42 
PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF WARWICKSHIRE. Feb., 1890 . 
gunpowder, practically impregnable fortresses; while Maxtoke 
Castle, if smaller, is even more interesting, for its “ moat 
and outer walls, and its old iron-bound gate and gatehouse 
are scarcely changed during six hundred years.” Astley 
Castle, near Nuneaton, dates from the thirteenth century, 
when a castle was a fortified house with a moat. Tamworth 
Castle we have already mentioned. 
The close of the mediaeval period saw also the destruction 
of the monasteries and other religious houses by Henry VIII. 
(1539); but Maxtoke Priory, Polesworth Nunnery (near Tam¬ 
worth), Merevale Abbey (near Atlierstone). the Wliitefriars 
Monastery at Coventry, etc., still remain (in a more or less 
delightfully ruinous and picturesque condition) to testify to 
the religious zeal of our ancestors. 
And the old churches : how delightful they are ! Shall it 
not be our pleasure to record their every detail and architec¬ 
tural feature? so that when the hand of the “ restorer ” is 
laid upon them there shall be evidence retained of their 
original structure and condition. To take but two cases. “ As 
an example of a preceptory and church of the twelfth century, 
of which neither restoration nor neglect have changed any 
important feature, Temple Balsall is unrivalled in Warwick¬ 
shire, and not surpassed in any part of England.” Let the 
Beauchamp Chapel (1465) in St. Mary's Church, Warwick, 
be our second example. It is, without doubt, as a sepulchral 
chamber, “ one of the most famous in the kingdom,” 
containing among others the tomb of Richard Beauchamp, 
Earl of Warwick, the cost of which alone exceeded £40,000 
of our money. 
Of moated houses, and picturesque old mansions, 
Warwickshire has many. Compton Wynyates (1510) is 
described by Mr. Timmins as “a marvellous and harmonious 
combination of the best and most artistic work in brick, 
stone, and wood. Its variegated colours of bricks, its richly- 
moulded brick chimneys, its exquisitely carved gables and 
beams and wainscoting, its bold and vigorous and delicate 
stone carving, its noble rooms and great hall, with minstrels' 
gallery, its ninety rooms, with a secret chapel in the roof, its 
long lines of dormitories for soldiers, its venerable moss- 
covered and picturesque quadrangle, combine a series of 
charming views which are unequalled in Warwickshire and 
unsurpassed elsewhere.” 
Of slightly earlier date is the old fortified manor house 
of Baddesley Clinton—“ charmingly picturesque, for it has a 
fine ancient moat surrounding its gray walls, and quaint 
gables and chimneys, and its pretty garden parterres sur¬ 
rounded on three sides by the rooms of the house.” 
