PART II.-CHAPTER II. 



OF THE GRANDEUR OF THE HERBERTS, EARLES OF PEMBROKE. 



WILTON HOUSE AND GARDENS. 



[AUBREY'S account of the famous scat of the Pembroke family at Wilton, and of its choice and 

 valuable contents, will be found exceedingly interesting. His statements are based upon his own 

 knowledge of the mansion before the Civil Wars, and upon information derived from Thomas Earl 

 of Pembroke, Dr. Caldicot, who had been chaplain to the Earl's family, and Mr. Uniades, who also 

 held some appointment in the establishment. 



As the ensuing narrative is occasionally somewhat obscure, owing to its want of method and 

 arrangement, it may be useful to prefix a brief summary of the history of the mansion, with 

 reference to dates, names, and other necessary particulars. 



William Herbert, the founder of this branch of the family, married Anne, sister to Queen 

 Katharine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII. He was knighted by that monarch in 1544, and in 

 the same year the buildings and lands of the dissolved Abbey of Wilton, with many other estates in 

 different counties, were conferred upon Mm by the King. Being left executor, or " conservator " 

 of Henry's will, he possessed considerable influence at the court of the young sovereign, Edward VI.; 

 by whom he was created Earl of Pembroke (1551). He immediately began to alter and adapt the 

 conventual buildings at Wilton to a mansion siu'ted to his rank and station. Amongst other new 

 works of his time was the famous porch in the court-yard, generally ascribed to Hans Holbein (who 

 died in 1554). To what extent this nobleman carried lus building operations is not known. He 

 was succeeded in 1570 by his son Henry, who probably made further additions to the house. This 

 nobleman married Mary, the sister of Sir Philip Sidney, a lady whose name is illustrious in the 

 annals of literature. He died in 1601. 



William, his son (the second Earl of that name), who has been fully noticed in the last Chapter, 

 succeeded him in the title, and was followed in 1630 by his brother Philip, who, in 1633, at the 

 instigation of King Charles I., added a range of buildings at Wilton, forming the south front of the 

 house, and facing an extensive garden which was laid out at the same time. In designing both the 

 building and the gardens, he employed Solomon de Caus, a Gascon, on the recommendation of Inigo 

 Jones. About fifteen years afterwards the south front so erected was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt 

 by the same Earl in 1648, from the designs of John Webb, who had married the niece of Inigo 

 Jones. This peer was a great lover of the fine arts, and a patron of Vandyck. He died in 1650. 



Philip, his son (the second Earl of that name), experienced some pecuniary difficulties, and the 

 valuable collection of pictures and books formed by his predecessor, was sold by auction, and 

 dispersed for the benefit of his creditors. Aubrey's description, from his own familiar knowledge of 

 them before the sale, is therefore the more curious and valuable. 



