50 



GARDENS OLD AND KEW. 



sister. John Manners had horses near, and Dorothy stole 

 down the steps from the Ante-room and along th; terrace to 

 where he was waiting. The sound of their horses' hoofs was 

 drowned in the noise of the revelry, and a'ter galloping all 

 nigiit they reached Aylston, in Leicestershire, where tfey w.re 

 m.irried on the morrow. Of these things does the visitor think 

 when he lingers on Dorothy Vernon's Terrace, and the memory 

 o her romance will long cling to the ancient walls of Haddon. 

 John Manners was a man of wealth and considerat 01, 

 rich in his many friends in the Midlands, and possessing a 



HACDON COffAGE. 



brother who appears to have been his alter ego. Their 

 coi respondence throws a good deal of light upon the society 

 of the time, and they appear to have been in the confidence 

 of the Earl of Shrewsbury in relation to his quanel with his 

 wife, the celebrated " Bess of Hardwick," who was such a 

 ureat builder of Derbyshire houses. The Earl wrote to John 

 Manners in 1586 that he would have been down before but for 

 h s " wicked wife her tittling in Her Majesty's ear." The 

 Countess seemed to have gained the Queen's favour, for, at 

 an earlier date, Roger Manners had written to his brother John 

 at Haddon : "Her Majesty hath been sundry times in hand 



with him for his wife, but he will nowise agree to accept her." 

 John Manners survived his wife many long years, and lived 

 quietly on his estate at Haddon, but took an important part in 

 s me political concerns. He it was who built the splendid Long 

 Gallery at Haddon, and since his death in 1611 m> important 

 changes have been made in the place. The whole of the 

 flooring, as \\ell as the solid steps by which it is entered, are 

 said to have been cut from a single oak which grew in the 

 park. The wainscot is singularly rich, the panels, which are 

 arched, being separated by fluted pilasters, and above are the 



boar's head of Vernon and 

 the peacock of Manners, 

 with roses and thistles alter- 

 nated. In the windows the 

 shields of Rutland and 

 Shrewsbury are emblazoned, 

 with the Royal arms of 

 Englan 1, and the whole of 

 the details are very rich and 

 beautiful. 



J o h n Manners, the 

 husband of Dorothy Vernon, 

 was followed at Haddon by 

 his son, Sir George Manners, 

 whose son John succeeded 

 as eighth Earl of Rutland, 

 an.i lived alternately at Belvoir 

 and Haddon, and espoused 

 the cause of Parliament. He 

 sh.ired in the Restoration, 

 and, though living much at 

 Belvoir, appears to have 

 exercised prodigious 

 hospitality at Haddon, where 

 there was a huge consumi - 

 tion of beeves and sheep at 

 the Christmas of 1663. The 

 ninth Earl was created 

 Marquis of Granby and Duke 

 of Rutland Although Jihr, 

 the third Duke, occas.onally 

 lived at Haddon, it was 

 during his time that his 

 family finally ceased to reside 

 in this ancient place, which 

 was dismantle d a s a 

 residence about the year 

 1740. 



It was after the place 

 came into the possession of 

 the family of Manners that 

 the terraces as they exist 

 now were formed, anJ they 

 are certainly among the 

 most beautilul examples of 

 ' garden architecture and 

 construction in this country. 

 A singular charm pervade^ 

 the upper terrace, and, 

 though we may reflect that th a 

 actual features we see cannot 

 be associated with Dorothy 

 Vernon, we are well conter.t 

 with the gloriouscharacterthey 

 possess. This secluded garden 



on the south side of Haddon Hall, with its descents and slopes, 

 is not of great extent, but is of peculiarly rich and tasteful 

 character, and is full of suggestion for th-jse who have li:<j 

 opportunities. Like Haddon Hall itself, it is preserved by the 

 [-resent Duke of Rutland in a state of perfection, and with a 

 religious care, which the admirable place well deserves. The 

 beautiful surroundings of Haddon Hall, the rich woods anJ the 

 avenue, add a gt<;at deal to the charm, and it is a thing for 

 which we cannot be too thankful that such an exemplar of the 

 domestic life of older Englishmen should still exist in the lovely 

 dale of the Derbyshire Wye. 



