A HISTORY OF SURREY 



front to the north a fact that, with the sombre 

 colour of the stonework, and the stone roofs, accounts 

 for the somewhat gloomy aspect of the house. Early 

 in the I yth century, however, a considerable addition 

 was made by Sir George More, the son of the founder, 

 in the shape of a western wing, which included a 

 gallery 121 ft. long by 1 8 ft. wide, and a chapel. 

 This wing, said to have been designed by the famous 

 John Thorpe, was entirely removed about 1835, but 

 more recently a low range of offices has been erected in 

 the rear of the house. Built of Bargate stone rubble, 

 with dressings of firestone or clunch, the main front 

 consists of a series of gables and interspaces backed by 

 the long line of the main roof and planned with a 

 pleasing irregularity, to which the numerous stacks of 

 brick chimneys contribute. The pedimental doorway 

 is of classical design and of I yth-century date, but in 

 all other respects the front exhibits its original 

 features, most noticeable of which are the long ranges 

 of mullioned windows, in groups of two, three, four, 

 and six lights. The early character of the work is 

 evidenced in these, which have elliptical heads to the 

 lights and a hood-mould with returned ends, such as 

 might have been employed in work fifty years older 

 in date. The great window of the hall bay is very 

 tall and of three tiers of eight lights, including those 

 in the return walls. Among the other coats and 

 badges preserved in its glazing are the arms of the 

 More family, with the date 1563. 



The rear of the house is not so imposing. At the 

 south-east angle is a large projecting group of gables, 

 and a garden porch of later character occupies the 

 centre of the recessed portion, with smaller gables to 

 the right and dormers in the roof over. 



In the interior the drawing-room is remarkable for 

 its elaborate frieze, on which appears the rebus of the 

 More family, a mulberry-tree intertwined with the 

 motto, Morus tarde Mortens Morum cito Moriturum. 

 The room is panelled from floor to ceiling, and the 

 latter is a fine specimen of plaster rib-work with pen- 

 dants and devices framed in the geometrical patterns, 

 among them being the cockatrice (which occurs in 

 other rooms also), a bearing of the Mudge family, to 

 which Sir William More's mother belonged. The 

 great window of this room is of six lights, three on 

 either side of a broad pier, which in the interior is 

 finished as a carved console. 



The stately mantelpiece, a masterpiece of delicate 

 carving in hard chalk, may without exaggeration be 

 placed among the finest things of its kind in England. 

 The fireplace opening is spanned by a flat arch, with 

 rusticated keystones, and flanked by caryatides and 

 coupled Corinthian columns, which stand upon 

 pedestals bearing swags of fruit. Above is a frieze of 

 arabesque or strap pattern, surmounted by a modillion 

 cornice : and the overmantel is formed of six panels 

 enriched with scrolled cartouches, bearing coats of 

 arms, and framed in by male and female caryatides 

 holding up the carved frieze and cornice under the 

 ceiling. 98 " 



Many of the other rooms have panelling, ceilings, 

 and other features of interest, and the character of the 



house has been admirably kept up by the successive 

 generations of its owners. 



In some of the upper rooms are fine tapestries, 

 including a good specimen of the Mortlake Tapestry. 

 There was at one time a collection of armour 

 and weapons which were mostly exhibited in the 

 great hall, but these have been removed, and their 

 place is now taken by pictures, many of which 

 are of great interest, such as those of James I and 

 Anne of Denmark, painted in celebration of their 

 visit to Sir George More in 1603 ; and the large 

 painting of Sir William More-Molyneux with his 

 wife Cassandra and all their children. Besides these 

 there are in other parts of the house many portraits of 

 the More and Molyneux families ; and, among royal 

 and eminent personages, Edward VI, presented by 

 Henry VIII to Sir Christopher More; Anne Boleyn; 

 Queen Elizabeth, presented by herself to Sir William 

 More ; and Sir Thomas More, who was, however, 

 no connexion of this More family. 



The finest collection of manuscripts of family, local, 

 and public interest, which is preserved in any private 

 house in Surrey, is at Loseley. Sir Christopher, Sir 

 William, and Sir George More, the three generations 

 of owners whose lives covered the time from the 

 beginning of the 1 6th century till the early part of 

 the reign of Charles I, were continually employed in 

 the public service. The first was King's Remembrancer 

 in the Exchequer, Sheriff and member for the county ; 

 Sir William was at different times or simultaneously 

 Sheriff, Deputy-Lieutenant, and member for the county 

 or for Guildford, and Vice-Admiral of Sussex ; Sir 

 George was Sheriff, Deputy-Lieutenant, member of 

 Parliament, and also Lieutenant of the Tower, Chan- 

 cellor of the Garter, and Treasurer to the Prince 

 of Wales ; Sir William was also executor to Sir Thomas 

 Cawarden, who was Master of the Revels from 

 Henry VIII to the first year of Elizabeth, and kept his- 

 papers. They were also stewards of manors, con- 

 stables of the castle, and keepers of the chase at Farn- 

 ham, and all of them active justices of the peace. In 

 these various capacities they received a vast quantity 

 of official correspondence, besides private letters from 

 many persons of importance. The bulk of these let- 

 ters is preserved in twelve volumes, but over and 

 above there is a great mass of letters, accounts, memo- 

 randa, Hundred Rolls and Court Rolls of Godalming 

 Hundred and of many manors, deeds and printed 

 pamphlets. The greater number belong to the 

 Tudor reigns and the time of James I, but they 

 extend earlier and later. Among them are letters and 

 papers of Dr. John Donne (1573-1631), poet and 

 Dean of St. Paul's, who was imprisoned in the Mar- 

 shalsea for clandestinely marrying Anne daughter 

 of Sir George More. Later papers of much in- 

 terest are memorials of a tour in Spain in the i8th 

 century. Mr. A. J. Kempe printed a small selection 

 of papers in extenso in 1835." William Bray, the his- 

 torian of Surrey, had previously had access to the 

 papers. They have been catalogued, very incompletely,. 

 for the Historical MSS. Commission." 3 Recently 

 the whole has been deposited on loan at the Public 



961 The effect of thi chimneypiece and 

 of the room generally ii admirably ren- 

 dered in Plate LXXI of Nash' Mentions 

 of Engl. in the Olden Times. It it 

 point in common between Loseley and 

 Wakehurit in Sussex that the latter also 



boasts a chalk mantelpiece. A good 

 example of a small chalk chimneypiece 

 is preserved in the old house which now 

 forms the museum of the Surrey Archaeo- 

 logical Society in Guildford. The panels 

 in the great hall bear the badges of 



8 



Henry VIII and Catherine Parr, and are 

 said to have been brought from Nonsuch. 

 Palace. 



Kempe, Lately MSS. 



*> Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vii. 



