SION 



monasteries and two thousand chapels and chantries suppressed by 

 Henry VIII., was far too valuable a prize to be lightly given away 

 when once the Abbey-breaker was in possession. He retained it 

 in his own hands until his death ; and there his frail and unhappy 

 fifth queen, Katherine Howard, was- imprisoned for some time* 

 prior to her trial and execution ; there also the King's own body 

 rested for a night, on its way from London to burial at Windsor. 



The young king, Edward VI., on his accession, presented the 

 demesne, with its conventual buildings, to his uncle, the " Pro- 

 tector," Edward, Duke of Somerset, who built the present house 

 on the exact site of the renowned Monastery, which he seems first 

 to have nearly razed to the ground. The palatial mansion that 

 he erected, still stands, with little external alteration ; but the 

 interior has been almost entirely changed. It is surprising that 

 there is little that is ancient in the general outward aspect, and 

 even in the immediate surroundings, of Sion. The river has 

 prevented all encroachments on its seclusion on the east side ; 

 and although suburban London has advanced almost to the 

 northern and eastern limits of the protecting walls of the park, 

 it is so secluded that it is difficult to believe, on emerging from the 

 long, dirty, narrow High Street of the ugly township of Brentford 

 until one suddenly comes upon the beautiful Adam's gateway, which 

 is the principal entrance that between the high road and the 

 river, lies an estate of many acres, with a house of imposing 

 dimensions, the historic interest of which exceeds that of Holland 

 House, for it began at a much earlier period of English history. 



This historic interest is not confined to Sion itself, and incident- 

 ally I should mention that Turnham Green, a mile east of Sion, 

 and Acton, or Oaktown, in its near neighbourhood, were the scenes 

 of stirring events in the Parliamentary Wars, and hideous and 

 unromantic as Brentford appears, it has had by no means an un- 

 eventful history. Here, in 1016, Edmund Ironside is said by some 

 authorities to have defeated the Danes, and in 1588, the closing 

 year of Mary Tudor's reign, six persons were burnt for holding, 

 and propagating, Protestant opinions. Here also, more than half 

 a century later, Prince Rupert routed two regiments of the Parlia- 

 mentary Army, compelling the Parliament, in order to prevent 

 King Charles from pressing onwards to London, to throw up 

 fortifications, and to call out the Trained Bands, under the Earl 



97 7 



