citizens, and in 1327 a great part of the abbey was burnt in a riot in which the Mayor of Oxford and disorderly
students of that University took the part of the inhabitants of Abingdon.
The town gradually pricipally through its extensive cloth trade, but received a severe blow when the abbey was abolished in 1538 and its revenues diverted into other channels.
Another reason for the importance of the town in ancient days was the building of its bridge by John Huchyns and Geoffey Barbur in 1416.
In the reign ot Queen Mary, 1557 a Charter of Incorporation was granted to the town at the instigation of Sir John Mason an influential inhabitant,
and it has ever since been represented in Parliament, the original number of two members being now reduced to one.
The borough is now represented by Mr.John C.Clarke, a Liberal.
The number of voters on the register in 1878 was 890.
The town is governed by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors.
The principal business centre is the Market-place, with High-street, Stert-street, East St.Helen's-street, the Square, and Ock-street.
It is a clean, quiet little place - quiet even to the point of dulness - with many good houses both modern and ancient.
Among the latter may be instanced an excellent example of old timbering in a house in Stert-street.
Notwithstanding its apparent quiet a fair amount of trade is carried on in Abingdon, and one of its principal industries is that of the manufacture of ready-made clothing,
thus, oddly enough, carrying out the old traditions of the place, which, as Leland says at one time "stood by clothing".
The market-house stands on an open arcade of stone pillars with a timbered roof, and is the work of Inigo Jones.
Built in 1667, it was restored in 1853, and stands on the site of the famous old market cross which was destroyed by the Parliamentary General Waller in 1644.
A curious picture of the cross is on the outside of the south wall of Christ's Hospital,facing the river.
The abbey gateway still stands to the eastward of the market-place, and a little beyond it, on the right, are some very interesting remains
of the old abbey itself, now in the occupation of a brewer but readily accessible to visitors.
Here, at the extreme end of the yard, on the right, some crumbling steps with a time-worn wooden balustrade at the top lead to the abbot's apartments,
now used as lofts, in which are the remains of a fire-place, said to be of the time of Henry III., with capacious chimney,
some good windows, and well preserved poited archways to the doorways.
The roofs are lofty and the walls of immense thickness.
Underneath this room is a crypt, also unusually lofty, which is at present used for the storage of bitter ale.
The entrance to crypt is close to the backwater of the Thames and is shaded by some splendid chestnuts - for which indeed Abingdon is remarkable.
The upper windows facing the river at this point are in good preservation, and from a lane between the brewery and the abbey gateway, is
a very picturesque view of the great chimney above mentioned.
The church of St. Nicholas (which, at the time of writing, is in process of restoration) adjoins the abbey gateway and
will well repay a visit.
It contains a painted mural monument, with a carved stone base, reaching from the floor almost to the ceiling, dedicated to the memory of John Blacknall and
Jane his wife, "who both of them finished an happy course upon earth, and ended their days in peace on the 21st day of August, 1625."
They are represented by two figures in black kneeling on red and gilt cushions, she with her two children praying behind her; and the epitaph runs
as follows;
When once the lived on earth one bed did hold
Their bodies, which one minute turned to mould,
Being dead, one grave trusted with that prize,
Untill the trump doth sound and all must rise.
Here death struck even, yet did not part this paire,
But by this stroke they more united were
And what left they behind, you plainly see,
One oniy daughter, and their charity.
What though the first, by death's command did leave us,
The second we are sure will ne'er decieve us.
Blacknall was a great benefactor to the town and among his charities is a dole of forty seven loaves of bread,
which are distributed from his tomb every Sunday.
There is a small brass with an inscription
to the Bostock family (1669), some curious
old stained glass panes with an almost
undecipherable inscription, and an old
carved stone font.
The registers date back to 1558, are in splendid order, and
most carefully bound and preserved, and
contain many curious entries; among
others, the records of several civil marriages, after publication of the names
three times in the market, attested by
John Bolton and others, mayors of the
town in 1657.
The church has a tower
with a singular square turret attached,
and a good Norman doorway.
A much finer church is St. Helen's,
close to the river, the spire of which, with
its flying buttresses, is a landmark to this
portion of the Thames.
This really
handsome church has a nave and chancel
of equal breadth, and side aisles, with
timbered roof, good throughout and in
the nave and chancel very elaborate.
In
the north aisle the roof is still decorated
with curious paintings, many of which
are gradually but surely fading.
There
is a new carved marble font and modern
oak rood-screen, both of considerable
beauty.
Among the monuments is the
stone memorial in the north aisle to John
Roysse, the founder of the Abingdon
Grammar School, who died in 1571,
leaving express orders that the great
stone in his arbour in his London garden
should be the upper stone of his tomb at
Abingdon, round about which four-and-twenty pensioners should for ever kneel
on Sundays to receive alms; and with
further careful provision that "twelve pence in white bread, being good, sweet, and seasonable", should be distributed
every Sunday at his tomb, to twelve old
widows, "women or men", of whom
every one at the receipt thereof should
say, "The blessed Trinity upon John
Roysse's soul have mercy!
Another
stone monument, in the west of the north
aisle, bears the following inscription:
"This tombe is honord with the bones
of our pious benefactour, Richard Curtaine,
gent., a principall magistrate of this Corpa. [sic],
hee was buried July ye 18, Ano Dominy
1643";
and elsewhere on the tomb are
these lines, which at the time were no doubt considered to embody a quaint conceit:
Our Curtaine in this lower press,
Rests folded up in nature's dress.
At the foot of this tomb is a brass, with a
half-length figure in action of prayer,
Galfridus Barbur, 1417; and behind the
organ is another brass, nearly obliterated,
displaying a full-length female figure.
In the east of the south aisle is a curious
painting of the genealogical tree of W. Lee, 1637.
Mr.Lee was five times Mayor of
Abingdon, and "had in his lifetime issue
from his loins two hundred lacking but
three".
The organ displays a quaint wood-carving of King David, with gilded
harp and crown.
The tomb of Mrs.Elizabeth Hawkins, 1780, is a capital
example of what should be avoided in the way of monumental sculpture.
It is crowded with busts of fat naked children,
weeping tears of colossal size, and all the
usual devices and properties of the most
conventional stonemason.
The perpetrator of this work of genius was, it
appears, one Hickey, who was fortunate
enough to receive for it £400 under the
deceased lady's will.
In the churchyard of St. Helen's is a
row of almshouses in memory of Charles
Twitty, 1707, who gave £1,700 for building and endowing "an hospital for
maintayning in meate, drinke, and
apparrel, and all other necessarys of life
3 poor aged men, and the like number of
poor aged women".
Abutting on the churchyard also are the cloistered buildings of the charity of Christ's Hospital,
which was refounded in 1553 - having
been dissolved by Henry VIII. - at the
instance of Sir John Mason, who procured for it a charter from Edward VI.
Over the central porch of the hospital
are some curious old paintings, representing such subjects as the giving of
alms, the story of the Good Samaritan,
and other Scripture subjects, as well as a
portrait of Edward VI.
The picture of the old market cross has already been noticed.
The oak-panelled hall, which
is lighted by a lofty lantern, has several
odd pictures, among them one representing the building of Abingdon Bridge,
in memory of "Jefforye Barbur and John Howchion".
On the frame is inscribed :
"Frauncis Little, one of ye governors of
this hospital, gave this table, An. Dni. 1607."
and underneath the picture stands the table in question, a fine one of oak,
with curiously carved legs.
A portrait of
Edward VI. hangs, with several others,
in the hall; and there is also preserved
the original charter, which shows considerable signs of age.
The later portion
of the hospital buildings, which runs
parallel to the river, dates from 1718, and
it is just below this point that the waters
of the Ock and of the Wilts and Berks
Canal join the Thames.
At the north side of the town is the
Albert Park, presented to the town by
the trustees of Christ's Hospital in 1864.
It is well laid out and planted, and in it
stands a monument to the late Prince
Consort, with his statue in the robes of
the Garter.
Adjoining the park are the
new buildings of the grammar school,
founded by John Roysse in 1563.
The profligacy of John Roysse's son was the
immediate cause of the foundation of
Abingdon Grammar School.
It is said
that nothing but the universal estimation
in which men held his father, "as well
in the west country as also in Kent or
otherwise", saved the criminal from the
penalties of the law.
Roysse disinherited
him, and, after providing for his grandson and making certain other bequests,
bequeathed the residue of his fortune, directing that as it was endowed A.D.1563,
and in the 63rd year of its founder's life, it
should educate 63 boys for ever.
Thomas
Teesdale, the first scholar admitted into
this school, endowed an ushership in the
school, and left funds for purchasing
lands for the maintenance of fellows and
scholars from Abingdon school at Balliol
College, Oxford.
His trustees, however,
combined with Richard Wightwick to
found Pembroke College, Oxford, at which
college the school possesses five of the incorporated scholarships.
Of these one is
filled up annually, and two boys who have
been educated at the school for two years
are nominated as candidates.
Each
scholarship is of the value of £50 per
annum, with rooms rent free, and is tenable for five years.
The fees for boarders
under the age of 13 are £57, over 13, £63.
Hard by Roysse's school is Sir Gilbert
Scott's church of St. Michael, which serves
as a chapel-of-ease to St. Helen's.
The
street leading to the park from Ock-street
is by the side of the almshouses founded
by Benjamin Tompkins in 1733.
The angler should not be afraid of fishing near the town, as there are some excellent swims close by.
In Blake's Lock-pool there are barbel, chub, perch, &c,
and on the tow-path side, opposite Thrup,
just past the overfall, there is a swim of
considerable length, and full six feet deep,
reachable from the bank.
Banks.- Gillett & Co., The Square; London and County, Market-place.
Fairs.- First Monday in Lent, May 6,
June 20, July 1, September 19 and 30,
December 11.
Fire Engine.- Abbey-gateway.
Hotels.- "Crown and Thistle" (landing-stage at the "Nag's Head" );
"Lion", High-street;
"Queen's", Market-place (landing-stage at the "Anchor").
Market Day.- Monday.
Places of Worship.- St. Helen's,
St. Michael's, and St. Nicholas; and the
Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and
St. Edmund.
There are also Baptist,
Independent, Primitive Methodist, and
Wesleyan Chapels in the town.
Police.- Borough, Abbey-gateway;
County, Bridge - street, close to the
bridge.
Postal Arrangements.- Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), Market-place.
Mails from London, 7, 10, and 11.30 a.m., 5 p.m.;
Sunday, 7 a.m. Mails for London,11.10 a.m., 1.55, 4.5, and 10 p.m.;
Sunday, 10 p.m.
Nearest Bridge, Ferry, Lock, and
Railway Station, Abingdon.
Nearest
Bridges, up, Oxford, 7¾ miles; down,
Sutton, 2 miles.
Locks, up, Sandford, 5 miles; down, Culham, 2 miles.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 10/10, 18/3;
2nd, 8/2, 13/9 ; 3rd, 5/6.
A quarter of a mile
below the bridge (right) the river Ock
and the Wilts and Berks Canal enter the
river.
The river here runs through flat
meadows.
The view of Abingdon, with the spire of St.Helen's, is very pretty.
Half a mile below the Ock, the unnavigable channel which was left above Abingdon re-enters the river,
and half a mile farther the river takes a very sharp turn to the left, into a long and narrow cut; the broad stream to the right leads to the weirs of Sutton Courtney, the cut to the left, which is crossed by two small wooden bridges, leads to Culham Lock
Culham Lock, average fall 7 ft,
from London 101¾ miles, from Oxford
9¾ miles.
Culham, Oxfordshire, on the left bank,
a portion of the parish being in Berkshire.
A station on the Great Western Railway,
56 miles from Paddington, trains take
from i1½ hour upwards; from London
101¾ miles, from Oxford 9¾ miles.
Population, about 600.
Soil, gravel.
The
station is 30 minutes' walk from the lock.
A small village 2 miles below Abingdon.
the green is a few minutes' walk from
the lock, the road passing by Culham
House and grounds, the wall of which
encloses a fine belt of trees.
The church
is at the western end of the green, and is
dedicated to St.Paul.
Little remains of
the original edifice, the church having
been rebuilt some 25 years ago.
The
square tower, however, which dates from
the first year of the last century, is still
standing; the register dates from 1650.
the sum of between £50 and £60 is
distributed annually in coal to the inhabitants, arising from the sale of some
common land on which the parish had
the right of cutting gorse.
The following
entry occurs in the parish register:
"Oct.10th, 1666. Collected for the poore of
London, disabled by a dismall and
lamentable fire, £1 3s 8d."
The training
college for schoolmasters, with school
attached, is about a mile from the railway-station.
This institution, capable
of accommodating nearly 100 students,
was founded by the late Right Rev.Samuel Wilberforce, when Bishop of
Oxford, for the purpose of training
young men as Church schoolmasters.
Seventy-five per cent, of the expenditure
is defrayed by Government grant.
Just below Culham Lock is a fine reach
for pike.
Sutton Mill-pool close by is
one of the deepest on the river, and when
a fish is laid hold of here it is generally
worth the taking.
In the wall of Culham House, and
immediately opposite the "Sow and
Pigs" Inn on the green - a good specimen
of modern reproduction of an old red-bricked and timbered building - is the
Post Office letter box, which is cleared
on week-days at 7.10pm, and on
Sundays at noon.
Letters arrive from
Abingdon, the nearest money order and
telegraph office, at 7am.
Inns: "Sow and Pigs", and "Railway Hotel " at the station.
Place of Worship: St.Paul's Church.
Nearest Bridge, Lock, and Railway Station: Culham.
Nearest Bridges: up, Abingdon 2 miles;
down, Clifton Hampden 3¼ miles.
Locks: up, Abingdon 2½ miles;
down, Clifton 3 miles.
FARES to Paddington: 1st, 9/11, 17/6;
2nd, 7/5, 13/-; 3rd, 4/8.
Just below are Sutton Bridges; boats coming up must be careful to keep the right bank.
Sutton Courtney, Berkshire, on the
right bank, a village at the weir just
above Sutton Bridges, formerly belonged
to the Abbots of Abingdon, and was
given by Henry II. to Reginald Courtenaye.
Population, about 1,100.
"The
Abbey" is an interesting building of the
Gothic period, and formerly belonged to
the Abbots of Abingdon.
The Manor
House dates from Edward III., and contains some very interesting architectural
details.
The Church of All Saints is a
good Gothic building, with square tower,
and is remarkable for the width of its
nave.
It has a good perpendicular screen
and some fine windows of the same
period.
On a parvise over the south
porch are the Courtenaye arms.
The
village contains many curious and picturesque cottages and farmhouses of the
Elizabethan period, with carved gables
and barge-boards.
Postal Arrangements: Nearest
money order and telegraph office, Abingdon,
Mails from London, 7.30am,;
Mails for London, 7.10pm
Nearest Railway Station, Culham (which see).
[1929: The current third bridge was built]
Going down the next
reach is the first view of Wittenham
Clump, a grassy hill, crowned with
a clump of trees, which is visible
for many miles upward and downward,
and reappears in the most unexpected
places as the river Winds around it.
The
country is flat as far as Appleford iron
railway-bridge, rather more than a mile
from Sutton Bridges.
Clifton Lock, average fall 3 ft, from London 92 miles 7 fur [92⅞], from Oxford 12 miles 5 fur [12⅝].
A village in Berkshire, on the right bank, 4 miles, S.E. from Abingdon.
Population: 629. Soil: gravel on gault clay, with upper green-sand.
The parish church, dedicated to St.
Mary the Virgin, is of mixed age, as
shown by the variety of its architecture.
The earliest portions are Norman and
Early English (decorated) of several
periods, and late perpendicular.
The
chancel, which is of the same period, is
divided from the nave by a good Norman
arch.
The chancel was originally Norman, as shown by a small round-headed
window and a piscina of the same date.
The remainder of the chancel is Early
English, as shown by one light lancet-windows; others are of the decorated
period.
The north and south aisles are
divided from the nave by piers and arches
of very Early English.
The font, standing
in the north aisle, is of lead, resting on a
base of stone.
It bears on it a row of
figures of a mitred bishop under an
arcade, holding a cross, and in the act of
blessing.
In a chapel to the south is a
small piscina, with the effigy of a cross-legged knight in full armour treading on
a serpent, with the figures of two angels
sculptured on the arch above him.
The
figure is only two feet in length, and is
thought to be of unique design.
The
tower is late perpendicular.
The south
porch is of the decorated period; the
barge board of elegant design.
Inns: "Plough", "Vine Cottage", "Three Poplars", "Machine Man's Inn".
Place of Worship: St.Mary the Virgin.
Police: A constable lives in the village.
Postal Arrangements: Nearest
money order and telegraph offices,
Abingdon and Dorchester.
Mail from
London, 8am, Mail to London, 5.35pm. Sunday, 10am.
Nearest Bridge: Clifton Hampden;
Lock: Clifton; Railway Station:
(which see for Fares).
[1975: Gutted by fire and rebuilt
1997: Rebuilt and rethatched]
On the Berkshire side, two or three minutes walk from the bridge is the "Barley Mow", one of the thatched, sile built, old-fashioned resting-places which have been almost improved out of existence by the modern system of hotels. The parlour of the "Barley Mow" is a queer panelled room, more like the cabin of a ship than the coffee-room of an inn, and is of so low a pitch as to still further favour the illusion. But although the house is primitive, and the entertainment unpretending, it is a capital little inn of its class, and may be recommended to boating men.
About half a mile below [Clifton Lock]
(coxswains coming up must be careful
and keep to the right, after passing the
bridge) is Clifton-Hampden, with its red
brick bridge.
Here the tow-path crosses
to the Berks side.
On the cliff to the left
are the church and vicarage, embosomed
in trees, which come down to the water's
edge, and the view down the reach is
closed by luxuriant trees backed by the
soft outlines of the distant hills.
As we
proceed the view becomes still prettier,
the middle distance being broken by an
eyot with a magnificent horse-chestnut
tree.
Clifton Hampden, Oxfordshire, on
the left bank, 98½ miles from London, 13
miles from Oxford.
Population, 377.
Soil, chiefly gravel.
This picturesque little village is situated at the foot of a
bold bluff, which rises abruptly from the
somewhat flat country around.
The cliff
is surmounted by the church and vicarage,
and is clothed with luxuriant trees down
to the water's edge.
The village, a pretty
collection of old-fashioned cottages, all
of which are bright with flowers, does not
call in itself for more than a passing
notice.
It derives some importance from
the new red brick bridge with six pointed
arches, built by the lord of the manor in
place of the ferry which formerly existed
here, the towing-path crossing the river
at this point.
The toll for horses not
drawing vehicles is 1½d, and for foot
passengers, 1d.
The church, dedicated
to St.Michael and All Angels, formerly
a chapelry in connection with the Abbey
of Dorchester, was entirely restored in
1844 by the late Mr.G.H.Gibbs, and is
a very elaborate specimen of the work of
Sir Gilbert Scott.
It contains in the
north of the chancel a tomb with a recumbent portrait figure of the late Mr.Gibbs, and a most elaborate brass screen
with figures in bronze.
The reredos is a
somewhat bold work in mosaic, representing on either side the Prophets,
Evangelists, and Latin Doctors, and in
the centre the Last Supper.
The churchyard, from which a charming view extends
up and down the river, is, like the village,
ablaze with flowers, and is entered through
a handsome modern lych gate.
On the
Berkshire side, two or three minutes'
walk from the bridge, is the "Barley Mow Inn", one of the thatched, sile built,
old-fashioned resting-places which have
been almost improved out of existence by
the modern system of hotels.
The parlour
of the "Barley Mow" is a queer panelled
room, more like the cabin of a ship than
the coffee-room of an inn, and is of so
low a pitch as to still further favour the
illusion.
But although the house is primitive, and the entertainment unpretending,
it is a capital little inn of its class, and
may be recommended to boating men.
Inns: "the Barley Mow" (Berkshire
side); "Plough".
Place of Worship: St.Michael
and All Angels.
Postal Arrangements:
the nearest money order and telegraph offices
are at Dorchester and Abingdon.
Mails from London, 8am, and on Sundays.
Mails for London, 6pm; Sunday, 10.55am
Pillar-box at Burcott, cleared at 5.40pm
Nearest Bridges: Clifton Hampden; up, Sutton Bridges (Culham) 3¼ miles;
down, Shillingford, 5¼ miles (a foot-bridge
at Day's Lock 2½ miles).
Locks, up, Clifton ½ mile; down, Day's 2½ miles.
Railway Station, Culham.
Fares, Culham to Pad.: 1st, 10/-,
17/6; 2nd, 7/6, 13/-; 3rd, 5s.
Burcott, Oxfordshire, on the left bank,
rather more than a mile and half above
Day's Lock, is a hamlet of Dorchester of
no importance.
It receives letters through
Abingdon, Dorchester being the nearest
money order office and telegraph station.
A mile and a half brings us to the
ferry, where the tow-path crosses, and on
the left to Day's Lock, average fall 4 ft 6 in,
from London 96 miles, from Oxford 15½
miles.
This is one of the most striking
views, the course of the river appearing to
be blocked by Wittenham Clump and Sinodun Hill.
A little over a mile on the left
bank is Dorchester {which see) with its
famous abbey church, which is well worth
a visit.
The footpath crosses the Roman
remains known as The Dyke Hills.
On
Sinodun Hill on the right is a fine Roman
camp.
Dorchester, Oxfordshire, on the Thame, about a mile from its junction with
the Thames, which some people delight
to call, up to this point, the Isis, fondly
imagining that the name Tamesis is a
compound of Thame and Isis.
The
quaint conceit of Warton that
Beauteous Isis and her husband Thame,
With mingled waves for ever flow the same,
is probably to some extent responsible for
this delusion, a hallucination further encouraged by Drayton, who expresses the
same idea in somewhat more high-flown
language.
The Thame is not a comfortable river for boats, and visitors to
Dorchester from the river would do well
to leave their boats in charge of the
keeper of Day's Lock and to take the
footpath across the fields, some twenty
minutes' walk.
The path passes by some
interesting Roman remains called the
Dyke Hills, evidently portions of an extensive fortified camp which rested upon
the Thame at one extremity and the
Thames at the other, and being protected
by the rivers, then probably running
through much marsh land, must have
been of great natural as well as artificial
strength.
Dorchester, an unimportant village on
the Oxford coach road, is distant from
Oxford about eight miles, from London
fifty.
Population, 1,050.
Soil, alluvial.
It is somewhat surprising to find in so
small a village so fine a church as that of
St.Peter and St.Paul, Dorchester, but
in truth the village has a very ancient
ecclesiastical history.
So far back as 630
it is recorded that Birinus here baptized
Cynegils, the king of Wessex, of which
Dorchester was once the capital, and the
authority of the venerable Bede is adduced
to prove that the city called Dorcinca was
the seat of many fine churches.
These
are also mentioned by William of Malmesbury, but it would seem that shortly after
his time the line of bishops of Dorchester
came to an end, and that its ecclesiastical
brilliance rapidly waned.
In 1554 the
abbey church was bought by Richard
Bewforest for £140, and by him bequeathed to the parish.
The present
church is the building in question, and
represents the work of many architects.
The north wall of the nave and two
arches in the interior are probably part
of the old Saxon cathedral.
The rest of
the fabric has been built at subsequent
periods, as may easily be seen from the
different styles of architecture peculiar
to the successive periods down to the late
Tudor porch.
It was last restored,
although not completed, by Sir Gilbert
Scott, and is a most remarkable building.
Restoration is still in progress.
A number
of carved fragments of stone have been
collected from a house under repair in the
village, and are now in the church awaiting
the time when they can be again incorporated in the fabric.
A fine window
in the west front, now bricked in, might
advantageously be opened, but the fact
of the nave being closed by the tower
will always necessarily give a somewhat
sombre, not to say grim, appearance to
this part of the church.
The church is
entered on the south side from the handsome churchyard by a fine stone porch
with timbered roof, outside which, on the
left, is a mutilated cross, the head of which
has been restored.
The curious in such
matters may compare this cross with that
standing by the great yew in the churchyard at Iffley.
At the south-west angle of
the church opposite the cross is a buttress
with two canopied niches for statues.
On
the right of the entrance from the porch
is the font, a Norman work of lead, exhibiting the figures of the Apostles minus
Judas, in excellent preservation.
On
the south side is a chapel, or ante-church,
in which some singular carvings round
one of the pillars should be noticed, and
which is now used for the Sunday morning celebration and occasionally for other
services.
From here a pointed arch leads
into the south aisle, which contains at
the east end a lady-chapel, the altar in
which is a memorial to the late Bishop of
Winchester.
Here is a remarkably fine
groined roof, lofty and of the most
graceful proportions.
The roof of the
nave, which is also of magnificent proportions, is supported by beautiful
clustered columns.
In the lady-chapel
will be found four recumbent life-size
monumental figures, one of which represents a most truculent Crusader, lying in
a singular attitude, with legs crossed and
apparently in the act of drawing his sword.
If this figure be a portrait it is certain
that the sculptor did not flatter his
model.
The other three monuments are
of great antiquity, and one, that of a
knight in armour, said to be of the
Segrave family, is especially worthy of
careful inspection.
A tablet on the
floor of the lady-chapel in memory of
Thomas Day, who died in 1693, has
this curious epitaph:
Sweet Death he Came in Hast
& said his glass is run,
thou art ye man I say
See what thy God has done.
To the amateur of brasses it must be a
source of lasting regret that so few
remain of what must at one time have been
among the most magnificent specimens
in the country.
The church may be said
to be carpeted with their remains.
In the
lady-chapel is a small brass in fair preservation of Richard Bewforest and his wife,
and in the chancel is one of a bishop in
cope and with crozier with the inscription:
Here lyeth Sir Richard Bewfforeste.
I pray thee give his sowl good rest.
On
the south side of the chancel is a stone
which bears witness to the existence at
one time of a very important brass of a
full-length figure under a canopy with
much elaborate ornamentation, which
must have been fine indeed.
One of the
curious devices in this is reproduced on
the end of a carved oak seat in front of
the organ, also commemorating Sir
Richard Bewforest.
The sedilia and piscina in the chancel are elaborate in
design, and opposite to them on the
north side is the renowned Jesse window,
which is surely unique of its kind.
It is
in the form of a genealogical tree springing from the body of Jesse himself, and
bearing stone effigies of the line of David;
the crowning figure of our Lord has unfortunately been destroyed.
The stained
glass of the window itself works with the
design.
The window dates from the 14th
century.
Leaving the church by the west
door the path to the village passes under
a lych-gate, overshadowed by a glorious
chestnut.
Dorchester Church lies a little
out of the way of any but enthusiastic
sightseers, but should certainly be visited
if for the Jesse window alone.
The old Grammar School, endowed by
the Fettiplace family, no longer exists as
such, but has been converted, with the
approval of the Education Commissioners,
into a National School for boys.
The
building is supposed to have been a part
of the old monastery (probably the refectory), established by Alexander, Bishop
of Lincoln, in 1140.
The massive wall
of the south side of the building, the rude
but substantial beams and quaint, closed-up fire-places, bespeak its antiquity.
There is a Cottagers' Horticultural Society
in Dorchester, instituted in 1869, which
offers many prizes for competition at its
annual shows.
Day's Lock and Weir, as well as right
away down past the entrance to the
Thames, has in recent years risen in
estimation for the yield of fish.
Barbel,
jack, and perch are plentiful.
It is one
of the few places on the Thames in which
the angler is almost certain to get from
one to half-a-dozen fine tench in a day's
general fishing: this applies almost as
low as Shillingford.
Fair: Easter Tuesday.
Inns: "Fleur de Lis", opposite the church,
and "White Hart", up the village.
Places of Worship: St.Peter and St.Paul (Abbey Church),
and Roman Catholic Church.
Post Office Arrangements:
Post Office (money order, savings bank, and
telegraph), near the church.
Mails from London, 7.30am, 2.45pm (to callers);
Sundays, 7.30 am.
Mails to London, 10.45am, 6.35pm; Sunday, 11.35am
Nearest Bridges: up, Clifton Hampden 2½ miles; down, Shillingford 2¾ miles.
Locks: Day's; up, Clifton 2¾ miles; down,
Bensington 4 miles.
Ferries: Shillingford and Day's Lock.
Railway Station, Cullham (which see for fares).
Two miles below the [Days] lock is a ferry, where the tow-path crosses,
and three-quarters of a mile below, after a
sharp turn in the stream, is Shillingford
Bridge, at the foot of which, on the right
bank, is the "Swan Inn" on the Berks
shore, and where the tow-path again
crosses to the left bank.
On the Berkshire side is the "Swan Inn", where rowing
or picnic parties will find comfortable
accommodation.
Shillingford Bridge spans the river with three stone arches, and connects Oxfordshire and Berkshire about 2½ miles above Wallingford.
the tow-path ... re-cross[es] a mile farther down at the village of
Bensington or Benson.
Below the ferry on the right is Benson Lock.
Bensington, commonly called Benson,
a village on the left bank in Oxfordshire,
92 miles from London, 19½ miles from
Oxford.
Population, 1,259.
Soil, loam
and gravel.
This village, which was
originally called Besintone, appears at
one time to have been of some importance, but at present differs but little from
the numerous places of a similar character which are scattered about the valley
of the Thames.
The church of St.
Helen is of considerable age, but has
been extensively restored, and in parts,
indeed, entirely rebuilt.
With the exception of the fine arch which separates
the nave and chancel, there is little to
arrest the attention.
The following
curious epitaph will be found on a tablet
on the south wall:
The rest of the date was apparently never
completed.
Close by is a stone whence
brasses have been removed.
Heavy baskets of fish are often got near
here.
Inns: "Castle"; "White Hart".
Places of Worship: St.Helen's;
and Baptist, Methodist, and Wesleyan
Chapels, and a Free Church.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance).
Mails from London, 7. 10am. 2. 10pm.
Sunday: 7 10am.
Mails for London, 11.45am., 6.55 pm;
Sunday: 11.30am.
Nearest Bridges, up, Shillingford 1¼ mile;
down, Wallingford 1¼ mile.
Locks: Bensington [Benson]; up,
up: Day's 4 miles;
down: Wallingford 1¼ mile.
Ferry: Mill Stream.
Railway Station: Wallingford.
Fares, Wallingford to Paddington:
1st: 11/-, 16/-;
2nd: 7/-, 12/-;
3rd: 4/7½.
No Sunday trains.
Bensington Lock, average fall 6 ft
6 in, from London 92 miles, from Oxford
19½ miles.
Emerging from the lock some
care is necessary owing to the strong cross
current to the weir, against which boats
coming up should particularly guard.
Below the mill-stream is a ferry, but the
tow-path keeps to the Berks shore.
The
country from here to Wallingford is
charmingly wooded.
The large red brick
mansion on the left bank is Howberry
Park, after passing which we soon arrive
at Wallingford Bridge, the landing-place
for boats being on the right, a short
distance above the bridge.
Ewelme, a village in Oxfordshire
(excursion from Bensington 2 miles, or
from Wallingford 4 miles).
Population,
about 750.
The road to Ewelme from
Wallingford passes through Crowmarsh
and Bensington, and affords a pleasant
drive or walk along leafy roads, and
past many good houses.
Ewelme itself
is a very pretty little village in a hollow,
and gives its name to the hundred in
which it is situated, and is formed by the
combination of two words, one Norman
and the other Saxon, "Eau" and
"whelm", meaning "the outgush of
water", a beautifully clear stream of
water taking its rise near the church.
Chaucer, whose son owned the manor
by his marriage with Maud née Burghersh,
must frequently have been at Ewelme,
and he seems to have had this stream of
water in his mind, as also the name of
the place when he thus describes a brook;
In world is none more clear of hewe,
Its waters ever fresh and newe,
That whelmeth up in waves bright,
Its mountenance three fingers height.
The church stands on a hill, and is
approached from the road through an
old brick gateway, and through the
cloisters of the almshouses, picturesque
with their timbered brick walls, high red
roofs, and elaborate wood carvings.
A
flight of steep steps leads thence to the
west door of the church.
The church is of the perpendicular
period, and contains many monuments
of great beauty and interest.
Among these is the alabaster tomb of Alice,
Duchess of Suffolk, widow of the unfortunate Duke who was beheaded by a
skipper with a rusty sword on Dover
beach in Henry VI.'s reign.
This is
placed between the chancel and side
chapel of St.John, and is surrounded by
small full-length angels bearing heraldic
shields.
The effigy of the duchess reclines under a canopy, and below, in a
sort of crypt, is an ogglesome representation of a mouldering human body.
The
curious stone carvings above the tomb
are surmounted by pinnacles with angels
- four on each side.
The tomb of her
father, Thomas Chaucer, and his wife
Maud (whose sister Margaret was third
wife of John of Gaunt, and therefore
aunt by marriage of King Richard II.,
and by virtue of which alliance the royal
arms are displayed in many of the quarterings emblazoned upon the tomb) is on
the north side.
The two figures are on
an inlaid brass in fine preservation, he in
complete armour standing on a unicorn,
she on a lion rampant à queue fourchée,
the Burghersh device.
The church is
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and the
side chapel, with its beautiful carved
walnut (or chestnut) roof, to St.John
the Baptist.
This south chapel and the
south aisle belong to the thirteen alms-men who inhabit the hospital, and receive
10s weekly with apartments.
The hospital is a venerable cloistered building,
adjoining the church, founded by the
Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, and endowed with valuable estates in Wilts,
Hants, and Bucks.
It is intended that
these shall form the basis of a grammar
school, when the property shall have
recovered from the improvident management of four centuries.
The Regius
Professor of Physic, Oxford, is, ex officio,
master of the hospital, with a council of
twelve other trustees, according to the
provisions of a scheme framed by the
Court of Chancery in i860.
The manor
house, when the Suffolk property was
escheated to the Crown, became a royal
residence in the reigns of Henry VIII.
and of Elizabeth.
A road overhanging
the common is still known as Queen
Elizabeth's Walk.
On the attainder ot
Edmund, Earl of Suffolk, in the reign of
Henry VIII., the advowson with the
manor passed into the possession of the
Crown.
James I., famed for inexpensive
acts of generosity, endowed the Regius
Professorship of Divinity in the University
of Oxford with the Rectory of Ewelme,
and entailed upon the parishioners for
two centuries and a half a series of dignified but non-resident rectors.
In 1871 a
short Act was passed in the House of
Commons, whereby the Rectory was
severed once more from the Professorship,
and opened out for the acceptance of any
Clergyman of the Church of England.
But the House of Lords took a more
restrictive view and made it tenable only
by members of the Oxford Convocation.
The church contains many brasses.
Among these may be mentioned that in
the St.John's Chapel, in front of the
altar, to Anne, wife of John ffroste, 1585;
that to Catherine Palmer, 1599, in the
north of the chancel; and that dedicated
to "Rodolpho Speiro, qui obiit, 1580",
which bears a coat of arms and Latin
epitaph, and will be found just within
the painted iron rood screen.
Of older
date still is one representing the figures
of a knight (once pursuivant at-arms to
King Henry Vlll.) and lady, dated 1518.
Fifteenth-century brasses are represented
by that of William Branwhait, a half-length in cope, &c., dated 1498; and one
in the extreme west of the south aisle,
dated 1454.
In the middle of the nave
is a brass of Samuel Brayle with inscription only, dated 1469; and in the north
aisle is another, with inscription to
Thomas Vernon, 1471.
Place of Worship: Church of the
Blessed Virgin.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order and savings bank) in the
village.
Mails, through Wallingford, arrive at 7.30am, and 2.30pm; dispatched at 6.30pm
Nearest Bridge, Lock, and Railway Station: Wallingford, 4 miles (which see).
Wallingford, Berkshire, on the right
bank, from London 90 ½ miles, from Oxford 21 miles.
A station on the Great
Western Railway; from Paddington 51
miles.
The time occupied by the trains
varies from two to three hours.
The
station is about 12 minutes' walk from
the river.
Omnibuses meet the trains.
Population, 2,972.
Wallingford, a very ancient town which,
to this day, shows evident signs of having
been of some importance at the time of
the Roman invaders, has figured largely
in the history of England.
The remains
of extensive fortifications, erected at the
Roman period, will be found on the left
on the road to the station.
Shortly after
the Conquest the old castle here was
greatly strengthened, and figured frequently in the little wars and internecine
disputes which so largely made up the
domestic history of the country for the
next three or four hundred years.
Later
on the town had again bitter experience
of warfare, and suffered cruelly at the
hands of Fairfax, who took it in 1646
after a long siege.
Little now remains
of the stronghold except a few crumbling
walls and an old window enclosed in the
gardens of Wallingford Castle, the seat
of Mr.J.K.Hedges.
Wallingford is a
Parliamentary borough, with a constituency of 1,226, and is at present represented by Mr.Pandeli Ralli, a Liberal.
The town is governed by a mayor, four
aldermen, and twelve councillors.
The
principal business centre is the Market-place, where is the spacious corn-exchange
and the Town Hall, supported on an
arcade of somewhat squat pillars.
In the
council-chamber above hang some portraits of more or less merit.
One of Archbishop Laud, "a munificent benefactor
to this boro'", in his sixty-fourth year,
dated 1635, and ascribed to Holbein,
bears a remarkable resemblance to other
portraits of this worthy in the neighbourhood, one in the council-chamber at
Reading, the other in the Town Hall
at Henley.
Probably they are all copies
from the same original picture.
A
portrait of the Hon. Mr.Justice Blackstone, recorder of the borough, 1749,
presented by his grandson, the member
for the town, in 1841, is apparently a
modern picture, and depicts the learned
judge in wig and robes.
The fire-engine
house is under the Town Hall.
Wallingford is but a dull place, and even
in its churches has but little to offer in
the way of antiquities.
The town once
contained fourteen churches, but now
has but three.
The disappearance of the
other eleven, and the comparative bareness of the three that remain, may,
probably, be attributed to the rough
handling of Fairfax's Roundheads.
The
church of St.Mary, in the Market-place,
restored in 1854, has on its tower a
mutilated tablet, supposed, by persons
of lively imagination, to represent King
Stephen on horseback.
In the church,
which has nave, chancel, and two aisles,
is a tablet to the memory of Walter Bigg,
alderman of the City of London, and a
native of Wallingford, who died 1659,
after bequeathing £10 yearly to the
grammar school- this being its original
endowment- and £10 annually for the
relief of the poor.
The worthy alderman's memorial is surmounted by a skull
wreathed incongruously with laurel
leaves- why it is difficult to see.
In the
west end of the nave is a memorial tablet
to Henry Stampe, who died in 1619,
which has some curious carving and a
somewhat odd inscription.
In Thames-street, near the bridge, is St.Peter's,
the burial place of Mr. Justice Blackstone, which is further distinguished by
a singularly hideous spire which rises
from the square flint tower, and which,
said to be from the design of the learned
judge himself, was erected by him.
Sir
William is buried here, and a monument
to his memory has been built into the
outer part of the south wall of the
church at its eastern end, on which there
is the following inscription, viz,:
H S S
Kyrie Eleison.
Sir Wm. Blackstone, Knt.
One of the Judges of His Majesty's Superior
Courts at Westminster, who was born
a.d.1724, and died 24 Feb. 1780.
Edward Stennett, one of John Bunyan's
friends, lies buried in the graveyard.
In
the north wall, at its eastern end, a small
stone is inscribed to his memory thus:
Here lyeth the body of Mr. Edward Stennett,
who died in November ye 28th, 17 ? 5 aged 77.
A chip of the stone having fallen off, the date is imperfect.
The spire was finished in 1777, the church in 1769.
At the end of Thames-street is St.
Leonard's Church, the handsomest of
the three.
It was rebuilt in 1849, has a
nave, chancel, and south aisle, and affords
some good specimens of later Norman
architecture.
Bigg's Grammar School existed for
more than 200 years, and was then in
abeyance for 15 years.
New schools were
then established under a scheme of the
Endowed Schools Commissioners, and
new school buildings were opened in
1877.
They are situated on the right hand side of the road to the station, and
are handsome buildings, with lofty, well
ventilated and lighted school rooms, with
every modern convenience.
Bigg's £10
per annum is now represented by an income of £210, and the scholars comprise
sixty boys and thirty five girls.
The
entrance fee both for boys and girls is
10s, and the school fees per term, boys
under thirteen, £1 5s, above thirteen, £1 12s;
and for girls under thirteen, £1, above thirteen, £1 7s.
There are the usual three terms in the year.
The head
master receives boys, and the head mistress girls, as boarders: terms, including
school-fees, £34 13s per annum; weekly
boarders, £28 7s.
Archbishop Laud left £45 a year for
apprenticing five boys, Sir Thomas Bennett £150 a year to be given to fifteen old
people, and there are several similar charities.
Tusser, the author of that quaint old
book, the "Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry", was educated at Wallingford, but does not appear from his own
account to have been too happy here.
He says:
O painful time, for every crime,
What toosed eares ! like baited beares !
What bobbed lips ! what yerks, what nips !
What hellish toies !
What robes how bare ! what colledge fare !
What bred how stale ! what pennie ale !
Then Wallingford, how wert thou abhor'd
Of sillie boies !
The headquarters of the Royal Berks
Horticultural Society are at Wallingford.
It is the oldest society of a similar class
in the county, and was established in 1831,
under the direct patronage of King
William IV.
It was then a general
Horticultural Society, but has been since
1855 a cottagers' society only.
An Art
Loan Exhibition and prizes for needle-work have been appended to it, with,
however, separate funds.
The Free Library and Public Institute,
St.Mary's-street, was founded in 1871.
Subscriptions vary from 5s to £1 1s.
Visitors are admitted, and all inhabitants
of the town of "ten years of age and upwards" are entitled to the free use of the
public reading-room.
Favourite excursions from Wallingford
are to Swyncombe, about 5 miles; Ewelme (which see), 4 miles; and Wittenham
Clump and Hills, 3 miles.
Banks: Hedges, Wells, and Co., Market-place; London and County,
High-street.
Fairs: June 24, September 28.
Fire: Engine at Town Hall.
Hotels: "George", High-street; "Lamb", High-street.
Inn: "Town Arms", by the bridge.
Market Day: Friday.
Places of Worship: St.Leonard's,
St.Mary's, St.Peter's; and Baptist,
Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan
Chapels.
Police: Station, St.Mary's-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
{money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), St.Martin's-street.
Mails from London, 7am, 1.00, 6.20, and 11pm; Sunday, 7am,
Mails for London, 9.15am, 3.15, and 10pm; Sunday, 10pm
Nearest Bridges: Wallingford; up, Shillingford 2 ½ miles; down, Streatley 6 miles.
Locks: up, Benson 1 ¼ mile; {1885: down, Cleeve 5 ¼ miles}.
{1882: down, Wallingford ½ mile.}
Ferries: Benson and Little Stoke.
Railway Station: Wallingford.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 9/5, 16/-;
2nd, 7/-, 12/-; 3rd, 4/3.
No Sunday trains, but passengers can book to Moulsford (3 miles by road from Wallingford), where flys can be had.
Wallingford, from London 90¾
miles, from Oxford 220¾ miles, is a very
convenient place to break the journey,
and the breakfasts and ale at the
"Lamb" deserve particular attention.
The "Town Arms Inn" is at the foot
of the bridge.
The "George" and
"Lamb " Hotels a few minutes' walk up
the High-street.
The tow-path crosses
at the bridge.
Crowmarsh Giffard, sometimes called
Long Crowmarsh, Oxfordshire, on the
left bank opposite Wallingford, 90¾ miles
from London, 20¾ miles from Oxford.
Population about 350.
Soil, upper greensand.
Crowmarsh is a small village
joined to Wallingford, Berks, by a stone
bridge, and within the Parliamentary
borough of Wallingford.
The church,
St.Mary Magdalene, of great antiquity,
was built in the reign of King Stephen,
and consists of nave, chancel, and north
transept.
The western doorway is a fine
specimen of Norman work.
The old
west door of massive oak has been
recently removed and fitted to the vestry;
it still bears marks of the bullet-holes
which were made (it is said) during the
siege of Wallingford Castle at the time of
the Civil Wars.
In this parish is Howbery
Park; the old mansion (formerly the
seat of W.S.Blackstone, Esq., M.P.)
was burnt down a century ago.
It is
now rebuilt on same site, and owned by
H.B.Watkin Williams Wynn, Esq.
The rents of two acres of land in the
parish have from time immemorial been
applied to the repair of the church.
Fair: Horse fair, August 2.
Place of Worship: St.Mary Magdalene.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Wallingford, which is the nearest
money order, telegraph, and insurance
office.
Mails from London, 6.15am,
Mails for London, 7pm
Nearest Lock, Bridge, and Ferry: Wallingford.
Nearest Bridges, up,
Shillingford 2½ miles; down, Streatley 5¾ miles.
Locks: up, Bensington 1½ mile; down, Cleeve 5¼ miles.
Railway Station: Wallingford.
Fares, Wallingford to Paddington:
1st, 9/5, 16/-; 2nd, 7/-, 12/-; 3rd, 4/3.
{1883: Wallingford Lock which has little or no fall.}
{1885: Half a mile below stood
Wallingford Lock, a structure with little
or no fall to justify its existence. It
was removed in 1884.}
Here is a ferry
where the tow-path again crosses.
On the
left the belfry of the tiny church at Newnham Murren peeps above the trees.
Newnham Murren, Oxfordshire, on
the left bank, about one mile from Wallingford Bridge, from London 89½ miles,
from Oxford 22 miles.
Population, 170. Soil, gravel.
The little church has a curiously carved oak pulpit, and a small
brass tablet representing Letitia Barnarde
and her four children, dated 1593.
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Wallingford, which is the nearest
money order office, &c.
Nearest Bridges: up, Wallingford 1 mile; down, Goring 5 miles.
Locks: up,
Wallingford ¼ mile; down, Cleeve 4¾ miles.
Ferry: Wallingford.
Railway
Station: Wallingford.
Fares, Wallingford to Paddington:
1st, 9/5, 16/-; 2nd, 7/-, 12/-; 3rd, 4/3.
No Sunday trains.
and
immediately below on the same side are
the velvet lawns and shady groves of
Mongewell House, one of the most
delightful residences on the river.
From
this point is a fine reach about a mile in
length, with flat banks, the monotony of
which is relieved by some fine trees, and
there is a good view of the wooded
heights above Streatley.
Mongewell, Oxfordshire, on the left
bank, about a mile from Wallingford, from
London 82½ miles, from Oxford 22 miles.
Population, 106. Soil, chalk.
A small
village, with church dedicated to St.John
the Baptist.
Mongewell Park, which
stands on the bank of the river here, is
one of the most charming residences on
the river.
Place of Worship: St.John the Baptist.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Wallingford, which is the nearest
money order office, &c.
Nearest Bridges, up, Wallingford ¾ mile; down, Streatley 5 miles.
Locks: up, Wallingford ¼ mile; down, Cleeve 4½ miles.
Ferry: Wallingford.
Railway
Station: Wallingford.
Fares, Wallingford to Paddington,
1st, 9/5, 16/-; 2nd, 7/-, 12/-; 3rd, 4/3.
No
Sunday trains.
At the bottom
of this reach the church tower of North
Stoke appears on the left.
On the
opposite side a little farther down, and
some distance inland, are the extensive
buildings of the Berks County Lunatic
Asylum at Cholsey.
Here is Little Stoke
Ferry, where the tow-path crosses.
Little Stoke: A ferry between Oxfordshire and Berkshire, nearly opposite
the Berks county lunatic asylum, in the
parish of Cholsey, and about one mile
from Moulsford.
Half a mile brings us to the brick bridge of the Great Western Railway near Moulsford Station, just above which there is a little island
North Stoke, Oxfordshire, on the left
bank, 2 miles from Wallingford (a station
on the Great Western Railway 51 miles
from Paddington), from London 88 miles,
from Oxford 23½ miles.
Population 187. Soil, chalk.
The church of St.Mary has
a good pointed arch between the nave
and chancel and another good arch at
the west end, filled up and spoiled by a
gallery.
Unlike most of its neighbours,
the church has not been touched by the
hand of the restorer, but it is high time
that it should be taken in hand.
At
present it has an almost pitiably bare and
barn-like look.
It is understood that the
delay in the restoration of the church is a
matter of finance.
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Wallingford.
Mail from London, 6.55am, Mail to London, 7.10pm,
No delivery or collection on Sunday.
Nearest money-order office, &c.: Wallingford.
NEAREST Bridges: up, Wallingford 2¼ miles;
down, Streatley 3½ miles.
Locks: up, Wallingford 2 miles; down, Cleeve 3 miles.
Ferry: Little Stoke.
Railway
Stations: Wallingford and Moulsford,
G.W.R.
Fares from Wallingford to Paddington: 1st, 9/5, 16/-; 2nd, 7/-, 12/-; 3rd, 4/5.
No Sunday trains.
From Moulsford to Paddington: 1st, 8/5, 14/6; 2nd, 6/3, 11/-; 3rd, 3/11½.
South Stoke, sometimes called Stoke
Abbas, Oxfordshire, on the left bank,
opposite Moulsford - a station on the
Great Western Railway 48 miles from
Paddington, from London 87 miles, from
Oxford 24½ miles.
Population (including
Woodcote), 761. Soil, chiefly chalk.
The
Church of St.Andrew was restored and
thoroughly repaired in 1858, and calls
for no particular notice.
The school, now
under a Board, was endowed with twenty
acres of land left by the Rev.Griffith
Higgs, D.D., 1659, for the purpose.
Among other charities are the following: Dr.Higgs also left £5 per annum
for ever, in 1659, to be given annually to
the poor; £3 to be given to six poor
families "of South Stoke below the Hill",
and £2 to six of "Woodcote".
This
charity is called "the doctor's gift".
Augustine Knapp, in 1602, left 20s a
year for the poor.
Henry Parslow, in
1675, left a great coat to one poor man
of South Stoke, and to two poor men of
Woodcote, to be given yearly.
A sum of
£300 (three per cents) was recently left
by Mr.W.Claxson, for the poor of
Woodcote only.
Places of Worship: St.Andrew's;
and St.Leonard's, Woodcote.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Wallingford.
Mail from London, 7.30a.m
Mail for London, 5.15pm
Nearest money-order, savings bank, and
telegraph office, Goring; insurance, &c,
Wallingford.
Nearest Bridges: up, Wallingford 3¾ miles; down, Streatley, 2¼ miles.
Locks: up, [Wallingford 3¼ miles]; down, Cleeve 2 miles.
Ferries: Moulsford and Little Stoke.
Railway Stations: Goring and Moulsford, G.W.R.
Fares, Goring to Paddington, 1st,
7/10, 14/-; 2nd, 5/11, 10/6; 3rd, 3/9.
Moulsford to Paddington: 1st, 8/5, 14/6;
2nd, 6/3, 11/-; 3rd, 3/11.
and about half a mile farther [after Moulsford railway Bridge],
after passing Moulsford Church, on the
bank of the river, is the "Beetle and
Wedge Inn" and ferry.
Here the towpath again takes the Berkshire bank, and
a fine stretch of water succeeds.
It is
here that the trial eights of Oxford
University are annually rowed.
Moulsford, Berkshire, on the right
bank, 87 miles from London, 24½ miles
from Oxford; a station on the Great
Western Railway, 47½ miles from Paddington; trains take 2 or 2½ hours.
Flys
can be hired at the Railway Tavern.
Population, 180. Soil, chalk.
A village
on the right bank, about 3½ miles from
Wallingford, principally known to boating men and anglers for the "Beetle and
Wedge Inn", and for the fact that the
trial eights of the Oxford University
Boat Club are rowed on the splendid
stretch of water which here affords, perhaps, the best course on the river.
There
is excellent perch fishing between the
islands near the bridge.
Moulsford
station and the Berks lunatic asylum are
in the adjoining parish of Cholsey.
The
church, St.John the Baptist, is of the
14th century, and was restored by Sir
Gilbert Scott in 1847.
It stands immediately on the bank of the river.
Inns: "Beetle and Wedge", on the river at the ferry;
Railway Tavern, close to the station.
Place of Worship: St.John's.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Wallingford.
Nearest money
order office, Cholsey; telegraph station,
Moulsford.
Nearest Bridges, up, Wallingford 3¾ miles; down, Streatley 2¼ miles.
Locks: up, Wallingford 3¼ miles; down, Cleeve 2 miles.
Ferries: Moulsford and Little Stoke.
Railway Station: Moulsford.
Fares to Paddington, 1st, 8/5, 14/6;
2nd, 6/3, 11/-; 3rd 4/2½
At the turn of the river is a ferry, and just
below, on the right, is Cleeve Lock, average fall 4 ft, from
London 85½ miles, from Oxford 26 miles.
There is a lovely view from here of the
hills and woods above Streatley, and the
succession of weirs below the lock affords
a variety of charming peeps.
Streatley, where there is good accommodation and a first-rate boat-house
at the "Swan Inn".
It is, however, not
safe to trust getting quarters at the
"Swan", without previous correspondence, as the whole house is not unfrequently let for weeks together.
The cut
to the left, at the diverging point, leads
to
About half
a mile below, where there are a quantity
of weeds and rushes, the stream divides,
the right branch going to Streatley.
Streatley, Berkshire, on the right
bank, from London 84¾ miles, from
Oxford 26¾ miles.
Population, 650. Soil, chalk and loam.
This beautifully-situated village lies at
a bend of the river at the feet of the great
chalk downs of Berkshire, and faces its
twin village Goring (a station on the
G.W.R., 45 miles from Paddington),
with which it is connected by a long
bridge (toll 1d).
It is a very convenient
resting-place for boating-parties, there
being excellent boat-houses at the "Swan
Hotel", and possessing also rare attractions for the artist and lover of peaceful
English riverside scenery.
From the bridge beautiful views are
obtained in all directions, the rushing
weirs and wooded hills down stream
forming a remarkable contrast to the
quiet rushy reach above, and on either
hand the villages nestle picturesquely in
the many-tinted shade of venerable trees.
At few places on the river is the combination of almost every variety of Thames
scenery so striking and so pleasant as at
Streatley and Goring.
The village of Streatley probably derives its name from the Roman Road,
which crossed the Thames at the fords
which occur here, where the river strikes
the flinty beds of the chalk formation.
The chalk hills of the Berkshire Downs
no doubt once joined the Chilterns on the
Oxfordshire side, and, forming a barrier,
produced a lake extending for a great distance, until its waters, boring through the
chalk, drained the upper valley of the
Thames, and, in fact, made it a river.
Roman remains have been occasionally
found here.
Like all the parishes bordering on the
Thames, it runs back a considerable distance from the water, giving to the inhabitants all the privileges of water
frontage and meadows, cornland, woodland, and higher pasturage.
The earliest notice of the place is in
the cartulary of the Abbey of Abingdon,
which recites a gift of land at "Stretlea",
by Ina, King of Wessex, in A.D. 687.
At the time of the Conqueror, we find
from Domesday Book that the manor,
which had been held by the Saxon Esgar
in the time of Edward the Confessor, had
been transferred to the Norman follower
of William, Geoffrey de Manville, and
that a priest named Wibert held of him
the church of the manor, together with
some land and four acres of meadow
worth 50s.
From that time we pass to
February, A.D. 1215, just four months
before the signing of the Magna Charta,
and we find the tithes being assigned by
Herbert Pone, Bishop of Sarum; the
great tithes to the monastery of Saffron
Walden, the small tithes with a redecimation of the great tithes to the perpetual
endowment of the Vicarage.
To the
Vicar was assigned at the same time one
manse situate at the waterside, and about
two acres of land adjoining it.
Later on
a small Dominican priory was attached to
the church; on the site there was a house
which, until the enclosure of the parish in
1817, was standing, and called the Rectory.
The great tithes on the dissolution
were given to the Chapter of Westminster,
but afterwards in some unexplained manner found their way into lay hands, and
the small remainder of them at the enclosure of the parish was commuted into
land, as were the small tithes of the
Vicarage.
The church seems to have been built
under the direction of the same Bishop
Pone who endowed it, as it has the same
date and many of the features, as regards
details, of the great cathedral church of
Sarum.
It is given generally upon no extant authority as St.Mary's, but there is
better evidence to show (viz. The time at
which the village feast is always held) that
it should be called St.John the Baptist's.
It
is noticeable for a good square tower, and
for the many magnificent trees which surround it, and contains some good brasses.
One, with a figure of a lady in a ruff, is
on the vestry wall; one in the south aisle,
dated 1603, records the fact that the deceased had six sons and eleven daughters;
another immediately underneath has on it
two figures, and is in excellent preservation; and one at the end of the north
aisle, with full-length figure of a lady,
commemorates the death of Elizabeth
Osbarn, 1440.
Among the notable excursions from
Streatley is Basildon Park, distant about
2 miles, where there is a collection of
pictures well deserving a visit.
About the
same distance, among the Berkshire hills,
lies Aldworth, the church of which contains a remarkable collection of monuments
of the De la Beche family, respecting
which many odd legends are still current
among the natives.
A very aged yew,
measuring some 28 feet round, which
stands in the churchyard, and is supposed
to be even older than the very ancient
church itself, is among the Aldworth sights.
For the [Streatley] fishing, see Goring.
Inns: "The Bull", up the village;
"The Swan", on the river.
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Police: A constable lives in the village.
Postal Arrangements: Letters from Reading.
Mails from London, 6.30am and noon; Sunday, 6.30am,
Mails for London, 9.35am, 6.30pm, Sunday, 6.30pm
Nearest money order, savings bank, and telegraph office: Goring.
Nearest Bridge: Streatley; up, Wallingford 6 miles; down, Whitchurch 4 miles.
Lock: Cleeve ¾ mile; down, Whitchurch 4 miles.
Ferries: Moulsford and Basildon.
Railway Station: Goring, G.W.R.
Fares, Goring to Paddington: 1st,
7/10, 14/-; 2nd, 5/11, 9/6; 3rd, 3/9.
Goring Lock, average fall 5 ft 6 in,
from London 84 miles 7 furlongs [84⅞], from
Oxford 26 miles 5 furlongs [26 ⅝].
Here is a
favourite place for campers.
After passing
through the lock and under the bridge,
which here crosses the river (tow-path left
bank), the scene continues extremely picturesque, with bold wooded hills on either
side.
Goring, Oxfordshire, on the left bank.
A station on the Great Western Railway,
45 miles from Paddington; trains take
about 1½ hours.
The station is a few
minutes' walk from the river.
From
London 85 miles, from Oxford 26½ miles.
Population, 926.
Soil, light, on gravel
and chalk.
Goring is a village situated
in a most picturesque part of the valley
of the Thames.
The scenery around is
deservedly admired.
It consists of gently
rising hills which recede from the river,
and are clothed with woods and cornfields.
The banks of the river are divided into
a succession of verdant meadows.
The
river, here crossed by a long wooden
bridge (toll 1d), is much resorted to in
the summer for fishing, and for picnic
parties.
This part of the valley of the
Thames, owing to the fertility of the soil
and its attractive features, has been settled
from the earliest times.
Traces of Roman
villas and utensils have been occasionally-
found in the neighbourhood.
The old
Roman road called "Icknild-street" is
believed to have crossed the Thames near
Goring.
The church, which is almost on
the banks of the river, and is dedicated
to St.Thomas a'Becket, is a very interesting structure.
It is supposed to
have been built in the reign of Henry II., and to have been enlarged in that of
King John.
It contains some interesting
specimens of Norman and Early English
architecture.
It was connected with an
Augustinian nunnery, traces of which
are found to the south and west of the
church.
There was a priory about two
miles north-east of the village, the remains of which are built into a farmhouse
called Elvingdon.
There are some excellent brasses in the church.
On the
right of the altar will be found four with
full-length male and female effigies attended by their three sons and five
daughters.
They are in excellent order,
and are probably of the time of Mary,
although they bear no date.
A full-length of a lady under a canopy in the
north-aisle is dated 1401, and an inscrip-
tion on a brass to Henry de Aldryngton,
between the nave and north aisle, bears
date 1375.
A charity school, maintained
by Alnutt's Charity, is at the extreme
east end of Goring parish, this part of
the parish is called Goring Heath.
Alnutt's Charity was founded by a gentleman of that name, and endowed by him
in 1724.
There are twelve houses or
rooms for almsmen, a school for twenty-seven boys from the parishes of Goring,
Checkenden, and South Stoke, and one
for girls.
The boys are clothed and
apprenticed by the Charity at the age of
fourteen.
A few boys and girls are admitted into the schools on the payment
of a weekly fee of 3d.
There is also an
almshouse in Goring village, founded by
Richard Lybbe, of Hardwick, in the
parish of Whitchurch, in the year 1714.
It admits four old men, two from Goring,
one from Checkenden, and one from
Whitchurch.
The range of the Chiltern
Hills commences with Goring.
There
are several beautiful and extensive views
in the parish, while the air is extremely
fresh and bracing.
The angling in the reaches of the sister
villages, Streatley and Goring, is at times
all that can be desired.
The fisher may
make his choice of waters, from the sharp
and swift to the slow and deep.
Pike,
perch, roach, dace, gudgeon, and eels
are abundant.
Inns: "the Miller of Mansfield",
"the Queen's Arms", "the Sloane
Hotel".
Places of Worship: St.Thomas a'Becket,and Lady Huntingdon's Chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph):
Mails from London, week days and Sundays, 7.05am, and 12.05pm
Mails for London, 9.50am, 7.30pm; Sundays, 5.40pm
Nearest Bridges: Goring; up, Wallingford 6 miles.
Locks: up, Cleeve ¾ mile. down, Whitchurch 4 miles.
Ferries: up, Moulsford 2 miles; down, Basildon 1½ mile.
Railway Station: Goring.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 7/10, 14/-; 2nd, 5/11, 10/6; 3rd, 3/9.
About a mile brings us to The
Grotto (right bank), a large white house
backed with fine trees and with lawns
sloping to the river.
Passing under the
railway-bridge the beech woods on the
Oxford side appear to bar the way.
Passing under the railway-bridge the beech woods on the Oxford side appear to bar the way.
At the ferry, below the bridge, the tow-path
crosses.
Farther on to the right are
Basildon church and village, and farther
still, opposite the beech woods and on
the brow of the hill to the right is Basildon
Park.
Basildon, Berkshire, on the right
bank, a small village, nearly midway
between Streatley and Pangbourne, and
standing a little distance back from the
river.
Population about 700.
On the hill
above, and somewhat to the south-west,,
is Basildon Park, with the mansion of
Charles Morrison, Esq., which contains
a fine collection of pictures and works
of art.
On the river-side, just above the
railway bridge, is the house known as the
"Grotto".
The church of St.Bartholomew, supposed to have been built in the
time of Edward II., consists of chancel
and nave, with a square tower and Gothic
porch.
Postal Arrangements:
Letters via Reading.
(Nearest money order and
telegraph office, Goring.)
Nearest Railway Station: Goring,
distant about 2 miles (which see).
At this point a fine stretch of water runs almost in a straight line for a considerable distance; the banks on either hand are well wooded, and the view up or down is one of the most sylvan on the river. Just before making the bend before Pangbourne Reach, is Coombe Lodge, with its beautiful park,
and at the end of the chalk ridge on the right is Pangbourne.
Pangbourne, from London 80 ¾ miles,
from Oxford 30 ¾ miles.
A stay may conveniently be made here, and boats left at
the "Swan", close to the lasher.
Pangbourne, Berkshire, on the right
bank.
A station on the Great Western
Railway 41½ miles from Padding ton; fast
trains take about 85 minutes.
The
station is three minutes' walk from the
river at the Swan Hotel; from London
80¾ miles, from Oxford 30¾ miles.
Population, 757. Soil, gravel and chalk.
Pangbourne is a small village not particularly noticeable in itself but charmingly
situated, and one of the most favourite
angling resorts on the river.
The view
from the path below the "Swan" along
the weir is very characteristic, vying even
with the peculiarly Thames-like scenery at
Streatley, and the reaches both above and
below are full of tranquil beauty.
A long
wooden bridge of much the same character
as that which connects Goring and Streatley crosses the river just below
Pangbourne to Whitchurch, and hence
again the pleasant up-river scenery is
seen at its best.
Pangbourne has something of a history of its own, although
there is now little in the way of antiquities as evidence of it.
It is mentioned in
Domesday Book as having been held by
one Miles Crispin, and the manor and
church subsequently came into the possession of the Abbey of Reading.
After
passing through several hands it was
granted by Queen Elizabeth to the cofferer of her household.
Bere Court, the
manor-house of Pangbourne, is mentioned by Leland as "a fair manor place" that had belonged to the abbots
of Reading.
It is now the property of
the Breedon family, many of whose monuments are to be seen in the parish church,
which is dedicated to St.James the Less.
In 1865 the old church was in so sad a
state of dilapidation that it was taken
down, and the present church erected on
its site.
The red brick tower, of date
1718, which contains six first-rate bells,
was left standing.
The present building
is of some architectural pretensions, and
is remarkable for a fine arch, springing
from clustered columns which divides the
nave and chancel, and for an extremely
good oak pulpit carved in arabesques,
and said to be of the time of Elizabeth.
In the south aisle is a mural monument,
date 1658, to three sisters, the daughters
of Sir John Suckling, controller to the
household of Charles I.The finest monument in the church will be found near the
organ, and is that of Sir John Davis, at
one time the occupant of Bere Court,
who was knighted at the taking of Cales,
in Spain, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
and who died in 1625.
The monument
is of considerable size, and exhibits the
full-length recumbent figure of the knight
with his two wives beneath an elaborate
canopy surmounted by a skull.
In niches
below are too odd little kneeling figures.
The effigies of Sir John and the two
ladies are in good preservation, but the
rest of the monument, which is of chalk,
is, unfortunately, in a somewhat cracked
and chippy state.
The registers date
from the middle of the 16th century, and
in the tower room hangs a decaying
parchment, apparently a will of one of
the early benefactors of the parish.
In 1685, John Breedon bequeathed
"for the encouragement of the inhabitants of the parish Pangbourne aforesaid,
especially those of a poorer sort of them
to bring up and educate their children in
good learning", half an acre of land and
a building" 100 feet in length and 15
feet in breadth" for a school-house and
habitation for schoolmaster.
A sum of
£40 per annum was also left as an endowment, of which £25 per annum were
to be paid "for the livelihood and support
of a good schoolmaster to live and inhabit in the said house ... which
schoolmaster shall, from time to time be
obliged diligently to teach and instruct
freely and without charge the youth,
male children or boys of the parish of
Pangbourne, especially of the poorer sort
of them, not exceeding 12 in number at
one time".
the remaining £15 per
annum were ordered to be employed towards apprenticing "once in every two or
three years such and so many of the said
youth or boys so taught as aforesaid".
The pools at Pangbourne used to be
famous for their trout, supposed to be
bred in the little river Pang close by; but
this is of the past.
There are shoals of other freshwater fish.
Hotels: "Elephant and Castle" and " George", both in village; "Swan", by the river.
Places of Worship: St.James the Great, and a Congregational Church.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
in village, six minutes from river (money
order, savings bank, telegraph, and
insurance).
Mails from London, 7am, 12 noon, 5.10pm; Sunday, 7am
Mails for London, 9.50am, 3 and 7pm; Sunday, 7pm
Nearest Bridges: Whitchurch; up, Streatley 4 miles; down, Caversham 6¼ miles.
Locks: Whitchurch; up, Goring about 4 miles; down, Mapledurham 2¼ miles.
Ferry: Basildon.
Railway Station: Pangbourne G.W.R. [?]
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 7/4, 13/-;
2nd, 5/6, 9/6; 3rd, 3/5½
On the opposite side of the river is Whitchurch Lock, average fall 4 ft.
This lock requires some care on entering
from this side, as it is inconveniently
situated in an unexpected corner with an
awkward mill-stream.
Below the lock a
wooden bridge connects the villages of
Whitchurch and Pangbourne, and at its
foot is the pretty house known as Thames
Bank.
The tow-path keeps to right
bank.
From here the scenery continues
very pretty, the river running through
richly-wooded country.
Whitchurch, Oxfordshire, on the left
bank opposite Pangbourne, a station on
the Great Western Railway, 41 miles
from Paddington, to which it is united
by a long wooden bridge. [What a long bridge!]
From London 80 ¾ miles, from Oxford 30 ¾ miles.
Population, 836. Soil, chalk.
A straggling
village of considerable size, with a good
church, with a curious wooden steeple,
close to the river.
The church is dedicated
to St.Mary, and has been greatly restored
and rebuilt, showing, however, still many
signs of its early Norman character.
It
contains several good brasses; in the
chancel on the north side is that of Roger
Geary, 1450, attired in cope, &c.
; and
within the altar rails is that of Thomas
Walich, with figures of a knight in
armour, and his wife, 1420.
In another
part of the church is the brass in memory
of Peter Winder, once curate of the
parish, who died 1610, and is represented
kneeling, in his robes.
All the windows are of stained glass,
and are mostly memorials.
The Powys
and Gardiner families figure largely in
every part of the church.
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Postal Arrangements: Money
order office.
Nearest telegraph and
insurance office, Pangbourne.
Mails from London, 6.40am, 1.15pm;
for London, 1.15 and 6.40pm
Nearest Bridges: Pangbourne; up, Streatley 4 miles; down, Caversham 6¼ miles.
Locks: Whitchurch; up, Goring 4 miles; down, Mapledurham 2¼ miles.
Ferry: Basildon;
Railway Station: Pangbourne {which see for Fares).
[Part of this section moved from Whitchurch above]
The bold range
of chalk downs on the left are succeeded
by the woods above Hardwick House,
the seat of the Lybbe family.
Just above Mapledurham is another
singularly fine mansion - Hardwick
House - where it is said that Charles I.
frequently indulged in his favourite
pastime of bowls, and if the royal martyr
had been as judicious in all matters as
he undoubtedly was when he selected
Hardwick for a playground, the course
of English history might have been
considerably changed.
In the north aisle [of Whitchurch Church]
is a mural monument to Richard Lybbe,
lord of the manor of Hardwick, and his
wife Joanna, 1599.
The two figures,
both curiously painted and gilded, kneel
at a prie dieu, he in armour, she in ruff
and quaint head-dress.
A most elaborate
coat-of-arms and crest crown the monument.
Here also is a tablet:
To Richard Lybbe, of Hardwick, Esq., and Anne Blagrave,
united in sacred wedlock 50 years, are here againe made one by death.
she yielded to yt change Jan. 17, 1651,
which he embracied July 14, 1658.
EPITAPH.
He, whose Renowne, for what completeth Man,
Speaks louder, better things, than Marble can:
She, whose Religious Deeds makes Hardwick's Fame
Breathe as the Balme of Lybbe's Immortall Name,
Are once more joyned within this Peacefull Bed;
Where Honour (not Arabian-Gummes) is spred,
Then grudge not (Friends) who next succeed 'em must
Y'are Happy, that shall mingle with such Dust.
the best view of the house being obtained from below a little eyot, a couple of hundred yards beyond it.
A long row of poplars on the
left, and of chestnuts and limes on the
right, in the midst of perfect views, lead
to Mapledurham.
Mapledurham, Oxfordshire, on the
left bank; from London 78½ miles, from
Oxford 33 miles.
Population: 479. Soil: chalk.
The chief glory of this village is the
grand old Elizabethan Mapledurham
House, belonging to the Blount family,
of which Pope's Martha Blount was a
member.
The house, from the river, has
a somewhat conventual or monastic
appearance, and the principal front,
facing the park and not the river, is
approached by a magnificent avenue
of ancient elms.
A great old-fashioned
pair of iron gates afford access from
Mapledurham House to the churchyard,
in which, nestling amongst noble trees,
is the church of St.Margaret, which has
been extensively restored, and exhibits
some remarkable combinations of colour,
which might, perhaps, be described as
the barber's-pole style of decoration.
The greater part of the church, as well
as the roof of the chancel, is curiously
picked out with every variety of brilliant
colour, and the idea is still further carried
out by the font, which is painted red,
white, blue, and gold, and further exhibits
the real barber's pole blue and gilt stripes.
There is a handsome reredos, and
between the south aisle and the nave
is a grand monument of Sir Richard
Blount and his wife Elizabeth, with two
recumbent life-sized figures, the one in
armour, the other in ruff and farthingale.
A close inspection of this is
difficult, as it is jealously enclosed with
spiked iron railings.
Indeed, the whole
of the south aisle presents the curious
anomaly of being walled and railed off
from the rest of the church.
It is
claimed by the Blount family as a private
mortuary chapel, and is kept rigidly
locked and strictly private.
It is understood that the opinion of ecclesiastical
lawyers has been found favourable to
this exercise of power.
Just above Mapledurham is another
singularly fine mansion - Hardwick
House - where it is said that Charles I.
frequently indulged in his favourite
pastime of bowls, and if the royal martyr
had been as judicious in all matters as
he undoubtedly was when he selected
Hardwick for a playground, the course
of English history might have been
considerably changed.
Mapledurham Reach is celebrated for
its jack and perch, for the latter particularly.
The Caversham and Reading
fishermen generally make for this district.
Inn: "the Roebuck", on the Berkshire bank, about a mile below the lock.
There is a ferry here.
Places of Worship: St.Margaret;
Catholic: attached to Mapledurham House.
Postal Arrangements: Letters through Reading.
Letter-box in Vicarage wall cleared 6.30pm week-days, and noon on Sundays.
Nearest money order, telegraph, &c, offices: Caversham and Pangbourne.
Nearest Bridges: up, Whitchurch about 2 miles; down, Caversham 4 miles.
Locks: up, Whitchurch 2¼ miles; down: Caversham 4¼ miles.
Ferry: Purley.
Railway Station:
Pangbourne.
Fares, Pangbourne to Paddington;
1st, 7/4, 13/-; 2nd, 5/6, 9/6; 3rd, 3/8d.
Purley, Berkshire, stands about half
a mile from the river; the church, close
to which is a ferry, being on the right
bank; from London 78 miles, from Oxford
33½ miles, and most delightfully situated
in a clearing among the fine trees of
Purley Park, with a pretty avenue leading to the village.
Population, about
200. Soil, gravelly.
The church is
modern, with the exception of the tower,
and contains some good Norman remains.
The scutcheon on the south of the tower,
with the date 1626, bears the arms of the
Bolingbroke family.
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Reading.
Mails from London, 6.15am,
Mails for London, 7.30pm
Pangbourne is the nearest money-order
office and telegraph station.
Nearest Bridges: up, Pangbourne 2½ miles; down, Caversham 3¼ miles.
Locks: up, Mapledurham ½ mile; down,
Caversham 4 miles.
Ferry: Purley.
Railway Station: Pangbourne, G.W.R.
Fares: Pangbourne to Paddington:
1st: 7/4, 13/-; 2nd, 5/6, 9/6; 3rd, 3/8.
Here are a ferry and a
station of the Great Western Railway,
between Caversham and Pangbourne.
Here also is the new "Roebuck" Hotel,
which is very well spoken of, but of which
the Editor has not had personal experience.
Reading Amateur Regatta takes place usually about the end of July, over the excellent course from the Fisheries, down stream to a point above Caversham Bridge, a distance of about a mile and one furlong.
Reading Rowing Club, Upper Ship
Hotel.
Election by committee.
Entrance
fee, 5s; subscription, rowing members,
£1 1s; honorary members, 10s 6d.
Boat-house at Caversham Bridge. Colours, dark blue and white diagonal.
Reading Abbey Boating Club:
A branch of a large club for young men,
founded in Reading in 1872. Subscription, 10s; for honorary members, 5s.
Boat-house at Caversham. Colours, red
and blue, with arms of Reading Abbey.
[1924-6: After the building of Reading Bridge the "iron bridge" was removed and replaced by the current bridge]
Caversham, Oxfordshire, on the left
bank; from London 74½ miles, from
Oxford 37 miles.
Population, 2,500.
Soil, chalk.
Caversham is, to all intents
and purposes, a suburb of Reading, with
which it is connected by an iron bridge.
The village is unimportant, but there are
many good houses in the neighbourhood.
Among the principal mansions is Caversham Park.
An omnibus runs to and
from the "Elephant Inn", Reading, and
the "Prince of Wales", Little End, via
Grey Friar's-road, Caversham Bridge,
and the New-road.
The Church of
St.Peter has lately undergone extensive
repairs and restorations.
It contains
some fine Norman work.
There is
also a Wesleyan Church at Lower
Caversham.
Inns: "Crown", on the Oxfordshire
side;
"White Hart", on the Berkshire
side, where boats can be left,
as well as at Causton's under the bridge.
Police: Station, Prospect-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, telegraph, and savings
bank).
Mails from London, 7am, 12
noon and 5pm; Sunday, 7am, Mails
for London, 8.25am, 1.50 and 7.30pm; Sunday, 1 pm There is a
pillar letter-box in the wall facing the bridge.
Nearest Bridge: Caversham;
up: Pangbourne 6¼ miles;
down: Sonning 3¼ miles.
Locks: up, Mapledurham 4 miles;
down, Caversham about ¾ mile.
Ferry: at "Roebuck".
Railway Station: Reading [which see for Fares).
Reading, Berkshire, a short distance
from right bank of the Thames at its
junction with the Kennet; a station on
the Great Western Railway, main line,
the junction of the Hungerford and
Basingstoke branches of the Great Western Railway, and a terminus of the
South Eastern (Reigate branch), and also
of the South Western (Staines, Wokingham, and Reading branch).
The stations
are about ten minutes' walk from the
river at Caversham Bridge, and about
five minutes' walk from the market-place.
Flys and omnibuses from the hotels meet
the trains.
Distance from London 74½
miles, from Oxford 37 miles.
The trains
on the Great Western Railway average
about an hour from Paddington; from
Waterloo about an hour and three quarters; and from Charing Cross three
hours or more.
Population, 38,400.
Death rate, 18 per 1,000.
Soil, chalk
and gravel.
There is a good and constant
supply of water from the waterworks, and
a system of main drainage with an irrigation farm about two miles from the
borough.
Reading can lay claim to great
antiquity, and is the most important and
flourishing town in the county of Berkshire.
It is a parliamentary municipal borough
returning two members - at present Mr.Shaw-Lefevre and Mr.George Palmer,
both Liberals.
It is a well-built town
with fine broad streets and many
excellent shops, and is evidently well
cared for, although it is understood
that the various improvements which
have been carried out by the corporation, and the general cost of local
government, have raised the burdens on
the ratepayers to an inconvenient if not
excessive amount.
There are some very
good houses in the Bath-road and near
Coley-avenue.
Many descriptions of
business flourish in Reading besides that
which naturally arises from its being the
chief town of a large agricultural district,
and for the accommodation of which the
town is provided with a spacious corn
exchange connected by an arcade with
the market-place.
There are extensive
iron foundries and engine works, breweries,
&c, but perhaps the staples of the town
- Reading, it may be added, is said to
have contained 140 clothiers in the 15th
century - which are now best known are
biscuits and seeds: the manufactory of
Messrs.Huntley & Palmer, and the seed
nurseries, &c, of Messrs.Sutton & Sons,
being known all over the world.
The
corporation consists of a high steward,
mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen town
councillors.
It is an assize town; the
present recorder is J.O.Grifits, Esq., Q.C.
The municipal buildings face the
east end of Friar-street, and date from
1875; a portion of the old building,
renovated in 1780, is still standing.
Besides the offices of the town clerk, medical
officer of health, public analyst, inspector
of nuisances, &c., the building contains a
public hall capable of seating 700, which
can be hired for balls, concerts, &c, and
a spacious and convenient council-chamber adorned with several curious and
interesting portraits, amongst which the
most noteworthy are those of Sir Thomas
White, Lord Mayor of London (1566);
John Kendrick, a well-known benefactor
of Reading (1624); Richard Aldworth,
founder of the Blue Coat School here
(1646); Gustavus Adolphus, King of
Sweden, a very fine head; Archbishop
Laud, a native of the town, presented by
Archdeacon Mews (1667); and an admirable full-length of Queen Elizabeth, which
is hung above the mantelpiece over a
shield in stone sculptured with the arms
of the borough; the heads of good Queen
Bess herself and of four of her maids of
honour.
There is also a posthumous
portrait of one of the most distinguished
sons of Reading, Sir Thomas Noon
Talfourd, in his judicial robes.
The town (which figured in Domesday
Book as Readings) has been the scene of
many memorable historical events.
So
far back as 871 the Danes managed to
bring their war-ships up the Thames as
far as the Kennet, and made Reading
their base of operations for their campaign in Wessex.
Parliament, driven
from London by plague, down to Queen
Elizabeth's time frequently sat at Reading, and the same cause drove the lawyers
to the town in 1625, when all the law
courts came here from Westminster.
Some of the most important events in its
records occurred in 1643, when it suffered
severely during the siege by the Parliamentary troops under the Earl of Essex,
and later, in 1688, when the Prince
of Orange defeated the king's troops.
Among the buildings which suffered most
at the hands of the Roundheads was St.
Giles's Church, but the chief sufferer
was the famous old Benedictine Abbey,
founded in 1121 by Henry I.
What was
begun by Cromwell's cannon was completed by the ravages of time and of
depredators, who carried away wholesale
stone and other material to be used for
building purposes elsewhere, until nothing now remains of this once magnificent building but a few half-ruined arches
and enormous walls of flint and rubble.
There is no monument in or near the
ruins to show that King Henry I. was
buried there, or that Maude, daughter of
Henry I., wife of Henry IV., Emperor
of Germany, and mother of our Henry
II., was also buried in the abbey grounds
with great pomp.
Royal marriages of
great importance took place in the abbey,
John of Gaunt being there married to
Blanche of the Plantagenets, and here
also the marriage of Henry IV. to Lady
Grey was announced.
Some part of
the walls, which are said to have been
eight feet thick, were used nearly a century ago by General Conway and employed in building a bridge between
Henley and Wargrave, near the general's
residence at Park Place.
The old gateway has been rebuilt, and serves as the
headquarters of the Royal Berks Volunteers.
The abbey ruins are best approached from the prettily-laid-out Forbury Gardens, adjacent to which are the
extensive assize courts, the county gaol
being beyond the abbey ruins to the eastward.
A handsome esplanade, planted
with trees, runs from the foot of the abbey
along one face of the gaol wall which over-
looks the Kennet.
Among the many churches in Reading,
two at least are well worth a visit: those
of St.Lawrence, corner of Friar-street,
near the market-place, and of St.Mary,
Minster-street.
The former is of the
flint and stone so common in the architecture of this part of the country, and
has a square tower with turrets, and is a
handsome building in the perpendicular
style.
Among the brasses are those of
Edward Butler and his wife (1585), of
John Kent and his wife, and of W.Barton (1538).
In the south aisle is a
curious painted monument of John
Blagrave, dressed in cloak and ruff, and
holding a quadrant and globe.
Two
skulls support the monument, and on
each side of the tablet is a plump gilt
cherub.
The inscription runs, "Johannes
Blagravus totus mathematicus cum matre
sepultus".
A figure in marble, kneeling
at a prie-dieu, commemorates the death
in 1636 of Martha, wife of Charles Hamley,
and the ruff and extraordinarily large hat
of the figure challenge attention.
Another
interesting memorial is the stained-glass
window in three compartments, situated
in the south side of the chancel, and inscribed: "Memorial to Charles Lamb:
Henry and Rachel, children of T.N.Talfourd: erected 1848."
The handsome
church of St.Mary is remarkable for its
curious chequered tower (1551), surmounted with pinnacles added in 1624 by John
Kendrick, whose name occurs so frequently in the annals of Reading.
The
church, which is said to have been originally built with portions of the abbey
ruins, was carefully restored fifteen years
ago.
It has a fine old oak roof, and contains many objects of interest.
Of these
may be mentioned a black and gold monument to William Kendrick and his wife
(1635), with a strange profusion of gilded
skulls by way of ornament.
The ancient
alms-box (1627) inscribed "Remember
the poore, and God will bless thee and
thy store", and a smaller box at the entrance
to the vestry, are curious.
In the vestry
itself are some 15th-century brasses of
no very great importance, and an odd
list of charitable gifts to the parish,
beginning with a benefaction of alms houses and money from "John of the
Larder".
In the choir-room is an oil
picture which, before the restoration of
the church, hung over the altar, and
which is attributed to one of the Caracci.
In the chancel hang the tattered colours
of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment.
The
ancient screen of carved wood over the
western entrance should not be overlooked.
One of the handsomest churches
in Reading, recently restored, is that of
St.Giles, Horn-street, which, however,
contains now no brasses or monuments
calling for special notice.
A curious
epitaph which exists in the churchyard
runs as follows:
He was -
But words are wanting to say what:
Say what is kind !
And he was that.
The parish registers date from 1564,
the churchwardens' accounts from 1518.
Grey Friars' Church, Friar-street, is a
stately 15th-century edifice with some
fine windows.
It was originally built by
the Grey Friars on the site granted by
the Abbot of Reading.
Falling into
decay, it stood roofless for 200 years,
the side aisles being used as cells of the
town Bridewell.
In 1861 it was restored
by the late Archdeacon Phelps.
Reading is the headquarters of the
41st Infantry Brigade Depot, of the
Royal Berks Militia, and of the 1st
Berkshire Rifle Volunteers.
In Friar-street there is a theatre and
an Athenaeum Institution, with reading room and library (subscription, £1 1s per
annum; less for shorter periods).
The
free library and reading-rooms, with
subscription reading-room and library
attached, and with an evening college
in connection, are in West-street.
The
terms for the subscription library are
2s 6d per quarter, for the subscription
reading-room a like amount; for the two
combined, 4s.
The Government School
of Art and Science, in connection with
South Kensington, is situated in Castle-street.
The classes meet morning and
evening, and full particulars can be
obtained of the honorary secretary.
The
Victoria Hall seats 400 to 500 people,
and may be hired for lectures, &c.
The Charity Organisation Society, established to investigate and report upon
alleged cases of want, to dispense
charity, and to repress mendicity and
fraud, has its offices in Carey-street.
There is a Servants' Training Institution
intended for girls of good character, who
are admitted between the ages of 13 and
15, the payment for each being 10£ per
annum.
The School of Industry was
founded 1802 by Lady Cadogan for the
education of 32 poor girls, who are partly
clothed at the expense of the school.
Among the charitable institutions may be
mentioned St.Mary's Home for Girls,
Baker-street, a penitentiary receiving 20
inmates.
Two lodges of craft masons (Union
414, Grey Friars 1101), and one of mark
master masons (Leopold 235), as well as
a Royal Arch Chapter, are held in the
Masonic Hall, which is used solely for
masonic purposes.
There are numerous schools in Reading,
the most important of which is that known
as the Reading School, which has succeeded the old grammar school, formerly
so well known in connection with Dr.Valpy, and the buildings of which were
opened in 1871.
The subjects of instruction are divided into the classical and
modern sides.
The school-fees are, for
boys under fourteen, £10 per annum;
between fourteen and sixteen, £15 per
annum; above sixteen, £20 per annum.
An inclusive fee of £4 4s for instruction
in French, German, and drawing, and
for the use of gymnasium and library, is
paid by all boys.
Boarders are received
by the head master, and by two other
masters; boys under fourteen pay £67 4s;
above fourteen, £78 15s, including board,
laundress, and the school-fees above set
forth .
There are certain entrance scholarships both for day pupils and boarders,
and three Appleton Scholarships for day
pupils.
Ten scholarships at St.John's
College, Oxford, each of the value of
£100 per annum, and tenable for five
years, will, as soon as vacated by the
present holders of fellowships into which
they have for the time been converted,
be awarded to boys from Reading School.
The Blue Coat School, Reading, was
founded by Richard Aldworth, late of the
parish of St.Mary Magdalen, in Milk-street,
London, Esquire, and a native of Reading.
By his will dated 1646 he bequeathed
money and other property in trust, the
income from which was to be spent yearly
for certain pious and charitable uses, one
of which was to pay for the education and
bringing up of twenty poor male children,
being the children of honest, religious
poor men of the town of Reading, to and
for their meat, drink, and clothing.
These
twenty children were to be boarded and
lodged in the master's dwelling-house,
and to be dieted and clothed similarly to
the children in Christ's Hospital in London.
Since the above date several other
bequests have been made for the purpose
of increasing the number of boys to be
maintained in Mr.Aldworth's School.
The number of boys at present maintained
in the school is forty-four.
The boys are
elected by the trustees every year in the
month of January; the successful candidates remain in the school about three
years.
The education is such as is given
in English commercial schools.
The
boys, on leaving the school, are generally
apprenticed.
The school appears to be
greatly valued, and the candidates for
election every year far exceed the number
of vacancies.
The present school premises were purchased about the year 1852,
and are situated in one of the most healthy
parts of the town.
An omnibus runs at intervals to Caversham, fare 2d.
The tramway starts from
the barracks, Oxford-road, and runs
through Broad-street, King-street, and
King's-road, to the cemetery at Erleigh;
distance about 2¼ miles; fare, any distance, 2d.
Cars run about every twelve
minutes.
Being situated on so many lines of rail,
as well as on the river, Reading affords
excellent headquarters for the excursionist.
It is surrounded in all directions
by a beautiful country.
Down the river
are Sonning, 3½ miles, and Henley, 9½
miles, the latter of which also is easily
reached by railway; and up stream are
the delightful reaches of Mapledurham,
3½ miles, and Pangbourne, 5½ miles (also
on the Great Western Railway).
Inland,
within easy reach, are Bradfield; Whiteknights; Strathfieldsaye; Englefield;
Three Mile Cross, on the Basingstoke-road - the "Our Village" of Miss Mitford
- near Swallowfield, the seat of Sir George Russell; Shinfleld; Aldermaston;
and, in another direction, Windsor.
Banks: London and County, Market-place; J. and C.Simmonds & Co., King-street, and Market-place; Stephens,
Blandy, & Co., Market-place.
Fairs: February 2, May 1, July 25, September 21, October 21.
Fire: (Volunteer) Engine-house, Friar-street; (Police) Star-lane; (County)
Mill-lane.
Hospital: Royal Berkshire Hospital, London-road.
Hotels: "Great Western", close to station; "Queen's", Friar-street;
"Ship", Duke-street.
Market Day: Saturday. Monday for cattle.
Places of Worship: All Saints;
Christ Church, Whitley; Grey Friars,
Friar-street; Grey Friars, North-street;
St.Giles's, Southampton-street; St.
John's; St.Lawrence, Market-place;
St.Luke's, Erleigh-road; St.Mary's,
Minster-street; St.Saviour's; and St.
Stephen's.
The Roman Catholic Church
of St.James, Abbey Ruins; the Episcopalian Church of St.Mary; Friends'
Meeting House; numerous chapels of
the Baptist, Congregational, Indepen-
dent, Methodist, and Wesleyan Bodies;
the Unitarian (Free) Church, London-road, and Presbyterian (Church of England); Church of St.Andrew, London-road.
Police: Borough Police-station, High-bridge, London-street; County
Police-station, Abbey-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post
Office (money order, savings bank, tele-
graph, insurance), 99, Broad-street.
Town receiving offices: Brunswick-hill,
Castle-street, Duke-street, London-road,
London-street, New-town, Oxford-read,
Queen's-road, Redlands, Spring-gardens,
the Barracks.
These are all insurance
offices, and there is a telegraph office at
the London-street branch.
Mails from
London, 7 and 8.30am, 3 and 6.45pm; Sundays, 7am,
Mails for London, 2, 9.30, and 10.30am, 12.45, 2.30, 3.30, 4, 7.30, and 8.30pm; Sundays, 2am
Nearest Bridges: Caversham; up, Pangbourne 6¼ miles; down, Sonning 3¾ miles.
Locks: Caversham: up, Whitchurch, 6¼ miles; down, Sonning 3½ miles.
Railway Station: Reading.
Fares to Paddington, Waterloo, or
Charing Cross: 1st, 6/3, 11/8; 2nd, 4/8,
8/3; 3rd, 3/4
Reading and District Angling
Association, for the protection and improvement of that portion of the Thames
between Goring Lock and Shiplake Lock.
Annual subscription not less than 10s 6d.
A reward of £1 is offered to any person
who shall give information to any member
of the committee, or bailiff, of any illegal
netting or night poaching, provided that
it be considered by the committee a fit
case for prosecution; and that the
person prosecuted be convicted by the
magistrates.
A reward of pound;1 is offered
for infringement of the "Upper Thames
(Fishery) Bye-laws of 1869", or the Freshwater Fisheries Act of 1878, provided it
lead to the conviction of the offender;
and a similar reward for killing an otter
within the district protected by the Association, or on the Kennet or Loddon
within ten miles of the Thames.
[1923: Reading Bridge opened]
Caversham Lock, average fall about
3 ft 6 in, from London 74 m 3f [74 ⅜],
from Oxford 37 m 3 f [37 ⅜].
This is a good
brick lock, in approaching which great
care is necessary.
The lock cut is extremely narrow and insignificant, and
follows the right bank.
What appears
to be the main stream on the left is in
reality a very rapid and dangerous
current leading to the weir.
There
is a Thames Conservancy notice of
danger, indicating the proper route, on
the point of the island.
Boats going
down, therefore, cannot keep too close
to the right bank all the way from Caversham Bridge.
Three-quarters of a mile from the lock the Kennet enters the Thames and is crossed by the Great Western Railway-bridge at its mouth.
Nearly a mile farther on [from Caversham Lock] the river takes a
sharp turn to the right, and passing an
eyot we come to the woods of Holme
Park, and to the umbrageous walk along
the bank known as Thames Parade.
The
right bank should here be closely followed,
as the remarks already made in regard
to Caversham Lock also apply to Sonning
Sonning Lock, a good lock of stone
and wood with an average fall of 4 ft 6 in, from London 71 ½ miles, from
Oxford 40 miles.
The floral tastes of the
lock-keeper generally make Sonning Lock
very bright and gay, and it is besides very
prettily situated amongst trees.
The
short distance from the lock to Sonning is also very pretty.
At
Sonning are the "White Hart" on the
right bank, the "French Horn" (rebuilt
in 1882, and now one of the prettiest and
most convenient of the river-side hotels),
up the mill-stream under the wooden
bridge, on the left, and the "Bull" just
through the churchyard.
At Sonning
Bridge the tow-path crosses.
Sonning, Berkshire, on the right bank,
from London 71¼ miles, from Oxford 40¼
miles.
Population, 465. Soil, gravel.
A pleasantly-situated village, with an
ancient brick bridge across the river, from
which two delightfully dissimilar views
are to be enjoyed.
Looking up stream,
the river which is here narrowed by
islands covered with osiers and pollard
willows, and shut in at the bend by the
noble forest trees of Holme Park, presents
the appearance of a placid lake.
The
contrast of colour between the bright
light greens of the foreground trees, the
richer tints of the grassy meadow in the
middle distance, and the dark, almost
sombre masses of the towering chestnuts in
the background, form a picture not easily
forgotten.
Looking down stream, an entirely different scene presents itself.
The
river takes its sinuous course between low
banks, its passage through the long open
plain being marked here and there with
pollards and osier-beds, and the background filled with the amphitheatre of
wooded heights above Henley.
Little
indication of the character of the village
is obtained from the river, but a few
minutes' walk inland will disclose as pretty
a little place as can well be desired, containing many excellent houses, evidently
well looked after and cared for, and with
good old-fashioned gardens.
Sonning is
not without literary associations, as the
"Peter Plymley Letters" of Sydney Smith
were written in a cottage in the village.
The church, whose gray square embattled
tower adds greatly to the charm of the
up-river view from the bridge, is well
worth a lengthened visit, containing as it
does great wealth of interesting monuments and brasses, besides presenting in
itself many notable architectural features.
On the north side is a good old porch of
elaborate design, over which is an image of
St.Andrew; and some curious iron
clamps on the belfry door bear the old
bell inscription: "Deum laudo, vivos
voco, mortuos ploro"
The Sonning peal
of bells has long been celebrated, and
a curious entry in the archives of the
Ancient Society of College Youths records
their victory in a competition for a two handled silver cup, the inscription on
which says: "This cup, the gift of Mr.Peter Bluck, of Sonning, in the county
of Berks, was adjudged to the Society of
College Youths for the superior style in
which they rang ten hundred and eight
bob major in a contest with the Oxford
and Farnham Societies, at the above
parish church, on Monday, Aug. 4th,
1783."
The church contains nave, chancel, and aisles; the north chancel aisle
being specially remarkable for the beautiful carving with which it is enriched.
The handsome altar of recent date is also
elaborately decorated with sculpture,
the font is modern, as is its lofty carved
oak tabernacle covering, both probably
dating from the restoration of the church
in 1853.
On the west wall of the south
aisle is a handsome marble monument
with brasses, to the memory of various
members of the family of Palmer of Home
Park.
In the south aisle is a painted
marble monument, dated 1630, to Katharine, Lady Lidcott, who kneels at a
prie-dieu, a good specimen of this kind
of work, and in striking contrast to a
pretentious and conventional monument
hard by, the work of R. Westmacott,
jun., and erected to the memory of W.Barker, who died 1758.
In a chapel
divided from the south aisle by an oak
screen, is a kind of mortuary chapel,
almost entirely allotted to monuments of
the Barker family, which is now, however, nearly wholly occupied by the
organ.
It also contained a ponderous
slab, supported by four chubby marble
angels, and surmounted by two marble
pickle-jars of colossal size, the whole
being in honour of one Sir Thomas Rich
and his son, who died respectively 1667
and 1613.
This now stands at the west
end of the church under the tower.
Under the east window was a very old
monument (now removed to the south wall,
close to the Barker monument), depicting
the kneeling figures of three knights in
armour, and three ladies, with a certain
grotesqueness in the character of the
faces.
The inscription is unfortunately
undecipherable, only sufficient remaining
to show that it was of a poetical character.
Lord Stowell is among the
celebrities who are buried at Sonning.
The brasses in this church comprise
many full-length figures of members of
the Barker family, dating from the middle
of the 16th century, one of which, to
Anne Staverton, daughter and "sole
heire" of William Barker, who died
1585, has the following quaint inscrip-
tion:
A frend unto the widdoo, fatherles, sycke and poore,
A comforte and a suckour contynened she ever more.
Hard by is an unusually good brass in
memory of Laurentius Ffyton, who is
represented in armour, each corner of the
brass bearing an elaborate coat of arms:
the date is 1434.
In the neighbourhood
is a brass to William Barker and Anne
his wife, with the following quaint inscription:
Here lyeth the corps of William Barker, Esquire in bowelle of this grave
Whose dayes by all mens doome deserve a longer life to have.
You widowes wayle his losse and orphanes, wythe his lyffe
You dearly want his wysdomes skyll, whose causes are at stryffe.
Nor you allone lament, your frynde's untymely ffate,
His Ann doth morne amonge the most, who least maye misse her mate
Ann, spronge of Stowghton's stocke, an ancient progeny
She wyth her chyldren wayle this chaunce, and doleffull destenye.
Yet this bothe we and all have mostlye to rejoice
His faithe and fraudles hart hathe wonne the people's voyce
His bodie in this soile and earthlye fear doth lye,
His ffame in ayre, his ghost for ay doth yve alofte the skye.
An odd epitaph on Elizabeth Chute,
a child of the tenderest years, deserves
quotation:
What Beauty wold have lovely stild
What manners sweete what nature mild,
What wonder perfect all were fild
Vpon Reccord in this one child
And till the comming of the Soule
To call the flesh, we keepe ye Roule.
There are two curious tablets in the wall
by the vestry door, dated 1533 and 1605;
and the vestry, which is screened from the
north aisle by a somewhat similar oak
screen to that on the opposite side of the
church, contains a fine old carved oak chair
and table, the latter much resembling
that in the hall of Christ's Hospital at
Abingdon.
There is a fine view from the
top of the church tower.
Sir Thomas
Rich, the lord of the manor, left some
years ago £20 per annum for the free
instruction of forty poor boys, and they
were taught in the master's cottage until
the erection of the new schoolroom by
the late Robert Palmer, Esq., of Holme
Park.
Here is a splendid stretch of jack water,
well looked after. Barbel, roach, &c,
plentiful.
An omnibus runs daily between Sonning and Reading, leaving the "Peacock" Inn, Broad-street, Reading, at
3am, 12 noon, and 4pm, returning
from Sonning at 10am, 2 and 7pm;
the journey occupies about an hour.
Hotels: The "French Horn" on the Oxfordshire side, rebuilt in 1883;
the "White Hart", on the Berkshire bank;
the "Bull", just through the churchyard.
Place of Worship: St.Andrew's.
Police: A constable lives in the village.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office, five minutes from river (money
order, savings bank, and telegraph office).
Mails from London 7.10am, and 12.15pm; Sunday, 7.10am,
Mails for London, 6.50 and 10.30pm; Sunday, 12.30pm
Nearest Bridges: Sonning; up, Caversham, 3¼ miles; down, Henley 6¼ miles.
Locks: Sonning; up, Caversham about 3 miles; Shiplake 2½ miles.
Ferry: Wargrave.
Railway Station: Twyford, G.W.R.
Fares, Twyford to Padd: 1st, 5/6,
9/3; 2nd, 4/2, 7/-; 3rd, 2/9½.
Rather more than a mile from the [Sonning] bridge is an
island.
Keep to the left bank, as the
stream to the right goes to some eel-bucks.
Hereabouts the river winds considerably.
Approaching the white house among the
trees on the hill (left bank) is an island,
either side of which can be taken.
On the left of the next reach is a pretty bit
of wooded chalk cliff,
Shiplake, Oxfordshire, on the left
bank, from London 68¾ miles, from
Oxford, 42¾ miles.
A station on the
Henley branch of the Great Western
Railway, about an hour to an hour and
a half to Paddington by fast trains.
Population, 586. Soil, gravel and chalk.
Shiplake is a village pleasantly planted
on the riverside, its prettiest portion
being on the chalk hill which overhangs
the river just above the lock.
The church
is dedicated to St.Peter and St.Paul,
and was re-opened in 1870, after restoration, during which a chancel was added,
and the peal of bells completed.
The
stained-glass windows are very ancient,
having originally been in the Abbey of
St.Bertin, at St.Omer.
Grainger, author
of the "Biographical History of England",
was vicar of Shiplake, and died in 1766,
while officiating at the Holy Communion.
There is a fine bust of Mr. Plowden in
the church over his memorial-stone.
Mr.Plowden formerly lived at Shiplake
Court, which was pulled down in 1801;
remains of its terraced garden sloping to
the river are still to be seen near the chalkpit.
In this church Alfred Tennyson
was married.
The fine old deer-park and
mansion called Crowsley Park, the seat
of Major Baskerville, lord of the manor,
and The Coppice, the seat of the Rt.Hon.Sir Robert Phillimore, are in this parish;
also Holmwood, and Shiplake House.
The vicarage was rebuilt by the present
vicar in 1868.
The Loddon, Pope's
Lodona, enters the Thames just below
Shiplake Lock.
Place of Worship: St.Peter and
St.Paul.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Henley.
Mails from London,
8am, in winter, and 7.30am, in summer.
The letter-box at Church Lane is cleared at 6.40pm, and on Sundays at 11.40am;
that at Binfield Heath at 6.15pm, and on Sundays at 11.15am,
The nearest money-order, &c, office is at Henley.
Nearest Bridges: Up, Sonning, 2½ miles; down, Henley 3¾ miles.
Locks: Shiplake; up, Sonning 2¾ miles; down, Marsh 2¾ miles.
Ferries: Wargrave and Shiplake.
Railway Station: Shiplake.
Fares to Paddington, 1st, 6/-, 10/-;
2nd, 4/6, 7/6; 3rd, 2/10.
and below is the
picturesque clump of trees on Phillimore
Island.
On the hills on the right past
the island, the house known as Wargrave
Hill appears in sight; and the house on
the left bank opposite the island is known
as The Coppice.
Shiplake Lock is a stone lock, average fall 5 ft 6 in, from London 68 m 5 f [68 ⅝], from Oxford 42 m 7 f [42 ⅞], just above the junction of the Loddon, right bank, with the Thames; Immediately below on the right is a series of lashers leading to Shiplake Lock, on the left of which is a mill-stream.
[1897: The old wooden bridge replaced in iron
1970s: reduced to single track]
and a quarter of a mile
beyond this point, after the railway bridge, is Wargrave, with its well-known
"George and Dragon Inn".
Here is a
ferry, but the tow-path remains on the left bank
Wargrave, Berkshire, on the right
bank, from London 68 ¼ miles, from
Oxford 43 ¼ miles.
Population, 1,785.
Soil, gravel and chalk.
A pleasant
village on the road from Twyford to
Henley, both stations on the Great
Western Railway, in the middle of a
first-rate fishing district, and highly
popular amongst artists.
Public evidence
of the latter fact is afforded by the sign
of the principal inn of the village, the
"George and Dragon".
Here Mr.G.D.Leslie, R.A., has depicted the terrific
encounter between the saint and the
reptile; and on the other side Mr.J.E.Hodgson, A.R.A., has limned St.George,
his work concluded, his spear stuck in the
ground, taking his pint of beer with a
thoroughly comic air of complacent content.
There are many good houses in the
village, especially on the river's bank,
and the village, though quiet and retired,
is an enjoyable place to put up at.
The church at Wargrave (St.Mary's)
was originally of Norman date, but the
only portion remaining of the old church
is the north door.
The present church
is built of flint and stone, and is beautifully situated on a green amidst very
fine elm-trees.
The ivy- mantled square
tower is of brick, and of the beginning of
the 17th century; it contains a fine peal
of six bells.
The interior of the church
is in want of restoration.
On the south
wall of the church is a monumental tablet
to Mr.Day, the author of "Sandford
and Merton", who lived, and was killed by
a fall from his horse, in Wargrave parish.
The east window is a "Mary window",
and was put up to the memory of a late
vicar (the Rev.James Hitchings) by the
parishioners.
The churchyard surrounds
the church, and is very pretty and
extremely well kept; in it is the Saxon
font, once used in the church.
In
the north aisle are many tablets and
monuments to members of the Ximenes
family over an old oak raised pew, with
some curious carvings on the side.
On
the north side of the chancel is a marble
mural tablet to the memory of Richard
Aldworth, who died in 1623, surmounted
by a brig in full sail.
Inside the altar
rails on the north side is a very large
brass - "a token of love here placed" -
to the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel
Raymond White, late of the 6th or
Inniskilling Dragoons, by his brother
officers in 1844.
There is a small but
fine black oak tabernacle to the font.
Among the bequests is one by Mrs.Sarah
Hill, who left £1 annually to be given at
Easter in new crown pieces to two boys
and two girls.
No boy is to have the
reward who is undutiful to his parents,
was ever heard to swear, to tell untruths,
to steal, to break windows, or to do any
kind of mischief.
Any boy who would
have the courage to lay claim to this reward, and could conscientiously say that
he had fulfilled all the necessary conditions, must, one would think, be a lineal
descendant of the exasperating Master
Sandford himself.
A large school in the village for the
children of the parish is generally known
as Piggott's School, a certain Mr. Piggott
having about a century ago left a sum of
money to clothe and educate 20 boys and
20 girls, these children being now educated with the others who attend the
parish school.
There is capital fishing about Wargrave and Shiplake.
Hotel: "The George and Dragon".
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order and savings bank).
Mails from London, 7.30am, 1pm; Sunday, 7.30am
Mails for London, 8.40am, 7.05pm; Sunday, 10am
The nearest telegraph office is Twyford.
Nearest Bridges, up, Sonning 3 miles; down, Henley 3 ¼ miles.
Locks, up, Shiplake ½ mile; down, Marsh 2 ¼ miles.
Ferries: Wargrave and Shiplake.
Railway Stations: by ferry, Shiplake; by high-road, Twyford.
Fares from Twyford to Paddington:
1st, 5/6, 9/3; 2nd, 4/2, 7/-; 3rd, 2/9½.
until another ferry, about half a mile farther, opposite Shiplake station, where it crosses to the right bank.
On the hills to the right are Hennerton and Combe, and on the river bank
to the left opposite a number of islands
is Bolney Court.
Below the islands the
tow-path again crosses by another ferry.
On the right are the woods of Park
Place, and half-way down the next reach
is its pretty boat-house and fishing cottage, with its lawn and vista among the
trees.
The road here is carried over a
bridge made by General Conway, to
whom the place formerly belonged, with
materials from the ruins of Reading
Abbey.
A long wooden bridge to the
lock island leads to Marsh Lock in the centre, the stream
past the pretty house and garden on the
right running to the mill.
Marsh is an
antiquated specimen of a wood lock, with
an average fall of from 4 ft 6 in to 5 ft.
It is distant from London 66 miles, and
from Oxford 45 ½ miles.
There is a strong
stream below the lock,
and the river diverges at an island; the left (tow-path) side should be taken by boats with ladies, the Henley bathing-sheds being on the right bank.
A mile from Marsh Lock we come to Henley
Henley, Oxfordshire, on the left bank;
from London 64½ miles, from Oxford 47
miles.
The terminus of a branch on the
Great Western Railway, from an hour to
an hour and a half from Paddington.
Flys and omnibuses meet the trains.
The
station is close to the river, and about
five minutes' walk from the bridge.
Population, 4523.
Henley, the Mecca of the
rowing man and one of the most favourite
places of pilgrimage for anglers, is a comfortable, prosperous-looking town, set
down in a pleasant valley almost entirely
surrounded by well-wooded heights, and
is as good a place to stay at for the
tourist who takes no interest either in oars or rods, punts or wager-boats, as
can well be desired.
Both by river and
by road there are almost innumerable
excursions, and the walks either at the
back of the town or on the road to Marlow
across the river afford many charming
glimpses of some of the prettiest of the
Thames scenery.
The town itself is well
built with good broad streets, the principal
business centres being Hart-street, the
Market-place, and Bell-street, all of which
contain good shops.
The outskirts are
noticeable for a number of handsome
houses, especially towards the Fair Mile,
a fine avenue of trees which leads from
the north of the town.
Henley is under
the government of a high steward, a
mayor, ten aldermen, and sixteen burgesses.
The Town Hall is in the Market-place, and differs in no respect from the
usual type of buildings of its class in the
neighbourhood.
It contains two good
portraits, presented to the town by the
widow of Sir Godfrey Kneller; one of
George I., by Sir Godfrey himself, and
the other of the Earl of Macclesfield, the
first high steward of the town.
Lady
Kneller is buried with her parents at
Henley in the church.
The church of
St.Mary, whose lofty embattled tower is
a prominent landmark, as well from the
river as from the hills around, stands
close to the bridge.
It is a fine building,
with chancel, north chancel aisle, nave,
and aisles, and in the tower hangs a
remarkably good peal of bells.
A beautiful new west window and an entrance
screen of carved oak have been added,
and the space under the tower has been
formed into a beautiful Baptistery.
Under
the tower is the monument of Lady Elizabeth Periam: a semi-recumbent figure reclining on its right elbow, and dressed in
a ruff, stomacher, and hood.
In the right
hand is a Book of Hours.
Lady Elizabeth
died in 1621.
Behind the organ is a mural
monument, with a marble angel, in
memory of certain members of the Elmes
family from 1621 to 1720.
In the south
wall is a tablet with a long inscription to
the memory of General Dumouriez, who
died near Henley in 1823.
In the churchyard is the grave of Richard Jennings,
the master builder of St.Paul's Cathedral.
Along the sides of the churchyard stand
almshouses: four built by Mrs.Messenger, 1669, and rebuilt 1846; ten due to
Humphrey Newberry, 1664, rebuilt 1846;
and twelve endowed by John Longland,
Bishop of Lincoln (a native of Henley),
in 1547; these were rebuilt in 1830.
The
church of Holy Trinity is on the south
side of the town in the parish of Rotherfield Grays.
The living is a vicarage,
and the patron for the next turn is the
Bishop of Oxford.
The Congregational chapel here originated in 1662.
The first preacher was
the Rev.W.Brice, Fellow of Exeter
College, Oxford, rector of St.Mary's,
Henley, ejected by the Act of Uniformity.
The first pastor was Rev.John Gyles,
ejected from the vicarage of Lindridge.
The tablet of Mr.Gyles has the following quaint inscription:
Heaven's Pilgrim, pause you here,
And with many drop a teare
O'er John Gyles, from Heaven sent
To preach to men Christ's commandment.
Whose learning, utterance, and parts
Meekness and grace did win all hearts.
Him now you see translated thus
A dying witness to Christ's truth
Both taught and practised from his youth.
His race is run, he's glorified
this stone you see his dust doth hide.
Deceased 26 Aprill, 1683.
Rev.Humphrey Gainsborough, brother
of Gainsborough the painter, was a
minister of the chapel for upwards of
twenty-eight years.
He was a very
ingenious man; is supposed to have
been the discoverer of the separate
condenser for steam engines; constructed
a weighing-machine for the corporation
in 1776; made the road to the town over
White Hill; arranged and superintended
the construction of the arch and ruins
over Twyford-road, at the bottom of the
Happy Valley; constructed the locks
on the river near New Mills; and
made many curious clocks, dials, &c.
He was offered very good preferment
in the Established Church, but nothing
would induce him to leave his own
people, by whom he was greatly esteemed.
The Grammar School was
founded in 1604 by James I., and is
now managed under a scheme of the
Endowed Schools Commissioners.
It
prepares for the Universities, professions,
and public service.
Day boys pay £11
per annum, no extras; boarders, £40 to
£50, according to age.
The Blue Coat,
or Lower Grammar School, was founded
by Lady Elizabeth Periam in the reign of
James I., for the purpose of educating,
free of all cost, twenty boys of the town.
In the reign of George III. the school
was united with the Upper Grammar
School.
Three years ago it came under a
new scheme, and is now called the
"English School"; and although under
the same governing body as the Upper,
or Grammar School, is quite a separate
establishment, under its own masters, &c.
Twenty boys are still educated free of
cost, together with about forty others,
who pay a fee of £3 per annum each.
It was on a window at the "Red Lion" at Henley, that Shenstone wrote
the now hackneyed lines:
Whoe'er has travelled life's dull round,
Where'er his stages may have been,
May sigh to think he still has found
the warmest welcome at an inn.
Among the notable houses in the neighbourhood of Henley is Park Place, on
the summit of the hill on the Berkshire
side.
Stonor Park, Henley Park, Phyllis
Court, Fawley Court, Greenlands, and
many other county houses, are either in
or near the parish.
Henley was once justly celebrated for its
pike, but is now scarcely worth the trouble
of fishing, except for roach and chub.
Banks: London and County, Market-place; Simonds and Co., Market-place.
Fairs: March 7, Holy Thursday, Trinity Thursday, and the Thursday after September 21.
Fire: Volunteer Fire Brigade; captain-lieutenant, two firemen, engineer,
and twenty pioneers; three manual engines and one fire-escape.
Hotels: "Angel", at the foot of the bridge; "Catherine Wheel", Hart-street;
"Red Lion", foot of the bridge; "Royal", facing the river near the railway-station.
Market Day: Thursday.
Places of Worship: Holy Trinity
(Rutherford Greys) and St.Mary's; and
Baptist, Congregational, and Wesleyan
Chapels, and a Friends' Meeting House.
Police: Station, West-street, by the side of the Town Hall.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), Market-place.
Mails from London, 7 and 11.30am, 6.45pm; Sunday, 7am,
Mails for London, 9.55am, 3.20, 7.50, and 8.15pm; Sunday, 8.15pm
Nearest Bridges: up, Sonning 6¼ miles; down, Marlow 8 miles.
Locks: up, Marsh 1 mile; down, Hambleden 2¼ miles.
Ferry: just below Bolney Court, ½ mile above Marsh Lock.
Railway Station: Henley.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 6/3, 10/9;
2nd, 4/8, 8/-; 3rd, 2/1 3/2
Henley, with abundance of hotel
accommodation, and one of the most
favourite resorts on the river.
A handsome bridge spans the river here; the
tow-path crosses to the right bank.
The counties of Oxfordshire and Berkshire are united at Henley by a handsome
and convenient stone bridge of five arches
with stone balustrades.
The key-stones
of the centre arch represent respectively
Thames and Isis.
The Thames, which
looks down stream, is the conventional
bearded old Father Thames crowned with
bulrushes; and the Isis, looking up
stream, is, in allusion to the fabled
marriage of Thame and Isis, a female
head adorned with water plants.
These
works of art were executed by the Hon. Mrs. Damer, the daughter of General
Conway, who lived at Park Place, near
Henley.
They have, no doubt, considerable merit, but not so much as to
warrant the excessive admiration they
have sometimes evoked, and which probably would not have been expressed had
it not been for the extravagant eulogium
of Horace Walpole, the artist's cousin.
Henley Rowing Club: the usual
amateur qualifications. Subscription, £1 1s.
Election is by ballot in committee, unless the captain, on private
notice being given by a member who objects to a candidate, shall direct the secretary to call a general meeting.
If the
committee proceed to election, one black
ball in three excludes.
The club was
established in 1830.
Colour, blue. Boat house, near the bridge.
[1897: The Leander Club moved here from Biffen's Hammersmith]
The next mile and a quarter down to the
island with the temple is the Henley
Regatta Course.
[NB start above Temple Island and finish at Bridge, 1885]
Subjoined is a list of winners of the above prizes from the commencement of the regatta to the present year: {these images 1882}
Henley Royal Regatta: this, the
most important gathering of amateur
oarsmen in England, takes place usually
about the beginning of July, and almost
ranks with Ascot among the favourite
fashionable meetings of the season.
A
grand stand is provided, but the accommodation for visitors is not of the best.
One of the favourite points of view is
the "Red Lion" lawn, where, at the conclusion of the regatta on the second day,
the prizes are distributed, but by far the
most popular resort is the river itself.
Indeed, of late years, this has become so
much the case, and the river is so inconveniently crowded with steam launches,
house boats, skiffs, gigs, punts, dingeys,
canoes, and every other conceivable and
inconceivable variety of craft, that the
racing boats have sometimes the greatest
difficulty in threading a way through the
crowd.
In this connection some astonishment may be expressed at the supineness
of the executive, in regard to the important matter of regulating this annually
increasing picnic traffic.
As it was years
ago, so it seems to be now.
The racing
boats are always hampered to a more or
less inconvenient degree - sometimes even
to the point of disaster.
No doubt it is
extremely difficult to keep the course clear,
but certainly much more might be done
than at present.
As in the case with all
boat races, only a very small part of the
struggle can properly be seen, except by
the fortunate few in the umpire's boat, or
by the enthusiastic friends of the competitors who run up the tow-path with
the boats.
The course is a little over a mile and
a quarter in length, and the races are
rowed from Regatta Island, just below
Remenham, against the stream, to a
point opposite the "Red Lion", and just
below the bridge.
For the first mile the
course is very fair, but the river taking
a somewhat sharp turn at what is called
Poplar Point, gives a great advantage to
the boat with the inside or Berks station.
The only chance of equalising the stations
is when a high wind blows from the
other bank.
Under these circumstances
men on the Bucks station have the advantage of being sheltered by the bushes,
while their opponents out in the open are
struggling with the full force of wind and
wave.
The lead that the Bucks boat is
thus enabled to obtain, not unfrequently
neutralises the effect of the dreaded
corner.
Many attempts have been made
to improve matters by buoying and by
staking out the river with the object of
keeping the Berks boat well out in the
stream, but hitherto these ingenious
arrangements have met with but a very
moderate means of success.
It has even
been suggested that the race should be
started below the island, and that the
finish should be at Poplar Point.
But
as this would disestablish the bridge and
the lawn, its adoption is, to say the least
of it, doubtful.
The principal races in the programme are:
the Grand Challenge Cup for eights,
and the Stewards' Challenge Cup for
fours,
both of which, subject to the
regulations of the Regatta Committee,
are open to all amateurs, and up to
twenty years ago, were frequently competed for by University crews.
The Thames Challenge Cup for eights,
the Wyfold Challenge Cup for fours,
the Silver Goblets for pairs,
the Diamond Challenge Sculls for scullers (the latter
the oldest race in the programme),
are also open races.
The Ladies' Challenge Plate for eights,
and the Visitors' Challenge Cup for fours
are confined to college and public school crews.
Remenham, Berkshire, on the right
bank, is connected with Oxfordshire by
Henley Bridge.
Population, 533. Soil,
loam; sub-soil, gravel and chalk.
Remenham extends for some distance along
the river.
Park Place, which is so conspicuous a feature in the scenery above
Henley, is in the parish of Remenham
Hill, and the church is almost opposite
Fawley Court, about a mile down the
river from Henley.
Remenham Farm,
close to the church, is one of the first landmarks in the Henley Regatta course.
The
church, which is close to the river, has
been recently restored; but the chancel
apse, which is both ancient and curious,
remains in very much its pristine state.
The windows are all of stained glass, and
are mostly memorials of recent date, and
two good brasses are preserved on the
west wall: the one of Thomas Maryet,
of "Remneham", 1591, has the figure of
a man in armour, the face of which has
been destroyed, and the other of John
Newman, "hujus ecclesiæ quondam pastorus", who died in 1622, represents the
reverend gentleman in full canonicals.
A niche in the vestry contains an antique
decapitated stone statuette.
Lord Palmerston resided during many
of his early days at Woodlands in this
parish.
Place of Worship: St.Nicholas.
Postal Arrangements: Letters through Henley at 7am, Letters for
London, through Henley, at 6.30pm;
Sundays at noon.
The nearest money
order, telegraph, &c., office: is Henley.
Nearest Bridges from Remenham Farm - up, Henley about 1 mile; down,
Marlow 7 miles.
Locks: up, Marsh 2 miles; down, Hambledon 1¼ mile.
Ferry: Aston.
Railway Station: Henley, G.W.R.
Fares, Henley to Paddington: 1st,
6/3, 10/9; 2nd, 4/8, 8/-; 3rd, 2/11½
At Fawley Court, the large white house on the left, opposite Remenham, is the boundary between the counties of Oxford and Bucks,
and about half a mile below [Temple] island on the left is Greenlands.
In Hambleden parish, a little distance up the river, and with lawns extending to its bank, is Greenlands, the
seat of the Right Hon.W.H.Smith, M.P., concerning which Langley gives the following account:
"the earliest deeds relative to this
estate are from George Chowne to Robert
Shipwath, of an ancient family here, as
appears from several memorials in the
Church; from them it passed to a younger
branch of the Doyley family, who resided
here many years, as appears from various
evidences.
It was the jointure of Lady
Periam, wife of Sir Robert Doyley, afterwards married to Sir Henry Neville, and
lastly to Sir William Periam, knights.
She died May 3rd, 1621, and was buried
at Henley.
By her will it appears that the
bouse was of great extent and richly furnished.
Among many other charitable bequests, her ladyship left a farm called the
Borough, in this parish, to Archbishop
Laud, in trust, to be applied to some
college in Oxford, at his discretion.
His
Grace in consequence founded a fellowship and two scholarships in Balliol
College, but without any preference to
the Grammar School at Henley, also
endowed by Lady Periam, or to the
county of Bucks, in which the estate is
situated.
After Lady Periam's decease
the estate came to John, brother of Sir
Robert Doyley, and descended to his son,
Sir Cope Doyley, to whom there is a monument in Hambleden Church.
His eldest
son and heir, John Doyley, who resided
at Greenlands during the commencement
of the Great Rebellion, and was firmly
attached to the royal cause, had the misfortune to have his house converted into
a garrison."
In 1644 the house underwent a long siege at the hands of the
Parliamentary forces under Lord Essex.
He was succeeded by General Brown,
who planted batteries on the opposite
side of the river, which "made many
shot and much battered" the house, and
almost "beat it about the ears of the
garrison."
The garrison eventually surrendered to General Brown, but marched
out with all the honours of war.
The
present house bears little resemblance to
the former one; the situation is extremely
beautiful.
Thomas Chaucer, son of
Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet, died at an
estate here in 1434.
A short half-mile farther on the right is Hambleden Lock, once enjoying an
evil reputation, now a good brick lock
and altogether much improved.
It has
an average fall of 4 ft, and is from
London 62 ¾ miles, and from Oxford 48 ¾
miles.
Hambleden, Bucks, on the left bank.
Population, 1,550. Soil, chalky.
The
diminutive village of Hambleden stands
some distance from the river, its waterside suburb, so to speak, being Mill End,
close to Hambleden Lock; from London
62¾ miles, from Oxford 48¾ miles.
There
is little inducement to walk the mile or
so, which separates this retired hamlet
from the river, although it is easy to
understand the attraction that Hambleden and its neighbourhood have for the
landscape painter.
The handsome old
church, approached through a good lychgate with two dormers, contains in the
north aisle an alabaster monument of Sir
Cope and Lady D'Oyley and their ten
children.
They are all in the usual kneeling posture, elaborately painted and gilded, the sons with the father, the daughters with the mother.
Some of the figures
bear skulls in their hands, probably to
intimate that they had died before the
erection of the monument.
Lady D'Oyley
was the sister of Quarles, of the "Emblems", to whom probably the epitaph to
his sister is to be attributed.
It runs
thus:
Would'st thou reader draw to life
the perfect copy of a wife,
Read on, then redeeme from shame
that lost that honourable name.
This dust was once in spirit a Jael,
Rebecca in grace, in heart an Abigail;
In works a Dorcas, to ye Church a Hanna
And to her spouse Susanna.
Prudently simple, providently wary
To th' world a Martha, and to Heaven a Mary.
the inscription to the memory of Sir Cope, who died in 1633, fifteen years after his wife, is still more gushing:
Cope D'Oyley, died 1633.
Ask not me who's buried here;
Goe ask the Commons, ask ye Sheire,
Goe ask ye Church; they'll tell thee who
As well as blubbered eyes can doe;
Goe ask ye Heraulds; Ask ye poore;
thine eares shall heare enough to ask no more
then, if thine eye bedewe this sacred urne
Each drop a pearle will turn
T' adorne his Tombe; or, if thou canst not vent
thou bringst more marble to his monument.
It is further recorded that "they lived
together in inviolated bands of holy wedlocke 22 yeares and multiplied themselves
into 5 sonnes and 5 daughters".
Close
by the D'Oyley tomb is a very old stone
coffin of unusual size, and in the vestry
is a magnificent - restored - old oak press
very richly carved with coats-of-arms,
dragons, figures, and devices innumerable.
Hambleden Inns: "Flower Pot", Aston, across the river; "Stag and Huntsman", in the
village.
Places of Worship: St.Mary's, and
Congregational Chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph
office).
Mails from London, 7.30am,
Mails for London, 6pm; Sunday, 10.45am,
Nearest Bridges, up, Henley 2¼ miles;
down, Marlow, 6 miles.
Locks, Hambleden; up, Marsh 3¼ miles; down, Hurley
3¾ miles.
Ferry: Aston.
Railway Station, Henley.
Fares from Henley to Paddington, 1st,
6/3, 10/9; 2nd, 4/8, 8/-; 3rd, 2/1 3/2[?]
Half a mile beyond is a ferry, the tow-path crossing, and close by on the right is the "Flower Pot Inn", at Aston, a well-known haunt of artists.
At the next bend in the river the red brick house on the right is Culham Court, and here the view up the river to the poplars and wooded hills above Hambleden is very charming.
Passing
Culham keep to the left bank, leaving
the island known as Magpie Island on the
right.
Half a mile farther, on the top of
the high-wooded hill on the left, is a
farmhouse, on a site where has been a
farm since Domesday Book was compiled.
[1899: Medmenham Ferry declared public. It ceased shortly afterwards]
Two miles from the lock is Medmenham Abbey, with the "Ferry Boat Hotel", a well-known and convenient
place for water-parties.
On the opposite
bank among the trees on the top of the
hill is Rose Hill; and on the hill to the
north-westward of Medmenham is Danesfield, the seat of the Scott-Murray family.
At Medmenham is a ferry, and the tow-path crosses.
Medmenham, Buckinghamshire, on
the left bank; a small village of about
350 inhabitants, from London 60½ miles,
from Oxford 51 miles, from Marlow,
the nearest railway-station, 3 miles by
road; chiefly notorious from its connection with the Medmenham Monks of
Francis Dashwood and John Wilkes.
there seems to be no doubt that considerable "high jinks" were indulged in
by this fraternity, and that they were not
altogether what is generally known as
respectable society.
But it is probable
that exaggeration has had much to do
with the records, or rather legends, of its
proceedings, as is always the case where
an affectation of mystery and secrecy is
maintained.
The monks of Medmenham,
sometimes politely called the Hell Fire
Club, lived at a time when drunkenness and
profanity were considered to be amongst
the gentlemanly virtues, and probably, as
a matter of fact, they were not very much
worse than other people.
The audacious
motto of the club may, perhaps, have- had
something to do with the holy horror
which it excited.
"Fay ce que voudras"
was not a good motto at a time when
doing as you pleased was about the last
thing that good old-fashioned Toryism
was likely to tolerate; and when amongst
the people who were to do as they liked
was the hated Wilkes, the prejudices of
respectability were certain to be even
further outraged.
"Fay ce que voudras",
as it appears over a doorway at the abbey,
has in these times quite a hospitable
look, and the invitation is readily accepted
by the scores and scores of picnic parties
who resort to Medmenham in the summer,
and whose innocent merrymaking is, at
all events, an improvement on Wilkes
and his monks, however much they may
have been libelled.
Medmenham Abbey,
as it stands at present, is, architecturally,
but a bogus affair, and, except an ancient
archway and a single pillar of the church,
there is little of the ancient abbey to be
found in the present edifice, but it stands
in so beautiful a position, and commands
such lovely views, that its artificial appearance will be readily forgiven.
Once
upon a time there was indeed a very
important monastery here, founded by
Hugh de Bolebec, to whom a charter was
given by King John in 1201.
The
monastery was originally colonised from
the Cistercian Abbey of Woburn in 1204,
but the Woburn monks did not seem able
to make much of it, and very shortly afterwards returned whence they had come.
In 1212 a second colonisation was effected
by Cistercian monks from Cisteaux in
the bishopric of Chalons, in France.
Their rules certainly would not have
suited Wilkes and his friends.
"They
neither wore skins, nor shirts, nor even
eat flesh, except in sickness; and abstained
from fish, eggs, milk, and cheese; they
lay upon straw beds in tunics and cowls;
they rose at midnight to prayers; they
spent the day in labour, reading, and
prayer; and in all their exercises observed
a continual silence."
This cheerful community held possession of the abbey for
several hundred years.
In the beginning
of the 16th century it was annexed
to the Abbey of Bristleham or Bisham,
on the opposite side of the river, and so
remained until the suppression of the
monasteries by Henry VIII.; and from
the report of the commissioners at
that time, the institution seems to have
fallen upon very evil days.
The clear
value was returned at £20 6s 2d.
"Monks", continues the report, "there
are two; and both desyring to go to
houses of religion; servants, none; bells,
&c, &c, worth £2 6s 2d; the house
wholly in ruin; the value of the moveable goods, £1 3s 8d; woods, none;
debts, none."
Whether the last item is
due to the care of the monks or to the
caution of the local tradespeople, may
remain an open question.
The most
distinguished of the real monks of Medmenham was John, who was elected
Abbot of Chertsey in 1261, and of whom
there is an interesting memorial in the
British Museum in the shape of his seal.
At one time the Abbot of Medmenham
was, ex officio, epistolar of the Order of
the Garter, and it was his duty to read
the epistle in the morning service on St.
George's Day at Windsor.
The church has been considerably
restored, but still presents traces of its
Norman origin.
There are more considerable portions Early English, but the
church must have been nearly rebuilt in
the days of the perpendicular style.
It
has chancel, nave, and square embattled
tower, and a good old carved oak pulpit.
Tthere are not many ancient monuments
in the church, but a brass remains in
memory of Richard Levyng and Alicia
his wife, bearing dates 1415 and 1419.
The church and post-office are five or six
minutes' walk from the river.
The principal mansion in the neighbourhood is Danesfield, the seat of C.R.Scott-Murray, Esq., which owes its name
to the time when the Danes, after seizing
and fortifying Shoebury, marched along
the river until they came to Boddington
in Gloucestershire.
The encampment
called the "Danes' Ditches" and the
"Horse-shoe Entrenchment", date, no doubt, from this campaign.
Attached to
the house is a fine chapel built by the
Pugins, containing some good pictures.
There are fine roach swims all the way
up this reach.
Hotel: the "Ferry Boat", adjoining the abbey.
Place of Worship: St.Peter's.
Postal Arrangements: Letters
through Marlow.
Nearest savings bank,
telegraph office, &c: Marlow.
Mails
from London, 7.40am, week-days and Sundays;
mails to London: 6.15pm; Sunday, 9.25am
Nearest Bridges: up, Henley 4½ miles;
down, Marlow 3½ miles.
Locks: up, Hambleden 2 miles; down, Hurley 1½ mile.
Ferry: Medmenham.
Railway
Station: Marlow.
Fares, Marlow to Paddington: 1st,
6/-, 9/11; 2nd, 4/6, 7/6; 3rd, 2/9½
At the island below Medmenham the left bank should be followed, as it is a shorter journey.
After passing the island [Blackboy Island] a charming reach is opened,
with the Danesfield and Harleyford woods
clothing a chalk cliff to the water's edge,
the centre of the background being occupied by the long stretch of falling water
at the Tumbling Bay of New Lock,
carefully avoiding which, and keeping to
the right bank, we enter the cut leading
to Hurley Lock, a wooden lock with an
average fall of 3ft 6 in, from London
59 m 3 f [59 ⅜], from Oxford 52 m 3 f [52 ⅜]
On
the right bank is the village of Hurley
with Lady Place, so well known in connection with Lord Lovelace in the revolution of 1688;
On the right bank is the village of Hurley
with Lady Place, so well known in connection with Lord Lovelace in the revolution of 1688;
Hurley, Berkshire, on the right bank;
from London 59 miles, from Oxford 52½
miles.
Population, 193.
Soil, chalk and
gravel.
A small village beautifully situated
in a charming country, but retiring so
coyly from the river as to afford little or
no indication of its existence to the casual
passer-by.
But the famous Lady Place
at Hurley made for itself a name in history;
and, although but little of the building
now remains it is not likely to be forgotten
so long as the graphic description of
Macaulay remains in evidence.
The church, dedicated to St.Mary the
Virgin, was consecrated in 1086, by
Osmund "the Good", Bishop of Sarum.
It was once the chapel of a Benedictine
monastery.
The old refectory of the
monastery still exists on the north side of
the church, and the monastic quadrangle
is on the same side.
There are several
plates on the north wall of the quadrangle
behind the church.
One runs as follows:
"the priory of St.Mary, Hurley, founded
in the reign of William the Conqueror by
Geoffrey de Mandeville and his wife
Lecelina, A.D. 1086. A cell to Westminster Abbey."
On another:
"King Edward the Confessor, principal founder
of Westminster Abbey, after the times of
King Sebert and King Offa."
The church
contains an antique stone font, and in
the vestry are two half-length stone figures.
Above the one is a scutcheon, under which
is an inscription:
"Richard Lovelace, sone of John Lovelace, Esquire, 1601."
Under the scutcheon which surmounts
the other is the inscription:
"Sir Richd. Lovelace, Knighted in ye Warrs."
No
date is filled in.
There are also in the
vestry paintings of Moses and Aaron.
On the floor of the nave are the remains
of some early brasses.
The principal fish at Hurley are pike
and chub, and there are perch in the deep
weir pool.
Places of Worship:-St.Mary the Virgin, and a school-chapel at Birchet's
Green.
Postal Arrangements: Letters through Marlow.
Pillar letter-box: cleared 10am, 6.30pm Sunday 9.30 am.
Nearest money order, telegraph, &c, office: Marlow.
Nearest Bridges:, up, Henley about 5¾ miles; down, Marlow 2¼ miles.
Locks: up, Hambleden 3¼ miles; down, Temple about ½ mile.
Ferry: Temple.
Railway Station: Marlow; but as Marlow is on a
branch line, Maidenhead is generally
preferred.
Fares from Marlow to Paddington
1st, 6/-, 9/1 1; 2nd, 4/6, 7/6; 3rd, 2/7J.
From Maidenhead to Paddington: 1st,
4/4, 7/6; 2nd, 3/3, 5/9; 3rd, 2/2½.
on the backwater on the Bucks side is Harleyford House, the seat of Sir William Clayton, about two miles up the river [from Marlow].
Nearly half a mile lower down is a ferry, at which the tow-path crosses
a little farther on the left is Temple Lock, much in want of repair, average fall 4 ft 6 in;
from London 58 ½ miles, from Oxford 53 miles.
On
the right bank is Temple House, the seat
of Colonel Owen Williams.
Leaving the lock, and passing Temple Mills on the right
about half a mile brings us to Bisham Grange, and, a little retired from the river, Bisham Abbey, the seat of G.Vansittart, Esq.
Bisham, Berkshire, on the right bank,
within the Parliamentary borough of
Marlow, from London 57½ miles, from
Oxford 54 miles.
Population, 652.
Soil,
gravel and chalk.
Bisham is chiefly
celebrated for its abbey, the seat of G.H.Vansittart, Esq., which dates from the
time of King Stephen.
In 1338 it became a priory.
Subsequently it was
given by Henry VIII. to Anne of Cleves.
Queen Elizabeth once resided here, under
the charge of the Hobys, and appears to
have had a "good time".
In the abbey
were buried a great number of distinguished people- among them that Earl
of Salisbury who fought at Poictiers, and
Richard Nevile, the Kingmaker.
The
porch and great hall, which are portions
of the oldest part of the building, are exceedingly fine; and the drawing-room,
which contains a bay-window built specially for the Princess Elizabeth, is remarkable for some very good old stained glass.
There is a remarkable tapestry bed-chamber, with an entrance to a peculiarly
constructed secret room high up in the
wall; and on the ground-floor is a very
satisfactory ghost-room, which is said to
be haunted by the apparition of one of
the Ladies Hoby, who beat her little boy
to death for inking his copies, and is now
condemned to continual vain attempts to
wash her own hands in a ghostly basin,
which goes before her as she walks.
Unfortunately it is not clear whether anybody
has actually seen the ghost, but it is said
that, during a period of repairing, a number of blotted copy-books of the time to
which the legend refers were found
secreted in the room - evidence which, as
ghost stories go, is quite enough for all
practical purposes.
In Bisham Abbey
are several interesting portraits of the
Hoby family, to whom the house belonged from the time of Henry VIII. to
rather later than the middle of the
eighteenth century, and, of these, one,
which represents the Lady Hoby of the
legend with a deathly white face and
a head-dress very like that of the
kneeling female figure in the church,
which is described lower down, is a remarkably fine work.
Also, in the dining-
room is a very jovial portrait of a certain
Rev.Peregrine Hoby, who appears from
his complexion to have thoroughly
enjoyed the good things of this life.
This, and its companion portrait of the
Rev. gentleman's wife, both by Burslee,
are capital pictures.
A portrait of Sir
Francis Walsingham, over one of the
doors, will also repay inspection; and
the gem of the collection will be found
over the mantelpiece in the shape of a
brilliant portrait of Henrietta Maria, by
Van Dyck.
The church, the original name of which
is in doubt, is now called All Saints.
Almost all architectural features of interest were utterly destroyed, with the
exception of the Norman Tower, about
the beginning of the century.
The
chancel and south burial chapel were restored in early decorated style in 1849; the
north aisle was the gift of Colonel Owen
Williams, of Temple House, in 1878.
The church is most picturesquely situated
immediately on the bank of the river,
and should certainly be visited on account
of its remarkable group of magnificent
tombs.
These are in the south aisle.
The first and most elaborate is that of a
noble countess, who kneels in the act of
prayer, attired in ruff, stomacher, and
a most extraordinary head-dress surmounted by a coronet.
Opposite to her,
kneeling on a lower stool, is another
female coroneted figure, and behind are
five other kneeling figures, three female
and two male; the whole group is under
a canopy, supported by pillars, and the
monument is set forth with elaborate
carving and coloured coats-of-arms.
Beyond this is a less gorgeous, but much
more artistic monument to the brothers
Hoby.
They lie upon an altar-tomb,
two knightly figures with peaked beards
and in full armour.
They both recline
upon their left arms, and the one nearest
the spectator has his legs crossed
crusader-wise.
The date is 1566.
On
the tomb are several inscriptions.
Of
these may be quoted one which gives
concisely the history of the Hobys.
Two worthie knightes and Hobies both by name
Enclosed within this marble stone do rest
Philip the first in Cæsar's court hathe fame;
Such as tofore fewe legates like possest
A diepe discoursing heed, a noble breast
A courties passing, and a curteis knight
Zealous to God whose gospel he profest
When gretest stormes can dim the sacred light.
A happie man whom death hath nowe redeem'd
From care to loye that can not be esteem'd.
Thomas in Fraunce possest the Legate's place
And with such wisdome grew to guide the same,
As had increast great honour to his race
Ye sudein fate had not envied his fame,
Firme in God's truth, gentle, a faithful frend
Wel lern'd and languaged nature beside
Gave comely shape which made rueful his end
Since in his floure in Paris towne he died
Leaving with child behind his woful wief,
In forein land opprest with heapes of grief.
From part of which when she discharged was
By fall of teares that faithful wieves do sheed
The corpse with honour brought she to this place
Performing here all due unto the dead.
That doon this noble tombe she caused to make
And both these brethren closed within the same
A memory left here for vertue's sake
In spite of death to honour them with fame
Thus live they dead, and we lerne wel thereby
That ye and we and all the world must die. T.B.
Beyond the brothers Hoby is the tomb of
Margaret, wife of Sir Edward Hoby, who
died in 1605, oddly surmounted by an
obelisk with a swan at each of the base
angles.
The stained glass window, with
coats-of-arms of the Hoby family, in the
east of the south aisle is very curious.
In the nave is a fine brass with three full length figures to the memory of "John
Brinckhorst, sometime citizen and mercer
of London, and marchaunt adventurar",
and his two wives; only one date is given,
that of the death of one of the ladies in
1581.
A smaller brass has a single figure,
and is dated 1517; and one with inscription only, and dated 1525, records the
decease of one Gray "and Wylmott hys wyffe".
Hotel: "The Complete Angler", by Marlow Bridge.
Place of Worship: All Saints.
Postal Arrangements: Nearest
money order, telegraph, &c, office, Marlow.
Letters through Marlow.
Mails from London, 6.30am, 12.30pm.
Mails for London, 10.35am, 3.15 and 7.15pm.
Nearest Bridges, down, Marlow ½ mile; up, Henley 7½ miles.
Locks, down, Marlow ½ mile; up, Temple, 1 mile.
Ferry, Temple.
Rail: Station, Marlow.
Fares: Marlow to Paddington, 1st, 6/-, 9/11;
2nd, 4/6, 7/6; 3rd, 2/9½
Bisham Church is prettily situated at the water's edge on the right
bank, and is well worth a visit.
About half a mile farther is Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire,
on the left bank of the river, a
terminus on the Bourne End and Marlow
branch of the Great Western Railway,
35½ miles from Paddington, the trains
averaging a little over an hour.
The
station is about five minutes' walk from
the bridge.
Fly and omnibus meet the
trains.
The distance from London is 57
miles, from Oxford 54½ miles.
Population,
4,701. Soil: flint, chalk, gravel, and
loam.
The name Marlow, or, as it is
called in Domesday Book, Merelaw, is
derived by Camden from "the chalk
commonly called marle", which he asserts
to be very plentiful here; a piece of
etymology derided by Langley in his
Hundred of Desborough, who derives
the name from a mere, or piece of standing water, which he supposes to have
been here in ancient times.
Langley,
who has strong and usually common sense views on these matters, derives the
name of Desborough Hundred from duo burgi - Wycomb and Marlow - quite repudiating Danesborough.
Marlow is a
very ancient manor, and appears from its
earliest history to have been connected
with royalty.
Before the Conquest it was
held by Algar, Earl of Mercia, from whose
son it was taken by William the Conqueror, and bestowed upon Queen
Matilda.
Later on it became, through
his wife, the property of Richard Nevil,
Earl of Warwick, the king-maker, who
was slain at Barnet, and is buried in
Bisham Abbey; later still it was granted
by Philip and Mary to Lord Paget of
Beaudesert, an extraordinary statesman,
who enjoyed the confidence of four succeeding sovereigns: an unusual tenure
he possibly owed to the practice of the
following precepts discovered in his
commonplace book:
Fly the courte,
Speke little,
Care less.
Devise nothing.
Never earnest,
In answer cold.
Lerne to spare;
Spend with measure,
Care for home.
Pray often.
Live better.
And die well.
Court Garden, which is on the left just
above the bridge, the last part of the
estate remaining in the Paget family, was
sold by Lord Uxbridge in 1758.
Marlow is a parliamentary constituency,
and returns one member to Parliament, the
present member being Major-Gen.Owen
Williams, of Temple, a Conservative.
The borough was first summoned to return
burgesses by Edward I. in 1299, the first
two burgesses whose names are recorded
being Richard le Mouner and Richard le
Veel; but from 1308 until 1622, when
the privilege was restored by Parliament,
no members were returned on "account
of the expence".
Since the time the Knight Templars
were at Bisham, the counties of Berks
and Bucks have been here united by
various bridges, the present suspension
bridge, which cost £20,000, having been
erected in 1835.
There is still in existence a writ for the repairs of the bridge
dated 27 Edward III., 1352, directed
probis hominibus villæ de Merlawe.
The bridge in more modern times has acquired
a certain notoriety in connection with a
"puppy pie", concerning which succulent
pastry there are various traditions: and
"Who ate the puppy pie under Marlow
Bridge?" is popularly supposed to be a
crushing retort to any bargee impertinence.
From Marlow Bridge, the view
up or down the river is hardly to be surpassed on the Thames.
Indeed, whether for fishing, boating,
holiday, or sketching purposes, there is
no more fascinating spot on the river
than Marlow.
From Bourne End to New
Lock - the backwater by Harleford
Manor House - the river teems at various
points with trout, pike, barbel, roach,
chub, perch, and gudgeon, a result
greatly attributable to the constant care of the Marlow Angling Association, and
the liberality of some of its individual
members, who have at their own expense
turned large numbers of trout and other
fish into the river.
For boating purposes,
the reaches from Cookham to Marlow
and from Marlow to Temple Hurley and
Medmenham, are excellently adapted,
and for camping-out purposes there is
no more favourite spot on the river than
the Quarry Woods below Marlow.
As
to its attractions for the artist, the numerous pictures that yearly appear on the
walls of the Academy and the Water
Colour Societies abundantly testify.
Boats
are taken care of by Haynes and R. Shaw,
under the bridge, and the numerous
hotels in the town afford excellent
accommodation for tourists of all
classes.
Ordinary boating parties will do
well to remember that it is unwise to rely
upon obtaining quarters at the well-known
"Complete Angler", near the bridge,
without considerable previous notice;
but great improvement has recently
taken place in the management here,
and much more space than of old has
been made available for dinners, etc.
The "Crown", at the end of the main
street, and five minutes' walk from the
river, is a comfortable, old-fashioned
house, with a first-rate billiard-room.
In the town itself there is little of interest;
the old quaint houses have nearly all given
place to staring brick or vulgar stucco
erections; the only really ancient remains
being a portion of a house in St.Peter's-street, known as the Deanery, with fine
old mullioned windows.
There are two
principal streets: High-street, leading up
from the river; and West-street, at right
angles to it.
In the latter is the house,
on which is now a tablet, in which Shelley
lived and was visited by Lord Byron.
Of
this period Mrs.Shelley says: "During
the year 1817 we were established at
Marlow, in Buckinghamshire.
Shelley's
choice of abode was fixed chiefly by this
town being at no great distance from
London, and its neighbourhood of the
Thames.
The poem, 'the Revolt of
Islam', was written in his boat, as it
floated under the beech groves of Bisham,
or during wanderings in the neighbouring
country."
At Remnantz, a house nearly
opposite to Shelley's, was for thirteen or
fourteen years the Royal Military College,
before it was removed to Sandhurst.
Seymour Court, Mr.Wethered's resi
dence, is asserted to have been the birth-place of Henry VIII.'s Jane Seymour,
but the honour is disputed by the family
seat of the Seymours in Wiltshire.
Harleyford House, the seat of Sir William
Clayton, is about two miles up the river.
The church, a modern structure of a
style of architecture variously described
as Late English or Modern Gothic, is ugly
without and bald within, although it
must at one time have been rich in brasses
and monuments, some of the former
dating from the latter end of the fourteenth
century.
Langley records several curious
entries in the church books, commencing
with one in 1592: "Paid for mendynge
the bells when the queen came to Bysham,
1s."
The loyalty of the bellringers appears to have outrun their discretion.
There are many entries for payments to
bellringers when the kings passed through
the town, in 1604, 1605, 1612, 1617, and
1647.
In 1608, among the church goods
are catalogued: Five pair of garters and bells,
Five coats and a fool's coat.
In 1650 appears the significant entry,
"For defacing of the king's arms, 1s";
and in 1651, "Paid to the painter for
setting up the State's arms, 16s."
The
Catholic church, in St.Peter's-street, one
of the elder Pugin's last works, was
opened in 1846; but, together with Holy
Trinity, a chapel of ease to the parish
church, will scarcely repay a visit.
Marlow has a literary and scientific institution, with a library and reading-room,
well supplied with books and newspapers.
Subscription: 1st class members, £1 1s per annum: 2nd, 10s; 3rd, 5s.
It also
possesses a Lawn-Tennis Club, a Choral
Society, and Cricket and Football Clubs.
A Cottager's Horticultural Show is held
every year, and there is a Lecture or Music
Room in St.Peter's-street.
The Maidenhead and Marlow Regatta is held
alternately at Marlow and Maidenhead,
and there is in addition an annual
town regatta.
The town is also privileged
to possess a Constitutional Association,
established for the modest purpose of
securing on an income of £76 per annum,
"the proper registration, as voters, of
all persons within the several parishes of
the borough who hold constitutional
principles; of resisting any movement
directed against the institutions of the
country; of defending the rights and
privileges of the people; and of promoting beneficial legislation in the spirit of
the Constitution."
The walks and excursions from Marlow
are varied and numerous.
Within easy
walking distance are Henley, Maidenhead, and the quaint and interesting
towns of High or Chipping Wycombe,
and Cookham.
Hurley and Medmenham are, as it were, next door.
Wycombe is well worth a visit, and its
church, All Saints, which dates from
1273, restored by Mr.Street at a cost of
£10,000, is one of the finest in the county,
and contains many brasses and memorials.
The Quarry Woods are within a ten
minutes' saunter of Marlow Bridge, and
offer in every direction the pleasantest and
most picturesque walks by the riverside,
or across the hill to Cookham Dene.
From Winter Hill, the extremity of the
woods in the Cookham direction, a view
as magnificent as it is extensive is to be
obtained, and includes the course of the
Thames from Henley to Maidenhead.
Bisbam Abbey and Church are close at
hand, and Mr.Borgnis's grounds at Highfield are a short mile from the town on
the Henley road.
Borlase's School, or, as it is more generally denominated, the Blue Coat School,
was founded by Sir William Borlase in
1624 for the education of twenty-four boys
- of whom three are chosen from Medenham, three from Little Marlow, and
eighteen from Great Marlow.
They are
each allowed £2 to apprentice them, but
this at the present day being insufficient
for the purpose is generally added to by
contribution of £8 or £12 from Loftin's
Charity - bequeathed by Benjamin Loftin
in 1759.
The education comprised reading, writing, and casting accounts.
Sir
William Borlase also made bequests for
founding a school for teaching twenty-four girls to knit, spin, or make bone lace,
and for establishing a house of correction.
The income being found insufficient for
its purpose the girls' school was some
years ago merged in the National and
Infants' Schools.
In order to increase
the public usefulness of Borlase's boys'
school, negotiations have been opened by
the feoffees with the Charity Commissioners, who propounded a scheme on
the following lines: Tuition fees are to be
not less than £3 or more than £5 per
year.
School to be unsectarian.
Education to comprise reading, writing,
arithmetic, geography, history, English
grammar, composition, and literature,
mathematics, Latin, at least one foreign
European language, natural science, drawing, drill, and vocal music.
This scheme
has since been elaborated, and the school
is of considerable importance as a middle-class Grammar School.
Bank: Stephens, Blandy, & Co.
Fair: October 29.
Fire: Volunteer Brigade: Superintendent, foreman, engineer, sub-engineer, hon.Treasurer, 9 firemen, and 5 reserve, Manual engine, next the "Crown".
Hotels and Inns: "Complete Angler" (by the river, in Bisham parish);
"Crown", up the town; "Fisherman's Retreat", "George and Dragon", "Railway".
Places of Worship: All Saints and Holy Trinity; the Roman Catholic Church of St.Peter's; and Congregational, Baptist, and Primitive Methodist
Chapels.
Police: Station in the town.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), West-street.
Mails from
London, 7.30 and 10.45am, 6.45pm; Sunday, 7.30am,
Mails for London,
9.40am, noon, and 3.40 and 7.50pm; Sunday, 7.50pm
Wall letter-box opposite the church, cleared 10.50am, 3.30 and 7.40pm; Sunday, 7.40pm;
Station wall box cleared 10.40am, and 7.40pm; Thames Lawn wall box cleared
8.25am, 10.45am, and 7.35pm
Nearest Bridges: up, Henley 8 miles; down, Cookham 3¾ miles.
Locks: up, Temple 1½ mile; down, Cookham 4 miles.
Ferry: Temple.
Railway Station: Marlow.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 6/-, 9/11; 2nd, 4/6, 7/6; 3rd, 2/9½
Marlow (Great) Amateur Rowing Club:
Usual amateur qualification.
Donors of £10 10s and upwards are life
members, and all life members and annual subscribers of £2 2s and upwards
are vice-presidents. No subscription is less than 10s.
Election by ballot in committee, two black balls in five to
exclude.
The monthly challenge cup is competed for the last Wednesday in every
month.
The club, established in 1871, now numbers about ninety members.
Boat-house, Haynes's, Marlow Bridge; Club colours, cardinal.
[ Alternate years at Maidenhead and Marlow. In 1883 Dickens gave the 1882 Marlow results; In 1885, the 1884 Marlow results.
Here are shown the 1882 results which appeared under "Maidenhead and Marlow Regatta".]
Maidenhead and Marlow Regatta - Races in 1882, at Marlow July 8th.
Great Marlow Thames Angling Association:
the water held by the
association reaches from Temple Mills
to the "Shrubbery".
The annual subscription is £1 1s.
A head water-bailiff,
assistant bailiffs, and sub-assistant bailiffs
are appointed by the committee, who are
required to provide live bait for the members free of charge.
A reward of 10s is
offered to any one who shall give information of any poaching or illegal fishing
to the water-bailiff, provided that it be
considered by the committee a fit case for
prosecution; if the person prosecuted be
convicted the reward is doubled.
A reward of ios.
is offered for every dead
otter proved to have been caught between
the top of the reach immediately above
Temple Lock and the "Shrubbery".
The association has turned a very large
number of fish, more especially trout,
into the river, and to it Marlow owes
much of the enhanced reputation it now
enjoys among anglers.
Marlow, with its graceful suspension
bridge and ugly church.
Marlow is a good
halting-place, and there are two comfortable hotels, the "Complete Angler" on
the right bank of the river, and the
"Crown" at the top of the High-street,
five minutes' walk.
The latter is to be
recommended for casual visitors, as considerable notice is generally required to
ensure rooms at the "Complete Angler".
Boats are taken care of by Haynes, under
the bridge, and by Shaw.
Three hundred yards below the bridge is Marlow Lock, a wooden lock with
an average fall of 5 ½ ft, from London
56 ¾ miles, from Oxford 54 ¾ miles.
It is
on the right-hand side after passing the
long weir, where the navigation must be
carefully attended to, as the weir on the
right, and the mill-stream on the left,
both closely approach the lock.
Past the
lock there always is a strong stream to
the point.
The tow-path continues on
the left bank,
[1972: A404, Marlow Bisham Bypass Bridge built]
a fine stretch of water through a country which becomes less interesting as we leave Quarry Woods
Spade Oak Ferry, rather more than two miles from Marlow Lock, where the tow-path crosses.
About half a mile farther the railway crosses the
river, and on the left bank is Bourne End,
a favourite fishing-station.
After passing the mill with the towering chimney,
Hedsor, the seat of Lord Boston, becomes visible on the heights on the left
bank.
Bourne End, Bucks, on the left bank,
from London 53½ miles, from Oxford 58
miles, one of the scattered villages making
up the parish of Wooburn.
The little
river Wye, Wick, or Wyke, as it is
variously written, enters the Thames here.
Bourne End is a place of no importance,
except that it is a station on a branch of
the great Western Railway, 32 miles from
London, trains averaging about an hour.
It is the junction for Marlow.
Inns: "Railway" and "Old Red Lion".
Nearest Bridges: up, Marlow 3¼ miles;
down, Cookham 1¾ mile.
Locks: up, Marlow 3 miles;
down, Cookham 1¼ miles.
Ferry: Spade Oak.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 5/3, 8/9;
2nd, 4/-, 6/9;
3rd, 2/6½.
Another three-quarters of a mile brings us to Cookham
Cookham, Berkshire, on the right
bank; from London 53 miles, from Oxford 58½ miles.
A station on a branch
line of the Great Western Railway, about
an hour from Paddington.
An omnibus
meets the trains; the station is about
eight minutes from the river.
Population
(of village), 872.
Soil, chalk and gravel.
Cookham stands at the end of what is
popularly supposed to be the best part of
the Thames, and, together with Maidenhead, is probably better known to picnickers and London excursionists than
almost any other place on the river.
It
is immediately opposite the woods of
Hedsor, the seat of Lord Boston, and
just below the lock is the pretty Formosa
island on the right; and the magnificent
hanging woods of Cliveden on the left.
In the neighbourhood are many noble
mansions, Dropmore being immediately
behind Hedsor; White Place, formerly
the property of the Duke of Buckingham,
is in the meadow opposite Cliveden;
with many others still farther removed
from the river.
The grounds of both
Hedsor and (during the absence of the
family) of Cliveden are shown on application.
The conifers at Dropmore are
renowned, and the view from the ridge,
on which stands "Cliveden's proud alcove", is superb.
The church of Holy
Trinity - an ancient building with chancel,
nave, aisles, and a square tower (about
1500), contains some modern stained
glass windows, and an alabaster monument of the 16th century to the memory
of Arthor Babham and wife with a quaint
inscription.
There are also some good
brasses.
That to George Welder, dated
1616, is in the south aisle; there is one
dated 1615 in the north aisle with a
curious epitaph; another, mutilated, to
Richard Babham and wife (1527) on the
north wall of the north aisle; and under
an altar tomb in the chancel are the
figures of Robert Peck (an official of
Henry VI.) and wife, 1510.
In the north
aisle a brass with three full-length figures
has the inscription, "Pray for the souls
of William Andrew and John Monkeden
and Margaret; which William deceased
1506"; also in the north aisle is a brass
with full-length figure of John Babham -
the companion figure of his wife being
missing - with date 1458.
On the north
wall is a very good mural tablet to Sir
Isaac Pocock, by Flaxman (1808).
The
most interesting monument, however, to
many visitors to Cookham Church will be
that to the late lamented Frederick
Walker, A.R.A.
The marble mural
monument which records his untimely
death, and which is placed on the west
wall of the south aisle, bears a medallion
bust, a most admirable likeness.
Cookham Reach, when not searched by
the wind, is a safe resort for roach, for
which the swims are many about Spade
Oak, Bourne End, Hedsor, Cliveden, &c.
Fairs: May 16 and October 11.
Hotels: "Bell and the Dragon";
the "Ferry", on the river;
the "King's Arms.
'
Places of Worship: Holy Trinity,
and a Wesleyan chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
insurance).
Mails from London, 7am, 12.30pm; Sunday, 7am
Mails to London, 12.30 and 7.30p.m; Sunday, 7.15pm
Nearest Bridge, Lock, Ferry, and Railway Station: Cookham.
Nearest Bridges: up, Marlow 4 miles; down, Maidenhead 3 miles.
Locks: up, Marlow 3¼ miles; down, Boulter's 2½ miles.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 5/-, 8/6; 2nd, 3/8, 6/3; 3rd, 2/3.
A bridge crosses the river
here, and at the "Ferry Hotel" the tow-path crosses by two ferries to the lock
island, and thence to the Bucks shore
under the Cliveden woods, only to recross by another ferry a quarter of a mile
lower down.
At Cookham Bridge the
river diverges into several channels.
On
the left is the broadest stream, which is
blocked by a weir at the private fishing
waters of Hedsor; the two on the right
are backwaters made by Formosa Island.
Cookham Lock is the most beautifully
situated on the river, just under the woods
of Hedsor and Cliveden.
It is of wood,
and the average fall is 3 ft 6 in.
From
London 52 ½ miles, from Oxford 59 miles.
On the right is Formosa Island
Formosa: the largest island on the
upper Thames, said to be about 50 acres
in extent; beautifully situated just below
Cookham Lock, opposite the Hedsor and
Cliveden woods.
On it stands a handsome house, built by the late Sir George
Young, with well laid out gardens and
pleasure grounds.
Nearest Railway Station, Lock, and Bridge at Cookham.
The entrance to the lock is along a very narrow cut, crossed by a wooden bridge, which also crosses what is known as Odney Weir, a good bathing-place in ordinary seasons, but requiring caution when the river is flooded.
In the parish [of Taplow] is Cliveden, the
splendid seat of the Duke of Westminster.
The house dates from 1851, two previous
mansions on the same site having been
destroyed by fire.
The Grosvenor art
treasures are not to be found at Cliveden,
but the pavement of Staffordshire tiles in
the entrance-hall deserves notice.
It was
the gift of Mr.Herbert Minton to the
late Duchess of Sutherland, in gratitude
for the interest and trouble she took in
encouraging the potteries, and in procuring them patterns.
on the left the fishing cottage at Cliveden.
A little below the ferry is the spring and
cottage, and farther yet is a magnificent
view of Cliveden, the seat of the Duke of
Westminster.
The mansion dates only
from 1851.
Two houses which previously
occupied the site were burnt down, one
in 1795 and one in 1849.
The scenery down the next reach and past the islands
is exceedingly beautiful, and is generally
considered the finest on the river.
The
flatness of the right bank, however, somewhat detracts from its claims to be considered a perfect landscape.
Not quite 2 ½ miles from Cookham Lock is Boulters Lock
Boulter's Lock, from London 50 m 3 f [50 ⅜], from Oxford 61 m 1 f [61 ⅛]
This, a good
stone lock, with an average fall of about
6 ft, is approached from above by a long
narrow cut on the right.
The stream on
the left is dangerous, but the Conservancy
danger-signal on the point of the eyot is
of ample dimensions, and easily to be
distinguished.
Below [Boulters] lock there is at
all times plenty and to spare of stream
for some distance.
On the right bank,
between here and Maidenhead Bridge, are
the "Ray Mead" and "Thames" Hotels.
on the hill above, embedded in trees,
is Taplow Court, the seat of W.H.Grenfell, Esq.
Taplow, Buckinghamshire, so to speak
a suburb of Maidenhead - at all events to
the frequenters of "The Orkney Arms" -
although the village itself stands some
distance from the river on the opposite
bank.
Taplow Court, now the property of
Mr.W.H.Grenfell, was entirely rebuilt
in 1851 by Mr.C.P.Grenfell, M.P., under
the superintendence of Mr, Burne, the
architect.
The collection of pictures includes a Marriage of St.Catherine, by
Titian; a Holy Family, by Giulio Romano;
and examples of Schiavone, Gaspard
Poussin, Canaletto, Jan Steen, Van de
Heyden, Reinagle, Varley, and Turner.
There are some curious brasses in Taplow
Church, a modern building at some distance from Taplow Court.
The old
parish church was close to the house, in
the old churchyard, where the ancient
mound and the yew tree are still to be
seen.
A stone cross has been erected to
mark the original situation of the church.
Railway Station, Taplow.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 4/-, 7/-; 2nd, 3/-, 5/3; 3rd, 1/10½
On the island on the left is a new and
handsome house of Sir Roger Palmer.
Below that is the comfortable mill-house,
Maidenhead, a convenient stopping
place, with two excellent hotels: Skindle's
on the Taplow side of the bridge, and the
"Bear" in the town.
The "Ray Mead"
is nearer Boulter's Lock.
Maidenhead, Berkshire, on the right
bank; from London 50 miles, from Oxford 61½ miles; a station on the Great
Western Railway 25 miles from Paddington; trains take from 35 to 80 minutes.
The station is twenty minutes' walk from
Bond's boat-house at the bridge, and about
five minutes from the town-hall.
Flys and
omnibuses meet the trains.
For boating
purposes or for visitors to the Orkney Arms
Hotel, Taplow station is somewhat nearer
and more convenient than Maidenhead.
The counties of Berks and Bucks are here
connected by a stone bridge of thirteen
arches, and the Great Western Railway
crosses the river a little below on a brick
bridge of two arches, designed by the late
Sir Isambard Brunei, and being remarkable as exhibiting the greatest span of
brick extant, as also for its acoustic peculiarities.
Population, 6,473.
Maidenhead
is a corporate town, governed by a high
steward, mayor, four aldermen, and twelve
councillors.
It consists mainly of two
Streets, High-street and Queen-street, and
is not very important or in itself attractive.
There are, however, many good houses
in the outskirts, more particularly along
the bank of the river between Maidenhead
Bridge and the Great Western Railway bridge, and between the bridge and Boulter's Lock, in which direction a little inland,
a new suburb of Maidenhead, known as
Ray Park, has sprung into existence.
The
Town Hall is in the High-street, as is
also the post-office.
The Church of
Saints Andrew and Mary is in the High-street, occupying the site of two older
churches, dates from 1826, and was
finished in 1878.
It affords in itself no
points of attraction.
Part of the vicar's
income is a Crown payment of "seven
marks" (£4 13s 4d), dating from the time
of Philip and Mary, in compliance with
the prayer of the inhabitants, who base
their application on the fact that their
chapel is distant from the mother churches
"too myles or nere thereaboutes, to
which yr sede subjects cannot at sundry
tymes in the yere, cum and make ther repaire, to here the divine service of
Allmyghty God, and to serve God there,
as of duty they are bounde to doe, by-
cause manie tymes thereof letted through
visytacion of sicknesse, women labringe
and travelinge in childbedd; and also
by cause the seid toune of Maydenhedd
is scituat in a loo contree, and very nere
adjoininge to the river Thamys, so that
the seid contre is, divers times in the
yere, so surrounded and overflowen with
water that yr Highnes seid subjects cannot passe goe nor travell to their seid
churches; by reson whereof the dutie of
yr seid subjects towards Allmyghtye God
hath been many times, agenst ther will,
left undon."
Allusion is then made to
the endowment, by John Husbonde,
"in
the time of Kinge Edward the thirde,
oon of yr Grace's noble progenitors, and
of whose worthie stock and most noble
lineage yr Maiesties bothe are discended
and linially comen", and to the loss of
this revenue by "ye dissolucion of ye
Priorye of Hurley", the petitioners plaintively adding, "Sithen wiche dissolucion
the pore inh'itants of the towne of
Maydenhedd have not hadd ther divine
service celebrated in the seyd chapell, as
accustomably heretofore they have hadd,
by cause they be not able to finde and
maintain a convenient prest to say
divine service in the seid chapell, to
the greete decay and hindraunce of
Godd's service and to the discoragement of yr faythfull subjects dwelling
in the seid toune."
Finally, coming to
the point, they implore their majesties
"to graunt an ordinarye pencion and
livinge to on honest and secular prest,
to celebrate divine service in the seid
chapell of Maydenhedd, for the ease of ye
pore inh'itants."
This petition is thought
by the Rev.C.G.Gorham (whose full
and learned account of this church will
be found in Vol. VI. of the "Collectanea Typographica et Genealogica") to have
been written in 1557.
The patronage of
the church was in the hands of the prior
of Hurley until the dissolution of the
monasteries, when it seems to have been
assumed by the inhabitants of the town,
until the Charter of Incorporation,
granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1582,
when the corporation assumed the right.
The advowson was sold by the corporation under the compulsory clause of the
Act for municipal reform, and purchased
by Mr.Fuller Maitland in 1838.
Mr.Gorham's opinion as to the etymology of
the name of the town is very clear.
He
derives it from "Maiden Hythe", "the
New Wharf", rejecting as absurd all
connection with the head of "one of
St.Ursula's virgins", or any other holy
person.
The present name first appears
about A.D.1300, previous to which date
the place is called Elington, Elyngton, or
South Elington.
The Sacrament plate
dates chiefly from 1657.
There are a
number of charitable funds in connection
with the church.
On the road to the
river are the almshouses, founded in 1659
by James Smyth, citizen and salter.
The Hambletonian Hall seats 2,000,
and may be hired at a cost of £2 2s.
per
night, including gas, piano, &c.
There
is a large swimming-bath attached.
Although Maidenhead itself has few
charms for the visitor, the country about
it, more particularly the woods of Cliveden and Hedsor, a short distance up the
river on the Bucks side, is charming indeed.
Between Maidenhead and Marlow
is, perhaps, the best known and the most
popular part of the river.
And its popularity is well deserved; for whether for
the angler, the artist, the oarsman, or
the simple tourist; whether for fishing,
picnicking, and it has been even whispered
"spooning", to say nothing of camping-out, there are few places in England to
beat the Cliveden Reach at Maidenhead
or Quarry Woods at Marlow.
The interests of anglers in Maidenhead,
Cookham, and Bray waters are attended
to by the Maidenhead, Cookham, and
Bray Angling Association [which see).
There are many and pleasant walks
and drives about Maidenhead to supplement the river excursions.
Among them
may be mentioned Burnham Beeches (4
miles), one of the grandest collection of
trees in England, and remarkably interesting for the varied growth of ferns
and mosses.
The Corporation of the
City of London has recently saved
Burnham Beeches from the hands of the
brick and mortar spoilers,continuing here
the good work commenced at Epping-Forest.
Hurley and Bisham are each
about 4½ miles from Maidenhead by
road, and Great Marlow is about 6 miles.
In the other direction Windsor is also
about 6 miles distant.
From Winter
Hill, near Cookham Dene, a distance of
about 4 miles, a grand view may be
obtained on a clear day.
Shorter walks
are those to Maidenhead Thicket, Cookham, and Bray.
Banks: London and County, High-street; Stephens, Blandy, and Co., High-street.
Fairs: Whit Wednesday, September 29, November 30.
Fire: Volunteer Brigade, Strength: Captain, deputy-captain, 3 first lieutenants, 3 second lieutenants, 2 engineers,
1 deputy-engineer, 18 pioneers, secretary, foreman of fire-escape, 3 manual-engines.
HOTELS: the "Bear", High-street; the "Ray Mead", near the river, above bridge; "Skindle's", across the Bridge, in
Bucks; the "Thames", Ray Park; the "White Hart", High-street.
Market Day: Wednesday.
Places of Worship: All Saints, Boyn Hill; St.Andrew and St, Mary, High-street; St.Luke's; the Roman
Catholic Church of St.Mary the Immaculate; and Baptist, Congregational,
Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan Chapels.
Police: Borough police-station, Queen-street: county police - station, South-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), High-street.
Mails from London: 7 and 10.30am, 6.30pm; Sunday, 7am,
Mails to London: 10.30am, 12.45, 4.30 and 9.45pm; Sunday, 9.30pm
Nearest Bridges: Maidenhead; up, Cookham 3 miles; down, Windsor 7 miles.
Locks: up, Boulter's ½ mile; down, Bray 1¾ mile.
Railway Station: Maidenhead.
Fares to Paddington: 1st, 4/4d, 7/6d; 2nd, 3/4d, 5/9d; 3rd 2/2d.
Maidenhead Rowing Club: Election by committee of thirteen: three black
balls exclude.
Subscription, £1 1s.
Members subscribing £l 1s and upwards may introduce a friend to the
privileges of the club, free for one week,
and for one month on payment of 5s; such friend not being resident in or within five miles of Maidenhead.
There is a
challenge cup for monthly competition. Colours, dark blue and primrose.
Maidenhead, Cookham, and Bray Thames Angling Association - the
object of this association is the improvement of the fishery from the Shrubbery
to Monkey Island.
The annual subscription is £1 1s.
Water-bailiffs and watchers are appointed at the discretion
of the committee.
A large number of
fish, more especially trout, have been
turned into the river by the association.
The water-bailiffs are required to keep
live baits for the accommodation of
members free of charge (lob worms and
other baits to be paid for).
A reward of
10s is offered to anyone who shall give
sufficient information to any member of
the committee of any illegal fishing, or of
being in unlawful possession of fish during the close season, provided that it be
considered by the committee a fit case for
prosecution, and that if the persons so
prosecuted be convicted by the magistrates, the amount shall be doubled.
A
reward of £1 is offered to anyone capturing an otter in the waters under the
supervision of the association.
Below Maidenhead Bridge is the Great Western Railway-bridge, supposed to be the largest brick bridge in the world, with a singular echo lurking in its enormous span, and on the left is the pretty dwelling, known as Orkney Cottage.
A mile from Maidenhead is the pleasant village of Bray, where there is a convenient hotel on the river bank, and where the church and Jesus Hospital deserve more than passing attention.
Bray, Berkshire, a small village on the
right bank, about a mile from Maidenhead, 62¾ miles from Oxford, 48¾ miles from
London.
Population, 2,717.
The most
prominent object in the village from the
river is the fine old church, close to which
stands the vicarage, with trim gardens,
and smooth shaven lawns running down
to the river.
A profusion of fine trees
adds to the beauty of the view, and the
place is very happily situated at a beautiful
bend of the river.
It is not surprising
that the ancient vicar, so celebrated in
song, should have persistently determined
to live and die vicar of Bray.
For a
secluded and quietly beautiful place of
residence few more agreeable spots can
be found.
Visitors from the river can
land at the "George Inn", and travellers
walking down the bank on the Bucks side
can be ferried over to the same point on
hailing the opposite shore.
It would
seem at first sight that there was not
much for the visitor to see in the village
of Bray, but in fact the church, which is
as handsome within as it is without, will
well repay careful inspection; and Jesus
Hospital is also well worthy a visit, though,
as it lies a few minutes' walk inland, it is
generally overlooked by boating parties.
The church, dedicated to St.Michael,
dates back to the time of the first Edward,
and is a fine example of the early English
perpendicular style, with a fine square
flint tower.
It was entirely restored about
1860, and the ancient monuments and
brasses, in which it is unusually rich, have
been treated with reverent care.
Several
of the new corbels in the nave and chancel
are portraits: two very noticeable ones
on the right and left of the chancel are
those of the Rev.
Austen Leigh, the late
vicar, and the late Samuel Wilberforce,
bishop of Winchester, the latter an excellent likeness.
There are many curious
tablets on the walls, and the floor of the
church is almost entirely paved with
similar memorials.
One of the most curious
monuments is that of William Goddard,
founder of Jesus Hospital, of Philliberts who died 1609, and of Joyce Maunsell
his wife, died 1622.
This consists of two
painted half-length figures under canopied
niches, showing very vividly the costumes
of the period.
William's hands are
crossed upon the skull, which so frequently occurs in the monumental art of
this part of Berkshire, and his epitaph is
worth quoting.
It runs thus:
If what I was thou seekst to knowe,
Theis lynes my character shal showe;
Those benifitts that God me lent
With thanks I tooke and freely spent.
I scorned what plainesse could not gett,
And next to treason hated debt;
I loved not those thet stird up strife;
True to my freinde and to my wife:
The latter here by me I have;
We had one bed and have one grave
My honesty was such that I
When death came feard not to die.
Another odd epitaph inscribed on the
memorial brass of an old vicar of Bray
and his wife, probably of the time of James
I., runs:
When Oxford gave thee two degrees in art,
And love possest thee master of my heart;
Thy colledge fellowshipp thou lefst for mine,
And nought but deathe could seprate me fro thine.
Thirty-five yeares we livd'e in wedlocke bands,
Conjoined in our hearts as well as handes;
But death the bodies of best friendes divides,
And in the earth's close wombe their relyckes hides;
Yet here they are not lost but sowen, that they
May rise more glorious at the Judgment day.
Among the brasses are those of Arthur
Page, died 1610, and his wife Sessely,
died 1598; and that of William Laken, a
judge, dated 1475, on the south wall,
which was found obliterated by plaster
when the church was last restored.
There
is a curious brass with coloured coat-of-arms of William Smithe, 1594; and on
the floor of the south aisle is another,
without date, on which are the figures of
one Will.Smyth, and his wives Agneta
and Matilda.
It would seem from the
similarity of the heraldic devices that,
notwithstanding the difference of spelling,
both these gentlemen belonged to the
same branch of the great family of Smith.
On the south wall is the brass of Clement
Kelke, a cytycen of London, "a marchant
ventuer", 1593.
The crowning glory of
the Bray brasses is the well-known memorial of the Foxley family.
This depicts
Sir John Foxley and his two wives early
in the 14th century.
The figures are
under a triple canopy, a great part of
which has unfortunately disappeared.
The knight is in armour, with his feet on
a lion couchant, and the whole rests on a
column issuing from the back of a fox.
In its pristine perfection this must have
been a singularly fine example, even now
it is a somewhat unique specimen.
Another curious tablet is that to William
Norreys, of "Fifild in Bray" who died
1591.
The brass represents Norreys, his
wife, and numerous progeny, with his
arms and motto, "Faithfully serve"; and
the inscription informs us that he was
"Usher of the Parliament House and of
the most noble Order of the Garter, controller of the works of Windesor Castle and
parks there".
A curious little altar-table
is extant, used in the church in 1646, and
the carved stone font is of about the same
period.
In the vestry is preserved a
tattered, torn, and dog's-eared black
letter copy of Foxe's Book of Martyrs,
which was originally chained for public
perusal to a pillar in the church about the
time of Elizabeth, and was found when
the tower was restored.
Jesus Hospital - almshouses for forty
poor persons - with chapel and house for
resident parson, is a queer red-brick
quadrangle with yews and cypresses
trimmed in ancient style along its road
frontage, and surrounding an old-world
well-kept garden and an ancient pump,
which latter institution is apparently held
in great veneration by the alms-people.
Over the porch is a full-length statue of
the pious founder, on either side of which
are shields with the arms, on the left, of
William Goddard; on the right, of the
Fishmongers' Company, by whom the
charity is administered.
The erection of
the hospital commenced in 1623, and it
was completed in 1628.
The curious
alms-box, which stands in the porch,
dates back to 1635.
Hotel: "The George", by the river.
Place of Worship: St.Michael's.
Postal Arrangements: Money
order office and savings bank.
Nearest telegraph office: Maidenhead.
Mails from London: 6.30 and 11.30am;
Sunday: 6.30am
Mails for London: 9.40 and 11.36am and 7.40pm;
Sunday: 11.40am.
Nearest Bridges: up, Maidenhead 1¼ mile;
down: Windsor 5¾miles.
Locks:Bray; up, Boulter's 1¾ mile;
down: Boveney 3¾ miles.
Ferry: Bray.
Railway Station: Maidenhead.
Fares Maid, to Padd: 1st, 4/4, 7/6; 2nd, 3/4, 5/9; 3rd, 2/2½
Bray - though the distinction has been questioned on behalf of another Bray near
Dublin - is generally believed to have
been the abode of the renowned Vicar,
who changed his religion from the
Roman Catholic to the Protestant,
and from the Protestant back again
to the Catholic, and was prepared to do
so any number of times upon the sole
condition, that, come what might, and
do what he might, he should continue to
be Vicar of Bray; or, in the words of the
well-known chorus:
And this is law I will maintain
Unto my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever king shail reign
I'll still be Vicar of Bray, sir.
Only doubtful tradition has preserved
the name of the time-serving ecclesiastic,
who loved his revenue so much better
than his convictions; but the fine-stirring
old English melody to which the shameless confession is sung, and which has
since been wedded to many other songs
more worthy of its beauty, will preserve
his reputation, though his name has long
since sunk into hopeless oblivion.
Rather more than a quarter of a mile on the left is
Bray Lock, distant from London
48 ¼ miles, from Oxford 63 ¼ miles.
{1883: a wooden lock with so slight a fall that it is generally open when there is much water in the river.}
{1885: For many years this was a rotten and dangerous structure, but was rebuilt in 1884-5.}
Half a mile farther is Monkey Island, and here for a little distance there is a good stream.
Monkey Island is about half a mile
below Bray Lock, and owes its name to a
number of pictures of monkeys, engaged
in various human occupations, with which
the third Duke of Marlborough adorned
a fishing-lodge which he built upon the
island.
The pictures are sometimes attributed to a French artist named Clermont,
but in truth they are not sufficiently remarkable to make the question of their
authorship a matter of any importance.
Mrs.S.C.Hall's "Book of the Thames"
thus describes them:
"Although clever
in design they are of no great merit in
execution.
One of the best of these groups
represents two of the animals awkwardly
carrying home fish, the eels escaping from
the basket.
The most ludicrous scene
occupies the centre of the ceiling, and is
a burlesque on the triumph of Galatea;
even the Cupid attending her is represented as a winged monkey with fluttering
drapery, strewing flowers on the nymph,
who, with her attendant Tritons and sea-nymphs, are also represented as monkeys."
The house is now converted into an inn,
which is considerably used by anglers, oarsmen, and camping parties.
An outbuilding
- a sort of pavilion - which is sometimes
used as a billiard-room, has a carved
ceiling, which it is to be regretted is
being allowed to fall into decay.
The
accommodation is primitive and cheap.
There is excellent fishing all about this
neighbourhood, and an extremely rapid
stream runs past the island at all times.
There is a ferry from the island to the
Bucks bank.
Nearest Post Office, Bray [which see);
Telegraph Office, Taplow Station; Railway Station, Taplow.
Fares from Taplow to Paddington:
1st, 4/1, 7/-; 2nd, 3/1, 5/3; 3rd 2/-
[1992: Summerleaze Footbridge (and gravel conveyor)]
After the next island, on the right, are the following houses: Down Place, Oakley Court, and The Fishery.
[1901: Closed and removed]
Two miles and
a half from Bray Lock, on the right bank,
is Surly Hall, an inn well known to all oarsmen, and especially dear to every
Etonian.
It is on the Berks bank, about
half a mile above Boveney Lock.
The
house has recently been renovated, and
affords reasonably good accommodation.
During the summer season the Eights of
the Eton Boat Club pay periodical visits
to Surly, on which occasions great havoc
is wrought amongst the ducks and green
peas.
In a meadow opposite are laid out
the tables for the feast at the annual celebration of the birthday of George III.,
the 4th of June, the great event, since
the abolition of Montem and Election
Saturday, in the Eton boy's year.
[2000s: Hosted Olympic Rowing in 2012]
About another half-mile brings
us to Boveney Lock, on the left.
The weir stream is wide and strong, and when
there is much water in the river, very
dangerous.
The lock is of wood, with
an average fall of about 3 ft 6 in,
and the distance from London is 45 m 1 f [45 ⅛], and from Oxford 66 m 3 f [66 ⅜]
On the right is Windsor racecourse,
three-quarters of a mile down is Athens,
the bathing place of the senior Eton
boys.
Opposite the point, at Upper
Hope, is a backwater on the left called
Cuckoo Weir, also an Eton bathing-place.
A wide berth must be given to the point
at the bottom of the short reach here,
which is known as Lower Hope, as a
sandbank has formed just under it.
The
creek on the right is Clewer.
A bathing-place of the Eton
boys, rather more than half-a-mile below Boveney Lock, railed off and provided
with ladders, &c.
The high ground is
known as Acropolis, and is used for the
purpose of taking running headers, in which the Eton boys excel.
Clewer, Berkshire, a village standing
on a creek of the Thames, just above
Windsor railway-bridge, and close to
Windsor race-course, which is in the
parish.
Clewer is notable for the number
of important mansions and seats in and
about it, and for the religious institutions
which have grown up around the churches,
principally under the auspices of the Rev.T.T.Carter.
The institutions attached
to St.Andrew's, the parish church, are
independent of the parish.
They are the
House of Mercy, in connection with the
London Church Penitentiary Association
(32, Sackville-street, W.), where about 80
female penitents are maintained under
the care of sisters of mercy, headed by a
warden.
Under the charge of the sisters
are also a Convalescent Hospital with
nearly 100 beds; an Orphanage; and
St.Andrew's Cottage, for ladies needing
rest.
Attached to St.Stephen's Church
is the Ladies' College, &c.
The parish
church is interesting, some parts of it
being very old, and dating back to Saxon
times.
It has a tablet to the memory of
Field Marshal Earl Harcourt.
The
churchyard is made unusually pleasant,
great care being taken of the graves, Her
Majesty the Queen setting an example in
bringing flowers.
Places of Worship: St.Andrew's
and St.Stephen's.
Postal Arrangements: Mails from
London, 7.10am, and 12.30pm
For London, 10.15am, and 5.45pm
[1999: Elizabeth Bridge, A322 built]
Cuckoo Weir: A bathing-place for
the junior boys of Eton College, the
water being of a convenient depth with
but little stream.
It leaves the river at
Upper Hope, a little distance below
Athens, and re-enters it again above the
Great Western Railway-bridge opposite
Clewer.
During the vacation the Royal
Humane Society of Eton and Windsor
keep a waterman here for the safety of
the bathing public.
The Great Western Railway-bridge and the Brocas clump on the left are next passed
Windsor on the right bank, and Eton
on the left.
From London 43 m 3 f [43 ⅜],
from Oxford 68 m 3 f [68 ⅜].
Boats can be
left either at Goodman's or Parkins's,
or at the "Bridge House Hotel".
The
river is here crossed by a stone bridge
of three arches.
The South Western
Railway-station is close to the river,
the Great Western and the "Castle" and
"White Hart" Hotels a few minutes'
walk up Thames-street.
Windsor, Berkshire, on the right bank,
from London 43 miles, from Oxford 68 ½
miles, a terminus on branches of the
Great Western and South Western Railways.
From Paddington 21 miles, trains
taking from 35 minutes to an hour; the
Great Western Railway-station being
about 8 minutes' walk from the bridge.
From Waterloo the distance is 25 miles,
the time occupied in transit about an
hour; the South Western Railway-station
is four minutes' walk from the river.
The
time occupied in transit from the Mansion
House by the best trains is from an hour
and a quarter to an hour and a half.
Flys meet the trains at both stations.
Population, about 12,000.
The counties of Berks and Bucks are here joined
by a handsome stone bridge of three
arches.
Windsor was originally called Windleshore, presumably from the numerous
bends in the river hereabouts, and was
given by King Edward the Confessor to
the monks at Westminster.
It first rose
into importance when William the Conqueror, getting rid of the monks by
persuading them in the gentle Norman
fashion to exchange their land here for
other estates in Essex, built the first
castle.
Being built on the side of a hill
Windsor presents a very picturesque
appearance from the water, and consists
of several good streets, with excellent
shops and numerous pleasant private residences.
The principal business thoroughfares are Thames-street, leading from the
river; High-street, a continuation of
Thames-street; Park-street, leading to
the Long Walk; the Castle-hill, Peascod-street, and Sheet-street.
From Thames-street "The Hundred Steps" lead to the
Castle, the main entrance of which
is in Castle-hill just off the High-street,
and nearly opposite the Great Western
Railway-station.
Since 1276 Windsor has
returned members to Parliament, the
number, formerly two, having been reduced in 1867 to one.
The borough,
which has a constituency of 2054, is now
represented by R. Richardson Gardner,
Esq., a Conservative.
It is under the
government of a mayor, six aldermen,
and eighteen councillors, with a high
steward - at present H.R.H. Prince
Christian - recorder, treasurer, and town-clerk.
There are infantry barracks in
Sheet-street and Victoria-street, and
cavalry barracks at Spital, some half-mile from the town.
The D Company of
the 1st Berkshire Volunteers have their
headquarters in Church-lane.
There is a
theatre in Thames-street, a convenient
building enough, but it is generally understood that Windsor is not what is called
a good theatrical "pitch".
The so-called
Bachelor's Acre is a piece of land belonging to the Corporation, in which the
inhabitants have the right of disporting
themselves, and is the centre of rejoicings
on public festivals.
The Town Hall is in
High-street, and is the work of Sir
Christopher Wren.
It is said that when
the hall was finished the Corporation,
doubting the strength of the floor, insisted
upon its being made additionally secure
by the support of stone pillars.
These
Sir Christopher added to please the
worthy burgesses; but being himself
quite satisfied with his work as it
originally stood, took very good care
that the capitals of the pillars should not
touch the beams, as may be seen at
the present day.
Thus everybody was
satisfied, and as the floor has remained
and supported great weights ever since
with no more than a fair amount of
deflection, Sir Christopher conclusively
proved his case.
Outside the hall on the
north side is an extremely commonplace
statue of that very commonplace queen,
Anne the Good, for which a courtly poet
has provided the following inscription:
Arte tua sculptor non est imitabilis Anna
Annae vis similea sculpere sculpe Deam.
This is pretty strong, but is to be
matched on the south side where the
Statue of George of Denmark, half
dressed in periwig and Roman costume,
and grasping the inevitable truncheon,
is declared to be dedicated
Serenissimo Georgia Principi Daniæ Heroi Omni
Sæculo Venerando.
Windsor being a
royal borough is a capital place for
toadying of this kind, and within the
precincts of the castle stands an equestrian statue of Charles II., on the pedestal
of which Old Rowley is described as
"best of kings", beyond which, in the
way of adulation, it would be difficult to
go.
It was erected at the cost of Tobias
Rustat, Yeoman of the Robes.
The
Town Hall contains some good portraits,
as well as some copies, which are well
worth inspection.
The custodian will
generally be found at any time between
11 and 1, and 3 and 6, somewhere about
the premises.
The pictures, mostly full lengths, comprise George IV. in the
robes of the Garter, by Sir Thomas
Lawrence; George III. and Queen
Charlotte, after Sir Joshua Reynolds;
Queen and Prince George (with more
truncheon and more armour), by Clostermann; Charles I., by "Old Stone";
Queen Mary II. and William III. (this
latter a remarkably good portrait), by J.Riley; and portraits of the late Prince
Consort and of her present Majesty,
presented by herself.
In the Council
Chamber are portraits of Archbishop
Laud, after Vandyck; James II., by Sir
Godfrey Kneller; Prince Rupert, by
D'Agar; William Pitt, by Gainsborough;
James I., by Miravelt.
Two very curious
portraits: one of Queen Elizabeth, after
Lucas de Heere; the other of Charles,
Earl of Nottingham, once Constable of
the Castle, and High Steward of Windsor, by Zucchero, also hang in this room.
Here also is the marble bust, by the
late Joseph Durham, A.R.A., of Charles
Knight, who was well known in connection with Windsor, which was his
native town, and which saw the beginning
of his long and useful literary career.
The bust is an admirable likeness.
The
carved oak mayoral chair taken from the
old parish church, which also is in the
Council Chamber, is curious.
The parish church is in the High street, and is dedicated to St.John
the Baptist.
It is externally a somewhat plain building, with a large embattled square tower with pinnacles at
the angles.
Within it is handsome, though
rather heavy in its general effect, with
open chancel, nave, aisles, and galleries.
The peal of bells is said to date from the
time of Queen Elizabeth.
The chancel
is rather garishly decorated in the Salviati
mosaic style, with five panels representing angels and objects symbolical of the
Crucifixion, such as the crown of thorns,
the soldiers' dice, the nails, hammer, St.
Veronica's handkerchief, &c.
The screen
is surmounted by carved figures of angels,
and the roofs of the chancel and apse
spring from similar statues.
The centre
window of the apse is a memorial to the
late Mrs. Ellison, and represents the
visitation of the sick, &c.
On the south
side of the chancel facing the organ is a
spacious royal pew, with a separate entrance from the churchyard, chiefly remarkable for its fine carved railings, the
work of Grinling Gibbons.
On the wall
of the north-west vestibule are two ancient
black-letter inscriptions, almost illegible,
of which one appears to be to the memory of William Canon and "Elizabeth
his wyfe, and all their chyldrene", and to
be of the time of Henry VIII.
Here also
is the tomb of Chief Justice Reeve, with
the busts of himself and wife, supported
by two marble figures of children, the
one with inverted torch, the other with a
medallion representing justice.
On the
stairs is a large and extremely florid
monument, well stocked with angels,
statues, and cherubim.
In the north aisle
is a quaint monument without date,
but apparently of the 16th century, with
kneeling figures of father, mother, and
children, and bearing the following inscription:
"In Happie memorie of Edward Jobson and Elynor his wyfe, by
whom the sayd Edward had issue VI
sonnes, vidz Edward, Frances, Humfrie,
James, William, Richard, and IIII daughters, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Catharine,
Sara."
In the west gallery is a large
picture representing the Last Supper,
which is apparently of some importance, and may or may not possess
merit; but as it is at present hung it is
impossible to make anything of it except
that it is of prodigious size.
All Saints'
Church is a chapelry of the parish church,
and is situated in the Frances-road.
Holy
Trinity Church, near the Clarence-road,
is the garrison church in Windsor, and
contains a memorial to the Brigade of
Guards, and has, on an illumination running round the entire face of the gallery,
the name of every officer and man of the
three battalions of Foot Guards that fell
in the Crimea, 2,129 names in all.
The
texts which surmount the memorial were
chosen and paid for by the Queen.
There
are also many beautiful monuments to
officers of the Household Brigade, notably
those to Sir Thomas Biddulph, Lord
Rossmore, Sir Algernon Peyton, and
Earl Ranfurley.
There is also a beautiful painted window at the east end,
given by the Grenadier Guards; as well
as windows in the south and west by the
Coldstream Guards; a very handsome
stone pulpit by the Scots Guards; and a
stone font by the non-commissioned
officers and privates of the 2nd Battalion
of the Grenadier Guards.
The reredos
was painted by Mrs. Robins, the wife of
the rector.
The Church of the Saviour,
in Bier-lane, is a chapel of ease attached
to Holy Trinity.
The Chapel Royal, All
Saints, is in Windsor Great Park, near
Cumberland Lodge.
Among the public institutions of Windsor may be mentioned the Literary,
Scientific, and Mechanics' Institution in
Sheet-street, which was established in
1835, and now numbers nearly 200 members.
It has a reading-room and library,
and a lecture-hall, which is used for the
purposes of gymnastic and other classes,
as well as for the delivery of lectures.
The present building was inaugurated by
the Prince of Wales in 1880, and is called
the Albert Institute, in memory of the late
Prince Consort, who took great interest in
the success of the institution.
Intimately
connected too with the Prince Consort
is the Windsor Association for Improving
the Condition of the Working Classes,
Park-street.
It is expressly stated that
this is not an eleemosynary institution,
nor does it purpose to relieve the distressed; its object is to stimulate and
cherish the spirit of industry, and thus to
raise the social condition of the labouring
classes, and it gives rewards for past
and encouragement to future exertions.
The association arose from a desire
expressed by H.R.H. The Prince Consort to bestow some mark of favour
on cottagers in and around Windsor,
who were diligent in keeping their homes
tidy.
The design enlarged as it grew,
and eventually it embraced every kind of
industrial occupation.
Neat cottages;
well-cultivated gardens or allotments;
the bringing up of families honestly; long
service of labourers, artisans, or domestics, especially of young persons in their
first situations, are the objects sought out
and rewarded.
Special notice is taken
whether children have been duly sent to
school; whether payments have been
made to sick clubs, savings banks, or
other provident institutions; or assistance
given to poorer relatives.
The association
also provides encouragement for the cultivation of any honest skill or useful
talent.
For this purpose an exhibition
is held at the meetings for garden produce of every kind, and handicraft, whether
in works of taste or usefulness, executed
by cottagers in their leisure hours, and
prizes are awarded for the best specimens.
Care is taken to secure the selection of
well-deserving persons.
Besides these
objects the committee has at various times
taken up important questions, such as
allotments, model dwelling-houses, &c.
The Naval Knights of Windsor, who
were endowed by Mr. Samuel Travers in
1728, inhabit a house in Datchet-lane.
They are seven in number, and must be,
on appointment, superannuated or disabled lieutenants of the Royal Navy.
Promotion subsequent to appointment
does not now, as was formerly the case,
involve resignation; and, indeed, the
present knights all appear to have attained
the rank of commander.
The Masonic Hall in St.Alban's-street
is the work of Sir Christopher Wren, and
is devoted entirely to masonic purposes.
It is the freehold of the Windsor Castle
Lodge, No. 771.
The Etonian Lodge,
No. 209, and the Windsor Castle Chapter
of the Royal Arch also hold their meetings
here.
The Eton and Windsor Royal Humane
Society was established in 1835.
Its headquarters are at the "King's Arms", Eton,
and it consists of about 40 working members and about 100 honorary members
with subscription of 6s per annum.
The
main drags are kept in constant readiness
at Mr. Norwood's, coach-builder, Eton,
close to the river.
Drags are also kept
at various places up the river as far as
Surly Hall, and down as far as Datchet,
and a waterman is kept for the safety of
the public during college vacation at
Cuckoo Weir bathing-place.
A regatta is held here annually, when
challenge and presentation prizes are
offered for competition: (See Windsor
and Eton Regatta.
) There is also a
racecourse, at which meetings are held
at different periods of the year.
It is a
flat course with a straight 6 furlongs,
and is about a mile from the town, on
Ray's Island, above Clewer.
Windsor offers many attractions to the
excursionist.
Maidenhead and Cookham
with their beautiful scenery are within a
convenient distance by water, and inland
there is an almost endless succession of
interesting and pleasant excursions from
which to choose; Ascot, Sunninghill,
Winkfield, Warfield, Binfield, St.Ann's
Hill, near Chertsey, are all within six or
eight miles from Windsor, and are
reached through a charming country.
Virginia Water, which is about six miles
from Windsor, and is approached through
the forest, should on no account be missed.
This was a favourite retreat of George IV.,
who caused the country on its banks to
be laid out with all the resources of the
landscape gardener's art.
The scenery
is consequently charmingly diversified,
and as much as possible is made of the
lake, which is upwards of a mile and a
half long and of varying width.
There
is a good hotel here, the "Wheatsheaf".
Windsor is favoured with an abundance
of freshwater fish of all kinds, and it is
seldom that an angler returns without
some sport, more often with a heavy bag
than otherwise.
Very fine trout are taken
every season in the weir at the back of
the "New Inn", Eton, a favourite resort
of anglers.
Barbel, perch, roach, and
gudgeon are in abundance.
Banks :London and County, High-street; Nevile Reid and Co., Thames-street.
Fairs: Easter Tuesday, July 5, October 24.
Fire: Volunteer Fire Brigade (Captain, foreman, engineer, sub-foreman, sub-engineer, hon.Treasurer, hon.surgeon,
hon.secretary, and twenty pioneers); Headquarters and steam fire-engine; station, Acre House, Bachelor's Acre;
manual-engine station: Police-station, Sheet-street; fire-escape station, St. Alban's-slreet.
Hotels: "Castle", High-street; "White Hart", High-street.
The comfortable and reasonable "Bridge House Hotel", though on the Eton side of the bridge, is also convenient for visitors to
Windsor.
Market Day: Saturday.
Places of Worship: Chapel Royal,
All Saints, Windsor Great Park; Chapel
Royal, St.George's; All Saints, Frances-road; Holy Trinity Church; St.John
the Baptist (parish church), High-street;
St.Stephen's, Oxford-road; and the
Church of the Saviour, Bier-lane; the
Roman Catholic Church of St.Edward;
and Baptist, Congregational, Primitive
Methodist, and Wesleyan Chapels.
Police: Station, Sheet-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), Park-street, just beyond
the parish church.
Mails from London: 7 and 10.30am, 2.30 and 6.30pm; Sunday, 7am, by letter carrier, over
counter from 7 to 10am,
Mails for London: 10 and 11.10am, 2.00, 4.20, and 10pm; Sunday, 10pm
Nearest Bridges: Windsor; up, Maidenhead 7 miles; down, Victoria 1½ mile.
Locks, up, Boveney 2 miles; down, Romney ¼ mile.
Railway Stations: Windsor (L. & S.W.R., G.W.R., and District).
Fares to Paddington or Waterloo:
!st, 3/9, 5/6; 2nd, 2/10, 4/3; 3rd, 1/11.
To Mansion House, 1st, 4/4, 6/6; 2nd, 3/3, 5/-; 3rd, 2/3, 4/1.
[WINDSOR] REGULATIONS FOR PUBLIC CARRIAGES:
A first-class carriage shall
mean every full-sized carriage drawn by
more than one horse, and constructed to
carry six adult persons; a second-class
carriage shall mean every carriage drawn
by one horse, and constructed to carry
four adult persons.
The following fares
shall be charged by the drivers of all
carriages:
Fares for Time, to commence from the
time of leaving the stand:
For every hour
or any less time, 1st class, 4/-; 2nd, 3/-.
For every additional quarter of an hour
or any less time, 1st, 9d; 2nd, 6d.
Fares for Distance, to commence from
leaving the stand:
For any distance not exceeding one mile, 1st, 2/-; 2nd, 1/-.
For every additional half-mile or any less
distance, 1st, 9d ; 2nd, 6d.
The above fares shall include any charge
for the personal luggage of the hirer not
exceeding fifty-six pounds, and where the
quantity of luggage carried shall exceed
such weight, the person hiring the carriage shall pay twopence for each package
in excess.
Any person hiring a carriage
for conveyance to any distance within
eight miles of the Guildhall of New Windsor shall be charged according to distance,
unless at the time of the hiring he shall
declare that such hiring is to be by time;
and if the passenger is brought back from
the place of his destination to the place
from which he started, or to some place
short thereof, he shall, in addition to the
fare for the outward journey, pay as the
fare for the return journey half the amount
chargeable in respect of the distance so
travelled on the return journey.
If he be
carried back beyond the point of starting,
he shall be charged from such point as
for a new hiring.
Every carriage hired
for a distance may be detained to take up
the fare ten minutes without any extra
charge, but if kept beyond that time, the
person hiring the same shall pay a proportion of the fare as allowed for time for
so long as the same shall be detained.
When any carriage shall be called and
shall proceed to a place to take up the
fare, and shall be sent away without such
fare, the driver shall be entitled to demand and receive one shilling.
Driver is
bound to give a ticket and produce if
required a copy of the bye-laws; is also
bound to have a check-string.
The course is under a mile, down stream, starting from Clewer Point and finishing at Goodman's Raft.
Windsor and Eton Angling Preservation Association has for its
object the improvement and preservation
of the fishery from the City Stone,
Staines, to Monkey Island.
The annual
subscription is £1 1s.
; annual subscribers
are also admitted at 10s 6d.
A reward
of 10s 6d is offered "to any one who
shall give sufficient information to any
member of the committee of any illegal
fishing, or being in unlawful possession
of fish during the close season, provided
that it be considered by the committee a
fit case for prosecution; and if the person
so prosecuted be convicted by the magistrates, the amount shall be doubled."
A
reward of £1 is offered to any one
capturing an otter in the water under
the supervision of the association.
Some
thousands of recently hatched trout were
presented to the association in 1878, and
again in 1880, by the late Mr.F.Buckland, and placed in the Thames near
Cuckoo Weir.
It is satisfactory to be able
to add, on the authority of Mr.Charles
Layton, the hon.secretary, that "poaching is getting a thing of the past in this
neighbourhood".
To see Windsor
"aright" is not quite so simple a matter
as that of "Fair Melrose".
Granted the
moonlight, and the absence of that peculiarly diabolical kind of Scotch mist known
as an "easterly haar", there is no special
difficulty about seeing Melrose Abbey.
There it is, beautiful enough, what there
is left of it; but no very great amount of
time or exertion is required to see all that
is to be seen.
At Windsor it is far otherwise: the things to be seen are so numerous, and are spread over such a vast
area, that Fontainebleau itself shrinks
into insignificance when compared with
it.
Not merely an appreciative eye,
swiftly perceptive withal, and some
artistic taste, are necessary to take away
a clear and distinct impression of the
finest royal residence in Europe, dating
from the most remote antiquity, but well-seasoned thews and sinews trained to
climb innumerable stairs and traverse
spaces of unconscionable magnitude.
Nor can any part of the show be set
aside as mere vanity.
All is well worth
seeing - from Henry II.'s Tower to the
leaden monument of George III.
But
to see everything is quite another matter.
To begin with, it must be explained
that Windsor is shown to the public
during the absences of the royal family.
The "close" times, so to speak, at
Windsor are few and far between; but
the arrangement of the hours given to
sightseers is so peculiar, as almost to
suggest the idea that the Grand Steward
of Windsor, or the Constable of Windsor Castle, on whichever of those amiable
German princes the duty of making such
arrangements may devolve, has been
running a match against the trustees of
Sir John Soane's Museum for a puzzle
prize.
Mark the subtlety of that arrangement by which the public are permitted
to view the Round Tower on any day
from 11 to 3 in winter and from 11 to 4
in summer; while to see the Curfew
Tower application must be made to the
belfry-keeper; and to contemplate the
Royal Mews, the proper official at the
Castle-hill entrance must be interviewed
between the hours of 1 and 3.
Still
these objects of interest are open on any
day.
Now, the Albert Chapel is open
every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
from 12 to 3, without tickets; while St.
George's Chapel may be viewed every
day except Wednesday, between the
hours of 12.30 and 4.
This is not all,
however, for if we go to Windsor we
must see the state apartments.
These
are open to the public, during the
absence of the Queen and the court, on
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Fridays, on production of tickets, to be
had at Mitchell's Library, Old Bond-street, of Mr.James Sheldon, 126, Strand, and of Messrs. Keith, Prowse and Co.,
Cheapside, as well as at Collier's Library
at Windsor.
The private apartments can
only be seen by special order granted
rarely by the Lord Chamberlain.
But
setting that august functionary aside for
a moment, let us see how we stand as
members of the public.
Having ascertained that the Queen and the court are
absent from Windsor, we struggle to
arrange a table of days.
The first fact
we realise is, that we had better not go to
Windsor on a Saturday.
On Wednesday
we could see the Albert Chapel, but would
be shut out of St.George's and the state
apartments; while if we went on Monday
or Tuesday we should be shut out of the
Albert Chapel.
We therefore fall back
upon Thursday or Friday, with the reflection that persons in authority might
just as well have said so at once, and
saved us the mental agony of working
out the puzzle for ourselves.
On Thursday and Friday, then, all that is visible at
any time is visible - royalty always being
absent - save and except the east terrace
or grand parterre opposite the private
apartments of the sovereign, open in her
absence on Saturday and Sunday afternoons only.
But the day, however happy
it may be, will not be a long one, for on
the longest summer day all is closed at 4
o'clock, and nothing is open before 11.
Wherefore there is no need to rise at un-English hours, and the best part of the
summer day is gone before we can begin
to inspect Windsor Castle.
On leaving the railway-station we make
for the Castle-hill entrance, not forgetting
Collier's Library and the slip of yellow
paper which will be required of us on
passing into the state apartments, and we
are moreover armed with the coveted pass
for the private apartments, in which the
privileged to wear the Windsor uniform,
as it is called, and the happy guests invited to visit royalty, are permitted to
penetrate.
All the energy of Windsor
officialism is directed towards the maintenance of the "privacy" coveted by
royalty.
During the royal residence no
soul but the officers, equerries, and others
on duty may venture to cross the grand
quadrangle or the antechamber wherein
the royal pages, as they are called, keep
watch and ward over the corridor on
which the private apartments open.
Beginning to see Windsor Castle systematically it is well to begin with the
lower ward, as it is called, and attack
the Winchester Tower, built by William
of Wykeham, and described by him,
"Hoc fecit Wykeham;" Henry III.'s
Tower; and glance at rather than inspect
the Garter, the Salisbury, and the Curfew
Towers.
Grandly picturesque in their
exterior aspect, these edifices have no
minute beauties to engage the hasty sight-seer, although we cannot help showing
some interest in the military knights, as
they are called - the elderly gentlemen
one sees about Windsor on festive occasions, in uniform with black belts as if
they were all surgeons.
There is, however, no time to spare, and we determine
to begin with St.George's Chapel, famous
as the central rallying spot of the Knights
of the Garter, as the Elizabeth Church
at Marburg was that of the Teutonic
Knights.
It is hardly necessary for the modern
sight-seer to trouble himself any more
with Henry I.'s Chapel than with the
ancient hill-fort, which doubtless preceded the round tower of the Plantagenets.
This much is certain, that Edward
III., called Edward of Windsor, who
was born in the great Norman stronghold, founded a chapel on the ruins of
whatever preceded it, shortly after the
institution of the Order of the Garter, and
dedicated it to St.George, the patron
saint of that order.
The chapel proved
less durable than the order of knighthood,
and became radically unsafe before it was
a hundred years old, and was completely
demolished by Edward IV., during whose
reign the existing chapel was constructed.
It is easy to see that, like most
buildings of its class, St.George's Chapel
was not finished in one reign.
The grand
flight of steps, for instance, by which we
approach the west entrance of the nave,
was only made the other day, and the roof
of the nave and choir were added respectively by Henry of Richmond and his son,
to replace the wooden structure which
topped the edifice of the Sun of York.
Edward's walls, however, remain intact, a
fine example of the "perpendicular"
period.
The more recent ceilings of the
two last Henrys are of course more florid
in style, the ribs of the columns spreading
over the roof in rich tracery adorned with
the blazon of dead and gone Knights of
the Garter, and the "Rose en Soleil",
the well-known cognisance of the Sun of
York.
The great west window at the
end of the nave is a patchwork made up
of odds and ends of ancient stained
glass collected from various parts
of the chapel, and eked out with modern
work.
Despite its defects, this window
throws down a mass of rich hues which
adds vastly to the splendour of the nave.
The Beaufort Chapel has been emptied
of some of its monuments, removed within a few years to Badminton, and it may
be added generally that the minor chapels
are only worth a hurried glance.
A
similar remark will apply to the Kent
monument, erected in memory of the
Queen's father, and to the cenotaph of
the Princess Charlotte, a much-talked-of
but tasteless production.
Far more
time should be given to the choir - devoted, as a matter of course, to the
celebration of divine service, and also to
the ceremony of installing the Knights
of the Garter.
This part of the chapel
is magnificent, and loses nothing of its
splendour by being of a size convenient
for the eye to take in from a favourable
standpoint.
The stalls of the knights
are on either side of the choir, and those
of the sovereign and the princes of the
blood-royal under the organ gallery.
Over each stall, but beneath the banner,
a canopy of beautiful carved work supports
the sword, mantle, and crest of each
knight.
The banner, of course, is emblazoned with his armorial bearings,
repeated with his name, style, and titles
on the brass plate at the back of the
stall.
When death removes a knight
from that sublime order - one wearer of
which said, " I like the Garter, for there is no merit or confounded humbug of
that sort connected with it." - his sword,
banner, and other insignias are taken
down saving only the brass-plate, which
remains as a record of the distinguished
honour he has borne.
A genial antiquary with a taste for
heraldry might find a pleasant task in
writing and illustrating the records of the
most illustrious Order of the Garter, as
exemplified in the stalls of its several
knights and their curious succession ot
noble tenants, among whom may be
found Sigismund, Emperor of Germany
(Mr.Carlyle's Sigismund '"super-grammaticam "); Casimir IV., King of Poland;
the Duke of Buckingham (Richard III.'s Buckingham); Lords Hastings, Lovel,
and Stanley; the unfortunate Earl of Surrey; Charles V.; Francis I.; Sir Robert
Dudley (otherwise Earl of Leicester);
and Lord Burleigh (not Mr.Tennyson's,
but Queen Elizabeth's).
The stall of the
Sovereign glows with purple and gold.
On the pedestals of the knights' stalls the
life of our Saviour is represented in very
rich carved work, and on those of the
royal family the adventures of St.George.
On the north side of the choir, near
the altar, are carved the attempt of
Margaret Nicholson to assassinate George
III.; the procession of that king to St.
Paul's to return thanksgiving for his
recovery in 1789; the scene in the interior
of the cathedral; and a representation of
Queen Charlotte's Charity School.
The stained glass windows on either side of
the choir afford a rich display of colour
and heraldic lore, containing the arms of
the Sovereign and various Knights Companions of the Order of the Garter; the
arms of each knight are encompassed by
the cognizance of the order and surmounted with his crest and coronet.
The large window over the altar is a
recent addition.
Its place was formerly
occupied by Sir Benjamin West's "Resurrection" window; but this work was replaced by the Albert Memorial Window,
designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and
executed by Messrs. Clayton and Bell.
Beneath this richly-tinted window is an
alabaster reredos beautifully sculptured.
In the centre of the choir, near the
eleventh stall on the Sovereign's side, is
the royal vault, in which repose the remains of Henry VIII., his queen Jane Seymour, Charles I., and an infant daughter
of Queen Anne.
On opening the vault for
the interment of the latter the other coffins
were discovered, but no further research
was made till 1813, when the Prince
Regent caused it to be again opened,
in order that a controversy as to the
burying-place of Charles I. should be
finally set at rest.
The accuracy of the
previous investigations was amply vindicated, the head and body of Charles
being found in a plain leaden coffin.
The
skeleton only of Henry VIII. was found.
Perhaps ho exhumation was ever immortalised as was that of 1813, the subject of Lord Byron's epigram entitled
"Windsor Poetics", first called "The
Vault", pronounced by its author too
farouche, an opinion in which the majority
will probably concur.
Another noteworthy tomb in St.George's Chapel is that of Edward IV.
in the north aisle.
Before studying it,
however, the visitor must mark the gallery
or Queen's closet fitted up for the accommodation of Her Majesty when attending
divine service, and also occupied by her
at the marriages of the Prince of Wales
and the Princess Louise (Marchioness of
Lome).
Beneath this are the iron gates
said to have been made by Quentin
Matsys, the painter-blacksmith of Antwerp .
These gates were formerly placed
on the tomb of Edward IV., together
with his armour and surcoat of crimson
velvet embroidered with rubies, pearls,
and gold; but during the civil war the
Parliamentary forces made short work
of the finery, and all that is left of the
tomb now is a black marble slab with
Edward's name in raised brass letters.
On a flat stone at the base is inscribed:
"King Edward IV., and his Queen,
Elizabeth Widvile."
The skeleton of
the king was found to justify the report
of his kingly stature.
The handsomest
man, and incomparably the greatest
warrior of his time, must have been
at least six feet two in his stockings.
Queen Elizabeth Widvile's remains were
discovered when the present royal cemetery was constructed, together with a
coffin containing the remains of Prince
George, her third son.
Farther on lie
George, Duke of Bedford, and Mary,
fifth daughter of Edward IV.
The
windows in the north aisle commemorate
the "Sun of York", his Queen, the Rutland family, and the Hanoverian Sovereigns of the Order of the Garter.
The Albert Chapel, adjoining the east
end of St.George's Chapel, was built
originally by Henry of Richmond as a
royal mausoleum for himself; but upon his
final choice of Westminster Abbey it stood
neglected until Cardinal Wolsey obtained
a grant of it from Henry VIII.
From
that time it was called Wolsey's Tomb
House, and Benedetto, a Florentine
sculptor, was employed in 1524 to erect
a costly monument.
He was paid 4,250
ducats for that part of the design which
he erected, and £380 13s sterling was
paid for gilding about half of it.
It was
destined never to hold the corpse of the
magnificent prelate who planned it.
Charles I. is said to have intended to
make of it a royal tomb-house for himself and his successors, but ship-money
and the Long Parliament and Oliver
Cromwell overturned this - like many
other designs of the king.
During the
occupation of Windsor by the soldiers of
the Parliament the tomb was dismantled,
the images of gilt copper taken away and
sold for;£600.
Nothing was left of the
tomb but a sarcophagus of black marble.
In 1805 this was used for the sepulture of
Nelson in the crypt of St.Paul's
When James II.Turned towards the
Church of Rome he resolved to fit up the
forlorn chapel for the celebration of the
rites of the ancient faith, and Verrio, whose
saints and heroes "sprawl", as Pope has
it, on the ceilings of the castle, went to
work on its decoration; but when Romish
services were held, and the Pope's nuncio
received in St.George's Hall, the people
arose, broke the windows, and otherwise
defaced the building.
For nearly a century Wolsey's Tomb House lay neglected,
until George III. determined to construct
a royal vault beneath it, since when the
members of the royal family have been interred there.
It was not, however, till after
the death of the late Prince Consort that
the present scheme of decoration was commenced.
By the desire of the Queen this
historic building was completely restored
in honour of her husband.
Sir Gilbert
Scott was the architect, Messrs. Clayton
and Bell the designers, Baron Triqueti
the sculptor, and Dr. Salviati the decorator
in mosaic; Miss Susan Durant, a pupil of
Baron Triqueti, being the sculpturess
of the marble busts on each scriptural
tablet.
The roof literally blazes with the
Salviati mosaics, and the light entering
through the stained glass windows is
enriched with gorgeous dyes.
Baron
Triqueti's "Pictures in Marble" cover
the wall under the windows, and Messrs. Poole's marble flooring is also a fine
piece of work.
The general effect of the
Albert Chapel, which is only 68 feet
in length, and is very elegantly proportioned, is of almost overpowering richness.
At the entrance to the chancel is
the cenotaph.
Its base is of black and
gold Tuscan marble, and the sculptured
figure of the late Prince Consort of the
purest Carrara.
The effigy of the Prince
is recumbent, in the armour of a knight
of the 14th century, wearing the Order
of the Garter, and in the act of sheathing
his sword.
The reredos is also a very
finely executed work in the costliest
marbles, and the communion-table is of
one splendid slab.
The actual place in
which the body of the late Prince Consort lies is the mausoleum at Frogmore,
on the left-hand side of the Long Walk
at a short distance from the castle.
This
magnificent tomb, erected at the sole
expense of the Queen, the cost amount-
ing to £200,000, is not one of the sights
of Windsor, being only thrown open on
one day of the year - that of the anniversary service - and then only to a
limited number of the residents of Windsor.
Near the Prince's mausoleum is
that of the Duchess of Kent, the Queen's
mother.
After the Chapel of St.George the
state apartments are the chief objects of
a visitor to Windsor.
These are very
handsome, although the modern educated
eye turns aside at times from the somewhat garish splendour of the style of the
first French empire, which, with that of
Louis XVI., prevails in the majority of
the rooms.
The paintings, however, are
alone worth a visit to Windsor.
In
pictures the Castle is rich, and in china
and costly furniture wonderfully so.
There is, indeed, no finer storehouse of
good and beautiful work than Windsor
Castle, It is a mine from which a dozen
magnificent collections might easily be
quarried, and, unlike Hampton Court,
contains little or no rubbish.
There is
thus none of the boredom in going over
Windsor that one experiences in numerous
show-places, where the corn is in slender
proportion to the chaff.
The order in which the state apartments are usually shown commences with
the Queen's Audience Chamber.
Verrio
has covered the ceiling with a subject
oddly chosen for the time at which it
was painted.
Amid a wild crowd of
heathen gods and goddesses very scantily
clad, Catharine of Braganza, Queen of
Charles II., is discovered, personified as
Britannia, and proceeding in a car drawn
by swans towards the temple of virtue.
The contemplation of this really very
gorgeous work of art raises a suspicion
in the ribald mind that perhaps court
painters, like Signor Verrio, were sometimes sharp satirists.
She is making off,
this poor ill-used queen, apparently from
the English court, where she was quite out
of place, attended, however, by a choice
bevy of the brazen beauties of the period.
She is the wrong Britannia, too.
There
is only one form of the wave-ruler in
which the writer believes, and that is her
image as impressed upon the coinage of
this realm.
The original Britannia was
not the virtuous, ill-used queen, but the
pert baggage known as La belle Stuart,
afterwards married to the Earl of Richmond.
Magnificent Gobelins tapestry decorates the walls of the audience chamber.
The subject is the story of Esther and
Vashti.
The tapestry is beautifully fresh
and vivid in colour.
Three somewhat
remarkable pictures are hung in this
room - two Honthorsts - one of the father
and one of the grandfather of William III.,
and a picture of Mary Queen of Scots, by
Janet.
The old ball-room, now called the Van dyck Room, is of handsome proportion,
but is in no respect profusely decorated,
unless the matchless Van Dycks on the
walls be considered as decorative.
A
lengthy critical or descriptive notice
of those fine works is hardly necessary.
There is the famous picture in which
appear Charles I., his Queen, Henrietta
Maria, and family, Charles II., and James
II.
Several replicas of this picture exist,
some of which are certainly painted by
Vandyck and his pupils.
Another remarkable portrait of Charles is that in which
he is seen from three points of view.
It
was painted for Bernini, the sculptor, and
sent to him at Rome in order that he
might execute the bust which was destroyed by fire at Whitehall in 1697.
Bernini, on receiving the picture, is said
to have been struck with the "fey" look
of the face, and expressed his opinion
openly that his royal client had an evil
future before him.
Charles was so well
pleased with the bust, that he sent the
sculptor a ring worth 6,000 crowns.
The
equestrian portrait of Charles is also in
this room, and is the picture engraved by
Lombart, and which was sold after the
king's death for £200.
After the Restoration Lombart, who after engraving it
had erased the face of Charles and substituted that of Cromwell, put in the face
of Charles II. and demanded 1,500 guineas for the picture, but was compelled to relinquish it for 1,000.
In this
Vandyck Room are many other pictures
by that great master - portraits of Killigrew and Carew; of Queen Henrietta
Maria; of Lady Venetia Digby; of the
second George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who died at Kirkby Moorside
"in the worst inn's worst room"; of the
celebrated Prince de Carignan, the military commander; of that "busy states-woman, the Countess of Carlisle"; of
Mary, Countess of Dorset; and of Sir
Anthony Vandyck himself.
In this room
are some magnificent cabinets, among
which is one by Gouthier of the perfect
ormolu of the best period of Louis XVI.,
a marvel of metal work, undercut and
chiselled with all the delicacy of the
daintiest specimens of the goldsmith's
art - a very perfect and beautiful piece of
furniture, which would probably fetch
j£10,000 at Christie's.
The Queen's State Drawing-room, or
Zuccarelli Room, contains some fine pictures by Zuccarelli and an interesting
portrait of Henry, Duke of Gloucester,
son of Charles I., who died at Cologne
in 1660; as well as portraits of the three
first Georges, and of Frederick, Prince of
Wales -
"Fred, who is dead",
and of whom no more could be said
in the opinion of the epigrammatist.
Posterity, however, is inclined to reverse the verdict of contemporaries in the case of this prince
as in that of "Butcher" Cumberland.
"Fred, who was alive and now is dead",
was a prince of infinitely higher culture
than either his brave little father or his
half-witted son.
"Fred" it was who
collected many of the finest pictures now
at Windsor to prove that he by no means
abhorred "boets and bainters" as his father did.
Lovers of Grinling Gibbons should
mark in the so-called state ante-room the
delightful carvings of this master.
The
apartment, it should be borne in mind,
was in Charles II.'s time "the king's
public dining-room"; the apartment, in
fact, in which the king and royal family
dined - in imitation of the ceremonial
observed at Versailles - before the whole
court.
Its original purpose explains the
edible birds, beasts, and fishes which
"sprawl" all over the ceiling, and the
exquisite carvings by Gibbons of fish,
game, flowers, and fruit.
The Waterloo Chamber has been
greatly laughed at on account of its
resemblance to the cabin of a ship.
It
was constructed in the time of King
William IV., and its peculiar shape is
said to have been suggested eventually
by that nautical monarch, who lay in
state in its midst.
It is nevertheless a fine, lofty room, looking very handsome
when lit up, and occupied by the officers
of the Queen's household, who dine
there on grand occasions.
The walls
are covered with pictures, all of which
are interesting either as works of art or
as the representations of historic personages.
A large number are by Lawrence, others by Sir Martin Arthur Shee,
Sir David Wilkie, Sir W. Beechey, &c.
This Waterloo Gallery forms part of a
splendid series of apartments, including
the Throne Room, St.Georges Hall,
and the Grand Reception Room.
The latter is 90 ft long, nearly as long as the
Waterloo Gallery, and is splendidly furnished in the style of Louis XIV.
At
one end is the great green malachite vase
presented to Queen Victoria by the Czar
Nicholas.
Beautiful tapestry adorns this
sumptuous if rather overpowering apartment, and the chandeliers are as wonderful as those at Versailles.
The St.George's Hall- where the very
great banquets are held- is in the so-called Gothic style, and very long and
narrow.
It may be called disproportionately narrow with perfect justice, for
although 200 ft long it is only 34 ft broad.
In recesses opposite the windows
are portraits of the Sovereigns of England
from James I. to George IV.
Above
wave the banners of the original companionship of the Knights of the Garter.
As a show place St.George's Hall suffers
from its want of proportion, and has a
gloomy look when shorn of its proper
decorations; but nothing can be more
magnificent than this gallery on the rare
occasions when a foreign crowned head
is entertained at a grand banquet.
Comparisons are frequently made between
Fontainebleau and Windsor, but such
parallels are hardly worth while making.
There is, of course, a tragic interest,
fresh and recent, attached to Fontainebleau and happily absent from Windsor,
and there is this much to be said for the
delightful French chateau, that it is a
school of the decorative art of the last
three centuries, and that its Galerie de
Henri Quatre - imitated, but, of course,
longo intervallo, in the library of the
Reform Club - is peerless; but on the
other hand Windsor has the advantage
of size and of every adjunct of splendour.
Interesting and beautiful Fontainebleau
cannot be made magnificent, while Windsor always can at a few days' notice.
St.
George's Hall, when filled with guests in
toilettes and glowing uniforms; when lit
up by the gay sheen of pearls and the glitter of diamonds around a table covered
with that wonderful service of gold plate,
which cannot be stolen because it would
require a special train to carry it away, is
as superb a banqueting hall as any in
Europe.
Then the advantage of the
dark oaken lining of the room is seen.
It is not intended to form a picture in
itself.
It is only the frame for one.
The private apartments are open to
comparatively few persons.
They are
cut off from the public state apartments
by the Grand Corridor and very badly
lighted parts of the castle.
The corridor is of immense length, extending
round two sides of the quadrangle,
and a subterranean system extends all
round it for those of meaner sort, who
may not be permitted to cross the
sacred parallelogram.
The corridor at
Windsor is a marvel.
It is absolutely
full, throughout its five hundred and
twenty feet of length, of such cabinets as
drive collectors frantic, and of such old
Oriental work that the Japanese Ambassadors - fine connoisseurs in such
matters - stood aghast the first time they
were privileged to witness them.
Distributed in these cabinets and cases, all
of rare workmanship, is a museum of
china, Chelsea, Oriental, and Sevres
- the magnificent Sevres collected by the
"old Marquis of Hertford" for his
master, King Florizel.
It would be
ridiculous to say that such Sevres
as can be seen in the Queen's private
apartments at Windsor was ever cheap;
but, considering its enormous cost of
production, it went at low prices at the
time the Windsor collection was formed.
There is some good china at Buckingham
Palace in the rooms through which Her
Majesty's lieges pass before reaching the
royal presence, but nothing there will
give more than a very slight idea of the
ceramic wealth of Windsor Castle.
There
is any quantity of rose pompadour, and
œil de perdrix, vert pomme, and bleu du
roi in the form of the almost priceless
vaisseaux à mat (the cognizance of the
city of Paris) and in every other shape
peculiar to the best period of pâte tendre.
Magnificent pictures hang on the wall
of the corridor - choice specimens of
Canaletto, Romney, Reynolds, and
Gainsborough - and bronzes of faultless
execution appear between the fine
cabinets and superb Oriental vases.
In
the north corridor, fitted up as an
armoury, is the wonderful tiger's head of
solid gold studded with gems, taken from
Tippoo Sahib at the storming of Seringapatam, and said to be worth £30,000.
It is an amusing as well as valuable
trophy, for as the golden tongue of the
animal is seen lolling out of its mouth, it
is almost impossible to resist the temptation to make it wag.
It seems to weigh
at least a pound, and permits itself to be
wagged freely.
From the main artery of the corridor
the various drawing and other rooms
open out.
The three drawing-rooms are
all interesting.
The White Drawing-room is not yellow, like that terrible trial to
the complexion at Buckingham Palace, but
actually white and gold in the later style
of Louis XVI. , with rich carvings heavily
gilt standing out from the white ground.
The doors of this room close without
the slightest noise, and with that perfect
fit which characterises the finest cabinet
work.
Pictures of the royal family, by
Winterhalter and others, and of no particular merit, look down from the walls.
Gouthier's finest cabinets are in this room,
not only beautiful in their own unrivalled
work, but inlaid with superb mosaics and
porcelain plaques.
Everything is good
in the White Drawing-room except the
pictures and the carpet, the latter of
which is absolutely maddening with its
rosebushes and hollyhocks.
The Green Drawing-room, so called
from its walls of green satin, is a beautiful
apartment; but its hangings and furniture
are almost lost sight of in the interest
excited by the celebrated service of
Sevres made for Louis XVI., which
afterwards became the property of
George IV.
No rival exists to this
famous set of Sevres.
The hue of the
bleu du roi is perfect, and the paintings,
mostly of sylvan and marine subjects, are
by the "most eminent hands" ever
employed at the royal manufactory.
There is little of the rich heavy gilding
by which Sevres is sometimes marked.
There is, indeed, a zone of pure white
between the gilt rim and the picture,
which, therefore, is not toned down by
its surroundings, but appears in its
pristine beauty.
With the exception of
a couple of plates this famous service is
complete.
Other grand pieces of Sevres
are distributed about the Green Drawing-room, the ceramic contents of which have
been valued at £200,000.
This room is
the most distant apartment generally
visited by the Queen, except on the
occasion of a state dinner in the Royal
Dining-room, when the Crimson Drawing-room is crossed.
On other occasions
this gorgeous apartment is occupied by
the ladies and gentlemen of the Queen's
household.
In one corner is the grand
pianoforte on which Her Majesty received
her first lessons.
The Royal Dining-room is very plain.
Its only and too conspicuous ornament
is the wine-cooler, designed by Flaxman
for George IV. when Prince Regent.
It
is in the style of Capo di Monte porcelain,
but is silver gilt.
It is several feet long,
and has been derisively termed the
"royal font" and the "King's pap-boat".
The Rubens Room is another interesting room, used on state occasions, and
contains, among other fine specimens of
the great Flemish master, his own portrait;
one of Helena Forman, his second wife;
and the celebrated "St.Martin sharing
his cloak with the Beggar".
The Throne
Room has also its interest as the theatre
of the installations of the Knights of the
Garter.
Everything is of Garter blue,
and the cognizance of the order meets the
eye in every direction.
Perhaps the most
beautiful object in the room is the carved
ivory throne of Indian workmanship
which was exhibited in 1851.
The Queen's private sitting-room looks
over the Long Walk, and is decorated with
a bust of the late Prince Consort by
Theed, and Landseer's picture, "The
Return from Deerstalking".
In the Oak
Room -an octagonal apartment just over
the Sovereign's entrance to the castle -
in which the Queen takes luncheon and
dines, there is the wonderful portrait of
herself by the Baron von Angeli, probably
the most realistic portrait in the world.
Windsor Castle, so closely associated
with the lives and fortunes, the loves, the
sorrows, and the deaths of the sovereigns
of England, was the scene of a romantic
incident, not recorded in English history,
in the career of a King of Scotland, the
first of the Stuart line who bore the name
of James, who was not only an enlightened sovereign, but an amiable and
accomplished man, and a poet of no
mean order.
His history in connection with Windsor
Castle is a romance of true love - and of
a true love, whose course ran smoothly to
its close - a contradiction, possibly rare,
to the authoritative judgment of Shakespeare in a contrary sense.
His old and
sorrow-stricken father, King Robert III.,
grieving for the loss of one son, the Duke
of Rothsay, whose sad fate is so final)
told by Sir Walter Scott in his "Fair
Maid of Perth", and dreading that his
youngest darling, and only surviving son,
James, then eleven years old, might share
a similar fate, thought it advisable to
send him out of Scotland.
A governor
being provided, the young prince was
sent to finish his education in France;
but the vessel in which the heir of
Scotland was embarked had sailed
no farther than Flamborough Head
when it was attacked by an English
cruiser, and all on board were taken
prisoners.
Some say that the capture
was made when the young prince and
suite landed to refresh themselves at
Flamborough, where they had been driven
by stress of weather.
However this may
be, Henry IV. of England, although a
truce subsisted at the time between
England and Scotland, resolved to detain
the royal child as a hostage for the future
good behaviour of his troublesome neighbour.
So overjoyed was that grim warrior
at his good fortune, that he relaxed so
far as to give utterance to a pleasantry.
"His father was sending him to learn
French", quoth he; "by my troth he
might as well have sent him to me! I am
an excellent French scholar myself, and
will see to his instruction."
And he kept his word.
The young prince was provided
with the best masters and made rapid
progress in every polite accomplishment;
but his loss broke his father's heart.
It
needed not that last calamity to embitter
the days of King Robert: he never held
up his head again, but pined away and
died about a year afterwards.
But the
captive himself, with the exception of the
loss of liberty, had nothing to complain
of.
Every luxury was his, and every indulgence.
He became well versed in all
the literature of his age, and grew up an
excellent musician, a sweet poet, and
expert in all the manly accomplishments
that befitted a prince.
He studied
Chaucer, then recently deceased, and
made him his model, and produced
poems little inferior to those of his master.
In the "Quair", or "book", written
shortly before his return to Scotland,
he informs the world in elegant rhymes
how he passed his time in captivity, and
how he fell in love with the beautiful
Lady Jane Beaufort as she was walking
with her maid in the gardens of Windsor
Castle.
The royal poet, after pathetically
lamenting that he was doomed to be a
captive while the birds were free, continues:
And therewith cast I down my eyes again
Whereas I saw, walking under the tower
Full secretly, new coning her to pleyne
The fairest and the freshest younge flower
That ever I saw, methought, before that hour,
At which sudden abate, anon astart,
The blood of all my body to my heart !
...
My wittis all
Were so o'ercome with pleasure and delight;
And then eft soon I leaned it out again,
And saw her walk, that very womanlie
With no wight more, but only women twaine,
Then 'gan I study in myself and sayn,
"Ah, sweet! are ye a worldly creature,
Or heavenly thing in likeness of our nature?"
He then describes, in elegant, though partly obsolete, language, her golden hair and rich attire, adorned with fretwork of "perlis white" with many a diamond, emerald, and sapphire:
And on her head a chaplet fresh of hue,
With plumes partly red and white and blue;
And above all, ...
... as well he wot
Beauty enough to make a world to doat !
This fair creature was the daughter
of John, Earl of Somerset, and grand daughter of John of Gaunt; and
although we have no record of their
courtship, there is every reason to believe
that she looked with a favourable eye
upon the handsome and accomplished
prince, then doubly a captive.
In the
year 1428 negotiations were commenced
by Murdoch, Regent of Scotland, for the
liberation of the king, and Henry V.
agreed with but little difficulty.
The
sum of £40,000 was stipulated to be
paid by Scotland, not as a ransom - it
was a disagreeable word- but as compensation for the maintenance and education of the prince; and it was further
agreed that he should marry some lady
of the royal blood of England, as a bond
of peace and goodwill between the two
countries.
The heart of James must
have leaped for joy within him at the
latter proposal.
He accepted it with
eagerness, and named the Lady Jane
Beaufort as the object of his choice.
The
lady on her part was quite as willing,
and their nuptials were celebrated with
great pomp, first at Windsor, and afterwards at London, the bride receiving for
her portion a sum of £10,000.
She was
a most faithful and attached wife, and
during the many cares, anxieties, and
troubles that beset the path of her
royal partner on his return into his
own disturbed dominions, was always
the affectionate friend, the kind adviser,
and chief comfort of her lord.
The
king was himself murdered by a conspiracy of noblemen - noble by title, but
not by nature, Overwhelmed by superior
numbers he took refuge with his wife in
an inner apartment of the palace, and
when the assailants, thirsting for his
blood, battered at the closed door, she
placed her arm in the place of the bolt
which had snapped under their heavy
blows, and with that beautiful weak limb
managed to keep them at bay for a few
moments.
Her heroism was in vain:
the tender and loving arm was shattered,
and her husband and lover was slaughtered
at her feet.
Windsor Park has one great poetical association, that of Heme the Hunter, in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"; and the old tree, still standing and cared for in its decrepitude, and which is known by the name of Heme's Oak, is the supposed scene of one of the tricks played off on Sir John Falstaff in Shakespeare's immortal comedy.
Windsor Park and Virginia Water are
almost beyond the limit of an average visit
to the royal borough, and equally beyond
that of the physical power of most one
day excursionists.
It is, however, possible
to see all in a long summer's day by driving
to Virginia Water, after seeing the Castle
and the Long Walk.
Anyone who can
remain over night at Virginia Water
should do so.
The lake, albeit artificial
- the work of "Butcher" Cumberland -
is singularly beautiful, and will amply
repay exploration.
At sunset myriads of
rabbits come down to feed on the sweet
grass near the water's edge, and a whistle
will cause a stampede affording one of
the prettiest sights in the world - a welcome change to the eye weary of bright
colours and cunning workmanship.
Eton, Bucks, on the left bank, from
Oxford 68½ miles, from London 43 miles.
Population, 3,500.
But for its connection
with the greatest public school in England,
Eton is a place of but little importance.
In 1800, Mark Antony Porney bequeathed
funds for the education of 45 boys and 45
girls.
Porney's Institution is now combined with the National School for the
children of the parish of Eton and Eton
Wick.
There is also a charity called the
Eton Poor Estate, for apprenticing seven
or eight boys from the Free School in
each year.
Eton College should by all
means be seen.
The oldest portion of
the buildings dates from 1523, and com-
prises two quadrangles and the cloisters.
What is known as Upper School is on
the west, on an arcade by Sir Christopher
Wren; on the south is the chapel, a
beautiful building in the perpendicular
style, greatly resembling that at King's
College, Cambridge, to which Eton
College was affiliated by its founder,
King Henry VI.
The chapel and ante-chapel contain the tombs of many celebrated personages; a marble statue of
the founder, by Bacon; and monuments
to Provosts Goodall and Sir Thomas
Murray.
The glass in the east window
is by Willement.
There are two memorial windows to Etonians who perished
in the Crimea.
There are also a few
brasses dating from 1489.
The College
Library contains over 20,000 volumes,
and is strong in ancient MSS.
North of
the college are the extensive playing-
fields divided by Poet's Walk, and bordered by the Thames.
To describe the
manners and customs of Eton boys pro-
perly would occupy much more space
than could here be afforded.
Any one
desirous of knowing all about Eton
College should turn to the pages of Mr.Maxwell Lyte's admirable history published by Messrs.Macmillan.
A bright little book, called "A Day of My Life at
Eton", will also be found amusing and
instructive.
The following statement of fees, &c,
is given on the authority of "Cassell's
Educational Year Book", but with reference to collegers, it may be observed that,
in answer to a question, one of the officials
of the college writes: "The cost to the
parent of a colleger would be for school
expenses under £30.
The other expenses
are optional, and consist of tradesmen's
accounts for clothing, washing, &c.
At
an average, these expenses amount to
about £30, making about £60 in all."
As modified by recent statutes, the College Foundation will consist of provost,
head master, lower master, not under
seventy scholars and two chaplains.
The
endowment is said to be over £20,000
a year.
Foundationers or "Collegers":
about twelve vacancies a year.
Election
on last Monday in July.
Candidates
must be between twelve and fifteen.
For
permission to compete apply to the clerk
to the Governing Body.
Competitive
examination of candidates.
A Foundation
Scholarship is tenable till election next
following scholar's nineteenth birthday.
Foundation scholars are educated and
lodged in college during term at the
expense of the college; other expenses are
purely personal.
Oppidans ("Town
Boys"): admission, ten to fourteen.
Entrance examination determining boys'
places in school.
By fifteen, an Oppidan
must have reached the fourth form, and
by sixteen and a half the fifth form, except for reasons satisfactory to the head
master, and an Oppidan may remain in
school after nineteen, except for similar
special reasons.
Board and Fees: Oppidans may live with parents or guardians;
or they may, with special permission of
the Governing Body, obtained on written
application to the head master, lodge with
other persons.
Otherwise, they are lodged
and boarded in masters' houses, where
each boy is provided with a separate
room; two brothers may, on request of
parents or guardians, share the same
room.
Entrance fee (on admission to
the school) £10 10s.
Annual payment
to the School Fund, £24.
Board and
lodging in most houses, 100 guineas; in
a few £90 or 90 guineas.
Use of furniture, £2, a term.
Private classical tuition,
20 guineas a year.
These charges include
books, stationery, and the usual subscriptions.
Boys learning German or
Italian before reaching mid-division of
the fifth form pay £3 10s a term extra.
Other expenses are purely personal.
Scholarships and Exhibition:
I. Tenable at School.
As soon as funds permit, exhibitions worth £50 a year will be offered
to the competition of boys between fourteen and sixteen.
Tenable till election to foundation or till nineteen.
II. Tenable after leaving: "Newcastle" Scholarship,
£50 for three years, tenable at either University.
Two "Chamberlayne" Exhibitions, £50 for four years.
"Reynolds" Exhibitions, £48 for four years at Exeter College, Oxford.
"Berriman" Exhibition, and several others, with two postmasterships at Merton College, Oxford,
tenable for four years.
Vacant scholarships and exhibitions are decided annually
in July, by an examination of the hundred
highest boys in the school.
Three or
four scholarships at King's College, Cambridge, are open yearly to competition of
Foundationers and Oppidans alike.
Hotels: "Bridge House", "Christopher", and "Crown and Cushion".
Place of Worship: St.John the Evangelist.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph).
Week-day mails from London, 7 and 10.30am, 2.30 and 6pm
Mails for London, 8.35 and 10.50am, 1.35, 3.50, 9.25pm; Sunday, 9.30pm
Nearest [Station]: (See Windsor).
Fares: (See Windsor).
Eton College Boat Club consists of
92 members.
The Monarch, ten oar,
Victory, and Prince of Wales, compose
the Upper boats; Britannia, Dreadnought, Thetis, Hibernia, St.George,
Alexandra, and Defiance the Lower
boats.
The Eton eight is chosen from
the best oars amongst these boats, and
enters at Henley for the Ladies' Plate,
and sometimes for the Grand Challenge
Cup.
Eton has won the Ladies' Plate
eight times.
The boating season commences with the 1st of March, and ends
with the end of the summer half.
Mr.C.Barclay is Captain of the Eton
College Boat Club for 1885.
Boat-houses
just above Windsor Bridge.
Colours of
the eight, light blue, white cap.
Eton Excelsior Boat Club.
Election is in general meeting; three black
balls in five exclude.
Entrance fee, 5s;
subscription, £1 10s, in three monthly
instalments; hon. members, 10s 6d.
Boat-house: Goodman's.
Colours, dark blue and amber.
After passing
through Windsor Bridge the right bank,
on which is the tow-path, should be kept.
The rapid and dangerous stream to the
left runs to the weir, and the neighbourhood of the Cobbler, as the long projection from the island is called, is
undesirable when there is much water in the river.
Romney Island, a narrow island
rather more than half a mile long, just
below Windsor Bridge, and extending to
the playing fields of Eton College.
At
its upper extremity is The Cobbler, a
long point projecting into the stream.
The cut to Romney Lock is on the
right; the weir, where there is a bathing
place of the Eton masters, is on the
left.
Not half a mile below Windsor Bridge is Romney Lock, a good stone lock
with an average fall of 5 ft 9 in, from
London 42 ¾ miles, from Oxford 68 ¾
miles.
After passing through the lock
beautiful views of Eton College, the
playing-fields, and Poet's Walk are
obtained on the left, and on the right
is Windsor Castle and the Home Park.
A quarter of a mile from the lock the
river is crossed by the railway bridge.
The house on the left immediately below
is Black Potts, the residence of the Rev.Dr.Hornby, Provost of Eton.
Farther down is the Victoria Bridge, one of two which cross the river at each extremity of the park,
and about a mile and a half
from Romney Lock is Datchet, on the left bank.
Here will
be found fair accommodation for man
and boat.
Buckinghamshire, on the
left bank, from London 41¼ miles, from
Oxford 70¼ miles; a station on the
Windsor branch of the South Western
Railway, 24 miles from Waterloo; trains
take about an hour.
Population, 1,100.
Soil, chiefly gravel.
A pleasantly and
prettily situated village, with good houses,
and agreeable neighbourhood, though
sometimes uncomfortably liable to floods.
It is sometimes called Datchet St.Helen's,
from the fact of there having been here
at one time a branch establishment of
the nunnery of St.Helen's, Bishopsgate.
The buildings themselves have entirely
disappeared, but the garden walls are
still standing.
Datchet Mead is a well-known place
for anglers, and is known to all the
world in connexion with certain disagreeable experiences of the immortal
Sir John Falstaff.
the parish church is dedicated to St.Mary the Virgin.
It was originally-
built about 1350, but nothing of the old
structure remains except the east wall
window of the chancel.
The present fine
building consists of nave, aisles, transept,
chancel, and organ chamber, and was
erected in 1860.
Nearly all the windows
are filled with stained glass.
Among the
charities of the village is Barker's Bridge
House Trust, which, under a scheme
sanctioned by the Charity Commissioners,
provides for the lighting of the village,
the maintenance of the foot-paths, landing-places, and similar works.
Ditton
Park, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch,
is about half a mile from the church.
This is perhaps as good a reach as
any on the river for roach-fishing.
Anglers
are not permitted on the tow-path of the
Home Park.
Off the "Bells of Ouseley"
is a fine shallow for the fly, and is upon
a warm day literally alive with handsome
chub and dace.
Trolling and spinning
may be practised with success for jack
and perch right away down to Bell Weir
Lock, in the weir of which very handsome
trout are taken every season.
Inns: "Manor House" and "Royal Stag".
Places of Worship: St.Mary the
Virgin, and Baptist Chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph).
Mails from London, 7.20am, 12.15pm
Mails for London, 10am, 3.50 and 7.05pm Sunday, 10am
Nearest Bridges, up, Victoria ¼ mile;
down, Albert ½ mile.
Locks, up, Romney 1¼ mile;
down, Old Windsor 1¾ mile.
Fares to Waterloo, 1st, 3/9, 5/6; 2nd,
2/9, 4/-; 3rd, 1/11.
Albert Bridge, Windsor Home Park.
An iron bridge of elegant design.
Connects Berkshire and Buckinghamshire,
crossing the river to the south of the park,
about half a mile below Datchet.
After the second of the royal bridges (the Albert) is passed, the right bank must be kept, and a long narrow cut, crossed halfway by a wooden bridge, leads to [Old Windsor lock]
Old Windsor Lock, of stone and
wood, with rather inconvenient sills.
It
has an average fall of 4 ft.
The distance from London is 39 ¾ miles, from
Oxford 71 ¾ miles.
Shortly after passing
the lock is a ferry, but the tow-path still
continues on the right bank.
Three-quarters of a mile from the lock, in pretty
scenery, is the well-known "Bells of
Ouseley" tavern, where the stock ale
deserves attention.
Half a mile farther
down Magna Charta Island, with its
cottage, is on the left, the wooded heights
of Cooper's Hill with the Indian Engineering College on the right.
Below is
Ankerwycke House, and the summer-house known as the Picnic (see Picnic).
After Ankerwycke the scenery becomes
flat and tame, and even ugly, if such a
word can be used in connection with the
Thames anywhere.
Runnymead is on
the right bank, which should be followed
to
Three-quarters of a mile from the lock, in pretty scenery, is the well-known "Bells of Ouseley" tavern, where the stock ale deserves attention.
"Bells of Ouseley": A tavern on
the Berks bank, at Old Windsor; about
a mile below the [Old Windsor] lock, and close to Beaumont Catholic College.
Good accommodation can be had, and the house is
noted for its ale.
The scenery here is
very pretty.
The nearest railway station
across the river is Wraysbury, Bucks;
and by road, Datchet; both on the
South-Western line, about an hour from
town.
Fares from Wraysbury to Waterloo: 1st, 3/6, 5/6; 2nd, 2/6, 3/9; 3rd,
1/9, 3/3
Fares from Datchet: 1st, 3/9,
5/6; 2nd, 2/9, 4/-; 3rd, 1/9.
Cooper's Hill, near Egham, has been celebrated in verse by Sir John Denham, in a poem which received the praise of Alexander Pope.
The sequestered scenes,
The bow'ry mazes and surrounding greens
On Thames's banks, while fragrant breezes fill,
And where the Muses sport on Cooper's Hill.
On Cooper's Hill eternal wreaths shall grow,
While lasts the mountain or while Thames shall flow !
Here his first lays majestic Denham sung.
Sir John Denham, the author of this
once well-known poem, resided in the
parish of Egham, and was made sheriff
of Surrey in 1642.
He was afterwards
governor of Farnham Castle for the
Royalists in the time of the Civil Wars.
A devoted adherent of the House of
Stuart, he retired with the Royal Family
into France after the execution of Charles
I., and at the Restoration, more fortunate
than many who ruined themselves for the
king, he obtained honours, with profits attached to them
as a reward for his fidelity.
Denham's poem was written at Oxford
in 1643, whither he had retired after he
resigned the governorship of Farnham
Castle.
Its success was so great, that
the cynics of the time spread abroad a
report that the author had not written it
himself, but had bought it of some nameless curate for £40.
He outlived the
calumny by many years, disproving it,
moreover, by his other writings.
Until Pope took up the pen, no poem
produced in England excited so much
immediate popularity as "Cooper's
Hill".
But fame in literature was easily
obtained in those days, when authors
were few.
Even the critics who maligned
the man for political reasons lauded the
work as one of the happiest efforts of the
natural, even while affecting to believe
that its nominal was not its real author.
Denham's description of the Thames is
still popular:
My eye, descending from this hill, surveys,
Where Thames among the wanton valleys strays,
Thames, the most lov'd of all the ocean's sons
By his old sire to his embraces runs,
Hasting to pay his tribute to the sea
Like mortal life to meet eternity.
Though with those streams he no resemblance hold,
Whose form is amber and their gravel gold,
His genuine and less guilty wealth t'explore,
Search not his bottom but survey his shore,
O'er which he kindly spreads his spacious wing,
And hatches plenty for th'ensuing spring;
Nor then destroys it with too fond a stay
Like mothers who their infants overlay:
Nor with a sudden and impetuous wave,
Like profuse kings, resumes the wealth he gave.
No unexpected inundations spoil
The mower's hopes, nor mock the ploughman's toil;
But godlike his unwearied bounty flows;
First loves to do, then loves the good he does.
Nor are his blessings to his banks confined,
But free and common as the sea or wind;
When he, to boast or to dispense his stores
Full of the tributes of his grateful shores,
Visits the world, and in his flying towers
Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours;
Finds wealth where 'tis, and bestows it where it wants,
Cities in deserts, woods in cities plants;
So that to us no thing, no place is strange,
While his fair bosom is the world's exchange.
Cooper's Hill Boat Club (Royal
Indian Engineering College).
This boating club numbers between fifty and sixty
members.
In 1881 the club sent an eight
to Henley to compete for the Ladies'
Plate, an eight and a four to Kingston,
and a four to Reading.
In 1882 it was
unrepresented at Henley and Kingston,
but had a four at Reading.
The colours
are dark blue and yellow.
The boathouse, three-quarters of a mile from the
college, is on the left bank, opposite the
upper end of Magna Charta Island, about
600 yards below the "Bells of Ouseley."
Cooper's Hill College -the Royal Indian Engineering College - has been established under the orders of the Secretary
of State for India in Council, in view to
the education of Civil Engineers for the
service of Government in the Indian
Public Works Department; but it is open,
to the extent of the accommodation available, to all persons desirous of following
the course of study pursued there.
All
particulars as to admission, course of
study, appointments, etc., may be obtained of the Secretary at the College.
Half a mile farther
down Magna Charta Island, with its
cottage, is on the left, the wooded heights
of Cooper's Hill with the Indian Engineering College on the right.
Below is
Ankerwycke House, and the summer-house known as the Picnic (see Picnic).
After Ankerwycke the scenery becomes
flat and tame, and even ugly, if such a
word can be used in connection with the
Thames anywhere.
Magna Charta Island, a mile and a
half from Old Windsor Lock, near the
Middlesex bank, one of the most charming islands on the river, and of historical
interest as the scene of the little arrangement between King John and his barons,
which, as "every schoolboy knows", was
the foundation of the freedom of England.
In a cottage which stands on the island
is a stone on which it is said that
Magna Charta was signed.
The usual
uncertainty and vagueness which characterise all history step in even at what
ought to be so very simple a matter as
this.
Tradition undoubtedly assigns the
honour of being the scene of signature to
the island, but in the charter itself it is
said to be given at Runningmede, so that
it would seem to be doubtful whether the
finishing stroke was given to the palladium
of English liberties on this island itself,
or on Runnymede on the Surrey bank.
Mr. and Mrs.S.C.Hall, who give an excellent account of Magna Charta in their
delightful "Book of the Thames", express
a regret "that no monument marks the
spot at Runnymede where the rights and
liberties of the people of England were
maintained and secured, although several
attempts have been made to raise one
here".
The same page gives us the inscription on the stone on which the parchment is said to have been signed:
"Be it remembered that on this island, in June,
1215, King John of England signed the
Magna Charta, and in the year 1834 this
building was erected in commemoration
of that great event by George Simon Harcourt, Esq., lord of the manor, and then
high sheriff of the county."
Runnymead is on the right bank,
Bell Weir Lock, a good stone
lock, with a fall of about 5 ft; from
London 36 m 7 f [36 ⅞], from Oxford 74 m 5 f [74 ⅝].
Here is the "Anglers' Rest Inn".
A footpath close to the inn leads to
Egham.
Egham, Surrey - though not actually
on the bank, the parish of Egham impinges on the Thames, and is connected
with Middlesex by Staines Bridge; but
from the river the nearest approach is
from Bell Weir Lock, which is distant
from the post-office and church about
10 minutes' walk across the fields, the
pathway leaving the towing-path a few
yards below the "Anglers' Rest Hotel".
From the post-office to the railway-station
is about seven minutes' walk.
Flys meet
the trains.
It is a station on the South
Western Railway, 21 miles from Waterloo.
the average time of the railway journey
is about an hour.
Egham is a small
town in a pretty country, with many
large houses and parks surrounding it,
but offers in itself little special attraction.
It consists of a long street containing a
few decent shops.
North of the town is
Runnymede, and a race-meeting is held
on it annually; the course being an oval
flat, not quite two miles, with a straight
mile.
Egham Races have considerably
declined in interest and popularity of
late years.
At the back of the town is Cooper's
Hill, so well known in connection with Sir
John Denham's poem, which has been,
perhaps, as frequently quoted as any
copy of verses in the language, and has
obtained a certain popularity far beyond
its deserts.
It would seem that Somerville was poking his fun when he described
Denham as "a tuneful bard", and his
song as being "sublimely sweet".
Pope goes even farther, and speaking of
Cooper's Hill, which, by-the-bye with
rather a stretch of poetic license, he calls
a mountain, says:
Here his first lays majestic Denham sung.
Whatever the merits of Sir John Denham's
poem may be, however, there can be no
doubt of the beauty of the view from
Cooper's Hill, and the ascent of Pope's
"mountain" may be recommended to
all visitors to Egham.
At the present
time Cooper's Hill has become known as
the seat of the Royal Indian Engineering
College (see Cooper's Hill).
Among
the numerous pleasant excursions in the
neighbourhood is that to Virginia Water,
which is in this parish.
The church is a very plain brick building, with a rather mean little belfry, and
within is also very plain, with a small
chancel, nave, with pews and galleries.
Over the altar is a painting respecting
Elijah raising the widow's son, a good
work of R.Westall, R.A.
On the right
of the altar is a marble mural monument
in memory of G.Gostling, who died
1820, by Flaxman, R.A.
In this a classically draped mourning female figure leans
against the pedestal, surmounted by an
urn, and bearing a medallion bust of the
deceased.
On the other side of the
chancel this is balanced by a corresponding monument to Lydia Gostling,
with the difference that the female figure
is represented with an anchor presumably
intended for that of Hope.
Above the
monument to G.Gostling is a tablet,
with three figures in alto relievo, to other
members of the Gostling family, from
the chisel of E.H.Baily, R.A.
High on
the east wall, under the south gallery, is
a brass with four kneeling figures, and
the inscription:
"Anthonye Bond, gent. once cittezen and writer of the Court
Letter of London, 1576:
Christ is to me as lyef on earthe and death to me is gayne
Because I wish through him alone salvacione to obtayne
So bryttle is the state of man so soone it dothe decaye
So all the glory of this world must pas and fade away.
Close by is a tablet to the memory of
the Rev.T.Beighton, 45 years vicar of
Egham, who died 1771, with an epitaph
signed D.Garrick:
Near half an age, with every good man's praise,
Among his flock the shepherd pass'd his days;
the friend, the comfort, of the sick and poor,
Want never knock'd unheeded at his door.
Oft when his duty call'd, disease and pain
Strove to confine him, but they strove in vain:
All mourn his death, his virtues long they try'd,
they knew not how they lov'd him till he dy'd;
Peculiar blessings did his life attend,
He had no foe, and Camden was his friend.
The great little David's "Camden was his friend" has a considerable family
resemblance to the oft-quoted epitaph
which records how the deceased "was first cousin to Lady O'Looney and of
such is the kingdom of Heaven".
Dr.Johnson pronounced this to be the best
epitaph in the English language, but
then even Dr.Johnson was not always
right.
On the east wall, under the north
gallery, is a curious painted marble bust
of Thomas Foster, a justice of the Common Bench in the times of James I. and
Charles I. and II., afterwards of the
Queen's Bench.
The learned judge wears
a red tippet and a chain, and on his
flowing locks is a flat cap, presumably
the black cap.
He died in 1663, aged 74.
Hard by is a tablet to Richard Kellefet,
1595 "a most faithfull servant to hir
majestie, chief groome in hir removing
Garderobe of beddes and yeoman also of
her standing Garderobe of Richmount".
On the wall of the stairs to the north
gallery is a very good and interesting
monument to the two wives of Sir John
Denham, father of the poet: Cicile (for-
merly wife of Richard Kellefet), and
Ellenor, who died in childbed of a
daughter who was buried with her.
The
monument is of stone and marble, with
two three-quarter length female figures
in the centre.
One of these, Cicile, no
doubt, still wears widow's mourning;
while Lady Ellenor, who was married to
Sir John Denham when he was Chief
Justice in Ireland, is represented with a
child in her arms.
Below is an odd little
painted figure of a boy, possibly intended
for the poet himself.
In the churchyard
is an elevated granite grave, where a
Mrs.Pocock lies above ground, it is
said to ensure to her survivors some
property which was to be held by them
"so long as she should be above ground".
On the left of the road to Stroude is a
stone marking the old Roman road.
Strode's Charity, Egham, is an institution consisting of almshouses and school,
founded by Henry Strode, Esq., in the
year 1747, and liberally endowed by him
with landed property, of which he made
the Coopers' Company of London trustees.
The institution includes almshouses,
school, chapel, master's house, with
spacious lawn and gardens, and, opening
to the High-street, is one of the principal
ornaments of the thriving town of Egham.
The benefits of Strode's Charity are con-
fined to the parish.
Bank: Ashby & Co.
Dispensary: High-street.
Fair: May 29.
Hospital: Cottage Hospital, Egham-hill (eight beds).
Inns: "Angler's Rest", Bell Weir Lock;
"Catherine Wheel", High-street.
Places of Worship: St.John the
Baptist and St.Jude's Chapel of Ease;
and Congregational & Wesleyan Chapels.
Police: Station, Egham-hill.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), High-street, opposite
church.
Mails from London, 7 and 10.05am and 4.55pm; Sunday, 7am
Mails for London, 8.40 and 11am, 3.10 and 7.15pm; Sunday, 7.15pm
Nearest Bridges (from Bell Weir Lock), up, Albert 3½ miles; down, Staines
about 1 mile.
Locks: up, Old Windsor 3 miles: down, Penton Hook 2¾ miles.
Railway Station, Egham.
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 3/8, 5\6; 2nd, 2/6, 4/-; 3rd, 1/9, 3/3.
Half a mile below Bell Weir
Lock on the left bank is London Stone,
which formerly marked the limit of the
jurisdiction of the Conservancy.
The
passage to the left is the nearest way to
Staines Church, Tims's boat-house, and
the ladies' bath.
The Colne enters the
Thames on the left between Bell Weir
Lock and Staines.
Two or three hundred
yards farther is Staines Bridge and the
town of Staines, nearly a mile from Bell Weir
Lock.
On the left is the "Pack Horse
Inn", with good accommodation for
boating parties, and on the right the
"Swan", with landing-stage, &c.
At
Staines the tow-path crosses to the left
bank, which should be followed.
Staines, Middlesex, on the left bank,
from Oxford 76 miles; from London 35½
miles.
A station on the London and
South Western Railway, about 19 miles
from Waterloo; trains take about 45
minutes.
The station is 10 minutes' walk
from the Angel Hotel in the centre of the
town; flys meet the trains.
Population,
about 5,000. Soil alluvial and gravel.
Staines is a clean, well-built, comfortable
and quiet little town, offering but few
points of general interest.
The river is here crossed by a handsome stone bridge
of three arches, designed by Rennie.
The parish church, St.Mary's, is situated
near the river, at the end of Church-street, and is a modern erection of no
particular interest save that the red brick
tower, which was built in 1631, is the
work of Inigo Jones, as is recorded on a
stone let into the wall in 1791, and bearing the names of the then churchwardens,
"Walter Molt and Daniel Endorb".
About a hundred yards to the left on
leaving the churchyard is Duncroft, a
good specimen of Elizabethan architecture, quaintly gabled and mullioned,
standing in a pleasaunce remarkable for
the beauty of its trees and shrubs.
The
house is sometimes attributed to an
earlier period, and there is even a popular
superstition that it was once a palace of
King John.
This, of course, is out of
the question, although it may well be that
the site was formally occupied by a royal
residence.
Local tradition has it that in
this house or its predecessor the king
slept on the night before Magna Charta
was signed.
There is an annual regatta
of a local character under the auspices of
the tradesmen of the town.
A masonic
lodge meets at the Angel Hotel.
The 44th
Company, 7th Administrative Battalion
Middlesex R.V., have their headquarters
in Thames-street.
The Mechanics' Institute and Reading Room is in Church-street.
The subscription for honorary
members is £1 1s per annum; for ordinary
members 2s per quarter, and the admission fee for casual visitors is 1d per diem.
Among the summer excitements are the
daily visits of the coach, which here
changes horses, on its way to and from
Windsor; but it must be confessed that
the town is not strong in amusements.
Little of Staines is at present to be seen
from the river, and that little is not
interesting.
The handsome Town Hall,
the funds for the erection of which
gradually accrued from a Town Hall
Improvement Rate, is a great acquisition
to the town itself, but unfortunately turns
its back upon the river, the banks of
which, except for an embanked wall and
terrace at this point, still present the uninviting and untidy prospect which is so
usual with Thames-side towns.
On approaching Staines from Bell
Weir Lock, a channel to the left beyond
the gas-works on the right bank leads to
Tims's boat-house and landing-stage (ten
minutes from the "Angel", via Church-street), where boats can be housed or
hired, and where are kept the Royal
Humane Society's drags and life-buoys.
Here, also, is a ladies' swimming-bath;
subscription, 10s per annum; single bath, 4d;
Lower down, past the bridge, is the
Club landing-stage, and farther still, near
the railway-bridge, is the comfortable
"Packhorse Hotel", with a convenient
landing-stage, excellent boat-house, and
good accommodation for oarsmen.
A
footpath immediately opposite the "Pack-horse" leads to the station (nine minutes):
the High-street is distant four minutes'
walk.
There is also a landing-stage and
boat-house at the "Swan Hotel" (the
headquarters ot the Staines Rowing Club)
on the right bank.
The fishing at Staines is very uncertain;
good takes are sometimes made, but
these are the exception.
Penton Hook,
lower down, is a perfect trout preserve.
Bank: Ashby and Co. High-street.
Fire: Brigade under Local Board:
Captain, first officer, second officer, and
engineer, nine gentlemen, and four
working-men. Engine-house, Church-street.
Hotels: "Angel", "Railway", and "Packhorse" by the river.
Places of Worship: St.Mary's
(parish); St.Peter's Mission, Edghill-road; Friends' Meeting House, and
Baptist Congregational and Wesleyan
Chapels.
Police: Station, London-road.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
insurance office), High-street.
Mails from London, 7 and 9.45am, 4.30 and 5.45pm; Sunday, 7am,
Mails for London, 9.35 and 11.05am, 4.30 and 8.30pm; Sunday, 7.50pm
Nearest Bridges: Staines; up, Albert, 4¾ miles; down, Chertsey, 3¾ miles.
Locks: up, Bell Weir, 1¼ mile; down, Penton Hook, 1½ mile.
Ferry: Laleham.
Railway Station: Staines.
Fares to London: 1st, 3/3, 5/-; 2nd,
2/3, 3/6; 3rd, 1/7, 3/-
Staines Rowing Club: Subscription,
10/6.
Colours, red and black.
Boat-
house, "Swan Hotel", near Staines
Bridge (right bank).
Penton Hook Lock, about 1 ¾ mile
from Staines, from London 34 miles,
from Oxford 77 ½ miles.
Care must be
taken to avoid the weir-whirl, which is
very dangerous, and insufficiently protected.
There is a fall of 2 ft 6 in.
There are plenty of trout about here.
After this lock (about half a mile) is
Laleham and the ferry.
Laleham House,
the seat of the Earl of Lucan, is just
below.
Laleham, Middlesex, on the left bank;
from London 33 miles; from Oxford 78½
miles.
Population, 566. Soil, gravel and brick earth.
A village rather more
than two miles from Staines, and about
a mile and a half from Chertsey, well
known for its ferry, where there is a long
shallow for the fly.
On the south side of
the river near the ferry-house is a Roman
camp, evidently intended to guard the
ford; while on the north side, about half
a mile from the river, there are still
traditions of another Cæsar's camp.
The
tract of meadow land on the south side
of the river, known as the Burway, used
to belong and pay rates to Laleham
parish, but on the occasion of Laleham
parish refusing to pay for the burial of the
body of a drowned man cast on shore on
the Burway, Chertsey parish buried the
corpse and claimed the rates, which it
has retained ever since.
The Earl of
Lucan owns a considerable quantity of
land in the neighbourhood, and claims as
his property a chapel on the north side of
the church.
The church, dedicated to
All Saints, contains some fine old Norman pillars and arches, some of which are
built in the south wall, showing that in
the old Norman time there was a south
aisle to the church.
This was cut off in
the decorated Gothic period, and windows
of that date inserted in the arches.
This
seems to point to the much greater comparative importance of villages on a great
waterway when the uplying parts were
heavily clothed with forest than when,
200 years later, the forests were to a large
extent cut down.
The tower is a brick
structure of George I.'s time.
In the
chancel is a large altar-piece of Our
Saviour and St.Peter on the sea, painted
by Harlowe during a stay in the village;
and on the south of the chancel is a
mural monument to Mrs.Hartwell, by
Chantrey, not a very favourable specimen
of the master.
In the churchyard at the
foot of the tower is an epitaph, date
1789, which offers a variation on the old-
fashioned "Affliction sore long time I bore":
Pain was my portion, physic was my food,
Groans my devotion, drugs did me no good,
Christ my physician knew which way was best
To ease my pain and set my soul at rest.
Inns:the "Feathers", and the "Horse Shoes".
Place of Worship: All Saints.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
near the church (money order and telegraph office).
Mails from London, 7am and 12 noon; Sunday, 7am,
Mails for London, 10.10am, and 6.40pm; Sunday, 10am.
Nearest Bridges: up, Staines 2½ miles; down, Chertsey 1 mile.
Locks: up, Penton Hook ½ mile; down, Chertsey 1¼ mile.
Ferry: Laleham.
Railway
Stations: Staines and Chertsey.
Fares from Staines: 1st, 3/3, 5/-; 2nd, 2/3, 3/6; 3rd, 1/7, 3/-.
From Chertsey, 1st, 4/-, 5/6; 2nd, 3/-, 4/-; 3rd, 1/10, 3/4.
1971: M3 Bridge]
Still keeping to the left bank, we
next come to Chertsey Lock, with a fall of about
3 ft.
; from London 32 miles, and from
Oxford 79 ½ miles.
A quarter of a mile
farther is Chertsey Bridge, at the foot of
which, on the right, is the Bridge House
Hotel.
A wide berth should be given to
the first point below the bridge, on the
tow-path side, as the water here shoals
considerably.
Hence the river winds very
much between flat banks
Chertsey, Surrey, on the right bank,
from Oxford 79¾ miles, from London
31¾ miles.
A station on the London and
South Western Railway, about an hour
from London.
the station is ten minutes'
walk from the Town Hall, and twenty-five minutes' from Chertsey Bridge.
Flys
meet the trains.
Population, 7,760.
Chertsey is an old-fashioned country
town with a number of good houses and
a few shops of some importance in its
two principal thoroughfares, Windsor-street and Guildford-street, which runs at
right angles to Windsor-street, and leads
from the town-hall to the station.
There
is not much to be said in favour of the
architectural pretensions of the two
principal public buildings - the town-hall
and the church.
The town generally
may be described as quiet and dull, but
to make amends it is rich in interesting
historical associations.
Some remains of
Chertsey Abbey, in which the body of
Henry VI. was for a short time buried,
still exist, although it is harder every
day to conceive that so magnificent a
building as has been described could
have so utterly disappeared.
Near
Chertsey is St.Anne's Hill, a favourite
retreat of Charles James Fox; and in the
Porch House in Guildford-street died the
poet Cowley.
The room in which he
died is said to be still in existence,
although the porch which gave its name
to the house was removed in 1786.
Cowley's death here is recorded in an
inscription on the wall of the house,
which concludes with Pope's line:
Here the last accents flowed from Cowley's
tongue.
St.Anne's Hill has other recommendations besides its connection with the great
statesman, as the views from its summit
on both sides are singularly beautiful.
The country around, indeed, is almost
universally picturesque, being for the
most part hilly and well-wooded.
The
charming neighbourhoods of Virginia
Water and Sunningdale are within easy
reach, and these excursions may be
recommended to visitors.
Weybridgeand
the country surrounding are also worthy
of exploration.
Chertsey Bridge, which
connects Surrey and Middlesex, is of
stone, with seven arches, and near it,
on the right bank, is one of the most
interesting experimental establishments
on the river.
Here Mr.Forbes, so long
and so favourably known as an enthusiastic devotee of pisciculture, has brought
his arrangements for the hatching and
rearing of salmon trout and other fish to
a singular degree of completeness.
Mr.Forbes occasionally grants permission to
view these fish nurseries.
Sir William
Perkins's Endowed Schools were founded
in 1725 for the education of twenty-five
poor boys of the parish of Chertsey.
In
1736 Sir William Perkins built a similar
school for twenty-five poor girls.
The
original school buildings were in Windsor-street.
At his death in 1741, Sir William
left £3,000 for the support of the schools,
and in 1819 the fund had increased to
over £5,000.
It was then decided to
sell the old houses and buy a piece of
land at the west end of Chertsey, and
largely to extend the benefits of the
schools.
Subsequently the buildings were
again enlarged; the clothing which was
given to the children and certain special
gifts were abolished; and the whole of
the income is devoted to giving a sound
elementary education to between 500
and 600 children of Chertsey and neighbourhood.
The Chertsey District Horticultural Society, founded some fifteen
years ago, has, from small beginnings,
made rapid progress, and its shows are
now among the best in the home counties.
There is also a Chrysanthemum Society,
founded in 1876.
Among the other
public institutions is the Literary and
Scientific, the members of which have
the use of a reading-room, recreation-room, and a good library of 2,000 volumes.
The subscription is for non-members,
£1 1s.;
for general members, 10s. 6d.
per annum, 3s. per quarter;
library
members, 2s. 6d. per annum.
Of waterside features Chertsey has but few.
The
"Bridge House Hotel", the Chertsey
Rowing Club boat-house, and Messrs.Des Vigne's torpedo-launch manufactory
pretty well exhaust the list.
There is a convenient landing-place at the "Bridge House Hotel".
The coach from London
to Virginia Water changes horses at
Chertsey.
Roach swims in plenty; good angling
from bank.
From this to Shepperton is
fine jack water.
Banks: Ashby & Co., Old Bank, and
London and County, both in Guildford-St.
Fire: Station in the town.
Hotels: "the Bridge House", on the river;
"Crown", London-street.
Places of Worship: St.Peter's;
and Baptist, Congregational, and Wesleyan Chapels.
Police: station, East-street, some
distance from the town.
Postal Arrangements:
Post Office, Windsor-street, opposite the church
(money, savings bank, telegraph, insurance office).
Mails from London, 3.35 and 8.40am, 4.49pm
Mails for London, 9.35 and 11.35am, 3.20 and 8pm
Nearest Bridge, Station, and Lock: Chertsey.
Nearest Bridges: up, Staines 3¾ miles;
down, Walton 4½ miles.
Locks: up, Penton Hook 2 miles;
down, Shepperton 2 miles.
Ferry, Laleham.
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 4/-, 5/6; 2nd,
3/-, 4/-; 3rd, 1/10, 3/4.
Chertsey Rowing Club.
Election
by ballot in general meeting; one black
ball in five excludes.
Subscription, 15s.; honorary members, £1 12s.; lads for coxswains, 5s.
Colours, black and white vertical stripes.
Boat-house, just below Chertsey Bridge, right bank.
Shepperton Lock, on the left, with
an average fall of 5 ft 6 in, and is
distant from London 30 miles, from
Oxford 81 ½ miles.
Here the Wey enters
the Thames.
The tow-path crosses to
right bank.
The village of Shepperton
is three-quarters of a mile from the lock
on the left, and half a mile farther is
Halliford and "Bob" Stone's popular
"Ship Hotel".
On the right are extensive views of the woods above Weybridge,
Oatlands Park, and Walton.
Weybridge, Surrey, on the right bank about 2½ miles by road from Walton, a
station on the London and South Western
Railway, 19 miles from Waterloo; the
trains average about ¾ hour.
The station
is about a mile from the village, twenty
minutes' walk from the river, and ten
from the church.
The Basingstoke Canal,
the Bourne, and the River Wey join the
Thames just below Shepperton Lock.
There is but little in Weybridge to detain
even the most determined sight-seer.
When he has inspected the column on
the green erected to the memory of the
Duchess of York, the original Seven Dials
stone, and has searched for the remains of
the old palace of Henry VIII., the lions
of Weybridge are exhausted, unless Oatlands Park, which is about midway between Walton and Weybridge, be deemed
worthy of a visit.
Oatlands was for a
long time royal property.
Henry VIII
is said to have acquired it in his usual
affable manner, and after various vicissitudes the property again came into the
royal hands of the late Duke of York
who built the present not very royal
building known in these later days as the
"Oatlands Park Hotel".
The park has
been cut up and sold in "lots to suit
purchasers".
The famous grotto, which
took twenty years to construct and upon
have £40,000 is said to
have been wasted, still exists, and is
shown to visitors for a small fee.
How
£40,000 could have been spent in constructing two or three rooms and a
passage of oyster-shells and cement is a
mystery.
The Dogs' Graveyard, in which
are deposited the remains of about fifty of
the Duchess's favourite companions, each
with a headstone and many with epitaphs,
is not now open to the general public.
The church dedicated to St.James is
a fine modern building of stone erected
in 1847 in the pointed Gothic style.
Most of the windows are filled with
modern stained glass.
Under the tower
on the north wall will be found a monument by Chantrey to the memory of
Frederica Charlotte Ulrica Katharine,
Duchess of York.
On the floor near the
west end of the church are three brasses:
one to the memory of John Wolvde,
1598; an inscription on brass, dated
1642, to
Hvmphry Dethick, One of His Maties Gent. Ushers (Dayly Waiter)
and another, dated 1586, to
Thomas Inwood ye Elder,
which represents him
with three wives, two children behind
the first, and three behind the second.
The churchyard is rendered pleasant by
many shrubs.
In the vaults under the Catholic church
of St.Charles Borromeo, King Louis
Philippe, Queen Amelie, and other members of the Orleans family were buried.
The only member of that family left there
now is the Duchesse de Nemours.
Bank: London & County, Church-St.
Fire: Station, opposite church.
Hotels: "Oatlands Park"; "Hand and Spear", by the Station; "Lincoln Arms", near the river.
Places of Worship: St.James's; St.Michaels; and the Roman Catholic
Church of St.Charles Borromeo.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, insurance, telegraph, and
savings bank).
Mails from London, 7 and 9.15am, 5pm; Sunday, 7am
Mails for London, 10.30am, 3.30, 8.45, and 10pm; Sunday, 8.45 and 10pm
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 3/6, 5/-; 2nd 2/6, 3/6; 3rd, 1/ 7, 2/10.
Shepperton, Middlesex, on the left
bank, from London 30 miles, from Oxford
81½ miles, a terminus on a branch of the
South Western Railway, 19 miles from
Waterloo; train takes about one hour.
Flys meet the trains.
Population, 1,126.
Soil, gravel.
A small village with some
good houses and offering plenty of fishing,
but calling for no description or remark.
The station is an easy fifteen minutes'
walk from the river, close to which are
the church and the post-office.
The present church, perfectly cruciform,
with tower at west end, was built, 1614,
out of the débris of a former church
standing over the Thames and built on
piles (many wills being still extant leaving
legacies to add piles to its foundation).
On dit a flood of the Thames washed
down the former edifice; its only memorial
is in a picture painted in 1548 by Anthony
Vander Wyngrede of the Palace at Oatlands, now in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford, where the church stands with
spire in the distant bend of the Thames.
The arches, windows, and sepulchral
slabs in the present church came from
the former; the brick tower being added
by the rector, L.Atterbury, brother to
the well-known Bishop of Rochester, in 1710;
the five bells being new in 1877.
The learned Grocyn, the correspondent
and friend of Erasmus, was rector in
1504, and entertained that reformer in the
rectory, still standing.
The rectory, a
beautiful and unique oak-built house,
some 400 years old, is deceptive to a
casual observer, looking like a brick house,
with two wings, twenty-one windows in
front, and surrounded by gardens.
Less
than 100 years ago the oak house was
covered with mathematical tiles to keep
out damp, and the interior was modernised
to suit modern requirements, but without
altering the ground plan or original structure, which are still apparent to an architect's eye.
The late squire of the village
was a well-known man, William Schaw
Lindsay, M.P. for Sunderland, and in
early youth a cabin-boy in a Liverpool East Indiaman.
His tomb is in
the village cemetery.
A tomb in the churchyard, nearly illegible, is very curious, dedicated to the memory of a negro and his wife by Sir Pat.Blake, Bart., of Langham, Suffolk:
Benjamin and Cotto Blake,
from the Isle of Colombo.
Go to Mauritania, Reader,
learn duty of an Ethiopian,
and know that virtue
inhabiteth skins of other colours than
thine own.
In the churchyard, also, is that rarest of all black swans, a pretty and graceful epitaph, which well deserves quotation:
Long night succeeds thy little day,
O ! blighted blossom, can it be
That this grey stone and grassy clay
Have closed our anxious care of thee ?
The half-formed words of liveliest thought
That spoke a mind beyond thy years,
The song, the dance, by nature taught,
The sunny smiles, the transient tears.
The symmetry of face and form,
The eye with light and life replete,
The little heart so fondly warm,
The voice so musically sweet;
These lost to hope, in memory yet
Around the hearts that loved thee cling,
Shadowing with long and vain regret
The too fair promise of thy spring.
The grave is that of Margaret Love Peacock, a child of three years old, who died in 1826.
There is good fishing about Shepperton
and Halliford.
Hotel: "The Anchor".
Place of Worship: St.Nicholas.
Postal Arrangements: (The Post
Office is now called Upper Shepperton).
Mails from London, 7 and 11am, 6.45pm; Sunday, 7am
Mails for London, 8.55am, 1.50, 7.15, and 8.25pm; Sunday, 10am
The nearest money order office is Shepperton.
Telegraph-
office at the Shepperton post-office.
Nearest Bridges: up, Chertsey 1¾ mile; down, Walton 2½ miles.
Locks: Shepperton; up, Chertsey 2 miles; down,
Sunbury 3½ miles.
Ferry and Railway
Station: Shepperton.
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 3/-, 4/-; 2nd,
2 /4, 3/-; 3rd, 1/6, 2 / 6
1934: Desborough Cut built]
Halliford, Middlesex (and see Causeway Stakes) on the left bank, between
Shepperton and Walton; from London 28¾miles, from Oxford 82¾ miles.
Halliford -
generally known as Lower Halliford, there
being a so-called Upper Halliford in the
parish of Sunbury - is a hamlet much in
favour with anglers, with a fine view,
across the river, of Oatlands Park and the
Surrey hills.
An iron bridge connects the
counties of Middlesex and Surrey at
Halliford; the old brick bridge, with its
numerous arches, having succumbed some
years ago in a disastrous flood.
There is
no particular point calling for remark at
Halliford, except that it has a very comfortable and reasonable hotel in Stone's
well-known "Ship", which is largely used
by anglers and rowing men.
Shepperton
railway station is an easy fifteen minutes'
walk from the "Ship".
Punts now begin to thicken, and as
many may be counted in a mile as in
twenty above; yet roach are taken by the
five to twelve dozen in a day with a single
rod, and all the persistent angling appears to have no appreciable effect upon
their presence.
There is a Wesleyan Chapel in the village.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, telegraph, and savings
bank), about six minutes' walk to the left
from the river.
Mails from London, 7 and 10.40am, 6.20pm; Sunday, 7am
Mails for London, 9.10am, 2.00, 7.30, and 8.40pm; Sunday, 10.10pm
Nearest Bridges, up, Chertsey, 2¾miles; down, Walton 1 mile.
Locks, up, Shepperton 1¼mile; down, Sunbury, 2½miles.
Railway Station, Shepperton.
Fares, Shepperton to Waterloo, 1st, 3/-, 4/-; 2nd, 2/4, 3/-; 3rd, 1/6½, 2/6.
1934: Desborough Cut built]
Three-quarters of a mile below Halliford are Coway, or Causeway Stakes,
Causeway Stakes, also known as
Coway Stakes, in the bend of the river
half a mile above Walton Bridge; the
reputed scene of a battle between Cæsar's
legions and the Britons.
The river was
forded by the invader notwithstanding
that Cassivelaunus had planted the bank
and filled the river bed with sharp
stakes.
It is said that remains of these
stakes were to be seen in the river until
quite recently, but this tradition had
better not be accepted as a fact.
The
venerable Bede notes that these stakes
"are seen to this day about the thickness
of a man's thigh, stuck immovable, being
driven hard into the bottom of the river";
but it does not appear that the venerable
one himself had ocular demonstration of
the fact.
[
1750 - 1783: First Walton Bridge
1783 - 1788: Ferry
1788 - 1859: Second Walton Bridge (collapsed 1859)
1864 - 1985: Third Walton Bridge
1953 - 2010s Fourth Walton Bridge
1999 - 2010s Fifth Walton Bridge
2010s: Sixth and current Walton Bridge]
and immediately afterwards comes Walton Bridge, which consists of
four arches.
On the right below is
Mount Felix, and the village of Walton.
Half a mile on the left is a tumbling-bay,
whose neighbourhood will be best avoided,
and half a mile beyond this, on the right,
is the cut leading to Sunbury Lock
Walton, Surrey, on the right bank, 28
miles from London, 83 ½ from Oxford.
A station on the London and South
Western Railway 17 miles from Waterloo,
the trains averaging about three-quarters
of an hour.
Flys meet the trains.
The
station is twenty-five minutes' walk from
the river; the cab-hire is 2s 6d.
Population, 6,050. Soil, gravel.
The ancient
village of Walton, which lies some little
way back from the river, is not without
interest.In addition to Causeway or
Coway Stakes (which see) there are
various traces of the Roman occupation in
the immediate neighbourhood, both at
Oatlands and St.George's Hill.
The
latter is the site of one of the innumerable
camps of Caesar, traces of which are
still visible, and it is believed by those
competent to form an opinion that a
still greater camp existed at Oatlands.
From St.George's Hill may be obtained
one of the finest views on the river,
extending over seven counties.
The
village, with its long straggling High-street, and, at right angles to it, Church-street, still retains an air of primitive
simplicity.
Here was the residence of
the regicide Bradshaw, and not far off,
at Ashley Park, the Lord Protector himself is said to have resided.
Local
tradition, never slow to minister to local
self-importance, holds it an article of
firm belief that in Bradshaw's house the
signatures were affixed to the death
warrant of Charles.
Besides Bradshaw,
and Admiral Rodney, who was born in
Walton, the most notorious inhabitant of
the village in former times was William
Lilly, the famous astrologer, who, notwithstanding his presumed study of the
black art, was at one time a churchwarden of the parish, and is said to have
practised medicine there and in the
neighbourhood with some considerable
success.
The church, dedicated to St.Mary, is
a very ancient structure, dating probably
from Saxon times.
The most prominent
feature is the fine old buttressed tower,
but the pillars in the interior, the east
window of the south aisle, and the stone work of the windows in the north aisle,
are of antiquity and will repay examination.
On the north wall of the chancel
hangs, framed and mounted on wood,
the famous brass representing John
Sellwyn, "kepper of her Matis parke of Otelande", with his wife, five sons, and
six daughters.
Between Sellwyn and his
wife the former is represented performing
a marvellous feat.
Stag-hunting in Oatlands Park with Queen Elizabeth, Sellwyn
is said to have suddenly leaped from his
horse to "the back of a stag, to have
plunged his sword into the neck of the
beast, which fell dead at the feet of the
Queen", a circus-like performance which
no doubt greatly gratified the virgin
monarch.
On the north wall of the
chancel is a brass, with an excellent likeness, to the memory of J.F.Lewis, R.A.,
who died in 1876.
On the south wall of
the chancel is one of Chantrey's commonplace effigies to the memory of
Christopher D'Oyley, who died in 1795.
Over the door leading from the chancel
to the churchyard is a mural monument,
surmounted by an hour-glass and skull,
to Thomas Fitts Girald and his wife,
with a curious epitaph, which concludes:
Though future Tymes or Malice will not Credit,
Present Trewth subscribs to such was their Meritt.
It bears date 1619.
On a pillar by the
pulpit is the confession of faith said to
have been made by Queen Elizabeth, on
the subject of Transubstantiation:
Christ was the worde and spake it,
He took the bread and brake it,
And what the worde doth make it,
That I beleive and take it.
In the north aisle is Roubiliac's towering monument to Richard Boyle, Lord
Viscount Shannon, topped by a full-length statue of that nobleman (who, it is
recorded, was a volunteer at the battle of
the Boyne), and surrounded by drums,
cannon, flags, and other warlike
"alarums".
At the feet of Boyle is a
life-size woful female figure holding on
to an urn.
In the gallery to the south is
a rambling old pew, surmounted and
surrounded by iron spikes, claimed as
their property by the Askews of Burwood
Park.
Under the monument to Fitts
Girald, on the pavement facing the
chancel door, is the slab placed by Elias
Ashmole, in memory of Gulielmi Lillii,
Astrologi Peritissimi [very skilled], 1681.
In the vestry
is preserved the iron scold's bridle, the
donor of which is said to have lost an
estate through the instrumentality of a
gossiping lying woman.
The date of the
bridle is 1632, and it bore at one time
the following inscription:
Chester presents Walton with a bridle,
To curb women's tongues when they are idle.
There are a number of charities in
connection with the church, the principal
of which is the rent, now amounting
annually to £280, of 39, Bishopsgate-street, bequeathed by Thomas Fenner in 1635.
Walton is noted for its bream hole, and is good for chub, roach, &c.
For Oatlands Park see Weybridge.
Bank: Ash by & Co., Church-street.
Fair: Easter Monday.
Fire: Station, High-street (Superintendent, engineer, foreman, nine firemen).
Hotels: "Angler", by the river; "Duke's Head", in the village; "Old Manor House" and "Swan", by the river.
Places of Worship: St.Mary's and Wesleyan Chapel.
Police: Two constables live in the village. Station: Hersham.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), Bridge-street.
Mails from London, 7 and 9.10am, 5.45pm; Sunday, 7am, over counter 7 to 10am,
Mails for London, 10.30am, 3 and 9pm; Sunday, 8pm
Nearest Bridges: Walton; up, Chertsey 4 ¼ miles; down, Hampton Court 4 ½miles.
Locks, up, Shepperton 2 ½ miles; down, Sunbury 1 ¼ mile.
Railway Stations:, Walton and Hersham.
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 3/-, 4/-; 2nd,
2/-, 3/-; 3rd, 1/5, 2/6.
Swan-upping: Centuries ago swans
were considered royal birds.
In the reign
of Edward IV. no one was permitted to
keep swans who did not possess a freehold
of at least five marks annual value, except the king's son, and an Act of Henry
VII. condemned robbers of eggs to a
year's imprisonment, and a fine at the
will of the sovereign.
As a mark of
favour the king sometimes granted to an
individual or a corporation "a game of
swans", and along with it the right of a
swan mark.
Thus the Dyers' and the
Vintners' companies have possessed, from
time immemorial, the privilege of owning
and marking swans.
The reason why
the right was granted to them was probably a desire on the part of the Crown
to prevent trouble arising between the
Royal Swanherd and the Thames Conservancy.
The date of the granting of
the privilege is not certain.
Swans of a
certain age not marked may be claimed
by the Crown, and these birds are known
as "clear-billed".
The marks were
changed in the year 1878, after the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
had prosecuted, unsuccessfully, the swan herds employed by the Crown and the
two City companies.
The marking, or
"upping" as it is technically called, is
effected by cutting the upper mandible
of the bird, and stopping the slight bleeding with pitch.
The new system of
marking, which omits at least half the
old number of cuts, consists of two
diamonds on royal birds, two small nicks
on either side of the mandible on birds
belonging to the Vintners' Company, and
one nick cut on the right side of birds belonging to the Dyers'.
The two nicks on
the Vintners' birds gave rise to the well-
known tavern sign, "The Swan with Two Necks".
The process of Swan-upping is
conducted with much ceremony.
It takes
place in July or August, when the markers
of the three owners take count of all
swans in the river, and mark the clear-billed birds which have reached maturity.
The work is frequently watched by dignitaries of the companies from saloon
steamers, and the occasion serves as no
bad excuse for a picnic.
A few years
ago a great cry was raised by anglers
and the inhabitants of the banks of the
Thames, that the swans were terrible
enemies to the fish, that they haunted
all the spawning grounds, and swallowed
the eggs till they could eat no longer.
Mr.Buckland was accordingly consulted
by the Lord Chamberlain on the subject,
and, after his analysis, it was proved
that the statements of the anglers were
exaggerated, for the swans did not
devour the spawn by preference, but
only incidentally whilst feeding on the
vegetable matter and river growths to
which the spawn is frequently attached.
The Crown, nevertheless, has no desire
to increase the number of birds on the
river, which is maintained at about 500
grown birds and cygnets, thereby limiting
the total to 610, allowing 65 to the Dyers
aad 45 to the Vintners.
The weir to the left
is very dangerous.
Sunbury Lock is a
good one, of stone, with a roller for
pleasure-boats.
From London 26 m 3f [26 ⅜],
from Oxford 85 m 1 f [85 ⅛].
From the boathouse on the lock island is a ferry to
Sunbury.
There is some pretty scenery
on the left below the lock, the right bank
being very flat and dull.
A strong stream
known as Sunbury Race runs here.
About 1 ½ mile below the lock is an
island, either side of which may be taken.
On the right are Molesey Hurst and race-course, and on the left Hampton
Sunbury, Middlesex, on the left bank,
from London 26½ miles, from Oxford 85
miles, a station on the Thanes Valley
branch of the South Western Railway,
16½ miles from Waterloo; the trains
average about three-quarters of an hour.
The station is nearly 1½ mile from the
river.
Population, 3,368. Soil, gravel
and brick earth.
A village with a long
street (Thames-street) straggling untidily
along the bank, with a few shops, and
several excellent houses; at right angles
to it, to the eastward, runs French-street,
a very pleasant neighbourhood.
In
ancient records, Sunbury is called Sunna-byri, and Sunneberie.
Lysons supposes
the name to be derived from the Saxon
words, Sunna, the sun, and Byrie, a
town.
There was a church here in the
time of Edward the Confessor, then
belonging to the Abbots of Westminster.
It was afterwards transferred to the
Bishop of London, when the following
arrangements were made: The inhabitants of Sunbury had to provide
money for supplying the tallow candles
for the High Altar of St.Paul's, and a
minor canon had to sing a musical mass
[missa cum cantu) every day.
At the end
of the year, if there was any surplus in
the funds to provide the candles, it was
to be spent for the purchase of the vestments of the minor canon who sang the
mass.
The church was pulled down in
the reign of George II., and another
built according to the taste of that period.
It was reconstructed in 1856, a new
Byzantine chancel and aisles were built,
the windows altered throughout, and a
handsome western porch erected.
The
upper portion of the tower remains the
same, but a plan for its future reconstruction hangs up in the tower basement,
which will, it is hoped, be carried out at
some future time.
Several charitable
bequests have been made to the church,
mostly for the distribution of bread, and
two for keeping the tombs, &c., in decent
order.
There is little of importance in
the church itself, which has been decorated
in the florid Salviati mosaic style.
Under
the south-west gallery, partly concealed,
is a mural monument to Richd Billingsley, 1682, "of St.Martin's, Wistminster,
who was unhappily drowned".
There is
a good marble font.
Near to Sunbury is the new and pretty
racecourse constructed by the Kempton
Park Club, at Kempton, formerly called
Kenyngton.
The estate is upwards of
300 acres in extent.
The mile course is
nearly flat, and 30 yards wide at the
narrowest point.
The inner course is
about 1½ mile in length; the half-mile
course is straight.
Races take place at
frequent intervals.
Sunbury is reached from the Surrey
shore by means of a ferry, which crosses
the weir stream from the Ferry Hotel to
the boat-houses on the lock island.
Trout are taken at the weir; dace and
chub with the fly; barbel, roach, and
perch are pretty plentiful.
The Thames Angling Preservation
Society has a rearing pond and stream
close to Sunbury Lock, where the young
trout are placed from the hatching
apparatus, and remain until they are
sufficiently large to be placed in the
Thames.
Inns: "Ferry", "Magpie", "Weir",
and "Flower Pot" near river.
Places of Worship: St.Mary's; a
Roman Catholic Church; and Congregational and Wesleyan Chapels.
Police: Metropolitan Police-station (T Division), Thames-St.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, telegraph, and savings
bank), Thames-street.
Mails from London, 7 and 9am, 7.30pm; Sunday, 7am,
Mails for London, 9.10am, 2.50 and 7.50pm; Sunday, 8.50am
Nearest Bridges: up, Walton, rather
more than 1 mile; down, Hampton Court,
3¼ miles.
Locks: Sunbury; up, Shepperton 3½ miles; down, Molesey 3 miles.
Ferry and Railway Station: Sunbury.
Fares: To Waterloo: 1st, 2/6, 3/-;
2nd, 2/-, 2/6; 3rd, 1/4, 2/3.
Here is a ferry, and on the left bank, below the church, Garrick's Villa.
Amongst the notabilia of Hampton is
Garrick's Villa on the bank of the river,
opposite the island just past the church.
The house itself stands some little dis-
tance back, being separated from the
lawn which abuts on the river by the
high road, under which Garrick constructed a short tunnel.
On the lawn is
a summer-house, sometimes described as
a temple, which at one time contained
Roubiliac's statue to Shakespeare, afterwards removed to the hall of the British
Museum.
Half a mile farther is Tagg's Island, with Hotel and boat-houses, and on the right (the weir must on no account be trifled with) is Molesey Lock
Moulsey Boat Club: Election by committee, who "have exclusive powers".
Subscription: Honorary members, £1 1s per annum; ordinary members, £2 2s per annum.
Boat-house: the Island. Colours, black and white vertical stripes.
Molesey Regatta: the course is
about a mile, from a little above the
cherry-orchard to a flag-boat below
Garrick's Villa.
1882 results:
Molesey Lock.
This is a wooden
lock, with an average fall of 6 ft, and
has a roller for pleasure-boats.
It is
distant from London 23 m 3 f [23 ⅜], from
Oxford 88 m 1 f [88 ⅛].
East Molesey, in Surrey, on the right
bank opposite Hampton Court, the Hampton Court railway-station being in the
parish.
The distance from London is
23¼ miles, from Oxford 88¼ miles.
Population, 2,500.
Soil, light and gravelly.
The village of Molesey is practically part
of Hampton Court, with which it is connected by an iron bridge, and is chiefly
interesting to excursionists from the point
of view of refreshments.
Here the Mole
empties itself into the Thames, and hard
by to the north-west is Molesey Hurst,
where Hampton Races take place.
The
old church of St.Mary, which was a
curious specimen of an old riverside
church, was partly destroyed by fire in
1863; the present church, consisting of
chancel, nave, and north aisle, was built
in 1865.
A good brass in memory of
Anthonie Standen, cupbearer to Lord
Darnley, father of James I., has been
preserved.
Near the church is an old
inn, "the Bell", which is said to have
been in the "good old times" much
patronised by highwaymen.
Hotels: "Castle" and "Prince of
Wales".
Places of Worship: St.Mary's, and
Wesleyan Chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph).
Mails from London, 6.45 and 9.50am, 2.30 and 8pm; Sunday, 6.45am
Mails for London, 8.40 and 11.50am, 3.25 and 8pm; Sunday, 10am:
Nearest [Post office]: (See Hampton Court).
Fares: (See Hampton Court).
Below is Hampton
Court Bridge, an ugly iron erection,
Hampton Court being on the left, and
East Molesey, with the railway-station, on
the right.
The tow-path here crosses to
the left bank.
Hampton, Middlesex, on the left
bank; from London 24¼ miles, from
Oxford 87¼ miles.
A station on the
Thames Valley Line of the London and
South Western Railway, 14½ miles from
Waterloo; trains average about forty-five
minutes.
Flys meet the trains.
The
station is about five minutes' walk from
the landing-stage.
Population, 3,915.
Soil, gravel.
Hampton is a small town
scattered over a considerable space; a
number of villas and houses of a similar
class having from time to time been added
to the original street or strand of Hampton.
The Cockney appellation 'Appy
'Ampton arises from the Hampton races
(which, in point of fact, do not take place
at Hampton at all, but at Molesey Hurst
on the other side of the river, and in
another county), which occur twice in the
year.
"All the fun of the fair" is to be
found at the June meeting, and the road
has quite a miniature Derby Day appearance.
The sport, however, is seldom
brilliant, a circumstance which makes
little difference to the holiday people,
who come out more for a picnic and "a
spree" than to enjoy the "sport of kings".
The course is a flat oval, about
a mile and a half.
The T.Y.C. is a little
over half a mile in length and quite
straight.
The Hampton Grammar School was
founded in 1556, reconstituted 1878, and
the buildings now stand near the railway-station.
The course of instruction includes all the usual branches of a liberal
education.
The fees are from 3½ to 4½ guineas per term, of which there are three
in the year; boys not resident in Hampton or Hampton Wick pay an entrance
fee of £2.
The head-master takes alimited number of boarders at £60 per
annum, exclusive of tuition fee.
The
assistant-masters also take boarders.
At Tangley Park, near Hampton, is
the Female Orphans' Home, the object
of which is to train children for domestic
service.
All children of the ages from
four to ten, who have lost both parents,
and have no relatives able to provide for
them, are eligible for admission.
There
is no election, but candidates are received
as vacancies occur.
The present number
is limited to 50.
The institution is
supported by subscriptions.
The register dates from 1512, but the
church itself is a comparatively modern
building, not by any means to be commended, having been built at a disastrous
architectural period.
Unpromising as is
its exterior it is not undeserving a visit,
there being some curious monuments
and epitaphs.
At the west end of the
church is a large marble monument,
unfortunately mutilated, representing in
life-size a Miss Susannah Thomas and
her mother.
In the western vestibule is
a very curious monument with a recumbent female figure, under a canopy,
bearing a singular resemblance to one of
the ladies in the children's Noah's arks.
The lady in question was Sibel, daughter
of John Hampden, wife to one of the
Penns, of Penn House, and nurse to
King Edward VI.
The following inscription records her history:
For here is brought to home the place of longe abode
Whose vertu guided hath her shippe into the quiet rode
A mirror of her time for vertues of the minde
A matrone such as in her dayes the like was hard to find
No plante of servile stocke, a Hampden by descent
Unto whose race 300 yeres hathe friendly fortune lent
To courte she called was to foster up a kinge
Whose helping hand long lingring sobes to speedie end did bring.
Two quenes that scepter bare gave credit to this dame
Full many yeres in court she dwelt without disgrac or blame
No house ne worldly wealthe on earthe she did regarde
Before eache joye yea and her life her prince's health preferd
Whose long and loyall love with skilful care to serve
Was such as did through heavenly help her prince's thanks deserve
Woulde God the ground were grafte with trees of suche delight
That idell braines of fruitfull plantes might find just caus to write
As I have plied my pen to praise this pen with all
Who lyeth entombed in this grave untill the trompe her call
This restinge place beholde no subject place to bale
To which perforce ye lokers on your fleetinge bodyes shall.
On the north-east, wall is a table to Robert
Terwhit, 1616, and in the north gallery
is a tablet to: David Garrick, nephew
of the great "Davy", with a weak inscription by Hannah More; and another
to the memory of Richard, son of George
Cumberland the dramatist.
On the east
wall is the monument of Edmond Pigeon,
yeoman of the jewel-house to King Henry
VIII., "by whose speciall command he
attended him at Bouloigne and continued
in that office under K.Edw.6, Queene
Mary and Q.Elizabeth, who made him
also clerke of her robes and wardrobes,
also of his son Nickolas who succeeded
him in both offices".
An epitaph on a
child, who died at the age of 13 months,
contains the following sweetly poetical
thought:
Sweet Babe - she tasted of Life's bitter cup,
Refused to drink the potion up !
But turned her little head aside,
Disgusted with the taste and died.
The organ in the church was the gift of
William IV.
The deeps here do not yield their roach
as formerly; still very fair baskets are
obtained in the swim opposite the church.
Fire: the engine is kept opposite the
"Red Lion Hotel".
Hotels: the "Red Lion", close to the river;
"Tagg's Hotel", on the island, about half a mile down, with good boat-houses.
Places of Worship: St.Mary's, and
Wesleyan Chapel.
Police: Metropolitan (T Division),
Station, New-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), corner of New-street.
Mails from London, 6.30 and 9am, 2.20
and 7.20pm; Sunday, 6.55am,
Mails for London, 9.50am, 12.30, 3.30 and 8.10pm; Sunday, no dispatch.
Nearest Bridge: up, Walton 3 miles; down, Molesey 1½ mile.
Locks: up, Sunbury 2 miles; down, Molesey 1 mile.
Ferry: Hampton.
Railway Station: Hampton.
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 2/3, 2/9; 2nd, 1/9 2/3; 3rd 1/2 2/-
Hampton Court, Middlesex, on the
left bank; from London 23¼ miles, from
Oxford 88¼ miles.
A terminus on the
Hampton Court branch of the London
and South Western Railway, 15 miles
from Waterloo; the trains average about
45 minutes.
Flys meets the trains.
Hampton Court is a very small village,
which may be described as consisting of
a few good houses on and about the
green, and a number of taverns and tea-houses for the refreshment of the numerous
excursionists who are attracted to Hampton Court by the palace and park.
An
ugly iron bridge spans the river at this
point.
What is called the Hampton
Court railway-station is in fact in East
Molesey, on the Surrey side of the river.
Hampton Court is a great meet for
bicyclists, who gather here "in their thousands" on their great parade day in the
spring.
Fifteen minutes' walk from the station
on the Hampton Court-road, is Hope
Cottage, Lady Bourchier's Convalescent
Home.
Here five inmates are received
of the class of servants, needlewomen, or
tradespeople.
These pay 5s per week in
advance.
Ladies sending invalids pay
7s 6d per week.
Applications for beds
are to be made to the Convalescent Committee of the Charity Organisation Society,
15, Buckingham-street, London, W.C.
The chapel at Hampton Court Palace
is intended for the use of the residents in
the palace, but the public is also admitted
to divine service.
The services are: Sunday, 11am, 3.30pm;
Saints' Days, 11am; Wednesday and Friday, 10.30am;
During Lent and Advent, daily at 10.30am;
Holy Communion: Sunday, 8.30am, or after morning service; on
Saints' Days, after morning service.
There is a good organ in the chapel by Father Smith.
There are many ways of access to
Hampton Court.
Besides its own railway-station Teddington, Twickenham, Hampton, Kingston, and Richmond are all
more or less convenient.
Steamboats occasionally run up in the summer months
if there be sufficient water in the river.
the Thames Ditton, the Virginia Water,
and the Windsor coaches all pass through
Hampton Court: (See COACHING).
Hotels: "Castle" by the bridge,
Molesey side; "Greyhound" and "King's Arms", by the park entrance and Lion
Gate; "Mitre", by the bridge, Middlesex side.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
Mails for London, 8.45 and 11.55am, 3.30 and 8pm: Sundays, 10am
Nearest Bridges: up, Walton 4¾ miles; down, Kingston 3 miles.
Locks: up, Sunbury 3 miles; down, Teddington, 4½ miles.
Ferries: up, Hampton 1 mile;
down: Thames Ditton 1 mile.
Fares to Waterloo; 1st 2/-, 2/9; 2nd, 1/6, 2/-; 3rd, 1/2½, 1/10.
Hampton Court Palace, originally
founded by Cardinal Wolsey in 1515,
and by him presented to Henry VIII in 1526, in the same manner in which a
sop is presented to Cerberus, or a tub to a
whale, was for many years a favourite
royal residence.
Henry VIII., who added
considerably to Wolsey's buildings, passed
much of his time at Hampton Court.
Here Edward VI. was born and Jane
Seymour died, and here the king was
married to his sixth wife, Katharine Parr.
Edward VI. lived at Hampton Court
Palace, and Queen Mary and Philip of
Spain passed their honeymoon here, and
a grand Christmas supper in the Great
Hall is recorded as having taken place in
their reign.
Queen Elizabeth held high
state at Hampton Court, and in James
I.'s time the Palace was the scene of the
great conference between the Presbyterians and the Established Church.
It
was a favourite residence of Charles I.,
and after his execution passed into the
possession of Cromwell.
Charles II. and
James II. occasionally visited the Palace.
William III. and Mary made it almost
their permanent place of abode, and
greatly enlarged and improved it.
Their
immediate successors also lived at Hampton Court; its last royal occupant having
been George II.
Since that time a
portion of the building has been devoted
to the use of the public, and in other
portions suites of apartments are granted
to ladies and gentlemen favoured by the
Crown.
the Palace originally consisted of five
quadrangles and the Great Hall, which
was added by Henry VIII.
Two of
Wolsey's courts and the Great Hall
remain; the third, or Fountain Court,
was added by Sir Christopher Wren, to
whom is also due the eastern frontage,
which overlooks the gardens.
The Palace
has been well and completely restored,
and the Great Hall especially, which is
described below, has been very perfectly
done.
The state apartments are open to the
public free every day throughout the
year, except Fridays and Christmas Day.
the hours are 10am, to 6pm from
April 1 to September 30, and from 10am to 4pm during the remainder of
the year.
On Sundays they are not open
until 2pm the gardens are open until
8pm in summer, and at other times
till dusk.
An average of about 200,000
persons passes through the state rooms
annually.
In the two Exhibition years -
1851 and 1862 - the numbers were 350, 848
and 369,162 respectively.
The entrance to the building, coming
from the railway, is through barracks
immediately opposite the Mitre Hotel.
Passing out of the first court, a staircase
on the left, under the clock-tower (the
groined roof and Tudor rose of the gateway should be remarked), leads to the
Great Hall, a building of magnificent proportions,
especially remarkable for the lofty pitch
of its richly carved and decorated roof,
which is studded with the arms and blazons
of King Henry VIII., and for its elaborate
stained glass windows.
Of these the great
west window, which is over the minstrel
gallery, contains the arms, badges, and
cyphers of Henry VIII. and his wives,
whose pedigrees, with their arms, initials,
and badges, are set forth in alternate
windows.
The first on the south, or
right, looking from the minstrel gallery, is dedicated to Katharine of Aragon,
the third to Ann Boleyn, the fifth to
Jane Seymour, the eighth, on the opposite side, to Anne of Cleves, the tenth to
Katharine Howard, and the twelfth to
Katharine Parr; the seven intermediate
windows contain the heraldic badges of
Henry VIII.: the lion, portcullis, fleur de
lys, Tudor rose, red dragon of York, and
the white greyhound of Lancaster.
The
great east window also contains numerous arms and other heraldic devices, such
as those of Henry VII., Henry VIII.,
Edward III., Edward IV., &c.
At the
upper end of the Hall is a singularly
beautiful bay window with the arms and
cyphers of Henry VIII., Jane Seymour,
and Cardinal Wolsey.
From this end is the
best place to take a general survey of the
Hall, and hence the best idea is obtained
of its great size and perfect symmetry of
design.
For the information of the accurate people who are never satisfied with
general effects, but require to have everything reduced to figures, it may be noted
that the length of Wolsey's Great Hall is
106 feet, its width 40 feet, and height
60 feet.
The restorations and additions
to the stained glass, which have been
executed in admirable taste, are due to
Mr.Williment, and were completed about
forty years ago.
The Hall is at present
hung with some magnificent tapestry, representing the history of Abraham, bordered with many allegorical and other
figures and devices.
The series begins
on the left of the entrance, and each subject bears a descriptive legend in Latin.
The subject of each piece of tapestry is
sufficiently apparent to render a detailed
description unnecessary here.
Under the
minstrel gallery are several other pieces
of tapestry of allegorical design, one of
which represents the seven deadly sins
riding on animals supposed by the artist
to be appropriate.
Before leaving the
Hall it may be added that it has more
than once been used for theatrical purposes, and tradition even says that
Shakespeare's "King Henry VIII., or the
Fall of Wolsey", was here acted before
Queen Elizabeth, the author taking part
in the representation.
There appears,
however, to be no evidence to support this
legend.
In the Withdrawing Room,
sometimes called the Presence Chamber,
which opens out from the Hall, is a further collection of tapestries, the designs of
which are remarkable achievements in the
way of allegory, thus: - Chastity attended
by Lucretia, and Scipio Africanus (at
least, so say the experts) drives his
chariot over Sensuality; the Fates
triumph; Renown summons the illustrious dead, and in another place submits
to the influence of Time, the signs of the
Zodiac indulging in remarkable pranks
the while; and many similar eccentricities.
Obscured and dimmed by time,
these tapestries are still well worth careful
inspection.
Above the tapestries are some
graceful cartoons by Carlo Cignani.
Opposite the door is another handsome bay
window, in the recess of which is an indifferent marble Venus.
The ceiling is
panelled and adorned with pendants and
with badges of rose portcullis, &c, &c.
The mantelpiece is of handsome carved
oak, and bears a profile portrait of Wolsey.
It is a good instance of the value of
statistics in matters of this kind to record
that considerable difference of opinion
exists as to the dimensions of this room.
One authority gives its length at 62 feet,
and its height at 29 feet; another
(official) gives the length as - "about 70
feet", and the height "about 20 feet".
As neither authority has any hesitation
in setting the width down at 29 feet,
visitors may congratulate themselves that
on that point at least they are possessed
of accurate information.
Returning through the Great Hall, descending the
stairs, and turning to the left, we come
to the second court, the northern side of
which is occupied by the length of the
Hall.
Over the gateway at the western
end is the dial plate of an astronomical
clock, which was, if the date (1254[?])
be correct, one of the earliest public
clocks in the country.
The tower bears
the medallion busts of the Caesars in
terra-cotta, which, with those in the first
court, are the restored work of Lucca
della Robbia, and were given to Cardinal
Wolsey by Pope Leo X.
The eastern
side of the court was considerably restored
in the middle of the last century, and
this point marks the end of the principal remains of Wolsey's Palace.
The
eastern portion of the present building
was designed by Sir Christopher Wren,
who is also responsible for the Ionic
colonnade in the southern side of the
second court, a colonnade which might
or might not be worth looking at
elsewhere, but which here is as inappropriate as a modern chimney-pot hat would,
have been on the head of Wolsey himself.
The visitor entering at the door in the
south-east corner of the colonnade has
to deliver up stick and umbrella, parcel
and bag, preparatory to making the
passage of the picture galleries - an
arduous undertaking, which, it were well
to remark, once begun must be gone
through with, from the first room to the
last - and there are a great many of them
- no turning back is permitted.
None
of the attendants are allowed to receive a
fee.
Any articles left with the custodian
at the entrance to the galleries, not
claimed by closing hours, will be forwarded if the ticket and address are sent
to the superintendent, at the Palace.
After the transaction of the necessary
business at the foot of the staircase comes
the ascent of the King's Staircase,
which is fine in itself, and would perhaps
be finer if it were not for the sprawling
monstrosities and garish colouring of
that arch impostor, Antonio Verrio.
This
Neapolitan painter, whose introduction
to England is not the least of the merry
sins for which Charles II. has to answer,
is seen at his worst in Hampton Court
Palace, and perhaps the King's Staircase
gives as good a notion of his idea of art
as can anywhere be found.
The first
room of the two dozen or so devoted to
pictures, which are approached by the
King's Staircase,
is the Guard Chamber,
which is decorated with trophies of arms,
and contains two handsome wrought-iron
screens, the work of H.Shaw, of Nottingham, 1695.
Before proceeding to give
any hints as to the pictures best worthy
inspection, it should be stated that in
almost every case the description of the
picture and the name of the artist is
affixed to it, and that there is, therefore,
no absolute necessity for a catalogue.
Painted on each canvas is a number.
this is distinct from that of the catalogues, and is the private number affixed
by the surveyor of pictures to identify the
work under any changes.
It is here given
in brackets, after the wall number, as a
means of identification should the latter
be changed.
Considerable uncertainty
prevails as to the authorship of many of
the Hampton Court pictures.
The official
view is adopted here.
Throughout the
rooms are many valuable specimens of
the carved woodwork of Grinling Gibbons,
and admirers of blue and white china,
whether Delft or Oriental, will find good
examples in almost every room.
In the
Guard Chamber are 9 [15], a rather conventional view of the Colosseum at Rome,
Canaletto; and a quaintly humorous
portrait, 20 [4], of Queen Elizabeth's
porter, 1580, by Zucchero.
There are
also a number of battle pieces and
portraits in keeping with the character
of the room.
Immediately on the left of the doorway,
in the King's First Presence Chamber,
is a very weak picture of King William
III. landing at Torbay, 29 [25], in which
Sir G.Kneller has introduced Neptune
and other incongruous company.
A pair
of curious Dutch pictures are 38 [34],
King William III. embarking from
Holland, and 51 [48], his landing at
Brixham.
Number 62 [61] is an interesting picture full of detail, representing
King Charles II. taking leave of the
Dutch Court at the time of the Restoration.
Number 58 [241] is a very good
group of portraits of William, Duke of
Buckingham, and his family, by Honthorst.
Numbers 26 [22], 30 [26], 33 [29],
37 [33], 40 [37], 46 [43], 50 [47], and 53 [51] represent ladies of the Court of
William and Mary, by Kneller, known
as the Hampton Court beauties.
Other
Knellers in the room are of very unequal
merit.
The chandelier is of the time of
Queen Anne.
Here, 85 [87], are the fine equestrian portraits of Charles I., by Vandyck, and 90 [91], Queen Christina, consort of Philip IV., by Velasquez, a good example in excellent preservation; and also 72 [67], a Sculptor, by Leandro Bassano; 84 [158], a Venetian Senator, Pordenone 91 [159J, a Knight of Malta, an excellent Tintoretto; 98 [100], a large full-length of Christian IV., King of Denmark, by Van Somer; 103 [128], portrait of Giorgione, by himself; and 73 [136], a much-esteemed Diana and Actceon, by Giorgione, in which Actaeon wears a pantomime stag's head and court suit, and in which so many extraneous figures are introduced that Diana could not have bathed more publicly even at Margate.
Number 108 [53], a Portrait of a Man,
by Tintoretto; 119 [111], a portrait by
Titian, said to be, but probably not, that
of Ignatius Loyola; 117 [277], John de
Bellini, attributed to himself; 128 [125],
a full-length of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I., by Honthorst;
131 [130], the Woman taken in Adultery,
Sebastiano Ricci; 138 [74], a Warrior in
Armour, ascribed to Savoldo; 144 [554],
a Concert, Lorenzo Lotto; 147 [134], a
Man's Head, Bassano; and 149 [68],
Alexander de Medicis, by Titian, are
among the principal pictures on the walls
of the Audience Chamber.
In the middle
of the room is a triptych for an altar, a
work of the highest interest, attributed,
perhaps doubtfully, to Lucas Van Leyden.
Whatever doubt there may be as to the
artist there can be none as to the merit of
the pictures.
The canopy of this room
is that of the throne on which sat James II,
when giving audience to the Pope's Nuncio.
The furniture and chandelier date from
William and Mary and Queen Anne.
The King's Drawing-room contains, among others, 154 [145], the Expulsion of Heresy, a portrait picture, by Paolo Veronese; 155 [333], the Duke of Richmond, by Van Somer; 158 [905], a good Giorgione, a portrait of a Venetian Gentleman; 164 [569], a Venus, ascribed to Titian, stated to be a "replica" of the celebrated picture at Florence, but looking much more like an indifferent copy; 174 [553], a Lady with Orrery and Dog, ascribed to Parmegiano; 180 [498], a Venetian Gentleman, by Bassano; and 182 [52], an Italian Lawyer, by Paris Bordone.
King William III.'s Bed-room.
In this room are the state bed of Queen
Charlotte, and the portraits of the Beauties
of Charles II.'s Court, by Sir Peter Lely,
which were formerly at Windsor.
The
fine marble mantelpiece and glass, and
the carving of the cornice and ornaments above the mantelpiece by Gibbons,
should be specially noticed.
Near the
head of the bed is a clock which requires winding but once a year, a ceremony which appears to have been omitted
on the last anniversary; and in a corner
is an odd old Tompion barometer.
The
ceiling, unhappily, has been painted by
Verrio in a manner calculated to disturb
the dreams of any but the stoutest heart.
Besides the Beauties is a delightful portrait, 186 [171], of the Princess Mary as
Diana, also by Sir P.Lely, and much
pleasanter to look upon than Charles's
leering, simpering favourites.
The numbers attached to the portraits of these
ladies are 185 [170], 195 [189
197 [191], 199 [193], 204 [198'
No.194 [188], Louise de Querouaille,
Duchess of Portsmouth, is by H.Gascar.
Here, again, Verrio has given reins to
his allegorical nightmares.
No.210 [741]
is a comic picture of men fighting with
bears, by Bassano; 212 [670], robbers,
in a cave, dividing their spoils, is like
many other Salvator Rosas.
contains a mirror so placed as to reflect
the whole suite of rooms.
Among the
pictures may be noted 225 [222], and 243
[229], by Bogdane.
containing 251 [247], a Holy Family after Raffaelo, by Giulio Romano; and 267 [417], Sophonisba, or Fair Rosamond - the choice of subject is elastic - attributed to Gaetano.
In the Queen's Gallery
will be found seven large and important
pieces of tapestry, after paintings by Le
Brun, 1690, representing incidents in the
history of Alexander the Great.
These
have suffered somewhat at the hands of
time, but deserve careful notice.
Here is the state bed of Queen Anne.
The ceiling is the work of Sir James
Thornhill, and among the pictures are
273 [459], the Queen of James I., by Van
Somer; 275 [462], St.Francis with the
Infant Jesus, Guido; 283 [461], a Princess of Brunswick, the painter of which
is not named; 301 [230], Judith with the
Head of Holofernes, by Guido; 306 [76],
a portrait of an Italian Lady with a singular taste in dress, by Parmegiano; and
307 [456], by Francesco Francia, St.John
baptizing Christ, a very fine example of
the master.
The Queen's Drawing-room
is the centre of the eastern front of Wren's
portion of Hampton Court Palace.
From
its windows is a beautiful view of the
gardens with three long avenues of trees
stretching away from the Palace towards
the river, Kingston Church closing the
vista on the left hand, and the canal and
fountain lending agreeable variety to the
centre.
On the ceiling Verrio has depicted Queen Anne in the character of
Justice.
The walls are hung with the
works of Sir Benjamin West.
The state canopy of Queen Mary still
hangs in this room, and among the pictures may be mentioned 326 [506], the
Duchess of Luneberg, Brunswick, Mytens;
327 [593], a portrait of Don Gusman,
another fine Mytens; 330 [457], Christian,
Duke of Brunswick, Honthorst; a doubtful Holbein, 331 [524], the Meeting of
Henry VIII. and the Emperor Maximilian; 335 [521], the Duke of Brunswick, Mytens; 340 [510], portraits of
Henry VIII. and his family, a work of
unusual interest and importance, Holbein;
342 [520] the Field of the Cloth of Gold,
also Holbein; 343 [525], Isabella of
Austria, Pourbus; 346 [780], Anne, Queen
of James I., Van Somer; and 349 [299],
a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, in a fancy
dress with remarkably fancy blue and
white shoes, crowning a stag with flowers.
On the right of the picture are three
mottoes, and a tablet on the left contains
the following lines:
The restless swallow fits my restless minde,
In still revivinge, still renewinge wronges;
Her just complaintes of cruelty unkinde
Are all the musique that my life prolonges.
With pensive thoughtes my weepinge stagg I crowne,
Whose melancholy tears my cares expresse;
His teares in sylence, and mysighes unknowne,
Are all the physicke that my harmes redresse,
My onely hope was in this goodly tree,
Which I did plant in love, bringe up in care;
But all in vaine, for now too late I see,
The sheles be mine, the kernels others are.
My musique may be plaintes, my physique teares,
If this be all the fruite my love-tree beares.
In the official catalogue this picture is
ascribed, hesitatingly, to L.de Heere.
On the frame, however, there is the name
of Zucchero.
The Public Dining-room is principally remarkable for two excellent
Gainsboroughs, 352 [747], Fisher the
Composer, and 353 [733J, Colonel St.
Leger (Handsome Jack); 355 [961], 358
[950] and 359 [960], are good examples
of Hoppner.
360 [951] is a curious picture,
by Home, of the King of Oude receiving
tribute.
Over the noble marble mantelpiece hangs 362 [155], the Nabob of
Arcot, G.Willison.
363 [936] is a portrait
of Friedrich von Gentz, by Sir Thomas
Lawrence; 395 [587], by Robert Walker,
is a portrait of himself; 369 [847], a
capital picture by Michael Wright, represents John Lacy, a comedian of the
time of Charles II., in three characters;
and 375 [944] is a portrait of Mrs.Delany,
by Opie.
In the left corner is the door
leading to the Queen's Chapel, &c., but
there are still three rooms approached by
the door near the window.
The principal pictures in these rooms
are 382 [421] and 382 [432]; respectively a
Jewish Rabbi and Dutch Lady, both
splendid Rembrandts; 389 [285], Portrait
of an Old Man, Quintin Matsys; 390
[464], Dogs, Snyders; 393 [249], Singing
by Candlelight, Honthorst; 397 [57], and
398 [437] Boys, Murillo; 407 [580, not 581, as described in the official catalogue],
Van Belchamp; 413 [516], Louis XVI.
of France, Greuze; 417 [984], Mdlle.de
Clermont, Greuze; and 429 [986], a portrait of Mdme.de Pompadour, a very
superior work by the same master.
From
these rooms visitors return through the
Public Dining-room, and pass through
the Queen's Private Chapel and Closet,
in which the pictures, principally of
flowers and birds, are of no great importance.
The next apartment is the Private Dining-room,
which looks out on to Fountain Court.
The state beds, with crimson trappings,
of William and Mary, which are preserved
in this room, and the smaller bed used
by George II., do not give a very lively
idea of the comforts enjoyed by royal
personages.
There is some particularly
good china here, and among other pictures,
a portrait of the Duchess of Brunswick,
sister to George III., 507 [603], by Angelica Kauffmann.
In the adjoining
closet is 507 [64], a curious picture, by
Fialetti, representing senators of Venice
in the Senate House.
In the Queen's Private Chamber are 512 [907], an unnamed Queen of Prussia, by an unnamed artist; 518 [619], Frederick, Prince of Wales, a smirking, highly-coloured portrait, by Vanloo; and 524 [787], a Labyrinth, the eccentric production of Tintoretto.
has a fine marble bust of a negro,
and portraits of four Doges of Venice,
by Fialetti, 526 [791 to 794].
531 [577],
is a humorous picture of a barrack-room,
by C.Troost.
George II.'s Private Chamber,
and the closet adjoining, lead to the
South Gallery,
where formerly Raffaelle's cartoons, now
at South Kensington, were exhibited.
This is a very long gallery, divided into
compartments, in the third of which is a
finely carved marble mantelpiece.
It
contains many pictures of great value
and merit.
The following is a list of
some of those to which the attention of
visitors is especially directed: 559 [513],
the Countess of Lennox, Holbein; 560
[667], Mary Queen of Scots, Zucchero;
563 [313], Henry VIII., Holbein; 572
[343], Countess of Derby, L.de Heere:
573 [344], Sir Geo.Carew, Holbein;
582 [908J, La Belle Gabrielle, by an
unnamed artist; 589 [275], a portrait of
a Youth, A.Durer; 593 [1085], 594 [331],
portraits of Erasmus, 597, [324], a
similar subject, 598 [330], all by Holbein;
600 [612], St.Christopher with Saints,
L.Cranach; 603 [323], Joannes Frobenius, printer; 606 [326], King Henry
VIII.; 608 [336], the painter's father
and mother, Holbein; 609 [989], Lazarus
Spinola, W.Kay; 610 [325], "A side-faced gentleman out of Cornwall", attributed to Holbein; 611 [401], St.
Jerome, after A.Durer; 613 [290], Sir
Francis Walsingham; 615 [270], Sir P.Carew, both by an unnamed artist;
616 [293], 619 [273], portraits of Queen
Elizabeth, the former by Zucchero,
the latter by Gerrard; 622 [347], a
charming portrait of a Lady, Sir A.More; 632 [316], Francis II. when a boy,
Janette; 633 [291], Philip II. of Spain,
Sir A.More; 642 [345], a companion
picture to 622, and an equally good work,
by the same artist; 644 [306], another
portrait of a Lady, Sir A.More; 657 [644],
Windsor Castle, Verdussen; 666 [329J,
an admirably humorous portrait of Henry
VIII.'s Jester, Will Somers, Holbein;
676 [234], a small whole-length of a Man,
F.Hals; 684 [825], a flower piece with
insects, Withoos; 704 [959], a wild boar
hunt, Snyders, full of life and vigour;
707 [588], Villiers, Duke of Buckingham,
C.Janssen; 710 [278], a portrait of
Raffaelle, attributed to himself; 763 [514],
James I., and 764 [591], his Queen, the
companion picture to it, both by Van
Somer; 765 [650], Elizabeth, Queen of
Bohemia, a daughter of James I., Derick;
and 707 [106], a Dutch Gentleman, Van
der Halst.
The Ante Room, adjoining the South Gallery - 780 [846],
a landscape, Oldenburg - leads to the
The Mantegna Gallery, so called from a set of paintings in distemper, on linen, 9 feet high, by Andrea
Mantegna.
They are nine in number,
797 [873 to 881], and represent the
triumphs of Julius Caesar.
Originally
purchased by Charles I., they were sold
by Parliament for £1,000, and subsequently repurchased by Charles II.
They are in a faded and damaged condition,
and it is difficult always to follow the
artist's intention.
In the same gallery is
798 [892], a quaint portrait of Sir Jeffrey
Hudson, by Mytens, And three pictures
by unnamed artists.
Of these, 793 [901],
is a portrait of Jane Shore, who is
described on the canvas as "Baker's
wife, mistris to a king"; 808 [899] represents "Schachner of Austria"; and 809
[958] is a Young Lady with a feather
fan.
On the Queen's Staircase
is an immense painting 810 [932], Honthorst, whereof, as is not uncommon with
allegorical works of the kind, the subject
appears to be in doubt.
According to
Horace Walpole, it is intended to represent Charles I. and his Queen as
Apollo and Diana receiving the Arts
and Sciences, the ceremony of introduction being performed by the Duke
of Buckingham, as Mercury.
Another
authority, also quoted in the official
guide, is of opinion that the royal personages are the King and Queen of
Bohemia in the clouds.
The judicious
visitor may select either of these interpretations, or indeed any other which may
seem good to him, but Honthorst, in any
case, cannot be congratulated on his work.
The Queen's Guard Chamber,
like the South Gallery, is divided into
compartments, noticeable in the second of
which are two most singular terminal
figures of beefeaters which serve as supporters to the mantelpiece.
Among the
pictures are 815 [967], 816 [966], 819
[970], 821 [965], portraits respectively of
Giulio Romano, Michael Angelo, Tintoretto, and P.del Vaga, by an unnamed
hand; 858 [902], is a portrait of a Man
with a watch in his hand, by Peter Van
Aelst.
From this chamber an ante-room
leads to
The Queen's Presence Chamber,
in which are numerous pictures of sea fights, &c, and two portions of timbers
from Nelson's Victory.
There are also a
series of views on the Thames, by James
and others, which should be interesting
to readers of this Dictionary.
They
are 883 [1043], Fleet Ditch, &c.
; 884
[1044], Old London Bridge; 885 [1045],
the Old Savoy Palace; 914 [1079], Greenwich Hospital, &c.; 918 [1016], a similar
subject; 920 [1024] the Tower; 921
[1023], old Somerset House and the
Temple; 922 [1026], the Temple again;
923 [1031], another view of the Savoy; and
925 [1032], Westminster Bridge, &c. &c.
This closes the list of apartments open to
the public.
The chapel is not visible
except on Sunday, when it is open for
divine service.
Returning from the Queen's Presence
Chamber to the Queen's Staircase, the
visitor again emerges into the Middle
Court; and, after reclaiming any property
which he may have left at the King's
Staircase entrance, proceeds by the
Fountain Court to the gardens, which
extend along the whole east front of the
building.
Should the visitor on leaving
the building wish to visit the famous
grape-vine, which is shown (admission,
1d) as one of the great attractions of
Hampton Court, he will turn to the
right; should he, on the other hand,
prefer to make direct for the Wilderness and the Maze, he will turn to the
left, passing the tennis-court on his way.
the price of admission to the Maze is 1d.
Some writers in treating of Hampton
Court give precise directions how to
traverse the paths of the Maze; but, as
the greater part of the fun consists in
losing your way, and in observing the
idiosyncracies of your fellow-creatures
who are in the same predicament, rather
than getting to the centre and out again
in "the shortest time on record", no clue
to the mystery is given here.
To many
people, perhaps, the greatest attraction
of Hampton Court will be found in its
beautiful gardens, which are unreservedly
thrown open to the public.
They are
tastefully laid out, and every year considerable ingenuity and skill are displayed
in the carpet-bedding devices, and other
floral adornments of the gardens, by Mr.Graham, the able superintendent.
The
lawns are always in perfect order, there
is abundance of shade from the yews and
other trees with which they are studded,
and seats have been distributed about
with no niggard hand.
There is not the
usual annoying restriction as to walking
on the grass, except as to the verge of
the flower beds, and it is pleasant to see
that the request, that the public will
protect what is intended for public enjoyment, is carefully respected.
The principal entrance on the north
is through the Lion Gates, opposite Bushey
Park.
Visitors who propose to go through
the galleries are recommended to enter
the palace by the barrack gateway, near
the bridge, already described.
The restrictions imposed by the regulations are few, and are dictated by obvious
considerations for the general convenience
and comfort both of the visitors and
residents in the palace.
The following
are the principal rules,
No smoking is
permitted in any part of the palace or
grounds.
No baskets or parcels are
allowed to be taken into the gardens.
No dogs are admitted.
Bath-chairs and
perambulators are allowed to residents
only.
Last, and not least, it is fortunately
provided that no public address may be
delivered.
The famous avenue of chestnuts in
Bushey Park leads from the Lion Gates of
Hampton Court Palace to Teddington,
and is one of the chief sights of the spring
season, when its grand old trees are
covered with their pyramids of blossom.
the fountain in the centre of the oval
pond, near the Hampton Court entrance,
is surmounted by a bronze statue of
Diana.
The Park contains, besides its
chestnuts, many fine elms and oaks, and
the hawthorns are almost as celebrated
as the chestnuts.
A herd of deer roam
in the park, adding greatly to its romantic character.
It is a favourite place
for picnics, and after inspection of
Hampton Court Palace the contents of
the reclaimed baskets and parcels are
freely discussed under the shady glades
of Bushey.
Hampton Court, so closely associated with the history of England during the reigns of Henry VIII. and his successors up to the time of William and Mary, belongs also to the history of English poetry, if it were only for the episode of the Earl of Surrey and the fair Geraldine Surrey's romantic love for the beautiful Geraldine was a tradition, founded on his poetry, until the supposed facts on which it rested were for the first time investigated by the author of "The Thames and its Tributaries", and found to be mythical.
Hampton Wick, Middlesex, on the
left bank, about a mile east of Hampton
Court by road; from London 22 miles,
Oxford 89½ miles.
A station on the
Kingston branch of the London and
South Western Railway, 14½ miles from
Waterloo; the trains average about 45
minutes.
Population, 2,207.
Soil, gravel.
Hampton Wick is nowadays practically a
suburb of Kingston, with which it is connected by Kingston Bridge, and consists
to a large extent of pleasant villa residences.
Place of Worship: St.Mary's.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order and savings bank), High-
street.
Letters through Kingston.
Mails from London 6.45 and 9.15am, 2.15 and 7.30pm
Mails for London 9am, 12.10, 3.45, and 8.20pm
Nearest Bridges (from Kingston Bridge): up Hampton Court 3¼ miles;
down: Richmond 5 miles.
Locks: up, Molesey about 3½ miles; down, Teddington 2 miles.
Railway Station: Hampton Wick.
Fares to Waterloo (or Ludgate-hill):
1st, 2/, 2/6; 2nd, 1/6, 2/-; 3rd, 1/-, 1/8.
Nearly a mile below the [Hampton Court] bridge, on the right, is Thames Ditton, with the "Swan Hotel", and Boyle Farm, the residence of the late Lord St.Leonards.
Thames Ditton, Surrey, on the right
bank, from London 22¼ miles, from Oxford
89¼ miles.
A station on the Hampton
Court branch of the South Western
Railway, 14 miles from Waterloo; the
trains take about 40 minutes.
The
station is ten minutes' walk from the
river.
Population, 1,900.
A pretty little
village in a sequestered corner opposite
Hampton Court Park, very popular with
punt-anglers, and, formerly to a larger
extent than at present, with excursionists
from London.
Increased railway facilities
have taken visitors farther afield, and
Ditton is no longer so popular as it was
in the days when Theodore Hook wrote
his well-known verses in praise of its
little inn.
There is in truth little except
the prettiness of the situation to attract
visitors except the church, which contains some fine brasses, and is itself a
curious building, with old oak beams,
rambling galleries, and queer lights in the
roof.
It has chancel, nave, and south aisle,
the latter added fifteen years ago, and a
low square tower, with a very unassuming
little wooden spire.
The font is of great
antiquity, as is also an old canopied stone
tomb from which the figure has disappeared.
The brasses, an unusually
fine collection, have been removed from
their original positions on the floor, and
are now placed upon the walls, where
they can not only be well seen, but will
be protected from inevitable wear and
tear.
On the north wall of the chancel
is the memorable brass of Robert Smythe
and Katheryn his wife, who died respectively in 1539 and 1549.
It contains
nine kneeling figures.
Underneath is a
coat of arms, apparently belonging to the
brass below, which is that of William
Notte, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter
of Robert and Katheryn Smythe.
William died in 1576, and Elizabeth eleven
years later.
They are represented kneeling at a prie-dieu, with a small family of
nineteen children kneeling with them.
Near the canopied tomb already mentioned are some very elaborate brass
coats-of-arms, with the motto "Que Sera Sera" and a brass of "Eras, fiforde, sone
and heyre of Walter fforde, sometyme
tresorer to Kynge Edward IV., and Julyan
the Wyffe".
The dates of their deaths are
given as 1533 and 1539.
Large families
appear to have been fashionable in these
parts at that period, as Erasmus kneels in
company with six sons, and Julyan with
twelve daughters.
On the wall just by
the vestry door are the effigies of Cuthbert
Lakeden, who died 1540, John Boothe,
1548, and Julyan, "sometyme the wyef
of the said Cuthbert and John", who
erected this monument 1580.
She died
1586, aged 77.
Hard by is a brass
inscription in memory of Ann Child,
"the davghter of William Child, of
Estsheene, in the parish of Mourclack,
in the County of Surrey".
The date is
1607, and it may be assumed that the
Mourclack is supposed to represent Mortlake.
On the wall above the pulpit
stairs are two large full-length figures
of John Cheke, "who departed this
transitorye lyfe, 1690, and Isabel, daughter
of Wm.Seilearde, of London".
Seven
young Chekes kneel with their father,
above whom is his coat-of-arms.
Also
by the pulpit steps are the praying figures
of John Polsted (1540), and Anne
Wheeler, with their four daughters, Anne,
Jane, Elizabeth, and Julyan, "the which
julyan erected this monument, An. Dni. 1582, and in the 73rd yeare of her age".
There are several marble tablets in the
church, and a long list of charitable
bequests hangs in the vestry, one of
which is odd.
By it W.Hatton left £10
a year to the minister, "if he be chosen
by the major part of the chief inhabitants".
If he were not so chosen, the benefaction was to go to the poor.
In the centre of the village is a handsome drinking fountain, newly erected
at the cost and charges of the lord of the
manor of Weston.
Close to the railway
station are almshouses founded by H.Bridges, 1720.
The National Schools
are aided by the interest of £1000 left by
Sir Charles Sullivan, of Imber Court.
This part of the river is far too crowded
in the summer season with small craft to
enjoy a day's angling, but in the winter
a very fair haul of roach and dace, with,
perhaps, a perch or two, may reward the
perseverance of the angler.
Hotel: "The Swan".
Places of Worship: St.Nicholas;
and a Congregational Chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post-office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph).
Mails from London, 7 and 10.30am, 8pm; Sunday, 7am,
Mails for London, 8.10am, 2.55 and 6.55pm; Sunday, 10am,
Nearest Bridges: up, Hampton Court 1 mile; down, Kingston 1¾ mile.
Locks, up, Molesey about a mile; down, Teddington about 4 miles.
Railway Station: Thames Ditton.
Fares to Waterloo, 1st, 2/-, 2/8; 2nd,
1/6, 2/-; 3rd, 1/2, 1/9.
At the top of the waterworks is the
beginning of the Kingston Regatta
Course.
Passing Messenger's Island we
come to Surbiton, and nearly a mile lower
down to Kingston Bridge
Surbiton: A suburb of Kingston, has
grown immensely of late years.
Some of
the best houses face the river, and it contains what is generally known as the villa
residence in every size, and at almost all
rents.
It is very convenient of access
from London, being on the main line of
the London and South-Western Railway,
and affords excellent facilities for boating,
the distance between locks here being
nearly five miles.
Along the riverside the
authorities have constructed an esplanade, with gardens, which extends from
the Waterworks some distance towards
Kingston, and affords a fine promenade.
From the ferry opposite Raven Island,
by Grove-road, nearly opposite to the
railway station, is ten minutes' walk.
The headquarters of the well-known
Kingston Rowing Club and Thames
Sailing Club (both of which see) are at
Surbiton, the boat-houses of the former
being on Raven Island, and of the latter
on the right bank, a little above the
island.
Five minutes from the river are
the Surbiton Reading Rooms, Library,
and Recreation Ground.
Here, in addition
to library, &c, is one of the fastest cinder paths in England for bicycle-riding, a
cricket ground, bowling green, lawn
tennis, &c.
The annual subscription is
£1 1s.
The churches are all modern
buildings of no particular interest.
There
is also a Surbiton Club (entrance £2;
subscription £5; election by ballot in
committee: two black balls exclude).
For Cab Fares, &c, &c, see Kingston.
Banks: London and County, Victoria-terrace; London and Provincial, Victoria-road.
Fire: Surbiton Fire Brigade, St.James's-road (under control of Surbiton Improvement Commissioners): Superintendent and 8 members. Fire Escape
Brigade: Superintendent and 3 members.
Hospital-Cottage, York Villa, Victoria-road. Patients are required to pay
not less than 2s 6d, or more than 10s 6d per week.
Places of Worship: St.Mark's,
Christ Church, and St.Andrew's (Chapel
of Ease to St.Mark's); The Roman
Catholic Church of the Archangel St.
Raphael; and Baptist, Congregational,
Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan
Chapels.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph).
Mails from London, 7.30 and 9.45am, 2.45, 5.45 and 8.30pm Sunday, 8am,
Mails for London, 7.30 and 10am, 4.20 and 9pm, Sunday, 7pm
Nearest Bridges (from Messenger's Island), up, Hampton 2 miles; down,
Kingston ¾ mile.
Locks: up, Molesey 2¼ miles; down, Teddington 2½ miles.
Ferry at the Island.
Railway Stations: Surbiton and Kingston.
Fares: From Kingston or Surbiton
to Waterloo: 1st, 2/-, 2/6; 2nd, 1/6, 2/-;
3rd, 1/-, 1/8.
Norbiton, a suburb of Kingston, to
the north-east, rapidly extending its rows
of villas and cottages towards the open
country in the neighbourhood of Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, where
Jerry Abershaw and other knights of the
road once took toll from travellers.
It
is a railway station on the South Western,
and may also be reached by the Metropolitan line.
The walks about Norbiton
are numerous, and the scenery is very
pretty; the open commons being agreeably diversified with finely-timbered
woods.
At Norbiton is the Royal Cambridge Asylum for soldiers' widows, established in 1851, under the patronage
of the royal family, in memory of the
late Duke of Cambridge.
Widows of
non-commissioned officers and privates of
the Army, not under 50 years of age, are
eligible.
Each widow has a furnished
room and 7s weekly, besides a monthly
allowance of coals.
The funded income
of the charity is a little over £600, and
the estimated expenditure £2,300, the
balance being raised by subscriptions.
The Children's Convalescent Institution
is at Kingston Hill, and contains 150
beds.
The institution is open for inspection every day except Sunday.
The Children's Home for 22 girls is at 4, Park-
road-villas, Park-road.
Visitors can
inspect the Home on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons,
between 3 and 5. (And see Kingston.)
Places of Worship: St.John the Baptist, Kingston Vale; St.Peter's; and
Baptist Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan Chapels.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph).
Mails from London, 7 and 9.30am, 2.35 and 7.30pm; Sun. 7am,
Mails for London, 8.20 and 11.50am, 3.30, 4.55, 7.30, and 9pm
No London mail out on Sunday.
Fares to Waterloo: 2/-, 2/6; 2nd, 1/6,
2/-; 3rd, -/11, 1/8.
Kingston Rowing Club: this club
consists of ordinary members and three
classes of life members.
Full members
are those who live within a radius of six
miles from the club boat-house, for any
period not less than one month during
the rowing season, or who row in any
races in club boats.
Half members are
those who live beyond a radius of six
miles from the club boat-house, or resident
members of the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge and public schools.
Honorary
members shall be entitled to the use of
the club-room only.
Entrance fee for
full and half members, £1 1s; subscriptions, full members, £2 2s; half and
honorary members, £1 1s; life full members £15 15s; half, £8 8s; honorary,
£5 5s.
Election is by ballot in general,
meeting: one black ball in six excludes.
Boat-house, the Island, Surbiton.
The
Raven's Ait Company (Limited) are now
the proprietors of the island.
Colours,
scarlet and white, horizontal.
Junior Kingston Rowing Club, Sun Hotel, Kingston: Election by ballot;
one black ball in three excludes. Entrance
fee, 5s; subscriptions, £1 1s.
Boathouse,
High-street, Kingston. Colours, black and gold.
The object of the club is to encourage
the sailing of small boats, especially upon
the upper waters of the River Thames.
The officers are commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, and honorary
secretary and treasurer. The committee
consists of 7 members, in addition to
the 4 officers.
Election is by committee.
Entrance fee, £1 1s; subscription, £2 2s.
Burgee white, dark blue cross, red foul
anchor in centre of cross.
Ensign white,
dark blue cross, red foul anchor in fly.
The bridge which connects Surrey and
Middlesex, is close to the Market-place.
It is a handsome stone structure of five
arches, was opened in 1828, and freed in
1870.
It affords very pleasant views
both up and down stream.
A little below
it is the railway-bridge, Kingston station
being close to the river.
Kingston, Surrey, on the right bank,
from London 20½ miles, from Oxford 91
miles.
A station (at Surbiton) on the
main line of the London and South Western Railway, 12 miles from Waterloo;
trains take about 25 minutes.
Kingston
station is connected, via Twickenham,
with the Windsor branch of the same
railway, and is also in communication
with the Metropolitan and North London systems.
Flys meet the trains.
the Guildford Coach (see Coaching)
passes through Kingston.
Population,
about 17,000.
The town is divided into
four wards, and is governed by a high
steward, mayor, eight aldermen, and
twenty-four councillors.
It is an assize
town; the present Recorder being William
Hardman, Esq.
It is the headquarters
of the 47th Infantry Brigade Depot, and
the barracks are in King's-road; the district includes the 1st and 3rd regiments
Surrey Militia, the 1st and 2nd Administrative Battalions, and the 1st, 7th, and
12th corps of Surrey Volunteers, the latter
being the Kingston corps, with headquarters in Orchard-road.
The rifle range
- 600 yards - is near the cemetery.
Kingston, once called Kyningestun, was
a place of considerable importance in the
very early times of English history, having
been intimately connected with the Saxon
kings so far back as the ninth century
the ubiquitous Cæsar had, of course, already left his mark in the neighbourhood.
Many Roman remains and fragments of
camps have been found all about Kingston
and Wimbledon, and some writers prefer
to believe that the Romans, when in pursuit of Cassivelaunus, crossed the Thames
at Kingston, and not at Causeway or
Coway Stakes.
In 838, Kingston was
selected as the seat of the Great Council
or Wittenagemot, convened by King
Egbert, which his son Athelwolf, and
many bishops and nobles attended, the
president being Ceolnothus, Archbishop
of Canterbury.
The fact that the records
of this meeting, describing the town as
Kyningestun famosa illa locus does away
with the legend that the town derived its
name from the subsequent coronation of
Saxon kings on the stone in the market-place.
There is, however, no doubt that
such coronations did take place here, and
perhaps on the stone which is still preserved.
Leland says
"the townisch men have certen knowledge of a few kinges
crownid there afore the Conqueste".
The
names and dates of these "kinges", as recorded on the pedestal of the stone, are:
Eadweard: 902;
Adelstan: 924;
Eadmund: 943;
Eadwig: 955;
Eadweard: 975;
Ædelred:978;
{I, John Eade, editing this, feel we should not forget these Kings!}
A picturesque account of the crowning of
Adelstan will be found in Dean Hook's
"Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury".
The coronation of these kings at
Kingston appears to be sufficiently established.
Whether young Edwy, who
married his cousin Elgiva, and became,
with his unfortunate queen, the victim of
the cruelty and brutality of "Saint"
Dunstan and his friend Odo, Archbishop
of Canterbury - par nobile fratrum - was
crowned at Kingston is less certain.
The
story goes that the king withdrew early
from the rough coronation feast to seek the
society of Elgiva, and greatly excited the
wrath of the nobles.
Dunstan and Odo
were sent to bring the king back, and
forcibly dragged him from his apartments,
assailing the queen with foul and opprobrious epithets.
Unfortunately for poor
Elgiva, she had her revenge on Dunstan,
who was finally banished from the kingdom, and whose fall was bitterly avenged
by his friend Odo.
First branded with
hot irons to destroy the beauty which had
so much power over the young king, she
fell, at a later period, again into the hands of
Odo, and was cruelly put to death, the king
dying of a broken heart shortly afterwards.
In Domesday Book the town is called
Chingestune.
The townsmen received
their first and second municipal charters
from King John; that of 1209 is still
preserved.
Another charter in the possession of the corporation is one granted
by Henry III., in 1256, and subsequent
charters of Henry VI., 1441, James I.,
1603, Charles I., 1629, and finally, James
II., 1685, conferred various privileges on
the municipality and burgesses.
In 1264,
Henry III. took and destroyed Kingston
Castle, at that time the property of the
Earl of Gloucester.
For about sixty
years from the beginning of the fourteenth century the town was represented
ir Parliament.
During the great civil
war, Kingston was frequently occupied
by one or other of the contending parties,
and in 1648 Lord Francis Villiers was
killed here in a skirmish.
There is little in the present thriving
and busy town of Kingston to recall its
ancient history, unless it be the coronation stone, which has been set up and
fenced in by a gorgeous railing, close
to the Assize Courts.
The principal
business centre is the Market-place, in
the middle of which stands the Town
Hall, a modern building supported on
arches and columns, and displaying over
the southern entrance the inevitable
statue of Queen Anne, which formerly
adorned the old building.
The Council
Chamber, a handsome apartment, contains a full-length portrait of Queen Anne,
by Sir Godfrey Kneller; a drawing of
Kingston Bridge, by Edward Lapidge,
the architect; and some other pictures
of inferior merit.
The middle window
has eight very curious panes of painted
and stained glass, displaying armorial
bearings and mottoes, which are well
worth careful examination.
In the justices'
room is some good old oak carving,
formerly in the old Town Hall.
Kingston has largely increased in
importance, owing to the growth of its
suburbs, Norbiton, Surbiton, and New
Maiden; the convenience of access from
London, and the pleasant surroundings
of the neighbourhood, having attracted
a large residential population.
Along
the riverside road the authorities of Surbiton have constructed and laid out
public walks and gardens, which extend
as far as the Water-works and Raven
Eyot and Boat-houses.
From Raven Eyot
to Surbiton railway-station is by Grove-
road, nearly opposite the Ferry, about
ten minutes' walk.
The Grammar School has been rebuilt,
and was opened January 30, 1878, for
one hundred boys, including boarders.
The building, and master's house adjoining, form a handsome block of buildings,
facing London-street.
The old school-room is the only part of the old buildings
left standing.
It was built as a chapel
(chantry), and dedicated to St.Mary
Magdalene, by Edward Lovekyn, A.D. 1305.
John Lovekyn, his heir, rebuilt
the chapel and house contiguous thereto,
and improved the foundation by the addition of another chaplain; he gave to the
new foundation considerable property in
Kingston, and houses in St.Michael's,
Crooked-lane, London, where he resided.
Leland says:
"He was a native of Kingston, and was Lord Mayer in 1347,
1357, 1364, and 1365.
He was buried in
St.Michael's Church, under a large raised
tomb, having the figures of himself and
his wife in alabaster - but this was destroyed
by the Great Fire of London".
The famous William Walworth was an apprentice of John Lovekyn, and he added
another chaplain to the foundation.
The
chapel was seized by Henry VIII., and
Queen Elizabeth converted it into a school,
A.D. 1561.
In March, 1873, a new scheme
for the management of the school, in
combination with several other charities,
was issued by the Endowed Schools
Commissioners, giving 10-24ths to the
Upper Grammar School, and 7-24ths to
Tiffins's School for Boys, and 7-24ths
to Tiffins's School for Girls, for lower
middle-class children.
The buildings for
Tiffins's School stand in the Fair-field.
The fees for the Upper or Grammar
School are 10 guineas per annum, and
for the other not less than £3 nor more
than £5.
The members for Mid-Surrey,
Sir H.W.Peek and Sir T.Lawrence,
have each given a scholarship for five
years, clearing school fees.
Scholarships
are to be given at Tiffins's for boys from
the National Schools, and at the Grammar
School for scholars from Tiffins's, and,
as the funds permit, from the Grammar
School to the Universities.
There are at Kingston, Surbiton, and
Norbiton a large number of institutions
of a charitable or public character.
Some
of these will be found under their proper
headings below.
Amongst the others
may be mentioned:
the Society for
Organising Charitable Relief and Repressing Mendicity {begging}, of which the Rev.F.M.Arnold is secretary;
Cleave's Almhouses, founded by William Cleave, 1665, for the
benefit of six poor men and six poor
women, single residents of Kingston,
being over sixty years of age - the Cleave
Foundation has been augmented by the
dividends of £1,000 three Per Cents,
bequeathed by John Tilsey in the reign
of Queen Anne;
the Children's Convalescent Institute, in connection with
the Metropolitan Institution at Walton-on-Thames, is at Kingston Hill, and contains
150 beds;
the Young Men's Reading Room, Brick-lane;
the Soup Kitchen, in connection with the Charity Organisation Society;
and the Workmen's Club and Institute, Fairfield-road.
There are also the Kingston and Surbiton Horticultural and Chrysanthemum Societies.
The parish church is dedicated to All
Saints, and stands close to the Market-place.
It is a plain brick building, with
a square tower, principally of flint and
rubble, which has been very lately restored.
Adjoining the old church once
stood the chapel of St.Mary, which is
said to have been the scene of the coronation of several of the Saxon kings, and
in which their effigies were preserved.
In 1729 this building fell, and the sexton
and another man were killed.
The sexton's daughter, who was working in a
grave at the time, was saved by the falling
of a portion of a column across the
opening of the grave.
The piece of stone,
inscribed "Life preserved, 1731" is still
to be seen in the church.
The present
building consists of nave, chancel, and
north and south aisles, the latter disfigured
by galleries.
The tower contains a good
peal of ten bells.
There are numerous
monuments.
Near the chancel is a
statue in white marble, by Chantrey: a
seated figure of the Countess of Liver-
pool, who died in June, 1821.
Close by,
under a canopy on the south wall, is the
altar tomb of Sir Anthony Benn, once
recorder of Kingston, who died in 1618.
Under the canopy lies the alabaster effigy
of the deceased, in his official robes.
Also against the south wall are several
monuments of the Davidson family, one
being a white marble figure, and another
a somewhat conventional mourning figure,
with urn and drapery.
There are signs
of numerous brasses, and a few still remain.
The best is that to the memory of
Robert Skern, and Joan his wife, which
is on the south wall.
It represents two
figures, some three feet in length, is
elaborately executed, and is of the fifteenth
century.
Another brass, with two kneel-
ing figures, is on a column near the north
entrance, and records the deaths of John
and Katherine Hertcombe, who died
respectively 1488 and 1487.
The brass to
Dr.Edmund Staunton's ten children has
the following curious inscription:
Another curious epitaph is that on a memorial stone of Thos.Hayward, 1665:
Earth to earth
Ashes on Ashes lye, on Ashes tread
Ashes engrav'd these words which Ashes read
Then what poore thing is Man when any gust
Can blow his Ashes to their elder dust?
More was intended but a wind did rise
And filled with Ashes both my Mouth and Eyes.
There are a vast number of other tablets,
some curious, in the church.
The other
churches in Kingston are St.John the
Evangelist, and St.John the Baptist.
The Congregational Church, Eden-street,
was founded in 1662, by the Rev.Richard
Mayo, Vicar of Kingston, who seceded
from the Established Church on the
passing of the Act of Uniformity.
Cabstands: Kingston and Surbiton
Railway stations, and Market-place.
Cab Fares: If by distance: Not exceeding one mile, 1s; exceeding one mile - for each mile or part of a mile, 1s.
If by time: For one hour or less, 2s 6d.; above one hour, for every 15 minutes, 8d.;
for any less period, 8d.
Extra payments,
whether hired by distance or by time:
For each package carried outside, 2d; for each person above two, 6d; for each child under 10 years, 3d;
by distance - waiting, for every 15 minutes complete, 8d.
Banks: London and County, Market-place; Shrubsole and Co., 11, Market-place.
Fair: Nov. 13.
Fire: Borough Fire and Escape Brigade, Church-street (steam-engine,
escape, &c.); Volunteer Steam Fire
Brigade, London-street (steam-engine, etc.).
Hotels: "Griffin", "Sun", "Wheatsheaf", all in Market-place.
Markets: Thursday and Saturday.
Places of Worship: All Saints
(parish church); St.John the Evangelist,
Springfield-road; St.Paul's, Kingston hill; and Baptist, Congregational,
Presbyterian, Primitive Methodist, and
Wesleyan Chapels, and Friends' Meeting-house.
Police: Station, London-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph
and insurance), Eden-street.
Mails
from London, 6.30 and 9am, 4.30 and
7.30pm
Sunday, 6.30am, by letter-carrier; delivery over the counter, 8 to 10
am
Mails for London, 7.20 and 10am 12.30, 3, 4, 4.50, 8.30, and 10pm;
Sunday, 10 pm
Nearest Bridges: Kingston; up, Hampton Court about 3 miles; down, Richmond 5 miles.
Locks: up, Molesey, 3½ miles; down, Teddington 1¾ mile.
Ferry: Surbiton.
Railway Station: Surbiton and Kingston.
Fares, Kingston and Surbiton to Waterloo: 1st, 2/-, 2/6; 2nd, 1/6, 2/-; 3rd, 1/-, 1/8.
Kingston Amateur Regatta - Races in 1882. {1st edition}
Canoe Club (Royal) Office, 11, Buckingham-street, Adelphi.
- The Royal
Canoe Club Boat-house is at Turk's,
Kingston-on-Thames.
T.G.F.Winser,
Sec.
The object of the club is to
improve canoes, promote canoeing, and
unite canoeists, by arranging and recording canoe voyages, by holding meetings
annually for business and bivouac, for
paddling and sailing, and for racing and
chasing in canoes over land and water.
Any gentleman nominated by two members is eligible.
Election is by ballot,
one black ball in five to exclude.
Entrance
fee, £2; subscription, £1.
Life members,;£ 10, without entrance fee.
Ladies
are also eligible for election.
Each member on election is required to send a carte
portrait of himself for insertion in the
club album.
The officers are commodore
(H.R.H. the Prince of Wales), captain,
two mates, purser, cook, and secretary.
The club ribbon is black, with crown and
club cipher embroidered in gold.
The
club burgee is blue, with crown and
cipher in white.
The principal sailing races of the Royal
Canoe Club take place on Hendon Lake
and at Teddington.
The regatta of 1884
was held on the Thames at Teddington,
on the 28th of Tune.
Teddington Lock, a first-rate stone
lock, on the right, with a smaller lock, as
well as a roller for pleasure boats.
The
fall is nearly 9 ft, and the distance
from London 18 ½ miles, from Oxford 93
miles.
On the left is Teddington, and
an almost uninterrupted line of villas extends along that bank as far as Twickenham.
Teddington, Middlesex, on the left
bank, 18½ miles from London, 93 miles
from Oxford, a station on the South
Western Railway 13½ miles from Waterloo; the trains average forty-five minutes;
the time occupied on the alternative route
to Ludgate is much longer.
The station
is about three-quarters of a mile from
the "Anglers", near the weir.
Population, 6,500. Soil, gravel.
Teddington is a pleasant and rapidly-growing village,
with no particular claim to attention except that here is the first lock on the
river, and that at the western extremity
of the village is Bushey Park.
The church is of no particular beauty
or interest, inside or out, and is a plain
brick edifice with a whitewashed interior.
The churchyard is extremely well kept,
and is rendered as attractive as possible
with shrubs and flowers.
South of the
chancel is a heavy marble mural monument, in memory of Sir Orlando Bridgman, keeper of the seals to Charles II.,
who died in 1674.
On the north wall
over the reading desk is a mural tablet
with scrolls, skulls, and cherubs, which
commemorates that famous; actress, Peg
Woffington; or, as the inscription has it,
Margaret Woffington, spinster, who died,
aged 39, in 1700.
In the south aisle is a
conventional monument of a kneeling
lamenting female figure, by Richard
Westmacott, R.A., to W.T.Stretton,
1814.
Let into the same wall is a brass,
with male and female figures, to John
Goodyere and Thomasyn, his wife.
John
died, as nearly as can be deciphered, in
1506.
On the east wall of the south
aisle a brass inscription will be found to
"Ricardus Parsons Tontonensis", 1613.
The John Walter of The Times is buried
here, and there is a tablet to his memory
in the church.
The churches of St.
Peter and St.Paul, and St.Mark, are
both modern.
At Teddington is a Mutual Instruction
Reading Society, under the presidency
of the vicar, with circulating library of
reference, lectures, classes, &c.
Candi-
dates are admitted by ballot; the subscription is nominal.
There is also a
Horticultural Society, which held its
eighth exhibition in 1879.
The angling below this and at the weir
will repay a visit.
Very large carp are
caught here, and the dace are in plenty.
Fire: Station, Park-lane.
Hospital: Teddington and Hampton Wick Cottage, Hampton-road.
Hotels: "The Anglers", by the river; "The Clarence", near the station.
Places of Worship: St.Mark's; Mission Church; St.Mary's (parish church); SS. Peter and Paul; Christ
Church (Free Church of England); and a Wesleyan Chapel.
Police: Station, Church-road.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), High-street.
Mails from London, 6.30am, 2 and 7pm; Sunday, 6.30am,
Mails for London, 9.45am, 12.45, 4.35 and 8.30pm; no despatch on Sunday.
Nearest Bridges: up, Kingston about 2 miles; down, Richmond 3 miles.
Locks: Teddington; up, Molesey 5 miles.
Ferry: Twickenham.
Railway Station: Teddington.
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 2/-, 2/6; 2nd,
1/6, 2/-; 3rd, 1/-, 1/8.
To Ludgate, 1st,
2/-, 2/9; 2nd, 1/6, 2/3; 3rd, 1/2, 1/9.
About a mile from the lock is Eel
Pie Island, opposite which is Petersham,
and Ham House, the seat of the Earl of
Dysart, almost hidden among the trees.
On the left is Orleans House, and down
the river rises Richmond Hill, crowned
with the famous "Star and Garter".
Making the bend just below the next
island is, on the right bank, the ivy-clad
residence of the Duke of Buccleuch.
Eel-Pie Island - An Island of seven
acres off Twickenham, once in high repute
with picnic parties, but now rather out of
vogue.
The island is close to the Orleans
Club, and a fine view of Richmond Hill
is to be obtained from it.
Opposite,
almost entirely concealed by trees, is
Ham House, the seat of the Earls of
Dysart.
The river about here is inconveniently shallow at low tide, notwithstanding the persistent efforts of the
Conservators to maintain a channel by
dredging.
Nearest Post and Telegraph
Offices and Railway Station, Twickenham.
The genius loci of Twickenham, on the
opposite side of the river, is Alexander
Pope.
In this village he lived and died,
and constructed at his villa - which has
long since disappeared - the grotto, still
existing, which goes by his name.
The original "Pope's Villa", which the
poet Rogers in after times desired to purchase and to occupy, was demolished by
Lady Howe, who erected a more commodious villa on its site, which in its turn
disappeared to make room for the present
structure.
Many comments were made
on the occasion, and many accusations of
Vandalism and want of reverence were
hurled at the head of Lady Howe; but
as she spared the grotto, the removal of
the house was in due time forgiven her.
A willow once overhung the Thames
from Pope's garden, but the relic-hunters
in the course of time so chipped and cut
and lopped the tree - in admiration, not
of the tree, but of the poet - that its
vitality was destroyed.
It was cut down,
and converted most probably into snuff
boxes - in the not very remote days when
the use of snuff was almost universal.
The grotto was erected about the year
1715.
"Being", as Dr.
Johnson says in
his "Lives of the Poets", "under the
necessity of making a subterranean passage to a garden on the other side of the
road, he adorned it with fossils, and
dignified it with the name of a grotto; a
place of silence and retreat, from which
he endeavoured to persuade himself and
his friends that cares and passions could
be excluded."
His principal friends at
this time were Lords Bolingbroke and
Marchmont, who, like Pope himself, were
by far too sensible to imagine that cares
and passions could be excluded from a
spot on earth, except
The pleasant fosse, six feet by twain,
Impervious to all grief,
which, until cremation becomes the law
of sepulture, must be the final dwelling-
place of all humanity.
Pope intended to inscribe on the walls
of his grotto the following lines which he
wrote for the purpose.
Though included
in his works they do not appear to have
ever been set forth in the place for which
they were intended.
Thou who shalt stop where Thames' translucent wave
Shines, a broad mirror, through the shady cave,
Where lingering drops from mineral roofs distil,
And pointed crystals break the sparkling rill !
Unpolish'd gems no ray of pride bestow,
And latent metals innocently glow.
Approach! great Nature studiously behold,
And eye the mint, without a wish for gold !
Approach! but awful. Lo! the Egerian grot
Where, nobly pensive, St.John sat and thought,
Where British sighs from dying Wyndham stole,
And the bright flame was shot through Marchmont's soul,
Let such, such only, tread this sacred floor,
Who dare to love their country and be poor.
Strawberry Hill, the abode of Horace Walpole, author of "The Castle of Otranto", and in our day the favourite residence of the late Countess of Walde- grave, daughter of John Braham, one of the most celebrated of English vocalists, must be mentioned among the places on the banks of the Thames that recall pleasant memories of literature and song.
Petersham, Surrey, on the right bank,
a small village at the foot of Richmond
Hill.
Population, 683. Soil, sand and
gravel.
Here was once Petersham Lodge,
which was some years ago pulled down
and the grounds thrown into Richmond
Park, including the Mount, where, according to some chroniclers, Henry VI II.
stood to see the signal for the execution of
Anne Boleyn.
There must be some mistake as to this matter, for other lovers of
tradition assert that the king awaited the
signal at Ankerwycke; while we have it
on the unimpeachable authority of Mr.Harrison Ainsworth that the king waited
the firing of the signal gun in company
with Heme the Hunter in Windsor
Forest.
At Petersham is Ham House, the property of the Earl of Dysart, a rather
gloomy mansion jealously surrounded by
trees.
It contains many rare and valuable portraits and pictures, and is in
itself curious.
The church is a very small red-brick
building with brick tower, and is said to
date from 1505, though almost the only
portion bearing any signs of age is the
diminutive chancel.
This was originally
a chapel attached to the priory of Merton.
In it were discovered by the late Sir
Gilbert Scott a window of the 13th century and an oak roof, the remains of the
church as remodelled in 1505.
In the
chancel is a fine marble tomb, reaching
from the floor to the ceiling, to the
memory of some members of the Cole
family.
There are three recumbent life-size figures each leaning on its right
elbow.
Mrs.Cole wears a ruff and curious poke head-dress of the period, which
appears to be 1624.
Over George Cole
and his wife Francisca is an arch with
carved cherubs smiling down upon them
and upon the child which reposes underneath them, and which may be either a
boy or a girl, according to fancy.
Opposite to this interesting monument is a
marble mural tablet, with the chronic
skull at the base, and with the usual
accompanying cherubs and a profuse
display of armorial bearings to Sir
Thomas Jenner, who married Anne Poe,
only daughter and heiress of James
Poe, whose father, Leonard Poe, Doctor
of Physicke, was physician to Queen
Elizabeth, King James, and Charles I.
Sir Thomas Jenner was Recorder of
London, and afterwards Baron of the
Exchequer and Justice of "ye Comon Pleas".
He died in 1706-1707.
Facing
the pulpit on the right is a marble tablet
erected by the Hudson's Bay Company
to Captain Vancouver, the North Pacific explorer, who is buried in the
churchyard, which also contains the
tomb of the Duchess of Lauderdale.
The
picturesque almshouses for the reception
of six inmates were built with money left
by a lady who desired her name to remain unknown.
A handsome school for
the children of the village was built in
Richmond Park by the late Earl Russell.
At Petersham is Sudbrook Park, the well-known hydropathic establishment of Dr.Lane.
Inn: "the Dysart Arms", opposite Richmond Park Gate.
Places of Worship: St.Peter's, and a Wesleyan Chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance).
Mails from London: 7 and 9am, 2.30 and 7.25pm
For London: 8.30 and 11.25am, 4.20 and 8.20pm
Nearest Bridges: Richmond; up, Kingston 4½ miles; down, Kew 2¼ miles.
Lock: up, Teddington 3 miles.
Ferries: Petersham and Isleworth.
Nearest Railway Station: Richmond
(which see for Fares).
Richmond Bridge.
Boats may be
left either at Messenger's boat-house, or at
Wheeler's, close to the bridge.
The trip
is generally concluded here, the banks of
the river below this point presenting little
or nothing to attract the visitor.
Except,
therefore, in the case of oarsmen bound
for one of the metropolitan club-houses,
it is recommended that the boat should
finally be left at Richmond.
Richmond, Surrey, on the right bank
from London 15½ miles, from Oxford 96
miles.
A station on the Windsor branch
of the London and South Western Railway, 9¾ miles from Waterloo; average
duration of journey rather less than ½ hour.
Richmond is also in communication with
Ludgate-hill (from 1 hour to 1½ hour);
Mansion House (about ¾ hour); Broad-street (about 1 hour); and Aldgate (1
hour).
Steamboats occasionally run to
Richmond in the summer.
Population,
15,110. Soil: clay, sand, and gravel.
Richmond, one of the most favourite
excursions of Londoners of all classes,
received its present name from Henry
VII., having been previously called
Sheen, which name still survives at East
Sheen, one of the entrances to Richmond
Park.
For a long period Sheen was
a royal residence.
The first three
Edwards resided there.
The third, unable to bear the associations of the
place after it had been the scene of
the death of his wife, dismantled it, but
Henry V. restored it, and also founded a
great monastery of Carthusians, and a
grand tournament at Henry VII.'s manor
of Richmond is now on record.
Henry
VIII. also occasionally visited the Surrey
palace, and at one time lent it to Wolsey.
Queen Elizabeth was imprisoned at Richmond, where she afterwards frequently
resided, and where she died.
Part of
Charles I.'s troubled life was passed here.
The palace stood on the spot now known
as the Green, and has long since disappeared.
From a small village Richmond has
rapidly grown into a considerable town,
and building is still actively carried on.
Its convenient distance from London,
beautiful and healthy situation, and
pleasant neighbourhood, all combine to
make it attractive to those who have
daily business in town, and still want a
certain amount of fresh air, while the
railway facilities have been greatly in-
creased and improved of late years.
Houses, therefore, of all classes, from the
mansion to the cottage, have been lately
springing up in all directions.
The
principal business streets are George-street and Hill-street; the principal
residential portion of the town being
about the hill.
Nothing in the neighbourhood of London is better known or
more delightful than the view from
Richmond Hill and Terrace, and when
Sir Walter Scott described it as an unrivalled landscape, he was hardly saying
too much.
At the top of the hill is the
Great Park, some eight miles in circumference, and affording an infinite variety
of delightful walks and drives.
There
are entrances from Richmond Hill, East
Sheen, Roehampton, Wimbledon, and
Kingston.
Cabs are not admitted.
Angling in the Pen Ponds only by special
permission.
The view of Richmond Hill
and town from the river, here crossed by
a stone bridge of five arches, is extremely
good.
The Richmond Theatre, once very
popular and associated with many great
names - notably with that of Edmund
Kean - is on the Green; but in regard
to public amusements generally Richmond
is practically a London suburb, and the
Waterloo Station is too near the great
theatrical district about the Strand to
give the Richmond Theatre a very
brilliant chance.
There is a parochial
library of about 3,000 volumes and
reading-room at 2, The Quadrant.
The
subscription is 6s per annum, or 2s per
quarter, with 6d entrance fee.
Entertainments and lectures are given in the
winter months.
The Richmond Piscatorial Society has been recently established ,
with headquarters at the "Station Hotel".
"
The Associated Home Company has been
started at Richmond with the object of
providing "a private home, freed by a
joint system of board and service from
the burdens and troubles of isolated
housekeeping".
A handsome mansion
on Richmond Hill has been secured, and
board with service is charged £2 2s per
week.
Rooms are from 10s 6d, to £2 2s per week.
The church is of the hideous red brick
usual hereabouts, but unpromising as it
appears from a cursory view, it contains
many monuments of note.
Here was
buried Edmund Kean, and a tablet to his
memory, with a medallion portrait, has
been erected.
Here also the poet Thomson was interred, and a brass in the west
of the north aisle tells us: "The Earl of
Buchan, unwilling that so good a man
and sweet a poet should be without a
memorial, has denoted the place of his
interment for the satisfaction of his admirers in the year of our Lord 1792."
In the chancel on the right is a mural monument, with two principal and seven subsidiary kneeling figures in stone or alabaster,
to Lady Dorothie Wright, 1631,
and an early brass to Robert Cotton,
"officer of the remooving wardroppe of
ye beddes to Queene Marie".
On the
left is a monument with kneeling figures
to Lady Margaret Chudleigh, 1628; and
a tablet with two marble full-length angels,
by E.H.Baily, R.A., to Samuel Paynter,
who died in 1844.
In the south aisle is
a monument by Flaxman, a full-length
marble figure of a female, apparently
leaning on a pillar letter-box, to Mrs.Barbara Lowther, 1805.
This was erected
by the Duchess of Bolton, Mrs.Lowther's
sister.
In the south gallery is a mural monument, surmounted by a bust, to Robert
Lewes, who appears to have been a barrister.
This bears an odd Latin epitaph,
commencing "Eheu viator siste gradum paulisper", and ending "Abi viator et cave posthac Litiges".
As Cook's local guide observes, Robert Lewes "was
such a great lover of peace and quietness,
that when a contention arose in his body
between life and death, he immediately
gave up the ghost to end the dispute".
The remaining churches are modern
erections of no special attractiveness.
On
Richmond Hill is the Wesleyan Theological Institution for the training of
ministers.
There are almshouses for over
seventy poor people, of which Hickey's
Almshouses are said to have an income of
more than £1,000 a year.
Many celebrated names besides those
connected with the church of St.Mary
Magdalen are associated with Richmond.
Dean Swift lived in a house on the site of
the old monastery, and Thomson, the
poet, lived and died in the house now
used as the Richmond Hospital.
The
matron's sitting-room was occupied by
him, and is still called Thomson's Room.
Banks: London and County, George-street; London and Provincial, Hill-street.
Fire: Engine-station, The Square.
Hospital: The Richmond Hospital.
Hotels and Inns: "Greyhound", "King's Head", "Star and Garter",
"Station", "Talbot", "Three Pigeons".
Places of Worship: Hickey's Alms houses Chapel; Holy Trinity Church;
St.John's; St.Mary Magdalen (parish);
and St.Matthias; the Roman Catholic
Church of St.Elizabeth; and Baptist,
Congregational, Independent, Presbyterian, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan
Chapels.
Police: Metropolitan (V Division), Station, George-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings' bank, telegraph,
insurance), George-street.
Mails from London, 6.30 and 8.30am, 1.50, 3.50, 6.50, and 9pm.
No delivery on Sunday, but letters are delivered on Saturday at 9pm
Mails for London, 6.15 and 9.35am, 12.50, 3.05, 5.15, 9.15, and 10pm; Sunday, 8.30pm
Nearest Bridges: Richmond; up, Kingston 5 miles; down, Kew 3 miles.
Lock: up, Teddington, 3 miles.
Ferries: Petersham and Isleworth.
Fares to Waterloo, 1st, 1/3, 2/-; 2nd,
1/- 1/6; 3rd, 9d, 1/3.
To Broad-street,
1st, 1/6, 2/3; 2nd, 1/2, 1/8; 3rd, 1/-, 1/6.
To Ludgate-hill or Mansion House, 1st, 1/6, 2/3; 2nd, 1/3, 1/9; 3rd, 1/-, 1/6.
To the Tower, 1st, 1/8, 2/6; 2nd, 1/4, 1/11; 3rd, 11d, 1/8
Richmond, and beautiful Richmond
Park, one of the favourite resorts of
Londoners when they make holiday, are
closely associated with the life and labours
of James Thomson, author of the almost
forgotten series of poems, "The Seasons",
and the national anthem of "Rule Britannia", not heard in our day so
frequently as in the last generation.
Here
he lived and died, a prosperous and contented gentleman, and here he was buried.
The latter fact is celebrated by some
beautiful lines of his brother poet Collins,
the author of the famous "Ode to the
Passions".
An American poet, traveller, and diplo-
matist, the late Bayard Taylor, was taken
on his first visit to England to dine at
the "Star and Garter" (the old original
"Star and Garter", the retreat of King
Louis Philippe and his family after his
flight from Paris in 1848, since destroyed
by fire), and from all he had heard and
read expected to find the view from Richmond Hill surpassingly beautiful.
He
admired the silvery winding and meanderings of the Thames, as seen from the
gardens of the hotel, but on the whole
he experienced a feeling of disappointment with the over-vaunted charm of the
landscape.
"It is fine, no doubt, but it
sadly wants clearing!" He spoke in this
respect not as a poet, but as a backwoodsman, whose first thought in America
when he sees a vast expanse of what he
calls "timber" is to cut it down, to facilitate the operations of the plough.
The popular song, "The Lass of Richmond Hill", which has been a favourite
of the English people for three-quarters
of a century, is supposed to have been
inspired by admiration of some fair unknown who resided on the Terrace.
It
has been ascribed to the Prince of Wales,
afterwards George IV., who, however,
was quite innocent of its perpetration.
The music was the composition of Hook,
the father of Theodore Hook, the celebrated novelist; and the poetry, which
scarcely deserves the name, except in a
country where unfortunately any doggrel
passes muster for a song, was written,
according to the authority of Sir Henry
Bishop, by one Upton, who wrote
many scores of similar effusions for
the once popular open-air concerts at
Vauxhall Gardens.
There have been
many controversies to determine, if possible, whether Richmond in Surrey or
Richmond in Yorkshire were the abode of
the real or possibly fabulous beauty of the
song; but the probability is that there
was no such person except in the fancy
of Mr.Upton.
1894: Richmond Half tide weir and lock opened]
Isleworth, Middlesex, on the left
bank; from London 15 miles, from Oxford
96½ miles.
A station on the South
Western Railway 12 miles from Waterloo.
Trains average about 40 minutes, or from
Ludgate-hill about an hour and a half.
Population, about 12,000. Soil, light.
Isleworth, known to Doomsday Book
as Ghistelworde, and called in Elizabeth's
time Thistleworth, is a place of some
antiquity; but is now generally known in
consequence of its market gardens, which
are very numerous and prolific.
Here,
also, are extensive flour mills, cement
works, &c.
Close to the little town is
Syon House, the seat of the Duke of
Northumberland.
It is a large, plain
mansion facing the river, and stands on
the site of a nunnery founded in the time
of Henry V.
In the natural course of
events the nunnery was dissolved by
Henry VIII.
It was given by Edward
VI too Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and
after several confiscations was finally
granted, in 1604, to the Earl of Northumberland, who built the present house.
The well-known Lion from Northumberland House, Strand, having retired from
public life, now takes his ease at Syon.
Half a mile above Syon House is the
Church Ferry, and another ferry is above
the eyots, half a mile nearer Richmond.
Among the local institutions are the
Isleworth and St.John's Working Men's
Clubs, and the Public Reading-room and
Library.
The subscription to the latter
is 5s annually, 1s 6d quarterly.
The
Reading-room is in South-street.
Opposite the Church Ferry is the Green School,
a red brick building, erected in 1861 by
the late Duchess of Northumberland.
This school is endowed to clothe and
educate 40 girls between the ages of seven
and fourteen.
The Blue Schools are for
girls and boys.
In addition to various
places of worship is a Roman Catholic
convent.
The list of charities and alms-houses is very extensive.
The parish church, All Saints, was
rebuilt in 1705, and restored in 1866.
It
is a fine building, with a remarkably
beautiful ivy-covered tower.
In it are
some good brasses, one of the 15th century, and one in front of the Duke of
Northumberland's pew to the memory of
Margaret Dely, who died 1561, having
been a nun at Syon when it was restored
to its original purposes by Queen Mary.
Fire: Volunteer Fire Brigade, Station-house-square.
Inns: " London Apprentice", Church-street; "Northumberland Arms", Brentford End; "Orange Tree", Mill Bridge.
Places of Worship: All Saints (parish), St.John the Baptist, and St.Mary's;
the Roman Catholic Church of St.Mary Immaculate and St.Bridget, and the Convent Chapels; also Congregational and
Wesleyan Chapels, and Friends' Meeting
House.
Police: Metropolitan (T Division), Station, Worple-road.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance).
Mails from London, 7
and 9am, 2.30 and 6.45pm (Saturdays, 8.30pm) No Sunday delivery.
Mails for London, 6.15 and 9.45am, 12.45, 5.15, and 9.30pm; Sundays, 9pm
Nearest Bridges, up, Richmond about
½ mile; down, Kew about 2 miles.
Lock,
up, Teddington, 3J miles.
Ferries: Isleworth and Brentford.
Railway Station:
Isleworth.
Fares to Waterloo and Ludgate-hill:
1st, 1/2, 1/9; 2nd, 1/-, 1/6; 3rd, 10d, 1/4.
Brentford, Middlesex, on the left
bank, from London 13 miles, from Oxford
98½ miles, nearly opposite Kew; a station
on the London and South- Western Railway 10½ miles from Waterloo.
Trains
average 35 minutes.
There are alternative
routes to Ludgate (about 1 hour) and
Paddington (about 45 minutes).
Population, 11,091.
Soil, London clay.
Brentford has been described as a
tedious town
For dirty streets and white-legged
chickens known;
and although the chickens are no longer
a specialty, the streets are still open to
improvement.
The place, now divided
into Old and New Brentford, is in fact, a
bustling, busy, metropolitan water-side
district rather than a self-contained town,
and has the untidiness characteristic of
such places.
The river Brent enters the
Thames here, and at its mouth are the extensive docks of the Great Western Railway, where whole fleets of barges discharge
and take in cargoes.
Many important
manufactures are carried on in both parts
of the town.
The town-hall, the post-office, and other public buildings are in
New Brentford.
The church of Old
Brentford is dedicated to St.George, and
is a plain brick building of no great
antiquity, with an altar-piece by Zoffany,
who lived at Strand-on-the-Green, just
below Kew Bridge.
It is in contemplation to build a new church, and to this
end a site costing £2,200 has been secured.
The church of New Brentford is dedicated
to St.Lawrence, and, except the tower,
which is of great antiquity, dates from
about the middle of the last century.
St.
Paul's Church, Old Brentford, was built
in 1868.
Bank: London and County, High street.
Hotels: "Star and Garter"; "Kew Bridge Castle"; "New Brentford".
Market: Tuesday.
Places of Worship: St.George's; St.Lawrence; St.Paul's; and the Roman
Catholic Church of St.John the Evangelist.
Police: Station (T division, Metropolitan), High-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
insurance).
Mails from London, 7 and 8am, 2.40, 6.45, and 8.20pm.
Sunday, over counter, 8 to 10 am.
Mails for London, 6.15 and 9.30am, 12.40, 3, 5, 8.15, and 9.50pm.
Sunday, 9pm.
Nearest Bridges, up, Richmond 2½ miles; down, Kew ½ mile.
Lock, up, Teddington, 5¼ miles.
Ferry and Railway Station, Brentford.
Fares to Waterloo or Ludgate: 1st, 1/-, 1/6; 2nd, -/10, 1/2; 3rd, -/8, 1/-.
To Paddington: 1st, 1/6, 2/3; 2nd, 1/2, 1/9; 3rd, -/10.
Kew, Surrey, on the right bank; from
London 12½ miles, from Oxford 99 miles.
Kew Bridge is a station on the South
Western Railway, 9¼ miles from Waterloo;
trains take about half an hour.
There is
another route to Ludgate-hill, trains,
average 1¼ hour.
The Kew Gardens
station is on the Surrey side, and is in
connection with most of the Metropolitan
Railway stations, via District, &c.
The
Kew Bridge station is on the Middlesex
side, the two counties being here connected by a stone bridge, where there is
also a steamboat pier.
Population, 1033. Soil, gravel.
Like most villages near London, Kew
is losing most of its distinctive features,
and but for the quaint old green with its
picturesque surroundings, there is little
to remind of the Kew of even twenty years
ago.
By the side of Kew Green is Cambridge Cottage, and near it an entrance
to the magnificent Botanical Gardens,
among the finest in the world.
Kew Gardens are not only among the
most favourite resorts of the London
holiday-maker, but have special value to
the botanist and horticulturist.
The
judicious expenditure of public money
has made the gardens and houses at
Kew almost unique among public institutions of the kind.
Here are to be seen
flourishing in an atmosphere of their own,
though in an uncongenial climate, the
most beautiful tropical palms, plants,
ferns, fern-trees, and cacti; and the
pleasure-grounds and arboretum contain
in endless and exhaustive profusion specimens of the flowers, shrubs, and trees
indigenous to Great Britain.
Attached
to the gardens is a valuable museum of
useful vegetable products.
The Gardens
are at present open free to the public every
day in the week, Sundays included, in the
afternoon; the morning hours being reserved for the necessary work of the
gardeners, curators, and a few favoured
students.
On Bank Holidays, however,
the Gardens are opened at 10am.
Kew Palace was built by Sir Hugh
Portman during the reign of James I.,
and is close to the gardens.
It is a plain
building of red brick, and, like many
other plain things and people, was high
in favour with George III. and Queen
Charlotte.
The Church of St.Anne was built in
1714, and enlarged in 1840.
It is chiefly
noteworthy for its graveyard, which contains the tombs of many celebrated men,
amongst them being Gainsborough and
Zoffany, the latter having been a resident
of Strand-on-the-Green just across the
river.
Gainsborough was not a resident
in the neighbourhood, but was buried
here by his own desire.
A brief inscription on the stone records Gainsborough's
death, and in the church is a tablet to his
memory, erected by E.M.Ward, R.A.
In Kew churchyard also lie Meyer the
painter, and Sir William Hooker, the late
director of the Botanic Gardens.
To the
east of the church is the mausoleum of
the late Duke of Cambridge.
The following curious epitaph is inscribed on a slab
at the entrance to the church:
Here lyeth the bodys of Robert and Ann Plaistow,
late of Tyso, near Edy Hill,
died August the 28, 1728.
At Tyso they were born and bred,
And in the same good lives they led
Until they came to marriage state,
Which was to them most fortunate.
Near sixty years of mortal life
They were a happy man and wife;
And being so by nature tied,
When one fell sick the other died,
And both together laid in dust
To wait the rising of the just.
They had six children, born and bred,
And five before them being dead,
Their only one surviving son
Hath caus'd this stone for to be done.
The foundation stone of the Queen's
Free School for boys and girls was laid
by William IV.; the Queen and Royal
Family, especially the Cambridge branch,
are liberal benefactors.
Inns: "Star and Garter", Middlesex side;
"Coach and Horses", "Greyhound", "Cumberland Arms", Kew-road;
"King's Arms", "Rose and Crown", the Green.
Place of Worship: St.Anne's.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph).
Mails from London, 7 and 8.30am, 2.20, 6.30, and 8.40pm; Sunday, 7.30am
Mails to London, 6.15, 9.40am, 12.50, 5.10, and 9.05pm; Sunday, 9.15pm
Nearest bridge: Kew; nearest Bridges: up, Richmond 3 miles; down, Hammersmith 4 miles.
Lock: up, Teddington about 6 miles.
Ferry: Kew, above the Eyots.
Railway Station: Kew.
Fares to Waterloo: 1st, 1/-, 1/6; 2nd, 9d, 1/2; 3rd, 8d, 1/-
Kew Gardens to Mansion House: 1st, 1/2, 1/9; 2nd, 1/-, 1/4; 3rd, 9d, 1/2.
Grove Park Rowing Club, Chiswick.
Amateur: Election by ballot in committee, one "negative vote" in five to exclude.
Entrance fee, a £1 share in the Grove Park Boat-house Company (Lim.).
Subscription, £1 11s 6d.; honorary members, £1 1s.
Colours, red, black, and yellow. Club-house, Grove-park, Chiswick.
Established 1878.
Subscriptions, rowing members,
£1 10s; coxswains, 10s.
; honorary members, £1 1s.
Entrance fee of £1 1s. may be remitted in certain cases.
Election by
ballot in general meeting; one black ball
in six excludes.
Colours, maroon, black, and light blue.
Boathouse, Maynards, Chiswick.
Chiswick, London, S.W., on the
left bank.
A waterside suburb about 5
miles west of Hyde Park Corner, rapidly
being swallowed up by the advancing
tide of buildings.
Hogarth died here,
and is buried in the churchyard.
Rousseau also lived here, boarding at a little
grocer's shop.
The gardens of the Horticultural Society lie on the Turnham-green side.
Chiswick Church is situated
at the west-end of the pleasant riverside
walk known as the Mall; and just
opposite lies Chiswick Eyot, a well-known
landmark in champion and University
boat-races.
There is a ferry here from
the bottom of Chiswick-lane, in Middlesex, to Ferry-lane, leading to Barnes
Common, in Surrey.
Chiswick may be
reached by rail from Waterloo, Ludgate-hill, and Mansion House.
Mortlake, London, S.W.: On the
right bank from a river point of view, is
chiefly noticeable as being the terminus
of the championship and University
boat-races.
From Waterloo (about 25
min.). 1st, 1/-, 1/6; 2nd, 10d, 1/3; 3rd, 8d, 1/-.
Nearest Bridge, Kew.
On the right
bank of the Thames between Putney and
Mortlake, and a good place for a view of
the Oxford and Cambridge Boat-race.
Barnes-common, in actual extent 135
acres, 15 of which, however, are now
absorbed by the railway, is open and
airy, and villas are rising rapidly all
round it.
It is one of the best kept
commons round London, and, moreover,
marches with Wimbledon Common and
Putney Heath, so that the extent of open
ground immediately around is really very
large.
There is a capital terrace with
good houses fronting the river, and at
high water the view is pretty enough.
At certain states of the tide, however,
there is somewhat more mud on view
than is altogether desirable.
From
Waterloo (about 20 min.), 1st: 9d, 1/0d;
2nd: 7d, -/10; 3rd: 6d, 8d.
From Ludgate-hill (45 min.), 1st: 1/-, 1/6; 2nd: 10d, 1/3; 3rd, 8d, 1/-.
Nearest Bridge, Hammersmith.
Ranelagh Club, Barn Elms, on the
right bank: On much the same principles
as the Hurlingham.
Entrance fee, £10 10s.,
and annual subscription, £5 5s.
Members
are entitled to admit two ladies with free
passes, and may give vouchers of admission on payment to as many friends
as they please.
The price of admission
to members' friends is 10s, except on
such day as the committee may appoint,
when it is raised to 20s
No person is
eligible for membership who is not received
in general society.
The election is in
the hands of the committee.
At least
five members must vote, and one black
ball in five excludes.
Barnes and Mortlake Amateur Regatta was originally founded in 1852,
and has been held every year since without intermission.
The course is between
Maynard's boat-house at Strand-on-the-green and Barnes railway-bridge, a
distance of about one and a half mile,
and races are rowed up or down accord-
ing to the tide.
About £100 worth of
prizes is annually distributed, and for the
senior four-oared race there is a challenge-
cup, value £75.
Winners of the Challenge Cup:
1862 London Rowing Club.
1863 London Rowing Club.
1864 Kingston Rowing Club.
1865 Kingston Rowing Club.
1866 London Rowing Club.
1867 London Rowing Club.
1868 London Rowing Club.
1869 London Rowing Club.
1870 London Rowing Club.
1871 London Rowing Club.
1872 Thames Rowing Club.
1873 Thames Rowing Club.
1874 London Rowing Club.
1875 Thames Rowing Club.
1876 Thames Rowing Club.
1877 Thames Rowing Club.
1878 London Rowing Club.
1879 Thames Rowing Club.
1880 Thames Rowing Club.
1881 Thames Rowing Club.
1882 Not rowed, owing to the committee
having accepted the entry of the American Hillsdale Crew, and the Thames
and London Clubs therefore declining
to compete.
1883 London Rowing Club.
1884 Grove Park Rowing Club.
[Detailed results omitted - Regatta, July 26, 1884]
Junior Sculls (rowed up):
Eights (rowed up).
Junior Fours (rowed up).
The Fitzgerald Challenge Cup for Public School Fours (rowed down).
Senior Pairs (rowed down).
Local Fours (for the Committee Challenge Cup) (rowed down).
Senior Sculls (rowed down).
Senior Fours (Barnes Challenge Cup) (rowed down).
Hammersmith, London, S.W:
On
the left bank, is chiefly remarkable on the
river for the Mall, just above the bridge,
which contains, besides some modern
houses, a few remnants of the Anne and
Georgian periods.
Below bridge the bank
is more commercial and less pleasing.
A
suspension bridge, with carriage road,
spans the river at this point, and was for
many years a favourite and cheap grand
stand on the University Boat-race day.
Regard for the public safety has induced
the authorities to close it during the race.
It is now (1885) being rebuilt.
At Hammersmith are the headquarters of a
number of rowing clubs, and Biffen's well known boat-house is on the Mall-road.
Nearest Railway Stations: District and Metropolitan, Broadway;
Omnibus Routes, Hammersmith, and Hammersmith and Barnes;
Steamboat Pier: Hammersmith.
Election by ballot in committee, one
black ball in six excludes.
Entrance fee,
10s.; subscription, active members,
£1 10s.; honorary members, 10s. 6d.
Boathouse, Biffen's, The Mall, Hammersmith.
Motto, Per ardua stabilis.
Colours, purple and white.
Kensington Rowing Club: Headquarters, Biffen's, Hammersmith.
Election
by ballot, either at general or committee
meeting; two adverse votes at a committee, or four at a general meeting, excluding.
Entrance fee, 10s 6d; Subscription, 30s acting members; 21s honorary members.
Boathouse, Biffen's, Hammersmith. Colours, pink and black.
[1897: Leander Club moved to Henley]
Leander Club: this old-established
rowing club (sometimes called the "Brilliants") consists of members and honorary members; the subscription for the
former is £2 2s, for the latter £1 1s.
Members of the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge are only liable to a subscription of 10s 6d per annum so long
as they are resident undergraduates.
The election of members is entrusted to
the committee.
Colours, red. Boat-house, Biffen's, Hammersmith.
Metropolitan Railway Rowing Club, Hammersmith:
Election: Either
majority at the general meeting on election of officers, or afterwards by the
officers.
Boat-house: Biffen's, Hammersmith. Colours, blue and violet.
London Hospital Rowing Club, Hammersmith:
Subscription: Effective members, 10s 6d; hon members, "not less than 10s 6d"
Candidates for membership shall become members on giving in their names and subscriptions to the
secretary.
Boat-house: Biffen's, Hammersmith. Colours: red and black stripe.
Badge: red and black oar, serpent and garter. Motto: Celer et certus.
North London Rowing Club, Hammersmith:
Election is by ballot in general meeting: one black ball in five
excludes.
Entrance fee, £1 1s, subscription, £1 10s.
Colours, dark blue and light blue vertical. Boat-house, Biffen's, Hammersmith.
Occidental Rowing Club, Hammersmith: Election by ballot of members,
not less than fifteen to vote, one blackball
in five to exclude.
Entrance fee, 10s 6d;
subscription, £1 10s.
Headquarters,
Biffen's, the Mall, Hammersmith. Colours, blue, black, and gold diagonals.
London Sailing Club: Club-house,
The Rutland Hotel, the Mall, Hammersmith.
The officers are Commodore, vice and rear-Commodores, Treasurer, and hon secretary, who with eight members constitute the committee both for sailing and
general purposes.
Election is by ballot
in general meeting: one black ball in four
excludes.
Entrance fee, 10s 6d. Subscription: owners of boats, £1 1s; non-owners, or honorary members, 10s 6d.
Burgee, blue with yellow dolphin.
Not many years ago the annual eight-oared race
between the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge was an event which concerned
only the crews, their friends, the members
of the Universities, and that small portion
of the general public which took pleasure
in river sports.
It was a quiet, friendly
sort of gathering enough in those days.
The comparatively few people who
watched the practice of the crews all
seemed to know each other.
It was a
wonderful week for parsons.
Past University oarsmen, their jerseys exchanged
for the decorous high waistcoat, the white
choker taking the place of the rowing-man's muffler, were to be met all over
Putney, and about Searle's yard and the
London Boat-house.
The towing-path
was a sort of Rialto or High 'Change,
on which old friends met and renewed
their youth as they talked over old times,
and criticised their successors.
There
were but few rowing-clubs then; the
river had not become the fashion; the
professional touts and tipsters had not
fastened on the boat-race; the graphic
reporter as yet was not.
There was
betting, of course, but it was of a modest
kind, and was unaccompanied by publicity.
The whole had the ring of true
sport about it.
It seemed indeed to be
the only event that kept alive that idea of
sport for its own sake which was fast
fading out, if it was not already extinct,
in most other contests.
Of course it was too good to last.
The popularising
process was not likely to spare the boat-race.
First of all aquatics generally grew
more in favour, and so a larger public
was attracted to take an interest in the
battle of the blues.
Then the newspapers
took the subject up, and the graphic
reporter worked his will with the race and
its surroundings, and the extraordinary
multiplication of sporting newspapers
and sporting articles in papers of all
sorts, let loose any number of touts on
to the towing-path.
Finally the ominous
announcement of "Boat-race, 5 to 4 on
Oxford (taken in hundreds)", and the
like began to appear in the price current
of Tattersall's; and the whole character
of the race was changed.
What the
blue fever is now, and has been for some
years, every Londoner knows well.
Perhaps it is because the boat-race is the
first of the spring events - as it were, the
first swallow which indicates at least the
possibility of a summer - perhaps it is
because of the very natural readiness that
exists among the masses to take advantage of any excuse for a holiday; perhaps
it is because of the sheep-like tendency
of the British public of all classes to
follow a leader of any kind anywhere,
that the complaint assumes so epidemic
a form with every recurring spring.
It
is certain, at all events, that for some
time before the race there is taken in it
- or affected to be taken, which does
just as well - an interest which has about
it even something ludicrous.
Every scrap
of gossip about the men and their boats,
their trials and their coaches, is greedily
devoured.
Year by year, to gratify the
public taste in that direction, has the
language of the industrious gentlemen
who describe the practice become more
and more candid, not to say personal.
The faults and peculiarities of individual
members of the crews are criticised in
some quarters in terms which might be
considered rude if applied to a favourite
for the Derby, who presumably does not
read the sporting papers, and which,
when used in speaking of gentlemen who
may perhaps have feelings to be hurt,
seems to the unprejudiced mind even
offensive.
The gushing reporter not
only attends the race itself, but disports
himself on the towing-path after his
peculiar and diverting fashion on practice
days, and daily develops the strangest
conglomeration of views on matters
aquatic in the greatest possible number
of words.
All sorts of dodges, borrowed
from some of the shabbiest tricks of the
"horse-watcher's" trade, are adopted
by touts, amateur and professional,
to get at the time of the crews
between certain points, or over the
whole course.
The race is betted upon
as regularly as the Derby, as publicly,
and as generally.
Cabmen, butcher boys,
and omnibus drivers sport the colours of
the Universities in all directions: the
dark blue of Oxford and the light blue of
Cambridge fill all the hosiers' shops, and
are flaunted in all sorts of indescribable
company.
Every publican who has a
flag-staff hoists a flag to mark his
preference and to show which way his
crown or so has gone - unless, as
is sometimes the case, he be a dispassionate person with no pecuniary
interest involved, in which case he impartially displays the banners of both
crews.
Everybody talks about the race,
and it generally happens that the more
ignorant of the matter is the company the
more heated is the discussion, and the
more confident and dogmatic the opinions
expressed.
That thousands and thousands
of people go down to the river on the
important day who do not know one end
of a boat from the other, who have no
prospect of seeing anything at all, and
no particular care whether they do see
anything or not, is not surprising.
That
other thousands go, knowing perfectly
well that all they are likely to see is a
mere glimpse of the two crews as they
dash by, perhaps separated by some
boats' lengths after the real struggle is
all over, is equally natural.
Thousands
and thousands of people go to the Derby
on exactly the same principles.
That
any has claimed the boat-race for his own
is only to say that he is there as he is
everywhere, and that circumstance is not
perhaps to be laid to the charge of the
boat-race.
But the fact is, and becomes
more and more plain every year, that the
boat-race is becoming vulgarised - not in
the sense that it is patronised and in
favour with what are called "common
people", but in the sense that it has got
to be the centre of most undesirable
surroundings- and that its removal from
metropolitan waters would not be lamented by real friends of the Universities, or
lovers of genuine sport.
It is not so
bad as the Eton and Harrow cricket
match, which has been utterly vulgarised
by "society", genuine and sham, and
for which there is no kind of excuse
or reason.
The University crews
cannot meet each other on their own
waters, as cricketers can play upon each
other's grounds.
They must have a neutral
course to row upon.
It is probable, before
very long, that it will occur to the authorities that there are other suitable pieces
of water in England besides the Putney
course, and that there is no reason whatever why, if the annual vexata quæstio of
the rowing superiority of the rival Universities is all that is to be taken into
account, the race should not be rowed elsewhere.
The managers of the race or their
friends have shown signs of some confusion
of mind on this head on more than one
occasion.
Protests have gone forth that
it is a private match with which the public
have nothing to do.
The crowding of
spectators to see the practice - and as
many people go nowadays to Putney on
a Saturday afternoon, if there be a good
tide, as used to go to the race itself twenty
years ago - has been complained of.
The
general exhibition of interest has been
deprecated.
It has been intimated that
all this newspaper publicity is distasteful
and undesirable.
In some strange way
the boat devoted to the service of the
general body of the press on the day of
the race is always either so slow a tub as
to be of little use, or else meets with some
mysterious accident which deprives its
occupants of any but a very distant view
of the proceedings, while their more fortunate brethren, who happen to have
been educated at Oxford or Cambridge,
are careering gaily after the racing boats
on board one of the University steamers.
The independent sporting papers say
that accurate information has become
more and more difficult to get, and newspaper reports - except in special quarters
- are, following out the private-match
theory, discouraged as much as possible.
But it is all to no purpose.
The boat-race can never shake off its surroundings
so long as it continues to be rowed at
Putney.
Change of air will, in all probability, shortly be found necessary to
restore it to a healthy condition - a
condition in which it certainly is not
now.
As matters stand at present, the race
is rowed annually, about the Saturday
before Passion Week, between Putney
and Mortlake, usually with the flood-tide,
although occasionally the reverse course
has been taken.
The crews are generally
at Putney for a fortnight or more for practice, a very much longer period of training
on the tidal water being considered necessary now than was the case in the earlier
years of the match.
Four steamers only
accompany the race: one for the umpire,
one for either University, and one for the
press; and although this arrangement is
decidedly an advantage from the point of
view of the public safety, the spectators
about Hammersmith and Barnes lose a
singular sight.
The charge through the
bridges of the twenty steamers or so
which used to be chartered to accompany
the race was something to see; but
although it was magnificent it was not
safe, and it was fortunate that the Conservancy regulations stopped it before
some terrible accident occurred.
That
nothing very serious ever happened in
that fleet of overcrowded, swaying, bumping, jostling boats was an annual cause
for wonder; and it became sometimes,
when one was on board one of the
fleet as it approached Hammersmith,
matter for rather serious consideration to
speculate at what particular moment the
mass of spectators on the suspension bridge would break it down and plunge
with the ruins into the river.
Fortunately
the bridge stood long enough for the
official mind to be exercised on the subject before anything happened, and it is
now wisely closed during and for some
time before and after the race.
The best
points of view are at Chiswick, on Barnes
Terrace, or, best of all, perhaps, on
Barnes Railway Bridge, tickets for which
are to be had at Waterloo Station.
Otherwise, railway travelling between London
and Mortlake cannot be recommended
on boat-race days - for ladies at all
events.
The Universities rowed their first match
over a course of two miles and a quarter
at Henley, and have met 40 times over
the London course, as will be seen by
the subjoined table, with the result that
Oxford has won 21, and Cambridge 18
races, while the race of 1877 was given by
the judge as a dead heat.
It is significant
of the kind of influences that now prevail
that this decision was productive of
much discontent, and that the judge, who
had officiated for a long period, was in
the following year superseded.
Of course
all sorts of improvements have been made
in the boats in which the competitors
row, the introduction of outriggers in
1846 and the adoption of sliding-seats in
1873 being the most radical alterations;
but it is noticeable that from some cause
or another the sliding-seats, which the
modern rowing-man looks upon as an
absolute necessity, do not seem to have
increased the pace of the boats - if the
time test goes for anything, that is to say.
This is the more remarkable, as rowing
men appear to be agreed that a crew
rowing in fixed seats would have no
chance against opponents of exactly
equal merit on slides.
It may be that
the times taken before the days of
chronographs were not exactly trustworthy.
However it may be explained,
the fact remains.
It will be seen that success has often
favoured one or other of the Universities
for a series of years, only to go over to
the other side for another series.
The
most important consecutive score is that
of Oxford, from 1861 to 1869.
In 1829 Oxford beat Cambridge easily over
2¼ miles at Putney, in 14 min 30 sec.
[ One hesitates to challenge such an authority as Charles Dickens - but the 1829 first university boatrace was over a 2¼ mile course
at Henley. See here. The time I have was 14 min 40 secs.]
On five occasions the Universities have met in their heats for the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley with the following results:
Also at the Thames Regatta, 1844, Oxford
beat Cambridge.
This is what maybe called the Morrison
era, as the brothers Morrison were either
in the boat or coaching during the whole,
or the greater part, of that period, and finer
crews than some of those which comprised
such men as Darbishire, Willan, Tinne,
the Morrisons, Hoare, Yarborough, Woodgate - to mention only a few names - have
never been sent to Putney.
Then Cambridge, who had persevered with the
utmost pluck through most disheartening
difficulties and defeat, learnt the proper
lesson from Morrison, and the light blue
once more came to the front under the
auspices of Goldie.
After this admirable
stroke and sound judge, who did wonders
for Cambridge rowing, came Rhodes,
and plenty of good men have since been
found to do battle at Putney for the
honour of Cambridge.
Different times have been given by
different authorities as the duration of
the race in the last few years.
In one
case two of the most trustworthy are at
issue as to a matter of half a minute, so
there must evidently be some mistake
somewhere.
The times adopted in the
preceding list are those given by the
editor of the "Rowing Almanack", a
thorough good judge of rowing, who has
had many years' experience of timing
races, and, being invariably careful, is
presumably accurate.
Putney, on the right bank, rather
more than 7 miles from London, is a
considerable suburb grafted on to an
old-fashioned High-street and water
frontage.
It is the headquarters of
London rowing, and during the fortnight
before the University Boat-race and the
period of the Volunteer encampment at
Wimbledon is a very lively and bustling
place.
At other times there is little
to attract any but rowing men.
A
most inconvenient, and even dangerous,
bridge (now being rebuilt) connects Putney
with Fulham, and a little above is an aqueduct of singularly unprepossessing exterior.
Putney is a station on the London
and South Western Railway, about twenty
minutes from London, and is a stopping
place for steamers in the summer.
Omnibuses run from the City, via the Strand
and Piccadilly, to the Fulham end of
Putney Bridge.
Fares: 1st, 9d, 1/-; 2nd, 7d, 10d; 3rd, 5d, 8d.
The Thames Rowing Club was founded in 1861 as a pleasure club only.
Its headquarters were then at Simmons's.
There were very few members at first, but
the numbers rapidly increased, and in
1862, when club races were first started,
the club numbered nearly 150.
In
1877 the Thames Boathouse Company
(Limited) was formed for the purpose
of providing a boat and club house
for the club.
Money was raised by
means of shares, the club and the company being kept quite distinct.
The
result has been the construction, at a
cost of more than £3,000, of the present
Thames Boat-house, on a site about 300
yards above that of the London.
The
club at present numbers over 400 members.
The subscription for new members
is £2 2s a year, with an entrance fee of
£1 11s 6d.
A payment of £12 12s, or
£7 7s after five years' full membership, entitles anyone to an honorary life
membership.
The election is by ballot
in general meeting; one black ball in
five excluding.
Colours, red, black, and white.
London Rowing Club, Putney, was founded in 1856.
In 1869, for the purpose of borrowing funds for the
erection of a new boat-house, the
members formed themselves into the
London Boat-house Co., Limited,
which was duly incorporated in
January, 1870.
The new house was
opened in January, 1871, and some
additions were made to it in 1875.
The
sum expended was nearly £3,000, and
the money was raised by debentures,
some of which are drawn by lot for payment in each year.
The number of
members is upwards of 500.
The election of members is by ballot in
general meeting: one black ball in five
excludes.
Entrance £2, being the cost of
a share in the Boat-house Co., on which
there is no further liability.
Subscription,
£2 2s.
A payment of £15 15s at the
time of election, or of £7 17s 6d after
five years' membership, constitutes a life-membership.
The share reverts to the
company on resignation, forfeiture, or
expulsion of a member.
Sons, brothers,
or nephews of members may be elected
by ballot in general meeting under certain
restrictions as cadet members, but the
cadet member at the time of his election
must not be less than ten years of age,
and not more than sixteen; he must be
able to swim, and cadet membership
ceases at the age of eighteen.
Cadets
pay no subscriptions or entrance fee.
Boat-house: Putney. Colours, blue and white vertical stripes.
Members who have passed an examination, and have
qualified as "oarsmen", are also entitled
to wear a silver badge.
Metropolitan Amateur Regatta, Putney.
This regatta, which was founded
in 1866, arose out of a challenge given
by the West London Rowing Club to
the London Rowing Club in the previous
year for a junior eight-oared match.
Other clubs connected with the then
existing Amateur Rowing Clubs Association joined in, and several crews started,
with the result that the final heat from
Putney to Chiswick Church was won by
the London Rowing Club Crew, the
Thames being second, and the West
London third.
The event was so successful that it was decided to establish an
annual regatta on the Putney water, and
a large amount being collected amongst
the members of the associated clubs and
others, valuable - perhaps even too valuable - challenge prizes were bought, and
the regatta was duly started under the
management of the association.
That
body, however, experienced the fate that
has befallen so many attempts at combination amongst amateur clubs, and
was in a short time dissolved.
Since then
the management of the regatta has been
in the hands of the London Rowing
Club, the members of which subscribe
and collect among their friends by far the
greater portion of the money required to
carry on the regatta, which takes place
on the first available tide after Henley,
when it is high water at about 5pm,
that is to say.
The course - about a mile and three-quarters - is from Putney to Hammersmith, or vice versa, according to the state
of the tide.
The winners of the challenge
cups are as follows:
The Hurlingham Club, on the left bank
a short distance below Putney Bridge
the club is instituted for the purpose of
providing a ground for pigeon-shooting,
polo, lawn-tennis, &c, surrounded with
such accessories and so situated as to
render it an agreeable country resort, not
alone to those who take part in pigeon-shooting and polo, but also to their
families and friends.
The club consists,
at the time of revising this description of
it, of shooting, polo, and non-shooting
members.
Elected members pay an entrance fee of £15 15s, and an annual
subscription of £5 5s.
They are entitled
to all the privileges of the club, and to
admit two ladies without payment, and
may give orders of admission to as many
friends as they please, on payment.
The
non-shooting members, who are not
elected, pay an annual subscription of
£2 2s each, and are entitled to admit two
ladies without payment and to all the privileges of the club, except shooting and
polo-playing.
They may give orders of
admission to as many friends as they may
please, on payment only.
Every member
is entitled, by the payment of £1 1s extra
per annum, to give one additional order
for ladies only for free admission daily.
No person is eligible for admission who is
not received in general society.
The
committee elect by ballot, and the candidate balloted for shall be put up not
sooner than one week after he is proposed.
Five members must be present; if there
be one black ball he shall be considered
as not elected.
{in 1883 Dickens added:
The passage into law of Mr.Anderson's Cruelty to Animals Bill will probably very seriously alter the constitution and rules of Hurlingham.}
Wandsworth Bridge: A new bridge crossing the river rather more than a mile below Putney, and connecting Wandsworth and the south-west with the extreme west of London, via Walham Green. [Fulham Broadway]
Battersea Bridge, an old decrepit
structure, almost as much out of date as
Putney Bridge, and about to be replaced
by a new and more commodious structure.
It connects Battersea with Chelsea.
Battersea Park, London, is on the
Surrey side of the river, and in the S.W. district.
One of the youngest of the
London parks, it is certainly one of the
prettiest.
The sub-tropical garden is emphatically one of the sights which no
visitor should fail to see, especially in the
latter part of the summer.
The park contains excellent drives, and is encircled by
a superior prepared ride.
There is every
accommodation for cricketers, and boating may be indulged in on the lake.
The park gates are in Albert-road,
Prince of Wales's -road, and Victoria-road, and the fine terrace-walk facing the
river is directly approached from the
steamboat pier.
The best way of
approaching Battersea from the west is
along the Grosvenor Road and over
Chelsea Suspension Bridge.
Nearest
Bridges: Chelsea, and Albert;
Steamboat
Pier and Railway Station: Battersea Park.
Albert Bridge, a handsome new suspension bridge, crossing the river from
Albert-road, which skirts the west side of
Battersea Park to Cadogan Pier, and the
Chelsea Embankment.
It affords the
nearest means of communication between
the district about Clapham and South
Kensington.
Chelsea Suspension Bridge is another work by the designer of Westminster Bridge, and leads from Victoria- road to the east of Battersea-park, to the
Chelsea Embankment and its continuation, the Grosvenor-road.
It was made
in Edinburgh, and set up in its present
position in 1858 at a cost of £80,000
Chelsea, S.W., on the left bank, once
a quiet village three miles from London,
is now a densely populated locality, and
lies between the Brompton-road and the
Thames, Sloane-street being its eastern
boundary, while its western boundary is
indeterminate, as it is still growing.
It
gives its name to a parliamentary borough,
which includes the Kensington and
Hammersmith parishes, and is now represented by Sir Charles Dilke and Mr.J.B.Firth, Liberals.
Chelsea contains a
great population of the working class.
Chelsea is Radical, while Kensington
may be looked upon as Conservative;
Hammersmith being a mixed parish.
the old parish church stands on the
embankment close to the river, and is
rich in associations ecclesiastical, historical, and literary.
The river front of
Chelsea has been greatly improved by
the embanking of Cheyne-walk and the
construction of the Chelsea Embankment; and the admirably designed red
brick houses in the Queen Anne style,
lately completed on the Cadogan estate,
are thoroughly in accordance with old
Chelsea traditions and associations.
The
principal public buildings are the Barracks, Chelsea Hospital, and the Military
Asylum.
The Gardens of the Apothecaries' Company are also well worth inspection.
NEAREST Railway Stations:
Sloane-square, Grosvenor-road, and Chelsea;
Omnibus Routes: Sloane-street, King's-road, and Fulham-road;
Steam-boat Piers: Cadogan Pier and Battersea Pier.
Vauxhall Bridge, an iron structure
of five spans, was built in 1811-16 and
connects Kennington with Pimlico.
Nearest Railway Stations, Vauxhall
(S.W.) and Victoria (Dist., L. & B., and L.C. & D.);
Omnibus Routes, Vauxhall Bridge-road, and Albert Embankment;
Cab Rank, Grosvenor-road
The Albert
Embankment, London, S.E., on the right
bank, from a point a little below Vauxhali
Bridge to Westminster Bridge.
The
carriage way diverges to the right after
leaving Lambeth Palace, and enters Westminster Bridge-road at the corner of Stangate; St.Thomas's Hospital, and a walk
for foot passengers only, occupying the
river frontage at this point.
Nearest Railway Stations, Vauxhall and Westminster Bridge; Omnibus Route,
Westminster Bridge-road; Steamboat
Pier, Lambeth.
Lambeth Bridge is perhaps, on the
whole, the ugliest ever built.
It was
also, when it was built, supposed to
be the cheapest.
It is a suspension
bridge of three spans, and one great
economy in its construction consists in
the use of wire cables in place of the
usual chains.
It connects Westminster
with Lambeth, where it lands close to
the Archbishop's Palace.
Westminster Bridge varies very
much in appearance with the state of the
tide.
It is always rather a cardboardy-looking affair, but when the river is full,
and the height of the structure reduced
as much as possible, there is a certain
grace about it.
When, however, the
water is low, and the flat arches are
exposed at the full height of their long,
lanky piers, the effect is almost mean.
Except, however, for the excessive vibration arising from lightness of construction,
it is one of the best, from a practical
point of view, in London, the roadway
being wide and the rise very slight.
The present boathouse is situated at Battersea, about two hundred yards below
the railway-bridge, and the boys travel
thither in a steam-launch which carries
them to their boats from Parliament Stairs
in about half-an-hour.
The Westminster
colour is pink, assigned to the boys by
King William IV.
The crew of the first
eight wear pink flannel jackets, pink
caps, or straw hats with a pink ribbon.
The colours of the second eight are pink and white.
Victoria Embankment, London,
extends along the left bank from Westminster to Blackfriars, a distance of about
a mile and a quarter, and was constructed
by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the Engineer to
the Metropolitan Board of Works.
The
whole of the space now occupied by the
Embankment was covered by water or
mud, according to the state of the tide,
and few London improvements have
been more conducive to health and comfort.
The substitution of the beautiful
curve of the Embankment, majestic in its
simplicity, with its massive granite walls,
flourishing trees, and trim gardens, is an
unspeakable improvement on the squalid
foreshore, and tumble-down wharves,
and backs of dingy houses which formerly
abutted on the river.
It is to be regretted
that difficulties of approach make this
noble thoroughfare less useful than it
should be.
At Westminster and at
Charing-cross, both from Northumberland-avenue and from Whitehall-place,
and at Blackfriars, the approaches are
all that can be desired, and are worthy of
the Embankment itself; but the streets
leading from the Strand, such, for
instance, as Arundel-street and Norfolk-street, are both steep and inconvenient.
From Arundel-street to Blackfriars,
indeed, there is no carriage way on to
the Embankment.
The general appearance of the Victoria Embankment is still
somewhat marred by the presence here
and there of unsightly buildings, which
it may be hoped will ere long be removed
- and probably not even the designer of
the Charing-cross Railway Station would
call that useful building in any way ornamental - but it is nevertheless singularly
rich in architectural features.
Somerset
House, the Temple, the Adelphi-terrace,
the St.Stephen's Club, the School Board
House, and other fine buildings, are
either on or visible from the Embankment.
It would seem from the numerous
pedestals which the architect inserted in
his design, that it was in contemplation
to place an alarming number of statues
along the road.
Possibly this plan will
eventually be carried into effect.
At
present the Embankment has only six
statues to offer to the inspection of the
critic: those of Sir James Outram at the
foot of Whitehall-place; Brunel, near
Somerset House; John Stuart Mill, near
Norfolk-street; William Tyndale, the
first English Translator of the New Testament; Robert Raikes, the originator of
Sunday Schools, a short distance west of
Waterloo-bridge; and Robert Burns, near
Charing Cross Bridge.
In curious contrast to the modern statues is Cleopatra's
Needle, which, owing to the public spirit
and energy of Mr.Erasmus Wilson and
Mr. John Dixon, is now a conspicuous
object on the river wall at the bottom of
Salisbury-street.
There is a floating
swimming-bath at Charing-cross, and a
Thames Police-station just below Waterloo-bridge, close to which is moored the
Rainbow, now the drill ship of the Royal
Naval Artillery Volunteers.
Nearest Bridges: Westminster, Waterloo, Blackfriars (all carriage-roads),
Charing-cross (foot);
Steamboat Piers: Westminster, Charing-cross, Waterloo, and Temple;
Railway Stations: Westminster (Dist.), Charing-cross (Dist. and S.E.), Temple (Dist.), Blackfriars (Dist. and L.C. & D.);
Omnibus Routes: the Strand and Fleet-street.
Charing Cross (Foot) Bridge, runs
along and forms a portion of the Charing cross railway-bridge, and is approached
on the north side from Villiers-street, and
on the south side from Belvedere-road.
It is the shortest way for foot passengers
from Charing-cross and neighbourhood
to Waterloo Station.
Cleopatra's Needle stands on the
Victoria Embankment, left hand of the
river.
This famous monolith of red
granite, from Alexandria, originally stood
at Heliopolis, and was presented to this
country by Mehemet Ali in 1819.
No ministry was bold enough to face the
difficulty and expense of transporting it
across the Bay of Biscay, and for many
years it lay half-buried by sand at
Alexandria, at the foot of its still erect
sister, which, according to some people,
is the real original Cleopatra's Needle.
In the Alexandrian sand the English
obelisk would probably have remained
until the end of time (unless, indeed, the
British tourist had carried it away piece-meal in the form of relics) but for the
public spirit of the late Sir (then Mr.)
Erasmus Wilson and Mr.John Dixon,
the well-known civil engineer.
Mr.Wilson
put down £10,000 for the expenses of
transport, and Mr.Dixon undertook to
deliver the monument in the Thames for
that sum on the principle of "no cure, no pay" - no obelisk, no £10,000.
A cylinder boat was designed, in which the
needle was encased, and justified Mr.Dixon's expectations by making good
weather of it until it became unmanageable and untenantable in a heavy gale in
the Bay of Biscay.
Abandoned by the
steamer which had it in tow, after the
sacrifice of six lives in a last gallant
attempt to save the Cleopatra, few people
doubted that the needle would find its
last resting-place at the bottom of the
sea.
Fortunately a passing steamer succeeded in securing it, and towed it into
Ferrol, whence it was safely transferred
to its present site.
Much ingenuity was
shown in the machinery designed for its
erection, the difficulties of which will
readily be understood when it is stated
that the obelisk is over 68 feet in height,
and weighs 180 tons.
Nearest Steamboat Piers and Bridges, Waterloo and
Charing-cross; Railway Stations, Charing-cross (Dist.& S.E.); Omnibus Routes,
Waterloo Bridge and Strand.
It is impossible to pass under Waterloo Bridge - an edifice that the great sculptor, Canova, so admired that he declared it was worth making a voyage from the Antipodes only to look at it - without remembering the poetical halo that Thomas Hood has thrown around it by his immortal poem, "The Bridge of Sighs".
Waterloo Bridge, from a design by
Dodd, the earliest of John Rennie's
three, and also commonly considered the
finest.
As to this there may perhaps
be a question, some critics preferring
London Bridge, or even Southwark, as
grander if less ornate.
The perfect level,
too, of the roadway in the case of
Waterloo, whilst the first of all merits
from a practical point of view, somewhat
narrows its artistic opportunities; whilst
the uniformity of the arches is considered
by some to give it too much the air of
"a length out of a viaduct".
In all
other respects it is the handsomest bridge
across the Thames: consisting of nine
elliptical arches 120 ft in span and 35 ft
in height, supported on piers 20 ft wide
at the spring of the arches, and surmounted by an open balustrade.
It is
not so wide as London Bridge by 11 ft,
but is very nearly half as long again -
1,380 ft: without the approaches, which
are on the Middlesex side 370 ft, and on
the Surrey side 766 ft in length.
It was
opened in great state on the second
anniversary of Waterloo, 18th June,
1817.
There is in existence a curious
print of a design for this bridge by T.Sandby, R.A., comprising a colonnade
on the top of the bridge, and a classical
temple at the end.
Nearest Railway Station: Temple;
Omnibus Route, Strand; Cab Rank, Wellington-street.
Blackfriars Bridge is one of the
handsomest in London, and would have
a still better effect were not its appearance so seriously marred by the proximity
of its neighbour, the Alexandra (London
Chatham & Dover Railway) bridge.
It
was built in 1864-9, at a cost of £265,000,
from the designs of Mr.William Cubitt,
although those of Mr.Page, architect of
Westminster Bridge, had been selected
in the first instance.
It crosses the river
in five spans, the centre span being
185 feet.
The piers are of granite, surmounted by recesses resting on short
pillars of polished red Aberdeen granite,
and with ornamental stone parapets.
The parapet of the bridge itself is very
low, which, with the extreme shortness
of the ornamental pillars at the pier ends,
gives the whole structure rather a dwarfed
and stunted look; but the general outline
is bold and the ensemble rich, if perhaps
a trifle gaudy, especially when the gilding,
of which there is an unusual proportion,
has been freshly renewed.
Southwark Bridge has of late years
been much improved by the introduction
of a little colour into the painting of its
ironwork arches, which were formerly all
in solemn black, and had a very heavy
appearance.
The credit of being the
handsomest iron bridge across the river
rests between it and Blackfriars Bridge;
and on the whole, though the latter is
the more gorgeous, the former is perhaps
the more striking.
The length is 708 ft,
or little more than half that of Waterloo.
The arches, three in number, rest on
stone piers; the centre arch having a
span of 402 ft: the longest ever attempted until the adoption of the tubular
principle - and the two shore arches
210 ft each.
From the inconvenience
of its approaches this handsome bridge
has been from the first comparatively
valueless.
Rivers Purification Association,
Limited, 232, Gresham House, E.C.
The objects of this association are to
assist towns and sanitary authorities to
comply with the requirements of the
Rivers Pollution Prevention Act, and to
undertake the work of sewage purification
for town and sanitary authorities.
Doggett's Coat and Badge - this
wager for young watermen out of their
time was instituted by Thomas Doggett,
the well-known actor at Drury-lane
theatre, at the first anniversary of the
accession to the throne of George I., August 1, 1715.
Doggett's prize was an
orange-coloured coat and silver badge,
on which were emblazoned the horse of
Hanover, and at his death he bequeathed
a sum of money to be devoted to further
prizes.
At present the Fishmongers'
Company, who administer Doggett's
trust, give £6 6s to the winner in addition to the coat and badge, the prizes
for the fourth, fifth, and sixth men respectively, £2 2s, £1 11s 6d, and £1 6s.
the second man receives £5 5s, and the
third £3 3s, derived from various sources.
The original conditions of the wager
were that the six competitors to whom it
was limited should be chosen by lot from
the whole body of men who should put
down their names as desirous of rowing.
This arrangement was, although not
until the lapse of a very great number of
years, deemed to be unfair, and would-be
competitors now row three trial heats
from Putney to Hammersmith, the first
and second in each heat being entitled to
row in the final, which takes place on
August 1st when not on a Sunday.
The course is against tide, from the
"Swan" at London Bridge, to the
"Swan" at Chelsea, when the current is
strongest, according to the original conditions, and when the race is really rowed
under these circumstances it is a "stiffish pull".
The race in 1884 resulted as follows:
Final Heat, August 1.
1. Charles Phelps, Putney
2. Alfred Thos. Redknap, Richmond
3. Charles Bowie, Richmond
4. Charles Bradshaw, Deptford
5. James Crick, Horsleydown
6. George Daniel Evans, Deptford
The following is a list of winners since
the introduction of trial heats:
1870 R.Harding, Blackwall.
1871 T.J.Mackinney, Richmond.
1872 T.G.Green, Hammersmith.
1873 H.Messum, Richmond.
1874 R.W.Burwood, Wapping.
1875 W.Phelps, Putney.
1876 C.T.Bulman, Shadwell.
1877 J.Tarryer, Rotherhithe.
1878 T.E.Taylor, Hermitage Stairs.
1879 H.Cordery, Putney
1880 W.J.Cobb, Putney.
1881 G.Claridge, Richmond.
1882 H.A.Audsley, Waterloo.
1883 James Lloyd, Wandsworth.
1884 Charles Phelps, Putney.
London Bridge - built in 1824-27 from
the designs of John Rennie, architect
of Southwark and Waterloo Bridges,
partly by himself, partly on his death by
his son, Mr.J.Rennie.
Altogether some
eight or nine designs for London Bridge
were prepared by members of the Rennie
family.
The cost, from various causes,
was enormous, and a good deal of misapprehension seems to exist upon this
point; some authorities placing it at a
little under a million and a half, while
others give it at over two and a half millions.
It is built of granite in five arches;
the centre arch being 152 ft, the two
next 140 ft, and the two shore arches
130 ft each in span.
In order to facilitate
traffic, police-constables are stationed
along the middle of the roadway, and all
vehicles travelling at a walking pace only
are compelled to keep close to the curb.
There are still, however, frequent blocks,
and the bridge should be avoided as
much as possible, especially between 9
and 10am, and 4 and 6pm.
Seen from the river, it is the handsomest bridge in
London.
Nearest Railway Stations: Cannon-street and London Bridge;
Omnibus Routes: Cannon-street, King William-street, London Bridge, and Southwark-street.
Auguste Barbier, a modern French poet, describes the Thames as seen from London Bridge in the gloomiest colours.
Un fleuve tout houleux
Roulant sa vase noire en détours sinueux
Et rappelant l'effroi des ondes infernales;
De gigantesque pont aux piles colossales.
...
Une marée infecte, et toujours avec l'onde
Apportant, remportant les richesses du monde.
...
Puis un ciel tourmenté, nuage sur nuage
Le soleil comme un mort, le drap sur le visage.
Ou parfois dans les flots d'un air empoisonné
Montrant comme un miroir sur front tout charbonné.
[ Editor's translation:
A stormy river
Rolling its black slime in sinuous turn
And recalling the dread of hellish waves
From gigantic bridge to colossal piers.
...
A foul tide and wave upon wave
Bringing and taking the riches of the world
...
Then a tormented sky, cloud upon cloud
The sun like a corpse, sheet over face
Sometimes gusts of poisoned air
Showing a blackened face in the mirror. ]
This powerful description, if it does not
owe its inspiration to indigestion, must
have been due to the mingled influences
of rain and fog and wintry weather.
If
the poet had stood upon London Bridge
in the early hours of a clear summer
morning he would have beheld a panorama
of surpassing loveliness, and have dipped
his descriptive pen in light instead of in
darkness, and acknowledged the reality,
opposed though it be to French tradition,
that London, if not quite so beautiful as
Paris, has attractions of its own, independent of its vastness, that in some respects
not even Paris can surpass.
Billingsgate Market, in Thames-street, is about 300 yards east of London
Bridge, and adjoins the west side of the Custom House.
The derivation of its
name is matter of dispute.
All that is
certainly known is that the appropriation
of the site to the purpose of a fish-market
took place in the year 1699 a.d., and that
a fish-market it has remained ever since.
On the 27th of October, 1874, the first
stone was laid of the handsome building
which was to supersede the "elegant
Italian structure" of Mr.Bunning, which,
with its tall campanile, had long been
one of the most conspicuous shore marks
of the river below bridge.
The construction presented considerable difficulties, both from the necessity of carrying
it out without disturbance of the daily
business of the market, and from the
nature of the ground on which it had to
be built, and which required an immense
amount of preparation in the way of a
platform of solid concrete, 15 feet in thickness.
In 1877, however, the building
was completed, and on the 20th of July
of that year formally opened for business.
Its river facade still adheres more or less
to the Italian Gothic legend, but the campanile has disappeared, and the building
now presents a uniform frontage of two
lofty storeys, the centre portion being
thrown a little back.
The wings, which
are, perhaps, artistically speaking, somewhat small in proportion to the central
block, are occupied by taverns, at each of
which is a daily fish ordinary.
All along the front runs a broad floating stage, alongside of which come the
smaller craft by which the water-borne
fish are brought up the river, and which
vary in size and rig from the specially
built steamer of more than 200 tons
register, whose cargo has been collected
from the smacks of the North Sea, to the
little open barge in which cod or salmon
has been lightered from the big sea-going
ships in the docks of Victoria or Millwall.
The landing process begins every morning, summer and winter, at 5 a.m. when
the tolling of the big bell announces the
opening of the market, and a rush takes
place to secure the earliest sales.
The great hall in which the sales take
place, and which occupies the whole
ground-floor of the centre building, is let
off in 140 "stands" at a rate per week,
which, by the bye-laws of the market,
sanctioned by the Board of Trade, is not
to exceed 9d per superficial foot.
The
total weekly supply of the market averages by water 800 to 850 tons, and by
land as nearly as possible double that
amount, and the whole of this enormous
mass has to be carried on men's shoulders
from ship or machine to salesman's stall,
there to be disposed of in some four hours
or so, more or less.
The market is at its
height from 5 a.m. to about 9, by which
time the greater part of the morning
supply has been cleared off; but the
market remains nominally open until
3p.m.
Meanwhile, in the great dungeon-like
basement below the market, a somewhat
similar scene to that above is being enacted
with the day's supply of shell-fish.
The staff of the market includes about
eleven hundred licensed porters, besides
constables, detectives, clerks, &c.; and
the business, rough and riotous as it is,
is conducted, so far as the official personnel is concerned, with machine-like
precision and punctuality.
The utmost
care, too, is taken to ensure the most
scrupulous cleanliness throughout the
building.
The Custom House may seem in our
day a very prosaic place.
But this locality, unromantic, dull, tame, and eminently statistical as it may appear to the
unliterary mind, is sacred to literature
and to the name of Geoffrey Chaucer,
the father of English poetry, the author
of the "Canterbury Tales" and the
"Romaunt of the Rose", who was the
first that ever filled the office of Controller of Customs in England.
Let it
not be supposed, however, that Chaucer
received the lucrative post of controller
because he was a great poet.
In those
days as in ours great poets did not receive
honours or rewards from the State on
account of their poetic genius, and it is
highly probable - inasmuch as his works
were unprinted - that his contemporaries
knew nothing about them, not even the
king who showed him favour.
Chaucer
was not a struggling man of genius, for
if he had been he might have struggled
and died, unlamented and unknown, but
he had the good fortune to be royally
connected.
He married the sister of the
wife of John of Gaunt, the "time-honoured Lancaster" of Shakespeare,
and mounted into office from the vantage-ground of his family relationship.
Tower of London: The most interesting relic of the past that can be seen
to best advantage from the river is the
Tower of London, situated on rising
ground about half a mile below London
Bridge.
The most conspicuous portion
of the present mass of buildings and
masonry, which covers some thirteen acres
of ground, is the White Tower, a quadrangular keep 90 feet high, whose four
turrets have been familiar to English eyes
for centuries.
Some evidence exists as
to the probability of a Roman fortress
having occupied the present site, but it
was not until 1077 that the Tower was
commenced by Gundolph, monk of Bee,
who afterwards became Bishop of Rochester.
The keep, or White Tower, consists of three floors besides the vaults,
which were formerly used as dungeons.
The walls are from twelve to fifteen
feet thick.
Each floor contains three
rooms, not counting the chambers and
stairs sunk into the solid wall.
The main
storey was the garrison stage, held by the
king's guards, and consisted of two apartments and the crypt, which was occasionally used as a prison.
Above is the banqueting floor, formerly a part of the royal
palace, and St.John's Chapel, the best
specimen of Norman architecture extant,
which occupies two storeys of the keep.
Above the banqueting floor is the state
floor, which contained the great council
chamber, the lesser hall, and the galleries
of St.John's Chapel, whence there was
a passage to the royal apartments.
On
this floor, Richard III. condemned Hastings, and Anne Boleyn and Lord Rochford were tried.
Despite the thickness
of the walls and the scanty means of exit
(one well-stair only allowing entrance or
escape), the first prisoner immured in the
White Tower broke his bondage.
This
was Flambard, Bishop of Durham,
treasurer to the early Norman kings,
who, after making his guards drunk, slid
down a rope attached to a window shaft
sixty-five feet from the ground.
Years
afterwards the same feat was attempted
by Griffin, in the reign of Henry III.,
with less success, for the unlucky prisoner's coil broke, and Griffin lost his
life on the spot.
In this tower for
twenty-five years lived Charles of Orleans,
grandson of Charles V., and father of
Louis XII., kings of France.
Taken
prisoner at Agincourt, he lived his mournful life until the sum of 300,000 crowns
was paid for his ransom.
During the
period of his captivity the unfortunate
prince wrote many poems, some of which
are extant.
Below the ground were the
dungeons, one of which, called Little
Ease, was the prison of Wyatt and
Guy Fawkes.
In the largest of the
four turrets which surmount the roof
was incarcerated Maud, the fair daughter of Baron Fitzwalter, who resisted
till her death the disgraceful advances
of King John.
In the year 1663
the aspect of the keep was altered
by Sir Christopher Wren.
Part of the
exterior was cased with flint and mortar,
two of the turrets were rebuilt, and
the openings were altered into Italian
windows.
Encircling, the White Tower are the
inner ward and the outer ward.
The
former, planned and partly built by the
monk of Bee, was the original fortress,
and was protected by twelve strong
towers built on the wall and forming part
of it.
The inner ward was the royal quarter, and comprised, besides the keep, the
royal rooms, the mint, the jewel-house,
the wardrobe, the queen's garden, St.
Peter's Church, besides quarters for the
bowmen and the constable.
It was, in
fact, the king's castle, and the people had
no right of access.
The outer ward lay
between the vallum, or inner wall, and
the outer scarp of the ditch.
It was regarded as the people's quarter, and on
stated occasions the citizens claimed right
of access from the king; the object, no
doubt, being to guard their right to be
present in the courts of justice which sat
in the tower.
The King's Bench was
held in the lesser hall of the keep, the
Common Pleas were heard in a hall by
the river, which has not survived the
modern improvements.
In front of the fortress on the riverside
is Tower Wharf, the work of Henry III.,
and one of the wonders of his reign.
The earth on which it is built had to be
recovered from the Thames, and the
foundations were difficult to lay.
The
building was unfavourably regarded by
the London citizens, and on two occasions the wall and the water-gate fell.
The king, however, persevered, and
finally completed his wharf, twelve hundred feet long, and his water-gate, better
known in history as Traitor's Gate.
On
this wharf cannon used to be planted.
Many of the smaller towers which command the wharf and the ditch are memorable for the illustrious dead who were
confined therein.
In the Devereux the
Earl of Essex was immured; in the Bell
Tower Queen Elizabeth.
In Bowyer's
Tower Clarence was drowned, and in the
Bloody Tower the two sons of Edward
IV. were murdered.
The Beauchamp
Tower is perhaps the most interesting
nowadays, as the building has been
admirably restored, and the inscriptions
on the walls have been secured from obliteration.
In the north-western corner
of the quadrangle is the chapel to St.Peter Ad Vincula, remarkable for the
number of famous persons who have been
buried beneath its stones.
Anne Boleyn
and Katherine Howard were interred here,
and among others, Protector Somerset,
and his brother, Thomas Seymour,
Lady Jane Grey and her husband, and
Sir Walter Raleigh.
In another part
of the tower is the Regalia, where the
royal jewels are kept, and close by is the
Horse Armoury, a collection of ancient
and mediaeval arms and armour exhibited
on wooden figures of horses and men.
The first prisoner in the tower was, as
we have before remarked, Flambard,
Bishop of Durham; the last were the
Cato-street Conspirators (1820).
The
last execution which took place there
was when Lords Lovat, Kilmarnock, and
Balmerino went to the block after the
rebellion of 1745.
A severe fire broke
out in 1841, and caused much loss in
buildings, stores, and arms, but the
tenements which were subsequently
erected were very great improvements.
Nowadays the Tower serves as a Government store-house for rifles, bayonets, and
military accoutrements generally.
The
government is vested in a constable, who
is always a military officer of great repute,
and a lieutenant-governor, with subordinates, and the corps of the Yeomanry
of the Guard, or Beefeaters.
Admission
free on Mondays and Saturdays; on
other days a small fee is payable for permission to visit the Beauchamp Tower,
the Regalia, the Armoury, and other
objects of interest.
Nearest Railway Stations: Mark-lane (Dis.) and Cannon-street (S.E.);
Omnibus Routes: Fenchurch-street and Aldgate
High-street;
Steamboat Pier: London Bridge.
But let us begin at the beginning.
The
poetical memories of the Thames commence with the Tower.
All the tragic
pathos of mediaeval English history is
concentrated within the precincts of this
gloomy pile: alike a palace, a prison,
and a place of martyrdom, where the
gay, the brave, the noble, and the innocent, as well as the guilty, have paid the
penalty of pre-eminence, in a time when
pre-eminence was always dangerous and
too often fatal.
In close contiguity are three spots
of classic ground, hallowed by associa-
tion with the lives and labours of three
great poets, one of them the greatest
that the world ever saw.
The first is the
Custom House, the second the church
of St.Saviour's, South wark, and the third
Bankside.
A curious feat of
engineering skill, in the shape of an iron
tube seven feet in diameter driven through
the bed of the Thames between Great
Tower-hill (left bank) and Vine-street
(right bank).
The original intention was
to have passengers drawn backwards and
forwards in a small tram omnibus.
This,
however, was found unremunerative, and
the rails having been taken up the tunnel
has since been open as a footway.
Unfortunately, however, after subtracting
from its diameter the amount necessary
to afford a sufficient width of platform,
there is not much head-room left, and it
is not advisable for any but the very
briefest of Her Majesty's lieges to attempt
the passage in high-heeled boots, or with
a hat to which he attaches any particular
value.
It has, however, one admirable
quality, that of having cost remarkably
little in construction.
Nearest Steamboat Pier: London Bridge;
Railway Stations, Aldgate (Metrop.) and Cannon-street (S.E.);
Omnibus Routes, Aldgate High-street and Fenchurch-street.
St.Katharine Docks, belonging to
the same company as the London and
Victoria Docks, adjoin the east side of
the Tower, from which they are separated
only by Little Tower-hill, running from
the Minories to Irongate Stairs.
They
are best reached from the west from
Aldgate Station down the Minories to the
entrance in Upper East Smithfield, or
from the east by the Leman-street Station
of the Blackwall Railway.
The London Docks
belong to the same company as the St.
Katharine and Victoria Docks (which see),
and lie immediately to the eastward of
the former, from which they are divided
by Nightingale-lane, running from Upper
East Smithfield to Wapping High-street.
The best means of approach is, from the
west, by way of Aldgate and the Minories
to East Smithfield, or from the east, by
way of the Leman-street Station.
The
entrance is at the corner of Nightingale-lane, where East Smithfield and Upper
East Smithfield join.
The Pool, the most striking and
characteristic feature of the river, extends
from below London Bridge to a little
above the Regent's Canal.
It is divided
into the Upper and the Lower Pool, the
point of division being the headquarter
station of the Thames Police at Wapping,
a few hundred yards above the old Thames
Tunnel, now part of the East London
Railway.
By the bye-laws of the Thames
Conservancy Board the minimum free
navigable passage to be kept "as far as
practicable" for vessels passing up and
down the river through that portion of
the Upper Pool which extends from London Bridge to Irongate Stairs, on the
lower side of the Tower, is 200 feet.
At
this point commence the premises of the
General Steam Navigation Company,
which occupy the whole of Irongate and
the adjoining St.Katharine's Wharf, and
the large sea-going steamers starting from
which constitute one of the most important features of the home traffic of the river.
The minimum navigable passage is therefore extended here to 300 feet, at which
width it continues as far as Barking Creek,
about three miles and a half below Woolwich, on the opposite side of the river.
The average number of vessels lying in
the Upper Pool is about 55, with an
average registered tonnage of about 200
tons; in the Lower Pool about 70, with
an average registered tonnage of about
150 tons.
These numbers apply only to
vessels discharging in the river.
There
are a great many ships that discharge in
the river below the Pool; the average is
about 32, with an average registered tonnage of about 150 tons, besides all the
coal-laden vessels that discharge in Cory's
hulks in Bugsby's Reach.
This great, but for
many years comparatively useless, work
of Sir Isambard Brunel was carried
under the river from Wapping (left bank)
to Rotherhithe (right bank) at a cost of
nearly half a million of money.
For
about twenty years after its completion it
was one of the recognised sights of
London, and a kind of mouldy and
poverty-stricken bazaar established itself
at the entrance of the tunnel.
The pence
of the sightseers and the rent of the
stalls proved wholly insufficient even to
pay current expenses, and in 1865 the
Tunnel Company were glad to get rid of
their white elephant at a loss of about
half its original cost.
It now belongs to
the East London Railway Company.
Nearest Steamboat Pier: Tunnel;
Railway Stations: Wapping and Rotherhithe;
'Omnibus Routes, Blackwall and Rotherhithe.
Fish Dinners: the typical fish
dinner of London is the extraordinary
entertainment offered at Greenwich -
perhaps the most curious repast ever
invented by the ingenuity of the most
imaginative hotel-keeper.
Many courses
of fish prepared in every conceivable way,
followed by ducks and peas, beans and
bacon, cutlets, and other viands, so
arranged as to stimulate a pleasing, if
somewhat expensive thirst, are washed
down at these Gargantuan feeds by the
choicest brands at the highest prices
known to civilisation.
The effect at the
moment is eminently delightful.
The
sensation experienced when the bill is
produced is not so pleasurable, and it
has been said that there is no "next
morning headache" like that which
follows a Greenwich dinner.
But there
is no doubt that a Greenwich dinner is a
very excellent thing in its way - especially
if you happen to be invited to dine by a
liberal friend, who knows how to order
it, and pay for it.
Only two houses can
be recommended for this kind of sport -
the "Trafalgar" and the "Ship".
It
may be noted that when the labours of
the session are over, the Ministers of the
Crown dine at the "Ship", and congratulate each other on their continued
existence in office.
A fish dinner of
quite a different class, at which eleven
kinds of fish, and a selection of joints
are included in the bill of fare, is served
twice a day - at 1 and 4 - at the "Three
Tuns Tavern", Billingsgate, at 2s.
But
although the price is low, and the accommodation a little rough, the dinner is
excellent.
Saturday afternoon during
the winter months, or in the very early
spring, may be specially recommended
for this excursion.
The flavour of the
old-fashioned tavern dinner and after-dinner entertainment still hangs about
Billingsgate.
A good fish dinner is also
to be had at Purfleet during the season.
The Surrey Commercial Dock is situated on the peninsula between the
Lower Pool and Limehouse Reach. Dock
House, 106, Fenchurch-street, E.C.
The best mode of approach to the
Surrey Commercial Dock System is by the
Deptford-road Station of the East London
Railway from Liverpool-street.
Limehouse Reach extends from the
Lower Pool to the beginning of Deptford
Reach.
On the right bank are the Commercial Docks.
At the top of the Reach
are Limehouse and Shadwell churches.
Bearings N.N.E. and S.S.W.
[The 1883 version is extensive]
East and West India Docks are
situated at Blackwall between the West
India Dock and Blackwall stations of the
London and Blackwall Railway.
The
former of these stations is the best for
persons having business at the general,
police, customs, wharfingers, or other
offices, or on board of vessels lying in the
greater part of the West India Import
Dock, the West India Export Dock, or
the South-West India Dock.
For those
at the eastern extremity of these docks,
the Millwall Junction station will be
found nearer, as also for the North London Railway Companies' Docks, the
Blackwall Basin, and the new dock in
course of formation by the Midland Railway Company, but not forming part of
the East and West India Dock Company's
system, and the extreme western extremity of the East India Import Dock.
For the South-West India Docks and
Basin, passengers should change at Millwall Junction; and, proceeding by tramcar, alight at South Dock station.
For
the East India Export Dock, the greater
part of the East India Import Dock, and
the East India Dock Basin, the best station
is that of Blackwall.
Trinity Buoy Wharf is rather difficult of approach.
The best mode of
access, when available, is from the Blackwall Station, across the two entrances,
Old and New, of the East India Dock,
then to the left along the edge of the
basin and out through the little wicket-gate into Orchard-street, at the eastern
extremity of which is the gate of the
Trinity House premises.
When the
little wicket-gate is shut, the best station
is Poplar, either on the Blackwall Railway if coming from the west, or on the
North London Railway if coming from
the north.
In the latter case pursue
eastwards the East India-road, and its
continuation the Barking-road, till you
reach Orchard-street on the right hand
just beyond the dock.
In the former
make your way along Brunswick-street
and Naval-row into East India Dock
Wall-road, following which northerly
you will arrive at the junction of the
East India and Barking roads, whence
proceed as before.
Coming from the
eastward, the best station is the Barking-road on the North Woolwich Branch of
the London, Tilbury, and Southend
Railway, whence the route lies westerly
along the Barking-road.
The wharf
itself is situate on the western bank of
the embouchure of Bow Creek into
Bugsby's Reach, about half-way between
the entrances of the East India and
Victoria Docks.
At this establishment
is constructed the whole of the lighting
and buoying apparatus of the United
Kingdom, and of the other parts of the
Empire dependent on the Trinity Board.
Application to view the establishment
should be made to the secretary of the
Trinity House, Tower Hill; but it is a
longish day's work from any habitable
part of London.
Blackwall, on the left bank from
Orchard Wharf to the Isle of Dogs.
Here are the EAST INDIA DOCKS, where
the principal sailing ships trading from
the port of London load and discharge.
The visitor may in these docks inspect
long tiers of China tea-clippers - now
almost run off the line by fast steamers -
and the fine passenger ships trading to
the Australasian ports.
Adjoining the
docks is the spacious ship-building yard
of Messrs.Green, and farther down the
river are the TRINITY HOUSE head-quarters,
beyond which again are the ROYAL VICTORIA
AND ALBERT DOCKS.
There is a railway-station on the steamboat-pier [and see
Trinity Buoy Wharf).
Fares from
Fenchurch-street (17 min.), 1st, 6d, 10d;
2nd, 4d, 6d; trains run each way every
15 minutes.
Steamers from Westminster,
Charing-cross, Temple, and London
Bridge every ½ hour.
Fares, aft, 6d;
forward, 4d.
Omnibus from Bank of
England.
Isle of Dogs, on the left bank opposite
Greenwich: An uninviting title euphemistically derived from "Isle of Ducks", and applied to what was till lately about
the best imitation on a small scale of
the Great Dismal Swamp to be found
in England.
The place, it may be
observed en passant, was not until late
years an island at all, but simply a
peninsula jutting out into the river between Limehouse and Blackwall.
Just at the beginning of the present
century, however, the Corporation, which
had long been exercised by the demands
of enterprising engineers for permission to
put the river straight and take possession
of its old Scamandering bed for docks,
took heart of grace, and cut a canal through
the neck of the "unlucky Isle of Doggs",
as Master Pepys hath it, and so opened
a short cut for ships bound up or down
the river.
Apparently, however, the new
road was not found satisfactory, for it has
been long since closed and sold to the
West India Dock Company, who now
use it as a timber dock.
Nearest Steamboat Piers: Mill wall (west) and Cubitt Town (east).
Ferries: Ferry-street to Greenwich Pier, and north-east corner of Commercial Docks.
Railway Station: West India Dock; Omnibus Route: Blackwall.
Millwall Docks (Office, 1, Railway-place, Fenchurch-street, E.G.) are situate on the Isle of Dogs, just south of the West India Docks, the access being by the Millwall Extension branch of the Blackwall Railway.
Deptford Reach, about a mile long,
from the end of Limehouse Reach to
Greenwich Ferry.
Bearings S.S.E. and E.N.E.
Greenwich Reach runs between
Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs.
Bearings S.S.E. and E.N.E.
Beaconsfield Rowing Club, in connection with the Greenwich Conservative
Club.
Subscription for working members,
10s.
; members are elected by the executive.
Boat-house, Conservative Club
House, Greenwich.
Colours, red and
white.
Greenwich Hospital and Royal
Naval College, Greenwich, S.E:
Greenwich Hospital was founded by
William III. immediately after the death
of Queen Mary, his consort, and was
intended as a memorial of her virtues,
and of the great victory of La Hogue;
"a monument", as Macaulay says, "the
most superb that was ever erected to
any sovereign".
The building, a grand
specimen of classical architecture, and
one of Sir Christopher Wren's finest
designs, was originally intended as
an asylum for wounded and disabled
sailors, in whom Queen Mary was greatly
interested.
The first stone in the building
was laid in 1695, and ten years later forty-two seamen were admitted to the benefits
of the asylum.
This number in course
of time was increased to something like
three thousand; but in 1865 an Act of
Parliament was passed offering advantageous terms to such of the pensioners
as would leave, and in 1869 another Act
finally disestablished King William's
foundation.
When the Hospital was
occupied by the pensioners it became
one of the sights of London, and it is
possible that a too liberal distribution of
baksheesh on the part of the public may
have had something to do with the deterioration which was observable in the
manners and customs of the in-pensioners
during the later days of their existence.
Nowadays, although one of their chief
attractions exists no longer, Greenwich
Hospital and Park are still well worthy a
visit.
The Painted Hall contains some
fine pictures of sea-fights, and there are
some noteworthy statues of celebrated
sailors.
The most interesting of the
Greenwich sights, however, are the relics
of Nelson - notably the Trafalgar coat
and waistcoat.
The public are admitted
free.
From Cannon-street (17 min),
1st, 10d, 1/3; 2nd, -/8d, 1/-; 3rd, -/5d, -/8d.
Charing Cross, (27 min), 1st, 1/-, 1/6;
2nd, -/9d, 1/2; 3rd, -/6d, -/9d; also by steamboat from all piers.
Blackwall Reach runs for rather
more than a mile from Greenwich to
Blackwall.
The East and West India
Docks are at Blackwall.
Bearings N. by E. and S. by W.
Bugsby's Reach, about one mile long,
runs from Blackwall to the beginning of
Woolwich Reach.
The Lea enters the
Thames on the left bank by Bow Creek.
Bearings N.N.W. and S.S.E.
Marine Society, Office, Bishopsgate-street-within.
Training ship, Warspite,
off Charlton Pier, Woolwich:
The report
of the society for 1881 gives the following
complete account of its history and progress.
The Marine Society owes its origin
to the sentiments of humanity and benevolence exerted on behalf of a number of
wretched and distressed boys, who were
in the spring of the year 1756 collected
together by that active magistrate, Sir John
Fielding, clothed at the expense of the
Duke of Bolton, and sent to serve on board
His Majesty's ship Barfleur, then under
His Grace's command.
The utility of
this humane design, in rescuing from
misery and reclaiming as many as possible
of this class of neglected youths from the
paths of idleness, and too probably of
infamy and perdition, was so obvious,
that the plan was immediately followed
up with the most active philanthropy by
a private gentleman (Mr.Walker, of
Lincoln's-inn), who had accidentally met
with those lads on their way to join the
Barfleur.
By subscription, which he
promoted, from three to four hundred
boys were in a short time clothed and
provided for in a profession most likely
to make them useful and creditable members of the community.
At a subsequent
meeting of merchants and shipowners in
June, 1756, Mr.Jonas Hanway, a merchant totally unconnected with the nobleman and both the gentlemen before-mentioned, proposed that they should
form themselves into a society to give
clothing to boys for the sea-service.
The
proposal being readily adopted, the Marine
Society was instituted; and eventually, in
the year 1772, incorporated by Act of
Parliament.
The boys selected for the
sea service are taken from the labouring
classes, the utterly destitute being the first
to be admitted.
No dishonest boys are
received.
Parish boys may be received to
fill vacancies on board the society's ship,
on payment of £4 4s.
No boys are received whose friends appear to be in a
capacity to fit them out for sea at their
own charge.
Various plans were at different times brought under the contemplation of the society for a more beneficial
arrangement as to some receptacle for the
objects of the charity, in which they might
be taken care of, and receive the benefit
of instruction, both religious and professional, until such time as they could be
properly provided for.
In the year 1786,
a proposition, originating with Alderman
Brook Watson, M.P., was adopted by
the society.
They first procured a merchant vessel, named the Beatty; this ship
having become decayed and worn out in
1799, application was made to the
Admiralty for the loan of a Government
ship.
The application was complied with,
and from that time the Lords Commissioners, in order to promote the views of
the Marine Society, have accommodated
them with one of Her Majesty's ships as a
training vessel for boys.
The Warspite, a
noble two-decker, formerly the Conqueror,
is the ship now lent to the society.
The
society holds in trust the following special
funds, devoted solely to the purposes for
which they were given or bequeathed:
1. Consols, £17,045, under the will
of William Hickes, Esq., of Hamburg,
for apprenticing poor boys and girls.
In
time of war the income of this fund is appropriated, with the general funds of the
society, in clothing and fitting out boys
for sea, rendering them thereby fit for
service in the Royal Navy.
2. Consols, £14,333 6s. 8d., ten thousand pounds of
this amount being the gift of the late
Isaac Hawkins, Esq.
The annual interest of this trust fund produces £430,
which is appropriated every year in the
month of June, in donations of £10 each
to forty-three widows of captains and
lieutenants in the Royal Navy.
The
Marine Society is also entrusted with the
payments of certain annuities to the
widows of the sufferers in the engagement of [] October, 1797, under
Admiral Lord Duncan, under rules and
regulations transmitted by the Chairman
of the Committee of Lloyd's Coffee House,
on the 15th of October, 1802.
Woolwich Reach, two miles long
from the bottom of Bugsby's Reach to
Woolwich Ferry.
On the right (Kent)
bank, Woolwich, with arsenal, dockyard,
&c., and training-ship Warspite.
Opposite, North Woolwich and its gardens.
Woolwich Arsenal: Three minutes'
walk from the South Eastern Railway-
station, and ten minutes from the steam-boat pier.
Visitors must be furnished
with a ticket from the War Office, obtained
by personal application, or by letter to the
"Secretary of State for War, War Office,
Pall Mall, S.W.", stating names and addresses, and declaring that they are
British subjects.
Visitors with tickets
are admitted on Tuesday or Thursday
between the hours of 10 and 11.30am,
and 2 till 4.30pm.
Foreigners must
have special tickets, obtained through
their ambassadors in London.
Strangers
without passes are refused admission.
The Artillery Barracks, the head-quarters of the Royal Horse and Foot Artillery, are about fifteen minutes' walk
from the steamboat pier, and ten minutes from the South Eastern Railway-station.
These barracks are admirably
situated, facing the common where all
the artillery exercises and the great reviews take place.
The band of the
Royal Artillery plays frequently, in the
Repository Grounds or on the common,
about 5pm, from May till October.
The Rotunda, an interesting military
museum, near the barracks, is open from
10 till 6 in summer, and from 10 till 4
in winter.
The Royal Military Academy,
where cadets are trained for the Royal
Engineer and Artillery services, is situated
on the common, about one mile from the
arsenal.
Woolwich Dockyard was formerly used for the construction of ships
for the Royal Navy, but was closed in
1869, on the recommendation of a parliamentary committee.
From the Woolwich
steamboat pier may be seen the point of
the Thames facing the Beckton Gasworks, where the steamer Princess Alice
sank in 1878, with upwards of 600 persons,
after collision with the steamer Bywell
Castle.
A "Guide to Woolwich and the
Vicinity", price 2s, is published by Jackson, Kentish Independent Office, Woolwich.
From Fenchurch-street and Liverpool-street (60 min.):
1st, 1/-, 1/6; 2nd, 9d, 1/2; 3rd, 6d, 10d, for North Woolwich
1d more.
Chalk Farm, 1st, 1/-, 1/6; 2nd, 8d, 1/-; for North Woolwich same fares.
The Arsenal from Charing-cross: 1st, 1/6, 2/6; 2nd, 1/-, 1/8; 3rd, 10d, 1/2; par., 8d.
Cannon-street and London Bridge, 1st, 1/4, 2/2; 2nd, 1/-, 1/8; 3rd, 9d, 1/2; par., 8d.
Trains run also to the Dockyard from these stations at same fares.
[1883: There is a great deal more about Woolwich Arsenal]
North Woolwich Gardens: On the
left bank of the river, adjacent to the
North Woolwich Station of the Great
Eastern Railway, about half an hour
from Fenchurch-street.
Almost the only
survivors of the open-air places of amusement which were once so numerous, are
now Rosherville and North Woolwich.
The latter, though by no means so
picturesque as the lofty and tree-crowned
crags of Rosherville, are prettily laid out,
and in the summer-time are a pleasant
enough place of resort.
A variety of
entertainments of the usual class are
given here during the season: in fine
weather the gardens are generally
thronged.
The price of admission is
6d, and the fares from Fenchurch-St.
are: 1st, 1/1, 1/7; 2nd, 10d, 1/3; 3rd,
7d, 11d.
Galleon's Reach runs nearly north
and south, rather over a mile from Woolwich to Tripcock Point. At the Woolwich end is a ferry.
Bearings N.E.½E., and S.W.½W.
Northern Outfall, the Abbey Mills
Pumping Station, one of the curiosities
of modern civilisation, lies on the London,
Tilbury, and Southend Railway, between
Bromley-by-Bow and Plaistow.
For permission to view, apply to the Engineers'
Department, Metropolitan Board of
Works, Spring Gardens, S.W.
[There is an extensive description in the first edition.]
Southern Outfall Sewer, situate at
Crossness Point, about two miles across
the marshes from Abbey Wood Station,
North Kent line.
Intending visitors will
do well before taking their tickets to
ascertain at what time their train will
arrive, as the officials do not consider it
necessary in issuing them to give any
warning when the necessary change of
trains at Woolwich Arsenal happens to
involve a delay at that comfortable station
of an hour and a half or so.
Permission
to view may be obtained at the Engineers'
Department, Metropolitan Board of
Works, Spring Gardens, S.W.
Tripcock Reach, sometimes called
Barking Reach, runs not quite a mile
and a half from Tripcock Point (or
Margaretness) to Crossness.
Barking
Creek is on the left (Essex) bank, at the
north-west of the reach.
On the other
side are the Plumstead Marshes.
Bearings E. by S. and W. by N.
Halfway Reach, nearly two miles
from Crossness - the Southern outfall - to
the top of Erith Reach.
Dagenham
Reach and Marsh are on the left (Essex)
bank.
On the other side are the extensive
Erith Marshes.
Bearings S.E.by E. and N.W. by W.
Erith Reach runs for a mile and a
half from Halfway Reach to Erith.
Bearings, N.N.E. and S.S.W.
Erith, Kent, on the right bank.
From
London 16½ miles.
A station on the
North Kent line 15½ miles from Charing
Cross; trains take about an hour.
The
straight road from the station to the river
is about 300 yards, and the pier is distant
ten minutes' walk.
A fly meets the trains.
Population, 8,289.
The soil is principally
gravel and chalk.
Erith is not a particularly interesting village, lying in the
bight between Erith Reach and Erith
Rands.
It faces the flat marshes of
Essex, but the country behind it is pretty
and well wooded, affording many pretty
walks in a pleasant part of Kent.
There
are few good houses in the old part of
the village, but a good deal of building,
principally of villas, has of late years been
going on above the station, and this is
the most desirable part of Erith for
residential purposes.
There is a small
pier which is occasionally used by the
steamboats, and an attempt at an esplanade and garden was at one time made,
by private enterprise, along the river bank
to the eastward, but it cannot be said
that the effort was crowned with success.
The principal importance of Erith, from
the river point of view, is that it is a
popular Thames yachting station, the
headquarters of the Erith and Corinthian
Yacht Clubs, and a favourite point for
starting sailing matches.
There is a public hall in Pier-road,
capable of seating over 600 persons, which
can be hired for balls, concerts, dramatic
and other entertainments, public meetings, &c.; terms for hire may be obtained
of the secretary.
The Avenue Hall is
in connection with the Congregational
Church, and is used for classes, lectures,
&c, having sitting room for about 200
persons.
There is also a Masonic Hall
(in the Pier-road), seating 250, which is
fully licensed for music, dancing, &c.;
the "Cornwallis " Lodge of Masons meets
here.
The parish church (St.John the Baptist) is noteworthy for its ancient tower,
now elaborately shored up, and for some
interesting monuments and brasses.
The
most important of the former is the monument of Chantrey to Lord Eardley and
the altar-tomb of the Countess of Shrewsbury (1568).
The brasses of John Aylmer
and his wife (1435), of John Mylner and
"Margaret and Benet his wyves" (1511),
and, earliest of all, that to the memory
of Roger Sender (1425), will interest the
antiquary.
The old steps to the rood-screen are curious.
In the Norman
chancel of this church took place the
meeting between the Barons and the
Commissioners of King John after the
grant of Magna Charta.
Bank: London and County.
Fire: the engine-house is in the
Avenue-road, not far from the pier.
Hospital: Cottage Hospital, Crayford-road. 8 beds.
With this is connected the Provident Dispensary, with
1,500 members.
Hotel: "Prince of Wales", Avenue-road.
Places of Worship: St.John the
Baptist, and Christ Church; the Roman
Catholic Church of St.Fidelis, and
Congregational, Baptist, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan Chapels.
Police-station: Bexley-road, near railway-station.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
insurance), High-street.
Mails from London at 8 and 11.30am, 3.30 and 7pm,
and (Saturdays) 9.30pm. None on Sunday.
Mails for London at 8.40 and 11.20am, 4.55, 8.55, and 10.50pm; Sunday, 10.20pm
Fares to London (Charing-cross): 1st,
2/6, 3/9; 2nd, 1/10, 2/9; 3rd, 1/3, 2/3.
Erith Yacht Club, Headquarters,
Club House, Yacht Gypsy, Erith.
The
object of this club is the encouragement
of amateur yacht sailing.
It is managed
by commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, treasurer, secretary, and a
committee of thirteen, all of whom are
elected in February.
Election is invested
in the committee.
Annual subscription,
£1 15s.
; entrance, £1 1s.
Yachts of 10
tons entered for club races must have the
Yacht Racing Association certificate of
measurement.
Yachts under 10 tons are
measured according to the R.T.Y.C. rule.
Burgee red, with red Maltese cross
on white shield.
Corinthian Yacht Club: - Clubhouse, Erith.
The primary object of
the club is the encouragement of amateur yacht sailing.
The election is by
ballot in committee; three adverse votes
exclude.
The affairs of the club are administered by a commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, hon. Treasurer,
secretary, and a committee of fifteen other
members, with power to increase their
number to twenty.
The club numbers
over 500 members.
In races of this club
no professional or paid hands are allowed
except in the largest class, i.e. over 20
tons.
None but members of the C.Y.C. are
to act as helmsmen in any race.
Entrance
fee, £2 2s; subscriptions, £1 1s
Burgee, blue, with laurel wreath in gold in the centre.
Erith Rands, a mile and a half in
length from Erith to Crayfordness at the
top of Long Reach.
There is a ferry from
Erith to Cold Harbour Point opposite.
The Rand Hill Shoal is in the middle of
the reach.
Bearings, E.S.E. and W.N.W.
Long Reach extends from Crayfordness to Greenhithe, 3 miles.
Purfleet,
with its powder magazines, the training-ship Cornwall, and its hotel, so well
known for fish dinners, is at the west of
the left (Essex) bank.
A ferry crosses
here to "Long Reach Tavern", a little
to the westward of which is Dartford
Creek, on the right (Kent) bank, at the
eastern extremity of the reach.
Stone
Church is a prominent object just before
arriving at Greenhithe.
Bearings, S.E. by S. and N.W. by W.
Purfleet, on the left bank, in Essex,
about 18½ miles from London Bridge.
Population, exclusive of the garrison and
of the training-ship Cornwall, 150.
Soil,
light and sandy on chalk.
Purfleet, a
hamlet of West Thurrock, is a station on
the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway; the average time of the trains is
about three-quarters of an hour.
It is a
pretty village, with some picturesque
chalk hills pleasantly wooded, and with a
fine view down Long Reach towards
Greenhithe and the Kentish hills.
Opposite is Dartford Creek, and there
is a ferry from Purfleet to "Long Reach
Tavern" on the opposite bank.
A large
stock of gunpowder is stored in the
Government magazines here.
Below the
village is moored the training-ship Cornwall.
The principal attraction which
Purfleet has to offer to visitors is the
"Royal Hotel", which has of late years
acquired a considerable reputation for
fish-dinners.
Hotel: "The Royal".
Nearest Steamboat Piers: Rosherville,
about 8 miles, and Tilbury, a little farther
on;
Ferry: Purfleet
Railway Station: Purfleet.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, and telegraph).
Mails from London, 7 and 8.30am, and 7pm
Mails for London, 12.35 and 9.50pm
Fares to London: 1st, 1/11, 3/2; 2nd, 1/5, 2/4; 3rd, -/11, 1/10.
Greenhithe, Kent, on the right bank
at the junction of Long and Fiddler's
Reaches, from London 21 miles.
A
station on the North Kent Railway 20
miles from Charing Cross; express trains
take about 45 minutes.
The station is 10
minutes' walk from the river at the Pier
Hotel, where there is a jetty (toll 1d)
recently erected in place of the old pier.
Population: 1,452.
Soil: gravel and chalk.
The Arethusa and Chichester training-ships for boys, and the Worcester, the
ship of the Thames Nautical Training College, are stationed here, and here also
are the headquarters of the Junior
Thames Yacht Club (all of which see).
Some considerable business is done by
the cement works in the neighbourhood,,
not altogether to the satisfaction of some
of the inhabitants, and many river pilots
and masters of vessels complain loudly of
the nuisance arising from the smoke of
the numerous chimneys.
The principal
mansion at Greenhithe is Ingress Abbey,
facing the river, which was formerly the
residence of Alderman Harmer, and was
constructed in part of stones from Old
London Bridge.
There are some good
houses at the back of the village on what
is known as the Terrace and in its neighbourhood.
A masonic lodge is held at
the Pier Hotel.
The church is a handsome modern building in the early
decorated style, picturesquely situated on
the London-road.
A short distance from
Greenhithe - approached either from the
London-road or by a footpath immediately
opposite the railway station, a few minutes'
walk - is Stone Church, a well-known landmark.
The church has been recently restored by Mr.Street, who is of opinion that
it was built by the same architect as Westminster Abbey.
They were certainly built
at the same time, and there are many
points of resemblance between them.
The chancel is remarkable for the great
beauty of the carving of the arch and of
the arcade on marble pillars which runs
round the walls, and which Mr.Street
pronounces to be "among the very best
sculpture of the age that we have in
this country".
Among other features of
interest are some ancient brasses.
The view from the churchyard is extensive; visitors should by no means
overlook the remarkably fine yew-tree
which stands near the west door of the
church.
There is a village club.
Subscription,
for working-men, 5s per annum, or
1s 6d per quarter; honorary members,
10s per annum, 3s per quarter.
Reading-room open from 6 to 10pm, except
Monday.
Smoking-room open daily
from 8am, to 10pm.
Library of 1,000 volumes.
Places of Worship: St.Mary the
Virgin, and Stone Church; the Roman
Catholic Church of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel; and Congregational and Wesleyan Chapels.
Fire: Volunteer Brigade: 2 officers and 11 men.
Hotels "The Pier", "The White Hart", both in High-street.
Police: No station; 2 constables live in the village.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), High-St.
Mails from
London at 8am, 12.40 and 6.30pm
Mails for London, 1.15 and 8.15pm
There is also a branch office on the Terrace.
Nearest Station and Ferry: Greenhithe.
Fares to London (Charing Cross):
1st, 3/3 4/ 6; 2nd, 2/6 3/6; 3rd, 1/8 2/9
Thames Nautical Training College,
Training-ship Worcester, off Greenhithe,
and Office, 72, Mark-lane
Object: To provide properly qualified
officers for merchant vessels by training
cadets for a seafaring life, under an
able commander and schoolmaster,
with efficient subordinate officers.
The
annual terms of the admission in the
upper school for cadets from thirteen to
sixteen years of age are £52 10s, and in
the lower school for cadets from eleven to
thirteen years of age, £47 5s, payable in
advance, with a charge to each of £10 10s
per annum for uniform, medical attendance, washing, and use of school books
and stationery.
Youths only who are intended for the sea are entered on board
the training college.
Junior Thames Yacht Club, White
Hart Hotel, Greenhithe, and Royal Oak
Hotel, Ramsgate: the object of the
club is the encouragement of practical
amateur yachtsmen.
For this purpose
the crews of yachts in all sailing matches
must be amateurs, with the exception of
one paid hand in the 5-ton class, two
in the 10-ton class, and three in the 20-ton
class, such hands not to touch the tiller.
Yachts limited to 20 tons only are allowed
to take part in the club matches.
The
officers are commodore, vice commodore,
rear commodore, hon.Treasurer, secretary, and two auditors.
The committee
consists of twenty members, the flag-officers being ex-officio members.
Election by ballot of the club; one black ball
in three excludes.
Entrance fee, £1 is;
subscription, £1 1s.
Burgee, white, with
blue cross running through. Ensign red.
This reformatory training-ship of the School Ship Society is
anchored off Purfleet.
As a general rule
the committee do not admit boys unless
the three following conditions are satisfied:
1. That the boy be sentenced to not
less than three years' detention.
2. That he be not less than 13 years of
age nor more than 15.
3. That he be certified as sound and
healthy.
The comparative cost per head on ordinary maintenance and management is £23 5s 8d.
Funds are urgently needed, as "the amounts received on account of
the Treasury allowance and the county
and borough rates do little more than
suffice for the maintenance of the boys
and for the payments of the officers".
Visitors are requested not to go on
Saturday, which is cleaning day on board.
The Cornwall was once the Wellesley;
and was built in Bombay of teak in 1815,
and was the flagship of Sir W.Parker
and of Lord Dundonald.
St.Clement's Reach, sometimes called Fiddler's Reach, runs from Greenhithe to Grays Thurrock, about a mile
and three quarters.
Opposite Greenhithe
on the Essex bank is Stoneness Beacon,
and opposite the so-called Black Shelf,
west of Grays Thurrock, is Broadness.
The tide runs very strongly round this
point.
On the north of the reach is West
Thurrock.
Bearings E.N.E. and W.S.W.
"Arethusa" and "Chichester", Office, 25, Great Queen-street, W.C.
Two retired men-of-war, moored off
Greenhithe; are lent by the Government
to the Committee of the National Refuges
for homeless and destitute children, the
President of which is the Earl of Shaftesbury.
The Chichester was opened in
1866, and the Arethusa in 1874.
The
two ships are fitted to accommodate together 400 boys, who are entered from
fourteen to seventeen years of age, and
to train them for a sea life either in the
Royal Navy or merchant service.
The
ships are entirely supported by voluntary
contributions, and a visit to either of
them will afford ample proof that the
funds are administered carefully, and
with eminently satisfactory results.
Northfleet, Kent, on the right bank,
between Northfleet Hope and Gravesend
Reach, 25 miles from London.
A station
on the North Kent Railway, about an
hour and a quarter from Charing Cross.
The station is close to the lower part of
the village.
Population, 6,416. Soil,
chalk.
Northfleet is a straggling village
on the side of a hill, on the summit of
which are the church and a quaint, old-fashioned, open, triangular space - probably once the village green - which is
known by the name of the Hill.
The
principal trade of Northfleet is in cement,
and some shipbuilding and repairing
are carried on by the river.
A prominent object both from the railway
and from the river is the college, built
and endowed in 1847 by John Huggens,
Esq., of Sittingbourne, for the benefit
of ladies and gentlemen in reduced
circumstances.
It consists of 50 superior almshouses, each of the inmates
receiving £1 per week.
A handsome
chapel forms part of the building.
In
addition to the 50 inmates, there are 40
out-pensioners who also receive £1 per
week.
Perhaps the most prominent object
in Northfleet is the Factory Club, a handsome building erected at the sole cost of
Mr.Bevan, of the firm of Knight, Bevan,
and Sturge, for the benefit of the working men of the village.
It is a large hall,
with galleries at either end, in which
1,000 persons can be accommodated, and
a number of rooms in the basement, with
wings at the back, one of which contains
the kitchen, offices, lavatories, &c., and
the other a billiard-room.
The building
itself is mainly erected of red and white
bricks, but relieved by columns in cement
of apparently mixed Italian and Corinthian
styles, in addition to which there are
facings and cornices of a similar material.
At each end of the building is a lofty
slated tower, with a flag-staff, and margined with handsome ironwork.
The
internal finishings of the large hall are
executed in pitch pine; underneath one
of the galleries is a bar, fitted up for the
supply of refreshments; and the whole
of the fittings, seats, and tables are also
of pitch pine.
From the towers a splendid view may be obtained, embracing
Southend and about twenty miles of
beautiful scenery.
The entrance fee is
1s 3d for Messrs.Knight's men, and
2s 9d for those not belonging to that
firm.
The subscription is 4d. per month.
The church of St.Botolph, approached
from the Hill, stands in a churchyard
full of weatherbeaten old tombstones of
all shapes and sizes.
Many crumbling
carvings and half-obliterated corbels on the
porch and older walls of the church attest
the antiquity of the structure, and on the
right-hand side of the porch the curious
may still discover the Rose of York or
Lancaster.
The tower, which was originally built to serve the purpose of a stronghold against the incursions of pirates
and river thieves, has been partly rebuilt.
The external flight of stairs leading to the tower is part of the original
building.
According to Mr.E.W.Godwin, F.S.A., the church in Norman
times belonged to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, until it was given to the
Priory of St.Andrew, Rochester, when it
was in some measure rebuilt.
The original Norman church has entirely disappeared, but traces of the re-building
are visible in the three westernmost arches
of the nave.
These probably belong to
the close of the 12th century.
The
present chancel would seem to have been
built about the middle of the 14th century.
The restoration of the chancel, under
Mr.Godwin's superintendence, was
finished in 1864.
The chancel possesses
one of the architectural rarities of England,
a 14th century rood screen beautifully
carved in oak, on which are heads of
Christ and his Apostles, much mutilated
by the Puritans.
There are some fine
brasses, notably one of Peter de Lacy,
rector in 1375, whose body lies in the
centre of the chancel, and others of
William Lye (1391), and of William
Rikhill and wife (1433).
The sedilia in
the chancel have been beautifully restored
and decorated; another set of sedilia
and piscina have been partially restored,
and will be found at the east end of the
south aisle.
The roof is of oak and has
been partly renovated; that in the chancel
was new in 1864.
The registers date
back to 1539.
The old parish church
iron-bound chest, with six locks, is evidently of great antiquity.
In the north
aisle is a curious canopied monument
displaying the bewigged marble effigies,
nearly if not quite life-size, of Richard
Crich and Esther his wife, "erected by
his sole executor".
Also in the north
aisle is the monument of Dr.Edward
Brown.
The doctor's will is sculptured
on the marble, and by it he leaves to his
"dear and loving wife sundry fields in
Northfleet, and the rent of the chalk, and
the profits of the cherries".
In the south
aisle is a monument tablet to Walter, son
of Robert, Lord Viscount Molesworth,
who died in 1773, his wife (1763), and his
daughters (1766 and 1772).
On the
general question of epitaphs it is said of
this Walter, son of Robert, in the inscription on the tablet to his memory,
"Never fond of monumental compliments he forbade any use of them in
regard to the carcases below."
Places of Worship: All Saints Perry-street and St.Botolph's (parish
church); the Roman Catholic Church of
Our Immaculate Mother and St.Joseph;
and Congregational, Primitive Methodist,
Wesleyan, and Wycliffe Congregational
Chapels.
Police: Station, High-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, telegraph, savings bank,
and insurance), the Hill.
Branch in
High-street.
Mails from London, 7.15
and 11.30am, 6.45pm
Mails to London, 10.30 and 11.30am, 2.15 and 8pm. Sundays 6.30pm
Nearest Railway Station: Northfleet;
Ferries: Greenhithe and Gravesend.
Fares to London: 1st, 3/6, 4/6; 2nd,
2/8, 3/6, 3rd, 1/10, 3/-.
Northfleet Hope runs from Grays
Thurrock to Northfleet, nearly north and
south, about a mile and a half.
There is
at the west side of the Hope a shoal
with as little as three feet of water in
places at low tide.
At Grays Thurrock
and at Northfleet there are very extensive
cement works, and at the former place
is moored the Exmouth training-ship.
Bearings N. and S.
Northfleet Light: this, the first of
the Trinity House lighthouses, is an iron
pillar-light illuminated by gas.
It was
transferred to the care of the Trinity
House by the Thames Conservancy in
1870.
Grays Thurrock, a small town on the
left (Essex) bank, rather more than 23
miles from London Bridge; a station on
the London, Tilbury, and Southend Rail-
way, 20½ miles from London; the trains
average about three-quarters of an hour.
Population, exclusive of the training-ships,
about 4,000.
Light soil on chalk.
The
principal trade of Grays is in bricks, and,
especially, lime and cement.
The cruciform church is dedicated to
St.Peter and St.Paul.
It contains a
tablet to the memory of the schoolmaster
and boys of the training ship Goliath,
who were drowned during the fire which
destroyed that ship in 1876.
About a
century ago, Wm.Palmer, Esq., left
property in London, now amounting to
about £900 per annum, for the purposes
of education in Grays, and a few years
ago, at the cost of about £7,000, schools
were erected to accommodate 140 boys
and 75 girls, who obtain their education
at a small charge.
The training ships Exmouth and Shaftesbury {which see) are moored in the river off
Grays.
The former is under the Metropolitan Asylums Board, the latter under
the London School Board.
A new police-station was opened in 1880.
Bank: London and Provincial.
Hotels: "the King's Arms" and "The Railway".
Places of Worship: Church of St.Peter and St.Paul, Congregational
Church, and Chapels of the Primitive and United Methodist.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
insurance).
Mails from London , 6.50 and 7.15am, 6pm;
Sundays, 9am,
For London, 12.10am, 4.45, and 9pm; Sundays, 4.30 and 9pm
Nearest Steamboat Pier: Rosherville about 3 miles, and Tilbury, a little lower
down on the Essex side;
Railway Station: Grays.
Fares to London: 1st, 2/3, 3/9; 2nd, 1/8, 2/10; 3rd, 1/1, 2/-.
Exmouth Training Ship, Grays Thurrock.
Commander, Captain Bourchier, R.N., formerly Captain-Superintendent of the Goliath.
(Office, 37, Norfolk Street, W.C.).
On the destruction by fire, in December, 1875, of the Goliath
training ship, which had been founded
and carried on by three out of the thirty
London Unions for about six years, the
managers of the Metropolitan Asylum
Board, at the request of the Local Government Board, undertook to provide and
manage a training ship, in the advantages
of which the whole of the metropolitan
unions and parishes were to be entitled
to participate, and towards the expenses
of which all now contribute.
The object
of the ship, which provides accommodation for 600 lads, is to take healthy and
otherwise suitable boys, from the ages of
12 to 15, from the Metropolitan Poor
Law schools, educate them, and train
them for service in either the Royal Navy,
Army, or mercantile marine.
The industrial School ship of the London School Board
has been stationed at Grays since July,
1878, and is certified for 350 inmates, 70
of whom may be Roman Catholics.
The
boys are sent to the Shaftesbury by two
justices, or a stipendiary magistrate in the
metropolis, and are children whose cases
come under the provisions of Sections 14
and 16 of the Industrial Schools Act,
1866.
A child may also be sent to an
industrial school under Section 12 of the
"Elementary Education Act of 1876",
where an attendance order has not been
complied with, and where the parent
satisfies the court that he has used all
reasonable efforts to compel the child to
attend school.
These popular and well-conducted gardens are on
the high road to the west of Gravesend,
and can be reached direct from the
steamboat pier.
The admission is 6d,
and there is a constant succession of
amusement throughout the day; dancing
on the circular platform from 2 o'clock to
11 being a special and favourite feature.
Besides the tea and shrimps so dear to
the heart of the Gravesend excursionist,
other refreshments of a more substantial
and stimulating character can be obtained at very reasonable rates.
The
extent of the grounds, which are tastefully
laid out and produce abundance of
flowers, is about 20 acres.
There is a
conservatory about 200 feet long, a bijou
theatre, a maze, museum, "baronial
hall", occasionally used for dancing, but
more often for purposes of refreshment.
There is a very good fernery and a bear-pit, and some 10 miles of walks are held
out as additional inducements to the excursion public.
The peculiar situation
of Rosherville - it being an old chalk
quarry - has lent itself admirably to the
landscape gardener's art, and the result
is a really pretty and remarkable diversified garden, in which it is quite feasible
to pass that "Happy Day" which in the
advertisements is always coupled with
the name of Rosherville.
For railway
and steamboat arrangements, see Gravesend and Steamboats.
Gravesend Reach is about three
miles and a half in length, and runs from
Northfleet to Coal House Point.
The
first lighthouse of the Trinity House is
at Northfleet.
Bearings E.S.E. and W.N.W.
The
pilot-station at Gravesend is the chief
rendezvous of all the various classes of
men licensed to conduct ships into and
out of the River Thames.
This station
represents the point of division between
the functions of river and sea pilotage.
The outward-bounder, after being brought
from the docks under the care of a river-licensed man, lands him, and comes
under the charge of a man whose license
qualifies him to take her to sea.
The
inward-bound reverse the process.
The pilotage of the River Thames is
now wholly under the management of the
Trinity House of London.
Until 1853
their authority as respects vessels hailing
to or from the southward was divided
with the fellowship of the Cinque Ports,
but now the two bodies are consolidated.
The Trinity House licenses pilots from
Gravesend outwards to the northward,
who give up charge at Orfordness, or
southward as far as Dungeness, and vice
versa, besides certifying special qualifications for particular coasts, British or
foreign, towards which a Thames pilot
may have occasion to go.
To obtain a sea-license a candidate
must not be more than thirty-five years of
age, and must have served at sea three
years as mate or master in a square rigged ship.
Applicants thus far approved
are put upon the register, and as vacancies
occur come forward for examination as to
their knowledge of the coast and channels,
the depths of water, tides, dangers, sea-marks, &c.
The Elder Brethren of the
Trinity House are the examiners, the
nature of whose duties in buoyage and
beaconage, and marine surveying, affords
exactly the kind of experience required
for such a task.
The examination passed,
the license under seal of that corporation
is granted, and the newly-made pilot,
having first paid his fee of admission,
goes to Gravesend and takes his turn as
a Channel or sea pilot.
A license for the river is obtained in a
manner somewhat similar, except that
there are several classes of qualifications,
each securing a particular kind of license.
The highest class enables the holder to
insist on the acceptance of his services, to
the exclusion of one of an inferior grade,
in any vessel not exempted from compulsory pilotage.
Another class has
authority to conduct passenger steamships passing inward or outward on
coasting or on short foreign voyages;
while a third class is employed solely in
ships which, though not compelled by
law to employ a pilot, prefer to do so.
The remuneration of the pilots,
whether above or below Gravesend, is
dependent upon the distance piloted, and
the draft of water in feet of the vessel,
subject to a deduction when steam has
been employed.
The sea-pilots may not
take less than the legal rate, but some of
the river-pilots may make their own
bargain.
They work in rotation according to turn, but if a pilot is chosen by
any shipowner for a particular ship, his
name is taken off the turn list until he has
fulfilled his selective engagement, when
he comes on turn again at the bottom of
the roll.
There are two waiting-rooms on
the Terrace Pier, and two steam-launches
in attendance, the one on the sea, the
other on the river division, the expenses
of which are defrayed by a fund to which
the men subscribe.
Those who go seaward have to be landed from their ships
by local boatmen.
The whole number of pilots holding
licenses for the River Thames is about
500, of whom 200 are exclusively for
service above Gravesend.
Crimps may be said to be practically
an extinct order of reptile.
Jack's ship
is now boarded on arrival at Gravesend
by the officers of the Board of Trade,
who provide him with a passage straight
home if he wishes it, and he is next
awaited in the dock by the employees of
the Sailors' Home.
If their regime does
not suit him, the private lodging-houses
he prefers are under the strictest sanitary
and police surveillance; and when his
money is out and he wants a ship, the
only means by which he can obtain one
is through the Shipping Office.
Finally,
if in spite of these tender surroundings
he contrives, as he still occasionally does
contrive, to procure his own ultimate
ejectment from some unlicensed den in
the minimum of clothing, and without
even the minimum of coin, he has still
the refuge of the "Straw House".
Thus
while blood-suckers of various breeds
still ply their trade with more or less
success at Jack's expense - a fact for
which Jack has assuredly nowadays no
one to thank but himself- the "crimp",
whose specialty it was, after having
sucked the blood, to dispose of the
carcase to some sea-going skipper in
want of a crew, has no longer any raison
d'etre, and has therefore practically ceased
to be.
Gravesend, Kent, on the right bank,
from London 27 miles.
A station on the
North Kent Railway, 24 miles from
Charing Cross.
Express trains take about
an hour.
The station is close to the
centre of the town, and about 10 minutes'
walk from the Town Pier.
Flys meet the
trains.
There is another route from
Tilbury to Fenchurch-street, by express
about 45 minutes.
Ferry steamers ply
between Tilbury station and the wharf in
West-street.
Population, 20,413.
Soil,
chalky.
Gravesend, anciently, according
Domesday Book, Gravesham, is, owing
to its position as the gateway of the port
of London, one of the most important
towns on the river.
All foreign-going
ships are compelled to stop here and
take on board pilots, and, on homeward voyage, Custom House officers.
The river here narrows to the width of
about half a mile, and the narrow
channel is day and night full of shipping of every class and description,
from the stately ironclad to the
fussy tug, from the clean-cut China
clipper to the picturesque if clumsy Dutch
galliot, and from the graceful schooner
yacht to the ungainly hay-barge.
The
shipping in the reach brings many
visitors to Gravesend, for although it is
no longer the custom, as it was extensively
some years ago, for emigrants and other
travellers to embark and disembark at
Gravesend, it is still a convenient place
for the last God-speed on the outward
voyage or the first welcome home.
It is
well to remark in this connection that the
Gravesend waterman is a personage in any
dealings with whom it is desirable to
keep the weather-eye open.
Fancy fares
are almost invariably demanded, and the
smallest opportunity of laying the blame of
the overcharge on the state of the weather
or of the water is taken the utmost advantage of.
There is, however, no reason
why there should be any real difficulty in
regard to this matter.
A table of fares,
with special regulations for luggage, is
issued by the Corporation of Gravesend,
and to it watermen are bound to adhere.
The list will be found at the end of this
article.
From the river Gravesend, unlike most riverside towns, presents an
attractive appearance.
The town rises
rapidly from the riverside to the hill
which is crowned with the well-known
windmill; and the cliffs towards Rosherville and Northfleet, and the well-wooded
rising ground towards Chalk and Cobham, "add greatly to the beauty of the view."
Gravesend has, since the days of
Elizabeth, been incorporated as a municipal borough, and the town is governed
by a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen
councillors.
Courts of Quarter Session
are held here; the present Recorder is
Standish Grove Grady, Esq.
The Parliamentary borough was constituted by
the Act of 1867, and includes the parishes
of Gravesend and Milton and a portion
of Northfleet.
The number of voters on the
register in 1880 was 3,286.
The borough
is at present represented by Sir Sydney
Waterlow, a Liberal.
The principal streets
are High-street, Harmer-street, Wind-
mill-street, and the Milton and New
roads, some of which contain good
shops.
The most favourite residential
portions of the town are along the Milton-road, on the cliffs about Rosherville, and
at the streets at the back of the town,
which cluster about Windmill Hill and
lead into the open country.
The town-hall, where the business of
the municipality is transacted, and where
petty and quarter sessions are held, is a
handsome building in the High-street,
and behind it is the market-place extending to Queen-street.
There are four piers: the Rosherville,
just below the well-known gardens - this
is a landing-stage, and nothing more;
the ferryboat-pier in West-street; the
Town Pier, at the bottom of High-street
(toll for promenade 1d), which combines
the business of a steamboat-pier and
landing-stage, with a somewhat feeble
effort in the direction of bazaar keeping.
This pier is covered in, and is occasionally
utilised for amusements, as is also the
case with the Royal Terrace Pier, still
lower down the river, which stands in well-arranged grounds of its own (Toll, 2d).
Gravesend belongs to the Chatham
military district.
There are extensive
barracks in Wellington-street, Milton,
and a rifle range in Denton Marsh, on
the east of the town, which was for a
time closed, but which, after many difficulties and some litigation, has been
again restored to its original objects.
The forts at Tilbury, New Tavern Fort at
Gravesend, as well as Shorne Fort, are
included in the Gravesend district.
The
1st Administrative Brigade and the 1st
corps of that brigade of Kent Artillery
Volunteers have their headquarters in the
town.
The office of the Customs Department is close to the river at the bottom of
Harmer-street.
The pilot-station is at the
Terrace Pier, and the harbour-master's
office and that of the mercantile marine
are in Whitehall-place, where also are
the offices of the London and St.Katharine and Victoria Docks, that of
the East and West India Docks being in
Milton-place.
There is a theatre in the New-road,
which does not appear to be overburdened
with patronage, and the pretty and
attractive gardens at Rosherville are
mainly supported by excursionists (see
Rosherville Gardens).
The public
hall is in New-road, nearly opposite the
theatre, and contains, besides reading-room, club-room, and refreshment department, a large hall, which is available
for entertainments, lectures, &c.
The
assembly-room, in Harmer-street, can be
hired for one night at £3 3s, and for two
nights at £5 5s, including gas.
There is also a lecture-hall at Milton.
The free
library and reading-room is in Church-street.
The reading-room of the St.Andrew's Waterside Mission is at the
foot of the Town Pier, and is open on
week-days from 9 to 9, and on Sundays
from 2 to 6.
The Gravesend Club, which
has its quarters at the Nelson Hotel, New-road, numbers about seventy members.
Entrance, £1 1s; subscription, £1 1s.
Election is by ballot of members; one
black ball in ten excludes.
Gravesend is well supplied with schools,
and one of the handsomest buildings on
the hill above Milton is Milton Mount
College, an institution founded in 1870
by the Rev.Wm.Guest for the training
of the daughters of Congregational
ministers.
The college is intended to
give a high literary culture at low terms,
especially to those young ladies who purpose becoming teachers.
The school
depends for its support on subscriptions
as well as on the payments of pupils.
In
connection with the college is Milton
Congregational Church and Lecture
Hall, in which several societies in association with the church hold their
meetings.
At Gravesend are the headquarters of
the Nore Yacht Club at the New Falcon
Hotel; and of the New Thames Yacht
Club, who have a club-house at Clifton
Marine Parade; and most of the important races of the leading London yacht
clubs finish in Gravesend Reach.
Masonic lodges are held at the Town
Hall and at the Old Falcon Hotel.
Varchall's Charity: this trust is
shortly as follows: David Varchall, an
old inhabitant of Gravesend, by his will
dated 15th September, 1703, left certain
property lying by the waterside in trust,
after his wife's death, to raise out of the
rents £20 yearly, to be paid quarterly to
the master of the Free School (now the
National School) for ever to teach
twenty poor boys, of whom ten were
to be sent from Gravesend and ten
from Milton by the churchwardens and
parishioners of each parish.
Also to lay
out a sum of money to buy clothes for
these twenty poor boys, and to pay the
surplus to buy clothes for so many other
poor people in Gravesend and Milton,
as the respective churchwardens and
parishioners should think fit.
The rents
of the properties now yield a surplus
averaging about;£100 per annum, which
is divided equally between the parishes,
and about Christmas the Vestries examine
each applicant for clothes, and send a
list of approved persons to the clerk, who
gives them each a ticket authorising them
to receive, at any shop in their own
parish, useful clothing to the extent of
so many shillings; these are collected
and paid by the trustees.
There is a
notice appended to the ticket that if the
ticket be used for any other goods except
clothes (such as liquor, &c.) it will not be
paid.
By a decree in Chancery the
number of trustees is fixed at fourteen -
seven for each parish; five to be a
quorum.
Vacancies are to be filled up
by the trustees, but so that there be
never less than five trustees.
Pinnock's Charity: Henry Pinnock,
of Milton next Gravesend, gentleman,
by his will dated the 13th of August,
1624, gave and bequeathed unto the poor
people of the parishes of Gravesend and
Milton the sum of £3, to be distributed
indifferently, at the discretion of the
churchwardens and overseers of the said
parishes, without any other dole.
Likewise he gave and bequeathed unto the
churchwardens and overseers of the
parishes of Gravesend and Milton aforesaid, for ever, for the time being, certain
messuages or tenements with gardens in
Milton aforesaid; so that the said church-
wardens and overseers do term the said
messuages for ever by the name of "Saint
Thomas's Houses", and do for ever convert, take, employ, and keep the same
houses, with their appurtenances, to and
for the only use and behoof, and for the
better relief and maintenance of such
poor decayed people as shall from time
to time be or dwell in the said parishes,
and to no other use, intent, or purpose.
He further bequeathed unto the said
churchwardens and overseers two acres of
marsh ground, and other hereditaments
at Grays Thurrock, in Essex, to the only
use and stock of the said poor of Milton
and Gravesend, and to keep them at
work; and that the trustees shall, during
their natural lives, have the placing and
displacing of the ancient poor people,
into and out of the said houses.
There
are now ten tenements called "Saint Thomas's Houses", and four more are
in course of erection out of funds derived
from charitable legacies.
The present
poor people who are occupants number
37.
With a view of establishing a fund
for the endowment of the charity and in
memory of the late Prince Consort, a
fund was established in 1863 called "the
Albert Memorial Endowment Fund",
which now consists of nearly £1,400
Consols, the income of which is divided
equally between the inhabitants of the
houses.
The Orphans' Home, South-street,
West-square, London, and 35, Harmer-street, Gravesend, was opened in 1867
for 10 children.
There are now 214
orphans within its shelter - 65 in the
Branch Home, Harmer-street, Gravesend, the rest in the Parent Home, West-
square, London.
The Gravesend family
consists of the little ones and the delicate
ones of the flock, with a few older and
stronger girls to do the work of the
house.
There is no assured income,
and no funded property belonging to the
institution.
There are no managing
expenses; the services of the architect,
the legal adviser, the medical attendants,
the secretary, and superintendent, are all
given gratuitously; so that every penny
which is contributed to the Home goes
direct to the support of the children.
The average cost of each child's maintenance is £15 a year.
More than a
hundred orphans are awaiting their turn
for admission.
The Children's Home, Milton, for the
rescue and nurture of orphan and neglected children, is a certified industrial
school, providing accommodation for 150
boys.
In connection with the Children's
Home, Bonner-road, London; Edgworth,
Lancashire; and Hamilton, Canada.
Many pleasant excursions may be
made from Gravesend, some of the
prettiest country in the county lying
within easy reach.
The woods of Cobham should certainly be visited, especially
in the season when the rhododendron
thickets are in bloom.
But at all times
of the year the woods are beautiful.
Cobham Hall, the seat of the Earl of
Darnley, is an interesting Elizabethan
building, containing a fine picture
gallery and a very perfect gilded music-room attributed to Inigo Jones.
Cobham
church also presents many points of
interest.
Fine views are obtained on the
road from Gravesend to Rochester (7
miles) over Gad's Hill.
Maidstone is
about three-quarters of an hour from
Gravesend by the North Kent Railway,
and a little beyond Maidstone are the
celebrated Farleigh and Wateringbury
hop-gardens.
In the summer the steamer
can be taken to Southend or Sheerness,
from which latter point steamers run up
the Medway to Rochester and Chatham.
Banks: London and County, and
London and Provincial, both in High-street.
Fair: October 24th.
Fire: the Volunteer Brigade consists
of captain, superintendent, and ten members.
Three manual engines, two hand,
hose and reel.
Hydrants are fixed
throughout the town.
Fire-engines,
escapes, and fire-annihilators are kept at
the Town Hall.
Hotels: "Clarendon", "Falcon",
"Old Falcon", "Rosherville", all facing
the river.
Places of Worship: Christ Church, Milton next Gravesend;
Holy Trinity Church, Milton next Gravesend;
St.George's (parish church of Gravesend);
St.James's Church, London-road;
St.Mark's, Rosherville;
St.Peter and St.Paul (parish church of Milton);
the Roman Catholic Church of St.John's, Milton-road;
Waterside Mission, St.Andrew's;
Bethel (for sailors and watermen, Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes), West-street.
Gravesend also contains
Congregational, Free Church, Primitive
Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and
Wesleyan Chapels, and a Jewish Synagogue.
Police: the station is at the Town Hall in High-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), 144 and 145, Milton-road.
Mails from London, 8am, 2.05, 5.10, and 10.45pm
Mails for London, 9.30am, 1, 4, 8, and 12pm
Receiving offices, 80, High-street, 38, New-road, 27, Wrotham-
road, and at Denton.
There is also a telegraph-station at the Terrace Pier.
Nearest Railway Station, Steamboat-pier and Ferry: Gravesend.
Fares to Charing Cross: 1st, 3/6, 4/6; 2nd, 2/8, 3/6; 3rd, 2/1, 3/-.
To Fenchurch-street (via Tilbury): 1st, 2/6, 3/9; 2nd, 1/11, 2/10; 3rd, 1/4, 2/-
For one person | Exceeding one | |
between Broadness Point and Gray's, and Lower Hope Point below Gravesend: Over the water directly, and to and from any steamboat, ship, or vessel, opposite, or near to any public plying place between Broadness Point and Grays, and Lower Hope Point aforesaid, both inclusive, one person | 1s | 6d. each |
---|---|---|
From the Town Quay to or from Gladdish's Wharf on the west, and to and from all steamboats, ships, vessels, and places lying and being between the same, and from the Town Quay to and from all steamboats, ships, vessels, and places lying and being between the same, one person | 1s. | 6d. each |
From the Town Quay at Gravesend, westward, to or from any steamboat, ship, vessel, or place between it and:- | ||
- the Red Lion Wharf | 1s 6d | 9d each |
- Northfleet Creek | 2s 6d | 1s 3d each |
- Broadness Point or Grays | 3s 6d | 1s 9d each |
From the Town Quay at Gravesend, westward, to or from any steamboat, ship, vessel, or place between it and:- | ||
- the Red Lion Wharf | 1s 6d | 9d each |
- Northfleet Creek | 2s 6d | 1s 3d each |
From the Town Quay at Gravesend, eastward, to and from any steamboat, ship, vessel, or place between it and:- | ||
- Denton Mill | 1s 6d | 9d each |
- Shorne Mead Battery | 2s 6d | 1s 3d each |
- Coalhouse Point | 3s 6d | 1s 9d each |
- Halfway Lower Hope | 5s 0d | 2s 6d each |
- Lower Hope Point Battery | 6s 6d | 3s 3d each |
Watermen bringing the same passengers
or any of them back from any steamboat,
ship, vessel, or place, to be paid only one
half the fare above stated by such person
or persons for the back passage.
The
above fares in all cases to include passengers' luggage or baggage, not exceeding fifty-six pounds for each passenger.
All beyond that weight to be paid for at
or after the rate of 6d. for each fifty-six pounds.
Watermen detained by passengers stopping at steamboats, ships,
wharves, and other places, to be paid for
time or distance, according to the rate
herein set forth respectively, at the option of the waterman.
For a full boat-load of passengers' luggage or baggage, the same fare as for
carrying eight passengers: for half a boatload, the same fare as four passengers.
Time for a pair of oars:
For the first hour, 2s; for the second hour, 1s; and for each succeeding hour, 1s.
For the day, the day to be computed from 7
o'clock in the morning to 5 o'clock in the
evening from Michaelmas Day to Lady
Day, and from 6 o'clock in the morning
to 8 o'clock in the evening, from Lady
Day to Michaelmas Day, 12s.
Gravesend Hackney Coach Fares to be affixed in a conspicuous position in the interior of every carriage licensed by the Urban Sanitary authority.
By distance - From the Town Terrace, or Commercial Piers, to the North Kent Railway Station, or vice versa | 1s 0d |
---|---|
From the piers or railway station to Rosherville Gardens, or Pier, or Perry-street | 1s 6d |
To Springhead | 2s 6d |
From the King-street stand to the Denton boundary, or any place between the west side of Windmill and High streets, and south of the old Dover-road; or to the Rosherville boundary, or any place between Windmill and High- streets, and south of the Old road | 1s 6d |
From the piers or railway-station into Old Dover-road, Constitution- crescent, Leith Park, West Hill, Shrubbery, South Hill, White Hill roads, or Old Sun-lane | 1s 6d |
Except in the above cases, for any distance not exceeding one mile | 1s |
for every additional half-mile, | 6d |
Half back fare if the parties return in the same carriage. | |
By time - Between 6am, and 10pm for every hour or any less time, from the time of hiring to the nearest stand after discharged | 2s 6d |
Half-fare additional may be charged
between 10pm and 6am, When more
than two persons may be and are carried,
6d. to be paid for every additional person
for the whole hiring.
Two children under
ten years of age to be counted as one
adult; a single child under ten free.
No
driver to carry more than six persons in
a carriage drawn by horses, or more than
two in one drawn by mules or asses.
Luggage free up to twenty-eight pounds;
over that weight, 2d. for every additional
fourteen pounds, or fractional part thereof.
Carriage drawn by a goat to carry only
three children under six years.
Nore Yacht Club, New Falcon
Hotel, Gravesend:
Object: To promote
yacht and naval architecture; to encourage amateur seamanship and yacht
racing in classes of 40 tons and under;
and to establish yachting accommodation
on metropolitan waters.
Officers: commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, and honorary treasurer and secretary,
who, with twenty members, form the committee.
Election by ballot in
committee; nine votes must be recorded: one black ball in eight excludes.
Burgee,
light blue, dark blue cross through it,
gold anchor in centre, red ensign.
Tilbury Fort is in Essex, opposite
Gravesend.
The original Tilbury Fort
was built by Henry VIII. in 1539, and
when Elizabeth's army was encamped at
West Tilbury was but a small building.
King Henry's Fort was considerably enlarged by Charles II., when the Dutch
fleet were making themselves very officious
in the Thames and Medway.
There is
not much to see in Tilbury Fort, the
principal object of attraction being the
room in the old gateway once occupied by
Queen Elizabeth.
At Tilbury is a station
of the London, Tilbury, and Southend
Railway, and a steam-ferry to Gravesend.
Fares to Fenchurch-street: 1st, 2/5,
3/9; 2nd, 1/9, 2/10; 3rd, 1/2, 2/-; and
see Gravesend.
The Hope, or Lower Hope, runs
about three nautical miles, almost due
north and south, from Coal House Point,
about two miles below Gravesend, to the
Mucking Light at the beginning of Sea
Reach.
Both banks are here very flat
and marshy, the Mucking Flats being on
the left (Essex) and Cliffe Marsh on the
right (Kent).
Just beyond Coal House
Point is the Oven Spit and Ovens Buoy.
Bearings N.E. and S.W.
Mucking Flat Lighthouse, Sea
Reach: Built of iron upon a hollow pile
foundation.
A temporary light was first
exhibited from this position in October,
1849, and the present structure was built
in 1851.
It is painted black and white in
alternate horizontal bands, and is connected with the shore by a long footbridge, also built on piles and coloured
white.
The height of the light tower from
base to vane is 66 feet, and its central
lamp burns at 40 feet above high water.
The light is under occultation once in
every half minute, and the apparatus used
is lenticular, giving forth a white beam
with red sectors.
A fog bell is sounded
during foggy weather.
There are two
keepers employed in tending the station,
who, having their dwellings at hand, with
coals, light, and furniture provided for
them, and living with their families, have
a much more comfortable billet than their
neighbours at the Chapman lower down.
Ovens Buoy: A 20-foot conical buoy,
made of iron, and painted black.
It is
situated in Gravesend Reach, three miles
below Gravesend, at the edge of the Oven
Spit on the Essex (left) bank, and marks
a depth of water, at low-water spring tide,
of 9 feet.
It is moored with 15 fathoms
of chain.
This buoy has only been retransferred to the Trinity House recently,
having, in 1865, been transferred to the
Thames Conservancy.
Thames Haven (Essex).
Thames Haven Company, Limited, 8, London-street, E.C.
The business of
this company is the landing and housing
of foreign animals and the forwarding of
them to the London cattle market.
Sea Reach runs east and west front
the Mucking to the Nore, being about
12 nautical miles.
The banks are, for
the most part, flat and shoaly, with
hills rising behind, and the river here
rapidly widens.
On the north (Essex)
side of Sea Reach, approaching the Nore,
are Canvey Island; the Chapman Light;
the Leigh Middle, with its two buoys;
Southend; and the West and Middle
Shoebury buoys, at the edge of the
Maplin Sands.
On the South (Kent)
is the Blyth Sand, extending some six
nautical miles, with three buoys; the
Yantlet Middle with its buoy; the Jenkin
Buoy; and the Nore Sand and buoy.
A
little distance above the Nore the Medway enters the Thames at Sheerness, the
Sheerness Middle and Grain Spit being
marked by buoys.
Bearings E.S.E. and W.N.W.
Spit Buoy: A 6-foot can-buoy, made
of wood, and painted black.
It is situated
in Sea Reach, off Leigh, and inside
Southend Pier to the westward.
It marks
6 feet of water at low-water spring tide. It is moored with 6 fathom of chain.
This buoy belongs to the Trinity House.
East Blyth Buoy - A 16 foot conical
buoy, made of iron, and painted with
black and white stripes.
It is situated in
Sea Reach, nearly opposite the Chapman
Light, on the edge of the Blyth Sand,
and marks a depth of water, at low water
spring tide, of 21 feet.
It is moored
with 18 fathoms of chain.
Middle Blyth Buoy: A 16-ft. can
buoy, made of iron, and painted with
black and white stripes.
It is situated in
Sea Reach, a short distance below Thames
Haven, on the edge of the Blyth Sand,
and marks a depth of water, at low-water
spring tide, of 20 ft.
It is moored with
18 fathom of chain.
Jenkin Buoy: An 8-foot cylinder
buoy, made of iron, and painted with
black and white chequers.
It is situated
in Sea Reach, to the westward of the
Nore Sand, and marks a depth of water,
at low- water spring tide, of 21 feet.
It is
moored with 12 fathoms of chain.
The
Jenkin buoy belongs to the Trinity House.
Canvey Island (Essex) is situated on
the Thames, about 12 miles below Graves
end, and is close to Hole Haven, or Holy-Haven, and not far from Thames Haven.
There is a very comfortable and unobtrusive inn, where boating men are
frequently accommodated with bed and
board.
The population of the island,
purely agricultural, is about 300.
The
very pretty little church is dedicated to
St.Katherine.
There is a coastguard
station on the island, and Benfleet station
is on the land side about three miles from
the water.
There is a fine shell bay and
beach, which nearly at all times of the
tide is a most pleasant walk close to the
sea.
Nearest Railway Station: Benfleet,
on the London, Tilbury, and Southend
Railway, about 1 hour 30 minutes from
London;
Steamboat-piers: Thames Haven and Southend.
Railway fares: Benfleet to London, 1st, 3/9, 6/3; 2nd, 2/10, 4/9;
3rd, 1/11, 3/10.
Chapman Lighthouse is an iron screw-pile structure, painted red, built on Chapman Head, in Sea Reach.
It shows towards the eastward a red light over the sand called the River Middle, and a
white light in the safe channel;
to the westward its light is wholly white, and is designed to lead vessels clear of a danger called the Scar.
The piles have each a Mitchell's screw at the lower end, by means of which they were driven into the sand when the structure was built, in 1851.
Above the wash of the water, a six-sided chamber contains the accommodation for the keepers, two in number, which is
surmounted by a six-sided lantern, enclosing a Dioptric or Lenticular apparatus
of the second order, in the centre of which
is the source of light, a fountain lamp, with four concentric wicks burning colza oil.
The light since January, 1881, is occulting, disappearing twice in quick succession every half minute.
The total height of the building from base to vane is 74 feet, and the light is exhibited at an elevation of 40 feet above high water.
Three keepers are employed: two on duty and one on shore, and the relief is effected once a month, by a steamer from the
Trinity depot at Blackwall, so that each man serves two months at the lighthouse,
and has one month in three on shore.
Southend, Essex, on the left bank at
the mouth of the Thames, from London
about 43 miles.
A station on the London,
Tilbury, and Southend Railway, about
1 hour 45 minutes by ordinary trains, and
1 hour 10 minutes by fast trains, from
Fenchurch-street.
The station is 5 minutes' walk from the Terrace; flys meet
the trains.
Population, about 5,000.
Soil, clay and gravel.
The West of London, at least, has for
many years had a very erroneous idea of
this pretty little town.
It has been looked
upon as a sort of Whitechapel-on-Sea,
and comic writers have lost no opportunity of making capital out of the
cockneyism and vulgarity which they have
assumed to be particularly rampant in
Southend.
It will be a surprise, therefore, to most visitors to find a clean,
quiet, well-built, well-arranged, and old-fashioned watering-place, with most of
the advantages, and with comparatively
few of the drawbacks to be found in many
more pretentious places.
It is no doubt
true that Southend is a favourite place
for excursionists, and that 'Arry occasionally descends upon the place in his
thousands, but he confines himself for
the most part to the old town, which is by
the side of the river (or sea, as the natives
prefer to call it), where he finds every
accommodation in the way of taverns,
cheap dinners, ninepenny teas, oysters in
the season (which here appears to be
July), the toothsome cockle, and the
succulent whelk, and it is scarcely necesary to add, the domestic shrimp and
"crease".
'Arry is also to be found on
the pier, where, arrayed in rainbow
tweeds, he delights in fishing for dabs,
and endeavouring to persuade himself
that the telescope which he is always
eager to borrow is of the smallest assistance to him.
The beach, too, is a
favourite place for excursionists, and
the bathing-machines are extensively
patronised.
That the strict rules of
decency are not observed so well as could
be wished, is unfortunately not peculiar
to Southend.
As to these matters, English
arrangements are almost universally bad,
and Southend is no better and no worse
than its more aristocratic rivals.
But the
bulk of the excursionists to Southend are
the children who come down in large and
happy parties in charge of schoolmaster
or parson, for "a day in the country",
and whose enjoyment of the place, and
of the unwonted fresh air - for Southend
air is fresh and invigorating - is of itself
a pleasure to watch.
Even in the fullest
and most lively part of the season, and in
the very crisis of a big excursionists' day,
that part of Southend on the cliff from
the Royal Hotel to St.John's College, is
as quiet and decorous as the Lees at
Folkestone.
Indeed, the front of Cliff
Town is remarkably like the Lees in the
earlier days of Folkestone as a watering-
place.
Along the front of Royal-terrace,
and extending to the sea-wall below, is
the Shrubbery (admission 2d)
This
pleasant and shady retreat is an exceedingly good instance of how much can be
effected with a piece of waste cliff by a
little expert landscape gardening.
A local
and enthusiastic writer thus describes the
Shrubbery, not without a touch of gush:
"Here are many cool grots, fairy dells,
and leafy bowers, where one may enjoy
the latest novel from Mudie's, or the
enchanting aspect seaward, to be seen
through the leafy apertures formed by
the surrounding trees.
During the gloaming the promenade is crowded by the
elite, who have assembled to listen to the
bewitching notes of the nightingale."
This is, perhaps, too poetical a description, but there can be no doubt that the
Shrubbery is a great addition to the
attractions of the town, and that its
views of Sheerness, the Kentish Hills,
and the varying stream of traffic that
ebbs and flows past Southend are both
cheerful and picturesque.
In addition to
the Old Town and Cliff Town, Southend
has two other suburbs, the Park Estate
at the back of Cliff Town, and Porter's
Town some little distance eastward of
the railway-station.
The new portions
of the town are in nearly all cases well
planned and carefully laid out.
Prittlewell, an ancient village, of which, in fact,
Southend is only a hamlet, is distant a
mile and a half inland.
The church at
Prittlewell is large and handsome, mainly
perpendicular, but containing remains of
much earlier work.
The tower is considered to be one of the finest in the
county.
One of the great institutions of Southend is the pier, one of the longest, if not
the longest in England.
The tide receding for nearly a mile has necessitated
the extension of the pier to a distance of
a mile and a quarter.
A tramway runs
the entire length, and the tram-cars would
be even more useful than they are if
more frequent journeys were made.
The
fare each way is 3d.
The pier toll is 1d
Southend Pier not only enjoys the distinction of being one of the longest piers
extant, but affords accommodation to perhaps the smallest music-hall and stage
ever seen.
During the season concerts
take place within its canvas walls in the
afternoon and evening.
The public hall in Alexandra-street is a
convenient building, seating upwards of
500, and provided with a stage and all
appliances for theatrical performances.
St.Stephen's Convalescent Home, in
connection with St.Stephen's, Poplar,
was opened in 1876 for the accommodation
of 8 or 10 respectable women or children,
at a charge of 8s to 10s per week.
The Milton Hall Convent is a Home for
poor old and infirm people and orphan
and incurable children.
It is supported
by voluntary contributions of money and
food, and is a branch of the Hammersmith Institution of the Sisters of Nazareth.
A masonic lodge (Priory, 1,000) meets at
the Middleton Hotel close by the station.
The country about Southend is somewhat flat, but is well wooded, and affords
many good walks and drives.
Leigh
(which see), 4 miles; Shoebury (which see)>
5 miles; Hadleigh, 6 miles; and Rayleigh, 8 miles, are favourite land excursions, while steamers run via Sheerness,
to Chatham and Rochester, a pleasant
trip of about two hours.
There is one
drawback to Southend, and, in truth, a
somewhat serious one.
The service of
trains is by no means all that it should
be, and the arrangements generally at
the squalid Fenchurch-street station are
simply deplorable.
The fares are certainly
low, but little else can be said in favour
of the line.
Bank:Sparrow, Tuffnell, and Co., High-street.
Hotels: "Royal", facing the sea;
"Hope", Old Town; " Ship", Old Town;
"Middleton", close to railway station.
Places of Worship: All Saints, Porter's Town; St.John the Baptist
(parish church); and St.Mary the Virgin,
Prittlewell; the Roman Catholic Church
of Our Lady and St.Helen, Empress;
Trinity, Reformed Church of England;
and Railway Baptist, Congregational, Independent, Methodist, and Wesleyan Chapels.
Police: Station, Alexandra-street.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph, and
insurance), Alexandra-street.
Mails from London, 7 and 9.15am, and 6.45pm
Mails for London, 8.35 and 11.05am, and 1.35 and 7pm, Sunday, 6.30pm
The Receiving Houses at Marine-parade, Park-street, and Porter's Town are cleared
a quarter of an hour earlier.
Nearest Railway, Steamboat Pier,
and Ferry: (steamer to Sheerness in sum-
mer), Southend.
Fares to Fenchurch-street, 1st, 4/4,
7/-; 2nd, 3/- 5/-; 3rd, 2/2, 4/4.
The Crow Stone: An obelisk on the Essex bank, about a mile westward of Southend, marks the limit of the jurisdiction of the Thames Conservancy; an imaginary line being drawn across the river here to Yantlet Creek in Kent.
Coastguard: the Thames which is in the Harwich district is shared between the two divisions of Southend and Sheerness, the greater portion being under the former, which extends from Shoeburyness round by Tilbury and Gravesend to Cliffe Creek, beyond which the Sheerness division continues in the direction of the sea.
An 8 foot can buoy, made of wood, and painted black.
It is situated in Sea Reach, on the Leigh
Middle Sand, to the westward of Southend Light, and marks fourteen feet of
water at low-water spring tide.
It is
moored with twelve fathoms of chain.
This buoy belongs to the Trinity House,
An 8 foot convex-bottomed conical buoy, surmounted by staff and diamond, made of
iron, and painted black with white rings.
It is situated in Sea Reach, to the eastward of the Leigh Middle Sand, and
marks twenty-three feet of water at low water spring tide.
It is moored with
twelve fathom of chain. This buoy
belongs to the Trinity House.
Club-house, Public Hall, South-end.
Election by ballot; five members
form a quorum; one black ball in five
excludes.
Entrance fee for yacht owners,
£1 1s.; non-yacht owners, £2 1s.
; subscription, £2 2s.
Members residing beyond two miles from the club pay only
£1 1s.
Officers: Commodore, vice-commodore, rear commodore, hon.secretary.
The committee consists of the officers and
12 members, three to form a quorum.
Red ensign; burgee blue, with the arms of the county of Essex.
Leigh, Essex, on the left bank, from
London about 42 miles.
A station on
the London, Tilbury, and Southend
Railway, about one hour and a half from
Fenchurch- street.
Population: 1,688.
Soil: loam, clay, and gravel.
Leigh is a
picturesque fishing village situated on a
creek of the Thames, and of but little
importance.
Behind the village, which
is built close on to the river, rises a somewhat steep hill, on which are the church,
the post-office, and some few houses.
the church, which is dedicated to St.
Clement, is a large building in the perpendicular style, with a handsome and
lofty tower, which is a well-known landmark, and commands an extensive prospect.
It contains a few brasses, notably
that to Richard Hadock and wives (1453)
in the north aisle.
In the chancel is a
bust of Robert Salmon (died 1641),
curiously painted, and with an inscription
in Latin and English setting forth the
fact that he had restored the ancient art
of navigation, which had been almost
lost.
the church also contains an ancient
alms-box, with three massive locks, inscribed, "I pray you the pore remember."
Just below the church, on the way
to the river, are the school buildings.
Places of Worship: St.Clement's, and Wesleyan Chapel.
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance), half-way down the hill,
between the church and the village.
Mails from London 10.45am, Mails for London, 11.20am, and 7pm
Nearest Railway Station: Leigh;
Steamboat Pier and Ferry: Southend.
Fares to London: 1st, 4/1, 6/10; 2nd,
3/-, 5/-; 3rd, 2/1.
Maplin Sands begin just to the eastward of Southend and extend to beyond
the Maplin Light.
They are on the north
side, and are well buoyed.
Grain, Isle of: A grazing district,
bounded by the Thames and Medway,
and opposite Sheerness, which is about a
mile and a half distant.
An important
portion of the defences of the Thames
and Medway is furnished by the forts and
batteries on the island.
Being very difficult of access, the Isle of Grain is very
little visited, and, indeed, offers but scant
attraction.
The island is connected with
the North Kent Railway at Higham, the
terminus in the Isle of Grain being
Port Victoria (which see).
Grain Spit Buoy - A 6-foot can buoy, made of wood, and painted black.
It is situated on the Grain Spit, on the
Kentish side to the entrance to the Medway, and marks a depth of water, at low
water, spring tide, of 8 feet.
It is moored
with 6 fathom of chain.
The weight of
the sinker is 8 cwt.
The Grain Spit Buoy
belongs to the Trinity House.
Sheerness, Kent, on the right bank,
at the mouth of the river, from London
about 46 miles.
A station on the Sittingbourne branch of the London, Chatham,
and Dover Railway; about two hours
from London.
The station is five
minutes' walk from the steamboat-pier,
and about twenty minutes' walk from the
post-office.
Population, 13,956. Soil,
London Basin with sand.
Sheerness is
a fortified dockyard and garrison town,
barring the mouth of the Medway, and
the fortifications are of considerable importance and mount a large number of
heavy guns.
The dockyard is only of
secondary importance, owing to the fact
of its basins being too small to accommodate the large iron ships of the present
time.
Vessels of a smaller class are
repaired and fitted, and wooden ships are
occasionally built.
In Sheerness Dockyard is the only naval barrack in England.
It has accommodation for 1000 men.
The
visitor who is desirous of seeing what an
English dockyard of the first class is
like should take a steamer to Chatham.
Admission to Sheerness Dockyard is
easily obtained - the only requisite being
that the name of the visitor should be
inscribed in a book at the principal
entrance.
Casual visitors, however, not
being allowed to enter the workshops,
practically miss the most interesting
part of the show.
For more extended
facilities, application should be made to
the Captain-Superintendent.
The older
part of the town, which is in fact Sheerness
proper, and which contains the dockyard,
railway station, &c, is known as Bluetown, and has been supplemented of late
years by three suburbs known as Miletown, Bankstown, and Marinetown, the
three being generically known as Sheerness-on-Sea.
It appears to have been
the intention of Sir Edward Banks - who
founded Bankstown, and whose private
residence has since been converted into
the "Royal Hotel" - and of the land
societies who are responsible for the
erection of Marinetown, to found a
watering-place in emulation of Southend
over the way.
The effort, however well
intended, has not been crowned with a
brilliant success.
There is a long and
well-built sea-wall, which, as to its frontage, is trim and orderly enough; but the
back of the embankment, which presents
itself to the view of Marinetown, is but
an untidy and shabby piece of work.
The shingly beach affords good bathing.
There are bathing-machines and a
swimming-bath, available for gentlemen,
at all times of the tide.
Miletown contains one building of
great interest to the Wesleyan connection.
The chapel in Hope-street was
built and used by the Rev.John Wesley,
the founder of the great Wesleyan community.
It is a wooden edifice, and 40
years ago was removed from Bluetown
to its present site.
There is a handsome building at the
corner of Trinity-road, known as the
Victoria Hall, containing accommodation
for concerts, theatrical, and other enter-
tainments, and capable of seating about
1,200.
The Literary Institute, with
reading-room and smoking-room (admission 1d), occupies a portion of the upper
floor.
The institute has a library of about
2,500 volumes.
A similar institution, for
the benefit of the garrison, is situated
close to the entrance to the Royal
Artillery Barracks, and is a building containing, on the ground floor, a large room
for games, &c, where bagatelle-boards,
dominoes, &c., are provided.
At one end
of this room there is a refreshment bar, at
which refreshments, except intoxicating
liquors, may be obtained.
On the upper
floor is a large reading-room, with newspapers and periodicals.
This room is
also fitted up as a theatre, and here
theatrical representations take place, as
well as concerts and penny-readings, by
officers, non-commissioned officers, and
men.
There is a library of 1,800 volumes
of history, biography, fiction, &c.
There
are quarters for the librarian in the
building, and adjacent to it is the fives
court, gymnasium, and quoit-ground.
The whole is managed under the regulations laid down for the purpose in the
Queen's Regulations and Orders for the
Army.
A Freemasons' lodge meets in the
Victoria-buildings.
The 13th Kent
Artillery Volunteers have their head-
quarters at Sheerness.
Steamers run daily in the summer to
Chatham, Rochester, and Southend.
Sheppey Cliffs are worth a visit, and
there are some curious little villages in
the island; otherwise the excursionist
must at present rely on the train which
joins the main London, Chatham, and
Dover Railway at Sittingbourne, and
affords ready access to the Kentish coast,
&c.
The line from Higham across the
Isle of Grain gives Sheerness another
convenient route to London.
Bank: London and County, High-street, Bluetown.
Hotels: "Fountain", Blue-town, close to pier and station; "Royal", Banks-town.
Market Day: Saturday.
Places of Worship: Dockyard
Chapel, Holy Trinity, and St.Paul's
(parish church); the Roman Catholic
Church of St.Henry and St.Elizabeth,
and Catholic Apostolic Church; Baptist,
Bible Christian, Congregational, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan Chapels.
Police Station: Railway-road, close to station .
Postal Arrangements: Post Office
(money order, savings bank, telegraph,
and insurance): Head office, High-street, Mile-town;
Branches in High-street, Blue-town, and Redan-place, Marine-town.
The Blue-town and Marine-town branches also transact insurance business.
Mails from London at 7 and 10.30am, 7pm
Mails for London at 7.50 and 10.45am, and 2.30, 7.20, and 8.20pm.
On Sundays, 7am from London, and 6.10pm for London.
Nearest Bridge: Rochester;
Station and Ferry: Sheerness.
Fares to Victoria, Holborn Viaduct,
and Ludgate: 1st, 8/-, 12/-; 2nd, 6/-, 9/-;
3rd, 3/6, 6/-.
Fares to Charing Cross: The same.
Nore Light, about 50 miles from
London Bridge.
The Nore light-ship is the
first sea light to be passed on leaving the
port of London.
It is the first in order
of seniority among its kind, for at this
station the first light-ship set afloat on
the coast of England was permanently
laid in the year 1730.
The original hull was that of a sloop,
with a large lantern at each end of a yard
laid across the mast.
An improvement in the method of illumination in 1825
rendered one lantern sufficient, incorporate with the mast, and showing a
"fixed" light.
In 1855 for purposes of
distinction, the light was made "revolving".
After seven years' service in
one commission, the ships are brought
into port for a thorough overhaul.
The
Nore lightship was built of wood at
Limehouse 40 years ago, and is 96 feet
long by 21 broad; her tonnage, 156;
hull, mast-head, and globe painted red,
and the name "Nore" in large white
letters on each broadside.
The hollow
globe at the mast-head, 6 feet in diameter,
made of bent laths, is characteristic of
such craft by day; it is never removed
unless when the ships are driven from
their stations.
About 10 feet below it
hangs the lantern, an octagonal glass
case, framed in copper, and fitting round
the mast like a great gem ring, housed
on deck by day, and hoisted as high up the
mast as the shrouds will permit by night.
On deck forward is a powerful windlass - a necessary provision for managing
the heavy cable, which is composed of
very short links; the iron if 1⅝ in thick,
and of sufficient length to veer out 100
fathoms if required.
On a netting attached
to the bumpkin (an apology for a bow sprit) is a sail neatly stowed ready for use
if required; and at the stern, furled close
to a jigger mast, is another sail.
These
are used in ordinary times to steady the
ship when it is blowing hard, or in case
of breaking adrift and being driven to
sea (which has never yet happened) they
would enable her to run to an anchorage.
Around the mast and fitting on to the
deck is a circular wooden chamber into
which the lantern is lowered in the daytime, affording convenience for cleaning
it and trimming the lamps.
Passing down to the lower deck is a
companion ladder, serving both for officers
and crew.
The latter are lodged forward,
and occupy all the 'tween deck space
from the mast to the bows of the ship.
Their hammocks, chests, and lockers are
along the sides of the berth, and a good
broad table down the middle, with a bench
seat at each side of it.
Amidships, near
the mast, is the cooking stove, a large
grate whose warmth must be particularly
acceptable in hard weather.
Close against
the mast is a clockwork machine, set in
motion by a descending weight, whose
office is to turn an iron spindle-rod laid
against the mast, and so contrived that
when the lantern is hoisted into its place
it sets the light revolving in the manner
to be presently described.
Immediately behind the mast, after
passing the companion ladder, a small
passage-way leads to the captain's cabin
and the store-rooms.
On the right, in
large lockers breast-high, the bread and
provisions are kept; on the left is the
principal store, where the oil, cotton wicks,
and spare lamps are deposited.
Here are
four or five cylindrical cisterns, each containing 100 gallons of colza oil, a bench,
and a set of bright copper measures, and
a black-board ruled into suitable spaces
for a record in chalk of the quantities
drawn off.
Two or three spare lamps and
reflectors hang from the beams, all ready
for use; and a trimming-tray, with scissors,
holders for wicks, and glass cylinders, and
other appliances used by the lamp-trimmer
when performing his daily task, lies here
in the place provided for it.
From the passage a door opens into the
stern cabin, a snug little den for the use
of the officer in command, neatly but
plainly furnished, with a library for the
use of the crew, the books of which circulate throughout the service.
Below this deck is the hold, in which
water tanks, spare cables, and some few
tons of ballast, keep the vessel steady.
The principal function for which a light-vessel is placed is, as the name implies,
the exhibition of a warning or a guiding
light at night.
To prevent confusion with
lamps or fires on shore or on board other
vessels, a distinguishing character is given
to the light, which, in the case of the
"Nore", is called the revolving half-minute character.
The effect to be produced is that a brilliant flash shall pass
before the eye of the observer every 30
seconds, which is accomplished in the following manner:
Argand lamps, fitted each within a
paraboloidal reflector, and slung upon
gimbal work to counteract the vessel's
rolling, are arranged in three groups of
three lamps each on a frame within the
lantern, and surrounding the mast.
The
property of this kind of reflector is that
it gathers all, or nearly all, the rays into
a parallel beam of light, and when in
position this beam is thrown towards the
horizon.
The three in a group are
cornered together with their rims in one
plane, like a triple-barrelled opera glass,
so that the blended beams of three lamps
reach the observer at the same time.
The
framework which carries the three groups
runs on wheels on a circular rail, and its
inner ring which encircles the mast is
cogged upon one edge.
When the lantern
is hoisted these cogs come into connection
with the cogged head of the iron spindle
laid beside the mast, which is kept turning by machinery below the deck, as
before explained, and sets the frame in
motion.
If there were only one group of
lamps the frame must revolve very fast
to bring the beam round in half a minute,
and the lamps would flare; but by placing three groups the speed is reduced to
one-third.
To put this description into
a homely shape: the sea-gull flying over
the lantern sees three bright spokes of a
wheel going slowly round and round,
while if he drops down on to the water
he will get a spoke in his eye every half-minute from sunset to sunrise.
From stem to stern, deck, lantern,
lamps, cabin, and utensils, are all kept
scrupulously clean and bright.
The crew
who are charged with this duty number
eleven in all, but only seven are on board
at one time, the master or mate, two
lamplighters, and four seamen.
Once a
month the relief steamer comes down
from Blackwall, brings the shoremen
back, and takes others away.
The
master and mate take month about, the
rest have two months on board to one on
shore.
Provisions and water are renewed
monthly by this vessel, and stores are
kept up to service requirements.
There
is plenty of work in keeping a look-out,
keeping all clean, especially the lantern,
lantern-glass, lamps, and reflectors, and
in keeping very neat and careful records
of the state of wind and weather, barometer, &c., and of the daily and nightly
expenditure of oil and stores.
The men
have, nevertheless, a good deal of leisure,
which some of them employ in mat-making, some in shoe-making, some in a
kind of cabinet work or in toy-making.
They live as a rule to a good age, and are
entitled to a pension when past work.
The cost of this vessel with apparatus
complete was £5000, and its maintenance
may be stated at £1200 a year.
A 7-ft. can-buoy,
made of wood, and painted with black
and white stripes.
It is situated in Sea
Reach, on the northern edge of the Nore
Sand, and marks a depth of water, at
low-water spring tide, of 16 feet. It is
moored with 10 fathom of chain.
The
Nore Sand Buoy belongs to the Trinity
House.
An 8-foot,
convex-bottomed, conical buoy, made of
iron, and painted black, and surmounted
with staff and globe. It is situated at
the edge of the Middle Ground Shoal, at
the entrance to the Medway, and marks
a depth of water, at low-water spring
tide, of 20 feet.
It is moored with 10
fathom of chain. The Sheerness Middle
Buoy belongs to the Trinity House.
Fortifications, the first land defences above the Nore are at Sheerness,
where forts and batteries of considerable
power guard the entrance to the Medway, and where also further protection is
given by men-of-war and floating batteries.
At Cliffe, and on the Lower
Hope, is Cliffe Fort; Coal-house Fort is
a little higher up on the other side of the
river; and nearly opposite again, on the
Kentish side, Shorne Fort.
The three
last-mentioned are all important buildings, very strongly armed, and would
probably prove quite equal to the task
for which they are intended.
There are
batteries, earthworks, and other defences
at Gravesend and Tilbury, the real
strength of which is matter for conjecture.
Almost unnoticed except by Kentish men, and by those
chiefly who inhabit the district of the
Isle of Grain, the Hundred of Hoo, and
the country generally in the neighbourhood of the Medway estuary, a railway
branching from the South-Eastern line,
or rather from its tributary, the North
Kent, at Higham, five miles east of
Gravesend, has been made to the southern
side of the Yantlet Creek, nearly opposite
Queenborough, including a maritime
station and wharf, which, by permission
of Her Majesty the Queen, has been
named Port Victoria, was in 1884 celebrated by a visit from London; a large
party of gentlemen interested in the
development of the new and important
scheme having started for that purpose
from Cannon-street.
The distance is
thirty-eight miles, the new line being
thirteen miles long, and its terminus less
than two miles from the mouth of the
Medway.
At Port Victoria, as the
terminus is called, will be established, by
the South-Eastern Railway, a port which
will open a new and shortened route to
the Continent, and which will greatly
assist the American traffic of such vessels
as those belonging to the Monarch line
of the Royal Exchange Steam Shipping
Company, the National line, and other
great steamship companies requiring
deep-water anchorage.
Fares to Charing Cross; 1st, 7/3, 10/9; 2nd, 5/2, 7/9; 3rd, 3/-, 5/6.
The Isle of Sheppey on the north coast
of Kent, about 11 miles long and 4 broad,
is bounded on the north and west by the
Thames and Medway, and on the south
by the Swale.
The principal places in
the island are Sheerness and Queenborough.
The Sheppey oyster fishery is
of considerable importance, and its headquarters are at Cheyney Rock House.
Shoebury, a small village six miles
from Southend by road, important only
on account of its artillery barrack, and
the big gun ranges across the Maplin
Sands at Shoeburyness.
Here some of
the most important experiments in connection with the rapid development of
modern ordnance have taken place, and
here annually in August assemble the
Artillery Volunteers, to go through much
harder work, and to compete for much
less valuable prizes, than their more
fortunate and fashionable brethren of the
rifle at Wimbledon.
Except to those
actually interested in gunnery, or as a
drive on a summer afternoon from Southend, there is no reason to recommend a
visit to Shoebury.
Shoebury Middle Buoy, an 8 foot
cylinder buoy, made of iron, and painted
black.
It is situated about a mile and a
half to the eastward of the West Shoebury Buoy, and marks 27 feet of water at
low- water spring tide.
It is moored with
10 fathom of chain. The Shoebury buoys
belong to the Trinity House.
Shoebury West Buoy, an 8 foot
cylinder buoy, made of iron and painted
black.
It is situated on the north side of
Sea Reach, to the eastward of Southend
Pier, on the edge of the Maplin Sands, and
marks 24 feet of water at low-water spring
tide. It is moored with 12 fathom of
chain.