164 HAMSTEAD MARSHALL, BERKSHIRE 



house was one of the seats of William, Lord Craven ; it has been 

 destroyed with the exception of some fine gate piers and part of 

 the lay out, but Kip has an engraving of it in "Britannia Illus- 

 trata" (Fig. 108). There are also a few drawings of details 

 in the Bodleian Library, including windows, gate piers, doors,, 

 and a ceiling. The windows and piers can be identified on 

 Kip's engraving, as also can the general lay out, thus con- 

 firming the accuracy of Kip's view. His illustration shows the 

 house with a front of Jacobean design as to its two lower stories, 

 but of later character as to the third story and the return front. 

 The windows of this later work agree in general appearance 

 with the drawing at the Bodleian, which shows festoons above 

 the windows and panels between them, decorated with Lord 

 Craven's cipher, \Y. C., and a baron's coronet (Fig. 109). 



By examining Kip's view in the light of the principal facts 

 of Lord Craven's life, and of the dates on the Bodleian drawings,, 

 a shrewd guess can be made as to the history of the house. 

 In his youth William Craven achieved such honour through 

 " valiant adventures " in Germany and the Netherlands under 

 Henry, Prince of Orange, that in the year 1626, when he was 

 eighteen years old, he was knighted by Charles I. at Newmarket 

 and was immediately afterwards created a baron, with the title 

 of Lord Craven of Hamstead Marshall. In 1631 he returned 

 to the scenes of his early glories, and continued to reside abroad 

 until the Restoration. Although absence prevented him from 

 fighting for Charles I. he was a staunch loyalist, and helped 

 the king with considerable supplies. This brought him under 

 the notice of the Parliament, and his estates were confiscated 

 in 1651, and sold to different persons. 1 After the Restoration,, 

 however, Charles 1 1. created him an earl in recompense for his 

 services, and he must previously have regained possession oF 

 Hamstead Marshall, since the drawings for the new work- 

 bear a baron's coronet and various dates, of which the earliest 

 is 1662. 



It would appear, then, that the original house was a Jacobean 

 building, and from the fact that Lord Craven was a bachelor 

 and was resident abroad for the greater part of his life previous 

 to the Restoration, it is highly improbable that he did any 

 building during that period ; he had neither family nor leisure 

 to induce him. On the sale of the property in 1651, it is quite 



1 Collins's " Peerage." 



