94 Country Rambles. 



cereals right and left ; then along a lane with a mill-pond 

 upon the left; then through a corridor of trees upon the 

 right, the floor, green as their boughs, bordered like a 

 missal, shortly after issuing from which we arrive at the 

 beautiful water referred to in the Abbey name. More 

 than a mile in length, covering one hundred and thirty- 

 two acres, and much too irregular in outline to be seen 

 at once in its full extent, Combermere, with its adjacent 

 woods, yields, as a picture only to Rostherne. The paths 

 in every direction are full of landscape. Though the 

 country is flat, we do not perceive it to be so, and what may 

 be wanting in grandeur, is found in tranquillity and repose. 

 The mansion, of which there is an admirable view across 

 the mere, occupies the site of the ancient monastery a 

 Benedictine, founded in 1133. Strictly modern, plain 

 and substantial, there is nothing about the exterior to 

 preserve the memory of monastic times; inside, however, 

 old and new are let shake hands, the library being an 

 adaptation of the ancient refectory. The walls, the 

 galleries, and the principal apartments contain great store 

 of Indian trophies and curiosities, brought home by the 

 renowned Sir Stapleton-Cotton, whose bravery in the 

 Peninsular War, and afterwards at the siege and capture 

 of Bhurtpore, gained for him the title first of Baron, and 

 then of Viscount, now held by the Lord Combermere, 

 his son. 



A similar short ride from Crewe, now by the line which 

 continues to Chester, conveys us to Beeston, the walk 

 from which station to the castle, occupying less than 



