Combe Abbey, the ancient and venerable seat of the Earls of Craven, is situate in a pleasant valley on the banks of the river, about five miles from Coventry. The Lordship of Smite, of which the manor at the time of the Conquest formed part, was, during the reign of “the Confessor,” in the possession of Richard de Camvell, who, according to Dugdale, “being a devout and pious man, and much affecting the Cistertian Monks, whose Order had then been but newly transplanted into England; and finding that part thereof which is situate in the valley to be full of woods, and far from any public passage; as also low and solitary, and so, consequently, more fit for religious persons, gave unto Gilbert, Abbot of the Monastery of our blessed Lady of Waverley in Surrey, and to the Convent of that place, all this Lordship of Smite, there to found an Abbey of the Cistertian Order. Whereupon they presently began to build, and out of their own convent planted some monks here, dedicating the church thereof to the blessed Virgin also, and calling it the Abbey of Cumbe, in respect of its low and hollow situation; the word Cumen in the British signifying Vallis or Convallis, as doth Cumbe and Combe in the Saxon.”

The monastery having been thus founded, its power was augmented by various other “pious and bountiful gifts;” among the rest, in the time of Henry II., the Earl of Leicester became so liberal a patron, “that the monks allowed the said earl to be reputed the principal founder,” and agreed to “perform for him and his heirs such duties in his life-time and death as for their chief founder.” Thus richly endowed, and pleasantly placed among fertile fields, thick woods, and beside a productive river, the monks of Combe continued to enjoy life until the “killing frost” of the dissolution not only nipped the shoots, but destroyed the root, of the flourishing tree.

The abbey with its estates then became the property of the Earl of Warwick, to whom it was granted by Edward VI.; and after his attainder, a lease of “the site, and divers lands belonging thereto,” was granted to Robert Keylway, who dying (23d Elizabeth), left a sole daughter and heir, who married John Harrington, Esq., afterwards Lord Harrington,[63] whose daughter inheriting, became the wife of Edward Earl of Bedford; from her, “in consequence of the profuse expenditure in which she indulged,” Combe Abbey passed by purchase into the family of Craven, in whose possession it has since remained.

The family of Craven was, at a very early period, seated at Appletreewick, at Craven in Yorkshire. In 1611, Sir William Craven, knight and alderman, was Lord Mayor of London; his son, William, having served in the army with distinction, was knighted in 1626; soon afterwards elevated to the peerage as Baron Craven of Hampstead Marshall, Berks; and in 1663 created Earl of Craven. This heroic ancestor of the family is immortal in romance as the leading champion of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, the eldest daughter of James I., who, having married Frederic, the Elector Palatine, became for a short time a queen, when the revolted states, in their attempt to shake off the yoke of the Emperor Ferdinand II., advanced her husband to the regal dignity. The battle of Prague was fatal to their fortunes, the result having been to deprive the elector of his hereditary rank as well as his crown, and to send him forth an outcast and a wanderer, asking the aid of such cavaliers as sympathised with fallen greatness. The appeal was answered by many brave knights, called around the banner of the dethroned monarch chiefly by the charms and virtues of his British wife; and foremost among them was the Lord Craven. They were foiled in their hopes, however; the unhappy king died, and his widow returned to England, where, it is said, she privately married her gallant champion, and to whom she bequeathed a fine collection of paintings, chiefly portraits, which still adorn the long gallery at Combe Abbey.

The earldom became extinct in 1690, but the barony continued in the family; to which succeeded, in 1769, the sixth baron, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Augustus Earl of Berkeley, afterwards the Margravine of Anspach. William, his son, the seventh baron, was, on the 13th of June, 1801, created Viscount Uffington and Earl Craven; in 1807 he married Louisa, daughter of John Brunton, Esq. of Norwich—a lady who had previously “graced the British stage,” whose talents and virtues gave additional lustre to the position to which her marriage raised her, and whose name was not more honoured and respected when elevated to high rank than it had been when fulfilling the duties of a comparatively humble station. This estimable lady became a widow in 1825; when, the Earl of Craven dying, he was succeeded by his son, the present earl, who in 1835 married the Lady Emily Grimston, the second daughter of the Earl of Verulam.

The Abbey is, as we have stated, distant from Coventry about five miles; a plain but neat stone erection forms the entrance lodge. For a short distance the road winds through pleasant and truly English park scenery, interspersed with clumps of trees of various sizes and forms; while herds of deer sweeping across the path, give life and animation to the scene. Adjacent to a large sheet of water stands the house, which forms three sides of a quadrangle, originally the cloisters of the Abbey of Combe.

On the east side of these cloisters five highly

enriched arches still remain of the later Roman character, the most northern being of the transition period. The openings towards the court (now glazed) are of later date, probably about the fourteenth century. After the Reformation, on the property falling into the hands of the first Lord Harrington, he built the Elizabethan portion of the mansion, preserving, no doubt, the cloisters as a means of communication with the several apartments; and, on the whole, with the manors of Combe, Smite, and Binley, being transferred by sale from his daughter and heiress, Lucy Countess of Bedford to Dame Elizabeth Craven, widow of Sir John Craven (which transfer bears date 24th October, 1622); it fell in due time into the hands of the famous William Earl Craven, her son, who made considerable additions to the building, his architect, it is said, being the no less famous Inigo Jones.[64]

To attempt a formal description of the rooms would far exceed our purpose and limits; we shall, therefore, content ourselves with pointing out a few of the more remarkable objects, commencing with the north parlour, a very handsome room, in which are the fire-dogs, forming the subject of the annexed vignette. This room contains very fine whole-length

portraits of the King and Queen of Bohemia, by C. Honthorst; and of Charles I. and the Princes Maurice and Rupert, by Vandyck. There is also a very fine bust of the present earl, by Behnes. Adjoining this room is the grand staircase, the ceiling of which is enriched by an oval garland of fruit and flowers, modelled with the most exquisite taste and delicacy of execution. Around the walls of the landing are suspended whole-lengths of William the first Earl Craven, Charles II., James I. and II., and others. From thence we enter the Elizabethan room, the subject of our illustration. It is said to have been fitted up for the reception of Queen Elizabeth, and is well worthy of such repute. The fire-place, of most elaborate design and execution, contains on each side the initials E. R. The ceiling is richly ornamented, and on the walls are hung five very fine landscapes, by J. Lootens, with other pictures of considerable merit. In the window is the bust of the Princess Elizabeth, with the following inscription:—

“Ælis Reg.
Boh
Fil Jac Rex Mag Brit
1641.”

And also another bust, on the base of which is carved,—

“La Sereniss
Princ Sophia
Pal. Fig: Di: Fred.
A D 1643
Re Di Boenia
Æ S 17.”

From thence, passing a small ante-room, which contains a most curious picture of the “Decollation of John the Baptist,”

said to be by Albert Durer, the long gallery is entered—one of those apartments so judiciously attached to the houses of the wealthy of this period, for the purposes of recreation and exercise during inclement weather. It is about one hundred feet in length and sixteen in width, lighted from the court-yard side, and filled with portraits of the early part of the sixteenth century. M. MirÈveldt and G. Honthorst are the principal contributors, and in the historical series here presented to view are subjects for much reflection. The Queen of Bohemia, whose destiny seems so closely interwoven

with the house of Craven, appears more than once.[65] The gallant and chivalrous William Earl Craven—the wise Chancellor Oxenstern—Charles XII. of Sweden, grim, stern, and forbidding—Archbishop Laud,—all are here; and last, not least, are the painters; besides many others, whose names are registered in the pages of history. Connected with this apartment is the elegant porch which forms the subject of our vignette, and was, no doubt, a garden-approach to the principal apartments. “It is constructed of very friable stone, the same apparently as that used in the principal buildings at Coventry. Some of its enrichments can no longer be made out.”

Descending to the opposite wing we find the dining-room, which is fitted up in panelled compartments of oak, and contains some beautiful carving in the sideboard, &c. Fine portraits of the Craven family, the Duke of Richmond, and Prince Henry (son of James I.), adorn the apartment, which also contains two transcendent pictures by Rembrandt. Adjacent to this room is a very handsome

apartment, ornamented by columns, and containing two pictures by Canaletti, which may be classed with the finest examples of that master.

There are numerous other rooms particularly rich in old carved fire-places, bedsteads (of which we give a specimen), tapestry, antique furniture, and all things which correct taste and refined judgment could accumulate.

We may recur to the almost romantic interest which attaches itself to this house, from the chivalrous exertions of one of its early possessors in behalf of the illustrious but unfortunate princess, who is frequently recalled to memory within its walls. At each step we are reminded of the fact; and it is a melancholy, yet most pleasant reflection, in looking back through the vista of two centuries, to find the youthful and early devotion of Earl Craven not merely a transient and evanescent impulse, but enduring to the end, and manifesting itself in studious care to protect and soothe that royal lady in the decline of her fortunes and the close of her life. Well did he establish the truth of his family motto,—

VIRTUS IN ACTIONE CONSISTIT.