What to See in England Part 4

=Average Time.=--Varies between 3/4 to 1 hour.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 3s. 0d. 2s. 0d. 1s. 6d.

Return 5s. 0d. 3s. 6d. ...

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--Windsor--"White Hart Hotel,"

"Castle Hotel," "Bridge House Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Waterloo to Windsor, 3 miles from Stoke Poges. London and South-Western Railway.

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day" has immortalised the otherwise unimportant district of Stoke Poges--a parish embracing numerous small hamlets.

Leaving Slough by the north end of the railway bridge, one turns first to the right and then to the left, and soon after leaving the uninteresting bricks and mortar of the town, one enters some of the most beautiful lanes in the home counties. At the first cross road one turns to the right, and again through an open gate to the left, and thence a field path leads to the churchyard.

The little church, which is always open, has walls of old red brick and flint, with patches of rough plaster. It is wonderfully picturesque, with its partial covering of ivy and beautiful background of fine old trees, and no one can view the scene at sunset without recalling Gray's immortal _Elegy written in a Country Churchyard_--those exquisite verses which breathe in every line the peace of an ideal country scene. To a lover of Nature there can be nothing more beautiful than the lines--

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds; Save where the beetle wheels his drony flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.

Near the east wall of the church is the red brick tomb where Gray sleeps his last sleep, and in the meadow by the chancel window stands the huge cenotaph raised to his memory by John Penn. Of the little cottage where he spent his summer vacations and wrote the _Elegy_ nothing now remains.

Gray was born in London in 1716, and died at Cambridge in 1771.

The interior of the church has lost its high old pews and galleries, so that it lacks the interest it might have had, for until these were removed the building was almost exactly what Gray knew so well.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Mackenzie Fine Art Co._

STOKE POGES CHURCHYARD.

a.s.sociated with Gray's _Elegy_.]

WINDSOR

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

=Nearest Station.=--Windsor.

=Distance from London.=--21-1/4 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 1/2 to 1 hour.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 3s. 6d. 2s. 3d. 1s. 9d.

Return 5s. 6d. 4s. 0d. 3s. 4d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"White Hart Hotel," "Bridge House Hotel," "Castle Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Waterloo. L. and S.W. Railway.

The chief interest of Windsor centres in its castle, without which visitors to the town would probably be few in number. Some of the old streets are narrow, and there are many architecturally interesting buildings. The business portion of the town lies nearest to the Castle, the residential parts being chiefly round the Great Park. The Town Hall, in the High Street, was commenced in 1686, and was completed under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren.

The history of Windsor Castle commences with the granting of the site of the castle and town to the Abbot of Westminster by Edward the Confessor.

William the Conqueror, was, however, so struck with its splendid military position, that he revoked the grant, and where the castle now stands built a fortress of considerable size. Of this there is no description extant. The first court was held at Windsor by Henry I., and during his reign many splendid functions took place there. Edward III.

employed William of Wykeham to rebuild almost the whole castle. Henry VII., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth all made additions to the buildings.

Many magnificent paintings were added during the reign of Charles I.

George I. made Windsor Castle his chief residence, and appointed a Royal Commission to rebuild the castle in its present form at a cost of more than one million sterling. About 1860, Wolsey's Chapel, now known as the Albert Memorial Chapel, was restored in memory of the Prince Consort, and the d.u.c.h.ess of Kent's mausoleum was erected. St. George's Chapel, a splendid specimen of ecclesiastical architecture, was originally built by Edward III., and was finally restored in 1887. The State apartments, which can be seen when the Royal family are absent, are sumptuously furnished and contain much beautiful tapestry and a valuable collection of pictures.

Windsor Great Park, the chief feature of which is the Long Walk, is well stocked with deer.

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

WINDSOR CASTLE.]

JORDANS AND WILLIAM PENN

=How to get there.=--Train from Baker Street. Metropolitan Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Chalfont Road (3 miles from Jordans).

=Distance from London.=--22 miles.

=Average Time.=--51 minutes. (Convenient trains, 10.27 A.M., 12.17 and 2.27 P.M.)

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 3s. 2d. 2s. 4d. 1s. 7d.

Return 4s. 9d. 3s. 5d. 2s. 5d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--None at Jordans.

=Alternative Route.=--Train to Uxbridge. Great Western Railway.

Jordans, the burial-place of William Penn, the great English Quaker and philanthropist, lies on a by-road in Buckinghams.h.i.+re, leading from Chalfont St. Peter to Beaconsfield. The place itself, though full of the typical charm of English scenery in the home counties, does not contain anything of particular interest, and it owes its reputation to the a.s.sociations with the wonderful man who lived and died there. Jordans is visited by many hundreds of tourists during the summer, mainly Americans. One of these offered to remove Penn's remains to Philadelphia, capital of Pennsylvania, and there build a mausoleum over them; but the offer was declined.

The road runs south-west from the village of Chalfont St. Peter, and after a sharp curve brings the visitor to the Meeting House, a very plain and un.o.btrusive structure, dating from about the end of the seventeenth century. In the secluded burying-ground surrounded and overhung by great trees lies William Penn. Five of his children also rest among these quiet surroundings; and here are buried two well-known Quaker leaders, Isaac Penington and Thomas Ellwood. At the actual time of burial there were no gravestones, but these have since been added.

Though the house as a regular place of meeting has long fallen into disuse, there is still an annual gathering of Quakers there in memory of the great dead.

Penn was the son of Sir William Penn, an eminent admiral, and was born in 1644. His violent advocacy of the Quaker creeds led him into continual trouble and several times into prison. In 1681 he obtained, in lieu of the income left by his father, a grant from the Crown of the territory now forming the state of Pennsylvania. Penn wished to call his new property Sylvania, on account of the forest upon it, but the king, Charles II., good-naturedly insisted on the prefix Penn. The great man left his flouris.h.i.+ng colony for the last time in 1701, and after a troublous time in pecuniary matters, owing to the villany of an agent in America, Penn died at Rus...o...b.. in Berks.h.i.+re in 1718.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _H.C. Sh.e.l.ley._

THE JORDANS.

The burial-place of William Penn.]

KNOLE HOUSE AND SEVENOAKS

=How to get there.=--Train from Charing Cross, Cannon Street, or London Bridge. South-Eastern and Chatham Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Sevenoaks (Knole House is just outside Sevenoaks).

=Distance from London.=--22 miles.

=Average Time.=--45 minutes.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 3s. 10d. 2s. 5d. 1s. 11d.

Return 6s. 8d. 4s. 10d. 3s. 10d.