SOMERLEYTON, the Sumerledetun of Domesday survey, and occasionally in later times written Somerley, lies about six miles from Lowestoft, in the county of Suffolk, its nearest point on the coast being some four miles distant. At the time of the Conquest, Wihtred, a free man and a priest, held forty acres for a manor, and Ulf, a free man under the protection of Earl Gurth, held two carucates of land for a manor. The whole place was seized by the Conqueror, and given to Roger Bigod as steward. It was soon after held as one manor by Sir Peter Fitz-Osbert, whose son, Sir Roger Fitz-Osbert, was lord of the place, temp. Henry III., and was, 22nd Edward I. summoned to Parliament as Baron Osborne: he died in 1305-6. His sister, Isabel Fitz-Osbert, wife of Sir Walter Jernegan, or Jerningham, of Horham Jernegan, in Suffolk, and widow of Sir Henry de Walpole, became heiress to the Somerleyton estates on the death of her brother, and thus they passed into the Jernegan family.

The Jernegans, even at that time, boasted an ancient pedigree. The earliest of whom there is any record was living in 1182, and left by his wife Sibilla a son, Hubert, who, in 1203, married Margery, daughter and heiress of De Harling, of East Harling, and by her had issue, besides others, a son, Sir Hugh Jernegan, who married Ellen, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Englethorpe. Their son it was who married Isabel Fitz-Osbert, and thus acquired the manor of Somerleyton in her right. Their son, Sir Peter Jernegan, Knt., married three wives: first, Alice, daughter of Sir Hugh Germayne; secondly, Matilda, daughter of Sir Roger Herling; and thirdly, Ellen, daughter of Sir Roger de Huntingfield. By his first wife he had issue Sir John Jernegan, Knt., of Somerleyton, whose wife was Agatha, daughter of Sir Robert Shelton, of Shelton, Knt. Their son, Sir John Jernegan, who died in 1375, married Joan, daughter and co-heiress of Sir William de Kelveden and widow of Sir John Lowdham, by whom he had issue his son and successor, Sir John Jernegan, who, by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Vise de Lou, Knt., of Shotley, had, besides other issue, a son, Sir Thomas Jernegan, Knt., who succeeded him, and who married Joan Appleyard, of Dunston, by whom he left a son, John Jernegan, who succeeded him. This gentleman married twice: by his first wife, Jane, daughter of Sir John Darell, of Calehill, he had a son and heir, John Jernegan, who married Isabel, daughter and heiress of Sir Gervase Clifton, Knt. The issue of this marriage was a son, Sir Edward Jernegan, who was knighted, and succeeded his father in the estates.

This Sir Edward Jernegan was married twice: first, to Margaret, daughter of Sir Edmund Bedingfield, Knt.; and, secondly, to Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Richard Scroope, son of Lord Scroope. By this second marriage he had, among other issue, a son, Sir Henry Jerningham, of Wingfield and Huntingfield Hall, in Suffolk, and of Coney, in Norfolk, Vice-Chamberlain and Master of the Horse to Queen Mary, from whom are descended the present Jerninghams of Staffordshire and other counties. By his first wife Sir Edward had issue six sons—Sir John, Sir Robert, Thomas, Olyf, Nicholas, and Edward—and two daughters: Ann, who became the wife of five husbands, and Margaret, who was twice married. He died in 1515, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir John Jernegan, of Somerleyton, who married Bridget, daughter of Sir Robert Drury, Knt., of Halsted, by whom, with other issue, he had a son, George Jernegan, who succeeded him, and who, having espoused Elye, daughter of Sir John Spelman, of Narborough, Knt., was succeeded by his son, John Jernegan. This gentleman married Catherine, daughter of George Brooke, Lord Cobham, and had by her issue four daughters, his co-heiresses—viz. Elizabeth; Katherine, married to Wymond Carew; Frances, married, first, to Thomas Bedingfield, and, secondly, to her relative Henry Jerningham, of Coney Park; and Margaret, married to —— Ford, of Butley. Frances, the third daughter, inherited Somerleyton, and conveyed it to her second husband, Henry Jerningham, who sold it to John Wentworth, Esq.

It will thus have been seen that the Jernegans (whose arms were—argent, three buckles, gules) held Somerleyton for no fewer than thirteen generations. In addition to this, they became possessed of the greater part of the King’s manor of the Island of Lothingland—a district occupying the north-east corner of the county of Suffolk, and containing the sixteen parishes of Somerleyton, Lowestoft, Corton, Gunton, Oulton, Ashby, Lound, Fritton, Flixton, Hopton, Blundeston, Gorleston, Belton, Burgh, Bradwell, and Herringfleet. In 1619 Henry Jerningham died at Cossey, nine years after having sold Somerleyton to John Wentworth, whose son was Sir John Wentworth, one of the chiefs of the Cavalier party of the district during the civil wars; and Cromwell and his troopers paid several visits to the old hall, making free with its forage, and “carrying away its musquets.” The village of Somerleyton appears, like its master, to have been staunchly loyal, and was harassed in consequence by the quartering of soldiers and the exaction of forced loans by the partisans of the Commonwealth. Ireton, in 1648, summoned the bailiffs of Yarmouth to meet him in conference at Somerleyton Hall, and there delivered to them the Lord General’s peremptory command, either to “ingarrison their town, or to demolish their walls and fortifications.” A rousing bonfire and bountiful distribution of bread and beer celebrated the restoration of King Charles II.

Sir John Wentworth records that “on the 14th day of March, 1642, Collonell Cromwell’s troope, and Captain Fountayne with his troope, and divers others, to the number of 140, came to Somerley Hall;” the day after they “tooke away muskets, bandeliers, rests, head-pieces, and one fowling-piece,” and other things of which no note was made. The Protector was, therefore, certainly an inmate of Somerleyton, and probably more than once. Matters changed, however: in 1660 an order was issued to the constables of Somerleyton and Ashby “to re-provide prayer books for their churches;” also to warn “all alehouse-keepers and butchers to enter recognisance for the observation of Lent and fish dayes.” The stout old knight did not live to see the King “enjoy his own again;” but his loyal widow did, and subscribed ten shillings “towards the building of a bone fire” upon St. George’s Day, 1661.

Sir John Wentworth married Anne Soame, but died without issue in 1651. From the Wentworths, Somerleyton passed to John Garneys, the son of Elizabeth Wentworth, sister of Sir Thomas Wentworth, who had become the wife of Charles Garneys, a member of the fine old Suffolk family who bore the alliterative motto of “God’s Grace Guides Garneys.” The Garneys (whose arms were—argent, a chevron engrailed, azure, between three escallop shells, sable) were originally seated at Boyland Hall, Morningthorpe, Norfolk, and at Heveringham and Kenton, in Suffolk. In 1672 the then representative of the family, Thomas Garneys, sold the estate to Admiral Sir Thomas Allin, Bart., a Suffolk worthy whose name figures prominently in history. Thomas Garneys then removed from Somerleyton to Boyland Hall, where he had a son, Wentworth Garneys, who married Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Abdy. Sir Thomas Allin was born in 1613, and was captain of one of the ships in the service of the Commonwealth which went over to the Prince of Wales. In 1663 he was constituted commander-in-chief in the Downs, and later on of the Mediterranean. In 1665 he struck the first blow of war with the Dutch by attacking their Smyrna fleet of forty ships with eight sail of the line, when, after making prizes of four ships, he drove the remaining thirty-six into Cadiz harbour. In the same year, in the great sea-fight off Lowestoft, when the English fleet, under the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, and others, engaged the Dutch fleet under Van Tromp, Admiral Allin held a command.

In the following year Allin was at the head of the White Squadron when the fleet fell upon the Dutch van, routing it and killing the three Dutch admirals who commanded that division. In the same year Allin attacked the French fleet, boarding and capturing the Ruby of fifty-four guns. Three years later “he sailed with a strong squadron to chastise the Algerines,” which he accomplished, and returned home worn out in the heavy services of his country. In consideration of these many services Admiral Allin was created a baronet in 1673, and retired to Somerleyton, which, as has been stated, he had recently purchased. A portrait of the brave old admiral, who was called “the Scourge of Yarmouth,” is now at Somerleyton. That town took the side of the Parliament in the civil war, while Lowestoft was profoundly loyal. Sir Thomas married, first, Alice, daughter of Captain Whiting, of Lowestoft, by whom he had issue one son—Thomas Allin, his successor—and two daughters: Anne, who died unmarried, and Alice, married to Edmund Anguish, Esq., of Moulton, in the county of Norfolk, whose son inherited the estates and title; and, secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Anguish, Esq., and sister of his son-in-law, by whom he had no issue. Sir Thomas died in 1686 or 1688, and was buried at Somerleyton. He was succeeded by his son, Sir Thomas Allin, who married Mary, daughter of John Caldwall, of London; but, dying without issue in 1696, the baronetcy became extinct, and the estates devolved upon his nephew, Richard Anguish, Esq., son of Alice Allin and her husband, Edmund Anguish, Esq. The arms of Allin were—gules, three swords barwise, points to the sinister side, argent, hilts and pomels, or, between four mullets of the third. Crest—a sword in pale, point upwards.

This Alice Allin had issue by her husband, Edmund Anguish, three sons—Richard, Edmund, and Allin—the eldest of whom, Richard, inherited Somerleyton, and having, in accordance with the will of his uncle, assumed the arms and surname of Allin, was created a baronet in 1699: the descendants of Edmund, the second son, afterwards inherited the estates. Sir Richard Allin (formerly Anguish) married Frances, only daughter of Sir Henry Ashurst, Bart., of Waterstock, by whom he had issue four sons—Thomas Allin, Henry Allin, Richard Allin, and the Rev. Ashurst Allin—and one daughter, Diana, married to Thomas Henry Ashurst, Esq., of Waterstock. Sir Richard died in 1725, and was succeeded in his title and estates by his eldest son, Sir Thomas Allin, Bart., who, dying unmarried in 1764, was succeeded by his brother, the Rev. Sir Ashurst Allin, Bart., Rector of Blundeston-cum-Flixton, who married Thomasin Norris, and, dying in 1770, was succeeded by his only son, Sir Thomas Allin, Bart. This gentleman died unmarried in 1794, when the baronetcy again became extinct, the Somerleyton estates passing to his distant kinsman, Thomas Anguish, Esq., as will now be shown.

Edmund Anguish, second son of Alice Allin, and her husband, Edmund Anguish, married Mary Betts, by whom he had issue two sons—the Rev. Thomas and Edmund—and two daughters, Mary and Dorothy. The Rev. Thomas Anguish, who was of Halesworth, married Mary Eling, of Beccles, and, dying in 1763, was succeeded by his son, Thomas Anguish, Accountant-General to the Court of Chancery; who, marrying Sarah Henley, of Docking, had issue by her three sons—Thomas, the Rev. George, and Charles—and three daughters, Catherine, Anne, and Charlotte. The eldest of the sons, Thomas Anguish, it was who inherited the estates of Somerleyton on the death of his kinsman, Sir Thomas Allin, Bart., when the title became extinct. This Thomas Anguish died unmarried in 1810, and was succeeded by his brother, the Rev. George Anguish, from whom, in 1843 (when the line became extinct), the estates passed to the son of his sister, Catherine Anguish, who, in 1788, had married Francis Godolphin-Osborne, fifth Duke of Leeds, she being his second wife. By this union she had issue Lord Sidney Godolphin-Osborne and Lady Anne Sarah Godolphin, married to John Whyte-Melville, Esq. Their son, Captain Whyte-Melville, is the distinguished author of many works of fiction. The arms of Anguish were—gules, a cinquefoil, pierced, or; the crest—a snake coiled, encircled with grass; and the motto—“Latet anguis in herbÂ.”

The Somerleyton estate, having come by descent to Lord Sidney Godolphin-Osborne, was sold by him, in 1844, to Samuel Morton Peto, Esq., the extensive “contractor,” who had become the purchaser of the Norwich and Lowestoft ship canal, and to whose enterprise Lowestoft owes its railway, its pier, its harbour, &c. By Samuel Morton Peto the old mansion was entirely rearranged, extended, and altered; and by him also was the church, in a measure, rebuilt, and the village entirely remodelled, at a large outlay.

We should neglect an essential part of our duty if we omitted to do tender homage to that most enterprising and liberal gentleman. He “created” Somerleyton, so to speak, made it the grand and beautiful edifice it now is, formed its grounds, constructed and ornamented its delicious winter garden, hung the rooms with pictures, and filled the library with useful and pleasant books. Unhappily, circumstances prevented his enjoying them. Fortune, ever capricious, consigned it to other hands; the rich contractor had to sustain a reverse, and the “earthly paradise” passed from his hands into those of another. Happily, however, that other was the well-known late Sir Francis Crossley, who became the owner of the property, by purchase, in 1862.

Sir Francis Crossley had no pedigree to trace; his father was a self-made man, and he a self-made millionaire. His father was a journeyman carpet-weaver; his mother, herself a farmer’s daughter, was a farm servant. The mother lived to a ripe old age; the father to start the now famous firm of Crossley and Sons, and see it in a fair way to success. The humble origin of Sir Francis Crossley was a matter which he loved unostentatiously to trace. “Many years after the marriage,” he related on one occasion, “my father and mother took Dean Clough Mills. As my mother went with her usual energy to that place, down the yard at four o’clock in the morning, she made a vow—‘If the Lord does bless us at this place, the poor shall taste of it.’ It is to this vow, given with so much faithfulness, and kept with so much fidelity, that I attribute the great success my father had in business.” Sir Francis Crossley’s benefactions were large. To the town of Halifax, in 1857, he gave the People’s Park, at a cost of about £40,000. About 1861 there was commenced the erection of the Crossley Orphan Home and School on Skircoat Moor, which was built and endowed by Messrs. John, Francis, and Joseph Crossley, at a cost of £65,000. The building has accommodation for four hundred children. It was provided by the Messrs. Crossley with an endowment of £3,000 a year, but this sum has been increased from other sources. In 1871 he gave £10,000 to the Corporation of Halifax as a loan fund for the benefit of deserving inhabitants. Out of this fund men may borrow to the extent of £300, and women to the extent of £100, at 2½ per cent., on certain conditions, one being that £10 of the principal shall be paid back annually. Then he gave £10,000 to the Congregational Pastors’ Retiring Fund; £10,000 to a fund for the relief of widows of Congregational pastors; and £20,000 to the London Missionary Society—making a total within a short time of £60,000. He was a member of the Independent body, but he was a liberal contributor to every good cause. Sir Francis was born in 1817, and from 1852 to 1859 sat as M.P. for Halifax; from 1859 to 1865 for the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1865 to 1868 for the North-west Riding; and from the latter year until 1872 for the north division of the West Riding of the same county; having thus sat in Parliament for an unbroken period of twenty years. He married, in 1845, Martha Eliza, daughter of the late Henry Brinton, Esq., of Kidderminster, by whom he left issue an only surviving child, the present Sir Savile Brinton Crossley. Sir Francis was created a baronet in 1863.

The present baronet, and owner of the immense estates and wealth of Sir Francis, is his son, Sir Savile Brinton Crossley, who was born in 1857, and succeeded to the title in 1872.

The arms of Crossley are—gules, a chevron indented, ermine, between two cross-crosslets in chief, and a saltire couped in base, or. Crest—a demi-hind erased, proper, charged with two bars, or, and holding between the feet a cross-crosslet, or. Motto—“Omne bonum ab alto.” The family seats are Somerleyton, near Lowestoft, in Suffolk, and Belle Vue, Halifax, Yorkshire.

The old hall of Somerleyton was one of the finest of the old brick mansions remaining, and possessed many interesting features. Fuller, the quaint old writer whose words are so often quoted, ranked it among the best of the many fine houses of the county of Suffolk, and says that it well deserved the name of Somerleyton, for here summer is to be seen in the depth of winter—the grounds being planted with evergreens, and the pleasant walks beset on both sides with fir-trees, green all the year round, besides other curiosities.

The Park, about two hundred acres in extent, is rich in beauty, and includes a deer park. Two miles from the house, in the direction of Yarmouth, there is a drive through ornamental grounds, and a “decoy” on a splendid sheet of water three miles long, and a quarter of a mile in breadth, called Fritton Lake. It abounds with a variety of fish, and is the resort of widgeons, ducks, teal, grebes, and other wild fowl during the season, which begins in October and ends in April. Vast quantities are taken yearly. The banks of this fine sheet of water are fringed with wood, and two or three gentlemen’s houses and pleasure-grounds add interest to the scenery. The lake separates the parishes of Fritton, Herringfleet, Belton, Lound, and Ashby; and in the Herringfleet woods, belonging to Major Leathes, there is a heronry. The owner of Somerleyton, to whom belongs a large portion of the lake, has a beautiful drive on one side of it, extending for nearly two miles, winding through plantations comprising choice specimens of pines, &c., with occasional peeps of the lake on one side, and heath and woods on the other. The lake—such is its natural and yet cultivated beauty—might be a bit of the lovely shire of Devon planted among the bare plains of Suffolk. It is zig-zag in form; tiny peninsulas jut into it, clothed with graceful firs and thick underwood, among which tall ferns luxuriate; the steeps have gradual ascents from the banks; closely planted trees of many varieties completely cover them; and it is only now and then that glimpses are caught of the water.

The lake is close and compact, and on no side does there seem any opening, only footpaths lead to it from the adjacent roads. Its solitary character—out of the way of passing intruders—and its thickness of composition, render it a favourite shelter of wild fowl. They do not, however, enjoy solitude in security. Man is always astir in search of prey: three “decoys” are active at all seasons to entrap the unsuspicious and unwary. One of them was in operation during our visit. Domestic ducks were sailing in and out of a narrow passage, quacking and playing and feeding, to show their wild cousins outside that no danger was near. Two or three bolder than the rest summoned courage to enter, and very soon were in the net-trap that furnished the bag of the gamekeeper.

This charming scene of mingled wood and water adds materially to the attractions of the locality; and here Art has been brought to the aid of Nature.

Passing in at the North Lodge, visitors are generally conducted through the kitchen and fruit gardens, the vineries, hothouses, and conservatories, to a sloping lawn facing the Winter Garden and north front of the house, from which point a charming scene presents itself. “Before us,” says a recent writer, “in a setting of old forest trees, cedars, aged thorns, clumps of azaleas, and rhododendrons, rises, as if evoked by a magician’s wand, a range of fantastic palaces of glass, their many sheeny domes and pinnacles sparkling like diamond facets in the noonday sun, and their contours and traceried outlines of graceful arabesques backed and thrown into relief by the deep red brick-work of the towers, gables, and campaniles of the hall.”

On the left is an aviary of gold and silver pheasants, screening a part of the offices. The area covered by the Winter Garden is one hundred feet square. Within the decorations are Renaissance, of a light and elegant character. Four main alleys converge under the great mosque dome, beneath which is a fountain supported on a rockery of ferns by four dolphins, and surmounted by a marble statue of the “Nymph of the Lily.”

From the central alley numerous aisles diverge to an outer one, circumscribing the building. The roof is supported by light iron columns covered with fuchsias and beautiful creepers, with wire baskets of flowers suspended overhead. Parterres of rare exotics, and large majolica vases filled with flowers, occupy the grand space. At the corners and in other parts are life-sized statues: mirrors and other appliances add to the beauty of the whole. The south side opens to the Billiard, Morning, and Withdrawing Rooms. Aviaries of singing-birds are placed at intervals throughout the garden, and in the corridor leading to the Palm-house are a fern-grotto and fountain. The whole, it should be specially noted, may be lit with gas.

From the Winter Garden the visitor is shown the Italian Garden, opposite the west front. This front of the house opens upon a noble terrace, three hundred feet in length, enriched with statuary, vases, &c., from which three flights of steps lead down to the Dutch Garden, laid out in geometrical form by Nesfield, in the same general manner as that by him at Castle Howard, which we have heretofore described. In the centre of this parterre is a noble sundial, and from this point, looking to the south, a view is obtained of the grand avenue of fine old lime-trees, four hundred and fifty yards in length, at the termination of which the Church of Somerleyton is seen. Near to this avenue, in which are some fine sculptured figures and groups and other objects, is a double avenue of elm-trees. In this garden will be especially noticed two admirably sculptured figures of “Night” and “Morning,” by the late John Thomas, an artist of eminence and great ability, whose advice is understood to have greatly guided Sir Morton Peto in the adornment of the beautiful house; he may, indeed, be described as “the architect.” There is also (but on the other side of the Winter Garden) a drinking-fountain, created by a statue, the work of Joseph Durham, A.R.A., of a milkmaid, her pail at her feet, in an attitude that implies outlook for the kine.

The West Front, one hundred and fifty feet in length, is composed of a central tower and two wings, with large bay windows. The entrance is by a porch in the central tower.

The Corridor, lined with wainscot, leads to a finely panelled Hall, from which a staircase ascends to the upper suites of apartments. The Hall is hung with arms and curious and valuable armour, one suit of which, of remarkably fine design and the most exquisite workmanship, is inlaid with gold, and bears a German motto, and the date 1652. Over the massive chimney-piece the wall is decorated by Maclise’s large oil-painting of “Chivalry.” It contains also other valuable works of Art; among them a fine picture of deer by Sir Edwin Landseer, in his best manner and his best time. In the stained-glass windows are the arms of some of the successive owners of Somerleyton—Allin, Anguish, Godolphin-Osborne, Peto, Crossley, &c. On the landing is a portrait-picture of George and Robert Stephenson, and in the passage from the Staircase to the Boudoir are “Edward the Confessor leaving his Crown to Harold,” and “Harold’s Oath to William, Duke of Normandy,” pictures of great merit by John Cross. There is also in the Hall a grand colossal statue of Æneas. In the outer Hall—placed on a very graceful pedestal—is a marble statue of a boy who has been gathering shells by the seashore; it is a portrait-statue of the present baronet, and is one of the charming works of Joseph Durham, A.R.A.

The Dining-hall, which is two stories in height, has a rich carved polychrome ceiling in compartments, and cornices of oak, with gilt reliefs, and clusters of fruit and wreaths of flowers. It has a huge pyramidal chimney-piece, supported by two full-length caryatides, “Summer” and “Winter,” by John Thomas. The ceiling is carried on brackets supported by heads of the roebuck, wild boar, &c. In the stained-glass windows are medallion-portraits of Newton, Watt, Chaucer, Shakspere, Wren, and Reynolds, surmounted by allegorical figures of the liberal sciences. On either side the fire-place are chefs-d’oeuvre of Stanfield fitted into panels, and above these are frescoes by Maclise and Horsley. The furniture is massive and appropriate, and a fine minstrel’s gallery adds much to the beauty of the room. In this gallery is a fine mechanical orchestral organ. The two paintings by Stanfield are, we believe, the largest in size of his productions, and undoubtedly his best works. They are so well known as to need no description here: one is the Storming of St. Sebastian, the other the dismantled Victory towed into Gibraltar after the battle of Trafalgar. These are monuments to the memory of one of the greatest painters of any age. In this most beautiful room also hang a “St. Simeon,” by Guido, and a large and very fine example of G. Lance: it is called “The Seneschal,” and is certainly the best work of this artist.

The Breakfast-room, a charming apartment filled with choice objects, commands a view down one of the avenues; in it are the “Italian Peasants,” by Armitage, landscapes by Constable, a fruit-piece by Hunt, &c.

The Library has a beautiful ceiling, and is fitted with carved book-cases, containing editions of all modern authors. In the extensive collection few works of merit and interest are omitted. Over the chimney-piece, with its motto, “Learn to live, live to learn,” is Rembrandt’s grand picture of “Ferdinand and Isabella;” and there are also portraits of Milton and Shakspere, the latter a “life” portrait from Stowe.

The old Drawing-room is wainscoted throughout, and the cornices, door-heads, and mirror-frame are exquisitely and elaborately carved with game, and groups and festoons of fruit and flowers, attributed to Gibbons. In the upper lights of tho windows, of modern insertion, landscapes are introduced.

The Drawing-room, Billiard-room, and other apartments are all of equal elegance, and all filled with costly furniture and choice works of Art, among which are paintings by Beverley, Lance, Solomon, Mole, and others.

In the upper rooms of the house—not, of course, shown to visitors—is preserved the ancient tapestry which adorned the walls of the old mansion; and here, too, are many gems of Art, including examples of Wright of Derby, Wilson, Bright, and others; with Manuel’s “Voyage Subjects,” twenty-two in number. The subjects of the tapestry are as follows:—In the Tapestry-room, the “Story of Lucretia;” in the Dressing-room, portions of a very large tapestry, “The Passage of the Red Sea,” “Moses striking the Rock,” &c. The “Story of Lucretia” is in five panels, very beautifully wrought, obviously from the designs of an accomplished artist. There are also pictures of great worth in some of these rooms; notably a portrait by Holbein of his mother, a series of charming drawings by Henry Bright, and several fine proof engravings of great pictures. Many of the pieces of furniture were purchased at Stowe, and are of great rarity and worth—brilliant examples of Art of a past but honoured age.

The Business-room is a finely groined apartment, hung with rich old tapestry, and contains, among other works of Art, three pictures by Herring, one attributed to Rubens, and some good examples of the old Dutch masters.

The Stables (flanked by a clock-tower of much elegance) lie to the right of the main entrance; they are models of architectural beauty, and are, of course, fitted up with all the modern appliances of comfort and convenience.

In the Church of Somerleyton are preserved the old rood-screen, containing sixteen painted panels of saints, and some of the monuments from the older edifice. Among these are memorials to Admiral Sir Thomas Allin, to Sir John Wentworth and his lady, and to Sir Thomas Jernegan—an altar-tomb, on which, according to Weever and Camden, there was formerly the inscription—

“Jesu Christ, both God and Man,
Save thy servant Jernegan.”

On the front of the tomb are three, and at each end one, lozenge-formed panels, in each of which is a quatrefoil with trefoiled cusps. In the centre of each is a shield of arms. On the top of the tomb are places where brasses have at one time been fixed. Among the arms are Appleyard impaled with Jernegan. This tomb has been much impaired by time. It is now, however, carefully preserved.

Another slab bears the inscription, “Margaret Jernegan, the wyef of Edward Jernegan, Esquyer, daughter of Sir Edmund Bedingfelde, Knt., which Margaret dyed the xxiiij of Marche, anno MDIII.”

The monument to Sir John Wentworth and his lady bears figures of the knight in armour, with the peaked beard of the times, and the lady habited in a plain dress; an escutcheon has the arms of Wentworth, azure, a saltire, ermine, between four eagles displayed, or; impaling Soame, gules, a chevron between three mullets, or, quartered with, second, azure, two bars gemelles and a canton, or, charged with a tun, and, third, gules, six annulets, or.

The memorial to Sir Thomas Allin is a tablet bearing the following inscription:—“Near this place lies interred Sir Thomas Allin, Bart., whose unshaken fidelity to his sovereign, Charles ye 2nd, was rewarded with many marks of his royal favour, having had the honour of serving him as Admiral in his fleets, in the British and Mediterranean Seas; Controller of the Navy, Captain of Sandgate Castle, and Master of the Trinity House. He died in 1686 in ye 73 year of his age.”

The Church is seen from many parts of the grounds of Somerleyton Hall—always a pleasant object in the landscape—through a grand avenue of elms: a wood-walk footpath leads to it from the house. A fine piece of the park forms a portion of the glebe. The Church is dedicated to St. Mary. A singular and interesting octangular font (in some parts recut), with an inscription, now illegible, is one of its few remains of antiquity.

There is also a small modern Chapel at a little distance from the house, where service is held on Sundays. It was originally erected as a Baptist chapel by Sir Morton Peto. Close to it is a Maze of dwarf yews, kept with exceeding nicety: in the centre is a graceful temple, from the seats of which views are obtained of the gardens and conservatories.

The Conservatories are of great extent, divided into “houses” for all the rarer plants, with vineries, pine-pits, and all the other accessories of abundance at every season of the year.

The principal entrance to the mansion is through iron gates, the stone piers, supporting deer couchant, sculptured by John Thomas. This view we have engraved on page 207: it is at once graceful and commanding.

Somerleyton is a magnificent house, but it was erected with a view to comfort as well as elegance; all the rooms, both above and below, are so constructed as to suggest the idea of home; the “appliances and means” of wealth have been judiciously exerted to promote the rational enjoyment of life; ease has not been sacrificed to state; and grandeur has been less studied than content. The house is splendid, and yet homely; there is none of the burden of magnificence either in the mansion or the grounds, while ostentation seems as far removed from the lofty and munificently furnished apartments as from those which ornament a simple cottage dwelling.

Its perfect architectural details, its noble conservatories, its garden, its avenues—one of elm, another of lime trees, stretching from the house across the park—its numerous vases and statues, happily placed—and especially its Winter Garden—all perfect when viewed separately, and all joined in admirable harmony—render Somerleyton remarkable among the most beautiful modern mansions of the kingdom, and do honour to the sculptor-architect under whose superintendence it was planned and executed. Somerleyton, therefore, may be described as one of the gems of the county of Suffolk—a county rich in baronial mansions, abundant of historic events, and full of traditions of the earliest, as well as of mediÆval, ages in England.

It would be a long list that which gave even the names of the baronial halls in this grand historic county, and it would far exceed our space to give details of its ancient monuments—Roman, Saxon, Danish, and Norman—to say nothing of those that have descended to us from the still earlier Britons, many relics of whom are yet to be found in the neighbourhood. Suffolk is, indeed, if less graced by natural beauties than some other of our English shires, rich among the richest of them in antiquities and in traditions, while it has a high and prominent place in British history.

The scenery that neighbours Somerleyton is purely English; the lanes are pleasant and picturesque in spring and summer; the land is productive; the broad river Waveney fertilises miles upon miles of green or arable banks between which it runs; the trees have prodigious growth; and, above all, the sea is near at hand; the German Ocean rolls its waves into the harbours of these eastern shores, bearing the wealth that thousands of hardy fishermen gather in during every month of the year.

From any of the heights, which, though not numerous, occur occasionally, and, in a degree, from any of the roads that skirt the shore, may be seen a “multitudinous shipping,” so to say, from the huge three-master and the grand steamship to the comparatively small fishing-smacks that dot the sea-scape, and the heavily weighted coal vessels that are bearing sources of wealth to all parts of the world. It is to the fishing-smacks the locality is mainly indebted for its prosperity; but Lowestoft now holds rank among the fashionable and most frequented sea watering-places of the kingdom.