LAYER MARNEY TOWERS, 



ESSEX. 



TI IF. parish and manor of I jycr Marncy, lying 

 some seven miles south-wot of Colchester, 

 have the honour of possessing what is in 

 several respects the most important remnant 

 >t ancient brick architecture in this country. Some 

 may think that the great tower built by the first 

 I^ord Marney is only primus inter fares in that larui 

 Kast Anglia which is so rich in creations in brick, 

 as these pages bear witness. There is more domestu 

 charm, perhaps, in St. Osyth's Priory, or the halls 

 rds and Faulkbournc. Vet none of these 

 has the special features that invest l_iyer Marney 

 with such remarkable architectural interest. The 

 builder came of a great Fast Anglian stock, for his 

 family had owned the manor and many neighbouring 

 estates from the time of Henry II. to his own in the 

 days of Henry VIII. They were stout Englishmen, 

 these Marneys, sometimes sage in counsel, not 

 seldom bold in the field, lovers of the chase, and men 



who took their part in the duties of the shire. Their 

 long-lineagcd succession in the place to which they 

 had added their name was exceptional, even in times 

 that moved less rapidly than ours. Their annals 

 may IK- read in the county histories, and the deeds 

 of Henry Marncy, the builder of the great tower, 

 are written in the records of the land. 



This notable Englishman apjn-ars to have 

 gone early to Court, and to have risen by his 

 merits. He was a man of great abilities and 

 courage, and became a trusted adviser of Henry VII. 

 and his successor. He was a Privy Councillor 

 anil Captain of the (iuard to Henry VIII., was 

 raised to the dignity of a Knight of the (iarter, 

 and became Keejxrr of the Privy Set! in 1522, being 

 shortly afterwards raised to the peerage as I.ord 

 Marney. It has been suggested that in his con- 

 structive work at his F.ssex home he aited under the 

 guidance or influence of Girolamo da Trcvisi, the 



DETAIL Of-' \OR7II FROST. 



