THE ISLE OF WIGHT 245 



he first met Elizabeth Wallbridge, " the dairyman's 

 daughter." It is much to be regretted that this fine 

 old Jacobean manor-liouse, " the most considerable 

 and beautiful of the ancient mansions of the Island," 

 was pulled down in the year 1820. Standing on an 

 elevated terrace beneath the south slope of Ashey 

 Down, it occupied a position of great charm and 

 beauty. Close by, in a wooded dell, on the margin 

 of a pool of clear water, were to be seen the remains 

 of a medieval chapel, dating back to the time of 

 Edward III. The mansion possessed a massive 

 square tower of great antiquity, and several rooms 

 of considerable dimensions adorned with oak panel- 

 ling and carved mantelpieces. In the long gallery 

 beneath the roof there stood " a very large oaken 

 chest, covered with rich niche-work and tracery, of 

 the time, probably, of Henry IV., and possessing the 

 original lock with tracery carved in iron." Nothing 

 now remains of the ancient structure, save a few 

 dilapidated outbuildings, and the massive piers of 

 grey stone some fifteen feet in height which mark 

 the entrance from the road. A portion, too, of the 

 garden wall remains, with its ancient coping of red 

 brick, on which the beautiful ivy-leaved Linaria grows 

 abundantly, with here and there a delicate wall-fern, 

 or a plant of the greater yellow celandine, or the 

 ploughman's spikenard. The spot beside the pool 

 where the chapel stood is now covered with the 

 buildings of the Ryde Waterworks, and a farmyard 

 occupies the site of the Jacobean mansion. One 

 wonders what became of the ancient chest of curious 

 design, and the dignified oak panelling which en- 

 riched the rooms. Some of the latter seems to have 

 found its way to a cottage in the village of Brading, 



