258 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 





Cnfyright. 



THE FISH-PONDEVENING. 



" Country Lije." 



under the tree in August, 1573, when on her way to Rye. 

 She changed her shoes, which were begged of her tire-women 

 by the villagers as a souvenir of the Royal visitor, and 

 these shoes, of green damask silk with heels, be it noted, 

 2iin. high, and a sharp toe, are to be seen still in a glass 

 case in Brickwall. 



Attached to the church is the beautiful old mortuary 

 chapel of the Frewen family, some of the mural tablets 

 claiming in old-world phraseology almost superhuman 

 virtues for those who sleep in the vaults below. 



Brickwall itself was built towards the close of the 

 sixteenth century upon the site of an old house, no portion 

 of which remains ; the half-timbered front bears upon its 



Cofyrifl.!. 



THE HOUSE FKOM THE SOUTH-WEST. 



west gable the date 1617. The house was added to and 

 decorated by Sir Edward Frewen in the reign of James II., 

 the beautiful ceilings in the drawing-room and on the. 

 front staircase having been constructed at that time by 

 Italian workmen. There are also in the drawing-room 

 two Chinese lacquer cabinets with pier glasses, concerning 

 which Sir Edward leaves a memorandum to say that he 

 paid for them the extraordinary price of .500, the scarcity 

 of Chinese bric-a-brac at that period, 1690, alone justifying 

 this lavish outlay. 



The house contains a fine collection of paintings, for the 

 most part family portraits. There is a good picture, by 

 Mytens, of the Rev. John Frewen, who was born in Queen 

 ' Mary's reign, and was Rector 



of Northiam for nearly fifty 

 years. His eldest son, 

 Accepted Frewen, whose 

 picture by Gerard Zoest is 



also in the drawing-r n, 



was b ;rn at Northiam in 

 1 588, and was chaplain to 

 the Britii.li Ambassador, Lord 

 Bristol, at Madrid when 

 Prince Charles arrived to be 

 betrothed to the Infanta. 

 The Prince of Wales being 

 at that time much solicited 

 to embrace the Catholic 

 religion, the chaplain 

 preached from the text 

 (i Kings, xviii., 21), "How 

 long halt ye between two 

 opinions ? " Prince Charles 

 professed to be much editk'd, 

 and presented the preacner 

 with his miniature, which 

 is still at Brickwall. Accepted 

 Frewen was Vice-Cli.inCi.llur 

 of Oxford University in 

 1639, and was responsible 

 for the despatch of the 



" Country Li/e. 



