"OLD HOUSES."

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2811, 26 September 1883, Page 3

"OLD HOUSES."

(Morning Advertiser.) An auctioneer's announcement is not (uito tho place m which to look for :ither romance, or political lessons. Yet i glance at tho current advertisements of anda and houses for sale supplies a :urious commentary on somo of the cant »hich passes muster for truth. To listen 0 the speeches of demagogues, and of not 1 few other people who might not euro to iictir that designation, one mijiht imagine hat tho earth of England was tied ip m such tight entail that no)ody, bo ho never so anxious, could icquiro moro than a ncrap of tho sacred loil on which ho was born, and that tho mcestral homes of England, with their mrksand woods, are so secured m certain amilios, that it is vain for any person, lot m the lino of succession, to cherish i hope of being sheltered under their renerable roofs. In other words, those 'rothy orators talk of " tho lund " just as Mr Wopslo m " Great Expectations " talkod of " the Church." Thoy jnero that it is "not thrown open." The- fact is that it is, and always iias been, moro " open " than sellers like, for never has there been a time when [hero were not more farms, and manors, md estates, aud old houses, and grand mansions m tho market than there were purchasers for them. Ono day last iveek there wero offered for sale, m tho columns of a contemporary, which makea i speciality of such announcements, rathor over half a million of acres ; and \ few days earlier, Strawberry Hill, ono of the most charming villas near London, and associated for more than a century with memories [>f the wits and beauties who visited Horace \Valpolo, and of the statesmen and literati who sauntered amid its groves at Lady Waldogravo's bidding, was offered at auction, with tho result that nobody bids moro for it than tho valuo of tho baro Bito. This shows clearly that, whatover may bo tho grievances of owners and occupants of tho land, tho intending purchasers noed emit no jeremiads over it " not being thrown open." It is "open" enough to everyone who care 3to invest m property which is a. butt for every political doctrinaire, and is so overtaxed that it will barely yield 2\ per cent to the investor. Again, if tlio history of half the houses m tho kingdom wore investigated, it would bo found that they havo changed hands over and over until tho original owners or builders are hard to discover. In probably no country m tho world are so many venerable seats and fino mansions of a modern typo ready for tho capitalist. Indeed, tho auctioneers and estate agents' lists are at present so crowded with them that the wealthy man who is willing to purchase a grim pile, traditions, associations, skeleton and all, may be able to gratify his whim for a figure more moderate than that at which he could build a brand-now mansion of tho sham Queen Anne or Gothic type. Among these "places" on tho eve of passing under tho hammer are sovoral which nre worthy of notice from an historical point of view, and ono or two even worthy of the attention of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings. Here, for example, is Dovizes Cnstlo, m Wiltshire, which i 3 ready for any purchaser. No more delightful residence within easy reach of London is to be imagined, and for those who can feel a pride m being the ownor, if not the hoir, of seven centuries of historical memories, tho famous fortress built by Roger, Bishop of Sarnm, and pronounced by Lambardi to be tl the moat gorgeous m Christendom," is, evon m its modernised form, a bait fit to tempt some excusable extravagance. Twelve English Queens, from Matilda, to Catherine Parr, lived or were imprisoned m the castle which was allotted to them as dowry ; and almost every ruler from Stephen to Cromwell has at different times laid aiego to tho noblo koep which overlooks Devizes town. It must, of course, bo admitted that but little of tho original building now stands, but the restoration and reproduction havo been bo tastefully accomplished, as to

havo loft it one of the most complet models of a Norman fortroas, built 01 an old sito which is to bo aoen m thes islands. Many twelfth-century archway aro incorporated into the newer struc tnrog, and the dungeon m which the un fortunate Duke Robert of Normandy wai immured atill remains to carry on tin traditions which began m the year 1107 On the building the present proprietoi has lavished largo sums of money, anc tho thoughtful care of a lifetime. One might, therefore imagino that he would hnvo sacrificed much to remain m ar lovely a homo. But apparently that ia not his view. And perhaps it is as well that by one going another can come, and a purchaser more appreciative may find happiness m exchnngo for the money, which m its turn may serve tho owner of Devizes some moro important purposo than a feudal castle. Here, again, turning to another column of land sales, ia Erith Manor m the market. Compared with Devizes it is a very small property, though its history is almost as curious, if not so intimately bound up with the chronicles of England. Originally the fief of Odo, Bishop of Bayoux, and brother of the Conqueror, it. passed m tho reigu of Henry IT. to Richard do Lacy, Justiciary of England. From his daughter Rosie, wife of Fulbert do Dover, it seems to havo coma into tho hands of Robert FitzWalter. But Dame do Dover's grandson by marriage challenged Fitz- Walter to tho wager of battlo m order to decide who tvas to bo tho lawful holder, with the result that ho becamo life tenant. In timo John, Earl of Athole, was the lord if Erith, but terminated his manorial r>rivilene3 owing to tho accident of being l:anged for treason very oarlyin his career. Bartholomew do Badlesmero, who was the next owner, suffered the same penalty as :iis predecessor ; and after a variety of mldcrs, Sir William Compton, a Royalist jflicer, sold it to Nicholas Vanacker, a London morchant, Tho deacendanta of :his gentleman are still the lords of the Tianor, and though they possess none of ;he privileges which attach to manorial lordships m the vicinity r.f some of the " unreformed corporation " towns, thoy nay well value tho ownership of bo historical an eatato at a figure above the actual worth of tho soil. Stagonhoo Park, near Hitchin, has a liistory which extends back to tho timo :>( the early Edwards, and before it came into possession of tho Earls of Cathness had known tho lordship of half a dozen families, including that of the London merchant from whom tho Sinclaira ncjuirod it by purchase), contrary to the conventional dictum of the Land Leaguo jrators, who, when discussing tho modes n which tho aristocracy becamo landiwners, arc m the habit of declaring that they "stolo" their property. Hampitcad Court, m Gloucester, another old Family seat, is for sale. For two hundred fears it has been m tho hands of tho Lysons, who purchased it from tho grandson of Thomas Atkyns, who on the demolition of tho Priory of Llan;hony obtained this portion of the Dhurchman's property. Threo hundred ago its rovetmo was returned at C2O 0j 3d per annum ; to-day it ex;eods £2000, though how much of this ' increment " is " unearned," how much :ho result of care, labor and capital ixpendcd by its successive owners, md how much duo to tho rise m tho raluo of money, are questions which the ldvocates of tho latest lunacy about the " nationalisation of tho land " might find it difficult to answer to tho satisfaction of myono moro sano than themselves. If, however, tho lover of a good residonce, coupled with an agreeablo amount of mystery, is anxious to livo m a house which has both recommendations, Littleberries, at Millhill, closo by London, nu<;lit to attract notice, sinca it is to be sold m tho course of this week. Littleberriea is, indeed, as mysteriMi 9 a houso »3 tho Castlo of LHranto, though perhaps not quito so ;>nie3onio, for it is so absolutely without i chroniclo that almost any series of legends may bo devised to suit the hints Df history which attach to it, but which nevertheless are incapable of substantiation. Of course, Littleborries is said to havo been one of tho tryating places of Charles 11., and, indeed, built for him, mid m one of the panels is a full-length portrait of a young man m the robes of a Rartor Knight, whom tho accompanying inscription declares to be Charles Lennox, Duko of Richmond, and ono of tho Merry Monarch's sons. The quaint rooms are tilled with pictures, most [of them copies, and tho ceilings contain, amid much fantastic scroll work, medallion portraits of William 111., Georgo 1., George 11., and Carolino of Anspach, his wifo. The houso itself is an agreeablo one, m the middlo of a pleasant park, shut off from tho high road, near Hendon. But as Land, from which wo derivo some of theso facts, remarks, tho history of this very curious placo isat present morely conjectural. But there can bo little doubt that it possesses a story, could the antiquary catch tho clues which havo hitherto oraded his search. At present, however, John Wilkes, who was ono of its tenants, is tho best known namo nttaching to it ; and at a later date the Pawsons of Northumberland seem to havo occupied it, fur they signalised their residence by carving their arms upon tho pediment of a sham temple m tho grounds, and then covering with white paint all the tino old curved oak m this mansion of mystery.