What to See in England Part 28

Among other interesting features in the second courtyard are the drawing-room, hung with the original arras, the long gallery, and the ancient state-room, adjoining which is the Peveril Tower, the highest point and oldest portion of the hall. The long gallery, with its stately bay-windows, looks on to the well-known terrace and the magnificent garden, made so familiar by photographs.

Haddon Hall may be seen by visitors from nine till dusk, a gratuity being generally given to the attendant.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

THE BALL-ROOM AT HADDON HALL]

THE ISLE OF ATHELNEY, AND SEDGEMOOR

THE SCENE OF MONMOUTH'S DEFEAT

=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.

=Nearest Station.=--Athelney.

=Distance from London.=--150-1/2 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 4-1/2 to 5-3/4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 26s. 8d. 16s. 8d. 13s. 4d.

Return 53s. 4d. 33s. 4d. 26s. 8d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Railway Hotel."

The Isle of Athelney, the hiding-place of Alfred the Great, at the time when the fortunes of England lay trembling in the balance, is a slightly elevated plot of land where the river Parret joins the Tone. In Alfred's days it was a small island surrounded by an impenetrable mora.s.s, and thickly grown with alders. Here tradition places the hut in which the king, deep in thought, allowed the good wife's cakes to burn. Soon a little band of faithful followers joined Alfred, and together they built a causeway over the marshes, eventually constructing a fort from which successful sallies were made against the Danes in the vicinity. The rally of the Saxons round their intrepid king resulted in the victory of Ethandune, and out of grat.i.tude for his success, Alfred built on the island an abbey, of which a few relics, including the famous Alfred Jewel, remain to-day. A monument erected by Mr. John Slade marks the spot.

A mile to the north is Boroughbridge with its solitary hill, on which many believe that Alfred built his chief fort. The hill is now crowned by the ruins of St. Michael's Church, St. Michael being the saint whose name is a.s.sociated with most of our hill-top shrines. Ling, the next village, is thought to be a corruption of Atheling.

Athelney is on the edge of the flat valley of Sedgemoor, the scene of Monmouth's defeat in 1685. The royal troops were quartered in the villages of Weston Zoyland, Middlezoy, and Chedzoy, their headquarters being Weston Zoyland, round which the battle raged most fiercely.

Knowing the carelessness that prevailed in the royal camp, Monmouth attempted a night attack. On Sunday night, July 5, therefore, his troops stole out. But they were foiled and trapped by the broad ditches called "rhines," in which they lost their way in a helpless fas.h.i.+on, and a pistol that went off in the confusion roused the Royalists, with the result that Monmouth's followers were hopelessly routed, a thousand being slain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "ISLAND" OF ATHELNEY.

The Alfred memorial is in the foreground, and in the distance is the "Mump," the lonely hill surmounted by the ruined church of Boroughbridge.]

RAGLAN CASTLE

=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.

=Nearest Station.=--Raglan.

=Distance from London.=--151-1/2 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 26s. 9d. 16s. 9d. 18s. 4-1/2d.

Return 46s. 10d. 29s. 4d. 26s. 9d.

Fares _via_ Monmouth are slightly cheaper.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Beaufort Arms."

Raglan Castle stands on a hill near a tributary of the Usk. It is the most celebrated ruin on the borders of Wales, and is well preserved.

There is a six-sided keep with walls 10 feet thick, and a gateway with two ivy-clad towers. It dates probably from Edward IV.'s reign, although some writers give an earlier time. Before its destruction by the Parliamentarians the castle was a magnificent structure. A ma.s.sive gateway leads to the arched bridge over the moat by which entrance was gained to the castle. The moat, 30 feet broad, surrounded the keep. The great hall had a fine roof of Irish bog oak, and the gallery was of great length.

This fortress was garrisoned for Charles I. by the st.u.r.dy old Earl of Worcester, who was created a marquess in 1642. He collected an army of 1500 foot-soldiers and 500 horse, which was commanded by his son, the second marquess. After his defeat at Naseby, in July 1645, Charles fled to Raglan and stayed till September. Sir Thomas Fairfax besieged the castle in June 1646, and after a three months' siege the marquess honourably surrendered to the Parliamentary forces.

This was the last stronghold in the west to hold out for Charles. The walls of the keep were destroyed, and, in defiance of the terms of surrender, the aged marquess was imprisoned. He died the following year, and was buried in Windsor Castle.

The second marquess was a mechanical genius, who invented what was known as a "Water-commanding Engine." He erected an apparatus in the moat which spouted water as high as the top of the castle. This was the first practical attempt to use steam as a mechanical agent. The marquess also used his various mechanical contrivances to terrify a body of villagers who came to search the castle for arms in the cause of the Parliament.

When the machines were set agoing the rustics fled, believing lions or some other forms of wild animals were after them. This marquess died in London in 1667, and was buried in Raglan Church.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

RAGLAN CASTLE.

It probably dates from the reign of Edward IV.]

DOVEDALE

=How to get there.=--Train from Euston. L. and N.W. Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Thorpe Cloud, at the south end of Dovedale.

=Distance from London.=--152 miles.

=Average Time.=--About 4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 20s. 6d. ... 12s. 1-1/2d.

Return 39s. 10d. ... ...

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Izaak Walton Hotel," at Ham; "The Peveril Hotel," near Thorpe; "Green Man," "White Hart,"

etc., at Ashbourne.

=Alternative Routes.=--Train from St. Pancras. Midland Railway to Ashbourne, thence by coach; or train from King's Cross, Great Northern Railway.

Dovedale is the apt name given to the valley of the Dove, a river rising on the borders of Derby and Stafford, near Buxton and Axe Edge Hill, and, after a course of 45 miles, joining the Trent at Newton Solney. The portion of its course chiefly a.s.sociated with the name begins half a mile from the village of Thorpe, which may be reached from Ashbourne, the nearest station, by coach. From Thorpe the river is approached by a stony declivity on the east of Thorpe Cloud.

The footpath is throughout on the Derbys.h.i.+re side of the stream, and may be reached from the Staffords.h.i.+re side either by crossing the narrow bridge or some stepping-stones at Thorpe Cloud. For some distance after entering the valley the footpath follows the margin of the river, whose banks are a ma.s.s of magnificent foliage, intermixed with a tangle of brambles, honeysuckle, and wild roses. On the Staffords.h.i.+re bank, a little further up, the foliage suddenly changes to a ma.s.s of sheer cliff, changing again to a ma.s.s of rifted rocks, divided into curious turret-like terminations. This striking formation is known as Dovedale Church, and is accompanied on the Derbys.h.i.+re side by a number of rocks which appear from below to terminate in sharp pinnacles, and have been named "Tissington Spires," from the village close by. About 200 yards beyond the "Church," on the Derbys.h.i.+re bank, is the entrance to Reynard's Cave, a huge cavern with an entrance 40 feet high by 20 wide, from which the view over the dale is superb.

Throughout its whole length of nearly 3 miles the Dovedale scenery is the extraordinary mixture of ruggedness and soft beauty, which makes it unequalled, in its particular style, in the kingdom.

Dovedale is a.s.sociated with the name of Izaak Walton and his friend Charles Cotton, the poet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

TISSINGTON SPIRES, DOVEDALE.]