THE STORY OF SOME ANCIENT MANOR–HOUSES—BADDESLEY CLINTON—PACKINGTON OLD HALL—MAXSTOKE CASTLE—ASTLEY CASTLE

In the north–western portion of the county lies a group of historic houses and churches which present many unique features. One of the most interesting of these, distant some seven miles from Warwick and situated amidst lovely scenery, is Baddesley Clinton, a typical old moated manor–house, such as a few years ago was associated in Christmastide publications with stories of ghosts and midnight villainy. This exquisite survival of ancient domestic architecture is a low–built house with grey stone walls, timbered gables, and battlemented parapets. It forms an unusually fine specimen of the old fortified manorial dwellings dating from the fifteenth century, and nowadays, alas! becoming fewer and fewer by reason of destruction by fire or the exigencies of the times.

During its early history the manor appears to have had several owners. From the middle of the thirteenth century, for a period of about a hundred years, it belonged to the Clinton family of Coleshill, becoming in the last years of the fifteenth century the property of one Nicholas Brome, at whose death it passed in 1517 to his daughter and co–heiress, Constantia, who had married in 1497 Sir Edward Ferrers, a grandson of William Lord Ferrers of Groby, in which family the estates have ever since remained. It is the boast of the family that their ancestry came over with the Conqueror, and there is little doubt that the boast is no idle one.

The Ferrers family of Baddesley Clinton are descended from the second son of the Earl who met his death so unromantically on the bridge at St. Neots; Groby passing into the hands of the Greys. A younger son of the Ferrers of Tamworth was the father of Sir Edward Ferrers, who by marriage with Constance Brome became the possessor of Baddesley Clinton.

During the Civil War Baddesley Clinton, although its owners appear to have sided neither with the King nor the Parliament, was plundered by the forces of the latter; and in a MS. of the period one finds a statement of some of the booty which was acquired by the Roundheads. This included a grey and a bright bay horse, which were led away by the troopers, one of them with a rich plush saddle trimmed round about the skirts with gold lace and gold fringe; arms and armour; gunpowder; cash taken from a desk; a Geneva Bible, and even the linen from the drying room! But the family appear to have succeeded in maintaining their neutral attitude, and at the Restoration were still in quiet enjoyment of their estates; which, however, had become smaller, and from the fact of their fidelity to Roman Catholicism were little likely in succeeding centuries to be added to.

The last squire of the line was Marmion Edward Ferrers, a noted antiquarian who lived quietly at Baddesley Clinton, and died leaving no heir; his widow married a second time Edward Heneage Dearing, Esq., the present owner of the property.

As was the case with most manor–houses of ancient times, and more especially with those belonging to Catholic families, there were several secret hiding–places at Baddesley Clinton, constructed for the salvation of the ministering Romish priests, or for other fugitives in times of need. Near the chapel is a well–like shaft of stone, formerly provided with steps or projecting stones, by means of which a fugitive was able to reach a secret passage extending round nearly the whole length of two sides of the house, and giving access to a small water–gate opening on the moat, at which a boat was kept at hand for use in cases of emergency. On the eastern side of the building adjoining the banqueting room is a secret chamber some six feet square, which has a bench running round it. This of recent years has been walled up, but the narrow staircase leading to it behind the wainscoting remains in its original condition.

There are probably other chambers in this ancient building, the existence of which may possibly at some future time be diescovered quite by accident, as have so many other hiding–places in similar houses throughout the country.

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The house, one of the most ancient in Warwickshire, is approached by a brick bridge of two arches crossing the moat, and the entrance is through an archway under an embattled tower, which although giving a distinction to this, the north–eastern front of the building, is apparently of no great age. The door is an ancient one, studded thickly with iron bolts, guarding the house at the inner end of the bridge; the stabling being at the outer end and separate from the house.

The building within the bounds of the moat forms three sides of a quadrangle, which encloses a quaint garden with paths running between close–mown turf and clipped yew bushes. The old mansion is rich in beautiful panelled rooms and wonderful carved mantelpieces. On the left–hand side of the entrance to the house itself is an anteroom leading to the great Hall. In this beautiful oak–panelled chamber is an unusually handsome Renaissance fireplace of carved stone, dating from the middle of the seventeenth century, and ornamented with seven shields of the family arms painted on the stone–work, the last shield commemorating the marriage of Edward Ferrers and Ann Peyto in 1611. The chief features of the room, however, are the heraldic devices of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which adorn the windows; an old seventeenth century cabinet of quaint design, the front of which is divided into twenty small panels and ornamented with groups of cupids, nymphs, and satyrs; several dower chests; and a silver twisted horn, traditionally stated to date from the year 1400, and to have been presented to the Lord de Ferrers of that time by the French Ambassador at the Court of King Henry IV. There is also an interesting leather bottle fished out of the moat a few years ago; and an old buff leather coat which may have been a relic of the unwelcome visitation made by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War.

The drawing–room is panelled oak and has oaken benches in the recesses of the window, and is rendered notable by the large carved oak fireplace, which is ornamented by the arms of the Ferrers of Groby. In this room, too, is a fine portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh, attributed by several authorities to Marc Garrard.

In the southern angle of the hall is a handsome staircase leading to the enclosed gallery running round the inner part of three sides of the house, and giving access to the upper story rooms.

The State bedroom, which contains a very fine and elaborately carved chimney–piece, reaching from the floor to the ceiling, is on the left of the staircase, and this room is finely panelled in oak, as are so many of the others of this most interesting house.

In the Oratory or domestic chapel of the house is a most curious and interesting Flemish Sanctus bell, dating from 1555, and having on it a small incised female effigy, supposed to represent the wife or daughter of Nicholas Brome; there is also an inscription, IHESVS ES MINEN NAEM.

The banqueting hall of the house is situated over the gateway, and is a fine room lighted by a mullioned window, and containing some good and very ancient oak carving and panelling, and also some beautiful tapestry. Unfortunately the high pitched roof of open timber–work has been covered by a plaster ceiling.

A touch of romance still hangs about the adjoining room, which is the library, but is traditionally known as the “Ghost Room,” and was in former times popularly supposed to be haunted, possibly by the spirit of Nicholas Brome or that of the parish priest he found, according to Dugdale, “chocking his wife under the chin, whereat he was so enraged that he presently kil’d him.” For this offence the murderer had to obtain the King’s pardon and also the Pope’s, who enjoined him to do something towards expiation of his crime. In pursuance of this mandate he built the “tower–steeple,” and bought three bells for it, as well as carrying out other additions and alterations to the thirteenth–century church of Baddesley.

In the church are many monuments of the Bromes and Ferrers, and also some beautiful and ancient stained glass in the east window. In connection with the manor of Baddesley Clinton there is an interesting entry in the Manor Rolls, recording that the Shakespeare family held lands in Baddesley as early as 1389, and it is possible that these were the remote ancestors of the poet himself.

It seems not improbable that much of the oak panelling and most of the carved mantelpieces in the house were placed there by Edward Ferrers, son of the antiquarian, about the middle of the seventeenth century, or perhaps rather earlier. The decorations within the house make plain for the student of architecture, and to the eyes of the skilled antiquarian, the three chief periods of its history. The outer walls are those of the ancient home of the Bromes, as it came into possession of the Ferrers family; but inside the house are many evidences of the money spent in its fittings and beautifying by Edward Ferrers towards the middle part of the seventeenth century. Then there is the last period, comprising the black and white timber–work and other restorations carried out by Captain Dering, who found on his accession to the property the building suffering from the ravages of both age and neglect.

Few manor–houses in Warwickshire possess greater charms than Baddesley Clinton, and the views from the upper windows into the ivy–covered courtyard, with its wealth of flower–beds and blossom, are charming to a degree.

Some eight miles north–east of Baddesley Clinton, through a stretch of pretty country, lies Packington Park, famous for its ancient oaks, and made unusually picturesque by the presence of its sheets of ornamental water. Packington Hall is now the seat of the Earl of Aylesford, a substantial building, set amid a pleasant park, built by Sir Clement Fisher in 1693, and enlarged and faced with stone three–quarters of a century later. About a mile to the north–east of Maxstoke Priory lies Maxstoke Castle, surrounded by fine trees, so retired that its very existence might be unsuspected by those who pass along the road at the foot of the avenue.

Few houses in England can be exactly compared with this wonderfully preserved survival of medieval times, which is set in so picturesque a position, surrounded by trees of a deer park of considerable size. All who have visited Maxstoke are agreed concerning the almost unique interest that this ancient fortified residence possesses for students of architecture and of the manners and customs of past ages. In Maxstoke, indeed, there is little to break the medieval spell which seems to hang so closely about its time–worn walls, and be so in keeping with its retired situation. As one approaches it by the fine avenue of elms leading, for the last portion of it, in a straight line to the gate–house and bridge, one almost, indeed, expects to see watchers upon the twin towers, and to find one’s ingress barred by closely–shut doors and lowered portcullis.

A beautiful survival of a past age, now the residence of the Tangye family, whose name is so intimately connected with the neighbouring city of Birmingham, the house has been closely identified with many historic names and strenuous deeds of English history.

It dates from the period when the great and strongly fortified castles—more fortresses, indeed, than residences—were giving place to dwelling–houses, well–defended, it is true, but which, though still protected by walls, towers, and even drawbridges and portcullises, were yet an indication of the change bound to come when such defences became unnecessary.

The foundations of the Castle, which is completely enclosed within an embattled enceinte, and is protected by a deep and broad moat and defended by strong angle towers, were laid by William de Clinton under a licence from Edward III. in 1345. The great entrance, a survival of the old barbican, is beneath or rather between two tall and formidable towers; the ancient drawbridge having been replaced by a stone bridge crossing the moat, and leading from the avenue of elms to the courtyard. But although both drawbridge and portcullis are gone, the grooves in which the latter was lowered still remain, as do the ancient oaken doors scarred by the weather of centuries, and perhaps by evidences of attack. The Castle itself lies in one of the most beautiful districts of England, almost midway between Birmingham and Coventry.

At Maxstoke in ancient times resided a family of the name of Oddingsells, who were evidently of great importance in the district, as they possessed all the feudal privileges of gallows and tumbril, and assay of bread and beer. Edmund Oddingsells, who died without issue in Edward I.’s reign, had, however, several sisters, to whom he left his property; Ida the eldest having Maxstoke for her share, which passed to John de Clinton on her marriage with him.

This John de Clinton was one of the great barons of his time, and he accompanied Edward I. on his invasion of Scotland in 1296, and for his assistance had conferred on him some of the possessions of Malcolm Drummond. Thus it is seen Maxstoke in very early times became identified with the doings of men who played a conspicuous part in the affairs of their country. The mother of Ida, the wife of John de Clinton, was Elizabeth, daughter of the famous William LongespÉe, Earl of Salisbury. John de Clinton left two sons, the second of whom was the builder of the castle in its present form, although there undoubtedly was an older house standing on the site, of which some fragments have been discovered incorporated into the base of the existing building.

William de Clinton was a man of note, for he held the office of Justice of Chester, Constable of Dover Castle, Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Admiral of the Western Seas. He also had the custody of the King’s forests from the Trent southward; and in 1337 was made Earl of Huntingdon. By his will, dated 1354, the Castle was left to his nephew, a Sir John de Clinton, for whom he appears to have designed it. This John de Clinton was the son of his elder brother John, and was, therefore, the grandson of the first possessor of Maxstoke of the Clinton line. The family were barons by writ, and the new owner was a soldier, who had fought through the French war, and was present at Poitiers and other battles, and was also at one time Constable of Windsor Castle. His grandson, who succeeded him, was known as Lord Say, his mother, the first wife of Sir John de Clinton, having been Idonia, the sister and heiress of William de Say.

Lord Say was, like his grandfather, a soldier, and proved a great benefactor to Maxstoke Priory. He was succeeded by his son, another John, who in 1437 exchanged the castle with Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, for other manors in Northamptonshire, the reason for which exchange is not known.

The last of the De Clintons of Maxstoke was also a soldier, who had the misfortune to be captured in the French war and to suffer a long term of imprisonment. Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, the new owner of Maxstoke, who was made a Knight of the Garter in 1429, and was created Duke of Buckingham in 1444, was Lieutenant Governor of Normandy and Calais, and Ambassador to France. He had also another distinction conferred upon him, that of precedence before all other Dukes who might thenceforward be created, excepting only descendants of the King. He was a warm supporter of the Lancastrian cause and, owing to his marriage with Margaret Beaufort, daughter and heiress of Edmund Duke of Somerset, was related to the Royal House. He fell at the battle of Northampton, July 10, 1460, when leading the Lancastrian forces, one of his sons having been killed at the battle of St. Albans five years previously; and he proved on his death a great benefactor to the destitute poor, some of whom he directed should carry tapers at his funeral, and pray for the repose of his soul.

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It was Buckingham who strengthened the oaken doors of Maxstoke by sheets of iron bearing his arms and supporters, and also the “burning nave and knot,” which was the ancient badge of the house.

It does not appear that Buckingham made Maxstoke by any means his chief residence, but the names of many of the constables he appointed, and of those who came after him, have been placed on record.

The castle and estates were forfeited by the second Duke and have had during its history many owners.

The dwelling–house occupies the north–west angle of the inner court. It is a partly timbered house, the front portion having been rebuilt in the seventeenth century, and some changes have been made since that date.

At the south end of the Great Hall was formerly the chapel, the west window of which, in the late Decorated period, still remains. The kitchen was somewhat strangely placed adjoining this, and communication between it and the hall must have been carried on across the chapel, the lower part of which is nowadays used as a butler’s pantry, and the upper part a corridor to the Great Hall. In the chapel the marriage of John Talbot, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury, and Catherine, daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, took place in 1457.

The great Baronial Halt, with a dais at one end, is on the first floor, and forms a handsome apartment lighted by three windows. On the west side there is a fine carved mantelpiece of coloured stone, ornamented with the numerous quarterings of the Dilke family, and bearing the following quaint inscriptions:—

The room contains some good pictures, amongst which is a full–length portrait of Charles II. by Sir Peter Lely. In the hall are also some interesting relics of former times, such as stone cannon balls, iron balls, pipe bowls found in the moat, some fine armour, and a pair of jack–boots worn by one of the family at the Battle of the Boyne.

The Oak Drawing–Room is a beautiful apartment, distinguished by a magnificently carved mantelpiece, and a unique carved doorway forming a sort of inner porch, and with the door very deeply panelled. There is in this room a curious picture of the last jester of Maxstoke, 1681, one Tom Grainger, who is depicted with an owl perched on his shoulder, and pipe in hand.

A relic which never fails to interest the visitor is an antique oak chair, which tradition states was brought from an old house at Bosworth Field. It bears on the brass plate attached to it the following inscription: “In this chair King Henry VII. was crowned at Bosworth Field, A.D. 1485.”

The Tower Drawing–Room is also oak panelled, and contains a fine mantelpiece. Above it is the bedroom known as Henry VII.’s; and over that again is the top tower bedroom, from which beautiful views of the park and moat are to be obtained.

The Dining–room on the ground floor contains a sideboard which is stated to have been made out of a tree at which Oliver Cromwell practised marksmanship in Coleshill Park, and also some interesting portraits of the Fetherstons and Fetherstonhaughs.

Scarcely a room at Maxstoke but contains something either in its decorations or its furniture of great interest; and, indeed, it is a matter for congratulation on the part of all those interested in architectural survivals and the preservation of historic houses that the castle presents in this twentieth century so interesting and perfect an example of the fortified manor–houses of ancient times. Maintained, let it be added, with all the loving care which such a unique treasure–house of antiquity deserves.

Some six miles to the north–east of Maxstoke is situated Astley Castle, prettily placed in Arbury Park. Although known as a castle, it is in reality rather an example of the defensive manor–house which came into being when residences of a more formidable nature had become no longer necessary. The house is surrounded by a moat, which is picturesquely overhung with foliage, and spanned by a bridge admitting to the house through an arched gateway.

Within a mile and a half of the church, and reached by a lovely avenue through Hawk’s Wood, is South Farm, where, on November 22, 1819, was born Mary Ann Evans, afterwards to become famous as “George Eliot.” The building is quite a small farmhouse, having one bay and a gabled east wing, and is coated with rough cast. It stands pleasantly situated a little distance on the right of the Park Road to Griff.

“George Eliot’s” father, Mr. Robert Evans, was agent for the Arbury Estate, and the family afterwards, whilst the future novelist was quite a child, removed to a larger house at Griff.

As was perhaps not unnatural, “George Eliot” drew much of her early inspiration and local colour from the immediate neighbourhood in which she was born, and in “Mr. Gilfil’s Love Story,” which she commenced to write on Christmas Day 1856, Astley Church appears under the disguise of “Knebley Church”; whilst Sir Robert Newdigate, who collected so many Art treasures for his beautiful home of Arbury, figures in the same story under the name of “Sir Christopher Cheverel.”