24 Bramhall Hall. 



ing their store, the ants, watching their opportunity, 

 walk in, and steal everything they can carry away. 



Bramhall Hall is unquestionably the most beautiful 

 building of its kind within many miles of Manchester. 

 It would be difficult indeed to match it in any part 

 of England. Placed most picturesquely upon the brow 

 of a gentle incline, and of very considerable length, 

 it presents a remarkably fine example of the ancient 

 " black and white" style of architecture, with gables, 

 windows, and other parts and adjuncts, all in admirable 

 harmony, and in perfect preservation. Although the 

 oldest portions have now stood for four centuries, while 

 no part is more recent than the time of Queen Elizabeth, 

 (except where slight modern repairs have been requisite,) 

 the building is as strong and firm as at the beginning, 

 and many times has it been remarked that when other 

 houses have been felt to shake in wind and storm, 

 Bramhall Hall, though seated on such comparatively 

 high ground, has remained quite unaffected. In the 

 interior are contained numerous very interesting memo- 

 rials, independently of great quantities of massive and 

 ancient furniture. In the drawing-room, among others, 

 are the royal arms of Queen Elizabeth, wrought in blue 

 and gold upon a white ground, with the Norman-French 

 motto, " Vive la Royne." The Davenports, who hold 

 and occupy this noble property, date from the time of the 

 Conquest, their progenitor having been one of the chief- 

 tains by whom William was accompanied to England. 



