122 



GARDENS OLD AND Nl : W. 



The old timber was cut down on the estates to the value of 

 ,50,000, but Nature, ever kindly, has long since made good 

 the loss. Happily subsequent possessors have valued the 

 place and restored it, until it has resumed its old splendour, 

 and stands as we depict it. Charles, third Marquess of 

 Northampton, who died in 1877, did a great work in restoring 

 and refurnishing his grand old seat. 



It would be a pleasure to describe the many splendid 

 chambers of this historic house The great hall, chapel, and 

 dining-room have be j n alluded to. There is the bed-chamber 

 of Henry VIII., with the Tudor rose and the devices of 

 Catherine of Aragon in the glass. The council chamber, 

 the priest's rocm, and the long quarters over the drawing- 

 room, known as the " Barracks," are extremely interesting. 



intere.-ts that surround the picturesque house of the Marquess 

 of Northampton, and our illustrations will convey an idea of its 

 structural beauties in stone, brick, and wood, and of the 

 charming manner in which its walls are vested with flower- 

 ing growths, these adding their sweeter charms without 

 disguising the details of the admirable structure. It may be 

 interesting to note that the mansion possesses eighty rooms, 

 with seventeen distinct flig'its of stairs, and 275 glazed 

 windows. There is in the grounds a relic of the old times in a 

 quaint brick dovecote. A stone path, of which some portions 

 may still be seen, led down from the house to the lower end of 

 the pool, where the mill stood, an ice-house now occupying the 

 site, and the water from the moat descended into two stew- 

 ponds, and then to the mill pool. 



IHB PEKGOLA. 



Elizabeth, James 1., and Charles I., as we have seen, 

 visited the house, and the room in which Charles slept is 

 still sh >wn, with a spiral staircase by which either the moat 

 or the upper part of the house could be reached. Again, the 

 secret hiding-places and recesses for men who sought safety in 

 troublous times would attract the curious. We are reminded 

 that the place was captured for the Parliament after a three 

 d.us' siege in June, 1644, when the Earl of Northampton's 

 brother, with a dozen officers and 120 men with horses and 

 guns, was seized. I he place was plundered, and Dugo.ile 

 asser s that the Rmn.dheuds killed the deer and defaced the 

 monuments in the church. Sir Charles and Sir William 

 Compton made an effort to recover thu house in the next 

 January, and gained a footing at night in the stables, but they 

 were repul-ed with loss, and the third harl retained the estate 

 only by paying a heavy composition. The Parliamentary 

 troops remained in possession until June, 1646. The 

 "Barracks" preserve by their name the memory of the 

 troublous times when soldiers were quartered in the 

 house . 



We have said enough to show how very great are the 



The gardens have been greatly beautified, and are 

 maintained with a richness which many possessors of fine 

 gardens might envy. In loveliness, radiance, and sweet 

 appropriateness they are all that we could desire. Excellent 

 green turf occupies in large part the place where the moat once 

 extended, and all about are spread great borders and n asses of 

 those tall-growing hardy flowers which are the glory of gardens 

 from the first days of spring until the winds of autumn have 

 blown. 



The effect of these splendid glowing flowers is superb, and 

 nothing could excel the extreme beauty of the picture presented 

 by their radiance, contrasted with the dark hue of the brick 

 and stone of the old house and with the dense and luxuriant 

 foliage of the trees that rise in the background. There is little 

 here that is formal in arrangement, but a few hedges and 

 solemn yews serve to unite the character of the old garden and 

 the new. The circular grass plat with the sundial, neighboured 

 again by those hardy perennials, is a centre of interest in the 

 place. The square garden walk is extremely beautiful, and 

 whichever way we look the glorious extent of the park reaching 

 to the tops of the hills fills the mind with satisfaction. That 



