FAYRE WARWICK TOWN: ITS HISTORY AND ROMANCE

The town of Warwick is undoubtedly of very ancient origin, and from the earliest period of its existence has been considered the chief town of the shire. It is situated upon a rocky plateau on the north side of the river Avon, and blessed with a dry and fertile soil, with luxuriant meadows on one side and well–wooded and well–cultivated lawns on the other.

It seems not unlikely indeed that Gutherline or Kimberline, one of the British kings who lived in the time of Christ, was the founder of the first settlement at Warwick, and that Guiderius, the former’s son, enlarged the town and bestowed upon it considerable privileges. Originally, according to Rous, it was known as CÆr–guthleon, contracted into CÆr–leon, derived from CÆr, a fortress, and Guthline, the name of its founder.

It was upon the site of an ancient church of All Saints founded by St. Dubritius that the first castle was ultimately built; and about this time that King Vortigern gave his ill–judged invitation to the Saxons, who, arriving nominally to assist him against the Picts and Scots, turned their swords against the nation to whose assistance they had come.

St. Dubritius fled during these disorders to Wales for safety, and abandoned Warwick, his cathedral, and his see to the mercy of the invaders.

One ancient historian gives a vivid description of the rapine and destruction to which the centre of England in general, and Warwick in particular, was at that time subjected. And in his pages one sees the surging hosts of Picts and Scots and Britons and Saxons contending for the mastery of what was, even in those days, one of the most fertile and desirable districts of all England.

Raided, burned, with many of the inhabitants put to the sword, Warwick lay in ruins until the coming of King Warremund, the forbear of the kings of Mercia, who rebuilt the town. Under his rule and that of his descendants the town is stated to have flourished and grown in size and importance until the coming of the Danes.

After some years, in which it once more lay in ruins, Warwick rose phoenix–like from its ashes under the hand of Lady ÆthelflÆd, daughter of King Alfred the Great and wife of King Æthelred. This princess in the year 915 built the first castle and a fortification called the Dungeon (donjon or keep?), and this building served as a residence of the earls from that date for a century and a half, until the coming of William the Conqueror.

In the early years of William the Conqueror, Turchill, a Saxon, was Earl of Warwick, a man of great power, possessions, and influence; and he it was who was commanded by William the Conqueror to fortify the town more strongly by means of walls and ditches, and to add to and strengthen the existing castle.

A little later King William gave to his Norman favourite Henry de Newburgh the title of Earl of Warwick and a grant of the castle, town, and suburbs, to be held in capite per Servitum Comitatus. The new Earl conferred upon one of his priests one–tenth of his tolls, as an offering for the health of his soul. And Roger de Newburgh, his son, who succeeded him, £4:10s. rent for a similar purpose to his priest.

In 1261, in the reign of Henry III., John de Plessetis, who had married Margery, the last heiress of the De Newburghs, and thereby had succeeded to the earldom, granted to the burgesses a charter to enable them to hold each year a fair lasting three days, for which privilege they paid no toll,—a concession of far more value and importance than appears to the uninitiated.

The male branch of the De Newburghs failing, the family was succeeded by that of Mauduit, and one of these, William, who was a supporter of Henry III., was surprised and taken prisoner during the wars of the barons, and, in consequence of the capture, the walls of Warwick Castle were destroyed. He was also obliged to pay for the ransom of himself and his Countess the then large sum of 1900 marks (about £1250). He died childless, and was succeeded by his sister’s husband, William de Beauchamp, who in the reign of Edward I. possessed the borough in chief in 1279, and also held annually a fair, which lasted for sixteen days, commencing on the eighth day before the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, and a weekly market on Wednesdays.

A strange sidelight on these days is thrown by the record that there was a pillory and tumbril as well as assize of bread in connection with this fair. De Beauchamp also instituted a fifteen days’ fair, which commenced on the eve of the Feast of St. Peter and Paul.

In the year 1290 William de Beauchamp’s successor, Guy, finding it necessary to undertake considerable works for the walling in of the town and the paving of its streets, was granted a patent by Edward I. by which he was entitled to receive a toll during seven years on all vendible articles. But the works not having been completed within that period, he and his successor Thomas obtained an extension of the original or similar patents for ten years longer.

A very interesting circumstance in connection with the Thomas de Beauchamp we have just referred to, who had in 1351 a charter of free warren at Warwick, is that he “at the suit of his lady, and for the health of his own soul and his ancestors’ souls,” freed the traders resorting hither for the future from terrage, stallage, and all other sorts of toll. The petition having been made because the said traders had been, by the heavy exactions of previous holders of the title, driven away from the market at Warwick, to the great detriment of the town.

The Municipal history of Warwick is unfortunately very obscure, although there seems little or no doubt that the town was anciently incorporated and had the privilege of returning members to Parliament, but when it was first incorporated, and whether such incorporation and privilege continued without interruption is not ascertainable. A record, however, exists that there was a Mayor in 1279, in the reign of Edward I., and that twenty–one years later the Mayor of the day and bailiffs were ordered to allow Phillip de Rout and William de Serdely reasonable expenses for their services as members of Parliament for that year. Afterwards, however, in the reign of Edward III., the King’s mandate for the same purpose was, strange to tell, addressed to the bailiffs only.

The earliest known date of incorporation under royal charter with the designation of bailiff and burgesses occurs in the reign of Philip and Mary, but it is certain that letters patent were granted by Henry VIII. in 1546 to the borough under the Municipal title of “burgesses only.” This grant of letters patent was confirmed by one from James I. in 1613, and was again followed by another during the reign of William and Mary, bearing the date of March 5, 1694, which remains the governing charter of the borough down to the present time.

The history of the town of Warwick has, as we have remarked in a previous chapter, been largely that of the county itself, and during the ages when wars and revolts swayed parties in England the town played its part in the romantic and tragic happenings of those times.

The old stone cross, which stood at the intersection of the two ancient and principal streets as late as the reign of James I., has long ago disappeared, but in few towns in England are there more notable survivals of ancient times to be found than in Warwick. One of the most interesting buildings is the ancient Chapel of St. James, now known as the West Gate, and formerly as the Hongyn Gate, standing where the High Street terminates, on the crest of the hill, supported for its entire length by a lofty groined archway, itself placed on the bed–rock which rises several feet above the road surface. This structure anciently formed a defensive gateway to the old and fortified town.

In the reign of Henry I. this chapel was given by Roger, Earl of Warwick, to the Church of St. Mary. That it was of very small value is proved by the fact that in 1368, in the reign of Edward III., the latter was estimated at only £1.

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In 1383, in the reign of Richard II., the advowson was given to the Guild of St. George, and the fraternity established in Warwick the same year was founded by a license granted to Robert Dynelay, Hugh Cooke, and William Russell on the 20th of April, giving them privilege to extend their numbers by admission of other inhabitants of the borough, and to build a chantry for two priests to sing mass every day in the Chapel, which stood over the west gate, for the good estate of King Richard and his consort Ann; of his mother, also Michael de la Pole, and all the brothers and sisters of the said Guild during their lives in this world, and for the everlasting happiness of their souls, as also for the souls of King Edward III., Edward Prince of Wales, the father of Richard II., and their royal progenitors, and all the faithful departed.

Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, eventually had license to give the advowson of the Church of St. James at the same time that the Guild brethren purchased two houses, a loft, and the quarry in Warwick for their use.

At length, however, the Guild of St. George the Martyr and the Guild of the Holy Trinity and the Virgin, in the early part of Henry VI.’s reign, became one, and four priests belonging to the Guilds sang masses; two of them at “Our Lady’s Chapel” in St. Mary’s, and the others in the two chapels built over the gates. This Guild also paid in part the secular canons attached to St. Mary’s Church, gave a weekly dole of alms to eight poor people of the Guild, and also assisted in maintaining the great bridge over the Avon.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the establishment was granted by Edward VI., on July 23, 1551, to Sir Nicholas l’Estrange, Kt. and his heirs. And from him it passed into the possession of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who made it in 1571, in the reign of Elizabeth, a hospital for twelve men, called brethren, and a master, who must be a clergyman of the Church of England; the preference being given to the Vicar of St. Mary’s if he offered himself for the post. The appointment of these brethren is vested in the heirs of the founder, now represented by Lord D’Lisle and Dudley, of Penhurst Place, in the county of Kent, who is a descendant of Mary, the sister of Robert Dudley, who married Sir Henry Sidney, of the same place.

The brethren elected to this foundation must, according to the statutes, be either tenants or servants of the founder or his heirs, and resident in the county of Warwick, or soldiers of the Sovereign, more especially those who had been wounded on active service; the latter to be chosen from the parishes of Warwick, Kenilworth, and Stratford–on–Avon, or from those of Wooton–under–Edge and Erlingham, in the county of Gloucester.

Of recent years radical changes have been made in the charity, one of these being that provision is now made for the housing and maintenance in the hospital itself of twelve women, wives of the brethren. Nowadays, as none of the founder’s heirs have tenants resident in either of the two counties, the brethren are chosen under the second provision we have mentioned, and all of them have been soldiers of the Crown. Here now dwell in comfort and peace the master and the twelve brethren, the former having a salary of £400 and a residence; and the latter pensions amounting to £80 each, with separate apartments, consisting of bedroom, sitting–room, and pantry, with the use of a common kitchen and the services of a cook and housekeeper.

There are many interesting customs in connection with the hospital; one of which is that the brethren must daily attend service in the chapel, and are obliged when they appear in public to wear a blue gown, on the sleeve of which is worn a silver badge with the crest of the bear and ragged staff. With one exception these badges are the ancient ones originally provided; the exception being a modern reproduction in facsimile of the badge which was stolen many years ago.

The beautiful specimen of a half–timbered building, which stands raised upon a lime–shaded terrace above the road level, is approached through an arch gateway, above which is the inscription, “Hospitivm Collegiatvm Roberti Dvdlei Comitis Leycestriae,” with the date 1571, and the Dudley device, a double–tailed lion rampant in the left spandril, and the device of the Sidneys, a barbed dart, in the other.

On the front of the house is a fine old sun–dial, with the initials E. R., and there are also thirteen shields, with the armorial bearings of the various families connected with the founder, the most distinguished having been placed over the archway leading to the inner quadrangle. On the north side of the latter is the master’s residence, behind which is a pleasant old–fashioned garden, from the western side of which there is a fine view of the surrounding country and the distant Cotswold Hills.

The garden contains a famous mulberry tree, almost old enough to be historic, and in summer time the spot is gay with the bloom of old–fashioned flowers. There is a charming vista of foliage and lawn through a fine Norman circular–headed arch which, found during repairs to the chapel, was erected in its present position some years ago. On the eastern side of the garden is an open space, and the brethren’s apartments are arranged on the south and west sides of the quadrangle. On the right side of the latter is the famous old kitchen, in which the brethren pass a great deal of their time on chilly days, smoking and chatting, often fighting their battles o’er again, surrounded by many historic relics, including a handsome black oak cabinet once in Kenilworth Castle; an ancient Saxon chair; and another used by James I. at the supper he took with Sir Fulke Greville.

One of the most interesting relics is the portion of a curtain from Cumnor Hall, said to have been worked by ill–fated Amy Robsart. Amongst the more martial are halberds and pistols of ancient date, the King of Dahomey’s State execution sword, and some interesting copper tankards dating some two hundred years back.

The great banqueting hall, in which Sir Fulke Greville in 1617 entertained James I., is on the western side of the quadrangle, but it has fallen on evil times, and is now divided up into domestic offices.

The chapel in which the brethren worship is reached by a flight of steps from the outer terrace, which runs in front of the almshouses at an elevation above the street. The tower of the present interesting building was in all probability erected by Thomas de Beauchamp about the end of the fourteenth century, and on the embattled parapet are to be seen his arms.

In 1863 the stability of the building gave some cause for anxiety, and flying buttresses were added on the south side for the purpose of strengthening it. Prior to that date the chapel was unfortunately disfigured by several eighteenth–century additions, which were removed and a thorough and well–advised restoration undertaken.

Dividing the chapel into almost equal portions is a finely–carved oak screen, within which are the stalls of the brethren and officials. Near the altar is an interesting piece of needlework of floral design, said to have come from the hands of Amy Robsart.

Beneath the chapel is the gateway, similar to that on the eastern side of the town, built on the sandstone rock and with strong vaulting, which formed a part of the twelfth–century fortifications.

A little beyond Northgate Street, on a knoll, stands the Priory, formerly dedicated to St. Sepulchre, and founded by Henry de Newburgh, first Earl of Warwick, as a monastery for Canons Regular. At the time of the Dissolution of Monasteries this ancient foundation was granted to a trusted retainer of John Dudley, Earl of Northumberland, Thomas Hawkins, whose father sold fish at the town Market Cross. Unappreciative of either antiquity or the traditions of the building into whose possession he had come, Hawkins, as might be anticipated, pulled down the monastery and on the site of it erected the present building, which was finished about 1565.

In this fine old Elizabethan mansion, with its many windows and gables and air of ancient peace, is a lofty hall and a magnificent old oak staircase and oak–panelled dining–room. The south front is comparatively modern, as it was rebuilt about the middle of the eighteenth century; but the north front still preserves many of its original features.

One of the most interesting incidents connected with the house was the surprise visit paid by Queen Elizabeth on August 17, 1572, who, coming over from Kenilworth unexpectedly, found the Earl and Countess of Warwick at supper, and sat down to the meal with them. The owner of the house was confined to his bed; but the Queen, who, if tradition may be believed, was less austere than historians would have us infer, setting aside ceremony, visited “the good man of the house, who at that time was grievously vexed with the gout.”

The first owner of the Priory, by means of grants and judicious purchases, managed to accumulate a large amount of property, which, in less than four years from the date of his death—occurring in 1576—his son Edward had squandered, even to the selling of his home to Sergeant Puckering, then Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, whom he sought to cheat by means of a fraudulent conveyance. Hawkins was prosecuted in the Star Chamber, and eventually ended his days in the Fleet Prison.

The Priory remained in the possession of the Puckering family until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it became the property of a Mr. Henry Wise, a superintendent of the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court. Although this fine survival of domestic architecture of Elizabethan times was of necessity acquired by the Great Western Railway Company in the middle of the last century, in connection with the extension of their line to Birmingham, it fortunately escaped destruction, and was eventually sold by the Company to Mr. Thomas Lloyd, a banker of Birmingham.

At the foot of Smith Street, which runs down from the East Gate, stands the fine old house known as St. John’s Hospital, founded in the reign of Henry II. by William de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, as a hospital in aid of the poor, and for relief and reception of strangers.

The first occupants of this interesting building were Knights Templars, who were succeeded by the Knights of St. John. After the Dissolution of Monasteries it fell into the hands of one Anthony Stoughton, a descendant of whom—Nicholas Stoughton—erected the present building at the commencement of the seventeenth century. The property eventually came into the possession of the Warwick family, and still remains so. The interior of the house is well worth inspection, as it contains a fine Jacobean oak staircase, and a panelled, tapestry–hung room.

Of the many churches, stated to have been ten in number, in addition to the Priory, Nunnery, and other religious houses which existed in early times, little is known; but two—those of St. Mary and St. Nicholas—which still survive were, even in the reign of Edward III., found to afford sufficient accommodation for the inhabitants of the town. Indeed, an ancient decree dated 1367 enjoined upon all persons that they should attend the church of St. Mary. The sites of several other churches, it is true, are known, but nearly all visible traces of them have long ago disappeared. Of these aforetime ecclesiastical buildings the church of St. Michael, in the northern part of the town, is nowadays a blacksmith’s shop, whilst that of John the Baptist was formerly near the centre of the market–place, and St. Helen’s was replaced by the Priory of St. Sepulchre. The church of St. Peter, which was pulled down in the reign of Henry VI., stood in the middle of the town, and another dedicated to the same saint was built over the eastern gate, whilst St. Lawrence’s was situated on the western side.

Of the religious houses few traces remain, all of them having been dissolved, and many of them entirely pulled down at the date of the Reformation.

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St. Mary’s, the principal and beautiful church, stands upon the site of a much earlier building, which existed prior to the Conquest, and was in 1123 made collegiate by the transferring of the Collegiate Church of All Saints from within the Castle. It is probable that the present building was either rebuilt or very much enlarged by Roger de Newburgh in the reign of Henry I. And Thomas de Beauchamp, in the reign of Edward III., commenced to re–erect the choir; whilst his son, also Thomas, who succeeded him, completed the rebuilding of the whole church in 1394. This undertaking had been necessitated by the damage the building had received from fire during the reign of Stephen. The work was completed at the end of the fourteenth century; and the chapel of Our Lady, now generally known as the Beauchamp Chapel, was added during the middle part of the fifteenth century.

Just three hundred years after Thomas de Beauchamp had finished the rebuilding of the church it was once more almost entirely destroyed by a most disastrous fire, which broke out near the west gate of the town on the 5th of September, 1694, and eventually destroyed the greater part of Warwick. In terrible alarm many of the inhabitants removed their furniture and belongings to St. Mary’s for safety, and it is generally supposed that some articles amongst the number must have been partially burnt and smouldering, as the church took fire from the interior, and the tower, nave, and transepts were completely burnt out, and the shell so damaged as to necessitate the remains being pulled down.

Almost immediately a subscription was set on foot for relief of the distressed inhabitants and the rebuilding of the church, with the exception of the eastern portion, which fortunately had been saved. The work was entrusted to Sir William Wilson, of Sutton Coalfield; and seen from a distance the church and tower present an imposing and indeed pleasing appearance; but architectural students on nearer inspection find their sense of congruity disturbed by the medley of the Gothic and Classic styles which are embodied in the design.

The tower is 130 feet to the top of the battlements, and 44 feet additional height is gained by the crocketted pinnacles, which are eight in number. In it are hung ten bells, the first nine having been cast during the years 1700 to 1710, and the tenth bell in 1814. The chimes every four hours play a tune, which is changed at midnight of each day. On Sundays, the Easter Hymn; on Mondays, Home, Sweet Home; Tuesdays, Jenny Lind; Wednesdays, The Blue Bells of Scotland; Thursdays, There’s nae luck aboot the Hoose; Fridays, Life let us cherish; Saturdays, Warwickshire Lads and Lasses.

The present church, which consists of a chancel, nave with aisles, transepts, and a western tower, and the chapter–house on the north and the Beauchamp Chapel to the south of the chancel, presents a somewhat incongruous appearance owing to a reckless mixture of designs both inside and out. The interior, which has no special features of note, contains, however, a large number of eighteenth–century marble monuments of considerable interest, though unpretentious in character.

At the west end of the church is a bust of Walter Savage Landor the poet, who was born at Warwick on January 30, 1775, in the old–fashioned house just below East Gate, and died at Florence on September 17, 1864.

In the north transept, on the east side, near the door, is an interesting mural brass of the sixteenth century, with effigies of Thomas Oken and his wife Joan. The inscription, which is a quaint one, runs thus, “Of your charyte give thanks for the soules of Thomas Oken and Jone and his wyff, on whose soules Jesus hath mercy, Jesus hath mercy, Amen. Remember the charyte for the pore for ever. Ao dni: mccccclxxiii.”

This Thomas Oken, who was born of poor parents in the town, became very wealthy, and left estates of very considerable value for the endowment of local and educational charities.

On the north side of the entrance to the Beauchamp Chapel is a marble slab, on which are the incised brass effigies of the second Earl of Warwick, Thomas Beauchamp, and his Countess Margaret, who died in 1401 and 1406 respectively. The monument is an interesting one, as the effigies show the Earl clad in full armour, with his feet resting on a bear, whilst the Countess wears a low–bodied gown, over which is a long mantle–like garment fastened at the breast; on her head is a cap with her hair falling in long ringlets on to her shoulders; at her feet is a dog, wearing a collar of bells. This brass, which is valuable to students of costume and archÆologists alike, was originally fixed to the upper portion of a high tomb, which stood at the eastern end of the aisle, and was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1694.

The chancel or choir is generally supposed to have been erected by the second Thomas Beauchamp about 1392. The style of the east window, however, and the panel–work of the exterior of the east wall makes it probable that these portions were at all events altered from their original state by Richard Beauchamp, the builder of the adjoining chapel.

On the north side of the altar is an interesting and originally groined recess, faced with three arches, which in all probability was used as “The Holy Sepulchre” during Passion Week in the olden times.

At St. Mary’s, Warwick, prior to the Reformation, the host and crucifix were borne in procession on Good Friday through the church to the north side of the chancel, after which they were deposited in the sepulchre, the door was then shut, and on that and the following night was watched by persons specially chosen for the purpose: in imitation, of course, of the soldiers set to guard the body of Christ. Early on Easter morning the host and crucifix were removed with great ceremonial, the priest pronouncing the words, “Surrexit, non est hic.”

The reredos is modern, as are also the carved oak stalls. In the middle of the choir is a high tomb, with the recumbent effigies of the first Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and founder of the choir, who died in 1369, with his Countess Catherine, who was a daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. The tomb is a very elaborate one, and around it are thirty–six niches, each one containing a figure supposed to represent a connection or descendant of the house of Beauchamp; the panels beneath the niches containing small shields with coats–of–arms, now, alas! greatly defaced.

Although Queen Elizabeth is said to have buried this nobleman with great solemnity, apparently her generosity extended no further, for no monument or inscription marks the spot.

The former chapter–house now serves the purpose of a mausoleum, the inner side of it being rectangular and the outer semi–hexagonal. Around the sides are nine stone seats, placed under recessed canopies. In the centre is a large and heavy–looking tomb of the famous Fulke Greville, the first Lord Brooke, who died at the age of seventy–four on September 30, 1628. Round the edge of the upper slab is the following somewhat strange inscription, “Fulke Grevill, servant to Qvenne Elizabeth, conceller to King Iames, and frend to Sir Phillip Sydney. Trophaevm peccati (a trophy of sin).”

Fulke Greville’s death was an exceedingly tragic one, and occurred in the following manner. Having omitted to reward one of his old servants named Hayward, who had spent a long period in his service, and being expostulated with for the omission, he was stabbed in the back by Hayward in his bedroom at Brooke House, London, which stood near the present Brooke Street, on September 30, 1628. The murderer, apparently struck with remorse, left his master bleeding to death, and going into another room locked the door and stabbed himself in the stomach with a sword.

The crypt of St. Mary’s is interesting from the fact that three of the four pillars which divided it longitudinally are undoubtedly the remains of the ancient church of Roger de Newburgh, which was erected early in the twelfth century; the remaining pillar is in the Decorated style of the fourteenth century, and is probably part of the work of Thomas de Beauchamp.

A portion of the old town cucking stool, used in former times for the ducking in a horse pond of disorderly women and scolds, is now preserved in the crypt.

The architectural gem of St. Mary’s Church is undoubtedly the Chapel of Our Lady, generally known as the Beauchamp Chapel, which is one of the finest buildings of its kind in the kingdom, and was founded under the will of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, as a mortuary for himself, and was commenced in 1443, but although completed twenty–one years later was not consecrated until 1475.

An immense sum, amounting to £2481:4:7, was spent upon the chapel and the tomb of Richard Beauchamp. Estimates place the sum spent upon this beautiful memorial at thirty–five to forty thousand pounds in the money value of the present day. The building is one of the most magnificent and pleasing examples of the Decorated Gothic style; the exterior enrichments, consisting of delicate tracery, panels, and other decorative adornments, present a most interesting and rich appearance. Elegant buttresses with pinnacle terminations support the walls, and on the south are three fine six–light windows of beautiful design. The eastern gable contains a canopied niche, in which are figures of the Virgin Mary with the child Christ, and on either side of her representations of Simeon and Anna the Prophetess.

The chapel is entered by a doorway situated in the south transept of the church, the hollow moulding of which doorway represents foliage and the ragged staff, which is the cognisance of the Beauchamps, and above this is to be seen the Arms of the family on a shield, supported on either side by the bear and ragged staff.

The interior of the chapel is exceedingly rich; the windows are imposing ones, filled with good stained–glass, and beneath them are canopied niches. The ceiling is nearly flat, as is also that of the chancel of the church; it has groined ribs resembling net–work.

The stalls, situated on each side of the chapel, are of carved oak, the arms being in the form of bears, griffins, and lions with standards having carved finials. The altar–piece, which is in low relief, represents the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, and is by Collins of Warwick, who executed the work from a design by Lightoler in 1735. It is perhaps unfortunate that the altar–piece does not harmonise with the architectural scheme of the chapel, although the work is good; but the canopy above is of quite indifferent merit.

There are four monumental tombs of great antiquarian and artistic value: the centre one that of the founder, Richard Beauchamp, and the one next to it on the western side the tomb of Ambrose Dudley, known as the good Earl of Warwick. Against the northern wall is a fine monument to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the favourite of Elizabeth, and his Countess. The recumbent figures of the Earl and his wife are coloured, and placed on a tomb in front; whilst against the southern wall is the monument of “that noble impe, the young Lord Denbigh, their infant son and heir.” These monuments, which represent a period of some hundred and fifty years, are not only interesting from a historical point of view, but more especially to students as representing the changes which took place in the fashion of sepulchral monuments during that period. A record exists that during the Civil War in 1642 the Parliamentary forces, under the leadership of Colonel Purefoy, “did break into the chapel and beat down and deface these monuments of antiquity.” But it seems probable that their depredations were chiefly confined to the pulling down of the altar, as none of the tombs show signs of having been seriously damaged.

The great tomb of Richard Beauchamp, which represents such an excellent example of the art of the period, is constructed of grey Purbeck marble, with its sides divided in five compartments; each of the latter holding a large canopied niche, referred to in the contract as a “principall housing.” There is a similar niche above, and these divisions are flanked by sunk panel–work, the decorative part of which is beautifully carved. Underneath each of the principal niches is a carved quatrefoil within a square, bearing a shield charged with armorial bearings enamelled on copper. The principal niches, numbering fourteen, contain a like number of images, called “weepers and mourners”; these are made of latten, a variety of brass, and are gilded. Of these figures seven are males and seven females, and they represent persons of rank who were connected either by blood or marriage to Earl Richard.

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The small niches, which number eighteen, contain images or angels cast in the same metal, which was generally used for sepulchral brasses and metal ornaments of tombs, and these also are richly gilt. They bear scrolls in their hands on which are engraved the following words, “Sit Deo Laus et Gloria, Defunctis Misericordia.” The metal–work of this magnificent tomb was carried out by one William Austen, citizen and brass–founder of London, who agreed to “cast and make an image of a man armed, of fine latten, garnished with certain ornaments, to wit with sword and dagger, with a garter, with a helme and crest under his head, and at his feet a bear musled, and a griffon perfectly made of the finest latten, according to pattern and layde on the tombe.” He also agreed to supply and erect a “hearse.” This hearse was an open metal canopy of bars and hoops, shaped very much like the rest used in hospitals to prevent the weight of the bedclothes troubling the patient, over which a pall was thrown, and that on the Earl’s tomb is one of the very few now remaining intact.

This beautiful memorial is fortunately almost as perfect as the day on which it was erected, more than four hundred years ago. On the moulded verge of the tomb runs a long English inscription in raised black letter characters, with the bear and ragged staff intermixed, setting forth how the deceased had been buried, when and where he had died, and his titles and accomplishments, and relating how his “bodye with great deliberacon and ful worshipful conduit bi see and by lond was broght to Warrewik the iiii day of October the yer aboueseid, and was leide with ful solenne exequies in a feir cheste made of stone in this Chirche afore the west dore of this Chapel according to his last will and Testament, therin to reste til this Chapel by him devised i’ his lief were made.”

It is in St. Mary’s Church that the Warwick doles of bread are distributed on Sunday mornings, irrespective of creed, by the parish sexton. The doles, which were instituted by Joseph Blissett in 1713, and a Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Smith about the same date, consist of thirty–two loaves, eight threepenny and twenty–four twopenny,—the former for the married, the latter for bachelors, spinsters, widows, and widowers. The providing source is derived from rent charges on houses in High Street and Church Street.

The only other church of interest in Warwick is that of St. Nicholas, situated almost opposite to the entrance of the castle. The date of its foundation is not known with accuracy, but it would appear to have been prior to the Norman Conquest. The present building, which consists of a tower, spire, nave with aisles, and chancel, was erected in 1780 upon the site of an ancient church. According to one authority the chancel was in ancient times the choir to the House of Nuns, destroyed by Canute the Dane about 1016, but afterwards restored.

Very little can be said for the present erection, which is a very poor specimen of architecture, and is only of interest in that it contains some interesting seventeenth–century monuments of the Stoughton family, and an excellent specimen of a brass with effigy of Robert Willardsey, first vicar, who died in 1424.

Once a walled town of great strength, of these ramparts scarcely any traces now remain with the exception of those immediately adjoining the east and west gateways. Warwick of to–day, with its country town life and its race–course, seems to have little in common, other than the survival of interesting buildings and its magnificent castle, with those ancient times in which the cry of “A Warwick! a Warwick!” often raised in battle and feud, struck terror into the hearts of those who heard it.

A little more than a mile to the north of Warwick, on the Coventry Road, stands the famous Guy’s Cliff, now the seat of the Percy family, beautifully situated amongst a wealth of trees overlooking a fine stretch of the Avon. Anciently, and up to the reign of Henry IV., the place was known as Gibbeclyve, and the name it bears at the present day would appear to have been given it in memory of the redoubtable Guy of Warwick, whose somewhat mythical exploits caused him to take a high place as a popular hero during the Middle Ages.

Unfortunately for those to whom these legendary tales appeal strongly, there are no mention of Guy’s exploits in any authentic Chronicle or records of ancient times.

Tradition, however, states that in the last years of the fifth or the first years of the sixth century St. Dubritius, who subsequently became Bishop of Landaff and afterwards Archbishop of Wales, founded an oratory here, in which long afterwards a devout hermit dwelt. The spot remained thus, only distinguished by a hermit’s dwelling, until the reign of Henry V., who whilst on a visit to Warwick Castle came to see Guy’s Cliff, and decided there to found a chantry for two priests.

An interesting fact in connection with this chantry is that John Rous, the Warwickshire antiquarian and historian, was once a priest here. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Religious Orders the property was granted to one Sir Andrew Flammock, knight, whose daughter and heiress married John Colburne in 1579, who obtained a grant of the chapel from Queen Elizabeth. The property has since then passed through many hands, and from a family named Greatheed passed into that of Lord Percy in the spring of 1891, through the marriage of a descendant of the Greatheeds with the honourable Charles Bertie Percy.

The house is one of the most picturesquely situated in Warwickshire, and is built on a sandstone cliff overhanging the river, which widens into a large pool or lake in front. The mansion itself has very ordinary architectural features, but it contains many interesting pictures and curios.

One picture possesses a romantic interest from the fact that it was painted by Mr. Bertie Greatheed, and is of such a horrifying character that it is hidden from ordinary view by doors specially constructed in front of it. This painting, which is known as “The Cave of Despair,” represents the scene described by Spenser in his FÆrie Qeene, Book I. Canto ix. The weird ghastly figure of Despair nearly nude, with clasped hands, unkempt hair, and deeply sunk eyes, sits in the centre of the cave, staring out abstractedly at the spectator. A stabbed corpse, with up–turned eyes and an agonised expression of face, lies on the left; whilst on the right is a Red Cross knight, typical of resolution under awe–inspiring circumstances. Behind him is the terror–stricken face of another spectator. This picture, apart from its gruesome realism and subject, is of considerable artistic merit, and is certainly one to “haunt” those who have been fortunate or unfortunate enough to see it.

There are a number of other pictures by the same artist. One of the most interesting of these pictures is a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, which tradition says was painted from a sketch made on the artist’s thumb nail during a personal audience.

It was here at Guy’s Cliff, when a young girl of seventeen, in the autumn of 1772 and early part of 1773, that Sarah Kemble, afterwards to become famous as Mrs. Siddons, stayed as a companion.