SUPPLEMENT TO 



11 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE 



J"** 4. 189 . 



Can reach, a theatre immense ! Adorned 



With ornaments of sweet variety 

 Bv Nature's pencil drawn -the level meads, 

 A verdant floor, with brightest gem inlaid, 

 And richly painted flowers-the tillage plain 

 Wide waving to the sun a rival blaze 



Of gold, best source of wealth ! 



1 



the direction of the mansion, a g h mpse of th venerable ^nT^T^ 

 through the trees, the grey masonry presenting I „ P ' le 15 obtail >* 

 contrast to the dark green masses of foliaee bv wS f a PP ear ance i n 



nansion is approached through the elecLt V s - surr °unde4 

 workmanship^ with their fiSSKiT^ 

 Wyatt at practically the end of the avenue, it «n be ^0^^ 



As the mansion 

 Italian 



'The " tillage plain" may have had its area materially reduced by 

 the changes that have been made, in agricultural — *»™o 



Cautley, that 



the second half 



of the present century, but 



practice during >\ 

 the scene, if less ~~ 



•< No hanging bartizan proclaims defiance, 

 No thunder-throated cannon hath a place 

 On flanking turret, or the curtain's space 

 Arcaded with Italia's elegance. 



But where grim battlements are wont to frown 

 The pious architect, with sculpture rare ' 

 A psalm hath letter'd in the massive stone • 

 The graven scripture peoples the blest air ' 

 With holiest thoughts ; these the eye calleth dow» 

 To teach the heart sincerity through prayer." 



. T i« 0r l gin ° f the name of the ^tate is 

 not difficult to trace. In the Domesday 



Book it is entered as Asebi, presumably the 

 place of the ash tree ; but later it became 

 known as Esseby David, taking its title fro m 

 a lord of the manor, one David de Esseby, to 

 whom it belonged in the reign of Henry III. 

 and whose effigy in chain armour has a'place 

 in the Lady Chapel of the church of Castle 

 Ashby. At the end of the fourteenth cen- 

 tury Ashby, with the advowson of the church, 

 became the property of Walter de Langton' 

 and a few years later the bishop obtained a 

 license from Edward L to " fortify the man- 

 sion at Esseby with kemelled walls after the 

 manner of a castle." This alteration in the 

 structural details of the then existing man- 

 sion brought about a change in the name 

 from Esseby David to Castle Ashby. This 

 was accomplished in a very gradual manner, 

 and it is interesting to observe that while in 

 the reign of Edward III. it was designated 

 Castle Ashby by Sir William de la Pole, to 

 whom it then belonged, it was as late as 

 the reign of Elizabeth described under its 

 old name. Sometime during the fifteenth 

 century the estate passed into the hands of 

 the De Ruthyn family, and as they had a 

 seat at Yardley Hastings the mansion at 

 Castle Ashby was abandoned and allowed 

 to fall into decay. In less than a century 

 it had become a ruin, and with reference to 

 its condition Leland wrote "Almost in the 

 luiuuic way betwixt Welingborowe and Northampton I passed 

 Assheby, more than a mile of on the left hand, wher hath been a castle 

 that is clene downe and is made but a septum for bestes." With the 

 purchase of the property by the Comptons a change for the better was 

 ffected and the foundation of the present greatness of the estate laid. 



It would appear that Sir William Compton, who accomplished so 

 much in raising the family to a greater degree of honour, purchased Cast e 

 Ashby in 1512, and leased the property, including the old ruined castle 

 and an enclosure known as the « Castell Yarde." ™- ^ in 



VIEW ON UPPER TERRACE 



The lease expired 



1583, and soon afterwards the'building of the present mansion was com 



e may be some difficulty in fixing from readily 



menced ; and although there may ~- . rt 



accessible records the exact date, there can be no doubt that a very snon 

 period was allowed to elapse after the lease had fallen in, for a consum- 

 able part of the pile of buildings had been completed prior to tne aeai 

 of Henry, the first Lord ComDton, in 1589- Camden observes in . 

 « Britannia," with reference to this matter : "From hence f^ 0 "^ 0 " 1 

 Nen maketh haste away by Castle Ashby, where Henry, Lord ' Lomu «, 

 began to build a faire sightly house." The completion of ^ 0 nd Lord 



ir 



n 



uch wealth into" the" housed as he "had by his personal qual 

 mour to it. He married Elizabeth, the daughter and ne 



W 



Compton, who, in the reign of James I., was 



This nobleman had the 



created Earl of North 



ampton. 

 m 



honour 



* iress of Sir 



varied in 



John Spencer, a wealthy Alderman of the City of London and ""E 

 Lord Mayor, and she was regarded as the richest heiress 01 1 ^ 

 Sir John's wealth was estimated at a sum closely a PP r ° a ; n '"* u e pir ates 

 sterling, and according to tradition a scheme was projected oy 1^ 

 of Dunkirk to carry him off in order to exact a ransom. i ne aintc d 

 tradition to the effect that when Lord Compton bc ^ me J^J^ w that 

 with the immense sum that had been left by his tatner- ^ 

 he became unsettled in his intellect. I am not Jisposea 1 

 importance to the tradition, for his lordship was by nome. ^ ^ 

 during the autumn, is throughout" ithe year of minded man ; but however that might be, there can 



HEECH. 



colouring 



marvellous beauty - 



WmnlXS?! P ° r 1 ™ ay , t0 the s °uth-east may be seen under favourable 

 from h 1 ° d r T S the s P ire of the church of Gaston Maundit rising 



£ the f ^ ( w ma T SSCS ° f treeS ' and this Vil,age is of interest 

 pSSrV? J£ fl° P PerCy ' the editor of the « Reliques of Ancient 



l'era 'urenlr^ V c ^ pansh for nearl y thi "y V^s. During this period 

 Brit?sh P 3 ai ? 1 ° US WOrk ' of whi <* the MS. is preserved in the 



stone, and otheTlinH , entertai ned Garrick, Goldsmith, Johnson, Shen- 

 ^^S^^r^ pother ^cts of arch.xological or 



the fair prospect dXh 2. u 2°** of vlsion as 

 fall wjtfin tW^^* 2 t ^fcld charms 



>eir existence will suffice . ^ ave now m v,ew ' 



surhce. Proceeding onwards through the park in 



strength of 



appreciate the magnificence of her dowry, and the necessj ^ y 



ever that Lady Compton had a 



ful administration of the wealth she had brought into u . ^ ^ 

 Kavp »*AA+m> nf^ic :~ uori^ian MSS., for amongst u ^ 



which she suggests^ 



a letter she addressed to her husband, in w«iv« ~ s uX u id be p 

 mode of dealing with the funds and also «»J interesting 

 at her disposal for her personal use. 



The letter is "^"'s^ ycar s age 

 illustrating some of the aspects of social life three hu Corn pt<* 

 and with reference to the funds for her personal use, - q{ ^ 



of the 



the eye roams over 

 but as they do not 

 this indication 



writes : "Now, I have declared to you my mina w*» consider ^» 

 estate., I suppose it were best for me to bethinK a r pray and btf**J 

 myself what allowance were meted for me. . • • sum 0 f 

 you to grant to me, your most kind and loving wiie, 



