By W. W. MavmMll, Esq. 



55 



chance it retained too much of its Catholic origin for his taste, so 

 he effected a series of alterations and additions, which we lament. 

 It may be Inigo J ones, who is responsible for the design ; if so he was 

 seventy-six and on the verge of the grave when they were commenced, 

 for he died in 1651. Moreover he would be a Roman Catholic, 

 employed to transform a Roman Catholic edifice, by a Puritan 

 Attorney General. He could have seen but little of the carrying 

 out of his plans for the great staircase was not finished, as an 

 inscription on it says, till 1658. The house perhaps required 

 enlargement, but that this should have been done at the expence 

 of the beautiful Tudor features I have mentioned is a matter 

 of regret. The tower is spoilt by its having in front of it a huge 

 Italian pile almost as lofty as itself, which now forms the centre 

 of the elevation. This contains the new grand saloon. Italian 

 windows now surmount the cloisters, and on the opposite side 

 squeeze the old hall against the tower, the latter afflicted as I 

 have already mentioned. Within there is the hall fairly perfect, 

 and some of the rooms are highly creditable to the Architect, 

 specially the saloon already mentioned. But one never gets over 

 the idea that it is a building transformed from one use to another. 

 We can fancy then the Attorney General, a man of some refinement 

 though with little taste, of great wealth, and most hospitable 

 impulses, living in an age of large gatherings ; his home the centre 

 of the society of that neighbourhood, the hearth of a considerable 

 family circle. He may have read Lord Bacon's essay on houses, 

 and thought he was in some way following the advice of that great 

 master. For every one, his garden with its wilderness, must indeed 

 have been a constant source of " the purest pleasure. 33 



Dr. Love, of Winchester, Mr. Speaker's (Lenthall) chamber fellow in Lincoln's 

 Inn, was made one of the six Clerks in Chancery in Mr. Penruddock's place, 

 worth £1000 per annum, one of the Council of State, 1651. A constant 

 Hamper, and one of his sovereign's Cruell Judges, and one of the abjurators 

 of kingly powers." This refers to Henry Penruddock, see pp. 122 and 150, of 

 Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xiii., "the six clerk" (six of them) in Chancery, or 

 Edward Penruddock, of whom more hereafter, for they may be one and the 

 same person. 



In the same pamphlet, at p. 30, is the following laconic entry : "John Selden 

 had given him £5000 which he refused to accept, and kept his conscience." 



