CELEBRITIES AT HOME.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 27

CELEBRITIES AT HOME.

', \ THE MiBQiW OF BATH.AT 10NCHifeAT,( , > 'T|he"oW Saxon.,word /Leat^ , signifying .a watiercoutse,oc flume conducting ( water., to .a mill-wheel, or reservoir,, was, undoubtedly,. the origin, of the name of the , splendid, estate, .visited recently by the Prince -of Wales, and known far and, wse as one. of the' finest speoimens in existence of ; the old type of English manorial ,country ; residence. , Upon the spot where Lord Bath'a. house now stands there was once a priory of the Black Canons of St Augustine, ionnded about 1270, by Sir. John Yexmon, tnen lord pi the manor of. Hormbgar bam. It waa dedicated to St. , Radegund, a canbnised French "quean. \_ Sir Walter Hunger,ford endowed an altar in the little ohnrch; and this* document ib . also preserved in the library of Lonpleat, ,' .The; priory existed there for about 250 years,' and was finally dissolved ,in June, 1529, in consequence of the revenues having become almost nil. The decreed dissolution, transferred," what remained, of the assets to the Abbey of Charterhouae, Henton, about twelve miles distant on the road to Bath., Daring the .brief period it remained aa an appanage of Henton, ii was called the ' Cell of thefPriory of Longleat.' In 1539, Jhe Henton Abbey organisation was itself' dissolved, and the; Longleat portion of, its property sold by the; Crown to Sir, John Horsey, who, in the succeeding yeari r,1540,r ,1540,. fc dispqsed of it ,to Sir John Thynne. .' A few years ago, during the progress of Borne .internal alterations pf the present manor-house, a portion of the old priory wall was fqpnd built in with the existing 'foundations ; and, at the same time, several roughly- worked coffins containing skeletons were exhumed near the foot of the grand stair? case. The remains wexe reburied in Homings, ham churchyard. t Sir. John Thynne, the ancestor of the present Marquis of Bath, belonged to a Shropshire family ; and, so far as is known,' possessed no property in Wilts county anterior to the purchase of the Longleat portion of the Henton Abbey domains, i The nucleus of the present yast estate,- acquired in 1510 by Sir John Thynne, consisted of out little ,more thari^ 100 acres of land, upon which there waa an old dwelling- house with the offices of the pridry, a small orchard, and a kitchen garden, ,the!whole costing the sum of £53 sterling. Eour hours by.irailway from Paddington Station, with a change of carriages or transfer to another line<at 'Bwindon, bring the, invited guests to Froiiie, where a quickly-stepping, pair of horses is in. waiting to skim over the smooth winding road leading to Longleat. If the wesjther'jß fine^ or passably so, the Marquis • takes the Veins, and with his gupsfc beside him, the time intervening' between Erome and the Hall is quickly passed, as with' low-murmuring rumble the wheels rapidly roll over the undulating country,' with' its constantly varying land! ucapeof orchards, pasturt-land, green hedges, rich green fields, sheltered treesj and comfortable cottages. Long before reaching the Hall, a white gate is opened with a curtsay by a ruodj-faced little country gir], who darts out froiiira neat gamekeeper's lodge by the roadside* This is the boundary of Longleat estate on the .Fro'ma side: and for more than a mile the private-way winds among noble trees add ucnooth graus lawns, carefully drained and tendedj until with a quarter-circle sweep between, several gigantic oaks, the carriage stops before the, broad steps of the Hospitable mansion of Longleat. ' As this remarkable structure may fairly claim to have been the first of its style of architecture, built in England, it merits a cwuful examination. It possesses, moreover, the technical vaheof standing to 'd»y s (except, trifling changes of the front door, balustrades, and roof afcatues), precisely as ifc waa. constructed move tbauthrea.hundred' years agoi T,ba architect's uame is aotyhore mentioned ; but it is believed, from circumstantial evidence, to be the design of John of Padua, au Italian who was employed by the great Protector Somerset to construct his palaoe in the Strand. Sir, John Tbynuc, who had the Longleat' mansion built, wns.tha secretary' and confidential friend, of. the Duke Protector of

England, It is reasonable, therefore, to rappose that he employed his patron'd architect tot designing his own residence, especially as the structure closely resembles John of raclua a work, built subsequently to. Longlj^ which was begun in 1567 and completed in 1680. The house is 220 feet long, 180 wide, and is built of stone, taken from a neighbouring quarry ; it iathreoßtorieain height, and the external design ia a melange of Italian and ecolesiafltical styles of architecture. There is a very large proportion of niullioned window on ail sidea of the structure, with 'the natural result of a plentiful diffusion of light ia all the internal portions of the building. The pilasters of the lower story are Doric, those of thecentre.lomc, and the upper Corinthian in design. -.Sir' Christopher Wren was employed to construct a front-door and .grand staircase at Lougleat, but they were subsequently replaoed' by others designed'by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville in 1808. The corridbrs of the ground and firati floors, with the grand' staircase connecting them, are well worthy of special note, both for their own design J and construction aa .well as for the numerous and beautiful cabinets, tables, oaukets, and other antique' fabrics collected for the moat part abroad by the various lords of Lotagleat. The walls are hung with family portraits and copies of- well-known pictures by some of the Old Mastero. The enormous collection of books, ancient and modern; with masses ef old manuscripts, is well worthy of special examination. TJiare ia a wonderfully interesting task' awaiting some amateur, or professional librarian, in cataloguing the immense mass of literature filling the four walls of many large rooms from floor to ceiling. The number of volumes is unknown, but it is certainly one of the largest private libraries in existence. There are two suites of drawingrooms at Longieat— one on the ground, and the other on the first floor. These rooms, six in number,' have just been entirely reconstructed so far aa their interiors are concerned. Lord Bath has had the ceilings reproduced from the most celebrated rooms in Italy, principally those in the Doge'a Palace at Venice. The mantels and the door-frames of some of the rooms are in marble with high relief, all copied from celebrated Italian models. The long salon on the first floor ia now one of the finest rooms in Europe, and contains a grand reproduction of the celebrated chimney-piece m the Questioning Chamber of the Doge'a Palace j the reproduction is full size, and ia far amperior to th» origisal; inasmuch aa certain portions of the latter which are in plaster have been cut in marble in the Longleat copy, which is of most exquisite workmanship. The door-frames which are not in marble are made of wood, and correspond with the other work of these magnificent rooms.' The doors, wainscoting, and other wood- work' are of walnut, intricately inlaid with' beautiful tracery, in light coloured wood, representing vines, flowers, leaves and quaint animal figures of fanoiful and pleasing design. The whole of this decorative work has been executed in Italy by native artists, and placed in position by English workmen. Apart from the internal reconstruction of the' draw-ing-suites, some of the principal bedrooms are being decorated with • beautifully ' embroidered with silk and satin hangings in variouB t colours,' all executed inltalyby natives of that country. The whole 1 of- this newly-arranged' decoration haa been selected by Lord 1 Batti during his recent viait« to Italy, and theplaoing of the work in position at Longleat has • been done under his personal supervision. ■ ""

The view from the top of the hotse is one of , surpassing beauty. 'The thousands of acres' of, one of the finest parks in Christendom lie be* tore the spectator; A - The sheltered 'valley,, or baajtii where the dwelling ' is situated, .is bounded qn all sides by hills covered with huge! trees; while the fcftooth green 'tarfdf^he immettiate neighbourhood "ia /dotted here and there by single oaks and elms of most gigafitio growth, 'whose huge 'trunks, seven and eight feet in diameter, and wide-spreading symmetri* call tops, I '' tell* 'of untrammelled' development dating many, long centuries of time. Sleek cattle and snowy-woblled' sheep, with' Beveral hundreds of deer; are'grazing on the lawn ; and an 'artificial lake 1 of .huge dlmenaions, with a' waterfall and trotit-ponds, contribute the tieces* water area 'to'make a. perfect landscape. In the rea* of the noble mansion ( 'stand extensive and well-arranged stablest and on two sides extend an ornamental garden of most in. trloate and exquisitely beautiful design, whioh." gives evidence, in. its carefully-trimmed shrubbery and clearly-defined outlines of .design, of moßt attentive and skilful caretaking. Half a mite from the Hall there are extensive hot houses, with' grape-vines covered with luscious fruit, and cherry, pear, peach, and apple trees trained along sunny walls ; while every pre-> paration is' made' for foroing early vegetables. Ten minutes walk along the shore of the lake, by a thickly-shaded path will bring the visitor to a well appointed farmyard, where agricultural machinery, barns, stock, stables, and other substantial appointments give evidence of careful and successful husbandry. ' -' Life at Lotigleat is made very smooth, easy; and luxurious to the visitor. A perfectlyappointed and managed* household ; trained servants, who' move abont noiselessly, and an* ticipate every want' of the guest; a most charming and unaffected hospitality, together with the peaceful beauty of the noble park and the rare contents of the splendid old house, all combine to oause forgetfulness of the cares of life. At half-past nine Lord Bath meets' his guests at breakfast. After the Weal is over, the. master of Longleat retires to attend to the affairs of his estate, and the guests are free to amuse themselves in the way they like best until luncheon at half-past' one, when the whole family meet in the grand old hall, hung with noble stags' heads and the arms of various houses allied to the family of Thynne. In the afternoon a ride over the estate, or a walk in the'extensive game preserves, with trout-fishing in season at the close of , the day,' or some excursion to neighbouring scenes of interest, fill up the' time' before dressing for. dinner, which is ready at eight ; afier which the whole party adjourn to the library. ' ' . • The present visit of H,R H. the' Prince of Wales will be by no means the first occision when royalty has honoured Longleat with, its presence. In 1574 Queen Elizibeth stopped there, and the following letter, among others, refers to that event :— .

' Thanks be to God, her Mtie ia well retourned With good health, and great liking her entertaynment in ye west parts, and namely at your bowse, which twice sithence to my self, and the last Sonday to by my Lady's Grace, she greatly commended. « From the Court this xith of October, 1574. ' Yr loving friend, 'E. Hertford.

• To Sr Jhon.Thinne Knight at Longleat.' Again in 1663 Kins; Charles 11, accompanied •by the Queen and Duke of York,' visited Sir James Thynne at Longleat, The Intelligencer, .published at Bath, 14bh September, 1663, says : •—'Bathe. lOfch September.— This day bis Majesty, with hia Royftll Consort, diu'd at Sir .James ThynneV la 1680 the Duke of Monmouth paid several yisits to_Longl«at, whose owner of that date was hia intimate friend, and who Buffered some censure for his friendship for that ill-fated prince. In 1789 .the., first Marquis of Bath (the Thynues had already been wade Vistymnte Weymontb) had tfae

honour of receiving at Longleat King George 111, the Queen and Princesses, and a Buite of forty persons. Upon this oocasion one hundred and twenty -five persona slept in the bouse; nine dinners, besides the grand one, were provided every day ; and the bill of fare included three oxen, six fat buoka, seventeen fat sheep, besides game, poultry, fish, and fruit, together with other delicacies. His Majesty went up to the top of the house, and remarked that, in Bpite of the oft-told tale of the grandeur and beauty of Longleat,, it very much exceeded his preconceived ideas of its pretensions in these respects. Many pages ceuld be written of the curious and interesting .incidents connected with the earlier history of Longleat ; but enough has, already been said to show, that John Aubrey was not far from the truth when he declared that it was 'the most august house in this island,' and that it is the beau ideal of a baronial residence of ' merrie old England.'— London World, ' , ■,