Throwley Hall. In the North-East corner of the County of Stafford there exists an elevated region of limestone hills; one of which, the Bunster, rises to the height of twelve hundred feet above the level of the sea. Their scanty soil, pierced in many places by the naked rock, bears a rich verdure, which is cropped by numerous herds of cattle and sheep. The bottoms of the intervening valleys are occupied by clear streams, which dash along their stony beds, and give fertility to the various shrubs and trees growing upon their margins. In a concavity, about midway down one of these hills, stands the old Hall of Throwley. In the vale below, the superterranean or surface course of the river Manyfold winds its devious way. This stream, like its fellow, the Hamps, sinks into fissures of the rocks, and flows through caverns hid in the earth, for some miles, whilst the remaining portion of the waters, especially during floods, occupies the bed we have pointed out. The valley of the Manyfold, opposite Throwley Hall, is marked by an umbrageous wood, exhibiting a highly luxurious foliage of varied tints.

This picturesque spot, environed by the neighbouring hills of such great altitude, was chosen for the foundation of a house at a remote period. At the time of Erdeswick, we find him recounting that “Throwley is a fair, ancient house, and goodly demesne; being the seat of the Meverells, a very ancient house of gentlemen and of goodly living, equalling the best sort of gentlemen in the Shire.” In the fifth year of the reign of King John, Oliver de Meverell was settled here. In the second of Edward the First, Thomas de Meverell married Agnes, one of the five daughters and co-heirs of Gerebert de Gayton. In a deed given at Fredeswall, now Fradswell, another manor of the Meverells, in the seventeenth year of Edward the Third, we find the name of Thomas de Meverell, Lord of Throwley. The following inscription occurs on an alabaster monument in the south aisle of the chancel of Ilam Church, in which parish Throwley is situated:—“Here lyeth y? bodies of Robert Meverell Esqv? & Eliz: his wife, Davghter

of S? Tho: Fleming Kni? & Lord Cheife Ivstice of y? Kings Bench, by who he had issve only one davghter, who maried Tho: Lord Cromwell, Visconte Lecaile; w?? Robert died y? 5th of Febr? an? 1626 & Elizab?? departed y? 5th of Avgvst 1628.” Upon a slab are placed the effigies of this Robert, the last male of the Meverells, and Elizabeth his wife, in the magnificent ruffs and other costume of the period—the husband wearing a vast pair of boots with spurs on them, the former falling in thick wrinkles from the ankle to the knee, and terminating in a peak about the middle of the thigh. In a recess in the wall above is the kneeling figure of their daughter and heir, Lady Cromwell, wearing her coronet, and her four children by her. There are shields of arms emblazoning those of Meverell, viz., argent, a griffin segreant sable, armed gules, with the alliances enumerated; and above the tomb is suspended a helmet having a pointed visor. We are enabled to trace this heiress of the ancient House of Meverell to her last resting-place, for in the floor near the altar in Fradsivell Church is a flat stone, inscribed, “Dame Cromwell.” And on an old Tablet in the Chancel may still be read: “Iana Cromwell?: Ex nobilibus Familys Cromwellorum et Meverillorum.” 1647. From the family of Lord Cromwell, Viscount Lecaile, and first Earl of Ardglass, in Ireland, Throwley subsequently passed to Edward Southwell, the last Baron de Clifford; and was sold by him in 1790 to Samuel Crompton, Esq., whose son, Sir Samuel Crompton, Bart., of Wood End, near Thirsk, is now the proprietor of it. The Hall is occupied by a worthy family of the name of Phillips.

The “fair ancient house of Throwley” has undergone many mutations since the days of Erdeswick. It still, however, presents a diversity of outline which corresponds admirably with the imposing site it occupies. It is built of the limestone of the neighbourhood, quoined with larger gritstones; and its walls bear a very time-worn appearance. On the Eastern side, its gables, large bayed window of many lights, divided by stone mullions, terminating in depressed arches, and its strong square tower, carry us back to the Sixteenth Century—the period of its erection. Whether it was the work of Robert, the last male of the House of Meverell, or one of his predecessors, we are not enabled to ascertain by any positive evidence; yet there is little doubt the latter surmise is most correct. On the western side of the House there formerly stood a large Chapel, with a lofty ceiling to the roof; a stone of which, still preserved, bears the initials “F. M.”, most likely pointing to the founder of the entire structure. The little turret contains a circular stone stair, that conducts to the roof of the tower, the leads of which bear many a mark of visitors long since departed—most of them to an eternal home. The view here, as it takes in a large reach of the valley in both directions, and Castern on the opposite hill, is very fine. The principal entrance to the House of Throwley has been on the north, and leads first to a small Entrance-Hall, and next, to the great Hall; which in the strange transmutations it has undergone, retains only a portion of its wainscot and the massive beams of oak that support the ceiling. This Hall is lighted by the lower window in the large bay to the left of our litho-tint. A fine room of equal size, above, entered by a pair of oaken folding doors, has been richly finished, its ceiling still bearing a beading that has been gilt, disposed in an elegant device of octagons and stars. This chief apartment has had a large bay-window, containing two rows of six lights each, to the South, as well as the Eastern bay apparent in the engraving. All these windows are rendered secure by upright bars of iron, bearing cross-bars at short intervals. They have formerly contained some stained glass, the only remains of which, the arms of Lord Thomas Cromwell quartering the sable griffin segreant of the Meverells, are now placed in the neighbouring farm-house of Mr. Parramore. An upper wainscotted room in Throwley Hall still retains an appropriate memorial of its former lordly occupants in the armorial bearings of the House of Ardglass, elaborately carved in high relief in oak, now enriched by the tints of age, with the supporters, two fierce winged bulls. At a short distance behind the house stands a stately pile of ancient stabling, two lofty stories in height, topped with a high-pitched roof. The entrances are so tall, that we might conclude the lords and dames of other days had mounted their steeds before they issued to the chase or other amusements—among which we may presume that of falconry would be no infrequent pastime amid these wild hills.

Of the ancient owners, the Meverells, almost the only additional historical notice we can regain, is, that Arthur Meverell of Throwley was the last Prior of Sutbury. At the period of the Dissolution, A.D. 1538, he, together with eight monks, surrendered the Priory, with all its possessions, into the hands of Henry VIII.; the original deed still remaining in the Augmentation Office, with the signatures of the Prior and brotherhood, and the common seal of the Convent attached. In consideration of this surrender, Arthur, the Prior, had an annuity of fifty pounds.

Besides the remarkable natural phenomenon before alluded to, of the disappearance of the rivers Hamps and Manyfold in this vicinity, the vast caverns in the limestone rocks present to our notice objects of great interest. One of these, within a short distance of Throwley, has long been distinguished by the name of “Thor’s House.” Both rivers and caves are happily alluded to by the poet:—

By following the valley from Throwley about two miles, we reach the beautiful gardens of Ilam Hall, its ivy-covered Church, and the village itself. Passing over the chaste productions of modern art crowded into this graceful spot, which is equally marked as the opening, round the base of the mighty Bunster, of the most romantic portion of Dovedale, we can scarcely refrain from noticing, as we depart, the two fragments of ancient crosses, covered with sculpture forming rude devices, in the churchyard; the curiously-figured Norman font; and the plain but handsome altar-tomb in the Church, which is pierced at the sides with large quatrefoils, and bears the designation of “Bartram’s Tomb.” This latter attracted Dr. Plot’s attention, who referred it to St. Bertelline. He was the son of a king, and a hermit, who is related to have lived on an island where the present town of Stafford is situated, till he was disturbed, when he removed into some desert mountainous place, where he ended his life. Plot has concentrated—

upon the wild hills and dells which abound round Throwley, Ilam, and Dovedale. He enumerates, as corroborative testimony, this tomb, which he considers may have been renewed,—as undoubtedly it must have been if it have reference to the legend; a well, and an ash tree near it, on the western side of Bunster, towards the base;—all of them being then and still popularly appropriated to St. Bertram. St. Bertram’s ash has been cut down in the memory of many living in the village; whilst the water of St. Bertram’s Well, “clear as diamond-spark,” still rills out of the base of the mighty hill.