UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

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?.'CK NEAR 3EAUMANCR.

HAMILTON. ADAMS i C? PAT ERNO S TER RCW, R ALLE N. NOTTINGHAM

E. ALLEN. LEICESTER.

THE

HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES

OF

CHARNWOOD FOREST.

BY T. R. POTTER.

WITH

AN APPENDIX,

ON THE

GEOLOGY, BOTANY, AND ORNITHOLOGY

OF THE DISTRICT.

THE GEOLOGY BY J. B. JUKES, ESQ. M.A. F.GS.;
THE BOTANY BY THE REV. ANDREW BLOXAM, M.A., AND CHURCHILL BABINGTON, ESQ.,

SCHOLAR OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;

AND THE ORNITHOLOGY BY CHURCHILL BABINGTON, ESQ.

AH ! THAT Sl/CH BEAUTY, VARYING IN THE LIGHT

OF LIVING NATURE, CANNOT BE PORTRAYED

BY WORDS, NOR BY THE PENCIL'S SILENT SKILL,

BUT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIM ALONE

WHO HAS BEHELD IT, NOTED IT WITH CARE,

AND IN HIS MIND EECOBDED IT WITH LOVE.

LONDON:
HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND Co. PATERNOSTER ROW.

R. ALLEN, NOTTINGHAM; E. ALLEN, LEICESTER.

1842.

R. ALLEN, FKINTER, ALBION OFFICES, NOTTINGHAM.

cm DONO LEPIDUM NOVUM LIBELLUM?'

What filler Name my Book can grace,
Describing Charxwood's ancienl Chase,
Than /(W, whose Sires, in olden day,
O'er Charnwood held ihe Ranger's sway ?
Than his, whose Hunler's horn yet swells
On Charnwood's hills and Charley dells ?
Whose noble mien can still restore
The Chieftain of the days of yore —
Than his, who finds in Forest ride
Pleasures to Courts and Kings denied ?

My theme is Field and Woodland scene :
Romantic Hill and deep Ravine :
(Such scene, I ween, as that which lies
Wliere Loudocn's time-worn Turrets rise)
Is Nature, with her every charm :
Is " Cottage — Hamlet" — Fane, "and Farm :
And he who " finds this life" more free
" Than that of painted pomp" can be :
Who, with each Sun that gilds them, sees
The shadow of " Ancestral trees,"
Meet Patron for the page must be
Which tells the charms of Forestry.

My theme is, too, of War and Chase :
Of Kingly, Lordly, Knightly race —
WTiat Name, like Hastings, can recall
The Tented Field — the Banner'd Hall —
The halo that invests them all?

INTRODUCTION.

There is no district of England, equally deserving of notice, of which so
little has been written, and probably of which so little is known, as Charnwood
F'oREST. Sherwood, Needwood, Selwood, Inglewood, and almost all other
Forests have had their Historian or their Poet, while Charnwood, even in his-
torical and topographical works confined to Leicestershire, has been passed over
with as little mention as if it was a blemish instead of a beauty on the face of the
County. The best account of Charnwood Forest, that contained in Mr. Nichols'
"History and Antlqullies of Leicestershire" is scattered over nearly the whole of
the eight large folios of that valuable and wonderful work, and the scarcity and
expense of a copy* render it almost inaccessible to the many. This considera-
tion, and the conviction that the District deserves to be better known, induced
the Author of the following pages to collect and arrange all the materials in his
power in order to present such a description of the Forest as may, he trusts, blend
with details only interesting to the antiquarian and the scholar, a considerable
portion of information suited to the general reader. He is anxious to render its
picturesque beauties and wonderful geology better known : and to show that it
is not less worthy of the Tourist's, the Naturalist's, and the Antiquarian's atten-
tion, than many of those districts to which all resort. Another consideration has
had weight with the Author : — many of the nobler features of Charnwood, owing
to the growth of plantations, the removal of rocks, and the progress of cultivation,
are rapidly disappearing ; and it seemed desirable, as far as possible, to

" Catch their passing glories ere they fade."

The Author is conscious of some defects of plan and of execution ; unavoidable,
perhaps, where the prudent limitation of the work was so inadequate to the
abundance of materials. Of the plan of the main part — the Parochial History —

* Only oue hundred and eighty-seven copies are known to be extant.

vi INTRODUCTION.

he may be permitted to premise that, looking at the feudal possessors of the Forest,
it seemed naturally to divide itself into four parts ; for each of which he takes
the chief Lordship of the respective Lords as a station, viz. : — Barrow, Groby,
Whitwick, and Sheepshed. Under these four heads he has introduced almost
every parish claiming right of common on the Forest at the Inclosure. Rothley,
so interesting for its connexion with the Templars, and forming by its Plain an
extension of the Forest, was originally intended to occupy a separate Chapter,
but through want of space it is unavoidably omitted. Two or three other places
of minor importance are, for the same reason, only cursorily mentioned. The
scientific reader is, however, abundantly compensated for these omissions by an
Appendix, contributed by three gentlemen not unknown to literature and science,
for which the Author was only too happy to make room by the omission of many
lucubrations of his own.

It may be well here to make an observation which arrived too late for
insertion in its proper place at the beginning of the Ornithology, Appendix, p. 65.
It was there stated that " eight miles has been taken as the limit of vicinity" both
in the Botany and the Ornithology. It should have been added that, with very
few exceptions, no plant or bird was admitted into the lists which was not found
either on the Forest or within a mile or two of its boundary.

Though originally intending to give minute descriptions of the diversified
scenery of the Forest, the Author has been compelled, in a great degree, to leave
this to the pictorial illustrations. Respecting the fine landscape boundary which
the Charnwood range presents from various parts of the Midland Counties, he has
been wholly silent. The places in which its beautiful distant outline has often
struck him as being seen to the greatest advantage are Nottingham Castle, Hop-
well Hall, Rempstone Hall, Nomianton Hill, Whatton House, Risley Hill, and
the high grounds north of Derby. From some of these points its abrupt western
prominences, in the different states of the atmosphere, have something of an
Alpine character. It is true that the Forest Hills may not, either when viewed
close at hand or at a distance, strictly deserve the epithet which, for want of a
better, he has so often applied to them — picturesque. JViebuhr correctly observes

INTRODUCTION.

that " nai Tovv-minded travellers, who measure everything by the gross scale of a
surveyor, ridicule the humbler mountain ranges of other lands by contrasting them
with the touring Peaks of the Alps ; yet in reality the Alps of Switzerland are
not picturesque in their forms."

The Author has further to observe, that in places where he has been under the
necessity of abbreviating or expanding any extract from Nichols' History, he has
abstained from the insertion of inverted commas, and contented himself with a
reference or a general acknowledgment. He has the same observation to make
with regard to a passage from Sir Thomas Dick Lauder's Edition of Gilpin, and
Mr. Fraser Tytler's " Scotland."

To the Rev. M.D. Babington, M.A., who most kindly and most ably exam-
ined the proof sheets of a large portion of the Work, and contributed many valu-
able antiquarian and other remarks — to the Rev. Andrew Bloxam, M.A., who
most liberally furnished the Flora — to Churchill Babington, Esq., who
aided in that contribution, and also presented the Ornithology — and to J. B.
Jukes, Esq., M.A. F.G.S., who wrote the Geology, the Author's most grateful
acknowledgments are justly due.

To Charles March Phillipps, Esq., to William Herrick, Esq., of Beaumanor,
to Edward Basil Farnham, Esq., M.P., to Sir William Heygate, Bart., to the
Rev, John Dudley, M.A., to the Rev. Richard Gwatkin, B.D., to Ambrose Lisle
March Phillipps, Esq., to Thomas Denning, Esq., to Kirkby Fenton, Esq., and
to John Stockdale Hardy, Esq., all of whom either furnished valuable information
or offered facilities for obtaining it, he has also to express his deep obligations ;
nor is he unmindful of the assistance rendered him by Mr. E. P. Jackson, Mr.
Lester, Mr. George Webster, of Desford, and the Author of " Melbourne." His
obligations to Mr. Nichols' great work on the County — a work which, for
unwearied industry and extensive research, has no equal in the whole range of
Topographical Literature — and to another valuable work. Glover's " Derbyshire,"
he has elsewhere fully acknowledged.

Wymeswold, near Loughborough,
September Ihth, 1842.

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

FRONTISPIECE.— RUINS OF ULVESCROFT PRIORY.

VIGNETTE.— ROCK NEAR BEAUMANOR.

DEDICATION PLATE.

PAGE

Map of Charnwood Forest* 1

High Cademan 9

Copt Oak 10

The Oaks Chapel 39

Hanging Stone, near the Oaks Chapel 41

Quern (Hand-mill) and Celt 42

Hanging Stone Rock, near Beaumanor 73

WooDHOusE Chapel 86

Woodhouse Eaves Chapel and School 89

Lower Cliff, Beacon Hill 90

Charley Hall 104

Ruins of Bradgate Hall 120

Pelder Tor 151

Whitwick Church 154

Monastery of Mount St. Bernard 159

Bardon Hill 160

Long Cliff '87

Holy -Well Haw Hermitage 190

Geological Sections (Appendix ) 1

CuRSORius Isabellinus (Appendix J 63

WOOD ENGRAVINGS.

Plan of Ancient Fortifications on Beacon Hill 47

Enlarged Plan of Ditto 49

Ancient Spear and Coins 51

Ancient Spur 6"1

Ancient Cross '0

Oaken Chair ^

Coin of Bruce 105

Tomb of Roesia de Vep.don 170

Counters "3

Hanging Stone — side view (Appendix) 28

• The Map is coloured to serve Ihe Geology ; the colours correspond with the references on the sheet of Geological Sections
preBxed to the Appendix : hut instead of tinting the whole of each I'ormaliun, the boundaries only are coloured, in order to avoid
obscuring the engraven shades denoting inequalities of surface.

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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY ADELAIDE, THE QUEEN DOWAGER.

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF RUTLAND, K.G.

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE, K.G.

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G.

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND, K.G.

THE iMOST NOBLE THE MARQUIS OF HA.STINGS, Donington Park.

THE MOST NOBLE THE MARCHIONESS OF HASTINGS, Donington Park.

THE MO.ST NOBLE THE MARQUIS OF NORTHAMPTON, K.G., P.R.S.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL HOWE, Goisall Park.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF XEWBURGH, Hassop Hall, Derbyshire.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF RAWDON, Donington Park.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF STAMFORD AND WARRINGTON, Dunham Massey.
(3 Copies.)

THE BARONESS DE CLIFFORD, Kirkey Mallory, Leicestershire.

THE LORD BISHOP OF PETERBOROUGH, The Palace, Peterborough.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD BEAUMONT, Carleton.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD ROBERT GROSYENOR, M.P., 107, Park Street, London.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD CHARLES SOMERSET MANNERS, M.P., Belvoir Castle.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR R. PEEL, BART., M.P., Drayton Manor.

SIR GEORGE CREWE, BART., Calke Abbey, Derbyshire. (2 Copies.)

SIR HENRY LEIGH DRYDEN, BART., Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire.

SIR FREDERICK GUSTAVUS FOWKE, BART., Lowesby Hall.

SIR CHARLES ABNEY HASTINGS, BART., Willesley Hall.

SIR WILLIAM HEYGATE, BART., Roecliff Manor, Charnwood Forest. (3 Copies.)

LADY HEYGATE, Roecliff Manor, Charnwood Forest.

SIR OSWALD MOSLEY, BART., Rolleston Hall, Derbyshire.

THE DOWAGER LADY SITWELL, Rempstone Hall, Nottinghamshire.

SIR THOMAS POTTER, KNT., Brick Hills, Manchester.

THE VERY REVEREND THE DEAN OF ELY.

THE REV. THOMAS GISBORNE, M.A,, PREBENDARY OF DURHAM, Yoxall Lodge.

THE VEN. THOMAS KAYE BONNEY, M.A., ARCHDEACON OF LEICESTER, AND RECTOR OF

NORMANTON, Stamford.
THE VEN. CHARLES GODDARD, D. D., ARCHDEACON OF LINCOLN, AND RECTOR OF IB-
STOCK, Leicestershire.
EDWARD BASIL FARNHAM, ESQ., M.P., Quorndon House, Leicestershire.
CHARLES WILLIAM PACKE, ESQ., M.P., Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire.
WILLIAM RASHLEIGH, Jun., ESQ., M. P., Men.ibilly, Cornwall.
JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M.P., 12, Victoria Square, Pimlico, London.

b

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

Adcock Halford, Esq., Humberstone.

Alford the Rev. H., M.A., Wymeswold, Leicestershire,

(2 copies.)
Allen John, Esq., the Study, Bonsall, Derbyshire.
Allen Mr. Edward, Leicester.
Allen Mr. Richard, Nottingham.
Armstrong John, Esq., Doncaster.
Arnold William, Esq., M.D., Leicester.
Ashby Wm. Ashby, Esq., Quenby Hall, Leicestershire.
Ashby Permanent Library.
Aslet Mr. William Stacey, Loughborough.
Astill Miss, Cossington, Leicestershire.
Atkin Mr. John, Leicester.
Attenborough Mr. William, Bradmore, Nottinghamshire.

Babington Thomas Gisbome, Esq., Rothley Temple,

Leicestershire.
Babingtou the Rev. Matthew Drake, M. A., Thringstone,

Leicestershire.
Babington, Churchill, Esq , St. John's College, Cam-
bridge.
Bacon George, Esq., Nottingham.
Bakewell Mr. John, Lockington, Leicestershire.
Bakewell Mr. George, Lockington, Leicestershire.
Barnes Mrs. Moseley, Birmingham.
Barry Pendock Barry, Esq., Roclaveston Manor, Notts.
Barker Mr. Edward, Loughborough. (2)
Barton R., Esq., Coventry.
Beardsley Mr, William, Shipley, Derbyshire.
Beardsley Amos, Esq., London.
Beavington Mr. William, Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Bennett the Rev. John, Ibstock, Leicestershire.
Bennett J. B. H., Esq., Tutbury, Staffordshire.
Bennett Mr., Beckering Park, Wobum.
Bickersteth R., Esq., Liverpool.
Biddle Mr. Thomas, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire
Biddle Mr. Jacob, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.
Biddle Mr. Robert, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.
Biddle Mr. William, Bradmore, Nottinghamshire.
Birch John, Esq., Doncaster.

Bloxam the Rev. Andrew, M.A., Twycross, Atherstone.
Blunt the Rev. Robert, M.A., ISelton Vicarage, Leices-
tershire.
Blurton Thomas, Esq., Dmistall House, Staffordshire.
Bostock Joseph, Esq., Breedon, Leicestershire.
BusworthWilliam, Esq., Charley Hall, Leicestershire. (2)
Bosworth Mr., Leicester.
Bott Mr. Jervis, Newton Burgerland.
Bowley Mr., Leicester.
Bowmar Mr., Leicester.
Bowmar Mr. Henry, Leicester.
Bowmar Mrs. Thomas, Leicester.

Boyer the Rev. J. R., M. A., Swepstone Rectory, Leices-
tershire.
Boyer Joseph, Esq., Bardon Lodge, Leicestershire.
Bracebridge Charles Holte, Esq., Atherstone Hall.
Bradley Thomas, Esq., Ibstock.
Brewin Ambrose, Esq., Tiverton, Devonshire.
Brittlebank Andrew, Esq., Winster, near Bakewell.
Briggs Mr. John, Hemington, Leicestershire.
Briggs J. J., Esq., Author of " Melbourne," King's

Newton.
Briggs Mr. Robert, Thulstone, Derbyshire.
Brock Beauvoir, Esq , Loughborough.
Brown Messrs., Leicester. (3)
Brown Mr. B. W., Wymeswold, Leicestershire.
Browne Mr. P. Marsland, Manchester.
Bulstrode Miss, Worthington Cottage, Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Bunbury the Rev. T. H., Whitwick, Leicestershire.
Bumaby the Rev. Thomas, M. A., Quomdon, Leicester-
shire.
Burrows, Mr. John, jun., Stockwell, Wymeswold.

Burton Mrs., Atherstone.

Burgess (the late) John, Esq., Clipstone, Notts.
Butler Mr., Beck House, Nottinghamshire.
Butt William, Esq., Sandiacie.

Cantrell Joseph Thomas, Esq., Barrister at Law, 21,

Lincohi's Inn, London.
Cardale J. Spencer, Esq., Leicester.
Catleton J. W., E.sq., London.
Cartwright John, Esq., Loughborough.
Carver T., Esq., Sherwood, near Nottingham.
Cary F. S., Esq., 14, Park Street, Westminster.
Chamberlain Henry, Esq., Desford, Leicestershire.
Charles Mr. William, Wymeswold, Leicestershire.
Chawner Henry, Esq., Hound-hill, Uttoxeter.
Cheney Colonel, Gaddesby Hall, Leicestershire.
Cheslyn Captain, Langley Priory, Leicestershire.
Chouler Charles, Esq., WoUaton, Nottinghamshire.
Churchill Fleetwood. Esq., M.D., Stephen's Green,

Dublin.
Churchill Miss, Glasgow.

Clanchy Colonel, Burleigh Fields, Leicestershire.
Clare Harcourt, Esq., T\vycross, Leicestershire.
Clare Thomas, Esq. Heather.
Clark Mr., Surgeon, Wellingborough.
Clayton Mr. Thomas, jvm., Thorpe Arnold.
Coleman H. F., Esq., Evington Hall, Leicestershire.
CoUinson Mr. R., Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, (3)
Cook, Mr. T., Leicester. (3)
Cotman Rev. Joseph, Sharnford, Leicestershire.
Combe and Crossley, Messrs., Leicester. (2)
Cooke Mr. Thomas, Derby
Cooke J., Esq., Uttoxeter.
Cox the Rev. Richardson, Tickenhall.
Cradock Thomas, Esq., Woodhouse, Leicestershire.
Cradock Edward, Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Crosher Mr. Richard, Loughborough.
Cropper J. A., Esq., Barrister at Law, 10, Gray's Inn

Place, London.
Cresswell Robert Green, Esq., Ravenstone, Leicestershire.
Curtis Mr. W. H., Nottingham.

Dalby T. Burgh, Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Dalby Thomas, Esq., Castle Donington.

Dalley Mr. W. C, Syston.

Danvers G. J. D. Buller, Esq., Swithland Hall, Leices-
tershire.

Dawson Edward. Esq., Whatton House, Leicestershire.

Dawson Mrs., Cheltenham.

Dawson Henry, Esq., Launde Abbey.

Davies Samuel, Esq., Leicester.

Davenport Samuel, Esq., Leicester.

Denning Thomas, Esq., Loughborough.

Derby Philosophical Society.

Dewes William, Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Docker Edward, Esq., M.A., 81, King William Street,
London.

Donisthorpe Mr. Alfred, Leicester.

Dudley the Rev. John, M. A., Vicarage, Sileby, Leicester-
shire.

Dummeller Mr. Richard Shakerstone, Leicestershire.

Dutton Miss Moseley, Birmingham.

Dyson T., Esq., Braithwell Manor House, Doncaster.

Eames John, Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Eddowes Henry, Esq., Loughborough.
Egerton Mrs. Leigh, Jodrell Hall, Cheshire.
Ella William Fisher, Esq., Wymeswold.
Ellis Mr. John, Leicester.

Elliott Wm. Elliott, Esq., Gedling House, Notts.
Emerson the Rev. Alexander Lyon, M. A., Ulvescroft
Priory, Leicestershire. (2)

LIST OF .SUl!SCKIBf;RS.

Kvaus the Rev. Arthur Benoni, D.D., Market Busworth.

Falconek Randle Wilbraham, Esq., M.D., Tenby (late

Bath.)
Favrand George, Esq., Daybrook, Nottinghamshire.
Feuton Kiikby, Esq., Onebarrow Lodge, Charnwood

Forest. (4)
Feamhead Peter, Esq., Alton Grange.
Fisher Edward, Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Fisher Mrs., Higham Rectory. (2)
Flint Mr., Heniington, Leicestershire.
Fosbrooke Henry, Esq., Linwood Hall, Lincolnshire.
Fosbrooke Miss, London.
Fowler Thomas, Esq., Melton Mowbray.
Fowler Edward, Esq., Leicester.
Fox Douglas, Esq., Derby.
Fritche Mr. Froude, Derby.
Freeston Mr. William, Wynieswold, Leicestershire.

Garton the Rev. Joseph, M.A., Towcester, Northamp-
tonshire.

Gell Mrs., Clonmell, Ireland.

Giles Mr. Joseph, Loughborough.

Gilbert Mr., Shetfield. (6)

Gisborne Thomas, Esq., Hurwich House, Derbyshire.

Gisborne Matthew, Esq., Walton Hall, Burton-on-Trent.

Green Mr., Hermitage Farm, Belton.

Grundy Joshua, Esq., the Oaks, near Leicester. (2)

Grundy Thomas, Esq., Swamiington, Leicestershire.

Greatorex Mr. Edward, Uttoxeter.

Gresley the Rev. J. Morewood, M. A., Over Seal,
Leicestershire.

Gutch the Rev. Robert, M.A., Segrave Rectory, Leices-
tershire.

Gwatkin the Rev. Richard, B. D., Vicar of Barrow,
Leicestershire.

Hackett Mrs., Aylestone, Leicestershire.

Hall the Rev. John Hancock, M. A., Risley Hall, Derby-
shire.

Hamilton the Rev. J. H., Vicar of Sheepshed.

Hamilton, Adams, and Co., Messrs., London.

Harley Mr. Edward, Loughborough.

Harley Mr. James, Leicester.

Harris Smith, Esq., Leicester.

Hardy John Stockdale, Esq., Leicester.

Harris Samuel, Esq., Quom.

Harris Samuel, Esq., Leicester.

Harrison John, Esq., Bakewell.

Haskins John, Esq., Cuckney, Nottinghamshire.

Haygarth the Rev. Richard, Muswell Hill, Middlesex.

Haywood Miss, Melbourne.

Herrick W. Esq, Beaumanor Park, Leicestershire. (2)

Heyrick William, Esq., Thurmaston.

Hewgill Rev. F., Rectory, WooUaton, Nottinghamshire.

Hextall Mr. Richard, Nailstone.

Hextall Messrs., Ashby-de-la-Zouch. (3)

Herbert William, Esq!, Nottingham Park.

Hill the Rev. T., M. A., Vicar of Chesterfield.

Hill Mr Joseph, Bakewell, Derbyshire.

Hind Mr. William, Groby Quarry.

Hitchcock Mr. H. M., jun., Leicester.

Hives Mrs., Quorndon.

Hodgson Isaac, Esq., Kirby Frith.

Holbrooke William, Esq., Nun's Field, Alvaston, Der-
byshire.

Hood R. Jacomb, Esq., Bardon Hall, Leicestershire.

Hubbersty Philip, Esq., Wirksworth.

Hunloke James, Esq., Birdholme. (2 )

Hunter John, Esq., Brooksby Hall, Leicestershire.

Huish Marcus, Esq., Ca,stle Donington.

Holme Rev. Thomas, Emmanuel Church, Loughborough.

Inglesant Joseph, Esq., Solicitor, Quorndon.
Iveson J. G., Esq., Halliford, Middlesex.

Jacobson Thomas, Esq., Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

Jacomb Thomas, Esq.

Jackson E. P., Esq., Quorndon.

Jack.son Mr. George, Mountsorrel.

Johnson Mr. A. B., Birmingham.

Johnson John, Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Johnson the Rev. N. Palmer, M. A., Rector of Aston-

on-Trent, Derbyshire.
Judd Mr. Robert, Loughborough.
Jukes J. B., Esq., M.A., F.G.S., F.C.P.S.

Keck G. A. L., Esq., Stoughton Hall, Leicestershire.
Kegworth Book Society.

Kelk the Rev. T. H. Hastings, B. A., Osgathorpe, Lei-
cestershire.
Kelly Thomas, Esq., London.
Kelly William, Esq., Bowbridge, Leicester.
Kennedy James, Esq., M. D-, Woodhouse Eaves.
Killingley Mrs., Lenton Terrace, near Nottingham.
Kingstone Rev. Clement U., B.A., Ashbourne.
Kirkman Samuel, Esq., Bagworth, Leicestershire.
Knight — , Esq., Leicester.

Lancashire (the late) Miss, Alvaston House, Derbyshire,

Langdon Miss, Leicester.

Langley Mr., Mansfield.

Lea John, Esq., Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.

Leacroft W. S., Esq., Southwell, Nottinghamshire.

Lee the Rev. R., M.A., Darleigh Dale, Matlock.

Lee Mr. S. Loughborough.

Lee Mr., Barrow, Leicestershire.

Leeson Mr., Castle Donington, Leicestershire.

Leicester Permanent Library.

Leicestershire Book Society.

Lester Mr., Woodhouse.

Leschallas William, Esq., Loudon.

Loughborough Permanent Library,

Lugar Robert, Esq., Brunswick Square, London.

Macaulay Thomas, Esq., Leicester.

Mammatt John, Esq., Manor House, -\shby-de-la-Zoueh.

Maun Mr. Henry, Pigburn, Yorkshire.

Manby Mr., Great Ofenn.

Marples Mr. Samuel, Melbourne.

Martin W. Bennett, Esq., Thurgarton Priory, Notts.

Martin the Rev. R., M. A., Anstey Pastures, Leicester-
shire.

Martyn the Rev. John King, Ockbrook.

Mason Mr., Loughborough.

Mathew John Jlee, Esq., Barrister at Law, 3, Churchyard
Court, Temple, London.

Mence Rev. J. W., A. B., Incumbent of Prestwold and
Hoton-

Merewether C. J., Esq., Cole Orton, Leicestershire.

Merewether C. G., Esq., Wadliam College, Oxford.

Mettam Mrs., Barwell, Leicestershire.

Middletou Edwaid Chatlerton, Esq., Loughborough.

JliUer T. B„ Esq., Thorpe Villa, near Loughboiough.

Mitchell Joseph, Esq., Architect, Sheffield.

Mitchell Richard, Esq., Enderby Hall. Leicestershire.

Moore Jlr. James, Wymeswold, Leicestershire.

Moxon Mr. Thomas, Leicester.

Nedham J., Esq., Leicester.

Oastler J , Esq., Brailsford, Derbyshire.
Odams Thomas, Esq., Braunstone Frith.
Oldham Mrs., Frith House.
Ord the Rev. James, Langtou Hall, Leicestershire.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

Packs the Rev. Augustus, M. A., Walton Rectory.

Paget the Rev. Edward T., M.A., Swithland Rectory,
Leicestershire.

Paget William, Esq., Loughborough.

Palmer John, jun., Esq., Lichfield.

Palmer Mr. E. S., Leicester.

Palmer Mrs., Leicester.

Palmer Mr. William, Leicester.

Palmer James, Esq., Lichfield.

Palmer W., Esq., Leicester.

Pares Thomas, Esq., Hopwell Hall, Derbyshire. (2)

Pares Miss, High Fields, Derby. (2)

Parker James, Esq., Chester Terrace, Regent's Park.

Parsons William, Esq., Leicester.

Patterson T,, Esq., Ibstock, Leicestershire.

Payne Mr. B., Leicester.

Peach Thomas, Esq., M.D., Langley Hall, Derbyshire.

Pearson Mrs., Hill Ridware, Rugeley, Stafford.

Perston J., Esq., Woodside Terrace, Glasgow.

Phillipps Charles March, Esq., Garendon Park, Leices-
tershire.

Phillipps Samuel March, Esq., Home Office, London.

Phillipps Ambrose Lisle March, Esq., Grace Dieu Manor,
Leicestershire. (2)

Phillipps Miss March, Cheltenham.

Pickering, Thomas, Esq., Marchington, StafTordshire.

Piddoeke Thomas, Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Pochin W. A., Esq., Barkby Hall, Leicestershire.

Pochin, Mrs., Portman Square, London.

Potter Samuel, Esq., Ilkestone Park, Derbyshire.

Potter Thomas, jun., Esq., Ilkestone, Derbyshire.

Potter Thomas, jun., Esq., Swansea Fields.

Potter Miss, Alvaston, Derbyshire.

Potter Miss, Hoton, Leicestershire.

Potter Miss Letitia.

Powell the Rev. J., Normanton-on-Soar, Nottingham-
shire.

Proudman Mr., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Price Major General, Rowsley, Derbyshire.

Pratt Mrs , Hoton, Leicestershire.

Pratt Mr. Thomas, Cauldewell, Derbyshire.

Preston Miss, Hinckley.

Railton William, Esq., Carlton Chambers, Regent

Street, London.
Rawson Mr. Charles, Leicester.
Reddall Captain, Loughborough.
Redfom Mr. Henry, Barton, Nottinghamshire.
Riley John, Esq., Papplewick, Nottinghamshire.
Riley Mrs., Ilkestone, Derbyshire.
Robinson the Rev. C. W., M.A., Loughborough.
Robinson Mr. J., Bunny, Nottinghamshire.
Roby the Rev. William, M. A., Kirkby Mallory.
Roby Miss, Battle Flat Lodge.
Roby Miss Elizabeth, Battle Flat Lodge.
Roby William, Esq., Battle Flat Lodge.
Roby Thomas Dudley, Esq., Hugglescote.
Roughton Miss, Leicester.

Sankey the Rev. John, M.A,, Parsonage, Stoney Stanton.

Sarson Mr., Quomdon, Leicestershire.

Schomberg the Rev. J. D., M. A., Polesworth Vicarage.

Scotney Mr. T. H., Nottmgham.

Sgambella Mrs., Bradley Hall. (2)

Sherbrooke Mrs., Oxton, Nottinghamshire.

Sherwin William, jun., Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Sheppard Joseph, Esq., Wymeswold.

Shilton C. D'Aubigney, Esq., Nottingham.

Simpkin Benjamin, Esq., Hoby, Leicestershire.

Sississon Mr. William, Hull.

Skevington Mr. John, M.R.C.S.L., Ashbourne.

Smart T. W. W., Esq., Cranboume, Dorset.

Smith Mrs., Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Smith Mr. John, Loughborough.

Smith James, Esq., Mount Pleasant, Uttoxeter.

Smith Mr. James, Derby.

Smith, Alfred, Esq., Derby.

Sniythe E. Watson, Esq., West Cottage, Leicester.

Sneath Charles, Esq., Nottingham Park.

Soresby Mrs., Cavendish Bridge.

Spencer Thomas, Esq., Earl Shilton, Leicestershire.

Spencer Mr. Samuel, Snarestone, Leicestershire.

Staunton, the Rev. Dr., Staunton Hall, Notts.

Stokes Thomas, Esq. (Mayor), Leicester.

Stone Mrs., Quomdon.

Stone Samuel, Esq., Town Clerk, Leicester.

Staveley Mr. J., Nottingham.

Stow Mr. Thomas, Waltham.

Sutton James, Esq., Shardlow Hall, Derbyshire.

Swann Mr. W., Surgeon, Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire.

Tacey Mr. Joseph, Quomdon, Leicestershire.
Tait Mortimer Lavater, Esq., Manchester.
Tomlinson Robert, Esq., Burton-upon-Trent.
Toone Henry, Esq., Loughborough.
Toone Miss B. H., Loughborough.
Towne Mr., Melton Mowbray.
Trimingham Mrs., Marr Grange, Doncaster.

Unsworth Mr. William, Derby.

Waddington Mr., Leicester.

Wakefield Thomas, Esq., Nottingham.

Walker George, Esq., Eastwood Hall, Nottinghamshire.

Wall W., Esq., Crescent, Leicester.

Ward William, Esq., Belgrave Gate, Leicester.

Warner Thomas, Esq., The Elms, Loughborough.

Warner Edward, Esq., Loughborouiih.

Warner Henry, Esq., Loughborough.

Watkinson Miss, Woodhouse, Leicestershire. (2)

Watts Mr., Leicester.

Webster George, Esq., Hall Fields, Desford, Leicester-
shire.

Webster Mrs., Sprotborough, Doncaster.

Webb W. D., Esq., Haselour.

Wesley Mr., Burton-upon-Trent. (2)

Whitby R. Vemon, Esq., Osbaston Lodge, Market Bos-
worth.

Whitechurch Mr., Wymeswold.

Wilcox Mr. W. W. T., Leicester.

Wilkinson Mr., jun.. Earl Shilton, Leicestershire.

Williams J. C, Esq., M.D., Nottingham. (2)

Williams the Rev. Richard, M. A., Rectory, Great
Houghton, Northampton.

Williamson William, Esq., Derby.

Wilmot Edward WooUett, Esq., Worksop.

Winstanley Clement, Esq., Braunstone Hall, Leicester-
shire.

Wolfcrstan S. Pipe, Esq., Statfold, Tamworth.

Woodford Jolm, Esq., Derby.

Woodrulf Jlr. Daniel, (Quomdon.

Woolrich Mr. Thomas, Uttoxeter.

Wright John Smith, Esq., Rempstone Hall.

Wright Mr. R., High Street, Leicester.

»»* The Academical Degree of many Clerical Subscribers not being known to the Author, it has been deemed
better, in such cases, to omit it, than to run the risk of giving it incorrectly.

CHARNWOOD FOREST.

CHAPTER I.

• FOREST LAW, COURTS, AND CUSTOMS.

2rJ)us saiti) rtje S.ato :— " It is allotofli to our Sobfrrtgn HorB ti)C Hfng,
in rrsjjrtt of Ijts continual care antt lahour for tijc prcscrbatton of tfjc toljolc
realm, among otljcr pribilegcs, tijis prerogatibc :— to ijabc fjis places of reere=
atton anU pastime irjijeresocber f)e toill appoint. jFor as it is at tlje libertg
attti pleasure of l^is ©race to reserbe tlje iuilti beasts anD tije game to l)imself,
for ijis onlg Delight anU pleasure, so fje map also, at i)is iuill anti pleasure,
mafee a jForest for t^cm to abiDe in."

Manwood, on Forest Law, Chap. 2.

Forests have ever been in use, in all parts and ages of the world, as the appendages
of Royalty. We read of them being thus appropriated even in the times of sacred story.
^\Tien Nehemiah was in captivity, in the Court of Artaxerxes, and had obtained leave of
that Prince to re-build Jerusalem, we read [Nehemiah ii. 8.) that Artaxerxes granted him,
among other favours, a letter to Asaph, Keepei- of the King's Forest, to supply him with
timber.

" The Royal appropriation of most of our English Forests," says Gilpin, " seems to have
been at the least as early as the times of the Heptarchy. Every petty Prince had his Royal
demesnes. Afterwards, when one Sovereign obtained possession of the whole island, he
found himself proprietor of a number of these Forests, scattered over the different parts of it."

Forest Law and Forest Rights were in force as early as the times of the Saxons : but
the Saxon Princes were generally so equitable and so mild, that the afforestation of large
untenanted wastes, and the laws enacted for their preservation, were hardly felt as a burden
by the commonalty. Under the Norman Princes, all the then existing laws, and especially
the Forest Law, assumed a harsher character.

2 FOREST LAW, COURTS, AND CUSTOMS.

The Conqueror, in 1078, gave orders to lay waste the fertile lands between the Humber
and Tees, for the extent of sixty miles. Many flourishing towns, fine villages, and noble
country seats, were accordingly burnt down, the implements of husbandry destroyed, and
the cattle driven away. The great Lord Lyttleton, speaking of these devastations and those
occasioned by the Forest Laws, observes, that " Attila no more deserves the name of the
' Scourge of God,^ than did this merciless tyrant : nor did he, nor any other destroyer of
nations, make more havoc in an enemy's country than William did in his own,"

We, who live under more benign influences, can form no adequate idea of the miseries
which Forest Law inflicted, under despotic Princes. Constant encroachments on private
property — cruel punishments, for the slightest ofience committed within the verge of a
Forest — extravagant claims made by Forest Officers — heavy tolls on all merchandize passing
through any of the King's Forests — and frequent arbitrary changes of boundaries, to bring
any ofience within the scope of Forest Law, were only a part of the evils.

Pope beautifully alludes to this state of things in his poem on Windsor Forest : —

" Thus all the land appear'd, in ages past,
A dreary desert or a gloomy waste ;
To savage beasts and savage laws a prey.
And Kings more furious and severe than they ;
Who claim'd the skies, dispeopled air and floods.
The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods ;
Cities laid waste, they storm'd the dens and caves,
For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves.
• *»*•*

In vain kind seasons swelled the teeming grain :
Soft showers distill'd and suns grew warm in vain :
The swain with tears his frustrate labours yields,
And, famish' d, dies amidst his ripening fields.
What wonder, then, a beast or subject slain,
Were equal crimes in a despotic reign !
Both doom'd alike, for sportive tyrants bled;
But while the subject starved, the beast was fed."

These cruel and insupportable hardships, which the Forest Laws inflicted on the subject,
rendered our ancestors as zealous for their abolition or reformation, as for the relaxation of
the feudal rigours and other exactions introduced by the Norman family. Hence the anxiety
of the Barons on this subject at Runnymede. The disaffbrestation of Charnwood, by Henry
the Third, was probably obtained by the infiuence of the Earl of Leicester and the Barons ;
and it should be remembered, that this disaff'oresting implied little more than exempting the
distrist from the harsher operations of Forest Law.

It would extend these pages to a length unsuited to my design, to enter at large into a
history of the Chartm de Forestd and the other various laws connected with Forests. The
reader desirous of further information on the subject, will find all he requires in Man wood.
Some account, however, of the ancient Courts, Customs, and Officers of a Forest, may not
be out of place here.

FOREST LAW, COURTS, AND CUSTOMS. d

The Courts on Chamwood were — the Justice Seat ; the Swanimote, or Swainmote ;
the Court of Attachment, and Court of Regard. The Justice Seat was presided over
by one of the Justices in Eyre,* and was the superior, or Court of Appeal.

The Swainmote (as Nichols prefers spelling the word, from its supposed derivation —
a meeting of the swains) was assembled three times a year, and Spelman describes it to be
" Curia Forestw de rebus et delictix in Forestd accidenlibus." The owners of the lordships
of Whitvvick, Groby, and Sheepshed, only held these Courts : but whether the other lords
of the Forest were subordinate to these, or held other Courts, taking cognizance of similar
matters, does not appear. Like all Courts of high antiquity, the Swanimote was held in
the open air; that of Wliitwick, near Sharpley rocks, where the place may stiU be traced;
that of Groby, at Copt Oak ; and that of Sheepshed, on Ives Head.

The Court of Attachment, or Woodmote, was kept every forty days : at which the
Foresters brought in the attachment de viridi et renatione and the presentments thereof,
which the Verderors received and enrolled — but that Court could only inquire, not convict.

The Court of Regard, or survey of dogs, was holden every third year, for expe-
ditation or lawing of dogs, by cutting off to the skin three claws of the fore feet, to prevent
their running at or killing the deer. No other dogs but mastiffs were to be thus lawed,
because it was supposed these only were necessary for the defence of a man's home. —
(4 Inst. .308.)

The Chief Officer of the Forest was the Lord Warden. I have never met with any
mention of this officer with reference to Charnwood : but as the Constable of any Castle in
a Forest was the Lord Warden, it is probable that the office was held by the Lords of Whit-
wick, Mountsorrel, or Groby Castles.

A Verderor was a judicial officer of the Forest, chosen by the freeholders of the county,
by the King's writ; his office was to observe and keep the assizes or laws of the Forest, and
view, receive, and enrol the attachments and presentments, and make presentments of all
trespasses of the Forest, of vert and venison, and to do equal right and justice to the people.
The Verderors were the chief judges of the Swanimote, although the Chief Warden or his
deputy usually sat there. — (4 Inst. 292.)

The Regarders were to make regard of the Forest, and to view and inquire of offences,
concealments, defaults of Foresters, &c. Before any justice seat was holden, the Regarders
had to make their regard, and go through the whole Forest. They were ministerial officers,
appointed by letters patent of the King, or chosen by writ to the Sheriff.

The Foresters were swom officers, and their duty was to watch over vert and venison,
and to make presentments of all trespasses. A Forester was also taken for the Wood Ward :
and every Forester, when called at a justice seat, had to kneel and present his horn, while
the Wood Ward knelt and presented his axe.

* Justices in Eyre were instituted by Henry the Second, in 1184, and their Courts were formerly held very regu-
larly : but the last Court of Justice seat of any note was that holden in the reign of Charles the First, over which the
Earl of Holland presided — the rigorous proceedings at which are reported by Sir W. Jones. After the Restoration
another was held, pro formii only, before the Earl of Oxford; but since the revolution of 1688, many of the Forest
Laws have fallen into disuse.

4 FOREST LAW, COURTS, AND CUSTOMS.

An Agister's office was to attend upon the King's woods and lands, and receive and
take in cattle by agistment, that is to depasture within the Forest or to feed upon pannage.

A Ranger's proper office was to rechase the wild beasts from the purlieus into the
Forest.

The proper times for hunting the various beasts of the Forest were limited thus : —

That of the hart or buck began at the Feast of St. John the Baptist and ended at Holy-
rood day ; that of the hind and doe began at Holy-rood and ended at Candlemas ; the chase
of the boar began at Christmas and ended at Candlemas ; that of the fox began at Christmas
and continued till Lady-day ; and that of the hare began at Michaelmas and ended at Can-
dlemas.— (Dyer, 169J

It is right to observe here, that Burton (p. 71 of his Description of Leicestershire) asserts
that " this Forrest of Charaewood, never since the de-affiarestation thereof by Henry HL,
hath had any game or gard thereto." If by these expressions he intended to imply that
there never had been any resumption or restoration of Forest privileges, the following pages,
and especially the following extract, will prove that he was in en-or: —

" The whole Royalty of the Forest, or Chace of Charnwood (as touching the Swanimote
Court), doth belong to these three manors — Sheepshed, Groby, and Whitwick : and all the
four Rangers of this Forest do hold lands of these three manors, to perform their office of
Rangers and by other services, viz. : Mr. Holt, of Hathern, and Mr. Eyre, of Belton (for
his lands in Wliatton), two of the Rangers, do hold of the manor of Shepeshed (viz. : Mr.
Holt, of my Lord of Rutland's manor, and Mr. Eyre, of Mr. Davenport's manor), and Mr.
Danvers, of Swithland, one of the other Rangers (holds his lands in Swithland), of the manor
of Groby. Warner, of Markfield, the fourth Ranger, holds of the manor of Whitwick.
Every one of these townships or manors ought to have a drift within the liberty of their own
manor only, and not to usurp any drift within the manor of Shepeshed; sic e contra.
Neither are the tenants of these three townships compellable to come to any Swanimote but
such as is kept for the township or manor whereof they are tenants. And therefore Mr.
Holt and Mr. Eyre do wrong to their Lords to appear, and their offices of Rangers, at Whit-
wick Swanimote. And my Lord of Rutland's freeholders and commoners do wrong to their
Lord to appear at Whitwick Swanimote; whereas they should only appear at Shepeshed
Swanimote, when any is kept. Also, it is wrong that Shepeshed tenants and commoners
should be amerced at Whitwick Swanimote, as they have been of late : and now at the last
Swanimote, divers of my Lord of Rutland's tenants, and Mr. Davenport's, of Shepeshed
Lordship, are amerced, and like to be distrained upon, if my Lord of Rutland do not crave
of my Lord of Huntingdon that he will forbear to distrain them for the aforesaid causes, until
a right course be concluded between them by friendly agreement."

This extract was transcribed by Mr. Peck, in 1730, from an old manuscript at Garendon :
and though it shows that some irregularity had arisen in the holding of these Forest Courts,
yet it incontestably proves that, even so late as the period when Garendon was in possession
of the Rutland family (about 1621), the Swanimote, at least, exercised its powers.

CHAPTER 11.

WOODY STATE OF THE FOREST DOWN TO THE MIDDLE OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

" That wonderful and almost unknown tract of country, Chamwood Forest." — Nichols' West Goscote, p. 918.

" Neque enim ullis accedere major
Possit honos dens4 quam nubilis arbore lucus.
Sylvarum studiosa, suos cilm Gallia quondam
Vii aleret cives, patri^ migrare relict^,
Atque peregrinos alio defene penates
Maluit, excisis victum quam quaerere sylvis.
Haee ubi jam nemorum reverentia tanta bipennes
Ut teneat ? nostros ubi grandior uUa per agros ,
Quercus ad annosam, ferri secura, senectam
Durat ? inaccessis nisi consita montibus, ipso
Se defensa loco tueatur ; si qua supersunt
A patribus nemora ad seros transmissa nepotes
Ilia nee sestivo frondent impervia soli
Nobile nee coelo caput abdimt qualia quondam
Vulgus adorabat truncis procera Terendis
Sed veteri de stirpe novo surgentia ramo
Et quatuor post lustra nigros visuia caminos,
Vix lepori hospitium prabent, sylvestribus olim
Quse timidas latebris damas ursosque tegebant." — I'anier, Prred. rusticum.

To persons totally unacquainted with the district called Chamwood Forest, the word
" Forest" will convey very erroneous ideas of the locality. — " Why is Chamwood, in which
there is scarcely a tree, called a Forest f" asked one who had long lived within the shadow
of its beautiful hills. " Not for the reason for which the Latins have been said to have
given a grove its name," (lucus a non lucendo) was the prompt and proper reply. Time
was when those bare hills, as well as the valleys at their feet, were covered with majestic
oaks — when, to use the words of an old tradition, " a squirrel might be hunted six miles
without once touching the ground ; and when a traveller might journey from Beaumanor to
Bardon, on a clear Summer's day, without seeing the sun."

The names of Woodhouse, Woodthorpe, the Outwoods, Timberwood Hills, and Cham-
wood, are all plainly rcfemble to the period when the Forest was clothed with wood. — We

6 WOODY STATE OF THE FOREST.

shall endeavour, in the following pages, to trace the changes which the hand of time, or that
of man, has wrought. The lover of Nature in her undisturbed wildness, and the votary of

" The calm retreat — the quiet shade,"

may grieve over manj' of these changes, but he will find much to compensate for them in
the conversion of an immense tract of almost unproductive land into fertile fields, increasing
our agricultural supply, and greatly adding to the wealth of the proprietors, and to the com-
fort of the denizens of the Forest. It will be some consolation, too, to find, that though
there are some proprietors utterly regardless of the preservation of the natural beauties of the
district, there are others so careful of them as not to permit any consideration of pecuniary
advantage to induce them to efface the grand and wonderful works of Nature, or the ancient
handy-work of man.

The name Charnwood is probably derived from Quern, a hand-mill : as rough stones,
suitable for making these mills, were found in many parts of the Forest. Dr. Gale, how-
ever, thinks the name derived from Guern, an alder, and considers that Querendon, or
Quemdon, had the same derivation* The name Aller, or Alder Carr, is, perhaps, somewhat
corroborative of this latter etymology.f The alderj is still found in many parts of Cham-
wood. In the lower grounds it was probably in former days, as now, the most common
tree, and its early-known suitability for chaning, and for many ordinary purposes, may have
given it an importance which it has long ceased to possess. It should be remembered, too,
that Charley is, by many old writers, written Charnley, and the terminations ley and wood
only show the difference between the open and the timber-covered ground. Charnwood
was, however, at a period long anterior to the Norman Conquest, clothed with all the various
kinds of trees found in a natural Forest, and the undulating surface of the ground must have
imparted unusual beauty to the woodland scene. No person at all alive to the efl'ects of
foliage, can have failed to notice the superior charm of trees growing on declivities, over
those growing on flat siu'faces. Such an observer will easily draw on his imagination for a
picture of sylvan Charnwood, when Nature, and not the hand of man,

" Hung with -woods yon mountain's sultry brow."

Milton describes the woody boundaries of Eden as possessing this advantage of a rising
stage for the display of foliage.

" the champain head

Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides
With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild —
A sylvan scene; and as the ranks ascend
Shade above shade, a woody theatre
Of stateliest view."

* Qi/ernmore Forest, Lancashire, doubtless owes its name to the same origin.

t See Cough's Additions to Camden.

I Gilpin describes the alder as " flourishing in the poorest Forest swamps, and perhaps the most picturesque of any
of the aquatic tribe except the weeping willow."

WOODY STATE OF THE FOREST. 7

A district of ten miles in length and about six in breadth, almost wholly covered with
trees and rocks, and containing, perhaps, in early times, many temples of the Druids : the
abode, certainly, of those awful and honoured priests of a mystic and imposing form of reli-
gion, must doubtless have been of considerable importance to the ancient inhabitants of the
country. Charnwood formed part of the ancient Celtic Forest of Arden, which extended
from the Avon to the Trent, and the Leicestershire portion was bounded on the east by a
line running through High Cross to Barton, in Nottinghamshire. Many of the finest
scenes in Shakspeare are laid in the Forest of Arden ; and as Leicester is supposed to have
been founded by Lear, and the seat of his Government, I have sometimes pleased myself
with tlie fancy (especially when I have been in the midst of a pelting storm on the Forest)
that Charnwood might have been " the heath" on which Shakspeare imaijined Lear's expo-
sure to the storm. That the Romans were well acquainted with it is placed beyond con-
jecture, by the circumstance of a Roman road intersecting the Forest ; by the recent discovery
of Roman coins and earthenware, and by the station or stations which, it is presumed, will
be acknowledged to have been fixed on one or more of the hills in the Forest range.

I have somewhere read, but regret that I cannot now recollect my authority, that when
Wilham the Conqueror first broached his design of making the New Forest, some courtier,
out of pity to the Hampshire villagers, urged the King to make Charnwood his hunting
Forest ; and that William sternly asked the remonstrant " whether it was wished that he
should break his neck } as he understood Charnwood was full of rocks and caves."

Doubtless the Forest was of great note in the feudal times, when hunting the deer was
the chief pastime of the nobles, and when laws much more stringent than our present Game-
laws were in force with regard to Forests. The kilUng of a boar, a deer, or even a hare,
indeed, was punished with the loss of the delinquent's eyes, at a time when the killing of a
man might be atoned for by paying a moderate fine. Outlawry was also a very frequent
punishment for oflences of this nature. Scott makes John of Brent say —

An outlaw I to Forest Laws,

And merry Needwood knows the cause.

Robin Hood may often have tried the quality of the deer on Charnwood, when Sherwood
had too many of the King's men.* At all events, the Forest was in those times frequently
enlivened by the hunter's horn, and reUeved by the " Lincolne green."

Deer, goats, wild hogs, wild sheep, and wild cattle, with all the varieties of the feathered
tribe, abounded in the Forest : and previous to the time of Edgar, the district was greatly
infested with wolves. Some idea of its state in the 13th century may be formed from the
following notes, partly taken from a Perambulation of Shepeshed, taken at Whitwick Castle,
Nov. ■29th, 1-289 (temp. Edvardi primi) : — " Such part of the Forest as lay within the
precincts of Barrow, contained a wood, one mile long and four furlougs broad. Other parts
are undoubtedly included under Loughborough, where the wood was seven furlongs long

• It is remarkable that there is a spot on the south of Bardon Hill still called Robin, or Robin's Butts.

8 WOODY STATE OF THE FOREST.

and three broad ; under Shepeshed, where the wood was one mile long and five furlongs
broad, and where it was expressly stated that Godwin, the King's tenant, held also fifty
acres of meadow (probably the site of Garendon Park) ; under Belton, where the wood was
a mile long and half a mile broad ; under Whitvvick, where the wood was a furlong in
length and half a furlong broad, and where the Earls of Leicester had a Castle, a con-
siderable Park, and a Manor, to which many of the neighbouring villages are still append-
ants; under Ovretone (probably that part of Cole Orton called Thringstone), where a
ploughed land lay waste; under Stantone, where the ancient wood was five furlongs long
and two broad, and in another part (Bardon) were four acres of wood ; under Markfield,
where the wood was six furlongs in length and three broad ; under Grobi (including the
site of Newtown and Bradgate), where the wood was two miles long and half a mile broad ;
under Turcheleston (Thurcaston), perhaps including also Swithland, which is not separately
noticed in Domesday, where the wood was two miles long and half a mile broad ; and under
Anstey, where the wood was a mile long and half a mile broad."

It should be observed that these parts of the Forest called woods, of so many miles and
furlongs, were inclosures for the particular preservation of the beasts of the chase ; and it
is not hence to be infen-ed that these were the o)dy woodland parts. Polidore Virgil informs
us, that even so late as Henry the Seventh's time, " Tertia propemodum Angliae Pars pecori
aut cervis, damis, capreolis, cuuiculisve nutriendis relicta est inculta, quippe passim sunt
ejusmodi ferarum vivaria, sen rohoraria qua; Ugneis roboreis sunt clausa; unde multa venatio,
qud se nobiles cum primis exercent." — These " roboraria" probably meant fenced woods,
like those above alluded to.

Leland states that, in his time (the middle of the sixteenth century), this Forest " hadde
plentye of woode."

Dr. Corbett, Bishop of Oxford, who wrote in the seventeenth century (about 1620),
mentions in his Iter Sejdentrionale, that he and his companions were lost in the mazes of
Charley Forest, on their route to Bosworth Field.

Nichols believes that, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, great quantities of
timber were certainly growing : citing in proof of it the prevailing tradition, and the con-
current testimony of aged people.

A still stronger proof of the abundance of timber on Charnwood, in the 17th century,
may be found in an original document at Beaumanor (1673), which states that "William
Heyrick, Esq., the elder, and William Heyrick, Esq., the younger, sold to Humphrey
Jennens, Esq. (afterwards owner of Gopsall), 6090 oak and ash trees, within Beaumanor
liberty, on the Forest of Charnwood, from Loughborough Lane, near the Mile-cross, to
the north-east corner of Charley Lane, and on by Oldfield House, and Oldfield Wood
Corner, for the sum of £1,178." The elder trees, crab trees, and hollies, with the alder
trees growing along the Carr Brook, were to be left standing, and twelve years allowed for
clearance.

The acorn harvest and pannage for hogs, of which we find frequent mention in the old
conveyances of property bordering on the Forest, are proofs that Charnwood was not only
well wooded, but that it abounded in oaks.

C®]?

IK

WOODY STATE OF THE FOREST. 9

A poet's testimony to the sylvan beauties of Chanuvood, in the seventeenth century, may
not inappropriately be introduced here. The description acquires additional value for at
least poetical accuracy, from the circumstance of the writer having been a visitor at Beau-
manor and Garendon, and consequently thoroughly acquainted with the Forest.

" O Chahnwood, be thou called the choicest of thy kind :
The like, in any place, what flood hath hapt to find ?
No tract in all this isle — the proudest let it be.
Can show a sylvan Nymph in beauty like to thee —
The Satyrs and the Fauns, by Dian set to keep
Rough Hills and Forest Holts were sadly seen to weep,
When thy high-palmed harts — the sport of boors and hounds.
By gripple Borderers' hands were banished thy grounds.

The Dryads that were wont about thy lawns to rove,

To skip from wood to wood, and scud from grove to grove,

On Sharpley that were seen, and Cadman's ancient rocks,

Against the rising sun to braid their silver locks,

And with the harmless elves on heathy Bardon's height,

By Cynthia's golden beams to play them night by night ;

Exiled their sweet abode, to common bare are fled —

They with the oaks that lived, now with the oaks are dead."

But notwithstanding this classical lament over the departure of the former glories of
Chamwood, the same good old bard goes on to show that, in spite of all it had lost of its
pristine loveliness, it was still his beau ideal of all a Forest ought to be.

" Who will describe to life a Forest, let him take
Thy surface to himself — nor shall he need to make
Another form at all, where oft in thee are found
Fine sharp but easy hills, which reverently are crown'd
With aged antique oaks, to which thy goats and sheep
(To him that stands remote) do softly seem to creep.
To gnaw the little shrubs on their steep sides that grow ;
Upon whose other part, on some descending brow,
Huge stones are hanging out, as tho' they down would drop,
Where under-growing oaks on their old shoulders prop
The others' hoary heads ; which still seem to decline.
And in a Dimble near* (even as a place divine
For contemplation fit), an ivy-ceiled bower,
As Nature had therein ordain'd some Sylvan power;
As men may very oft at great assemblies see.
Where many of most choice and wond'red beauties be —
For stature one does seem the bell away to bear,
Another for her shape to stand beyond compare ;
Another short of these, yet for a modest grace

Before them all preferr'd.

Amongst the rest yet one
Adjudg'd by all to be a perfect paragon:

* Probably the Hermitage, near Sharpley rocks.
C

10 WOODY STATE OF THE FOREST.

That all those parts in her do altogether dwell,

For which the others do so severally excel.

My Chamwood, Uke the last, hath in herself alone

What excellence can be in any Forest shown." — Drayton's Polyolbion.

Crow Hill, near Woodhouse Eaves, probably took its name from a rookery. The old
trees, many of them twenty feet in circumference, were sold by an Earl of Stamford to the
charcoal burners at Melbourne, and after being charred on the Forest, the charcoal was
removed thither in bags, laid on horses. — (Nichols.)

Bens CliS', near Maplewell, was known to have been covered with oaks about 1745.*
From this period the Copt Oak, the Outvvoods, White Horse Wood, the oaks growing in
Bradgate Park, and about Charley Hall, are nearly the only vestiges of the Ancient
Forest.

It is not, however, improbable, that there are still some oaks, among the few remaining
on Chamwood, that were growing at a period little less remote than the Norman Conquest.
The trees to which I should be inclined to assign such a longevity are the Copt Oak, one
or two on the skirts of the Outwoods, and some in Bkadgate Park.

Several oaks lately felled in Sherwood Forest, exposed, on being sawn up, the date 1212,
and the mark or cipher of King John ; and it has been calculated that these trees must have
been several centuries old at the time the mark was made.

It is well known that the oak that proved fatal

" To that Red King, who, while of yore
Thro' Boldre-wood the chase he led,
By his loved Huntsman's arrow bled,"

was standing a few years ago in the New Forest. They who think a tree insufficient to
record a fact of so ancient a date, " should be reminded," says Sir Tliomas Dick Lauder,
" that seven hundred years make no extraordinary period in the existence of an oak."
Indeed, some authors have calculated with great ingenuity, and with considerable show of
truth, that some old oaks now, or lately, existing, may have been growing for centuries before
the Christian era. Some noble oaks, a few years ago blown down in Donington Park, were
supposed, by their internal rings, to have been nearly eight hundred years old.

Nichols' East Goscote, page 135.

CHAPTER III.

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

Burton describes Charnwood Forest as " lying upon the north-west side of the countie
of Leicester, neere unto Loughborough ; in forme somewhat square, of an hard and barren
soyle, full of hills, woods, rocks of stone, torres and dels of a kind of slate. This Forrest
hath beene very anncient, long before the Conquest, as all Forrests of England were except-
ing two." " It should seenie," he adds, " that this Forrest (as many others in this

vealme) had been disafforested presently after the Conquest : and that by King Henry the
Second it was afforested againe ; which by King Henry the Thirde, his grandchilde, was
again disafforested, as by his deede, afterwards exemplified by King Henry the Sixth, may
appeare."

To Burton's description of the situation of the Forest, it is only necessary to add, that it
is in the Hundred of West Goscote, and that it comprises a considerable portion of the tri-
angle formed by the towns of Leicester, Loughborough, and Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Charnwood is not often termed a Royal Forest, though it doubtless had as good a claim
to that appellation as others that were so : and it has been held by several Sovereigns, and
conferred, at various times, either as a whole or in parts, on their favourites. Sherwood is
almost invariably honoured with the prefix of " Royal," which it retained from the circum-
stance of King John and other Sovereigns having had a hunting palace within its limits.
Strictly speaking, however, a Forest cannot be in any other hands but the King's, " as he
only hath power to grant a commission to any one to be a Justice in Eyre of the Forest."
Hence all Forests were Royal Forests: "though, under a particular Grant, a subject may
have a Forest in law."* The Conqueror, who did not hesitate to appropriate to himself /b(//--
teen hundred manors — and who actually granted sixty-seven in this county to one favourite ;
and his successors, who frequently replenished their coffers by unjust attainders, did not
omit to secure the interest of their partisans by grants of portions of this district.

To trace how the Forest or its privileges passed to the Grentemaisnells, the Earls of
Chester, Leicester, Winchester, the Comyns, the Beaumonts, the Ferrers', the Greys, the
Hastings', &.C., &c., will now be done with as little documentary detail as is compatible
with the plan of a work professing to be, in any degree, historical.

The extensive lordship of Barrow, which includes a considerable portion of what may be
called the Eastern Forest, viz. : Quomdon, Woodhouse, Beaunianor, Alderman's Haw, &c.,
to the boundaries of Sheepshed and Whitwick, was given by the Conqueror to his nephew.

12 TERUITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester.* This Earl held also the manors of MountsoiTel and Lough-
borough, which still further extended his rights on the Forest.f

A little attention to the descendants of Hugh Lupus, of Hugh de Grentemaisnell, &c.,
will account for many ancient, and perhaps for some present tenures of parts of the Forest.
It will explain, too, how the Comyns became located on Chamwood, and throw light on the
cause of the disputes and fines (noticed further on) between the Earl of Arundel and the
Earl of Winchester, or Winton, and between the Earl of Arundel and Roger de Somery,
respecting the right to hunt, &c., on certain parts of the Forest. On these subjects a con-
siderable degree of misconception prevails, which the statements in Nichols, being diffused
over many parts of his work, do not greatly tend to remove.

Ranulph de Blondfa'ille, sixth Earl of Chester, died in 123-2, and left no issue; his
estates therefore devolved on his four sisters, who were —

L — Matilda, who married David, Earl of Huntingdon, and by him had a son, John the
Scot, the last Earl of Chester, who died without issue, and four daughters, viz. : —

1. Margaret, married to Alan de Galloway, whose daughters, Dervogoyl and

Maijory, married respectively John Baliol and John Comyn.

2. Isabella, wife of Robert Bruce, the elder,

3. Matilda, (s. p.)

4. Ada, married to Henry de Hastings.

II. — Mabel, married to William d'Albini, Earl of Arundel, by whom she had Hugh, who
died without issue (27 Henry III.), and four daughters, viz. : —

1. Mabel, married to Robert de Tateshall.

2. Nichola, to Roger de Somery, feudal Lord of Dudley, by whom she, too, had

four daughters, viz. : —

1. Margaret, nian-ied to Ralph Lord Basset.

2. Johanna, to John L'Estrange.

3. Mabel, to Walter SuUey.

4. Matilda, to Sir Henry Erdington.

3. Cicely, married to Robert de Monte-alto.

4. Isabella, married to John Fitz-Alan.

HI. — Agnes, married to William de Ferrars, Earl Ferrars. Their son, William de Fer-
rars. Earl of Ferrars and Derby, married Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of
Roger de Quincy ; from which marriage descended two sons, viz. : —

1. Robert, Earl of Fen-ars and Derby ; deprived of his earldom and estates in

1265, for taking part with Simon Montfort, Earl of Leicester.

2. William de FeiTars, Lord of Groby by gift from his mother.

IV. — Ha^visia, manied to Robert de Quincy, son of Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winchester,
and brother of Roger, second and last Earl of that family.

* The ducal houses of Rutland and Devonshire derive their descent from Ranulph de Gernons, fourth Earl of Chester.

f In the Grant of Ranulph, Earl of Chester, to Garendon Abbey, he says, "per forestam meam qua; pertinet ad Feodum

de Barwi."

TEIIRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST. 13

Cotemporary with Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, was another Noriuan follower and
favourite,

HUUH DE GRENTEMAISNELL.

On hiui William conferred almost unbounded favours : and amongst others, the restored
Castle of Leicester, together with the office of Vicecomes of the County, and the title of
Baron of Hinckley, as well as Castles and possessions in Groby, Whitwick, &c.

Hugh's third son, Ivo de Grentemaisnell, together with other powerful Barons, invited
over, in 1101, Robert, the eldest son of the Conqueror, to dispute the possession of the
English throne with his brother, Henry the First ; and, by this act of rebellion, lost most of
his estates, as well as his Castles in Leicestershire. They were given by Henry the First to

ROBEBT BELLOMONTE,

EARL OF MELLENT (iN NORMANDV)

in his own right, and created Earl of Leicester by Henry, To him succeeded, in 1118 his
second son,

ROBERT BOSSU,

SECOND EARL OF LEICESTER,

the great founder of several religious houses in the county, and, by his charity and other
virtues, well deserving his distinctive appellation of " The Good Eail of Leicester." He
died in 1168, and was succeeded by his son,

ROBERT BLANCH MAINS,

THIRD EARL OF LEICESTER,

who, with the Earl of Chester, in 1173, openly declared war against Henry H., in favour of
young Henry : but, after repeated acts of rebellion, was pardoned. He married Petronilla
or Parnell, daughter of Hugh de Grentemaisnell; and hence his son, by whom he was
succeeded in 1189, was called

ROBERT IITZ-PARNELL,

FOURTH EARL OF LEICESTER.

He died without issue (Xichoh, Vol. I., p. 98 J : so that his two sisters, Amicia and ]\Iar-
garet, became his co-heiresses.

Amicia, married to Simon de Montfort, in right of his wife fifth Earl of Leicester (father
to the great Earl of Leicester). He was slain at the battle of Toulouse, 1-218.

Margaret, married to Saer de Quincy ; he was summoned to Parliament, in 1-207 as
Baron of Groby, and Earl of Winchester.

14 TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

Saer de Quincy's son Roger (now become Earl of Winton and Leicester) manied Helen,
daughter of Alan, Earl of Galloway, and dying in 1-264, left three daughters: —

1. Elizabeth, married Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, in Scotland ; created, in 1278,
Baron Comyn, of England ; by whom she had John and Alexander Comyn, successively
Earls of Buchan. — (Alice, the daughter of the latter, married Henry, first Lord Beaumont.)

2. Helen, or Elena, manied to Alan la Zouch, grandfather of the Alan la Zouch who
was created, in 1297, Lord Zouch, of Ashby.

•3. Margaret, married to William de FeiTars, Earl of Ferrars and Derby ; son of Wil-
liam Lord Ferrars, and Agnes, sister of Ranulph de Blondeville, Earl of Chester, whose
second son, William, inherited from his mother the possessions of the Barony of Groby,
which in a few generations became vested in an only daughter, Elizabeth de Ferrars, mar-
ried to Sir Edward Grey (second son of Reginald, Lord Grey de Ruthyn) : through whom
the Barony of Groby has descended to the present Earl of Stamford.

In the Grants of portions of Charnwood made to the difTerent Religious Houses, here-
after to be noticed, and in the descriptions of the various Parishes, will be found almost
every name occurring in this genealogical statement ; and much that would otherwise be
ambiguous or obscure to the general reader will be explained by it.

Soon after the death of Ranulph de Blondeville (Nichols says, as early as 1239), the
manor of Loughborough, with Beaumanor and its other members, passed to the Despensers.
Nichols states, too, that " in 1278, Hugh le Despenser, created Earl of Winchester in 1322,
held Charnwood Forest of the King, paying yearly a pair of gilt spurs." Burton says, the
above manors only " were some time the inheritance of Hugh le Despenser the younger :"
and, as William de Ferrariis, as Lord of the Manor of Groby, held, in 1279, "partem bosci
de Charntoode in quo est libera chacea" and made grants of other parts,* it is evident that
Hugh le Despenser did not possess the \pliole Forest. Further, as William de Ferrariis
obtained Groby and his other possessions on Charnwood by marriage \vith one of the co-
heiresses of Roger de Quincy, and as the Earl of Buchan and Alan la Zouch married the
other two co-heiresses, and held, in right of their wives, considerable portions of the Forest,
at the very time Nichols assigns the whole to le Despenser, it must be concluded that
le Despenser only held, with Loughborough, &c., some privileges or office analagous to, or
identified with, the Rangership ; which, however, was a nugatory grant, the Forest having
been disafibrested in 1235. — (See page 23.)

On the attainder of the younger Despenser, in 1337, his possessions were confeiTed by
Edward the Third on Henry, first Lord Beaumont. How these parts passed from the
Beaumonts to Sir William Hastings, in the time of Edward the Fourth — to Thomas, Lord
Grey, in 1527 — to the Crown, by the attainder of the Duke of Sufiblk — and to William
Heyricke, Esq., by purchase, in 1595, will be seen under the head of Beaumanor.-

Gitonv and its members, extending over a very large portion of the centre of the Forest,
continued in the family of the Lords Ferrars till it passed, by marriage, to the Greys : from

* See his Grant to Charley Priory, in a subsequent page.

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST. 15

which marriage, the present possessor, the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, lineally
descends.

Whitwick, with its members, embracing nearly all the Western part, passed, by mar-
riage, from Comyn, Earl of Buchan, to the first Lord Beaumont : and, on the attainder of
William, Viscount Beaumont, was conferred by Edward the Fourth (1465) on Sir William,
afterwards Lord Hastings. On its reverting to the Crown, in 1613, James the First granted
it to Sir Henry Hastings, and the manor is now in the possession of the Marquis of Hastings.

Belton, the owner of which manor is one of the six Lords of the Forest, belonged to
Grace Dieu Nunnery at the Dissolution, when it was granted to Humphrey Foster, who sold
it to John Beaumont : on whose forfeiture Edward the Sixth gave it to Francis, Earl of
Huntingdon, whose son Henry, in 1567, sold it to Sir Francis Beaumont, from whom it
passed to the Eyres, and, by purchase, in 1793, to Edward Dawson, Esq.

If, to the parts of the Forest here accounted for, be added those granted by several of
the descendants of Lupus and Grentemaisnell to the different Religious Foundations, the
partition of nearly the whole of Charnwood will be explained.

Garendon, founded by Robert Bossu in 1133, though others date its foundation in 1169,
and granted to the Cistercians, was, with its site and demesnes, conferred, at the Dissolu-
tion, on Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland, from whom it came, with Sheepshed, by pur-
chase, to Sir Ambrose Phillipps, in whose descendant it is still vested.

Ulversckoft and Charley Priories, the former founded by Robert Bossu, the latter
by Robert Blanchmains, engrossed considerable tracts of the Forest. These, too, were
granted, at the Dissolution, to the Earl of Rutland, who sold them to Sir Andrew Judd,
from whom they passed, by marriage or purchase, through various hands to the present
possessors— Charley, to William Bosworth, Esq., and Ulverscroft, to the Rev. A. L.
Emerson.

Alderman's Haw, another portion of the Forest granted to a Religious House by William
de Belmeis, was conferred, at the Dissolution, on Thomas Farnham, Esq.

The fine before alluded to, as throwing further hght on the history of the Forest, is here
given at length.

Copy of a Fine levied between Hugh (PAlbini, Earl of Arundel, and Roger de Quincy,
Earl of Winton, about the right of Hunting, ^c., in certain parts of the Forest. — 1240.

" This is the finall agreement made in the King's Court, at Leicester, in Hilaiy Terme,
in the four and twentieth year of the reigne of King Henry, son of King John, before the
King's Justices itinerant then and there present, between Hugh de Albiniaco, Earl of .iiun-
del, plaintiff, and Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winton, upon a complaint of the said Earl of
Arundel : — That the said Earl of Winton denied him free ingress and regress into a wood
called Le Chaleng, to take his estover in ; and that he interrupted his hunting in the said
wood ; which privilege Ranulph, formerly Earl of Chester, enjoyed, as belonging to the
manor of Barowe, and whereof a plea was summoned between them in the said Court, viz. :

16 TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

that the Earl of Winton granted for himself and his heirs a moiety of the said wood
Del'Chaleng, towards Barrow, within the underwritten metes and bounds, viz. : — from
the Hejway end to the rock of Cerleg', and from the rock of Cerleg' to Dunthorne-huU,
through the middle Burchewode-ley to the Holy Cross ; so that the said Earl of Arundel
may take, give away, fell and use, at his pleasure, his estovers of the said Wood of Chaleng'
which belongs to him, and of all his other woods to the said manor of Barewe belonging,
without the interruption of the said Earl of Winton or his heires, saving to the said Earl of
Winton and his heires liberty to hunt in that part of the Wood of Chaleng' belonging to
the said Earl of Arundel and his heires : and likewise in all other the woods of the said
Earl belonging to the manor of Barewe, except the Park of Querendon. And that the said
Eai-1 of Armidel and his heires shall have Forresters in the said Wood of Chaleng', and in
all other woods belonging to the manor of Barewe, to keep the same ; and that it shall be
lawfull for them to carry bows and an-ows in all the said woods, upon condition that such
Forresters shall come every year, within eight days after St. Michael, to the Park Ford, at
the summons of the said Earl of Winton and his heires, or their Bayliffes of Groby, and
shall take an oath faithfully to preserve the game and whatever else belongs to the Forest;
and that the said Earl of Arundel and his heires shall have nine bows in the Forest of the
said Earl of Winton, viz. : five of which Ranulph, formerly Earl of Chester, had there, of
the gift of Robert, Earl of Leicester, and four given by the said Earl of Winton, to kill wild
beasts ; six small arrows, to take such as are wounded, without dogges, as often as the said
Earl and his heirs shall think fit in his own person to goe there. And that it shall be lawful
for them to go throughout, with the said bows and aiTows, to the way which comes from
Whytwyck to Groby ; and if it happen that any beast be shott within the said bounds, and
shall pass over the way towards Bardon, it shall be lawful for them to follow with the arrows
untill they be taken. And for this Grant the said Earl of Arundel hath remised and quitt
claimed from him and his heires to the said Earl of Winton and his heires, all that part of
the Wood of Chaleng', towards Charley, and towards the wood of the Monks of Garendon,
for ever, according to the said bounds ; reserving liberty to the said Earl of Arundel and
his heires to enter into any part of the said Forest with the said nine bows and arrows, as
aforesaid."

" And the said Earl of Arimdel grantcth, for himself and his heires, that he will not
permit any of his servants or tenants to commit any trespass in the said Forest, by destroy-
ing the game ; and if any be convicted thereof, the said Earle granteth, for himself and his
heires, that he will provide a reasonable punishment for such offence, without delay, to the
utmost of his power." — fFine.s Leic\ 24 Hen. III. J

In 1-252, another agreement was entered into by the Earl of Winton and Roger de
Somery, who, by his marriage with Nichola, second sister and co-heiress of Hugh, Earl of
Arundel, was the then possessor of Barrow, to this effect : —

" Rogerus de Quincy, Comes Winton, Roberto de Tateshall, juniori, Johanni filio Alani,
Radulpho fil' Rogeri de Somery, Rogero de Monte-alto et Cecil' ux. : quod teneant Ji/iem
inter Hugonem de Albiniaco Comitem Arundel, avunculum Robert! Johannis et Radulphi

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST. 17

et fratrem Cecilia;, de libero introitii et exitu Comitis Arundel in boscum vocat' Challenge,
estover et cursum canum ibidem.

" Rogeriis de Somery, tenens manerium de Barewe post mortem Nicolse, matris Radul-
phi, debeat fugare in Forest^ de Groby : Comes teneat Parcum de Bradgate, clausum cum
saltaloribus. Comes dat licentiam Rogero de Somery quod fugat in Forest^ su& ; capiat
duas damas temp, pinguediiiis et duas damas temp, firmationis : et aliae conventiones notatu
perdignaj." — fPlacita dirers' Comitaf apud Hunf, 32 Hen. III.)

Of such importance did these high and mighty Lords deem the right of hunting in
Charnwood Forest, that another agreement was made by them at I^icester, "in the 3 1st
year of King Henry, son of King John, before the Justices then there itinerant," reciting
the " cyrograph before made between the aforesaid Earl of Winton and Hugh de Albiniaco,
Earl of Arundel." — (Nichols, Vol. III., p. GQ\.)

Respecting their original agreement on this weighty matter, the late Dr. Vernon had
taken also the following memoranda from some other national records in the Talley Court
of the Exchequer : — " Comes Arundel questus, quod Comes Winton impedivit eum habere
liberum introitum et exitum in bosco Le Chaleng, ad capiend. estoveria, & currere cum cani-
bus ; quam libertatem Radulfus Comes Cestrie habuit pertitientem manerio stio Barewe.^''
" Comes Winton' concessit comiti Arundel medietatem bosci del Chalenge versus Barewe,
cum boundariis ; salv^ venatione tot^ comiti Winton', &c., & omnibus aliis boscis manerii

Barewe, excepto parco Quarendon Comes Arundel & heredes habeant forestarios, qui

portarent arcus, sagittas, genderes, picettas, & bozones sive sagittas : cum aliis conventi-

onibus notatu perdignis Chimina de Whitwick versus Groby & versus Berdon nomi-

nantur."

I could produce at least twenty other Deeds from the Public Records, in which this
wood is spoken of as " Kalengia," " Le Challenge," and "the Wood of Challenge;" but
from its total disappearance for several centuries, and the absence of its name from all modern
documents as well as Forest maps, neither Burton nor Nichols made the least attempt to
show where it was situated. I, too, should have had great difficulty in ascertaining its
precise site, but for the assistance of a gentleman of such a knowledge of the Forest, and of
its ancient history, as frequently to make me regret, while pursuing my researches, that he
had not superseded my labours by being himself its Historian. I allude to the Rev. M. D.
Babington, the Incumbent of the Oaks Chapel.

In reply to my inquiries, Mr. Babington says, " It is not so difficult as might be sup-
posed to ascertain the locality of the long-forgotten Wood of Challenije, because, on com-
paring the line which divided it into two moieties, with the ancient boundaries of the
parishes of Barrow and Sheepshed, given in Nichols, from ' Charyte's Rentale' of Leicester
Abbey,* and with the more modern perambulations of Sheepshed, it is obvious that the

• One of these Deeds is dated A.D. 1280. The other two have lost their dates, being imperfect: but they cannot
be later than 1502, when Brother Charyte ended the task commenced by him in 1477, of copying the ancient Deeds
relating to the possessions of the Abbey into the " Rentale." — (NicAols, Fol. I., App. p. bS.J — They are probably
much older than either of those years.

18

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

same line is intended in them all, and that (with the exception of the first quarter of a mile)
it is no other than the old Forest division between those parishes.

" By placing them in juxta-position, their identity will be at once perceived.

Fine levied A.D.\2-i.O.

(See p. 15.)

TheHeyway end.*

The Rock of

Cerleg'.^^

Dunthorne-hull.

Through the Mid-
dle Burchwode
Ley.

The Holy Cross. ||

B.

Inquisition respecting
the Boundary of
Sheepshtd Paris/i,
not later than A.D.
1502. — (Nichols,
Vol. III., p. 1014,
column 1.)

Le Hyvveye.

Charleston.

Perniediumclausi
de Charley; and
inde per medium
antiqua; aula; de
Ciiarley, quae vo-
catur Erleshall.
Rohay Well.§

Conston Cros.

c.

Inquisition respecting
the Boundary oj
Sheepshed Wood,
A.D. r2SU.— (Nich.
Vol. III., p. 1014,
colunui 2.)

Via Regia.
Nettilbush.

Ad Charleystonam.

Per medium curiae
de Charley.

Le Sikes inter
Birchwode et
Tymberwode.
Conistoynes.||

Inquisition respecting
the Boundary of
Barrow Parish, jiot
later than A. D.
1502. — (Nichols,
Vol. III., p. 61.

Netilbushe.

Charleyston.

Ad [h ] ostium occi-
dentiile ecclesiae
de Charley.

Donthorn-Dike.

Le Hyeway (from
Whit wick to
Groby.)i|

Peramiulations of
Sheepshed Parish,
from 1769*0 1809.

Top of Snell's
Lane *

Nettle Hill ;f and
tiience b)' the
Earl'sDyketothe

North end of
Charley Lane t

By Charley Hall,
formerly through
it.

Dunjack Well,
afterwards called
Carter's Well.§

Wide-meer-pool.

* Here the turnpikc-icad from Loughborough to Ashby enters the Forest. The name " Heyway End" implies
that, in 1240, there was no regular road to Ashby farther than this place. In the Barrow Inquisition no mention is
made of this road, because at Nettle Hill the Barrow boundary turns off towards Beaumanor Park.

f From Snell's Lane to Nettle Hill, the Forest fence of the inclosures was formerly called " Holywell Dyke."
Thence to Charley Lane it is still knoAvn by the name of the Earl's Dyke, traditionally said to have been dug by an
early Earl of Leicester. In many parts, particularly near Charley, it can now be scarcely traced. Near the Five
Trees it is very visible.

J Whether there was formerly a stone set down as a boundary mark at the north end of Charley Lane, or whether
the small adjacent rock in Mr. Dexter's garden be intended, it is impossible to ascertain.

S The strong spring which rises here, and is the principal source of Blackbrook, is now merged in the dam formed
by Mr. Gisbome at this spot, when he built Charley Mill. Its name, " Dunjack Well," probably has the same origin
as " Dunthornc Hull." Possibly its other ancient appellation, " Rohay Well," may have been derived from some
Charley Monk, a member of the family of Rohaud, or Rohaut, Lords of the Manors of Worthington and Newbold,
and possessors of other estates in Leicestershire in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. No list of the Monks of
Charley is extant, but Henry Rohaud was a Priest in 1309.— ("AVcAofe, Vol. II, p. 211.J

II The present road from Whitwick to Groby does not adjoin, though within a short distance of Wide-mere-pool,
well known in the Forest perambulations as the point at which the parishes of Markfield, Sheepshed, and Whitwick
met. Here three crosses were renewed, at each perambulation, till the Inclosure. The name of the ancient cross,
" Holy Cross," gives it a character of greater veneration than seems to have been enjoyed by the many other crosses
spoken of in old Deeds as standing in the Forest; for instance, "Sir Robert's Cross," near Little Bawdon Castle,
or that called " Acernus Lapis, ubi qusedam crux stare solebat," near Copt Oak. Perhaps its proximity to the Abbot's
Oak (little more than one hundred yards) may, on some occasion of high solemnity, have caused it to be consecrated.
Its other names, " Conistonyes," and " Conston Cross," are probably derived from its situation, at the east end of the
range of rocks (between High Towers and Green IliU) called " Warren Hills," denoting the Cross near the Coney Stones.

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST. 19

" In the present state of the Forest, the line may be thus described : — Commencing at
Snail's Lane, on the Loughborough and Ashby turnpike-road, it skirts Holy-well inclosures,
whence it runs in a hollow way called the Earl's Hyke, over Five Tree Hill to the north end
of Charley Lane, along which it proceeds some short distance, and passes by Charley Hall
to Charley Mill. It then strikes off at nearly right angles to Wide-niere-pool, in Mr. Wil-
liam Thurlby's homestead, at the back of the Green Hill public-house, where it terminates.

" A person at all conversant with the disputes consequent on the Chamwood Forest
Inclosure Act, cannot but observe, on looking at the table just given, that (with the excep-
tion of the first quarter of a mile) the parochiality of the land along this line, generally on
both sides, but always on one, was not till then decided.

" For instance, Charley proved to be extra-parochial, though the western side of it had
always been perambulated by Sheepshed, and the Lordship had, from the time of the Con-
quest, been held by the three first Norman Earls of Chester, as an appendage of Barrow ;
and was, in the middle of the thirteenth century, described in a Grant as part of ' the Waste
of Barrow,' meaning the part of the Forest in that lordship.*

" Again, a plot called one hundred acres, but really much larger, on the west of Charley,
proved to be in the liberty of Newtown Linford, though it had been demised as part of the
parish of Sheepshed in the middle of the thirteenth century, by William de Ferrars, to the
Lady Helen la Zouch, and was held by his grandson, Henry de Ferrars, in 1.325, as in
Sheepshed parish, yet parcel of the manor of Groby.f

" The remainder of the large tract between Charley and the Hermitage, near the Reser-
voir, bounded by Blackbrook on the north and by Green Hill on the south, was decided to
be in Whitwick, though at the time of the Inquisitions before recited, it was found to be in
Sheepshed, and had been (together with the one hundred acres just mentioned) always
included in the perambulations of that parish. So also, on the south of Charley, the land
between that place and the lunipike-road from Markfield to Whitwick, was then found to
be in Markfield parish, though the old Inquisitions place it in Barrow. A somewhat similar
uncertainty prevailed respecting a long slip of land on the eastern side of the Earl's Dyke,
till the land was allotted by the Commissioners of Inclosure, when it appeared that though
it was in the liberty of Beaumanor, it lay under the burden of paying poors'-rates to
Woodhouse.

" Unfortunately no ancient Deed has been preserved, which shows what parts of the Wood
of Challenge, to the south of the road from Whitwick to Groby, were claimed in ancient
times by diff'erent Loi-ds or Parishes ; but it is pretty clear that such disputes had arisen,
from the fact that a considerable portion of it is now in the liberty' of Newtown Linford,
though distant some miles from that place, and surroimded by other parishes.

" Connecting these circumstances with the name of the wood in question, we may very
fairly conjecture that it was called the Wood of Challenge from still more ancient disputes

» Domesday Book, Vol. I., p. 237. Xic/iols, Vol. III., p. 120, 121, 129, and 1011.— The whole Forest is spoken ol
by Lelauil as " The Forest of Charley, commonly called the Waste."

t Inquis. ad quod damnum, p. 2S3.

20 TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

as to the proprietors or parishes to which it belonged, the old legal term on such occasions
being ' challenged.'*

" But, thoucrh the situation of the Wood of Challenge can be ascertained, its limits cannot
be exactly defined. Besides the tracts already mentioned, it may have included other con-
siderable parts of the Forest, and perhaps of the adjacent country. At all events, it may be
safely asserted, that it contained, inter alia, the narrow slip of Beaumanor liberty on the
east side of the Earl's Dyke ;t that it widened considerably on reaching Charley (of which a
small part only was insulated by it) ;J that it embraced the large tract already described on
the western side of Charley, as far as the Reservoir ; while to the south of Charley Hall it
included Charley Wood, together with Timberwood and Birchwood Hills ; and to the
east of Bardon a territory, the extent of which cannot be ascertained, on the south of the
road from Groby to Whitwick. I am inclined to think that this was considerable; for it
cannot be supposed that the part reserved for his own exclusive use by the Earl of Winton,
the superior Lord of the Wood, was smaller than the part in which he allowed the Earl of
Arundel the privilege of hunting."

Such is Mr. Babington's answer. He has not only clearly pointed out the situation of
this wood, but has, perhaps, satisfactorily accounted for its name, from the frequent disputes
respecting it : though another antiquarian and eminent scholar is of opinion that Challenge,
or Chalhenge (as it is found in some old documents), is evidently of kindred signification
with Stone-henge, and he deduces from the word strong grounds for belief that a Druidical
Temple stood somewhere near the spot now called Stony Stumps, and that the wood was a
grove belonging to it, or leading to it.

My readers will thank me for adding a passage of great interest from Sir Oswald Mosley's
" History of Tutbury." It shows that a wood in Needwood Forest derived its name from a
cause somewhat similar to that which Mr. Babington assigns as the origin of the name of
the " Wood of Challenge."

"Thurstan, Archbishop of York [at the Battle of the Standard, 1107], had recourse to a
new mode of encouraging the forces under the command of these nobles [Peverel and Fer-
rars] : he caused a famous standard to be erected, bearing banners dedicated to St. Peter,
St. John, and St. Wilfrid, with a portion of the consecrated host thereon : and his deputj',
the Bishop of Durham, addressed the army from beneath it. Robert de Ferrars adopted
another plan of animating the troops he had brought with him out of Derbyshire [another
passage adds " and Leicestershire"], and from his other estates around his Castle.

" He promised a grant of land on the most frequented side of his forest of Needwood, to
that man who should perform the greatest feats of valour. These methods had the desired
eft'ect ; the hostile armies met in conflict near North Allerton, and, after an obstinate resist-

* The Abbot of Leicester cAaHenj'edAlderniau's Haw as his, from the Prior of Bermondsey. — (Nichols, I'ol. UI., p. 168. J

t This is called in the Fine " The part towards the wood of the Monks of Garendon," to whom it was granted by

Thomas Dispensator. — Nichols, I'ol. IIL, p. 811.

J In a Grant to the Monks of Charley, for the purpose of enlarging the court-yard of their Priory, the ditch of the
Wood of Challenge is described as adjoining the south wall of their Priory, where the manors of Barrow and Sheep-
shed met. — (Nichols, Vol. III., p. \2\, compared with f'ol. III., p 61, column 2.)

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST. 21

ance, the Scotch forces were defeated with great loss. The Derbyshire men were con-
spicuous for their bravery during the battle ; and upon their return from the campaign, the
promised land was claimed by one Ralph, to whom and his heirs the grant of it was con-
firmed under the name of Boscum Calumpniatum — Callingwood, or the Claimed Wood."*

This long explanation of points that have often been the subject of much doubt, will at
least be interesting to proprietors of the Forest : and the general reader, it is hoped, will find
in it some information that will amply repay the perusal.

Having now given a view of what may be called the quadripartite division of the Forest,
viz. : into Barrow, Groby, Whitwick, and Sheepshed, I proceed to notice some subsequent
subdivisions of these portions, for which I am chiefly indebted to Nichols' History.

After the death of Sir William de Ferrariis, in 1-288, it was found that he held the wood
(boscum) of Chamwood, and that William de Fen-ars, his son, was then aged seventeen. t

About this period, Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, obtained a Grant of a market and
fair at Whitwick, and held lands in Chamwood. J How he obtained possessions in the
Forest has already been pointed out. Manj' curious particulars of this remarkable Scotch
family will be found in a subsequent chapter.

In 1306, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, son of Alexander Comyn and Elizabeth de
Quincy, gave to the Nuns of Grace Dieu one hundred acres of waste appertaining to Whytwyk
and Shepeshed.§

In 1349, Alice de Beaumont, Constabulatrix of Scotland, widow of Henry Lord Beau-
mont, daughter of the second Alexander Comyn, and niece of John, confirmed to the Monks
of Garendon, for the health of her soul and that of her husband, and of John Comyn, Earl
of Buchan, her uncle, " Totum boscum et solum cujusdam bosci, cum situ, chaceS. et vena-
lione et alias res et possessiones in v'iWk et campis de Shepeshevede et de Garendon et in
Forest^ nostra de Chai-newode."

In 1422, Maud, widow of Sir John Lovell, Knt., died seised of a third part of a certain
Chace called Chamewood, parcel of the manor of Sheepshed; and in 1451, Sir William
Lovell died seised of the same, and also of several Knights' fees, held of the King, as of the
Honour of Leicester, by fealty only.|| These possessions devolved on the Lovells by the
marriage of John Lord Lovell with Joan Beaumont.

In 1540, John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, held portions of the Forest; and the Receiver
of Grace Dieu Priory charges himself with payment to the said Earl for common of pasture
in Chamwood for the tenants of Belton.^

The de Veres appear to have obtained possessions on the Forest by the marriage of
Hawise, daughter of Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winton, to Hugh de Vere, Earl of Oxford,**
or by the marriage of Elizabeth, widow of William Lord Beaumont, to this John de Vere.

• Sir Oswald Mosley kindly informs me that he derived this interesting fact from Records in the Duchy of
Lancaster Office, and that the Norman French name of the wood was Bors-chalenge.
t Esch. 16 Edward I. ; Esch. 16 Edward L § Esch. 34 Edward L || Esch. 1 Henry VL f Esch. 31 Henry VIII.
•• The amit of this Hawise de Quincy, also named Hawise, has been more ill-used by antiquarians, even of great
name, than any lady who has come under their notice. In the pedigree of the Norman Earls of Leicester (Nichols,
Vol. I., p. 18J she is altogether passed over in silence, while her three sisters and their alliances are duly enumerated ;
and though mentioned in the de Quincy pedigree ( Aichols, Vol. III., p. dHJ, she is at one time called the wife, and in

22 TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

In 1583, Thomas Pasquen held parts of the Forest by Crown lease.

Queen EHzabeth also leased lands in Chamwood to William Acton and others, at a
yearly rent of lis. 8d. ; and Sir George Hastings, in 1587, held certain woods in the Forest,
as parcel of the manor of Beaumanor, under a lease from the Crown, at a yearly rent of 30s.*

" Sir Henry Hastings, of Humberstone (who was knighted by King James, at Belvoir,
April 23, 1603), obtained from that King, for £4,000., the manor of Whitwick, with the
lands thereto belonging, formerly the property of the Duke of Suffolk, attainted, together
with Bardon Park, and all the messuages, lands, &c., on Chamwood Forest belonging to
the manor of Whitwick."t

In 1604-5, Henry, the fifth Earl of Huntingdon, obtained from James the First a Royal

Grant, under the Duchy seal, of the office of Chief Forester of Leicester Forest, with a fee

of 2fZ. per diem, and also the ofiice of keeping the ward called the Thvvayt, fee 30s. 4fZ. per

annum. He had also the office of Keeper of Heathly Ward (there is no spot in either Forest

now so called), in the same Forest, fee l^d. per diem, with agistment for twelve kine,

one bull, and sixteen loads of wood yearly, on the same Ward. Also the office of Keeper of

Burned Lodge (within the said Forest), with agistment for twelve kine, one bull, two horses,'

and sixteen loads of wood yearly. The Earl's own valuation of these privileges was :—

Fees yearly, in money £9 2 5

Cattle to be kept yearly (thirty-four) 51 0 0

The wood, yearly, being thirty-two loads lli 0 0

£7G 2 5

Besides this, the Earl had the killing of eighty bucks and forty does yearly, and the fishing
of his Majesty's ponds ; the pleasure and command of taking pheasants and partridges ; the
oversight and command of the wood, where no lord could fell any without license.^

Some circumstances concur to render it somewhat probable, that the Forest here called
" Leicester Forest" was, in fact, that of Chamwood, viz. : — Burton's assertion that there was,
in reality, " no other Forest in Leicestershire" — " the Thwayt" being undoubtedly situated
in Chamwood (see under Garendon) — the contiguity of the latter to Ashby-de-la-Zouch —
and lastly, because the Earl's immediate predecessor was " Chief Forester of Leicestershire. "§

the next line the daughter-in-law of Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winton. This seems to have originated in her being
known by two names, Hawise daughter of Hugh, and Hawise sister of Ranulph, successively Earls of Chester. In
another place (Nichols, Vol. III., p. \'1%) she is married to Roger de Quincy, haviaig been before called the wife of
his brother Robert. Lastly, the compiler of the index to the first volume of Nichols, considers her the sisier-in-laui
of Ranulph de Blondeville. There is a Deed extant which settles the point, and demonstrates that she was the wife
of Robert, son of Saer, Earl of Winton (Nichols, Vol. I., App. p. 40, No. 23J ; and another Deed (Nichols, Vol. III.,
p. 120J shows that Robert was the eldest son of Saer and Margaret, and that he was married during his father's life.
Hence I have differed (page 13) from the pedigree, &c., in Nichols, taken, I believe, from Dugdale and Burton. — Part
of the difficulty may have arisen from Robert not succeeding his father Saer in his title and estates, which is accounted
for by his having been absent in Palestine at his father's death.

* In 1609, Thomas Hood held in capite the lands called Shiflerman Hills,
f Harleian Manuscript, 3881. — Mr. Curtis states (p. 9 of his Topographical Histoid of the County of Leicester) that
this grant was made to Sir Henry Hastings and Henry Cutler in 1569, which is evidently wrong. See pages 154 and
160 of this work, in the latter of which this error is unfortunately repeated.

\ Carte's Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, F.F.F., No. 3.

S William Lord Hastings is also stated, in an Inquisit. post portem, 1467, to have had " officium Capitalis Forestarum

et Chacese Leic'." — (Nichols, Vol. III., p. 141. J

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST. 23

But Burton goes on to say, "Chamwood never (since the deafforestation thereof) hath had
any game or gard ." that is, Ranger, &c., appointed by the Crown. Again, the name " Tlnvayt,"
a piece of ground recovered by cultivation from wood-land, may be expected near every Forest.
Thirdly, the Earls of Huntingdon resided not only at Ashby, but also at Kirby Muxloe, in
Leicester Forest. Lastly, the Parks included in the Deed by which Sir William Hastings
was, in 1461, appointed Chief Ranger of Leicester Forest, viz. : Leicester-Frith, Barro?t Park,*
and Tooley I'ark, all on the verge of Leicester Forest, show that Chamwood was not then in-
tended. Grants in nearly the same words were made to the Hastings family in 1466 and 1507.
And the more high sounding title of " Chief Forester of Leicestershire" in 1604, meant
nothing more j for the Grant goes on to call him " Steward and Receiver of the Honour of
Leicester," of which the Forest, or more properly the Chase, of Leicester was a part. Nor
indeed had James I. the power to appoint a Forester for Chamwood. Since its disaffores-
tation, in 1235, the only occasion on which a Sovereign ventured to invade the rights- of the
Lords of Manors, was in 1278, by Edward I., who granted the Forest (see p. 14) to Hugh le
Despenser, in whose favour he frequently violated all the recognised privileges of his nobles.
That Grant, indeed, was nugatory ; for William de FeiTariis was at the very time in posses-
sion of a large part of the Forest, and continued to hold it to the day of his death, in 1288,

The last Swanimote Court, as has been already shown, was held in the middle of the
17th century. From that time the Forest seems to have gradually declined in importance.
The little timber it still contained, and its well-stocked rabbit warrens, were the chief things
that gave it value. Even the right of common had become a very precarious and question-
able advantage. It has, indeed, been stated by Mr. Bakewell, a great authority on agricultural
subjects, that this right was actually a dead loss to those persons who availed themselves of it.

Having given this cursory view of the chief Forest possessions of the wealthy, it seems
right, in this territorial description, not to forget what the poor man considered his territory.

The small commoners and cottagers of the various townships around enjoyed the privileges
which the free Forest afforded. They had their fern harvests, at which the fern was gathered
and burnt to make ash-balls — they had their little pickings of gorse, brush-wood, fire-wood,
turf, and peat — they had the minor " waifs and strays" of the warren — more than all, they had
" fleet foot on the Correi." Some had a few stunted cows and Forest sheep — a horse, it may
be, or a/ew asses, which carried coals or besoms to the surrounding towns. Regarding the
Forest as their inalienable right, they greatly resented the encroachments that seemed to be
extending wider and wider, from the increased vigilance with which the warreners found it
necessary to guard the lauds in the neighbourhood of the warrens. A spirit of dissatisfaction
at these inroads into what thej' called their " Maker's manor" (I have the expression from a
very old forester), first began to develope itself among the cottagers of Sheepshed and Whit-
wick. The Jack Cades and Wat Tylers of the district fanned the sparks of this dissatisfac-
tion into a flame, which soon reached the colliers at Cole-Orton. The outbreak that shortly
after arose, is thus noticed by Nichols : — " After the Forest had been well cleared of wood,"
as described in the preceding chapter, " it abounded for a considerable time in rabbits, there
being then at least five well-stocked warrens : Lord Stamford's, Lord Huntingdon's, Mr. Her-

» This is misprinted Bartow in Nichols, Vol. III., p. 120 ; and, after him, La the Beauties of England

24 TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

rick's, Mr. Phillipps', and Mr. Bosville's ; besides three smaller ones — Mr. Barber's, of Map-
plewell, and two others. In January, 1748-9, however, the inhabitants of all the neighbouring
villages assembled at Charley Knoll, and after a formal consultation began to pull down fences,
where encroachments had been made upon the Forest, at Woodhouse Eaves, Newtown Lin-
ford, and other places. Afterwards the rabble of the country, principally colliers from Cole-
Orton, proceeded to dig up and destroy the rabbits, which occasioned great disturbance.
Persevering in their resolution, the persons who claimed the right of protecting what they
called their property, raised help, and went to such lengths that it was found necessary to
guard themselves with fire-arms. William Whittle, a warrener, and four or five of his assist-
ants, were attacked by the rabble on the Warren Hill. These defending themselves, a scufBe
ensued with pitchforks, spades, pickaxes, &c., the warrener being the only person having a gun.
In this affray William Stevenson, one of the rioters, received a wound in his forehead, of which
he died in a few hours. It was the opinion of Mr. Hunt, the surgeon who dressed the wound,
that it was not gun-shot (though such a rumour had gained ground from the firing of a gun in
the air), but occasioned by a pitchfork giain having entered his head. It was never known
who killed him. Whittle and five or six others were indicted for the murder at the Lent
Assizes, at Leicester, in 1749, but no positive evidence appearing to convict any of them, and
Mr. Herrick's Grant of free warren being produced in Court, they were of course acquitted.
Yet the resolution of destroying continued, although there came two troops of dragoons, who
took great numbers of the rioters prisoners, so that the gaols at Leicester were filled with them ;
and after much controversy, the Forest was proved to be free common for twenty-six neigh-
bouring towns and villages ; and thus the matter rested. But there is now scarcely a rabbit to
be seen except in Bradgate Park." When the tumults had entirely subsided, the following
respectful memorial was drawn up by a considerable number of the inhabitants of the neigh-
bouring townships, and signed respectively by the officiating Clergyman of each place : —

"To William Herkick, Esq., of Beaumanor.

"We, the freeholders, farmers, and commoners of the several towns hereto annexed,
having a right of common upon a large common called Chamwood, alias Charley Forest,
desire, in behalf of ourselves and great numbers of commoners, in the first place, to express
our concern and abhorrence of the manner of the late proceedings on the said commons ;
and, in the second place, we desire to represent the great oppressions we and all the com-
moners have lain under, for several years past, by the enlarging and extending the supposed
ancient bounds of the warrens which have been kept upon the said commons, by which the
grass and herbage of the said commons has been spoiled, and rendered unfit for depasturing
of cattle and sheep ; and many poor tenants and commoners have and do suffer grievously
by the said supposed bounds being so enlarged, and by the warreners disturbing and driving
their sheep and cattle off, or when near the said warrens. It is therefore our request that
you will take the said condition of the commoners into consideration. And, agreeable to
your goodness in proposing to reform all grievances, we desire that a jury of the most ancient
persons nearest to those commons may be convened, and by their verdict such mere-dykes
or stones may be fixed as may prevent any future disputes ; and hope you in consequence

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

25

can receive no damage, as your tenants, together with the rest of the commoners, will like-
wise find their account and benefit by it, and be thereby enabled to pay their rents. And
we farther desire to recommend to your mercy those commoners that have incurred your
displeasure, by defacing the said commons ; it being their first offence of this nature, to
which many were betrayed either by i-umours without foundation, or led by curiosity, or
iiTitated by others' murmurs, or excited by sensibly experiencing themselves the decay of
their own commons. All which is hereby submitted."

This verj' temperate representation and remonstrance was signed by the Ministers of
twenty-two out of the twenty-six townships, viz. : —

Swithland.
Rothley.
Moimtsorrel.
Tliiucaston.

Cropston. Barrow.

Anstey. | Quomdon.

Markfield. ' Woodhouse.

Loughborough. ! Ratby.

Newtown Lin-
ford.
Hugglescote.
Whitwick.

Thringstonc. ' Woodthorpe.

Belton. I Mapplewell.

Sheepshed. j Stanton-under-

Hathcm. | Bardon.

What were the immediate results from this very proper address, Nichols does not inform
us ; nor does he state why it was solely addressed to Mr. Herrick, and not also to the other
owners of warrens. The reason may have been, that Mr. Herrick's warrener was the person
who resisted the rioters. The document, signed as it was, carries on the face of it the
general conviction that encroachments had been made on the commoners' rights, and the
circumstance probably had some weight in directing people's thoughts to inclosure.

Tlie circumference of the Forest, according to Wild's survey (taken in 1754), appears to
be thirty -three miles : but he has taken the boundaries in an angular form, or indeed in any
fonu they presented ; perhaps it might be encircled in a fence of twenty-five miles. —
licland says it was " XX miles in cumpace."

To the proprietors of Forest property, at least to those who have not access to Nichols,
it may not be uninteresting to describe the boundaries of this perambulation.

THE PERAMBULATION ROUND CHARNWOOD FOREST.

BEGINNING AT THE FOREST LANE, NEXT BEAUMANOR PARK.

4

Woodhouse, Barrow, Quorndon, Woodthorpe,

Round Woodhouse Eaves and Hungerhill Wood, in Swithland Field 1 6 25

Swithland, Mountsorrel, Rothley,
To N. E. comer of Swithland Woods 1 1 39

Newtown, Thurcaston, Anstey, Groby, Glenfield, Ratby,

To Cropsfon Gate 1 6 24

Round Bradgate Park 2 0 2

Round Blake Hayes and Stony Wells, N. W 3 4 48

To the ToU-House I 5 37

9 1 31

26 TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

Markfield.

M. p. p.

From Toll-House on road to Leicester 0 124

To the comer of Markfield Intakes, near the Toll-House 0 I 25

Round Markfield Knoll 1 I 28

To bottom of Wash-pit lane 0 3 5

To comer of ditto lane, under Cliff Hill 0 2 16

To top of Stony-lane 0 3 20

To Broad-lane 0 I 20

2 5 34
Stanton, Thoknton, Bagworth,

To Stanton-street 1 4 8

To Battleflat-lane 1 2 14

2 G 22

HUGGLESCOTE, IbSTOCK, DoNINGTON,

To Beggary-lane 0 3 31

Bardon Park,

To the comer of Copt Oak I 7 20

To Judy's-lane 1 6 4

3 5 24

Whitwick, Cole-Orton, Swannington, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Raunston,

To Judy's comer 0 2 28

To Whitwick-street 2 0 0

To the Dumps 0 4 25

2 7 13
Thrinkston,

To Thacker's-lane ^ 2 25

Grace Dieu, Osgathorpe,

To N. W. comer of Grace Dieu Park 0 6 3

To lane leading to Osgathorpe 0 2 35

1 0 38

Belton, Diseworth, Long Wiiatton, Langley,

To N. W. corner of Belton Low Wood , 0 4 27

To the Fish-pool 1 2 18

I 7 5

Shepeshed, Hathern,

To Gelder's Hall 1 7 21

To Shepeshed Nook I 5 0

3 4 21

TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST. 27

Gauendon Park,

M. P. P.

Round the same 1 4 27

KNiGHT-TuonrE, Burleigh,

To S. W. comer of Thorpe-Brand 0 3 30

To Loughborough-lane 0 ^ 33

1 I 23

LoUGHBOnOUGH,

To Beaumanor Park I 5 20

Beaumanor Park,

Round the same 0 7 5

2 4 25

The number of ancient entrances into the Forest, still known by the names of Forest
Gates, will show not only that its boundaries were foi-merly well known, but that it was
inclosed by some kind of wall or fence.* These entrances were — Forest Gate, near Lough-
borough ; Pocket Gate; Forest Gate, near Woodhouse Brand; The Hall Gates ; Horsepool
Lane Gate ; Meadow Lane Gate ; Belton Low Wood Gate ; Tickow Lane Gate ; Sheepshed
Forest Gate ; Snell's Lane Gate, &c.

THE FOREST CANAL.

Some statement respecting the Charnwood Forest Canal will not be out of place here.
In 1791, a Company, called t/ie Leicester Canal Company, obtained an Act "for making
and maintaining a navigable communication between the Loughborough Canal and the
Town of Leicester ; and a communication, by railways or stone roads and water-levels, from
several places and mines to the said Loughborough Canal." By virtue of this Act, a
railway was formed from the canal at Loughborough to the Forest end of the Loughborough
lane, whence a canal was cut, nine miles in length, to Thringstone Bridge, with a branch
towards BaiTow Hill lime- works. From Thringstone Bridge, railways again branched off
to the coal-pits at Swannington and Cole-Orton. The object was, to convey coals from the
Swannington and Cole-Orton collieries, and lime from Barrow Hill and Cloud Hill, near
Breedon. The water of this canal was supplied by the natural drainage of the Forest
running into Blackbrook, and collected and raised by a reservoir of thirty -five acres, formed
near the Hermitage under Sharpley.

The failure of this speculation, by which the Company sank nearly £'100,000., has very
often been ascribed to the bursting of this reservoir — to the want of water — and to the
porous nature of some parts of the soil in which the bed of the canal lies. This is an en-or.
It is true that, in 1807, the reservoir did burst, and caused considerable devastation and

* Forests, according to Sir Henry Spelman, were not necessarily bounded by a fence — "nullo sepimento, al certis

terminis."

28 TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST.

consternation too : carrying away, as it did, every thing that impeded its course, and making
a noise hke a second Niagara. Only one boat load of coals is said to have been brought to
Loughborough by this canal ; but the true cause of its failure was the nature of the line,
which has been thought to have been so formed purposely, in order to favour the Derby-
shire collieries. It involved the expense of unloading and re-loading the coal twice before
it left the Forest, and a third time before it could pass along the Leicester Canal, on reach-
ing Loughborough. The Swannington Colliery had, for some time, been a source of little
profit, and a dispute respecting the drainage of their pits had arisen between the late
Sir George Beaumont and Mr. Boultbee, owners of different coal fields near Cole-Orton.
Both fields were consequently closed, when the extraordinary expenses of getting to market
prevented their proprietors from entering into competition with those of Derbyshire : whose
coals, once lodged in boats, were delivered at and beyond Leicester without either the break-
age or expense of frequent re-loading. The Forest Canal was, in consequence, no longer
used, and is now a dry and unsightly cutting.

The Commissioners for the Inclosure were empowered to assess the value of the land
taken by the Company from the Forest. The Company therefore became the actual owners
of the soil ; and as they have no power to sell it, it is let to the different proprietors through
whose lands the line runs.

It detracts much from the beauty and value of the several estates through which it
passes — and, without a fresh Act of Parliament, it must ever continue to do so — as all induce-
ments to obliterate and improve it are necessarily wanting.

Having now carried the reader, though somewhat discursively, through the Territorial
description of the Forest, in which both the rights of the rich and poor have been glanced
at, I proceed to another portion of its history, to which the foregoing statements naturally
point, viz. : — The Inclosure.

CHAPTER IV.

THE INCLOSURE OF THE FOREST.

Thk preceding chapter will, perhaps, have rendered the reader anxious to arrive at the
termination of what he may be disposed to term " the dry details" of the book. Unfortu-
nately for an author, and sometimes for his readers too, he is not always at liberty, at least
in any historical work, to select his subjects. Most Historians have felt the difficulty of
avoiding tediousness, and at the same time doing justice to their materials.* It is not,
however, the less incumbent on a writer to present all " the dry details" necessary to a
clear view of his subject, merely because he knows they must be unpalatable to the
majority. To describe Charnwood without some account of the Inclosure, would be to
omit one of the most important circumstances in its history. Another chapter, of a cha-
racter somewhat similar to those preceding it, is therefore unavoidable, however uninterest-
ing it may be.

It was in 1794 that Mr. Monk, in his Agricultural Report for Leicestershire, stated that
" Charnwood Forest contains about 15,000, or 16,000 acres,t three-fourths of which might
be made into very useful land: and if inclosed, would make some valuable farms. The
most improvable part is towards Loughborough, where there is a large tract of very excellent
land, worth a pound per acre. It is the opinion of those who are well acquainted with
every part of it, that there is not a single acre which is not capable of improvement. If the
hills were planted, and the other parts inclosed, it would be a wonderful ornament to the
county."

It is jfrobable that this Report had considerable weight in confirming the then wavering
opinions of the proprietors with regard to the advantages of inclosure. The late Lord
Hastings, indeed, had long been favourable to the step, and it has been said that it was
greatly owing to his Lordship's influence, and the high opinion entertained of the soundness
of his judgment, that the great change was eventually accomplished.

The prejudices against inclosure were undoubtedly great. The loss of extensive sheep-
walks had its influence with some large proprietors, whose old inclosed lands were on or near
the Forest. There were, besides, proprietors of small inclosed patches, of only a few acres
(as, for instance, that called " The Oaks"), who absolutely ran upwards of two thousand

• Liv)- says, " Legentium plerisque, haud dubito quin prima; origines proximaque originibus, minus pra;biturae

Toluptatis sint, festinantibus ad htec nova," &c.

t Other authurilies estimated it at 18,000, and 20,000 acres : but including, perhaps, the old inclosures.

30 INCI.uyUKl'. Ol' TllK I'OUKST.

shiH'p upon the I'luvst. Tlusi-, ami llie small lommoiuis, iialiirally rcganlcd the contem-
plati'd change as spoliation. It was alk-ginl, loo, that " tlio oUl inclosiires, such as Charley,
the Holy Hood Land,* &e., rornicd no criteiion ibr judging of the general capabilities of the
I'orest. Thej were mostly in low and sheltered situations." However, notwithstanding
these doubts of the advantage or the justice of the measure, the Act of Inclosure obtained
the Royal Assent in 1808, and the account of claims was signed in 1812. "That Act," it
has been said, " increased the value of some land thirty, some sixty, some a hundred fold."

The Commissioners named in the Act were Robert Harvey Wyatt, of Barton-under-
Needwood, John Burchani, of Coningsby, Thomas Eagle, of Allesley, and James Green, of
Lenton, Gentlemen: and while, 1 believe, almost all the parties whose rights were affected
hv their decisions, allowed that they executed their very onerous duties with fairness and
fidelity, it must not be concealed that a considerable degree of dissatisfaction prevailed at
the unparalleled expenditure which the Commission caused. A leaning in favour of the
larger proprietors has also been imputed to the Commissioners. So far as I can learn, this
" leaning" consisted chiefly in their endeavours to accommodate the Lords of the Forest, by
fixing their allotments as near as might be to their respective Parks, Parishes, &c., and this
the Act itself provided for. Many claimants were disappointed at the rejection of their
claims "because no stocking had been proved," or because the messuages, &c., for which
they claimed "had not been built forty years;" but whatever the claimants' original rights
might have been, it is clear, at least in cases of " no stocking," that they themselves had
considered them valueless — and the Commissioners were guided in their limitation to forty
years by the General Inclosure Act. — (41 George HI.)

The reader may satisfy himself on the subject of the partiality or impartiality of the
Commissioners, by referring to their published List of Claims (to which are appended the
reasons for rejection). He will at once see that, in some Parishes, as in Kcgworth, for
instance, which claimed by Prescription, every claim was objected to ; and that in others, the
claims of most influential proprietors were disallowed, while those possessed of no influence
whatever were admitted.

The Act declared that " the soil of the Forest, with other rights in and over the same,
was vested or reputed to be vested in the Lords of the several Manors, Lordships, Precincts,
or Territories — Groby, Barrow, WTiitwick, Loughborough, Beaumanor, Sheepshed, Knight-
Thorpe, Thorp Acre, Garendon, Grace Dieu, Belton, Ulverscroft, Charley, Bardon, and
Thringston, together with the Honourable Augustus Richard Butler Danvers, Peter Cromp-
ton, Esq., and some other persons claiming lo be entitled to the soil of small portions
thereof."

The grounds on which Parishes or individuals founded their claims were Prescription —
Vicinage — having a parochial or manorial boundary on the Forest — being members of a
parish that had a boundary, &c., &c.

Manors and Parishes were only in some cases co-extensive.

* Inclosed by common consent, in 1688.— Nichok owns that it derived it« name from haying been, before it» inclo-
sure, thrown open at Holy Bood-day ( Vol. III., p. Ill) ; but he inconsiderately places it (Vol. III., p. 128) at the
Holy Cross, which has been before demonstrated to have been near the Abbot's Oak, and Holly (qu. Holy] Rock.

See the last note on Table, page 18.

31

Tne Pii^sHZs ha^- B:^iir^es ^

"W;,;.£l,-!:i

Parishes ttat were allowed Right (rf Cozi-;z. i? :: ..; M:u. t:^ : ! 1 v^ :^ _!._
Boondaries on the Fires'. : —

Ansjey^— Mei^.- ^ - M : :^ : IS— :i.:— : K:— — -^ : : :ii iLi^r c

GropKCii— V - : : - ;. ^-.-i i— :. -: : _: ::^ : ?^t.v-

Deiora— Mez: r , ] .n : ; : 7. -; -^ -

Grobr— Men:;: .; :_T M-i r :^::: Em.- —:.:n; :::_.:- _i ; -_:-r;saifi.

GienEelo — Mv- : 7 : Ji: ' . 7 L.;iix''SrLir._- — iC;— :;r ;;' i_r ^-n : ,: ?iLi«-

Xeyic-'gn U- .Ii . - ■ m 3 :::fr;f iiei_

theMii^:r-:Gr:;y: =_^ ;. : W^- S-^— - -:c:— M: v : ^: _: • -' '^^^'-

wioi Minor. ^--i

■ - ■ — M : ^; Mlz;: :' Grsor Dies — ^is iezu: -i. lir Fxr.- . r

Parishes allowed Right of C::

Biri-z.

Garecdoa.

BiT^.r.i.

Ibst«i.

Bre^cc

The quantity of land claimed, allowed, and objected to, in the cases of the six Lojids of

the Forest, is here given, in order to gire the reader some idea c: ■.:;-■

ihe general mode in which thev wer>? adjusted. The claims of > . - -

of the largest claimants, are also stated.

32 inclosure of the forest.

The Earl of Stamford's Claims.

Claims allowed by the Commissionera- Claims objected to.

Ill Anstey (as being -within Manor of Groby) 263 1 35

Bradgate (ditto) 1865 2 2

Breedon (by Prescription) 58 0 0

Cropston (witliin Groby Manor) 56 0 32

Glenfield (ditto) 39 0 0

Groby(ditto) 2U78 3 26

Newtown (as having a Parochial and Manorial Boundary on the Forest) 1374 1 23

Ratby (as being within the Manors of Groby and Whitwick) 803 3 25

Swithland (ditto) 34 1 6

Stanton (ditto) 78 2 7

Thurcaston (by Prescription) 19 2 10

6761 3 6

For Anstey and Thurcaston, Lord Stamford claimed also on Rothley Plain.

In this statement, it will be seen that not a single claim for land was objected to by the
Commissioners ; but their objections to Lord Stamford's claims for messuages and sites
were very numerous.

The Earl of Moira's Claims.

Claims allowed by the Commissioners. Claims objected to.

A. R. P. A. R. P.

In Barrow (as being within the Manor of Barrow) 6 2 23 0 0 0

Loughborough (as having a Parochial and Manorial Boundary, &c.) ... 1084 133 0 0 0

Mountsorrel (as being within the Manor of Barrow) 1 1 12 0 0 0

Woodthorpe (aswithintheManorofBeaumanor&ParishofLoughboro'.) 23 1 20 0 0 0

Woodhouse (as having a Parochial and Manorial Boundary on, i&c.) ... 0 0 0 'IS 1 20

Whitwick (ditto) 32 2 12 +9 3 21

Swannington (as being within Whitwick) 0 0 0 +40 0 0

Markfield (as having a Parochial and Manorial Boundary on, &c.) .... 0 0 0 § 7 0 0

Rothley (by Prescription) 0 0 0 1 0 25

Quom (as part of Barrow) 8 0 24 0 3 10

Hathem (as part of Sheepshed) 21 1 21 0 0 0

Newtown Unthank (as being within Groby and Whitwick Manors) .... 20 0 0 000

Hugglescote (as having a Parochial and Manorial Boundary on Forest, &c.) 15 1 24 11 0 26

Stanton (ditto) 0 0 0 8 1 26

1213 19 96 3 8

In Barrow, Lord Moira put in forty-five claims for messuages, with ten perches to each ;
every one of which was objected to, either "because the premises were built on the Waste"
or had " not been built forty years."

* t Because no Stocking was proved.

I Because the Premises were on the Waste, and claimed by Trustees of Wigston's Hospital.

§ Because on the Waste.

inclosurk of the forest. 33

Mr. March Phili.ipps' Claims.

Claims allowed by the Comniiswioi

In Garendon (by Prescription) 1774 2 26

Grace Dicu (as part of Belton) .... 465 0 7

Knight-Thoqiu (as having Parocliial Boundary) 51 0 27

Loughborough (ditto) 217 2 12

Kegworth (by Prescription) 0 0 0

Markfield (as having Parochial Boundary) 5.3 2 3

Sheepshed (Parochial and Manorial Boundary) 1301 1 4

Hathem (as being within Manor of Sheepshed) 93 1 1

Osgathorpe (by Prescription) 0 0 0

Thruigstone (Parochial and Manorial Boundary) 57 2 14

Thorpe Acre and Disliley (by Prescription) 646 2 18

Stanton (Parochial and Manorial Boundary) 4)9 0 26

5082 3 18

Claims

obj«;lt.d t

A.

R. P.

0

0 0

0

0 0

0

0 0

0

0 0

*185

1 0

0

0 0

t21

3 15

0

0 0

tI3

0 15

0

0 0

0

0 0

0

0 0

220

0 30

Mr. Herrick's Claims.

Claims allowed by the Coi

In Beaumanor (as having a Parochial and Manorial Boundary) 617 0 0

Woodhouse (ditto) 92 115

Quom (as part of Barrow) 41 o 0

Mountsorrel (ditto) 4 0 0

Loughborough (as having a Parochial and Manorial Boundary 102 0 0

Woodthorpe (as being withLn Beaumanor and Parish of Loughborough) 284 2 0

1140 3 15

Not one of Mr. Herrick's claims was objected to : and it has been alleged that that gen-
tleman might, with great justice, have somewhat extended them. The present proprietor
of Beaumanor has made considerable additions to his Forest property by purchase.

Mr. Dawson's Claims.

Claims allowed by the Commission

In Belton (as having Parochial and Manorial Boundary) 217 1 31

Long Whatton (as being within the Manor of Sheepshed and Belton) . . 1170 2 12

Grace Dieu (as being within Belton) 4 2 16

Osgathorpe (by Prescription) 0 0 0

Thriugstone (as having Parochial and Manorial Boundary) 45 2 27

Whitwick (ditto) 42 3 2

Hathem (as part of Sheepshed) 12 0 15

Kegworth (by Prescription) 0 0 0

1493 0 23

Claims

objected

A,

B. P.

0

0 0

0

0 0

0

0 0

+32

0 2

0

0 0

0

0 0

0

0 0

157

2 31

89

2 33

Because no Stocking was proved. t Because it belonged to the Canal Company.

+ Because no Stocking was proved.

34 inclosure of the forest.

Mr. Bosville's Claims.

Claims allowed by the Commissioners. Claims objected t

In Ulverscroft (as having a Manorial Boundary) 772 2 39 0 0 0

The Honourable A. R. B. Danvers' Claims.

Claims allowed by the Commissioners.

A. R. P.

In Barrow (as ■within Manor of Barrow) 40 2 0

Mountsorrel (as within Manor of Barrow) 95 2 36

Woodhouse (as having Parochial Boundary) 110 2 38

Newtown (as having Parochial and Manorial Boundary) 70 2 0

Swithland (ditto) 81G 0 7

Rothley (by Prescription) 96 2 4

Thurcaston (ditto) 567 3 28

Cropston (as within Groby) 58 0 0

1855 3 33

Mr. Butler Danvers claimed on Rothley Plain, for the same quantity of land in Swith-
land, Rothley, Thurcaston, and Cropston.

Compensation for Manorial Rights was also claimed and allowed in all the preceding
six cases.

One of the most singular claims was that of Great Wigston, situated nearly twenty miles
from the Forest. It was made in consequence of some horse-dealers, resident at that place,
having been accustomed, in their return from the Belton and the northern fairs, to turn in
their horses, and to leave them there till the next neighbouring fair. It was, of course,
disallowed.

A recapitulation of all the claims made, both on the Forest and Rothley Plain, would
be more tedious than useful. In this place it will be sufficient to state, that the number of
messuages claimed for were 3,631| ; of sites, 181 ; of acres, 60,605, .3 roods, '20 perches.

The number of allotable acres, both on the Forest and Plain, are stated by Mr. Jackson,
the highly respectable Surveyor, to have been only 11,500. From these, the land ordered
to be set apart for building and endowing Chapels — the compensation for manorial rights,
and for tithes — the land for roads, and the expenses of making them, and the whole cost of
the Act, Commission, Surveys, &c., had first to be deducted.

One of the greatest items of expenditure was the outlay for making roads, which I state,
on the authority of Mr. Jackson, to have been not less than sixty thousand pounds. For
some of these purposes, extensive sales of Forest lands took place. The amount of land so
sold was 2,558 acres on the Forest, and 60 acres on Rothley Plain.

To every proprietor whose claim had been admitted, about 3s. 6d. worth of Forest land
was allotted for every £5. worth of the old inclosure for which he claimed ; and for every
messuage and every site, having right of common, 8s. worth of Forest land. Hence there
were allotments so small as one-sixth of a perch.

INCLOSURE OF THE FOREST. 35

One of the hardships committed by the inclosure will strike every visitor of the Forest —
the absence of foot-paths. That in a district affording means of support to many hundreds
of humble cottagers — means of recreation to thousands — not one yard of foot-path, not one
acre of open ground should have been reserved, was at least a hardship. The poor, how-
ever, had perhaps an equivalent in the new field which was opened for their labour : and
the public, in the improved roads which run in every direction, intersecting the hitherto
almost impassable region.

One remarkable clause in the Act was, that formally disafforesting Charnwood.*

They who had predicted that the attempts to render the Forest profitable by the plough
would prove futile, were astonished at the result of the first few years' culture. The sower
who had the courage to hazard his seed, " might think himself fortunate," said the oppo-
nents of the inclosure, " if his crop returned the seed." What was their surprise, when the
apparently sterile and valueless Broombriggs produced ten quarters of oats an acre !

True, this portion of Charnwood had the benefit of the skill and energy of one of the
best practical agriculturists that ever set plough on the Forest — the late talented and
lamented Mr. Charles Allsop. Those readers who knew that estimable and highly-gifted
man, will not think some allusion to him, in this place, foreign to the subject of my history.

He was born in the parish of Wanlip, in the year 1780, and was descended from an
old and most respectable agricultural family, who had for many years been tenants on the
Wanlip estate. His excellent conduct, his quickness of apprehension, the ingenuousness
of his mind, and the desire which he evinced to improve himself, attracted the notice, and
subsequently secured for him the friendship and esteem of the late Sir Charles Hudson and
his family : admitted into their society and intimacy, he gradually acquired habits and
tastes, to which he otherwise might have been comparatively a stranger ; and probably
imbibed that love for literature which proved a recreation to him after many a weary hour of
labour and toil, and a solace to him amidst the many domestic sorrows with which it pleased
Providence to afflict him.

A matrimonial alliance which he formed in the year 1812, with Mary, the eldest daugh-
ter, and one of the co-heiresses of the late George Watkinson, Esq., of Woodhouse, first
made him acquainted with the neighbourhood of Charnwood, and through this connexion
he ultimately became the possessor of the Broombriggs estate.

The beauty of the Forest scenery attracted his imagination — the contemplated inclosure
— the scope that it would give to bring his agricultural theories to the test, and his practical
knowledge to bear — and above all, the good which he felt conscious he could accomplish —
were incentives which his ardent mind was unable to resist, and led him to contemplate
with less regret, the exchange which he shortly afterwards made of the richly-cultivated
lands of Wanlip for the unbroken and apparently sterile soil of Broombriggs.

His mind was intent on his object: and within a short time after his residence on the
borders of the Forest, the face of the country was wholly changed. By his skill and indus-
try, the heath-clad hills became verdant pastures ; the valleys were filled with luxuriant

• This, I believe, was a legal formulary, introduced into all Inclosure Acts where the lands to be inclosed ha?e,
at any time, been part of a Forest.

36 INCLOSURE OF THE FOREST.

corn; and in the place of the furze and the fern, there was plentiful food for the use
of man.

His successful exertions excited emulation amongst other farmers, and gave them assu-
rance that their labours would be crowned with success, by showing them that the wilderness
could be turned into a fruitful field ; and it may be questioned whether many of the best
cultivated Forest farms would have reached their present respectable state of cultivation,
but for the example of Mr. Allsop.

He was visited with great affliction in the loss of his amiable wife and five children
(the whole of his family), but the strength of his mind, and his high sense of religious duty,
enabled him to struggle with his grief; it is, however, probable, that these bereavements
laid the foundation of that disease which terminated his useful career. In the last few years
of his life, having perfected the cultivation of his own farm, and having formed a friendship
with the owner of the Beaumanor estate, he undertook the management of that property,
and laid the foundation of many of the improvements which have since been gi-adually going
on there.

Passionately fond of landscape gardening, many were the pleasant hours he spent in
that seductive occupation. His own grounds and plantations were evidences of his great
taste, and they now abundantly testify how successfully he sought to make amends to
Nature for the loss of those wild beauties, of which she had been robbed by the inclosure.

Latterly he devoted himself with greater assiduity to his literary pursuits ; he acquired
a competent knowledge of Botany, but directed his attention more particularly to the study
of Geology ; and when Professor Sedgwick visited the Forest, in the year 1833, he showed
himself so well acquainted with this interesting district, and afforded him so much local
information, as led to future communications between them, and insured for him the kind-
ness and esteem of that eminent man till the day of his death.

For several years after leaving Wanlip, and before his own house on Broombriggs was
completed, Mr. Allsop took up his abode at Woodhouse Eaves : and, during his residence
there, he became familiarly acquainted with the wants and difficulties of the poor around
him. He viewed with pleasure their prosperity increasing in consequence of the employ-
ment which the cultivation of the Forest afforded them, and he was earnestly anxious that
the improvement of their social, moral, and religious condition, should go hand in hand with
their temporal prosperity.

He was aware that no great permanent good could be effected, unless there was a
resident Clergyman, and unless endowed schools were established in the place. Under this
impression, it was his intention (had his life been spared) to have made provision for the
attainment of these objects ; but being prematurely cut off, he could only communicate his
dying wishes to his residuary Legatee, the present Miss Watkinson, of Woodhouse — and
the very handsome Parsonage and Schools, at AVoodhouse Eaves, are the lasting memo-
rials of his munificence, and of the faithfulness of her to whom the unwritten trust was
confided.

Thus he died, in August, 1830, having just completed his 56th year.

INCLOSUUE OF THE FOKEST. 37

FOREST CHURCHES.

Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall ofl'er an oblation unto the Lord :
an holy portion of the land. — Ezekiel, chapter xlv., verse 1.

It will not, it is presumed, be uninteresting either to the proprietors, inhabitants, or
visitants of the Forest, to have some record of the manner by which the three Churches, or,
properly speaking. Chapels, that add so much to its beauty, and contribute so largely to the
welfare of the foresters, were erected.

Previously to the inclosure, the population, scattered over the centre of the Forest, from
their remote situation, had no sanctuary ; they were, in reality, " sheep without a shep-
herd." A solitary Meeting-house at Bardon, and a private meeting in some cottage near
Snell's-lane, offered the only means of religious instruction within reach. No sooner, how-
ever, did it appear likely that the inclosure would be effected, than a neighbouring pro-
prietor, who has been termed " the friend of Wilberforce and of humanity," zealously applied
himself to the work of securing to the inhabitants of the district, places of worship suited to
their wants. It is scarcely necessary to add, that this excellent individual was the late
Thomas Babington, Esq., of Rothley Temple ; at that time Member of Parliament for
Leicester.

So early as 1805, Mr. Babington submitted to Dr. Pretyman, the Bishop of the Diocese,
a plain statement of the spiritual destitution of the Charnwood Foresters, and of the neces-
sity for introducing into the then pending Bill, a clause to secure the erection of Churches,
and make a permanent provision for Clergymen to serve them. The Bishop entered warmly
into the plan. The difficulties to be surmounted were of no ordinary nature, and but for
tlie Christian zeal of Mr. Babington, it is not saying too much to add, that they would have
proved insuperable. It was a matter of doubt whether it would be better to introduce a
clause, rendering it compulsory upon certain Livings entitled to tithe allotments, to maintain
Chapels of Ease in different parts of the Forest — or at once to provide for their erection.
The latter ]ilan was happily selected ; and though the provision secured seemed, at the
time, disproportionately small to the extent of territory, and to the probability of its be-
coming, at no distant period, a well-peopled district, a mode of accumulation was judiciously
adopted, that has, after the lapse of thirty years, been found equal to the realization of the
enlightened and benevolent views of these excellent persons. Three Churches, out of the
four which were deemed requisite by the Bishop and Mr. Babington, have been erected
and endowed. If they had foreseen that so considerable a share of the Forest would have
been sold by the Commissioners in large lots, and that so many of the claims of the smaller
proi)rietors would have been bought by wealthy and enterprising individuals — thus causing
the farms to be of large size — and that no manufacture would be introduced — they would,
no doubt, have been abundantly satisfied with the three which have been consecrated.

The Peculiar Exempt Jurisdiction of Groby (the origin of which has never been satis-
factorily explained), belonging to the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, extended over a
very large part of the central Forest ; in fact, to the boundaries of Sheepshed and Whitwick.

38 INCLOSURE OF THE FOREST.

Desirous of transmitting to his posterity those rights which he had inherited, his Lordship
could not, anxious as he was to forward Mr. Babington's plan, consent, without injustice,
to surrender them. Provision had therefore to be made for their preservation, as well as for
the anangement of other difficulties. The Bishop of Lincoln, in a letter to Mr. Babington,
dated December 7, 1805, sketched his view of the general tenor of the clause, the insertion
of which he requested his correspondent to move during the progress of the Bill through the
House of Commons, and was particularly desirous that it should be so framed as not to
require a subsequent enactment. His Lordship's plans were embodied in the following
clause, and it is due to most of the large proprietors to say, that claims urged from such a
quarter met with a cheerful concurrence, which could scarcely have been expected from
the influence of Mr. Babington, great as it deservedly was, in days when the Wild-more
Fen Inclosure Act, A.D. 1801, was the only precedent the Bishop was able to produce of
land having been assigned for the erection of Chapels in addition to the Tithe allotments.
The only other previous instance of a like nature, on the inclosure of Needwood Forest, is
not exactly in point, because there the land for a new Church was granted out of the allot-
ment to the King, as Duke of Lancaster.

The Act of Inclosure provided " that there should be set apart land equal in value to
two hundred acres, at the average value of the said Forest ; having regard in setting out
the same to the respective extent and value of so much of the Forest as is within the Ecclesi-
astical Peculiar Exempt Jurisdiction of Groby, and of the residue of the Forest not included
in such Exempt Jurisdiction ; and the Commissioners were required to allot and award
so much of the said two hundred acres as shall be proportionate to the extent and value of
the parts of the Forest included in the said Peculiar of Groby, unto and for the Lord of the
Manor and Ecclesiastical Peculiar Exempt Jurisdiction of Groby, and the Commissary of
the same, and their successors for the time being.

" And all the residue of such two hundred acres, unto and for the Lord Bishop of Lin-
coln, and the Archdeacon of Leicester, and the Lords of the several Manors of Groby, Whit-
wick, Beaumanor, Sheepshed, Ulverscroft, and Belton, for the time being, to be respectively
held and enjoyed by them and their successors and heirs, as Freehold in Fee, for the use
and benefit of such person or persons as may be duly appointed to serve as Minister or
Ministers of any Chapel or Chapels which may hereafter be built, consecrated, and set
apart for the public worship of Almighty God, according to the laws Ecclesiastical of this
realm within the said Forest, for the use of such person and persons as may from time to
time inhabit houses upon the Forest; and the nomination and appointment of the Minister
or Ministers of such Chapel or Chapels, shall be and is vested in the Lords of the several
above mentioned Manors; and in case of their not agreeing— in the major part of them —
and in case of their being equally divided — the nomination to any Chapel, &c., to be erected
within the limits of the Peculiar of Groby, shall be made by the Ordinary of the said Juris-
diction; and to any Chapel, &c., to be erected on any part of the Forest not included in the
said Peculiar, by the Bishop of the Diocese for such turn or turns only ; and until a Chapel
or Chapels shall be so built and consecrated, and a Minister or Ministers duly appointed,
the rents, issues, and profits of such pieces of land aforesaid, shall be, by the said respective

INCLOSURE OF THE FOREST. 39

Trustees thereof, placed out at interest on Government securities, and the principal and
interest arising from such rents, &c., shall accumulate, and be applied towards discharging
the expenses of building any Chapel or Chapels, and house or houses, which may hereafter
be erected within the said Forest, for the residence of the officiating Minister or Ministers
of such Chapel or Chapels, and for the increasing of the stipend or stipends of any Minister
or Ministers who may be so nominated and appointed to officiate in such Chapel or Chapels
as aforesaid, or purchasing lands for his or their use as Glebe,"

The Act received the Royal Assent June 18, 1808, and measures were speedily taken to
render the Church building clause effective. For this purpose, as there were, of course, no
funds immediately available, owing to the provision made for accumulations, Mr. Babington
set on foot a subscription, and succeeded in raising about £600. amongst his relatives and
personal friends. When it was decided to build the first Church in the Peculiar of Groby,
the Earl of Stamford nobly gave a£400. and lent £400. more ; the latter sum, I believe, for
the purpose of bringing into cultivation the land in his Lordship's Peculiar allotted for the
Chapel. The Bishop of Lincoln gave £50., and a like sum was contributed by Mr. Bos-
ville, the then Lord of the Manor of Ulvescroft. The other Lords of Manors, and pro-
prietors, from the almost unavoidable jealousy occasioned by the manner in which the
patronage was limited in the Act, reserved their donations for the Chapel or Chapels here-
after to be erected in those parts of the Forest not included in the Peculiar of Groby.

The building of the Oaks Chapel soon commenced, and on the 18th of June, 181-5, while
the memorable Battle of Waterloo was being fought, the Bishop of Lincoln consecrated this
Chapel of the Wilderness ! the first new Church built in this county for several generations,
so for as I can learn.

The ceremony has been described as one of unusual solemnity ; the fineness of the day,
and the novelty of the scene, had attracted a gi-eat number of the inhabitants of the neigh-
bouring villages; while those more specially interested in spreading the Gospel in this long
benighted region, had been drawn from greater distances. A spectator, who beheld the
perambulation of the Chapel yard from a neighbouring eminence, states, that the scene was
altogether the most imposing he ever beheld on the Forest.

The inhabitants of the Forest, to commemorate the foundation of the first Forest Church,
and struck, perhaps, by the coincidence of its being consecrated on what is now called
" Waterloo-day," attempted for some years to keep up a wake on the anniversary ; the
custom, however, soon fell into disuse.

The beautiful Chapels at Copt Oak and Woodhouse Eaves, erected in 1837, were also
the results of the clause already given : Mr. Herrick having kindly taken the same active
part to procure subscriptions in aid which Mr. Babhigtou had taken for the Oaks Chapel.
There were, however, many difficulties to contend with, and the valuable and gratuitous
legal assistance rendered by Mr. Cradock in removing them, deserves to be recorded. The
appointments of Ministers were made, for the Jirst time, February 28, 1838. The Rev.
Matthew Drake Babington was appointed to the Oaks Chapel, and the Rev. R. W. Close
to those at Copt Oak and Woodhouse Eaves. The Copt Oak and Woodhouse Chapels were
erected after the elegant and chaste designs of Mr. Railton.

40 INCLOSURE OF THE FOREST.

It must be most gratifying to the survivors who aided in the good work of securing the
erection of the three Chapels, Schools, &c., to leani that their labours have not been in vain.

The Oaks Chapel has always had a tolerably large and an attentive congregation, many
of whom, previously to its erection, were precluded from all opportunities of attending
divine service.

The Woodhouse Eaves and the Copt Oak Chapels are also extremely well attended,
and the Schools connected with them are in a most flourishing state. I visited those at
Woodhouse Eaves in the present year, and I never left a similar institution with more
favourable impressions. The children are evidently receiving the elements of a useful edu-
cation, based on the foundation on which all instruction ought to rest — a sound knowledge
of the Scriptures.

One source of regret, on leaving the Eaves Schools, naturally occurred to me — that he,
bv whose bounty they were raised, was not alive to witness the happy results of his own
munificence — to enjoy, as he always did, the luxury of doing good !

W A ?■] © 0 |i^3 © S T © ?1 E .

near the Oalcs Ckurch.

i>] A IM © Rfl a [L L

C'l LIT

CHAPTER V.

ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Datur hsec venia Antiquitati. — Livy.

The Antiquities of the Forest being generally referred to in the descriptions of the
respective parishes to which they belong, may seem hardly to require a separate chapter.
As, however, they are not unimportant, it appeared desirable to present them in one view —
an arrangement which will save the antiquarian reader the trouble of a too frequent reference
to the index.

Vague assertions that the Forest was one of the favoured haunts of Druidism, may be
found in several writers, especially in Tlirosby, but I have not discovered in any work any
evidence to support the statement. That it was the haunt of those venerated priests of a
religion blending with gleams of the pure faith all the horrors and superstitions of idolatry,
I shall attempt to prove. It will, I imagine, be at once conceded that a district, possessing
so many natural temples and groves, was peculiarly adapted to Druid rites. Their strong-
holds have almost invariably been found to have been in rocky and remote places, as on
Dartmoor, in the Peak of Derbyshire — in Wales — and in the landes of Brittany.

It has been well observed, that " every name is a history ;" and, believing in the general
truth of the observation, I am disposed to attach considerable importance to the etymology
of several names still found on Charnwood, though it must be admitted that deductions of
that kind ai'e not always to be relied on.

BuDD was the war-god of the Druids — we have Buddon Wood.

Apollo was worshipped by them under the name Belixus — Belinton was the spelling
of Belton in Doomsday Book.

The Bards formed that sect of the Druids which composed their choral hymns, and re-
counted the praise of their heroes — hence Bardox Hill.

SoLiXA was a favourite Druidical idol — there is still a lane, skirting Sheepshed towards
the Forest, called SuLiXG-ton road.

Another name seems to furnish a glimpse by which conjecture, at least, may try to find
her way.

AxDR.\STE, or AxDRATE, was worshipped by the ancient Britons as the goddess of spoils
— hence the name of the now lost town of AxDRATES-berie, or AxDR.tTE.s-bury, which is
shown elsewhere to have been probably near Beacon Hill.*

Now, distrustful as any one may be with regard to the degree of dependence to be

• An antiquarian friend, as has already been stated, is disposed to attach considerable unportancc to the -word Challenge,
or Chalhcnge — the name of an ancient wood on the Forest — from the similarity of its termination to that of Stonehenge.

42 ANTIQUITIES OF CHAENWOOD FOREST.

placed on et3'mologies, he cannot deny that here is a very remarkable concun-ence of names ;
the more remarkable when they are all found circling such a spot as Charnwood, and when
it can be proved that they have undergone little or no corruption since the earliest written
records that we possess. — Having stated these presumptive proofs that Charnwood was a
strong-hold of the Druids, I proceed to adduce others which may, perhaps, be considered
of a less questionable character.

The engraving on the opposite page contains a Celt, discovered in planting Ben's Cliff,
in 1818, and a Quern, or ancient Hand-mill, discovered on Kite Hill (Whitwick parish) in
1841.*

Great difference of opinion prevails amongst the learned as to the precise purpose for
which these Celts were used. Fosbrooke believes they were tools for domestic use ; Whita-
ker, that they were battle-axes ; Stukeley, that they were Druidical hooks for cutting off the
misletoe ; and others, that they were instruments used in sacrifice. All writers, however,
agree in their great antiquity, and many in their having been used by the Druids. The one
figured in these pages is, from its size and form, supposed to belong to an era much anterior
to that of those having sockets. Several are engraved in Nichols which were discovered at
Husbands Bosworth, all having sockets, but not one bears much resemblance to that found
on the Forest ; and it is evident, from their more finished workmanship, that they are more
recent.t The ring, which is shoMTi fractured in the engraving, but which appears perfect in
several found at Husbands Bosworth, has been supposed by some antiquarians to have been
for the purpose of a thong, which secured it, as the staff of a modern constable, to the arm
of the wan-ior. The Rev. M. D. Babington, on forwarding this Celt to me, noticed the
Aclides, said by Virgil (.-En. VII., 7.30) to have been used as missilesj by the primitive
inhabitants of Campania, and conjectured that the ring may have served for a thong by
which the Celt, after being hurled at an enemy, could be recovered, as Servius, Virgil's old
scholiast, considered was the case with the Aclides. The remark of the same commen-
tator, that they were so ancient as to be known only traditionally to have been used in war,
is deemed by Mr. Babington of some importance in considering implements of such acknow-
ledged antiquity and of such doubtful use as Celts.

My own opinion, from a close examination of the peculiarity of form, and the small si2e§
of the one figured in these pages, is, that it was inserted in a long cleft shaft, and used by
the Druids for cutting off the misletoe growing on branches too high to be reached from the
ground. The gentleman just mentioned informs me that a friend of his was in the habit of
]3runing the lofty branches of his standard fruit trees by a chisel attached to a long staflf,
and forcibly driven upwards by a mallet, in the mode I conjecture the Celt to have been.

* For the former most curious and valuable relic of bygone ages, I am indebted to the favour of Mrs. Babington, of
Rothley Temple — for the latter, to Kirkby Fcnton, Esq., of Onebarrow Lodge, Charnwood Forest,
t Gough describes one found on the Malvern hills, five inches and a half long, with a beautiful patina upon it, and
a small ring or loop. Dr. Lort, in the fifth volume of the Archeeologia, page 106, mentions some found at Hercula-
neum — probably carried from Gaul or Britain by Roman soldiers ; or by the Gauls, in their invasions of Italy.

J Teretes sunt aclides illis

Tela, sed haec lento mos est aptare flagello.
^ It is exactly of the dimensions of the engraving.

ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 43

But whatever inav have been the uses to which this particular Celt was applied, its being dis-
covered so far from any human habitation, and in a neighbourhood which tradition, at least,
has assigned to the Druids, renders it a strong link in the chain of proof I am attempting.

The Quern, or Hand-mill, was discovered by Mr. Fenton's labourers, when breaking ujj
the old Forest turf with the spade. Its diameter is about thirteen inches ; and the lower
stone — " the nether millstone" of the Scriptm^es — has all the hardness and asperity prover-
bially ascribed to such stones. It appears more like a body of cemented conglomerate than
a natural stone, and has evidently no affinity to any of the Forest rocks, while the upper
stone decidedly has. In the small indentation near the edge, the thumb of the person
grinding or turning was inserted, and the com, lowered from a vessel held in the otlier hand,
passed, after a few turns, in its triturated state, into a receptacle placed beneath it.

Gough states that two Querns were discovered near the cuiious group of Uruidical
monuments on Durwood Tor, Derbyshire ; and that others have been found in Yorkshire
and Wiltshire.* Such hand-mills are yet in common use in the Hebrides.

So far as 1 can ascertain, no Quern has ever been discovered except in localities in
which there were also Druidical monuments.

At a very short distance from the spot on which this Quern was found, is the singular
stone (see engraving) called Hanging Stone — a name which it has probably borne from very
remote times; and I attach considerable importance, in the establishing of my proposition,
to the proximity of these two ancient relics to each other.

Many have entertained a belief that the upper of these Hanging Stones was artilicially
raised upon the platform of the other. The geologist arrives at a different conclusion, and
accounts for most of them by means purely natural. But whether the stones were placed
in their jiresent extraordinary position by nature or art, they must, in times when supersti-
tion held the minds of men under its sway, have been contemplated with extreme veneration.
And it should be remembered, that wherever such apparently mysterious formations pre-
sented themselves, the Druids, ever alive to what might be auxiliary to their influence over
the people, did not fail to turn them to good accouut. Even in these days, the stranger
cannot behold the pile without feelings approaching to awe. No one riding up to the lower
side of it, on a spirited horse, can fail to observe the emotion of the animal ; and an old
forester slates, that Mr. Gisborne's Scotch cattle, on their first arrival, always gaze at it
with wonder ! " 1 take care," added he, " never to be near it after twilight has begun !"

These stones bear a striking resemblance to those in Wales and Derbyshire, which
antiquaries have almost unanimously pronounced Cromlechs. " The word Crom signifies
crooked, or bending, and lech a Jlat stone. Hence the belief that they were altars, or
objects to which the antients bowed."* A pile more likely to be selected as an object of
idolatrous veneration could not easily be found. f

Near Beaumanor is, or rather was, another Hanging Stone — " for ages the wonder and
admiration of beholders"! — of a form totally different from the one just described. Of this

* Cough's Additions to Camden's Britannia.

t Mr. Lester, of Woodhouse, states that, fifty years ago, he has frequently made this stone rod, by a slight force

applied to a certain part of it.

j Throsby.

44 ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Thiosby took a drawing in March, 1791, tying his little horse under it: and on the 8th of
April the ponderous mass fell. He quaintly, but appropriately, morahzes on the consequences
of a pebble stone falling on the extremity of the projecting part while he was under it ; he
would have been " the fly" — the stone the " wagon wheel."

The base of this stone, which is still standing, is about six feet squai-e. Upon this
rested " another stone, quite separate, so that you saw between them ; and the top hung so
much as to have the ap))earance of falling off."* This description gives good groimds for
the conjecture that it had, at a remote period, been a Hocking Stone ; and an examination
of the area on which it stood, and of the lower part of the mighty mass itself, will strongly
incline an attentive observer to that opinion, t

Nearer to Woodhouse Eaves, at the other end of the romantic range of rocks called the
Hanging Stones, is a kind of rude stone table, about five yards long and two wide. There
are strong reasons for believing it was placed there by art, as it lies horizontally and on a
different level from the sun-ounding masses, and its supporters seem to have been artificially
placed. This may have been a sacrificial altar.

" The Arch Druid, who, it may be, standing there,
Dyed it with human immolations, calling
On the grey ghosts, the riders of the clouds —
• Or moon — or to the lightnings of the night —

Or war-god, deaf as winds that whistled by them—
Whilst Celtic savages howled beneath — is past!"

A curious circle of stones may be found on the hill above this altar.

But to return to the Oaks Hanging Stone. — A spot which is aboul the centre of a triangle
formed by that stone. Kite Hill and the Tin Meadows, was, according to the information
of an old Forest Keeper of Lord Hastings', always called " the Grove" before the inclosure.
It may, in early times, have been a grove to some temple, or to the Hanging Stone Cromlech.

The now solitary stone called the Hangman's Stone, between Lubcloud and Ives Head,
is very like one of a Druidical circle : and it may be that, from the circumstances of the
legend long connected with it, it was left standing when its fellows were removed. It re-
sembles, both in its form and dimensions, the stones composing the circle called the Nine
liadies, on Arbor Low, Derbyshire.

Oil Strawberry Hill, on the estate of Mr. Kirkby Fenton, is a singularly-formed stone
seat, apparently excavated out of the solid rock, and rudely but completely canopied. It is
verj' like one on Durwood Tor, Derbyshire, which Mr. Rooke pronounced to be an " Augu-
rial seat." Certainly a fitter spot for the delivery of auguries could scarcely be selected ;
the space before the chair being a kind of sloping amphitheatre, just adapted to give the
Arch Druid the command of the listening crowd. Ivy, which seems almost coeval with the
rock, has wreathed its "wild tapestry" all over it; and 1 felt confident, when the obliging

» Throsby.
t Adolphus Trollope, in his " Summer in Brittany," describes a very similar stone, called " Les roulers" — near
Lc Camp d'Artus — which he thinks of fortuitous formation ; though the French antiquaries pronounced it the work
of the Druids.

ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 45

])ro])nctor of the estate first pointed out this remarkable spot to my notice, tliat this, and not
tlic Hermitage near Sharpley, as before conjectured, was the place alluded to by Drayton,
when he says, speaking of Sharpley rocks —

" And in a Dimble near (even as a place divine
For contemplation fit j, an ivy-ceiled bower,
As Nature had therein ordain'd some Sylvan power."

It is observed by Weaver, in his " Miinimenta Anfuju/i" and also by other antiquaries,
that in the neighbourhood of all Druidical monuments, there are always found Barrows. It
is so at Stonehenge, in the Peak, and in Wales. The only earthwork I have discovered on
Charnwood, bearing any resemblance to an ancient Barrow, is a circular elevation, about
nine yards in diameter and two yards high, situated on Kellam's fann, near Bardon Hill.*
But the word BaiTOW, as a name, occurs with remarkable frequency on the Forest and its
borders. Barrow, Barrow Wood, Billa-banow Hill, One-barrow Ilill, Barrow Cloud Hill,
&c., will lead any one, however slightly versed in antiquarian lore, to investigate such
localities with attention. t 0/ie-ha.TTOw is still more significant than the simple word ; the
prefix seems to denote that some one remarkable personage was inhumed there. For myself,
when examining a small square inclosure, formed by immense stones on the western summit
of that beautiful and wonderful hill, I could not forbear exclaiming —

" In yonder grave a Druid lies !"

Again — there is an ancient road, supposed to be British, and afterwards used by the
Romans,! which, crossing the Fosse at Seg's Hill, almost at right angles, and proceeding
through Ban-ow and parts of Quoni and Beaumanor, has been traced to a point between
Beacon Hill, Broombriggs, and Alderman's Haw, where all marks of it are lost. A suppo-
sition that it led to the salt-mines at Uroitwich, seems completely destroyed by the fact
that, a line continued in the same bearing would pass through Staffordshire, leaving Droit-
wich many miles to the south. If, therefore, it was an ancient British road before it was
used by the Romans, its apparent termination, near the supposed site of Andratesbery, gives
ground for the belief that it was formed for the use of the ancient Britons, when frequenting,
as they did three times a year, the great Druidical Festivals. §

On the summit of the Mount of Alderman's Haw (so called in 1588 ; see Nichols, HI ,
109-2), now called Baldwin Castle, is a rock, scarcely less remarkable in its form than the Oaks

« Mr. Jacomb Hood, the highly-respected proprietor of Bardon, inclines to the opinion that the spot was the remains
of an ancient Keep : but its low situation renders that supposition improbable,
f Nichols suggests that Barrow-upon-Soar may have derived its name from the shape of the hill on which it stands.
How would he have accounted for Barrow-upon-Trent, which is on a perfect level ? The latter name, however, is
satisfactorily accounted for, by the proximity of the Barrows called Swarkstone Lowes.

+ The Rev. T. Leman, in his observations on the Roman Roads and Stations in Leicestershire, unhesitatingly
pronounces this road of British /ormadon; Stukeley, however, considered it British.

i The Annual Wake, now kept on Nanpantan, but formerly kept on Beacon, the origin of which is lost in obscurity,
may be a remnant of one of these festivals.

46 ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Hanging Stone. Its top is a platform, to all appearance levelled by art : and on this, I con-
jecture, the great idol Andrate may have stood.

This is the amount of the evidence which I have been able to collect in favour of Cham-
wood having been an abode of the Druids. An able antiquarian, from the same data, would
probably have made the case much stronger.

THE ROMANS ON CHARNWOOD.

If the foregoin" evidence in favour of Charnwood having been inhabited by the Druids
prove at all satisfactory, the antiquarian reader will be the more disposed to look for traces
of the Romans in the neighbourhood. He will have noticed, that wherever the invaders
observed the chief seats of the Celtic priesthood, to those points they particularly applied
their energies. In fact, as the routed Britons invariably flew to their groves and temples,
for the divine protection which they expected the Druids would insm-e or procure them, it
was a natural consequence that the Romans should try to dislodge them, and locate them-
selves in their strong-holds. Thus Paulinus, the Roman General, invested by Nero with
the command of the army in Britain, observing that Mona (Anglesea) was a seat of the
Druids, and a refuge for the defeated Britons, resolved to reduce it. The sight of the'
venerable Druids assembled round the army, and with uplifted hands invoking the ven-
geance of their gods, struck such terror into the Romans as almost to induce them to retreat.
Encouraged, however, by their General, they at length drove the Britons from the field, and
burned the Druids in the fires which the latter had prepared for the immolation of their
enemies, and utterly demolished the altars of sacrifice and the sacred groves.*

So it may have been on Charnwood ; and a circumstance like the one just described
may account for so few vestiges of Druidism having escaped Roman violence.

Galet places the Roman Vernometum at " Chandey;' and the arguments by which he
supports his opinion are not devoid of force. He says, he " finds in the name (Vernometum)
traces of the word Guern, (British) an alder, as also in Quarendon and in the name of the
ancient forest of Cheme :t and traces of Roman names in Loughborough, Burghley, and
Barrow — but," he adds, " the miles fix the station at Chamley."§ Now there is no place
of that name on the Forest, but the word was formerly in general use to designate the whole
tract. There is no place on Charnwood to which this passage of Gale's would more dispose
an antiquarian to look for a Roman station or encampment than Beacon Hill. Its central

• The Coritani, says Richard, of Cirencester (Book I., chap. 6), lived in a tract of country overspread with woods,
which, like all woods of Britain, were called Caledonia— (Calyddon means coverts, or thickets). And Floras, the
Historian, speaking of Ca;sar, says, " Caledonias sequutus in sylvas"— (Book III., chap. 10).
See Rose's Historia Technica Anglicana.
t Quoted in Cough's Camden, Vol. II., page 212.

+ Cemewoda is the earliest name of Charnwood to be met with ; it was so called temp. Henry I. Cernelega is the
name for Charley in Domesday Book, and was still so temp. Henry \.— (Nichols, Vol. III., p. 120.J A witness to a
Deed of William de Ferrariis is Gilbertus de 'BosehertiiH, or Gilbert of Charnwood.— (See Nichols' West Goscote,
under Tonge). The early name, noticed in page 6, was, I find, taken from an old legend.
i^ Antoninus places Vernometum twelves miles from Ratic.

ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

47

and commanding situation, as well as its very name, and its proximity to the ancient road
(whether of British or Roman foundation), are reasons that will have weight with the
inquiring antiquary. Its signal fires would be observed from no less than six undoubted
Roman stations.* Bar Beacon, near Birmingham, would appear to have been one of the
" answering fires."

Led by Gale's remark, I commenced a strict search for Roman remains on this hill : and
discovered, on the south-west and unprotected side, some works which I think I am not
mistaken in pronouncing indubitable vestiges of ancient fortification. The camp may have
been of Saxon formation — but I incline to the opinion that the remains are

" The mouldering lines
Where Rome, the mistress of the world,
Of yore her eagle wings imfuil'd."

From the ancient road already alluded to, we find, just at the point that offers the best
ascent up the acclivity, an elevated road, fonning an inclined plane. Following this, we
arrive at a point that appears to have been the entrance, where the castrametation becomes
well defined. Hence a mound runs on the lower or south-western side to a rock which
appears to have flanked it : and nearly parallel with this mound, but higher up the hill, is
another, terminated also by a rock : forming together two sides of a trapezium. But the
form will be better understood by the following rough sketch : —

Signal fires are so obvious a mode of transmitting intelligence, that they have been used in all ages. Those of the
Greeks are beautifully described in the Agamemnon of iEschylus.

48 ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

The plan is almost a perfect facsimile of a camp at Hunnington, near Ancaster; and it
is somewhat singular, that Beacon, Hunnington, and a Roman camp at South Ormsby, are
all in the direct line to Salt-fleet, from whence salt was probably brought to the midland
districts.* A field in Quorn was called Saltgate in 1607,t and Saltby is the name of a village
situated very near the point where this road enters Leicestershire.

Mr. Langham, of Needless Inn, informs me that he well remembers that, thirty-four
years ago, there stood, on the highest point of Beacon, an erection of rude and ancient ma-
sonry, about six feet high, of a round form, and having in its centre a cavity about a yard
deep and a yard in diameter, the sides of which were very thickly covered with burnt pitch.
This, he says, had all the appearance of having been used for holding the beacon fires. |
He remembers, too, that at that period, the entrenchments above described were much more
visible than they are now. He is the only person with whom I have conversed that seems
ever to have noticed them, except Mr. William Lester, of Woodhouse ; and they are not
mentioned by any writer whatever, unless Gale's remark applied to them. I discovered, by
digging, many heaps of nearly perished mortar, mingled with fragments of stone and dark
red brick.

An examination of the above plan, when laid down, and a comparison of it with some
similar ones in (lough's Camden, suggested the idea that the mound and rampart, which
a]ipear terminated by the rock on the western side, would probably be found continued in
other ]iarts of the hill, not naturally fortified by precipitous rock. Accordingly, on the 8th
of March of the present year, I again visited Beacon, and found that my conjecture had been
correct. The lines of fortification are continued along the entire circumference of the hill —
in several places, indeed, they are double — always so in the most accessible parts.

Even after the lapse of nearly two thousand years, and in a situation extremely exposed
to the varying action of the elements, the fortifications, in many parts, still retain so
much of their original boldness as to be truly astonishing. On the north-east and eastern
sides, within the entrenchments, are several square and oblong lines of time-worn stones —
apparently the foundations of buildings. It is chiefly opposite these that the trench and
rampart are double. It would appear, that if these fortifications were Roman, the part de-
scribed in the first wood cut was the summer, and this the winter camp.

Between the two tops of our Parnassus (for, like that classical hill, Beacon has also two
apices), the ruins of the circular Beacon Tower, already alluded to, are still plainly percep-
tible. It is five yards in diameter. An elevation of a foot above the surface, surrounded
by the foundation of a wall, strongly cemented together, is all that can now be traced. I
am disposed to consider the tower of considerable antiquity ; it may, indeed, be coeval with
the fortifications that surround it. The spot on which it stands would, in a Roman Camp,
have been the Preetorium.

» Stukeley MS. (quoted by Gougli ill his Coiitani, p. 251), where he says, " Salters' Road, adjoining Doiiton, may

have been vsed by tlie Romans for bringing salt from Holland to Leicester and tliu inland parts."

t Nichols' West Goscote, page 166.

J The almost imperishable nature of pitch is shown by the letters on ancient tombs : retaining, after many centuries,

all the freshness of newly-melted bitumen.

ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

49

Not satisfied with my single opinion of these extraordinary remains, I requested Mr.
Lester, a highly intelligent farmer and surveyor, who lives at the foot of Beacon, to examine
them. He was perfectly astonished ! Though long resident, almost upon the spot, and
aware of the remains described as lying on the south-west side of the hill, it had never oc-
curred to him that there were others. " Often," says he, " as I have crossed that wonderful
hill, and always with the feeling that it was a cliaruted spot, I have either been so occupied
with the distant prospects, or so circumscribed in my immediate view by the inequalities of
the surface, that I have never before once noticed the most remarkable fortifications to which
you have directed me. Judge my surprise when I found myself standing, and feeling pretty
sure that I stood, on the site of an ancient British or Roman town." Mr. Lester entered
into the discovery with all the enthusiasm of a true antiquarian, and by his assistance I am
enabled to present my readers with the following accurate plan of the whole : —

Scale o( Tards.

REFERENCE.

6, Remains of Beacon tower, r. Precipitous rocks, c, Modern wall, d. Foundations of ancient walls.

e, Beacon road — supposed part of ancient Saltway.

H

50 ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

The most singular part of this encampment is the eastern corner of it. The point com-
mands the whole valley, and has what, in modern fortification, would be called a curtain,
formed of rock. This point, with the remains of walls lying above it, is extremely worthy
the attention of the antiquarian. The foundations of walls (marked c c] appear in many
places three yards thick, and to have been formed by large stones on the outsides, having
the intervening space filled with small stones ; at least, such was my impression, after causing
several excavations to be made. It was only on the foundation stones that any mortar was
discoverable — and that in very small quantities. Ipsae periere ruina; !

An ancient battle-axe was found in ploughing a field at the foot of Beacon Hill. It is
now in the possession of Miss Watkinson, of Woodhouse. That lady has also some coins
of Vespasian and Antoninus Pius, found near.*

Such are the hitherto unnoticed remains on Beacon Hill. My readers will pardon me
if adopting, as I feel, a diffidence suited to one who has hitherto written nothing to entitle
his opinion, as an antiquarian, to great weight, I prefer rather to leave them to their own
speculations as to the original constructors of these fortifications, than indulge in a presump-
tuous positiveuess. Gale's observations — the square vallum at the south-west corner — and
the coins and battle-axe discovered close by, strongly dispose me to believe that the
Romans, at least, repaired the lines. If, however, I am denied the gratification of having
located the Romans on Beacon, I must be permitted to look in its neighbourhood for the
long-lost Andraetesbury — and the upsetting of my theory with regard to our first conquerors,
will only tend to furnish arguments in favour of a discovery, of equal, if not of gi-eater in-
terest. No person, at all alive to what has relation to the distant past, can fail to derive
peculiar pleasure in investigating such a site as that which I have attempted to describe.
Even the ordinary observer will view these remains, grey with the mists of ages, with feel-
ings of no common gratification, and probably with surprise that they have so long escaped
the notice of the topographer and antiquarian.

The wonderful ])rospects afforded from this remarkable eminence will be dwelt on in the
Parochial History.

But even if the conjecture that Beacon Hill may have been the Roman station referred ^
to by Gale should prove ill-grounded, there is another spot on Charnwood which, with
respect to the " miles," exactly coincides with the Itinerary he quotes. The Tynte Meadows
are situated exactly twelve miles from Rata3 (Leicester), and in a direct line between that
place and Derventio (Little Chester).

On June 16, 1840, as the Monks of Mount St. Bernard, who are owners of these mea-
dows, were ploughing a piece of land which they were reclaiming from the waste, the
ploughshare came in contact with a large earthen vessel, of peculiar mould, which proved to
be of Roman manufacture. In this vessel was discovered a large mass of ancient coins,
malted together in a most singular manner, measuring twenty-two inches in circumference,
and weighing about twelve pounds. In this lump there could not have been fewer than
two thousand coins — many of which were in admirable preservation, and the inscriptions
very plainly legible. They bore the names of Gallienus, Postumus, Victorinus, Tetricus,

* I mako the statemont with respect tu the coins on the authority of Mr. Lester, of Woodhouse.

ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

51

Claudius, Carausius, &c. Besides the coins, there was discovered a small arrow or spear-
head, three inches long and of the following shape : —

Also, a small roimd article, having the appearance of a Roman lamp, and composed of
reddish clay or terra cotta. — Pieces of Koman vases, and fragments of pottery, were found
in great abundance.

A few of the coins discovered shall here be given, but I enter with reluctance on the
description, from a consciousness of my utter inability to do justice to it, and from the dif-
ficulty of deciphering such rude engravings in the absence of the originals.

I. M. P. G.ALLIENUS, AVG.— He was the son
of \'alerian, and was proclaimed Emperor in Gaul
A.D. -253. He was a cruel tyrant, and was murdered
by one of his Generals, Martian, at Milan. — The S. C.
upon brass coins, according to Pinkerton, ceased with
Gallienus, and his silver was only ^vashed brass.

I. M. P. C. POSTVMVS. PF. AVG.— The Em-
peror's head, bearded, with a radiated crown. Re-
verse, PROVIDE XTI A AVG.— A female figure holds
an orb in her right hand, a spear obliquely in her left.
An Officer, proclaimed Emperor in Gaul a.d. 260.

I. M. P. VICTORIXVS. P. F. AVG.— One of

the nineteen candidates for the Imperial Purple, during
the reign of Gallienus, a.d. -268. Reverse illegible.

I. M. P. TETRICVS. P.F. AVG.— He was pro-
claimed Emperor a.d. 268. His coins are usually-
found with the legend PACI — and he was of a truly
pacific character.

52 ANTIQUITIES OF CHAKNWOOD FOREST.

The four engraven {! !) coins are in the collection of Mr. Ambrose March Phillipps, of
Gracedieu Manor, to whose kindness I am indebted for the loan of them.

The following, in an inferior state of preservation, were obligingly forwai'ded to me by
Mr. T. Burgh Dalby, of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and Mr. J. J. Briggs, of King's Newton, who
procured them from the Monks of Mount St. Bernard very shortly after the discovery : —

I. M. P. C. POSTVMUS P^ AVG. Reverse, FIDES MILITVM.— A female figure
holds in her hand a military sign. — Base brass.

I. M. P. VICTORINVS PF. AVG. Reverse, SALVS AVG.— A female figure stands
by an altar, holding in her left hand a patera, out of which a serpent is drinking. In her
left she holds an erect spear. The obverse also differs, in several respects, from that of the
same Emperor engraved in the preceding page. — Third brass.

CLAVDIVS AVG. Reverse corroded and utterly illegible, except VC. or VG. —

This was presented to me as an undoubted Claudius Neko : but the Rev. M. D. Babington
and two other antiquaries to whom I submitted it, unhesitatingly pronounced it a Cl^^udius
GoTHicus. — Brass.

CARAVSIVS. — A very fine head, encircled by a laurel crown. Reverse, apparently a
bireme, surrounded by the legend FELICITAS very legible, and apparently the letters
R. S. B.

It is a somewhat remarkable coincidence, that in the parish of Epperstone, on the borders
of Sherwood Forest, and close to the supposed Roman Camp at Woodborough, about one
thousand coins or medals of the same Emperors, but all in copper, were discovered in a
similar earthen vase, in 1776. Mr. Walter Merrey, in his " Bemar/cs on the Coinage of
England^'' thus enumerates them from his own inspection : —

A.D. EmprTOTs. No. 0' Medals,

254 Gallienus 60

Salonina, wife to Gallienus 4

266 Posthumus 10

268 Claudius Golhicus 72

Divo Claudio 19

268 Victorinus 126

Pia Victorinus 2

268 Tetricus 215

C. Piv. Tetricus 89

271 Quinlillus 4

286 Carausius 3

CI. ^lianus* 1

Not legible 179

784
* This, perhaps, should be ^milianus.

ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 53

The remaining number had been dispersed before Mr. Merrey was apprized of them.
The foregoing list is given in order tliat the reader may be enabled to form some opinion of the
unexamined mass, still preserved at Blount St. Bernard in the state they were discovered.
It is probable, from those coins already dissevered, that in that mass would be found every
coin in Mr. Merrey's list. If so, the period in which both the vases were deposited must
have been subsequent to a.d. 2^6.

There is, perhaps, no circumstance connected with Roman customs, for which it is so
difficult to assign a reason, as their frequent concealment of coin in all parts of their colonial
possessions. Pinkerton says, " It was no doubt a custom with that victorious people, in
every instance ardently desirous of fame, to bury parcels of their coin as a monument of
their having possessed the ground !" This supposition appears an iiTational one ; it by no
means accounts satisfactorily for the concealment of such quantities as those found at Ep-
perstone and Mount St. Bernard. The motives may, indeed, have been vaiious, but the
general uniformity of depth in the ground, and the use of earthen vessels, would almost lead
to the conclusion that they were the same.

As, however, earthenware was not the most suitable receptacle for the coin, in which to
transport it from place to place, it may generally be inferred, that wherever it is found in
vases the Romans had been permanently located. Where warlike instruments and earth-
works are discovered in the neighbourhood of coins, as is the case both at Beacon and
Mount St. Bernard, the discovery has much greater interest, and becomes more historicallv
valuable.

The usurpation of Carausius — his murder by Alectus — and the succession of the assassin
to his throne — are circumstances that may, perhaps, furnish some grounds for conjecture
both as to the motive and the time of concealing these treasures, Constantius being at
Boulogne when the intelligence of the death of Carausius reached him, dispatched his Prae-
fect Asclepiodatus, an Officer of distinguished skill and valour, into Britain, in order to
re-establish the Roman power which, for seven years, had been entirely lost to the empire
in this island.

The fleet of Alectus being stationed near the Isle of Wight, Asclepiodatus availed him-
self of a thick fog, and effected a landing on the western coast. He had no sooner disem-
barked than he burnt his ships, in order to infuse determination into the imperial troops,
and advanced into the centre of the kingdom. It was then, I believe, that some of the
Roman forces that had previously revolted with Carausius, and had subsequently joined
.\lectus, flying from the Prsefect left the hidden treasures found near Mount St. Bernard and
at Epperstone.*

In addition to the evidence afforded by the discovery of these coins, spear, vases, &c.,
I must mention that, on the south, east, and west of the ^/irst building erected bv the Plonks
of Mount St. Bernard, there are still visible several ancient mounds ; one forty yards bv eight,
and inclosed by a trench, having all the appearance of a Roman military work. Connecting
this mound with the coins, and the situation of the spot (on a line between two undisputed

» The whole of the Roman auxiliaries that guarded the island had, it should be recollected, joined Carausius, and -Rith
the fickleness peculiar to that soldiery, as readily gave in their adhesion to his murderer.

54 ANTIQUITIES OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

stations), the most sceptical must admit that a stroug case is made out for believing that
the Tynte Meadow was at least a military post. That either this place or Beacon Hill was
the Vemometum, or Verometum of the Romans, I would by no means be so bold as to assert.
I well know that some itineraries are almost conclusive in favour of Willoughby — still those
"yi Gessoriaco" as given in Hollinshed (Vol. I., p. 420 of the reprint), might fairly raise
a doubt ; and the uncertainty which has prevailed amongst antiquarians in fixing this sta-
tion, together with G ale's remarks, makes me anxious, if possible, to turn that doabt in
favour of " Charnley," or at least to call attention to its claims.*

At Markfield, which is also in the direct line from Derventio to Raise, there was stand-
ing, at the time the Forest was inclosed, a remarkable stone, called " The Altar Stone." An
aged man, named Jarvis, still living at Markfield, states that he " well remembers this stone ;
that it was covered with outlandish letters, and was removed when cultivation began, be-
cause it was in the centre of a field." The name seems to justify an opinion that it was a
Roman altar. It may, indeed, have only been a milliare, like that found at Thurmaston,
and now standing in Belgrave-gate, Leicester.f

The ancient name of the village near which this relic of antiquity stood was Mark-in-
field, or Merc-en-feld : J and that the name was derived from this " Altar stone" is by no
means unlikely. §

The author of " Rlelhourne'''' — a work which fairly entitles its writer to be considered a
sound antiquarian — strongly inclines to the opinion that a minor Roman road must have
been formed between two such important stations as Rataj and Derventio. If this really
was the case, this interstationary road must have branched from the Via Devana, at or near
to the very spot on which stood the Altar-stone.

Having now, with regard to the Romans at least, rather opened a field for further inves-
tigation, than obtained evidence on which it would be safe to hazard a positive opinion, I
leave the reader to form his own conclusions, and reserve all remark on the later Antiqui-
ties of the Forest to be interwoven in the Parochial History.

* The variation of tlie name, and the uncertainty of the true situation of Vernomctum, or Verometum, give

some grounds for the supposition that they may, after all, have been different stations. Camden, Burton, and Stuke-

ley, place Vemometum at Burrow-on-thc-HiU — modem writers, I am aware, have, with one or two exceptions, agreed

on fixing it at Willoughby-on-the-Wolds. The latter place seems, however, a most unlikely spot for a great Temple,

which Venantius shows to have been the meaning of Vemometum in the old Gaulic : —

*' Nomine Vemometum voluit vocitare vetustas

Quod fanum ingens Gallica lingua sonat."

A fitter place than Beacon, for such a Temple, could scarcely be imagined.

t A Roman altar, discovered near Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, has been judiciously placed, by the Duke of Rutland,
in the porch leading to that celebrated Baronial mansion.

J Merc, in Saxon, signifies mark.

§ The Reverend Robert Martin, who has kindly interested himself in this discovery, suggests that, as the stone
stood at the junction of the parishes of Markfield and Newtown Linford, it may have been a Mere stone, and may
have derived its name from the boundary artering at that point. This hypothesis would not, however, account for the
"outlandish letters." Besides, remarkable objects were quite as frequently agreed upon as marks of boundary, as
fresh marks or meres erected.

CHAPTER VI.

THE PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

The present portion of the work contains the four great divisions of the Forest, or those
parts belonging to Barrow, Groby, ^VTiitwick, and Sheepshed, to which reference has
already been made. In these, the Monastic Foundations will be described in the divisions
in which they are situated, viz. : — Alderman's Haw, and Charley Priory, under Barrow ;
Ulverscroft, under Clroby ; the new Foundation, called Mount St. Bernard, under Whitwick ;
and Garendon, Gracedieu, and Holy-well Hermitage, under Sheepshed. It may be objected
that not one of the villages, set down as the respective heads of this division, lies within the
Forest boundary. They were, however, the places to which the Forest was of the greatest
importance, and the lordships in which the greater part of it is parochially situated. After
the ancient and modern history of each lordship, the reader's attention will be drawn to
whatever is picturesque, curious, or interesting in each, and the subjects of the engravings
will be minutely described.

BARROW-UPON-SOAR.

(Baro, Baroo, Bnrrough, Btirhoo, Baru-e, Burini, Bareica.)

The parish of BaiTow, though the village itself, as has just been stated, is not within
the verge of the Forest, includes so large a part of it, and was in feudal times so closely
connected with it, as to be fairly entitled to a prominent place in any description of Cham-
wood. The lordship, or parts of it, having been the possession of the brave but unfortunate
Harold — of the Norman Earls of Chester* — of the Black Prince — of Sir Walter Manny —
and of many distinguished men of later times — ai'e circumstances that invest it with great
interest. Then its being situated on an ancient British or Roman road — its wonderful
geological features — the fine scenery that surrounds it — and its having been the birth-i)lace
of one of the greatest oniaments to the Episcopal Bench — give it additional claims to notice.

Burton says, " this Manner was anciently the land of the Earl of Chester, and came by
marriage to William de Albany, Earl of Arundell, who married Mabell, sister and co-heire
to Ranulfe Earle of Chester and Leicester: whose daughter Nicola, sister and co-heire of
Hugh Eai-le of Arundell, brought this Mannor to Roger de Somery Baron of Dudley, who

• Comes Hugo tenet de Rege Barlioo. « * * Hoc manerium tenuit Heraldus comes cum appendiciis. —
(Doomsday, Fol. 2.37, a. \.J

56 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

by her had issue four daughters : one of them called Maud married to Sir Henry de Er-
dington, who by his wife had this Mannor. It continued in the name of Erdington untill
the reigne of King Edward 4th, at which time the last Thomas de Erdington being attainted*
by King Edward 4th, (7 Ed. 4.) gi-anted it to William Lord Hastings."

Burton omits to mention that this lordship was once a part of the possessions of the
Saxon King Harold, who was slain at the Battle of Hastings. It was probably through its
having belonged to his fallen rival, that the Conqueror so soon conferred it on his relative.

The partition of the estates of Roger de Somery, consequent upon the marriage of his
daughters, has already been stated.

There appears to be some ground for a belief that a Castle, or Baronial Manor House,
was at one time at Barrow. The expressions " Curia Comitis" (the Earl's Court) — "aque-
ductum labentem in vinariumf domini Comitis Cestrise" — " Parcum de BarwS," &c. — can
scarcely be understood, unless on this supposition. The terms might, indeed, have been
applied to Beaumanor, but that the Com'ts appear to have been entirely distinct. And
Hugh de Albini, who died 1243, in a Grant to the Abbey of Garendon for pasturing all
their cattle in the lordship of Barrow, excepts his Park at Barrow.

A gentleman whom I have frequently consulted in the course of my inquiries, the Rev.
M. D. Babington, makes the following valuable remarks on this somewhat doubtful subject : —
" I can see no traces of a Park having ever existed in that part of the parish which is now
allied BaiTow. On the other hand, I think it may be shown, by comparing several ancient
Deeds, that it was situate on the western side of the Soar. Ranulph, the third Norman
Earl of Chester, between 1119 and 1128, conveyed an extensive tract in and near Charn-
wood Forest, ' his Park at Barrow excepted,^ to King Henry I., J who re-granted it to
Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester, by whom a large share of it was bestowed on the Abbey
of Garendon. WHien this Deed was recited in a Charter of Inspeximus by King Henry VI. ,§
the expression was changed into ' praster parcum meum,' and when copied into the Garen-
don Registerll it was altered in the same manner.

"Ranulph, the next Earl, between 1133 and 1153, granted to the Monks of Garendon
right of pasture throughout the Forest, ' excepto parcho meo de Barwa.'lf This Deed,

entered in the Garendon Register, was headed " Carta Comitis Cestriaj de conimuni

pastura totius nemoris &\\\, prceter parcum."

" Hence it appears that the Earls of Chester had only one Park in this neighbourhood ;
and further, that this Park had changed its name before the time of Henry VI.

" A Deed of Ranulph, the sixth and last Earl, who lived a century before that reign, shows
what the new name was. He grants** to Stephen de Segrave certain lands in Cotes, ' de
clausura parci sui de Querndoii.^

" In 1240, four years after the Earl's death, the same name (QuerendonJ was applied to

* Nichols doubts the attainder. — (See Bast Goscote, p. 64, note.)

f So given twice in Nichols. — (Fol. I.„p. 62, and Vol. III., Appendix, p. 9. J — It is perhaps a misprint for viuarium.

X Nichols, Vol. III., p. 120, from the Chartulary of Lirens. § Nichols, Vol. III., p. 120.

II Nichols, Vol. III., p. 830, col, 2. f lb. p. 822. »• Nichols, Vol. II., Appendix, p. 1 14.

PAUOCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 57

the Park, as the reader will remember, in the dispute respecting the wood of Challenge,
detailed in page l(j. An ancient Inquisition respecting the parish of Barrow speaks the
same language. It makes the boundary commence ' ad vadiim sub parco de Querndon.^*
This last-named document not only mentions the Park by its new name, but fixes its locality ;
for Park-furJ is still known as the place where Switliland and Woodhouse meet, at the west
corner of Buddon Wood.

" There is one fact which, at first sight, seems to militate against my theory. It appearsf
that Ralph Basset, who inherited one-fourth of the jjossessions of the Earls of Chester in
this parish, died in 1343, ' seised of a certain Park at BaiTow.' But another document con-
nects the Basset property in this parish with Buddon Wood,| and thus confirms the identity
of Barrow Park with Quorndon Park, which (as has been just noticed) adjoined that wood.

" But, it may be asked, how could a Park on the west of the Soar be at any time called
Barrow Park ? Probably, because it was inclosed before any hamlets existed in the parish.
We know that the Earls of Chester possessed Ban'ow previous to the compilation of Domes-
day Book, in which no one of the three is mentioned.

"The subsequent name, Qiionidoii Park, may be explained on the same ground. We
have distinct evidence that it was situate near Park-ford, in a part of the parish now called
Woodhouse. But at the time it was named, no such village as Woodhouse was in existence.
That word first occurs in 12-20,§ nearly a century after Quorndon was so considerable a
place as to have its own Church ; and it can be proved that, long after Woodhouse did
acquire a distinct appellation, it was not unfi-equently comprehended under the general
designation of Quorndon. Ranulph, Earl of Chester and Lincoln, the possessor of Wood-
house as well as of Quorndon, between 1'216 and 1-232, granted a small portion of his wood
of Alderman's Haw, ' ubi homines sui de Querndon habent communem pasturam.'|| The
expression in this case is the more extraordinary, because the inhabitants of Woodliouse,
living so much nearer to Alderman's Haw, would derive more benefit from the right of
common than those of Quorndon (properly so called) could do. A century and a half after-
wards, in 1379, John de Farnham is stated to have 'founded, at Quorndon, a Chantry,'
which proved, in 1548, to be situate in the hamlet of Woodhouse."1[

The two townships were, till a considerably later date, united ; for the inhabitants of
Woodhouse were, till about 16-20, obliged to bury at Quorndon ;** and they, only a few
years ago, agreed each to maintain their own poor.

" As to the Curia Comitis, it is less easy," continues Mr. Babington, " to show what it
was not, than what it was. That it was not a Manor House, is, I think, clear, from the
tithes of it having been gi'anted to the Monks of St. Severus, which would in that case have
been ^wpov acwpou. If it had any connection whatever with the residence of the Earl, per-
haps it was that part of Mountsorrel (^lountsonel Burg) which was ' intra curiam ca-stri,''

* Nichols, Vol. III., p. 61. f Nichols, Vol. III., p. 63.

X JO Rich. II., Radulphus Basset tenet manerium de Barrow super Soare cum Buddon. — Nichols, Vol. I., p. 126.

§ Nichols, Vol. I., p. 58. || Nichols, Vol. II., Appendix, p. 117. H Nichols, Vol. III., p. 95, 96.

•• Nichols, Vol. HI., p. 111.

58 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

for I find that the parts extra curiam castri were granted by the last Earl of Chester to
Stephen de Segrave: I sdiy per] i a ps, both because it is by no means certain that the name
' Curia ComHis' was not applied before the Castle of Mounlsorrel was built, and because
there is nothing to show whether the bailiwick of the Castle of Mountsorrel was so large as
to have made the tithes of it worth the notice of the Monks. But as the word curia, in
legal documents, has (according to Sir Henry Spelman) another intei-pretation, and one
wholly unconnected with any building, I think that this is probably its meaning in the
present case.

" It appears from the dissertation on Domesday Book, that the dominicutn (domain) was
often found greatly too extensive for occupation by the Lord, as well as inconvenient, from
beino' dispersed over distant parts of the parish. In process of time, therefore, as we are
informed, the Nobles, being more attached to war than to agriculture, let off the outlying
portions of this dominicum, often the greater part of it, to husbandmen, who paid their rents
principally, if not wholly, in provisions. That tliis took place in Barrow is probable, from
the great extent of the dominicum, which comprised nearly one-third of this overgrown
parish. May not the Curia Comitis, then, have been the portion not so let off in I-2-20 (for
that is the date of the deed) ? — in which case it would answer to Sir H. Spelman's second
interpretation of the word, and be equivalent to a manor within a manor. And may not this
have been the origin of one of the manors co-existing for so long a time within this parish ?"*

The " Erdington Manor, in BaiTow," extended also to Quorndon and Woodhouse ;t
which probably accounts for the strange anomaly of Simon de Liz being recognized as
superior Lord by Robert Bossu.J I do not find it distinctly stated that Robert Bossu held
under de Liz : but in 1346, other persons held lands in Quorndon and Woodhouse, " as
parcel of the fee of Huntingcloii." And as de Liz was Earl of Huntingdon, as well as of
Northampton, Robert Bossu probably held some part of his property under him, though the
bulk of it was of the fee of Chester.

The Hastings manor perhaps originated as mentioned in the note. The probable cause
of this division of manors was explained in a preceding chapter.

In 1311, Mabel de Sully (see page 12) died seised of one quarter of the manor, held of
the King in capite, as of the honour of Chester.

In 1316, Raymund de Sully, son of Mabel, died seised of the same, held by service of
a quarter of a Knight's fee.

It is evident, from the Segrave Chartulary, that Hugo le Despenser had possessions in
BaiTow, as he gave to Stephen de Segrave, in marriage with his sister Roesia, a virgate of

* The fees of Hugh Cantor and of Blundol are mentioned in the passage under consideration ; and another fee,
that of Boteler, is named together with them in the Rentale of Leicester Abbey, fol. 15. In 1235, Henry de Hastings
held a Knight's fee in Barrow, under the Earl of Arundel.— (Nichols, Vol. I., p. 49.) Perhaps this is what was after-
wards called the Hastings Manor, for that noble family did not obtain the Erdington Manor till 1461 ; so that Nichols
is probably incorrect in saying (Vol. III., p. G9) that it is in right of Erdington Manor that the Earl of Huntingdon
was described, in the Inclosure Act of 1776, as Lord of the Manor of Barrow. There seems to have been more than
one manor in Barrow in very early times : for in 1346, parts of Barrow, Quorndon, and Woodhouse, were in the fee of
Huntingdon (p. 63), though tlie larger share of it then was, and always had been, in the fee of Chester,
t Nichols, Vol. III., p. 69. X Nichols, Vol. I., p. 27.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 59

land in Banow : and a Deed, by which Gilbert Cat engages to pay to the said Stephen and
his heirs an annual rent of ■2s., which he held under Roger de ^lemelavain.*

This possession was, perhaps. Cat Hill, in Charley, and the lands adjoining.

In 1340, Henry de Beaumont, then Earl of Buchan, was found to have died seised of
the hamlet of ]5arrow, as a member of Loughborough.

In 1;543, Ralph Basset, of Drayton, died seised of a certain Park at Barrow, and £4. 16.?.
rents of the naifs and cottagers : all of which he held of Lord Edward, Earl of Chester (the
Black Prince, eldest son of Edward HI.), by the service of a quarter of a Knight's fee.

In 1346, Giles de Erdington, on the aid then granted for knighting Edward of Wood-
stock, the King's eldest son, was assessed SO.v. for half a Knight's fee, in Banow, Quomdon,
and Woodhouse, parcel of the fees of Chester and Huntingdon. f

In 1375, Sir Giles de Erdington, Knight, died seised of the manor of BaiTow, leaving a
son and heir, Sir Thomas Erdington, who (probably from the proximity of BaiTow to
Segrave) formed a matrimonial alliance with Margaret, daughter of Thomas de Brotherton,
Eai-1 of Norfolk, who in her own right succeeded to the title of Countess on her father's
death. This lady had before been twice mamed ; first to Sir Walter Manny, and secondly
to John Lord Segrave, who dying in 1355, left her a widow with an only daughter Elizabeth
— mother to Thomas Lord Mowbray, Earl ilarshal and Duke of Norfolk.

In 1390, Sir Ralph Basset, of Drayton, Knt.,I died seised of the manor, with the appur-
tenances, held of the King hi capite by Knight's service.

In 1394 occurs an inquisition of a somewhat singular character, by which it was found
that, on the death of Sir Thomas de Erdington, William le Walshe, Rector of Upton, and
Thomas Wilde. Capellan, had formerly assigned to Giles de Erdington, father of Sir Thomas,
for the term of his life, the manor of Banow-upon-Soar, and the view of frankpledge therein :
that the said manor was held in capite by the service of a quarter of a Knight's fee : and
that Thomas, son of the said Thomas and jMargaret his wife. Countess (afterwards Duchess)
of Norfolk, was next heir of the said Thomas.

The obscurity occurring here is the want of all proof of the right by which le Walshe
and Wilde could grant the manor. The most reasonable supposition seems to be, that they
were Trustees.

In 1404, it was found that Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk, widow of Thomas de Erding-
ton, Knight, died seised of the manor. Her son then succeeded to his father's moiety : and,
on the death of his relation, Raymond de Sully, to the other portion too.

* Nichols, Vol. II., Appendix, p. 113. f Rot. Aux., 20 Edw. III.

I It has been before stated (p. 12) that Margaret, daughter of Roger de Somery, and Nichola d'Albini, married
Ralph Basset; Burke (Extinct Peerage) makes Margaret the daughter of Roger's seconrf wife, Annabel, -H-idow of
Gilbert Segrave, though he owns that the four daughters of the^rs^ marriage inherited their mother's estates. It may
seem to favour Burke's former statement, that Nicholas de Segrave held a share of the Manor of Barrow : but it should
be remarked, that he is distinctly stated to have held it, not in his own right, but in that of his wife Alice. It does not
appear from the Segrave Pedigree, either in Nichols or in Burke, whose daughter Alice was ; nor is even her Christian
name given by either : but as John Le Strange is the only one of the husbands of the four heiresses of Roger de Somery,
whose name does not appear as a possessor of a share of the Manor of Barrow, it may be conjectured that this Alice
was his daughter.

60 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

" The manor," it is plain in the above extracts, generally means only a pai't of it — most
commonly one-fourth.

In a book of fifteenths and tenths, granted by the Laity in 1416, Barrow was rated at
£6. 16s. Beaumont fee, de Priore hospitalis S. Johannis Jerusalem in Anglia (Beaumanor?)
at 6s. 8(1.

In 1427, Elizabeth, widow of Henry de Beaumont, died seised of the manor of Barrow,
as a member of Beaumanor.

In 1433, Thomas de Erdington, Esq., died seised of the manor, held of the King by the
service of a quarter of a Knight's fee.

In 1439, Beatrix, wife of Sir Hugh Shirley, held that part- of the manor (one-third) that
had formerly belonged to Sir Ralph Basset, of Drayton. — (See page 12.)

In 1461, the last Sir Thomas Erdington enfeofled Sir Richard Neele, of Prestwold, in
this manor : and in default of issue, remainder to go to William, Lord Hastings.

On the attainder of William Viscount Beaumont, in 1463, Edward IV. granted part of
his possessions in Barrow to Lord Hastings, his Chamberlain: and in 1467, the other part
of the Viscount Beaumont's lands ; to be held by homage only, in lieu of all service. —
fPat. 7 Edward I V.J

On the attainder of Lord Hastings, June, 1483, the lordship, with all his other immense
estates, reverted to the Crown ; all of these, however, on the accession of Henry VII., in
consideration of the last Lord's services, were restored, Nov. 22, 1485, to his son. Sir Ed-
ward Hastings, father of George, first Earl of Huntingdon of that name, who died lord
thereof in 1534, as did his son Francis, the second Earl, in 1561 : and two grandsons —
Francis, the third Earl, Dec. 14, 1595, and George, the fourth Earl, Dec. 30, 1604 ; at which
period the manor is stated to have been of the annual value of £'66. 13s. 9^d., held of the
King, as of the fee of Chester, by fealty only ; and Francis, Lord Hastings, his son and heir
being then dead, Henry, Earl of Huntingdon (then aged eighteen yeai-s, six months), was
his grandson and heir. He held also the manor of Loughborough, worth ^133. 6s. 8d., with
Ashby, &c., &c., &c.

The Barnards, Brahams, Caves, Babingtons, Marshalls, Beaumonts, Beveridges, Farn-
hams, &c., were all families of opulence or distinction once located here. Of their pos-
terity, there is not more than one now resident in the village.

Bv the marriage of a Braham with a Cave, considerable possessions at Ban-ow passed
into the latter family, and from Theophilus Cave to his nephew, Dr. Humphrey Babington,
a younger branch of the Babingtons of Rothley Temple. The Marquis of Hastings still has
the manor, but the soil, 2550 acres, inclosed in 1776, belongs chiefly to various opulent
farmers — to the Vicarage — and to charitable Institutions.

THE CHURCH.

BaiTOW, in the ecclesiastical division of the county, is part of the Deanery of Ackley.*
The Church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is an ancient and a somewhat singular struc-

• The origin of the name of this Deanery is very obscure. An attempt to explain it will be found under Sheepshed.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 61

ture ; it is built in tlie form of a cross. The tower, surmounted with very beautiful pinna-
cles, when viewed from a point from which the (iuorn woods form its back-ground, has a
very fine effect.

In the reign of King Stephen, Ranulph de Geroniis, Earl of Chester, gave the Church
of Barrow, with the Chapel of (iuemdon belonging to it, with one carucate of the demesne
lands, to the Abbot and Convent of St. ^lary de Pratis, at Leicester, ad proprios ttsus : which
grant Hugh Cevelioc, the succeeding Earl of Chester, as well as King Henry II.,* confirmed.

The Benedictine Abbey of St. Severus, in Normandy, founded by Severus, Bishop of
Avranches, in 558, and re-founded by Hugo, Viscount Avranches, afterwards Earl of Chester,
had evidently part of the tithes arising from BaiTow (the gift, doubtless, of one of the ancient
Earls of Chester) ; as William de Albini, Earl of Arundel, in conferring on the Abbot and
Convent of St. Mary de Pratis the great and small tithes of Barrow, made a special excep-
tion of those due to the Monks of St. Severus ; which, however, the Abbot and Convent
afterwards purchased.

The Matriculus of 12-20 shows that the then Vicar, William, received the moiety of all
the profits of the altar, and a third part of all the corn-tilhcs, and was bound to serve the
Church and sustain all episcopal and archidiaconal payments. The Chapel of Quorndon
was also to be served thrice a week irom the mother Church.

The Monks of St. Severus received, from old time, one-third of the tithes of blades and
demesne lands of the Earl of Chester, in Barrow, with all the small tithes arising from the
Earl's Curia, or Court (" de Curia Comitis"). They had also two parts of the blades from
AVilliam Blundel's and Hugh Cantor's lands, and from the new inclosures (novis bundis) of
the Earl in Barrow. Also the whole tithes of com from the cleared ground of Mountsorrel,
from which they only ought to receive a third part. They also received the whole tithe of
com, and all the small tithes at Woodhouse, except the oblations on holy days, Peter-pence
and wax-shot (ceragiumj.f

Charyte's " Rentale" describes at great length what portions of tithe and other proceeds
belonged to the Abbey of Leicester, and what to the Vicar of Barrow. The ancient names of
the woods in this parish, from which the Abbot took tithe, are given in a note. J

At the Dissolution, a portion of the Rectory belonged to Langley Nunnery. In lo9y, a
part of the tithes was in the Crown. In KiOO, Sir William Herrick purchased it, and the
impropriation was his property in 164-2 : the glebe and tithes belonging to Theophilus Cave
Esq. Henry Famham, Esq., of Nether Hall, Quomdon, possessed the advowson in 1661.

The land set apart at the inclosure in lieu of the great tithes is now partly the propcrtv
of the Trustees of Barrow Hospital (to whom the tithes were left by Mr. Cave), and partly
of the Vicar. The value of the living was greatly augmented by Dr. Beveridge, Bishop of

* Cart. 14 Edward III., N. 17, Co. Leic. Inspeximus. f See Nichols' East Goscote, page 71.

j Nomina locorum et boscorum in Parochii de Baroo ubi abbas Leic' debet habere decimam. In Buddunwode,
in Mapulwell, in Brakkley-kar, in medietate Parci de Bellomont, Ferj-nwode, Lowsikar, Philj-pwode, Barola-wnde,
Manyclefe, Wyllynghawe et Dryhyrst, Clossefeld juxta Bewmaner, boscum de Quemdonvocatum Famamwode, Bew-
maner-lawnde, Calvercroft, Wellawmedewe, Fa-wkeneyr-hey, JIukkelynge et Thorpulande, Woleyswode, Holy Well,
Aldurmanhey, ye Launde, Heyrdmanhaucliffe et multa alia — Sowthewode, Danswode, Schepeywode, Tumelleys.
New close, Buk hyll et in aliis locis diversis sicut patet in rotulis Celariorum. — Rentale, fol. 16.

Q2 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

St Asaph, a native, and long a resident of the place. The patronage is now in St. John's
College, Cambridge. Few Churches can boast of such a succession of distinguished Vicars.
The present Incumbent is the Rev. Richard Gvvatkin, B.D.

There were, in Burton's time, the following arms: — England. William de Albini,
Earl of Arundel ; Erdington, and De Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk.

The monuments and monumental inscriptions are unusually numerous and cmious. The
earliest is one with the following inscription : —

il^tc facet ^Haltmts films Ei)omt iSrDingtott, tntlitts, (jut oiiit 1430.

In the Chancel floor, on a slab of alabaster, is the figure of a man between two wives—
their hands elevated in prayer; and below them are those of eighteen children. This
monument is inscribed —

i^tr facft jeill'm's. BarnarD De JSarroto sup=:Soore, et JToljattna et Alicia uxores ef.
^m WiiU'm'& retitittJit Seo ^att 26. jjte, ^nno Soin: i-550». et JJoIjanna oiiit 26 ffcb=
ruarit anno Bom : 1537°: quor' a' i' ab's propitiet' Sens.— amen.

VicAES. Patrons.

William, 1220

William de Hmigerton, 1228

Thomas de Creke, 1235

Philip de 1240

William de Summerdeby, 1265

Simon de Lechefield, 1267

William Gillote, 1534

William Rustat, 1563; buried 1588.
Jolm Beveridge, D.D., signs Vicar 1617.*

William Beveridge, B.D., Oct. 24, 1620 ; buried 1640 John Beveridge, D.D.

Anthony Beridge, M. A., 1640 Henry Famliam, Esq.

John Beveridge, M.A., 1661 The Beveridge family.

John Beveridge, 1 688-9 ; buried 1695

John Richardson, 1695-6 William Beveridge, D.D,

Benjamin Bewicke, 1701 ; died 1730 '

Vere Foster, B.D. 1730 ; died 1756 ■)

William Burrow, B.D. 1757 ; died 1794

... „ „ -^ -_„. )• St. John's College, Cambridge.

William Easton, B.D., 1794 ' 6. o

Richard Gwatkin, B.D. 1832

Prior and Convent of St. Mary de Pratis,
at Leicester.

THE HOSPITAL.

One of the noblest village charities in the county is the Hospital at Barrow. It has,
however, like many other charitable foundations, been attended with one result which its
beneficent founder probably did not calculate upon. The advantages it offers increased,

• He must have been presented before, or else a vacancy had occurred.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 63

under the old Poor-law, the number of settlements. The tables of benefactions in the
Church give the following account of the foundation : —

" Humphrey Babington Clerk, D.D., by his will, dated the 17th of August, l(j86, for the
glory of God, and that the name of his dear uncle, Theophilus Cave, deceased, and that the
name and memory of his ancestors might be preserved in Barrow, did give and devise his
estate in Barrow, < iuoradon, and ^Nlountsorrel, to six Trustees (being neighbouring gentlemen
and divines), and their heirs, in trust, out of the rents thereof to erect in BaiTow an Alms-
house for six poor men, who should be called ^TheBcadstiienofTlieophilusCave,^ and
should have £9>. a year for ever (to be paid weekly) for their maintenance ; which beadsmen
should be all of them inhabitants of long continuance in Ban'ow and Quorndon — either
widowers or ancient bachelors — whereof five should be chosen out of Barrow, and but one
out of Quorndon, unless great need be. Each beadsman, on his admittance, to have a gown
of blue cloth, faced with white, and to have a load of coals yearly."

The Testator also directed three commemoration sermons to be preached yearly in the
Church of Barrow, viz. : — two on Trinity Sunday, and the other on the last Sunday of Oc-
tober. The preacher to receive -iO.s. on each day of those two days, and 30.s'. to be given to
the poor ; and iOs. laid out in Bibles, with the liturgy, and given to such poor children of
the place as could read. The words, " The Gift of Theophilus Cave, Esq.," to be impressed
in gold letters on the covers.

The endowment of a Hospital for bachelors and ancient widowers, and to perpetuate
the memory of the founder's relative, and not his own, is, perhaps, an unparalleled cir-
cumstance.

The rents belonging to this excellent Charily having, about thirty years ago, greatly in-
creased, and the allowance to the inmates having, in consequence, become proportionably
liberal, some of the beadsmen were much tempted to intemperance. To prevent this, the
Trustees, after a decree in Chancery, determined, out of their surplus funds, to erect an
additional Hospital for aged women.

In 18-25, therefore, another handsome Almshouse was completed ; and, had its situation
been as judiciously chosen as the design, the building would have been a great ornament
to the neighbourhood as well as to the village.

Another charitable foundation is the Free Grammar School — erected by the will of the
Rev. Humphrey Perkins — who gave the reversion of a farm at llatcliff-upon-Trent for its
endowment.

In endeavouring to discover any ancient tumulus from which Barrow might originally
have taken its name,* I learnt, from an old lime-bumer, that he remembers a large heap of
earth on the north side of the village, called " the Koiind Hill," which was removed, fifty-
three years ago, to fill up the hollows caused by the lime-pits. This does not seem an un-
likely circumstance.

There is still in a field adjoining the road to Burton, and exact]}' opposite to the bridle-
road leading to Walton, a somewhat curious circular mound, evidently raised by art — as the

• A more satisfactory reason for this name will be found under Woodhouse.

64 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

removal of the surrounding earth plainly shows — but I dare not venture to pronounce, in a
locality in which the surface has undergone so much disturbance, that it has any claim to
be considered an ancient barrow.

The singular and valuable property of the Barrow lime, which hardens under water,
and the wonderful fossil remains discovered here, will be found better described in the
Geology than by any thing I can say. Mr. Lee, of this place, has a collection of nearly all
the vai-ieties, which he at all times most obligingly shows to any respectable person. There
are some specimens found here not yet discovered, I believe, in other lias formations ; I
regret my inability to procure a complete list. The saurians are frequently found.

The Rev. Robert Gutch, of Segi-ave, favoured me with the following communication
respecting a very valuable ichthyosaurus discovered at Barrow : — " I had the pleasure, some
years ago, through the kindness of Mr. Bradshaw, of presenting Dr Buckland, among other
fossil remains collected from oiu- own as well as the Barrow lias, with a specimen of a small
ichthyosaurus, about five feet long, wanting the greater part of both extremities. T cannot
decribe it to you better than in the words in which the Professor was pleased to acknow-
ledge the receipt of it. ' I have now to thank you for your magnificent present to our Mu-
seum of an extremely fine ichthyosaurus, more perfect in its display of the bones of the
sternum than any specimen I have ever seen ; and wliich I hope to disengage from much
of the stone in which it is now embedded.' — He did so, and afterwards delivered some
public Lectures upon it, having, in his microscopic examinations of it, made, for the first
time, the important discovery of the skin of this remarkable fossil. Of this he has given an
accurate description in page ii. Vol. IL, of his Bridgewater Treatise, with drawings of the
same in plate 10 of the same volume."

It only remains for me to mention the magnificent Forest views which the Cliff and all
the western eminences of this place afibrd. Observed, as they should be, in shine and
storm — in all the varying phases of the day and the year — they will be allowed inferior to a
great part of the lake scenery, inasmuch only as the Soar is inferior to Windermere.

It may be added, that if BaiTOW Proper ever did contain a Baronial mansion, its site
was doubtless on Cliff' Hill.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY 01" CIIARNWOOD. 05

MOUNTSORREL.

fMoiiiil-soare hill, Mu/itsarril, Miiiistevll* Mnuid SurrcUJ

.lam ad Soaruin iUuiien regrudimur, qui Leicestriam praHerlapsus, primOm Montsorell, sive potiis
Mont-soare-luU, ex Normannici ct Anglic^ compositione, irnmen praebet * • • Nunc tantum mercatu
celebre est ; olim Tero ccleberrimum Castro in praerupto et coufragoso coUe flumini impendenti, quud
prills ad Cuniitem, bello Baronico, spectavit; hodieque nihil est nisi rudetum. — Camden.

Mountsorrel North (anciently called Mouutsorrel Burgh) is, parochially, an appendant
to Barrow: and on this account, as well as on account of its being, geologically speaking,
one of the outworks of the Forest, is of too great importance to be passed over without
remark.

The stately Castle which once crowned the remarkable steep, still called Castle Hill, is
what chieily calls for notice in Mountsorrel. This Castle, Nichols conjectures, was built bv
Hugh Lupus — consequently about 1080 — and the first mention of it is in Articles of Agree-
ment, made in the reign of Stephen, between Ranulph de Geroniis (great nephew of the
founder) and Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester, whose extensive possessions in this neigh-
bourhood were respectivel}' bounded at this place by a lane, now called Bam Lane, but
anciently, no doubt, Baron Lane.f By this agreement, made in the presence of Robert de
Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln, Earl Ranulph gave to the Earl of Leicester and his heirs the
Castle of MountsoiTel, to be holden of the said Ranulph and his heirs in such sort that the
Earl of Leicester should be bound to receive the said Ranulph and his family in the borough
and bailiwick of MountsoiTel, to war, whenever he listeth, as of his own fee; and, if needful
for Earl Ranulph, his body to be received into the Castle, in such sort that the Earl of
Leicester should bear unto him faith (always the faith due to his liege lord excepted) ; and
if it be behooful that the Earl of Leicester go against the Earl of Chester with his liege lord,
not to carry with him above twenty Knights ; and if the Earl of Leicester, or those twenty
Knights, shall take any part of the Earl of Chester's goods, it shall be restored again. And
the Earl of Leicester may not, in any case ympeach or hinder the body of the Earl of Ches-
ter, except he hathe defied him fifteen days before ; and the Earl of Leicester is bound to
aid the Earl of Chester against all men, except the said Earl of Leicester's liege lord and
Earl Simon."!

A passage of gi-eater interest, as showing the immense power of the English nobility at
the period to which the agreement refers, coidd hardly be found. Nichols ( Vol. I., p. -27 J
gives the document at gi"eater length, and states several reasons for fixing the date at 1I5I.

In those days, when military achievements and the S2:)orts of the chace were the chief
resources of the nobility, this Castle must have been highly esteemed, bolh from its natural

* So given in Burton's extract from a Roll of Henry III.
f Baron Park, in Leicester Forest, for a long time tmderwent precisely the same corruption. An engraving of an

ancient cross, that stood in this lane, will be found further on, in page 70.

+ Nichols, Vol. I., p. 27, says (in a note) "Simon de St. Lis, the first Earl of Northampton of that name."

The liege lord of the Earl of Leicester appears, by the document, to liave been Robert, Earl of Ferrars.

66 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Strength, and from its contiguity to the Forest. But as Robert Bossu advanced in age, he
spent a considerable part of his time in the foundation of the Abbeys of Leicester and
Garendon ; and at length the Castle and chace lost all their charms. For the last fifteen
years of his life he made Leicester his chief residence, having become a Canon Regular of
that Abbey in 1152. — (Nichols, Vol. I., p. 3o7.J — There he died, in 1167.

During these years, the Castle of Mountson-el was, no doubt, virtually in possession of
his son, Robert Blachmaines, who, after his father's death, rebelling against King Henry II.,
and being taken prisoner, was forced, in 1174, to sun-ender this and all his other Castles
into the King's hands.* He was, however, restored to favour at the Great Council held at
Northampton in the following year, and reinstated in all his possessions except this. This
the King alleged to be his own lawful right, and retained it — probably from a desire to have
in his own hands a fortress of such consequence.

It does not appear that it was restored to his son, Robert Fitz Pamell, high as he was
in the estimation of the next Monarch (Richard I.) : accompanying him to the Holy Land,
and greatly distinguishing himself at Ascalon. Indeed, after the death of Blanchmaines,
Saer de Quincy, who married his sister and co-heiress, obtained, for the consideration of
£1000., a Grant from the King of the custody of the lands of the said Robert; this Castle,
with its appurtenances, being excepted, as being then in the King's hands. In 1215, one
of the most eventful periods of English History, King .John appointed Saer de Quincy
Governor of it. On Saer's taking part with the Barons, the King granted the custody to
Simon de Cantelupe the same year.f It does not, however, appear that the latter ever ob-
tained actual possession, as de Quincy strongly garrisoned it, and held it on behalf of Lewis,
the French King (whom the Barons had called to their assistance), till the King's death.
It was during the time of this garrison's occupation of the Castle, that the officers and
soldiers made those marauding incursions into the adjacent country, that earned for the
Castle the remarkable designation given it in Camden — " nidum Diaholi speluncam
latroiium."

To check the terrible outrages committed by the officers and soldiers of this garrison, of
which the whole peasantry made heart-rending complaints, the Royalists in the Castle of
Nottingham determined to sally out against them. Falling in with a band of these lawless
depredators in the midst of one of their pillaging excursions, they routed and dispersed
them, returning victorious to Nottingham with several of the leaders prisoners.

Henry HI., hearing of this act of gallantry against his bitterest enemies, gave it in com-
mand to the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire to gather the forces of that county, and with
the garrison of Nottingham to besiege and demolish the Castle of ^lountsorrel. Matthew
Paris (see Appendix) gives a very interesting account of this siege, which he says took place
after Easter, 1217. The Castle was at that time defended by Henry de Braibroc,| or

• Nichols, Vol. I., p. 358, asserts that "his Castles of Leicester, Groby, and Mountsorrel, were demolished between
1173 and 1177." This mistake is the more singular, as he had, in page 77 of the same volume, correctly said, that
" though the two former were demolished in 1175, the King retained the Castle of Mountsorrel as his own property ;
it having been shown to be his by the recognition of lawful men of the vicinage."

. f Rot. 17, Joh. m. 3. j Nichols says Robert.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 07

Braybioke, with ten most valiant Knights (milites strenuissimi) and a great nnmber of re-
tainers. The leaders of the besieging party were William ]Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke
(then Governor to the infant King), Ranulph de Blondeville, Earl of Chester, William de
Fen-ariis, Earl of Derby, William, Earl of Albemarle, Brienne de Lisle (de InsulA), William
de Cantelupc, Philip Marc, Robert de Gangi, and many others from the garrisons of the
neighbonring Castles. The siege was evidently very vigorously undertaken. Warlike
engines were placed by the Royalists on the neighbouring heights (in loci-s cotigruis), now
called Broad Hill ; and it is evident, from the account given by Matthew Paris, that the
chief mode of attack was by machines somewhat resembling the balista. Describing the
besieged, he says, " they manftdly hurled back stones for stones, javelin for javelin on their
assailants." The siege had continued for some days with a spirit equal to the importance
of the fortress, and provisions in the ganison beginning to fail, de Braibroc sent to Saer de
Quincy, at that time at London, begging for immediate assistance. De Quincy, without
loss of time, applied to Lewis the Dauphin, who had just arrived in London. The latter,
without delay, despatched the Count de Perche, with twenty thousand men, to the relief of
Mountsorrel, " aware of the consequences that would follow the surrender of a place on
which the eyes of the neutral Barons were fixed."

It is singular that Nichols should have described the Count's forces as having been met
at Lincoln by King Henry's army, and defeated in their way to Mountsorrel.* The Count,
according to Matthew Paris, approached so near to the latter place as to induce Ranulph
de Blondeville to abandon the siege, and to join the Earl Mareschal, at Nottingham. After
the Royalists' victory over the Barons and the French, at Lincoln, in which de Blondeville
greatly distinguished himself, Mountsorrel fell into the King's hands, and the government of
the Castle was conferred on that brave Earl, who was also rewarded by the Earldom of
Lincoln. He had not, however, held the governorship a year, and probably was never in
actual possession of it, when, by the command of the King, and by the willing aid of the
neighbourhood, he entirely razed it to the ground,t as a " nest of the devil, and a den of
thieves and robbers." It may not be considered irrelevant to my subject, to introduce a
short sketch of this distinguished man, who seems to have taken such peculiar pleasure in
the destruction of the Castle erected by his ancestor: —

He was sumamed de Blondeville, from the circumstance of his having been born at the
^Vhite Monastery, in Powis-land. He assumed the cross, and marched twice to the Holv
Land, I where he made many displays of his undaunted valour. An incident related of bis
conduct, on his voyage home, is an amusing characteristic of the superstition of the times : —
During a dreadful storm, being requested by the master and crew to lend his aid for their
common presei-vation, he told them to continue their labours until midnight, when, if the
tempest should not abate, he would assist them, but he would do nothing till that time.

* See East Goscote, page 85.
t Camden, as quoted by Nichols, Vol. III., p. 86, gives the same date for the destruction of the Castle. But in a
former Volume (I. -363) Nichols had erroneously stated the final demolition to have been effected about 1265; shortly
before which time, he says, it had been repaired and put into a posture of defence.

j So says Burke.

bo PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

The storm increased — midnight arrived — and the master of the vessel called upon him to
join in prayer with him and the crew for the salvation of their souls ; for all hope of safety
in this world was at an end. " Not so," replied de Blondeville ; " for know ye, the hun-
dreds of holy Monks and Nuns, established and endowed by my forefathers and myself, in
different parts of my possessions in England, are at this hour of midnight rising to sing
divine service. I put confidence in their unity of prayer, and alreadj' feel my strength in-
creased." With that he took an oar in his hand, and called upon the crew with words of
encouragement. Their energy prevailed, and ere morning broke the tempest had subsided
and they found themselves in a friendly port.*

On his return to liis native land he opposed the arbitrary power of Hubert de Burgh ;
and notwithstanding his superstition, resolutely refused to permit the Pope's commissaries
to levy their demands within the compass of his jurisdiction. He died at Wallingford, in
1232, after having governed the Palatinate of Chester for more than fifty years.

It is related, to the credit of his strenuous opponent and bitterest enemy, Hubert de
Burgh, that when the tidings of the Earl's death were brought him, by one who expected to
rejoice him by the intelligence, he sighed deeply, and exclaimed, " God have mercy on his
soul !" and being then fasting, he called for his psalter, knelt before the crucifix, and sang
the whole through, without intermission, for the repose of the soul of his departed foe !

Ranulph has still further claim to notice, as a character of high historical interest. His
first wife was Constance, of Bretagne, whom Shakspeare has immortalized as an example of
maternal sensibility aroused in the defence of the rights of her injured son. It seems some-
what irreconcileable with our ideas of this Constance, that she should have given cause to
her second husband, Ranulph, to abandon her, as the Chronicles of Evesham say he did,
" by reason that King .John haunted her compauy."t It seems scarcely credible that such
a mother should encourage the usm'per of her son's rights, her licentious brother-in-law,
" to haunt her company ;" and the improbability is increased, when we find that it was " by
John's advice and example" that the Earl divorced her and married dementia, the youthful
widow of Alan de Dinant, with whom he obtained great possessions both in England and
France.

Constance, immediately after her divorce, married the chivah-ic Guy de Thouars, and
died in child-birth within a year afterwards.J Ranulph left no issue, and his nej^hew and
successor in (he Earldom of Leicester, John the Scot, died too without issue : having been
poisoned by his wife, Helena, the daughter of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales. The Earldom
of Chester was then annexed to the Crown, on the plea ne fain prceclara domutatio inter
cnlos feminariim dividi contingeret — an allusion to the jiosterity of two of Ranulph's other
sisters.§

» Noble, in Glover's Derbyshire. f So also says Dugdale, quoted by Burke.

+ It is fair to observe, that I am indebted to Mr. Noble, compiler of " Derbyshire," fur part of the foregoing

statement.
Ij Mabel and Hawise : the latter of whom carried the Earldom of Lincoln to her son-in-law, John de Lacy, Con-
stable of Chester. Her brother, it should be stated, had obtained this manor from Henry III., and a little before his
death gave it to Hawise, wife of Robert de Quincy, by Charter — " that she might, in right thereof, be styled Countess."

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 69

To return to the Castle. — The site of this once strong and commanding fortress is, even
after the lapse of upwards of six hundred years, invested with peculiar interest. The visitor
will at once perceive that it must, in the days of its glory, have more resembled some fortress
that " frowns o'er the deep and foaming Rhine," than an English Castle. Those of Not-
tingham, Belvoir, and Peveril-of-the-Peak, were, perhaps, the only Midland Castles that
were at all equal to it in situation ; and these were certainly inferior to it in security and
many other respects. The precipitous rock on which it stood entirely guarded it on three
sides ; and on the least protected side, from all that can now be ti-aced, the fortifications
seem to have been commensurate with its great importance. On Broad Hill, which is situ-
ated about four hundred yards to the north-west, and which doubtless was the spot referred
to by Matthew Paris, in the expression " congruis locis," are three circular mounds, twenty
feet in diameter; four oblong elevations, of forty -two feet long (the latter forming the points
of a parallelogram) ; and some banks or earth-works. Tradition says, the mounds were used
b}' the Royalists at the time of the siege ; and the description of the engines made use of,
in the old Historian just quoted, renders the supposition a likely one. The works may
indeed have been an outpost to the Castle, and certain peculiarities in the plan would per-
haps induce some antiquarians to conclude they had a still higher claim to antiquity, viz. :
that they were the remains of an ancient British camp.

The prospects both from Broad Hill and Castle Hill are of singular beauty ; the mean-
derings of the Soai-, and the rising grounds of Segrave, Slleby, and the Wolds, with the fine
old Church towers of the villages named, diversify the eastern side ; on the north, the heights
of Banow, the wooded eminences of Quom, and the town of Loughborough, form a land-
scape rich in almost every element of fine scenery. On the west, the Forest hills present
their bold and beautiful outline, and Bradgate Park figures to great advantage in the south-
western distance.

It is greatly to be regretted, that there is extant no representation of this remarkable
Norman Castle. Nichols fancies that the seal of Margaret de Quincy, and a painting on
glass, in Thurcaston Church, may be intended for it. In the seal, the Countess is repre-
sented standing under an embattled gateway of great sti'ength.*

John de Lacy had issue Edmund : who, dying before his mother, left this honour to his son Henry, the last Earl of
that family. For having, in her ninth year, betrothed his only siurriving child, Alice, to Thomas, son of Edmund, Earl
of Lancaster, on condition that if they died without heirs of their bodies, his Castles, Lordships, &c., should remain to
Edmtind, Earl of Lancaster, for ever. Alice had no children, and her husband having been beheaded, she brought
great reflection on her character by her unchaste behaviour; having first consorted with, and afterwards, without the
King's leave, married Eubnlo Le Strange, which provoked the King to seize her estates. — On her death (s. p.),
Henry, Earl of Lancaster, grandson of Edmund, by his second son, La right of the above-mentioned conveyance, came
into possession of this large estate, which from that time was in the House of Lancaster. The Kings of England have,
however, conferred the title of Earl of Lincoln on others— Edward IV., on John de la Pole; Henry VIII., on Henry
Brandon ; and Queen Elizabeth, on Edward Baron Clinton, High Admiral of England : whose descendant, the present
Duke of Newcastle, now enjoys it as his second title. — Gough's Additions to Camden, I'ol. II., p. 23.3.

* I have in my possession a halfpeimy, or trader's token, issued by Joseph Lovell, of Mountsorrel, in 1677. It
bears on the obverse a rotmd tower, which may possibly have been standing on some part of Castle Hill, at that period.
Nichols gives an engraving of the same token.

70

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

As some workmen wave getting stone from this hill,
in 1787, they fomid several pieces of old coin, and an
ancient spur, of cast copper, which had been gilt, as was
visible in the engraved strokes of the Mosaic : instead of
a rowel it has a pointed knob, and is from this form
supposed to be of some antiquity."* As Chamwood
Forest was held by the tenure of presenting yearly a pair
of gilt spurs to the King, it is not improbable that this
identical spur may have been one used in that service. —
(See engraving, p. Gi.J — A winding staircase was a few
years ago discovered in the Castle Hill, which apparently
had served as a secret outlet. The steps, though hidden
by loose stones, Mr. Jackson informs me, still remain.

It should be added, that the Castle and vill of Mount-
soiTel were, for a considerable time, enjoyed by the Abbot
and !Monks of Garendon ; obtained for them from Eanulph,
Earl of Chestei-, by the influence of Robert Bossu.f

The annexed is an engraving of an ancient cross,
formerly standing in Baron Lane, Mountsorrel, but now
in Swithland Park.

QUORNDON.

(Qiierne, Querndon, Quernedon, Quarendon, Quin-yndon, Querindon, Querendou,
Querondon, Qiioniedon, Qiiorn.

The name of this very interesting and somewhat celebrated village would seem to imply
its close connexion with the Forest. It is not unlikely that Querne and Cheme were con-
vertible terms. It has already been stated that Quorndon is a hamlet of Barrow : and so
much of its historj' is involved in that of the latter place, that there remains little to be here
added.

Though this village is not mentioned in Domesday Book, it must have been built within
a few years after that book was compiled, as it possessed a Chapel in the reign of King
Stephen. I Among the records called " Pedes Finium," in the Chapter House, Westminster
(temp. Henry IH.), are some deeds relative to this place. In that reign, Sir Robert de
Farnham, descended from Robert de Farnham who came over with the Conqueror, and
whose name appears in the Roll of Battle Abbey, held considerable possessions here, which
are still held by his lineal descendant, Edward Basil Farnham, Esq. M.P. ; Hugh Cantator
(called also Cantor and le Chantour), in 1235; the Segraves, in 1325; the Despensers,
in 1330; and subsequently the Beaumonts, the Erdingtons, the Bassets, the Farnhams;
and latterly the Meynells held possessions here.

• Nichols' Easl Goscote, p. 90. f See Garendon Chartuliiry. j Nichols, Vol. III., p. 62.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 71

The Farnliams alone have any resident representative. The ancient seat of this family
stood two hundred and fifty yards from the late Hall (pulled down by the present Mr. Farn-
ham's father!,* neai' the spot where the entrance lodge of the present mansion is now placed.
It was called the Upper or Over Hall. The Nether Hall, now called Quorndon Hall, was,
in 1.548, the seat of Thomas Famham, Esq. About 1686, it was purchased by George
Morton, Esq. In 1741, it was occupied by F^velyn Chadwick, Esq., grandfather of the late
Duchess of Newcastle — in 17.50, by Laurence Earl Ferrers, and soon afterwards by .Justi-
nian Rainsford, Esq. It was purchased by Hugo Meynell, Esq., in 1758, since which pe-
riod it has passed with the mastership of the celebrated Hunt, of which the latter gentleman
was the founder, to nearly all the succeeding masters.f

Two ancient houses, one now occupied by Mr. Sarson and the other by Mr. .Jackson,
deserve mention. The former was long the family mansion of the Chaveneys — the latter,
that of a junior branch of the Famham family. There are several other residences of more
than ordinary consequence. Those of the Rev. Thomas Bumaby — of the Rev. B. C. Raworth
— of Mrs. Stone — of Mr. Flarris — the one lately belonging to the ancient family of Hyde, &c.,
are equal to the Halls and Manor Houses of many villages. In fact, the village has been
in recent, as from its proximity to the Forest it probably was in ancient times, the hunting
residence of many of the aristocracy.

The Chapel, which is, as has been stated, a dependant of Barrow, and consequently in
the gift of the Vicar of the latter place, is a very ancient fabric. Its exterior has lately been
greatly improved, by pointing the granite, of which it is built, with black cement. The
effect is altogether extremely good. The mterior has also been repaired and altered, under
the direction of the same able architect.! Till these alterations, the fine old fabric, abound-
ing in some of the most remarkable monuments in the county (those of the Farnham
family), had its ancient ceiling hidden by the plaster stuccoing of a ball-room, and incon-
gruities of every kind pervaded the whole edifice. §

There is a piscina in the wall of tlie North Willows, or Farnham Chapel, and near it a
singular mutilated statue of John Farnham, who, having early in life greatly signalized him-
self, in arms, was rewarded for his distinguished services by Queen Elizabeth, with gi-ants
of lands, Hospitals, Rectories, &c., in more than sixty lordships.

* Nichols, p. 100, col. 1., last paragraph.

t The Meynells derive descent from the Hugh do Grantemaisnell, the companion of the Conqueror, so often men-
tioned in these pages. Sir Hugh Mej-nell, who married the heiress of the Lord Robert de la Ward, changed his family
arras for those of De la Ward — the same still used by the Me)'nells of Bradley and Meynell Langley. From the
times of Edward I. to those of Henr)' VI. (and frequently since), there was scarcely a Parliament called in which
one of this ancient family did not sit as Member for Derbyshire. Mr. Hugo MejTiell, of Hoar Cross, has lately, by
Koyal License, taken the name and arms of Ingram, in addition to his own.

J Mr. Parsons, of Leicester ; who, with a fimd of £600., raised chiefly by the inhabitants, has thoroughly restored the
Chapel, and greatly increased the accommodation.

^ It does not come under my plan to give the monumental inscriptions of the villages noticed : but I cannot help,
in some degree, regretting the necessity of this omission. The inscriptions at Quom and Barrow probably contain as
fine specimens of the elegiac poetry of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as could be found in any village Church in
the kingdom. One, at least, is the production of Sir John Beaumont.

72 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

A Chantry was founded in Quorndon, by Sir John Hamelyn, in 13-28 ; and another, by
John de Farnham, in 1379.* Nichols thought that one of these Chantries stood where the
Nether Hall now stauds.t The words " Prior of Quorndon," occurring in an inquisition on
the death of William de Ros, of Hamelake, in ] 352, would lead to the impression that one
of them had probably been a small Priory — unless, as was supposed by Nichols fVol. III.,
p. db), this refers to Alderman's Haw. The Abbot of Leicester also had a tithe bam in
Quorndon, long known as " the Abbot's barn."

The ancient Park of Quorndon, which there is every reason to believe was identical with
that of Barrow, appears to have Ijeen of great extent — reaching from Park Ford to Wood-
thorpe, and perhaps including much of the south and south-western side of the lordship.
Its ancient boundary may still be traced in several places, particularly in an old wall lead-
ing from Park Ford, where the Park joined Rothley Plain through Buddon Wood. The
elegant seat of Mr. Farnham, M.P., called Quorndon House, erected in 1820, stands in or
on the verge of the ancient Park; and probably no residence in the county commands, at
once, such a charming contrast of wild and cultivated scenery. Indeed, the walks and rides
through " Farnamwode," Buddon Wood, the Coppice, and the modern Park, may, with great
propriety, be designated romantic. - A scene that presented itself in these woods, in January
of the present year, would have suited Salvator Rosa. In the wildest part, surrounded with
granite crags, a group of wood-markers had kindled a fire. The snow-covered ground con-
trasting with the red paint-tubs — the blue smoke, and ten or twelve hardy -looking woodmen,
who from their appearance might have been taken for banditti, formed altogether a picture
of rare and exquisite effect.

How rich these woods are in plants of more than common interest to botanists, the article
on Botany will show.

There is a considerable benefaction to this place, which acquires singularity from the
circumstance of the donor's name being wholly unknown. The Table of Benefactions thus
records it : — " Several houses, tenements, and buildings, known by the name of Town
Houses, situate in Quorndon, together with several pieces or parcels of ground, estimated
at 25 acres, lying in the Lordship, were given in trust, for charitable uses, to the township
of Quorndon — the donor's name unknown. The said houses and lands were conveyed by
Wilham Herrick, Esq., of Beaumanor, the last surviving Trustee (by a deed bearing date
July 11th, 1760), to Hugo Meynell, Thomas Babington, Edward Farnham, and John Hyde,
Esqrs. ; Samuel Stevens, gent. ; the Rev. Richard Hurd,J the Rev. George Cardale, D.D.,§
the Rev. William Burrow, the Rev. Moor Scribo ; Thomas Squire, John Snappes, Mr. James
and Mr. Samuel Sculthorpe, Mr. Thomas Chapman, and John Bradshaw, in trust, to dispose
of the rents and profits of the said estate for the uses they had formerly been, which had
from immemorial custom been as follows : — To pay the Curate of (Quorndon for the time
being, £\-2. per oniuim. The residue of the rents and profits to be laid out in the repairs
oi bridges and other charities, at the discretion of the Trustees."

* In the Favnham Pedigree (Nichols, Vol. III., p. IU3), the date of this foundation is stated to be 1.393. An iuquisitio

ad Quod damnum (16 Ric. H.) gives the same date. — Nichols, Vol. III., p. 105.

t West Goscotc, p. lUO. % Afterwards Bishop of Worcester. \ Then Vicar of Rotliley.

\^i

m' mi :ii^^- '

'4 ^ T^^' :•!

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 73

BEAUMANOR.

fBcinniKuiiioiir, BcuuKiiior, Jiodic Beau MniiorJ

Saltus de Cliarnwoud sivc Charley longe expanditur, in quo Beaumanor vivarium cemitur, quod Domini de BcUomonte,

ut accepi, lapideo muro circumsepserunt. — Camden.

Riding a little farther 1 left tlie Parke of Bewmanor closid -ivith a stone walle and a pratie logge j-n it, longging alate

to Beaumont.— ie/anrf, about 1536.

The assertion of Miss ]\Iitford already quoted, that "every name is a history," has a
peculiar propriety when applied to Beaumanor. Those who never saw the spot, could
scarcely fail to infer that such a name could only belong to a place rich either in natural or
artificial beauty. — It is so. It is rich, too, in associations with the memories of its occu-
pants ; many of whom make no inconsiderable figure in the annals of our country.

So early as the time of the Norman Conqueror, this manor, for it had not then acquired
its coiTectly descriptive prefix, was the property of Hugh Lupus. It was at that period ac-
counted a member of the manor of Loughborough, but subsequently has been considered to
be locally situated in the parish of BaiTow,* though it has from time immemorial been
extra-parochial.

It passed from the Earls of Chester to the Despensers, and in 1239 was the inheritance
of Hugh le Despenser, under whom it was held by John le Despenser on the tenure of
finding yearly a pair of gilt spurs, of 6d. or 7d. value, in lieu of all other service.f This
Hugh, by his partisanship with Simon de !Montford, became involved in all the consequences
of that rebellion, and lost his life at the battle of Evesham, in 1-265. His lands were shortly
after confiscated, but the manor of Loughborough generously conferred, as part of her
maintenance, on his widow Aliva, daughter of Philip Basset, of Wycombe — the Grant says,
" out of the love the King bare her father." This is gleaned from an inquisition taken not
long after the battle, in which the names of all De Montford's adherents in this county, and
the value of their lands, then seized by the King, are carefully specified. It appears, too,
from the list, that " a certain manor called Beicmanor,^'' being in the tenure of John le De-
spenser (taken prisoner at Kenilworth in the same rebellion), was not restored to Aliva.
Her son Hugh, however, was restored to his father's estates: and in 13-21, the Eai'ldom of
Winchester, which had become extinct on the death of Roger de Quincy, was revived and
conferred upon him. By his marriage with Aliauore, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of
Gloucester, he was also advanced to that Earldom, and had a son, also named Hugh.

Tlie fate of these two last-named Hughs is a subject of too great historical notoriety to
require any lengthened detail. It may suffice to remind the reader that they were the two
favourites of Edward the Second, who fell under the displeasure of his abandoned mother

* So says an extract from Charyte's Rentale of Leicester Abbey, given in Nichols (Vol. III., p. 136J. But in
another extract fib. p. 61 J, only half of Beaumanor Park is claimed to be in Barrow — " Usque ad Alliskar, and sic
usque ad angulum parci de Beimnaner, comprehendendo medium parol de Bewmaner."
t Dugdale Bar. Angl. Vol. II., p. 52.

74 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

and the Barons, who were envious of the Court favours so profusely lavished on them, and
probably greatly annoyed by the insolence of the younger Despenser. Hugh, the elder,
who is represented by most historians as a man of distinguished talents and amiable cha-
racter, was hanged at Bristol, in 13-2o, and his light-miuded and arrogant son in the year
following, at Hereford.*

By their attainder their estates fell to the Crown, and were speedily conferred on the
great founder of one of the most illustrious families that have ever figured in the county —
Henry de Beaumont.

The origin of this distinguished nobleman has often been a subject of dispute amongst
genealogists and historians.

It would be tedious, and perhaps presumptuous, to attempt to decide a point on which
Burton and several other writers have felt considerable difficulties. A careful examination
of the pedigrees and evidences adduced before the House of Lords, on die several occasions
when the succession to this ancient barony has been disputed, leads me to the belief that
Henry de Beaumont was descended from Lewis, gTandson of Lewis IX., of France, and that
he was nearly related to Eleanor of Castile, the faithful and heroic wife of our first Edward.

It was probably the proximity of Beaumanor to Whitwick and Charley, that led to his
matrimonial alliance with Alice, the heiress of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan : an alli-
ance which induced the Lord Beaumont, for he was then ennobled, and in right of his wife
Earl of Buchan,t to take so active a part in the Scottish invasion. He was present at the
fatal battle of Barmockbum.

The first mansion at Beaumanor was erected by this Lord Beaumont, about 1330; he
also inclosed the spacious ancient Park, which some writers have eiToneously stated to be
twenty miles in circumference — evidently mistaking the Park boundaries for those of the
neighbouring Forest. He died in 1340, and it was found that he was at that time seised
(conjointly with his wife) of the manor of ^\niitv\ick, cum memhris, viz. : Shepesheved,
Markfield, Whittington, Roteby, Newton, and Bochaston, held of the King in capite by
Knight's service — as also of the manor of Loughborough, cum memhris, viz. : Beaumanor,
Burton, Hucklescote, Arnesby, Barrow, Cossington, Querndon, Mountsonell, Wodethorpe,
and Kintesthorpe, all in the county ; with the Knight's fees and advowsons of Abbeys, Pri-
ories, Churches, Chapels, and Religious Houses there. His son and heir, John, was then
aged twenty-two.

John, second Lord Beaumont, never used the title of Earl of Buchan. He married
Alianore de Lancaster, fifth daughter to Henry, Earl of Lancaster. In 1338, during his
father's life, while Baron Beaumont, he was employed in a public expedition to Flan-
ders ; and two years afterwards, while the Lady Alianore was attendant on (Jueen Philippa,

» Nichols says, " In 1330 John de Lisle died seised of this manor, which he held under Hugh le Despencer the
younger." — This must be an error ; Hugh was executed four years before. Probably it means, which he hud held
under Hugh le Despenser.

t He was summoned to Parliament during twenty successive years of the reign of Edward II. ; the Writ being
addressed "Henrico de Bellamonte" — and to several Parliaments of Edward III., -nith the addition of "Comitide
Bughan," or Buchan.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 75

then resident in Brabant, his son Henry was bom; and Lord Beaumont, who was not sum-
moned to Parliament before 15 Edward III. (1:34-2),* died the same year, having first ob-
tained the King's special letters patent that his son should be reputed lawful heir, and
inherit his lands in England, as if he had been bom there.

Henry, the third Baron Beaumont, was only two years old on the death of his father.
His legitimacy was ratified by Parliament in 1351. He married Margaret, daughter of
John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and died in 1370, leaving a son John, the fourth Baron, then
in his ninth year.

This Lord was of a truly chivalric character. He accompanied John of Gaunt (then
called King of Castile and Leon) into Spain, but was for a time expelled from the Court by
the machinations of some persons who were jealous of his influence. Those discontents
somewhat abating, he obtained license to pass to Calais, to answer a challenge of four
French Knights, to as many English ones, to just with them at tilt and toumey. Knighton
says, " he broke a lance with the Lord Chamberlain of France, and comported himself alto-
gether as a brave, true Knight." Being made Admiral of the Northern Fleet, and also
Warden of the Marches towards Scotland, he penetrated forty miles into that country,
attacked the town of Fowyke, and brought home many prisoners.

In the same year, and probably in compliment to his successful foray into Scotland, he
had the honour to receive Richard II. and his Queen at Beaumanor, on their progress to
York ; and again, in 1390, on their road from Leicester to Nottingham. There is a tradition
that in both their visits, one of which was of nine days' duration, the King shared in the
pleasures of the chase on Charnwood. This Lord was honoured with the Garter, and, dying
in 1397, left three sons : — Henry, who succeeded him, then aged sixteen — Thomas, from
whom descended the Cole-Orton branch — and Richard.t

Henry, the fourth Baron Beaumont, received the honour of Knighthood at the Corona-
tion of Henry IV. He was then only nineteen. He was summoned as a Baron to several
Parliaments, and died at the age of thirty-two ; leaving, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of
William Lord Willoughby D'Eresby, an only son John, aged three years — for whom, as
there was no provision made for him. Lady Beaumont obtained from the King an assignment
of a£40. a year till he arrived at majority.

John, the fifth Baron, was addressed, in the writs of summons to Parliament, " JoJianiii
Beumo)id CIirr."X He was created Earl of Boulogne, by Letters Patent, dated Canterbury,
•27th July, 1436, being at that time on his joumey to the relief of Calais : having been re-
tained by indenture to serve the King, with twenty men at aims and eighty-eight archers.

In 1440, in consideration of his merits, and the special services of his ancestors, he was
advanced to the dignity of Viscount (being the first person who bore that title in England),
with precedency above all Barons of the realm. He had the misfortune, in 1441, to lose
his Lady, Elizabeth, daughter of William Phelip, Lord Bardolph ; and, " by reason of his
continued services," he obtained a grant of the custody of all the castles, manors, and lands,

* Nichols miscalculates this as 1345 (page 13S), though he correctly dates his death 1342, in the Beaumont

Pedigree (page 66).
t Dugdale's Baronage. J Chl'r. — a contraction for Chevalier.

76 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

which, by the death of his wife, came to Henry, his son : and in case of his death, to Wil-
liam, his younger son, with remainder to Joan, his daugliter, who married John Lord Lord
Lovel. John Viscount Beaumont, however, formed a second alliance with Catharine, widow
of John ^Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, and afterwards wife of Sir John Widvile, Knt., whose
sister Elizabeth manied Sir John Grey, of Groby, afterwards Lord Fen-ars, of Groby. The
Duchess had Beaumanor as part of her dowry. — He was slain at the battle of Northamp-
ton, 1459.

Henry, the elder son, dying unmarried before his father, William, the younger, succeeded
to the family honours and estates, both paternal and maternal, and thus became Viscount
Beaumont and Baron Bardolph.

Adhering with great zeal and fidehty to the House of Lancaster, he was taken prisoner
in the memorable battle of Towton Field (Palm Sunday, March -29, 1461), and was after-
wards attainted in Parliament, and sentenced to forfeit all his titles and estates. He was at
that time seised of the manors of Loughborough, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Whitwick, Sheepshed,
Donington, Markfield, Katby, Beaumanor, &c., &c.

The demesnes of Beaumanor, Whitwick, Bochaston, Newtown, Markfield, and Arnesby,
were held, for the term of her life, by the Duchess, his mother-in-law : and the reversion of
these was conferred by Edward IV. (February 18, 1462), on Sir William Hastings, Knight,
and his heirs.

The injustice of this attainder has been strongly commented upon. Le Neve says,
" attainted, not for disloyalty, but that he endeavoured to maintain the crown on the head
of Henry \l., who had enjoyed the same for forty years, and so had both his father and
o-randfather, without contempt or impeachment. And this attainder ought not to have been
left indefinite, because it is, without expression of the cause, to be taken for disloyalty, none
of which lineage were ever stained or tainted therewith, and it is a foul blot in the author
to impose such a stain or blemish on him."

The cruelty and injustice of this attainder have also been feelingly pleaded, and forcibly
shown in the several petitions of Viscount Beaumont and his descendants, for its reversal
and their restoration to their dignities — especially in that of Viscount Beaumont : in which
he states that he had been " attainted for the true and faithful allegiance and service which
he owed unto the most blessed Christian Prince, King Henrie VL, the uncle of King
Henrie VII."

I quote the words of the petition which he presented to Henry VII. soon after the battle
of Bosworth Field ; on which, after twenty-five years' injustice, he obtained a reversal of
the attainder, as " grounded upon no good foundation or cause warrantable" — and a resto-
ration of all his lands and manors in fee. He was also summoned to Parliament in a writ
addressed " Wilhelmo Vicecomiti Beamond."

Two years, however, had scarcely elapsed, when, on the plea that Viscount Beaumont
was "not of sadness ne discrecion neither to rule and kepe himself nor his said lyvelode"—
in other \\ords, that he alienated and wasted his estates— a Bill was passed, appointing " the
King or his deputies to have the rule of the said lyvelode."

" This measure," says Nichols, " was confirmed in 1496, and all such grants as llic Kiiuj

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 77

had iiKidc out of tlic exfales were efstahlishedr Lord Beaumont died s. i'., December •!(),
1508,* and his nephew, Francis Lord Lovel,t son of his sister Joan, having been attainted,
and having pre-deceased his uncle, being killed at the battle of Stoke, in 1487 — his two
sisters being also dead, the title of Viscount Beaumont became extinct — having been limited
to John, the first Viscount, and the heirs male of his body — but the barony of Beaumont,
being a barony in fee, descended upon Sir Brian Stapleton, Knt., and Sir John Norres, the
sons of the Viscount's two sisters, Joan and Frideswide, as co-parceners in abeyance."
Sir John Norres, the elder son of Frideswide, died in 6th of Elizabeth, without issue ; and
Henry, his younger brother, was attainted iSth of Henry VHL, and cruelly executed, for
having shown some little act of gallantry to Queen Ann Boleyn.

With a view of keeping the narrative continuous, I must here state, that in 1790, the
representative of the Stapleton branch, Thomas Stapleton, Esq., of Carlton, Yorkshire, pre-
ferred a petition to his Majesty, stating his claim to the Barony of Beaumont. On its being
referred to the House of Peers, the Earl of Abingdon (whose second title is Baron Norreys,
of Ricote) put in a counter claim, as heir general to Henry Lord NoiTes, the descendant of
Henry Norres, who was restored in blood in the 18th of Elizabeth.

On a motion in the House, May 18th, 1790, the consideration of Mr. Stapleton's claim
was adjourned for three months. It was again brought under the notice of the Committee
of Privileges, in the House of Peers, in 1798, on which occasion the Lord Chancellor pro-
nonuced a very elaborate judgment on the case ; concluding it with moving three Resolu-
tions, which were unanimously confirmed by the Committee.

1. " That the Barony of Beaumont vested in William Viscount Beaumont."

2. " That the Barony remained in abeyance between the co-heirs of the said Viscount."

3. "That the petitioner, Mr. Stapleton, had proved himself to be one of the co-heirs."

Notwithstanding these steps, it was only in the year 1841 that this long and unjustly
neglected claim was fully recognized in the person of the son of the last petitioner, who was
summoned to Parliament by the title of Baron Beaumont.

I return to the year 1461, when, as has been stated, another distinguished personage —
Sir William Hastings — obtained the reversion of Beaumanor.

To recite the numerous grants made to this once fortunate, but at length cruelly used
favourite, would take up more space than is compatible with my plan. It must suffice to
say, that in addition to the numerous and almost imprecedented royal favours he received,
the principal nobility seem to have vied with each other, and witli the Sovereign, in the
extent of the grants and privileges they conferred upon him. That Lord Hastings (for he
was now ennobled) was a very extraordinary, accomplished, and pleasing man, is shown

• Elizabetli, his widow, was re-married, in the following year, to John de Vere, Earl of Oxford.
f It was of this Lord Lovel, Catesby, and Ratcliff, that the well-known distich was written : —
" The Cat, the Rat, and Level the dog,
Rule all England under a hog !"

78 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD

by these remarkable favours of the Prince and the nobles. Sir Thomas Mora's* character
of him can hardly be suspected to be overdrawn : — " He was an honourable man, a good
Knight, and a gentle ; of great authority with his Prince ; of living somewhat dissolute ;t
plain and open to his enemy, and secret to his friend ; easj' to be guided, as he that (of
good heart and courage) forestudied no peril ; a loving man, and passing well beloved ; very
faithful and trusty, and trusting too much."

Probably no subject had at any time more extensive power and influence, or used it
with more moderation, than Lord Hastings, At a time when two Barons, nine Knights,
and nearly a hundred Esquires and gentlemenj bound themselves by indenture to be his
faithful retainers, he is represented as " void of pride, easy to be entreated, and of ready
access."

It must have been a spectacle of uncommon interest, to see this distinguished Baron and
his train leaving the noble Castle of Ashby, of which he was the founder, for a day's hunting
in Charnwood or Leicester Forest, of which he was Chief Forester. No man, however,
more fully proved what a broken reed is " confidence in Princes." He had, in Edward the
Fourth's time, incurred the disfavour of the Queen, who, Dugdale says, " owed him a grudge
in regard she saw he was so powerful with the King" — and the Protector (afterwards
Richard IH.) soon resolved to be rid of so potent and popular a Baron. On Richard's mere
allegation, and in the most summary way, perhaps, that ever even a person proved guilty
was treated, was this injured nobleman dragged out from a meeting of the Lords' Privy
Council, sent to the Tower, and within two hours consigned to the axe ! June 13th, 1483.§

Well does Shakspeare make Lord Hastings exclaim —

" O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God !
Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks :
Lives like a dnmken sailor on a mast,
Ready with every nod to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep 1"

The murdered Lord was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor ; a stately tomb, and
rich screen, still known as the Hastings Chapel, mark the spot. By his will he directed
that his Executors, immediately on the news of his death, should procure a thousand
Priests, to say a thousand Placebos and Diriges, and a thousand masses for his soul — every
Priest to have sixpence.

* Sir Thomas More's History of Richard III. f An allusion, no doubt, to Jane Shore.

+ Their names are given in Dugdale's Baronage, Vol. I., p. 583.
6 Shortly after midnight preceding that fatal day, the Lord Stanley sent a trusty messenger to Lord Hastings'
house, to advertise him of a dream he had that very night ; viz., that a Boar (Richard's cognizance) with his tusks
so razed both their heads that the blood ran about their shoulders— which made so great an impression upon liimsclf,
that he caused his horse to be made ready, resolved to have gone away Uiat night if Hastings would have gone with
him. But tliis the Lord Hastings slighted as a vain conceit, though the next day it was woefully fulfilled upon himself
and likewise on Lord Stanley, though not so severely ; for when the soldiers rushed in, and took away Hastings, they
smote Stanley on the head, so that the blood ran about his ears ; and, had he not stooped under the table, might have
beaten out his htams.— Dugdale's Baronage, Vol. I., p. 584.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 79

It is not, it must be confessed, quite apparent that Lord Hastings was ever in actual
possession of Loughborough and Beaumanor; for, in 1527, when the reversion of these
manors with Sheepshed was gianted in exchange for Grafton and Hartwell, Northampton-
shire, they were still held by the Countess of Oxford, widow of William Lord Beaumont.

The Marquis of Dorset, dying in 1530, his second son, Lord Leonard Grey (in conse-
quence of a remainder in one of the leases from the Crown), became the next possessor of
Beaumanor, where his court rolls are stUl preserved.

In 1537, Margaret, widow of the first Marquis of Dorset, obtained, by the King's Letters
Patent, the manors of Loughborough, Sheepshed, &c., and from that time the manors of
Beaumanor and Loughborough have been entirely distinct.*

Lord Leonard Grey was attainted in 1540, and his brother, the Marquis, who (with his
wife Catharine, daughter of William Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel) had previously obtained
from the Crown a reversionary lease of Beaumanor, procured a lease of twenty-one years
both of Beaumanor and its members, viz. : Woodhouse, Woodthorpe, Quorndon, BaiTovv,
and Mountsorrel, in exchange for Marston, Sussex, and the moiety of a manor in Bedford-
shire. In 1554, he obtained a new grant of Beaumanor, and had a survey taken of the
manor — still preserved. As the account of this noble family will be given under Bradgate
and Groby, it will suffice in this place to say, that the Marquis of Dorset, having no issue
by his first wife, mamed secondly, Frances, eldest daughter of Charles Brandon, the gay
Duke of Suffolk ; and that Duke, dying without any male issue surviving, the Marquis was,
out of compliment to his Lady, created Duke of Suffolk. From this marriage sprang Lady
Jane, Lady Catharine, and Lady Mary Grey.

The Duchess, after the death of her husband (beheaded Feb. 23, 1553-4, for his share
in raising his daughter, Lady Jane, to the throne), underwent almost incredible hardships,
but afterwards enjoyed much tranquillity and domestic happiness, at Beaumanor, in a second
matrimonial connexion with Mr. Adrian Stocks, who had been her Master of the Horse.
This alliance, though censured by some as beneath her dignity, has been praised by others
for its policy, as providing for her own security : which, from her near relationship to the
Crown, might, in case of an equal match, have been disturbed.

The Duchess died in 1559 : in three years after which, Mr. Stocks obtained, by Letters
Patent, from Elizabeth, a new lease of twenty-one years of her Higness's manor of Beau-
manor, with all rights, members, and appurtenances, then extending to the towns or hamlets
of Barrow, Woodhouse, Quorndon, Woodthorpe, and Mountsorrel.

Mr. Stocks had a daughter, who died an infant, by the Duchess : and about 1571, when
he was returned as one of the Members of the county, he took, for his second wife. Dame
Anne, widow of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, Knt.

Mr. Stocks died in 1586, leaving his brother William, then aged sixty, his heir.

In 159-2, Queen Elizabeth, at tlie humble petition of the Earl of Essex, granted a lease
of the manor of Beaumanor, in trust for the said Earl, to Gelly ^Meyrick and Henry Liudley,
by whom it was soon after transferred to William Heyricke, Esq., of London, at an annual
rent of £70.

• Nichols, Vol. III., p. 143.

80 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

In 1595, having purchased Lord Essex's interest in Beaumanor, with all the different
outstanding leases, together with the great and small tithes in Mountsorrel and (iuorndon,
Mr. Heyricke took up his residence here, and held a Court. Since that period Beaumanor
has continued uninterruptedly in possession of his descendants.

Some account of a family that, long prior to their connexion with Beaumanor, had been
advantageously connected with the county, shall here be given. It is taken chiefly from the
copious stores which Mr. Nichols' industry has gathered ; and here it may be right to state,
that as that gentleman's works are almost inaccessible to the majority of my readers — not
two hundred copies being in existence — I conceive I am better consulting the value of my
History, by incorporating with it whatever I find valuable, than by fastidiously rejecting all
matter that is not original.

Mr. Nichols' own example furnishes ample precedent. He incorporated ichole hooks
in his own, not, however, forgetting the ■suuiit cuiqiie.

The Herrick family are supposed to derive descent from Eric the Forester, and therefore
from the ancient Kings of Sweden. I found, on the Forest, a very prevailing tradition, that
this Eric assembled a large army at the Copt Oak, on Charnwood, in order to resist the
Norman invader. The mode of assembling, as the tradition was related to me by an old
forester, seems to have somewhat resembled that of the " gathering" of the Scottish Clans,
so vividly depicted in " the Lady of the Lake." That this Eric did bravely resist William I.,
and afterwards, on being vanquished, become one of his Generals, rests on better evidence
than tradition.

The family was seated in Leicestershire at a very early period. Eric, Ericke, Eyricke,
Eyrie, Heyricke, Ilericke, Hearicke, Heyrick, and Herrick, are all modes which members
of the family have at different times adopted. These changes can only be accounted for from
the arbitrary and variable modes that formerly prevailed. The Leicester branch adhere
to " Heyrick," while the possessors of Beaumanor have, for two or three generations, written
" Herrick."

William Heyricke, the purchaser of Beaumanor, was the fifth son of John and Mary
Heyrick, of Leicester, at which place he was born, in 1557. He went, in his seventeenth
year, to reside with his brother Nicholas, in London, and seems very shortly to have become
a favourite at Court. He is described by our County Historian as " a man of great abilities
and address ; remarkably handsome in person, and high in the confidence of Queen Eliza-
beth, as well as of James : and by honourable services to both, acquired large property."
His being sent by Elizabeth on an embassy to the Porte, and his being rewarded with a
Tellership of the Exchequer and several other places of trust, at once speak for his talents
and integrity. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth previously to his departure for Con-
stantinople, and married, in 1596, Joan,* daughter of Kichard May, Esq., of Mayfield Place,
Essex. The character of this exemplary lady, and admirable wife, will be better portrayed
to the reader's imagination by the following beautiful and affectionate letter to her husband,
than by any eulogy of mine.

• This lady was sister to Sir Humphrey May, and to the lady of Sir Baptist Hicks, afterwards Lord Campdeu —
ancestor of the Earl of Gainsborough.

\^^'i^J

PAUOCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 81

" Sweet hart, 1 could not let so fet a messenjar pas me as hee did you. I houp you
remember Mr. Votier's Godli Use of Prayer everi morning and evining, with all your com-
pani. As you love God leave it not undone ; it shall bring a blessing on you and yours.
God linows how short our time shall be on earth, as wee see daly feareful exsamples to put
us in mind of our last end. Mr. Wadup the goldsmith went to Brestol well, and Ijrought
hom a ded corpse ; and one of our nebars at Kichmond went out to milke her kine, as well
as ever she was in her life, and nielke two kine, and sodenly fell downe ded and never spacke
more. O God, grant we may ever be preparid, as living this houre, and dying the next !
Sweet hart, a littel afore you went your joumi, I tould you that I must nedse take one into
the hous to bring up the gerls, which you wilenly consented to that 1 should have one at
Michelmas ; but so it is hapened, that she that was with my sister Hickes* to bring up
Bes Nowel is com from my sister, and will not stay, because Bes Nowel is so headstrong
that she cannot rule her. My sister Hickes sent me word of hur by Sir George Write, how
fet a woman she was for me to breed up my gerls ; and I knowing it of my own knoledge
to be so, I hou]) you will not be angri wnth me for it: God, that knows my hart, knows I
was never loufter to ofiend you in all my liefe than I have bine within this halfe yeare; and
so I houpe ever I shall be. If you should bord them forth, they would cost you £14. a yeare
at the least, and save nothing at home ; beside, they will never be bred in Religion as at
home, and weare out twise so many clothes as at home. All things considered, this is the
best corse. Mr. Votier came to me, and tould me the parish and hee would make you a
fare pue afore my pue ; but they hard you would goo away, and they would be louft to make
it for Mr. Willams. I wil'd them to goo forward with theare good intent. I houp in God
you would never leave this hous while I did live ; and I beseche God 1 may never live to
gooe out of it e'en from the bottom of my harte.

" Commend me to all our frends : I must not forgite my love to Will. Wee are all in

helth. I leave you to his protection, who is abel to kepe you al. Sweet hart, Mr. Teri is

in possession in that olTes at the Custora-hous; but what my lord will have of him, he

knoweth not yet. Your true and fathful wife tel death.

"JoAXE Hekicke."

" From London, the 22 day of August, 1616."

This is one of the many interesting letters preserved among the Herrick papers at Beau-
manor : from which I could have wished to draw more largely. It may with truth be pro-
nounced a beautiful letter. One breathing more of conjugal affection — of maternal solicitude
— of thorough simple-mindedness, and of Christian feeling, it would be difficult to find.

On Lady Heyrick's picture, still preserved at Beaumanor, is the following couplet —
which, it will be easy to conclude from the foregoing beautiful sentiments, the qualities of
her mind abundantly justified: —

" Art may hir outsid thys present to Tiew,
How faire within nor art or tong can shewe."

• Lady Hickes was sister to Lady Herrick : and the author of " A Complete Survey of London," 1742, attributes
a dispute about precedency, long kept before the Court of Aldermen, " to Hickes and Herrick and their imperious
wives." Lady Herrick, at least, did not deserve this epithet.

82 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Seven sons and five daughters were the issue of this marriage. The sons were — Wil-
liam, Robert, Richard, Fellow of All Souls, and afterwards of St. John's College, Oxford,
afterwards Rector of North Keeps, Norfolk, and Warden of Christ's College, Manchester ;*
Thomas, Henry, a Barrister, Roger, and John.

Sir William Heyrick died in 165-2, at the age of ninety-six, and was buried in St. Mar-
tin's Church, Leicester. — He was succeeded by his son William, who married the daughter
of Humphrey Fox, of the City of London, Esq., and died in 1671, aged seventy-four. He
left issue William, who married Ann, only daughter of William Bainbrigge, of Lockington,
Esq., by whom he had three sons, William, John, and Benjamin, and one daughter. By a
second marriage with Frances, daughter of William Milward, Esq., of Chilcote, Derbyshire,
he had one son and three daughters. William, the eldest son, married Dorothy, daughter
of James W^ootton, Esq., of Weston-upon-Trent ; and, dying in 1705, left by her three sons
and two daughters. This gentleman left, among his papers, the following interesting memo-
randum, dated 1688 : —

" Sir William Heyricke, Knight, of Beaumanor, in the county of Leicester, died at
Beaumanor when he was 96 years of age. He lived to see William Herricke, of Beaumanor,
Esq., his son; and his son's son, William Heyricke, of Beaumanor, Esq. ; and his son's
son's son, William Herricke, of Beaumanor, Esq., yet living, aged 37 years. — These four
William Herrickes did frequently meet together in the great chamber at Beaumanor. It
was the youngest that did write this account; and I was, when Sir Wilham Herricke died,
three or four years old, and I have had three children born at my manor of Beaumanor."

There seem to have been, both in Sir William Herrick and his descendants, all those
properties that distinguish the Christian gentleman. The archives of few families could pro-
duce more proofs of their observance of the domestic virtues — love to their children —
kindness to the tenantry, their servants, and the poor — exactitude in their accounts — and
liberality, tempered by economy. A love of nature, and a keen" perception of natural beauty
— so rare in those days — seem to have been hereditary in the family, and to have strongly
attached them to Beaumanor. Of this feeling, the last-named Mr. Henick left many proofs.
The following is one of his many memoranda : — " Thursday, July -28, 1696, about a quarter
of an hour before nine o'clock at night, as I was walking in the lane, I saw, full west, just
over Hanging-stone Hill, on the Forest, in the sky, just like a scythe bended in the back,
and the edge hollowed like a scythe — the sky very clear, and no clouds, and about the length
of a scythe : it was of the colour of flame, but the full length I could not see, the hills hin-
dering me."t

Mr. Herrick died in 1705; his widow survived him forty-four years, and died at the a"-e
of one hundred ! He was succeeded by his eldest son, William, who married Lucy, daugh-
ter of John Gage, Esq., of Bentley Park, Sussex — an immediate descendant of Sir John

• A preferment obtained from Charles I., in consideration of the surrender of .Sir William's pension.
■(• Different members of the family have been distinguished for poetical talents of high order: Robert Herrick
author of " Hesperides," was not, perhaps, surpassed by any lyric poet of the sixteenth century — and Lieut. John
Heyrick, R.N., evinced talents that rendered his early death as great a loss to society as his life had been a solace of
his friends.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CIIARNWOOD. 83

Gage, of Firle. He died in 1773, aged eighty-four, leaving three sons, William, John, and
Thomas Uainbrigge, and one surviving daughter, Lucy, maiTied to Richard Gildart, of
Norton Hall, Staffordshire. — The seventh William Herrick, who succeeded his father in
1773, served the office of High Sheriff of the county in 1780. He married Sarah Stokes, of
Woodhouse, and on his death the estates passed to his heir-at-law and nephew, the
present William Hemck, Esq., only son of Thomas Bainbrigge Herrick, Esq., and Mary,
daughter of James Perry, Esq., of Eardisley Park, Herefordshire, who is, therefore, the eighth
of his name who has inherited Beaumanor.

The first mansion was erected by Henry Lord Beaumont, about the year 1340. The
residence of the previous possessors of the manor — the Despensers — having apparently been
at Little Haw — which Nichols erroneously thought was, in all probability, identical with
Beaumanor.* In a survey taken in 16.50, this house is thus mentioned : — " This ancient
Manor House of Beaumanor standcth and is seated in the Park called Beaumanor Park.
The Manor House is moated round about with a very fair and clear moat; and a little dis-
tant from the said moat are bam and stables, and all other useful offices standing and seated ;
about which said building is a second moat ; and round about this ancient Manor House
lielh the said Park." This moat may still be traced. The house, from the view of it
preserved in Nichols, appears to have been somewhat modernized in the beginning of the
seventeenth century. It was taken down in 172.5, and unfortunately replaced by an erection
as devoid of architectural beauty as incongruous with the scenery that surrounds it. This
ill-contrived and tasteless fabric, ere the description meets the reader's eye, will also have
disappeared. Mr. Herrick is erecting, from the chaste designs of Mr. Railton, a noble
Elizabethan mansion, which, when completed, will have few equals of its class. The offices
are already erected ; they are admirably planned, and are on a scale of great magnitude.
The house will be of faced brick ; the window-frames, door-ways, angles and parapets,
being of Derbyshire freestone. — Some surprise has been expressed, that one of the many
preferable sites which the estate affords, should not have been selected for so noble an edi-
fice. Attachment to a spot hallowed by so many recollections, is certainly a natural, if not
a commendable feeling. But other reasons justify the continuance on the old site. The
noble double avenue — one of the finest specimens of that now almost exploded appendage
to a Park — would have appeared quite out of place, had another site been fixed upon. And,
after all, low as is the situation of Beaumanor, it embraces views that leave on the mind a
charm rarely, if ever, imparted by an extensive prospect. On the south front, the avenue,
so appropriate an adjunct to a Tudor mansion, forms at all seasons a most delightful fore-
ground. The western front commands scenery of such extraordinary diversity and beauty,
as to have elicited the admiration of every writer who has noticed it. The eye is carried
over a valley studded with majestic oaks, to some of the boldest prominences of the eastern
Forest, especially to tlie Hanging-stone rocks, which form, when viewed in the hues of de-
parting day, such a scene as the lover of nature cannot view without delight. Throsby
says of it, "those who have not leisure to see the whole Forest, hither let them come to
behold the most splendid scene in it."t

* Nichols' West Goscote, p. 119. f Views in Leicestershire, p. 227.

84 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

The Great Park was clispavked by Sir William Heyrick, except a small portion, which
remained till Iy90. It is not unlikely that, after the completion of the new Hall, it may
again be, at least, partially restored.

An old familj' coach, built about a century ago, is still preserved at Beaumanor. It is
chiefly built of carved ash, and is, perhaps, one of the most singular curiosities of the kind
in England ; it is believed, too, that it is unique.

At the Hall door lie some curious specimens of natural paintings of foliage, formed by
water, impregnated with ironstone, insinuating itself between the cleavage of the slate rocks.
There is also a portion of the same schistose rock, from Mr. Herrick's Gale House quarry,
in which a rounded granite pebble, of three inches diameter, is imbedded. I am not aware
that a stone of this kind has ever before been discovered so imbedded in slate. There are
several very fine family portraits at Beaumanor, particularly those of Sir William and Lady
Heyrick.* The family papers, too, of which Nichols and Throsby so largely availed them-
selves, are of very great interest; many of them throw great light on the history of the
times. Some letters from Elizabeth and James I., soliciting Sir William's pecuniary assist-
ance, are singularly curious. The following writ of Privy Seal furnishes evidence of the
state of the Exchequer, and of the modes adopted to replenish it, in 1596-7 : —

" Bv THE QUEENE.

" Trustie & wel-belovid, we greete yow well. The contynuall greate charges which wee
have, for the nccessarie defence of and preservacion of our dominions and subiectes, are so
notorious as neede not to be otherwise declared then may iustlie be conceaved by all our
loving subiectes, being but of common understanding. And therefore, at this presente, find-
ing cause of increase and contynuaunce of suche charges exceeding all other ordinary meanes ;
and not mynding to presse our subiectes with anie presente free gift of monie, but only to
be supplied with some reasonable pencion by waie of loane for onne yeare's space ; wee have
made speciall choice of suche our loving subiectes as are knowne to be of abilitie ; amongest
which, we accompte yow one ; and therefore we require yow, by these presentes, to lend us
the some of fyftie poundes for the space of one yeare, and the some to be payd unto Benedict
Baniham or Thomas Looe, aldermen by us appointed as collectors thereof, which we promise
to repaye to yow or your assignes, at the end of one yeare, in the receipte or exchequer,
upon giving of this privie seale subscribed by the said collectors, testifieing the receipte
hereof. Geven under our privie seale, at our pallace Westm'r the xxvilh dale of January,
ill the xxxixth year of our raigne." " Tho. Keky."

In the Hall is a remarkable chair, cut out of a single tree that grew in the Park. It
bears the date 1690, and is inscribed with the family motto, Virtus omnia nohilitat. It is
always crowned with a garland containing two rose-buds and a spear, presented every
Midsummer-day to the Lord of Beaumanor, by Mr. Farnham, as suit and service for Ruslia
Fields (?) The garland always graces thechairtill removed forits successorof thefollowingyeai-.

* It ought previously to have been stated, that Sir William Heyrick twice represented Leicester in Parliament,
and in a manner that obtained for him the grateful acknowledgments of his constituents.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

The Garland and Oaken Chair at Beaumanor.

In the Hall of old Beaumanor

Stands a giant oaken chair,
Deftly formed — and who the planner

Legends of the Tale declare.
Well it tells what oaks once flourished

In Beaumanor's woodland vale :
Embryo navies there were nourished,

Ere our navies learnt to sail.
Ere the Roses' bloody quarrel —

Ere the Barons' lengthen'd feud —
Ere the siege of high Mountsorrel,

That brave oak was " King-o'-th'-Wood.'
Ah I what forms of by-gone ages

Sought its shade from noontide rays ;
Poets, warriors, statesmen, sages,

Glorious Beaumonts — gallant Greys.

Bradgate's early blighted beauty
Sat with Aylmer in its shade —

List'ning lore of faith and duty —
Nymph and Druid of the glade.

Herrick, fara'd for love-fraught lyrics,
Sang his love-songs in these groves ;

Half Anacreon's soul was Herrick's,
And the other half was — Love's.

Nail or joining not requiring ;

Cut from out one solid bole:
Strangers ask, this chair admiring,

" This the fragment I what the whole ?"
Round its crown-like summit twining

Hangs a garland, green or sear :
Kose-buds wreathed round war-arm shining,

Beauty's flower on Valour's spear.

Legends say how old Beaumanor

Once a Koyal Park was made ;
How a Famhara bore a banner

Bravely in the fierce Crusade.

How a grant to faithful Farnham
Then was made for service done.

Of the lands of false de Vamam,
" Long as Soar to Trent shall run."

Suit and service only making

At Beaumanor, year by year,
Rose-buds two — one arrow taking —

Arrow head, or shaftless spear.
Emblems these of Knighthood's duty.

Due from loyal liegemen are :
Rose-buds — homage vowed to beauty —

Spear — the ready hand for war.

Note. — The following extracts will account for this customary service : — On the decease of Thomas Farnham,
Esq., in 1574, it was found that the manor of Quomdon, called The Over Hall, one hundred and eighty acres of land
and forty of wood, in Quomdon, were held of the Queen, as of her manor of Beaumanor, in free socage, by the rent of
one garland of roses, one rose flower, and one barbed arrow, of iron, to be annually paid on the feast of St. John the
Baptist, in lieu of all other services, suits of Court, &c. In a rent-roll at Beaumanor (1597) occur the following
entries : — Adrian Farnham, Esq., 6rf., as chief rent for The Hall Carr, and 1 U. for Turvile's lands, in the manor of
Hushall, called Rusha or Rushall Fields, in the liberty of Woodhouse. — " Bundle of deeds relating to the manor of
Rushall, Mr. Vamham's estate," is a sentence quoted by Nichols, under Snarestone, which he confesses to be some-
what unintelligible.

86 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

WOODHOUSE, WOODHOUSE EAVES, AND WOODTHORPE.

The names of these sequestered and delightful old hamlets, surrounding Beaumanor,
were, doubtless, first given to some solitary lodges in the " vast wilderness," which at one
period extended from the Forest to the Park of Quorn.* The two former are in the parish
of Barrow, the latter in that of Loughborough. I class them under one head, from the
similarity of their derivation, and from their connexion with Beaumanor.

Woodhonse Proper, lying nearly a mile east of the Forest, first claims notice. It is not
mentioned in Domesday Book. Nichols thought Urlecote an early name for it, but he was
unquestionably in error. That place is situated near Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

In 1427, it was found that Elizabeth, widow of Henry Beaumont, died seised of Wood-
house as a member of Beaumanor.f

The Abbot and Convent of St. Mary de Pratis, at Leicester, possessed the great tithes
here — the Monks of St. Severus the small tithes. The former had a hercaria, jjomarium,
and tithe-barn in Woodhouse. Mr. (shortly afterwards Sir) William Heyricke purchased,
in 1599, the tithes here, together with Garat's Hay and Little Wellows, which contained
two hundred acres of land, of Henry Best and Robert Holland ; Garat's Hay, however,
passed from the Herrick family to the Cooks — fi-om the Cooks to the Hartopps — and was
sold by Chiverton Hartopp, Esq., father of the first Baroness Howe, to Edward Heanes,
Esq., the ancestor of the present owner. Miss Watkinson.

A very superior village school was founded here in 1691, by a benevolent resident, Mr.
Rawlins, who lived many years after to witness the good effects of his foundation. Probably
few schools of similar character have had such a succession of excellent masters.

" In this place," says Burton, " Henry Lord Beaumont and Alice his wife, by the license
of the Abbot of Leicester, built a very fair and stately Chapel, of Ashler stone, in 1388. It
was again repaired in 1450, for I have seen a deed of covenants made between Robert
Farnham, of Quorndon, of the one part, and a certain Free-mason, for the new building of
the steeple, and the repair of the Church, dated -28 Henry VI. It was then new glazed and
repaired, as I should guess, by the arms of King Henry VI. standing in the cast window of
the Chapel ; and at the costs and charges (for the most part) of the Viscount Beaumont, as
it should seem, by the coats and matches in the said windows."

The arms of Beaumont, quartering Jerusalem, are still in the east window.

The Chapel, of which an engraving is given, is one of those unobtrusive and venerable
fabrics, that of themselves awaken holy feelings. I visited it for the first time (if an author

* There is a passage in Tanner's Notitia Monastica (page 248), which I deem to be of considerable importance, as
explanatory both of the origin of the name of Barrow, and of that of these members of that extensive lordship. He
says of Barrow in Lincolnshire, " Wulpher, King of the Mercians, gave to that pious man, Cead, or Chad, about the
middle of the seventh century, the land of fifty families, as Bede tells us, to build a Monastery at a place called At

Barwe, that is, at the wood some appearance of which remained in his time." This not only accounts for the

name of Barrow, but for Woodhouse, Woodthorpe, &c.

t 8 Esch. 3 Edward IV., No. 30, Leic'.

PAUOCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 87

may be pardoned for introducing any thing of his personal history) when the loss of one
child had made me feel that " man was made to moum." Here is one memorial raised to
the memory of sere ii '

On my second visit, three Imndred cliildren, with happy faces, were on their way to
Beaumanor. On inquiring the object of this assemblage of healthy-looking rustics, 1 learnt
that they " were going to Beaumanor for a Valentine :" where, I understood, each child
received a penny, and a halfpenny, on their returning, from Miss Watkinson. It is aston-
ishing what an amount of happiness can be conferred by such a trifling sum ; every face was
literally beaming with joy. This custom has long been observed here. In 174.3 there were
only thirty recipients. A custom of offering New Year's gifts to the Lord of Beaumanor
was long obsened among the tenantry ; it is now, I believe, laid aside. Whatever tends to
increase feelings of respect between a resident proprietor and those living on the estate, is
not undeserving of notice.

The pen of Washington Irving might do justice to Woodhouse. Its situation at the foot
of the finest scenery of the Forest — its modest Chapel — its rose-twined cottages — its shady
lane — and the neatness, comfort, and content, that seem to pervade every dwelling, are filter
subjects for the poet than the historian. Even to the unpoetic mind, they might recal that
charming and just description,

" The cottage homes of England I by thousands on her plains,
They are smiling o'er the silv'ry brooks, and round the village fanes ;
Through glowing orchards forth they peep, each from its nook of leaves.
And fearless there the lowly sleep, as the birds beneath their eaves."

Nor must the house and grounds of Miss Watkinson (a considerable proprietress both in
Woodhouse and on the Forest) be omitted. Nichols, Vol. III., page 133, gives an engraving
of this house, as having been the birth-place of Baroness Howe.

WooDHorsE Eaves derives the addition to its name from its situation on the edge of the
Forest. Though the Woodhouse already described, from its having long had a Chapel, has
generally been considered the older hamlet, it appears that the part called the Eaves was,
in fact, the earliest inhabited spot. From a few straggling cottages or sheilings, built, no
doubt, by the Forest keepers and shepherds, it has risen to be of considerable extent. One
cause of its rise from these small beginnings may be attributed to there having, in early
times, been a Royal hunting residence in this place ; at least, such is the tradition I have
gleaned from several inhabitants.

The house now occupied by Mr. Cradock, but belonging to Miss Watkinson, stands on
the supposed site of this ancient hunting palace. On this spot, in the last century, stood a
mansion, of a singularly quaint and antique style of architecture. A person named Fouldes,
whose ancestors at one period owned it, states, that it was formerly accounted a parcel of
the manor of Greenwich — and held, as he has heard his father say, at a pepper-corn rent.
This seems to conoborate the opinion that it had, in all likelihood, been a Royal residence.
The late Mr. Watkinson discovered many remains of ancient massy walls, which he believed
to have been parts of a Chapel connected with the mansion ; and Mr. Lester informs me

88 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

that gilt bricks, with figures in relief, and many other ancient relics, have been found on
this spot.

No class of persons retains traditions with more tenacity than the inhabitants of a Forest
or thinly peopled district. Their isolated situation, naturally somewhat circumscribing their
range of thought, leads them the more frequently to dwell on the few subjects that present
themselves. There is, besides, amongst such a peasantry, a peculiar fondness for descanting
on the W'onderful past. Each Forester is peculiarly a " laudator iemporix acti ;" and hence
it is that a great deal of the history of the Forest may be gleaned from the unwritten testi-
mony of the denizens. The late Mr. Watkinson, of Woodhouse, a gentleman far too intel-
ligent to entertain any opinion that had not reason for its basis, was at considerable pains
in investigating the prevailing belief of a Royal hunting seat on the .spot alluded to : and
arrived at the conclusion, that the old house in question was, undoubtedly, at one time, oc-
cupied by Edward III.

In addition to this house, there were, in the last century, ten or eleven others of a very
ancient style ; only one of which, the Bull's Head, now remains. Many people can remember
this house being covered with pointed gables and tall chimneys. It is supposed these old
houses were built for the accommodation of the attendants on the Court.

A beautiful coin, with the legend HENRICVS DEI. GRA. REX. ANG. FRANC, and
with the reverse I.H.C. AVTEM TRANSIENS PER. MEDIVM ILLORVM IBAT,* was
discovered in repairing a well belonging to Mr. Cradock's house. It is now in Miss Wat-
kinson's cabinet.

WnonTHORPE lies about a mile from Beaumanor. It is a delightful old hamlet, abound-
ing in many of the true characteristics of English rural life. Three or four respectable
farm houses — one apparently of considerable antiquity — and a few neat cottages, make up
the whole of this quiet place. It is one of those nooks of the world, over which one feels
disposed to say, with Moore, that if Peace, like Astraea, has not quitted our planet,

" The heart that is humble might hope for it here."

In 1463, it was found that William Viscount Beaumont, attainted of high treason, was
seized of two hundred acres of wood, at Woodcote, co. Leicester.f The contiguity of
Woodthorpe to Beaumanor is one reason why I conclude, without much hesitation, that
Woodcote was only an earher name for it, though Nichols thinks it may have been either
Woodhouse or Woodthorpe.

It has frequently occurred to me, during the course of my researches, as somewhat sin-
gular, that a Park of such extent as that of Barrow should have had no known mansion or
hunting residence for the use of its lord. Several expressions in ancient deeds, had, it will
be remembered, led me to look in Barrow Proper for the site of this mansion. Subsequent
examination both of Woodthorpe and the records connected with it, has convinced me that

• Jesus passed through the midst of them, and went his way. — Luke, chap, iv., Ter. 30.
t Esch. 3, IV., No. 30, Leic.

L(C)'>!yEW 'CLij^'sf, mi.ACQn MUILIL

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 89

it was at the latter place. In the homestead occupied by Mr. Fletcher are the evident founda-
tions and terraces of a very ancient and extensive building ; below these is an artificial lake
(now dry), which appears to have been supplied both by a runlet and a feeder — exactly
corresponding with the description " aqueduciuni laheutem in rivarinm comitis," &c. This
expression, if correctly applied to this spot, at once fixes two difficult points — the northern
boundary of the ancient Park of (Juomdon, and the site of the occasional abode of the Earls
of Chester.

Again, the tract between Woodthoqie and the river Soar has long been called Searles-
ihorpe — a name which was doubtless a corruption of Th' Earl's Thorpe — and it is not un-
likely, when the latter hamlet became obliterated, and Woodcote the only hamlet, that the
two names were afterwards contracted into Woodthorpe.*

The lover of " rural sights and sounds," or of nature in her grand or quiet features, will
find sufficient in a circuit of three miles from Beaumanor to employ a long summer's day.
The midland counties contain few tracts of equal extent that afford a more delightful excur-
sion than that from the ancient Chapel at Woodhouse — through Woodhouse Eaves — by the
beautiful new Chapel — over the hill — the Broombriggs — Beacon — the Hanging-stone Rocks
— and Beaumanor. The Forest peasantry, so different in their modes of thought and ex-
pression from the inhabitants of densely peopled districts, will not fail to please the lover of
his kind. Many of them are fully alive to the wonders by which they are sunounded. One
venerable old man, at work in the Gate-house quarry, observing me searching for the dip,
asked me, with a smile expressive of his consciousness of superior wisdom in such matters,
" Which way is Judaea ?" I at once pointed my hand in a south-easterly direction. " You
are right," replied my Mentor ; " Find Judaea, and you will find the direction of these rocks.
Find the dip, and you will point to Judaea. This is the case over the whole world, and has
been so ever since the Saviour's resurrection." I found professor Sedgwick's anticlinal line
theory at once destroyed ! ! ! Of course I did not attempt to shake a belief that seemed not
unmixed with natural piety. On the contrary, I thought with Campbell,

When Science from Creation's face Enchantment's veil withdraws,
What lovely visions yield their place to cold material laws.

1 was conducting the reader over the environs of Woodhouse. The new Chapel, founded
on a romantic rock, with a Parsonage and School-house beautifull}' harmonizing with it in
architectural character and aptness for the site, form a combination of singular beauty. The
designs are very chaste, and an effect is produced bj' the Forest granite, with finials of free-
stone, that can scarcely fail to bring this somewhat novel style of building into favour.
Mr. Railton, the architect, has judiciously placed the vestibule beneath the belfry tower.

• To avoid having again to return to Searlesthorpe, I notice here a discovery made a short time ago near the nur-
sery grotmds of Mr. Robinson, lying in Searlesthorpe. On ploughing up an ancient inclosure, the foundations of a
building, which had all the appearance of having been those of a Church or Chapel, were brought to light. Nichols
imagines that, near the foundations above described, viz.: on the site of the present pinfold, was an ancient Chapel.
If a Chapel ever did exist in Woodthorpe, it must have been in the field still called " The Church-yard Piece," which
is at a considerable distance from the hamlet. Either in this Church-yard piece, or on the spot in the nursery grounds,
the Chantry, mentioned by Nichols as belonging to Loughborough, very likely stood.

90 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

The Parsonage is not seen in the engraving of the Chapel. The door-way, surmounted
by a bell, leads to the school-house ; the cavern, in the foreground, has been a quarry. A
spring of most pellucid water, which supplies all the neighbouring houses, rises in the
middle of the excavation.

At a short distance from the Chapel lies the Brand — a name, it is supposed, derived
fi-om its having been the spot where cattle, about to be turned on the Forest, were previously
branded with the Forest mark.* Crossing the Sty Hills, and leaving Woodhouse to the
right, Broombriggs, the creation of the late "Six. Charles Allsop, forms a fair specimen of the
agricultural capabilities of the Forest. The prospect from the hill above the house is of
surprising extent and interest. A mile brings the tourist to the summit of Beacon.
Wonderful at all times — lovely beyond expression, at sunrise and sunset, are views from this
eminence. The beloved Pastor and Poet of the vale, that holds my home, shall describe
the ascent and the reward of it.

Over a hill of golden-blossomed furze,

Above the straggling fern, when now with toil

Of straining limbs he gains the beaconed top —

Looks over into valleys wonderful —

Thick timbered valleys, with their fair Church towers

Stretched into hazy distance, till a bank

Of bright blue hills, with outline gently curved.

Stands up before the sunset If

Those " bright blue hills" are the Peak of Derbyshire ; and from the " far west" the eye
travels over Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the towers of Belvoir — to the borders of
Rutland — to Leicester — to Bradgate — till, wearied with the countless objects that crowd
upon it, or aiTested by some underlying town or holy fane, it yields a while its functions,
and leaves the mind to enjoy the images it has conveyed to it.

The fortifications round this wonderful hill (mountain. Professor ^Vl^ewell called it) will
have their share of attention from every intelligent visitor. The land-slip of 1679, a curious
account of which will be found in the Appendix, should not be forgotten. Its traces may
still be found in a field at the north-west foot of Beacon, now called " The Falling-in." The
other geological peculiarities of the hill and its immediate neighbourhood, as pointed out
under the article Geology, and in Mr. C. Allsop's Paper (both of which will also be found
in the Appendix), are extremely deserving of attention. The circumference of the hill will
be perceived to be of great extent at its base. From this point I would direct the tourist
to the Hanging-stone Rocks. The western side of these presents a landscape that contains
many elements of the sublime as well as of the beautiful. A near view will tend, it is hoped,
to confirm the statements already advanced with regard to the Druidical remains. | The once
Hanging-stone is an object that cannot be contemplated without wonder. The Altar, or
Shepherd's Table — the circle of stones — and abo\e all, the fine forms of the rocks, will not
fail to impress the beholder with surprise that such scenery has hitherto been so little noticed.

* Thorpe Brand and Brecdon Brand arc the names of two other places said to have been used for the same purpose.

t School of the Heart, by the Rev. Heniy Alford, M.A.

t Since the above was in type, I have been informed by Mr. Lester that another Quern, similar to the one found on

Kite Hill, was discovered in this neighbourhood, and that it is now in a wall at Woodhouse Eaves !

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 91

LITTLE HAW.

Abbas et Conventus Leyc' concesserunt Galfrido Dispensatori et lieredibus suis construere capellam
in fundo suo de Littleiiawe intra parochiam ecclesioe de Barowe, et in eikdem capellanum divina officia
celebrantem sine campanrt' pulsatione. — Ckaryte's Rentale,fol. 15.

Charyte's Rentale of Leicester Abbey, an extract from which heads this section, has
preserved the name of a place, the exact situation of which can only now be conjectured —
LiTTLK Haw. That this Haw was in the parish of Ban-ow, and, from its having been the
residence of Geoffrey le Despenser, in the JVood/iuuse diclsioii of it, seems evident from the
Rentale. Nichols considered that ihe fundus of Little Haw, and the present Park of Beau-
manor, were probably identical ; and that when Henry Lord Beaumont erected Beaumanor
on the same site, the Chapel was destroyed — a conjecture utterly at variance with the spirit
of those limes. Other reasons also induce me to believe that Little Haw was situated in that
part of the Forest now called New Closes, between Bird Hill and Broombriggs.

This spot, in the boundaries of Barrow parish, is called Lihtelyes and Lytelhyes (or
Little Heys), and is at this day called Little Hills.* That part of it known as the New
Closes, has traditionally been considered the oldest inclosure on the Forest: and it retains,
at the present day, all the characteristics of a spot having long ago been brought into sub-
jection and tlien abandoned ; and, further, it well agrees with the description— yMrt</«.>.'.
Where history is silent, tradition becomes a valuable aid. The belief that a Church once
stood above Woodhouse Eaves, and near or upon the very spot to which I assign the erec-
tion of this Chapel by Geoffrey le Despenser, is still entertained amongst the inhabitants of
this part of the Forest.

If the grounds on which I have attempted to fix this locality are untenable, there is
another spot which far more closely answers to the description than Beaumanor, viz. : the
old mansion now occupied by Mr. Cradock. The first house on this site, as has already
been shown, was doubtless the nucleus of Woodhouse Eaves : and it may be that, after the
attainder of the Despensers, it was for a time retained as a hunting residence by the Crown,
from its contiguity to the ancient Forest.

The origin of the family of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, is so unknown to
antiquarians, that I may be pennitted, for once, to deviate fi'om my rule, and give his Pedi-
gree, to which the connexion of his family with the county of Leicester enables me to add
four generations. Burke conjectures that he descended from Robert Dispensator, the Stew-
ard of William the Conqueror. But in that case, there would have been little ground for
the excessive jealousy of the Nobles at his elevation to the Earldom. I think it more pro-
bable that his great-grandfather was Steward to the Earl of Leicester, who, with his Countess
Petronilla, condescended to become witnesses to a grant from him to Garendon Abbey.
Madox ( Baronia Anglica,p. li'i) states that "the Earls and great Lords did in many
particulars imitate the form and fashion of the King's Court. As the King had, so had they

» " Inter Lihtelyes et Brombrigge. Et de Colweyforth ex transverse Lyhtelyes usque Falconers heye." — The con-
stant variations of orthography occurring, as they often do, in the same page, will account for a much greater change
than that of Lyhteleyes, &c., into Little Haw.

92

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD

Dapifers or Seneschals, Chamberlains, and other officers in their households." In the case
of the Earls of Leicester, we know (Nichols, Vol. III. p. 7S7J that tlieij affected this splen-
dour. Eniald de Bosco, Steward to a former Earl of Leicester, was certainly a person of
some wealth.

PEDIGREE OF LE DESPENSER.

Thomas le Despenser. In a grant of lands at Burton to the Monks of Garendon = Recuare, daughter of ,
(Nichols, Vol. III., p. 810), he speaks of his wife Recuare, and his son Geoffrey.
This deed must have been executed between 1168 and 1189, because Robert, Earl
of Leicester, and his Countess, Petronilla, were witnesses. In another deed (p. 811)
he grants to them lands near Holywell Haw. This grant was afterwards confirmed
by Ranulph de BlondeyUle, who was Earl of Chester from II76 to 12.32.

Geoffrey le Despenser. In a grant of lands in Rampston (p. 831), he is called
Geoffrey le Despenser, of Hickling.

Thomas le Despenser. In grants of lands at Burton and Stanton {p. 815 and
817), he calls himself the son of Geoffrey, and speaks of his wife and sons, with-
out, however, mentioning their Christian names.

daughter of

daughter of

Hugh le Despenser. In 1220=
he was patron of the Church of
Loughborough; and in 1239,
owner of Beaumanor. In 1223,
he was deputed, with his brother-
in-law, Stephen de Scgrave, to
take charge of the Castles of
Chester and Beeston. Justiciar
of England in 1260. Created
Baron le Despenser in 1264.
Killed at the battle of Evesham,
1265. Attainted. This is the first
Le Despenser known to be of the
family of the Earl of Winchester,
mentioned by Burke, who could
not discover the name of his
father, though given in the Se-
graveChartulary (Nich., Vol. II.,
p. 112), and distinctly stated by
Nichols, Vol. III., p. 408.

Aliva, dau.
of Philip
Basset, of
Wycombe.

Geoffrey le De-
spenser. He had
license about 1235
to build a Chapel
at Little Haw. In
the reign of Ed-
ward I., he held
lands at Arnesby
and elsewhere, in
Leicestershire.

See Testa de
Nevil, Nichols,
Vol. I., p. 1, and
li.

I
.John le
Despen-
ser. He
held

Beauma-
nor under
his bro-
ther
Hugh.
Died in
1274.

I
Henry le De-
spenser. With
his father and
his brother
Hugh, he was
a witness to a
deedofStephen
de Segrave.
Nichols, Vol.
HI., page 867.
He is distinctly
called brother
of Hugh, in
another deed,
page 826.

Rohcse, or Rose,
married to Sir Ste-
phen de Segrave,
Justiciary of Eng-
land, who died in
1241. She was en-
dowed, by her father
Thomas, with an
annuity charged on
lands at Burton-on-
the-Wolds ; and by
her brother Hugh,
with lands in Barrow
and Mountsorrel,
See Segrave Char,
tularv. Nichoh
Vol.11., p. 112, 113;
and 117.

Jolm le Despenser. In the reign of Edward II., his estate was ^ . . .
larger than any other in Leicestershire, with two exceptions. See I of
Nichols, Vol. I., p. xlv.

Joan, married to William de
Ferrars, Baron of Groby, who
died 1287.

Hugh le Despenser, born 1235. Restored to the Barony of le Despenser in 1295. Created = Isabel, daughter of

Earl of Winchester m 1322. Hanged at Bristol, 1325, aged 90. Attainted. Nichols con- ] William Beau-

sidered him the son of the former Hugh (Vol. III., p. 136). Burke calls him his grandson, • champ, Earl of

but was unable to ascertain his father's Christian name. Called, in English history, " The Warwick.
Elder Spenser." I

Hugh le Despenser.* Summoned to Parliament in 1310, as " Sir Hugh le Despenser, Junior, =i Alianora, dau.

Lord Despenser." Hanged at Hereford, 1.326. Attainted. He is often styled Earl of Gloucester, I of Gilbert,

from having married Eleanor, the eldest sister and co-heir to her brother, Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Earl of Glou-

Gloucester and Hertford. Called " The Yoimger Spenser." cester.

* His son, Hugh le Despenser, was restored Ln 1339, as Lord le Despenser : whose son, Thomas le Despenser, was
created Earl of Gloucester in 1398 ; but was attainted in 1400. He left an only daughter, his heir, who carried the
Barony of le Despenser into the Beauchamp family. From them it came to the Nevilles; from them to the Fanes;
from them to the Dasliwoods ; and on the death of Lady Austin, Baroness le Despenser, to the Staplctons.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARXWOOD. Q3

MAPPLEWELL.

(M(ii>ulw('U, Mnpli'ncU, Mapplcwell.)

This is another hamlet in the extensive lordship of Barrow: forming, in fact, the south-
western corner of it. It is in the liberty of Woodhouse. This estate, which was a very
early inclosure, belonged, for several generations, to the ancient family of Whatton — from
whom it passed to the Raworths. It was afterwards in the possession of Dr. Levett, of
Nottingham, from whom it passed to Mr. Barber, and was sold by him to Mr. Crompton,
of Derby, in whose family it still remains.

There was, in 1673, a good mansion here, surrounded by a moat and approached by a
draw-bridge. This has disappeared, and a farm-house has been erected from the materials,
which, with two or three lone cottages, forms the whole of Mapplewell.

Geoffrey Whatton, the last possessor, of that name, was a somewhat eccentric character ;
he refused to pay levies to Woodhouse, though on a trial at the Assizes Mapplewell was
proved to be in that constabulary. On this refusal, a curious petition, signed by William
Heyricke, Ralph Rivitt, and other inhabitants of Woodhouse, was presented to the Earl of
Huntingdon, then Lord-Lieutenant, praying him " to convent the said Whatton to answer
the premisses." The case came at length before Judge Crooke, and was by him referred to
Sir Arthur Hazelrigge and Sir Wolstan Dixie. — I mention this circumstance, because the
grounds of Mr. Whatton's refusal have been stated to me to have been founded on some real
or supposed privileges and immunities, granted to the owner of this estate by one of our
Kings, when residing in that liberty.

Not having been able to discover any report of the pleadings in this case, I cannot state
whether this information can be relied on. It would, if correct, considerably strengthen the
reasons for believing the tradition already referred to, as prevailing at Woodhouse Eaves.

The earliest name of this hamlet, Mapulwell ( May-jwle-icell ) , inclines me to think
that on this spot the Druids were accustomed to celebrate the Bel-tein,* and, subsequently,
the ancient Foresters to offer honours to Flora.

The author of " The Way to Things by Words, and by Words to Things," has some
observations on these raral sacrifices that render such a supposition not an unnatural one.
He says, " TIte Column of the May (whence our May-pole) was the great standard of justice
in the Ey-Commons or Fields of May. Here it was that the people, if they saw cause,
deposed or punished their Governors, their Barons, or their Kings. The Judges' bough or
wand (at this time discontinued, or faintly represented by a nosegay), and the staff or rod of
authority, the iiiave, as well as the term Mayor, were all derived from this. The youths
and maidens joined, on these occasions, in singing songs, of which the chorus was, "We
have brought the Summer home."t

Mapplewell is altogether an interesting part of the Forest.

• This festival may still be traced in the mountains of Cumberland and on the Cheviot Hills. Mr. Pennant, in his
" Tour in Scotland," gives a particular description of it. Scott says,

" Blooming at Beltane — in winter to fade."
Our shepherds still retain the term.

f Ency. Londiu, Article May.

94 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

ALDERMAN'S HAW.

In dispositione Prioris de Bermondsey, qui consuerit habere ibi tres monachos. — Matriculus of Bp. Welles.

Situated nearly in the centre of the Forest, and belonging to the hamlet of Woodhouse,
but in the paiish of Barrow, is Alderman's Haw. A small farm-house, standing low on a
brooklet, surrounded by a few fields of old inclosure, presenting to the casual observer little
of what is attractive or picturesque, would scarcely seem to require any lengthened notice.
It is, however, a spot of considerable interest, on account of the ecclesiastical disputes which
have been raised respecting it, and the obscurity which still seems to shroud some part of
its history.

In the year 1082, Aylwin Child, a rich citizen of London, founded in Southwark a fair
Church and Monastery, placing therein some Chmiac Monks, who were procured fi-om the
Priory de Charitate in France. He obtained for it the manor of Bermondsey, and by his
exertions the new Monastery w^as enriched with many benefactions, amongst \vhich was the
villate of Andrffitesberie, presented to the Priory by William de Belmeis. The exact site of
Andrffitesberie is now unknown ; but it appears, fi'om the register of the Priory of Bermond-
sey, that it was given to the Monks of that house, in exchange for the manor of Wydeford,
in Hertfordshire, by Ivo de Grentesmaisnell. But as it is proved, by Domesday Book, that
Hugh, the father of Ivo, possessed seven houses in Leicester in right of the lordship of
Andrcetesherie, there is still some ambiguity about this exchange ; Nichols tliinks that, as
Ivo's name only occurs in a confirmation grant, the original exchange was made with Hugo
de Grentesmaisnell. The words of the Confirmation of Henry I., reciting the different
donations to Bermondsey Priory, are : — " Wydeford quam commutavit cum monachis de
Bermundseid Ivo de GrentesmeisneU, pro Andnetesberyd quam dederat eis Willielmus
de Beimels.''''

Grentemaisnell's having possessed that part of the Forest adjoining Alderman's Haw—
the Haw itself having been in the patronage of the Priory — and an Inquisition subsequently
to be noticed, together, perhaps, with some long-entertained tradition, are the chief reasons
for concluding that the now lost Andraetesberie was, at least, in the vicinity of Alderman's
Haw. — The quest of the inquisitors in the case to be referred to, having, so far as can be
ascertained, been directed solely to the Haw, is a proof that the Church of Andrsetesberie
was believed, in the fifteenth century, to have stood in or near that locality.

I have attempted, in the chapter devoted to the Antiquities of the Forest, to show the
probable origin of the name of Andrajtesberie, by supposing that, on the remarkable rock
near Baldwin Castle, which overlooks the Haw, an idol or temple of Andrate, or Andraste,
may have stood. As that Druidical goddess was, in all likelihood, worshipped on some
part of Charnwood, this derivation is by no means strained. Nothing but the name of
Bawdon or Baldwin Castle remaining, and history being entirely silent about it, is another
"■round for the hypothesis that this neighbourhood was, at one time, of considerable conse-
quence. It is not even unreasonable to conclude, that some Saxon Ealderman, or Alderman,
may have inclosed the Haw adjoining, and given it its name. There are certainly more

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 95

rational grounds for this origin than the fanciful reasoning given in Nichols, who imagined
that Ayhvin Chikl, the founder of the Monastery to which the Haw was given, might pos-
sibly have been an Alderman ; and that the place was so called from him. Unlbrtunalcly
for this supposition, it does not appear that Aylvvin had the slightest connexion with the
spot, and that he was an Alderman appears by no means certain.

Hugh de Grentesmaisnell died in 1094, and his son Ivo joining the rebeUion against
Henry I., was obliged to take a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, from which he never returned:
but before his departure, with the view of securing his possessions from confiscation, he
pledged them to Robert de Belloraont, Earl of Mellent and Leicester, who, on Ivo's death,
became the actual possessor. At his death (1118) the Earl confirmed both Wydeford and
AndrKtesberie to the Monks of Uermondsey. Two years after this. Alderman's Haw was
regularly conveyed by Ranulph, Earl of Chester, to Henry I., who re-granted it to Robert
Bossu. At all events, both Andraetesberic and Alderman's Haw were at one time under the
patronage of the Prior of Bermondsey ; and in 1220, according to the Matriculus of Bishop
Welles, the Priory was accustomed to have three Monks at the Haw. It had, however,
ceased to have any resident religious long before the Dissolution.

About the middle of the fifteenth century, a dispute arose between the Abbot of Leicester
(claiming, either from some grant of Robert Bossu, or from the place being in the parish of
Ban-ow) and the Prior of Bermondsey respecting this spot. The Prior alleged there had
been a parish Church here, with a font for baptism, and also a right of burial. On this a
view was taken, and the examiners, after diligent search, answered, that they " could per-
ceive no Church, nor any remaining foundations of walls of a Church, in Alderman's Haw ;
but rather," to use their own words, " cujusdam heremetorii, bovarii, sive ovilis" — (the walls
of some hermitage, ox-house, or sheep-cote) — " nor had there been any fount for baptism."
And the Prior of Bermondsey was denied to have any right to the said place, or to any tithes
or dues proceeding from it.*

Now Mr. Nichols thinks that it was possibly the parish Church of Andrastesberie which
the Prior was in quest of,t in the district ; and that this Church, in the ruinous civil wars
between 1220 and the lime at which the view was taken (about 1450), might have been
completely destroyed. |

* These Inquisitions -were often, in the middle ages, most iniquitous proceedings; see the first note of page 66,
respecting one at Mountsorrel. The Abbot of Leicester would, in this case, have the same advantage which the
King had in that.

t The Prior, no doubt, wanted to find a parish Church, that he might establish a right to tithes in the district, which

the Inquisition denied him.

+ Gilbert Wakefield confutes the assertors of the non-existence of Troy, on account of the site having been oblite-
rated, by mentioning the following fact, " of ocular and personal experience:"—" When I was at school, in 1776,
Flawford Church, about five miles from Nottingham, was in a ruinous state, but the burial service was occasionally
performed in it by my master. I have been several times in the Church to see some ancient monuments of Crusaders,
mentioned by Thoroton. To prevent accidents, the Church was entirely demolished : and in 1784 or 5, when I went,
with two others, to contemplate the spot where the romantic pile had stood, well as I knew the place, we could only
ascertain it, after much diligent speculation, by the protuberant lines marking the main walls." — Life of G. W.,
p. 105, Vol. 2.

96 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

There are some expressions in the report of the Inquisition (a copy of which will be
found given in the Appendix) which may throw some further light on the place.

Thomas ate Reghos, the chief inquisitor, is therein styled " Major villa; ;" a term which
Nichols justly considers remarkable. The villa in which Alderman's Haw, and, in conse-
quence, Andrailesberie were situated, was* Barrow. The questmen, therefore, as residents
in that parish, may be concluded to have been more desirous to favour the Abbot of Leicester
than the Prior of Bermondsey, and for that reason to have confined their inquiry to the strict
letter of their instructions — that is, aolehj to Alderman's Ilaw.

Further, it may be inferred from the report, that the Prior of Bermoudsey had certainly
been informed that there were remains of the walls of a Church plainly to be seen in that

neighbourhood (parietibus nunc ibidem existentibus et paldm apparentibus ) . The

conclusion at which I arrive from all this is, that the Prior of Bermondsey, at the time when
the revenues of the Priory began to decline (which we have express evidence was the case
about the period of the Inquisition), began to look closely into the Register; and finding
mention of AndraBtesberie, and making further inquiries about it, was told of the remains of
walls existing near Alderman's Haw, viz. : — those described in the plan of Beacon Hill.
The Haw having been known to have been an old religious foundation, led him, probably,
to conclude at once that the site of the lost Church was there. Hence the express direction
of the search to Alderman's Haw. It is singular, that though nearly four centuries have
elapsed since the Inquisition alluded to, there is one spot amongst the many foundations of
walls on Beacon side, which might easily be imagined to be the ruins of a Church,

Another discovery, not noticed in my previous description of this hill, seems to favour
the idea, that at one period there were many inhabitants located on the ground where these
singular foundation walls are situated. — A hollow and much worn ancient road diverges from
what I take to have been the Saltway, a little above Woodhouse Eaves, and leads, by a
gentle sweep, to the very point which appears to have been the entrance of this ancient
village.

The whole, then, of these speculations, may perhaps amount to this : — that Beacon Hill,
instead of Baldwin Castle Hill, may have held the idol of Andrate — that an ancient British
village was early erected below — that the Romans, Saxons, or Danes, took possession of,
and strengthened this commanding station — that a hill so remarkable, both from its altitude
and extent, must have had a name previously to the erection of the Beacon — that no such
name is now known — and that it was, in all probability, the ancient Andraetesberie. The
erection of a Christian Church on the site of Druidical or Roman idolatry, and its destruc-
tion in a neighbourhood so likely to have been the scene of war, will not appear either un-
accountable or unreasonable.t

* Quatuor homines (sive liberi sive rustic!) de eidem. — Hoveden, jiac/e 783.
t An elevated site, like the one this would have been, seems to have been, by the early founders, as generally
chosen for Churches, as a low one was for Monasteries. Thus Breedon, Tilton, and several others in this county, are
located on tlie boldest prominences in their respective neighbourhoods.

PAKOCHIAL HISTORY OF CHAIiNWOOD. 97

CHARLEY.

fCharnley, Cerneley, Cernelega.)

In Cernelega, 4 carucate terrfe. Vasta est. Require yxcc'mm.— Domesday, folio 237.

The westeni portion of Barrow lordsliip is comprised by the extra-parochial hamlet of
Charley. This secluded domain appears, alter having been in cultivation, to have returned,
so early as the period of the compilation of Domesday Book, to the state of open Forest.
The wood of Challenge has been before shown to have occupied a large portion of it ; which
agrees with Nichols' assertion that it was at one time sun-ounded by a thick wood. It
formed a part of the possessions of Hugh Lupus and continued in the family of the Norman
Earls of Chester imtil that remarkable covenant, already referred to under Mountsorrel,
between Ranulph de Meschines and Kobert Bossu, Earl of Leicester. As a part of this
covenant, Earl Ranulph granted to the said Earl and his heirs " the Lordship of Cerneley
and all the woods adjacent thereto, adjoining to his Forest of Leicester, as well those of his
fee as his ov^-n proper woods, excepting his Park at Barrow, to hold and enjoy the same as
Forest, in as ample a manner as he held the Forest of Leicester of the King."*

Robert Bossu dying in 1168 Charley descended to his son, Robert Blanchmaines, Earl
of Leicester, who in the reign of Henry H. built in this most quiet vale a small Priory
and dedicated it to the Virgin. He placed in it three Friars Eremites of the Order of St.
Augustine. t

The Priory seems at first to have belonged to that of Luffield, Northamptonshire, which
Robert Bossu had founded in 11'20 ; for, to a grant to that place he adds, " et de alia terra
de Cerneleid tanium ad edijicandum quantum ego convenienter coiisiderabo per coiisilunii
amicorum meorum." From this it may be conjectured that Blanchmaines, in founding the
Priory, merely complied with his father's wishes on the subject.

The Matriculus of Bishop Hugh Welles (1220) J shows that the Church of Ratcliffe-on-
the-Wreke was in the patronage of the Prior of Charley, who received from the Vicar of
that Church an annual pension of three shillings ah antique. In 1334§ the Prior was not
only Patron but held it " in proprios usus."

Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winton, about 1210, conveyed to Robert de Ibstoke a house at

• So states Dugdale ; but it would appear by the following record, that Ranulph, in order to make assurance
doubly sure, formally conveyed these places to King Henry I,, who re-granted them to Bossu: — " Henricus, Dei
gratia, rex Anglic & dux Nonnannie, archiepiscopis, episcopis, &c. salutem. Sciatis quia Ranulphus comes de Ces-
tri4 dimisit & concessit mihi habere in dominio Cemelegam, & Cemewodam, & Alderman-hagam, in defense, sicut
aliquod defensum cariis habeo, et omnia nemora que fuerunt de feodo comitis de Cestrii, que attingunt forestam
Legrecestrie, preter parcum suum, habere in defenso, de wasli & de bestii salvagii : sicut autem predictus comes
Ranulphus mihi hec dimisit et concessit, ita et ego concede Roberto comiti Legrecestrie habere hereditabiliter, cum
alio feodo suo ; & volo & pr^cipio ut bene & quiete & honorifice teneat, cum omnibus consuetudinibus suis. Testi-
bus Theobaldo comite Blesense, & Gualerano comite de Mellento, & Willielmo de Tano, & Nigello de Albini, &
Willo de Luriaca, & Adamo de Portu, & Pagano filio Job's & Gaufrido filio Pagani, & Andrei de Baldement & Ro-
berto de Donestan-villi. Apud Haveringas."

f Tanner, page 241. + Nichols, Vol. I., p. Ix. { Ibid, p. Ixvii.

gg PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Donino-ton-on-the-Heath, which had been held by Gilbert de Seis, under William, then
Prior of Charley.* He obtained Charley by his marriage with Margaret, sister and co-heiress
of Robert de Bellomont, Earl of Leicester.

His son Ro^er de Quincy, Earl of Winton and Constable of Scotland, was the next
possessor. He procured, in 1246, a confirmation grant, and in 1270 died seised of the ad-
vowson of the Priory .f

In the following year it was found that Eleanor de Vaux, daughter of William de Fer-
raiiis Earl of Derby, the third wife and relict of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winton, held the
advowson of Charley and Ulverscroft in dower. J

The Priory now obtained a new benefactor in the person of Sir William de Ferrars,
Kni"-ht, brother to the Countess of Winton : who, on the death of his father, became seated
at Groby, and took great interest in the religious establishments in the neighbourhood.
Some of his benefactions to this Priory were noticed in page 19.

After the death of Eleanor de Yaux, Charley became one of the possessions of the re-
nowned Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, through his marriage with Elizabeth, § one of
the co-heiresses of Roger de Quincy. To give the reader some idea of the manner in which
this marriage was brought about, as well as to clear up some prevailing misconceptions respect-
ing the connexion of this remarkable Scotch family with the Forest, it will be necessary to
go somewhat at length into subjects but slightly bearing on the History of Charnwood.

The probability of a disputed succession to the throne of Scotland having early sug-
gested to Edward I. some hopes of being able to annex that country to the English Crown,
that politic Prince took every possible mode to league the most powerful Scotch Barons in
his interest. The Comyns, Earls of Buchan and Badenoch, from the extent of their estates
and their personal influence were, perhaps, inferior to no family in Scotland. To bind
these by grants and kind offices was therefore soon a part of Edward's plans. Elizabeth
Quincy daughter of Roger, was, with her sister jNIargaret, one of the richest co-heiresses in
the kingdom. The Sovereign, in feudal times, had the disposal of all heiresses in marriage,
on the plea that women were incapable of performing to the Sovereign the military service
by which their lands were held.|| Nothing, therefore, was more easy than for Edward to

* Two of the subscribing witnesses to this deed were Richard Sarraseene and Robert Sarascenus — names, doubt-
less derived from the Crasades, and still frequently found in the neighbourhood of the Forest, in the abbreviated form

— Sarson.

t Kentale.

* Nichols (Vol. III., p. 121) says, " and Charnwood"— which is absurd. In p. 1086, he says correctly, " in dower."

4 Nichols (West Goscote, p. 121) erroneously calls Alexander Comyn's wife Helen, who was, in fact, wife of Alan

Lord Galloway, as he had elsewhere stated. English Historians seem greatly at fault about this Elizabeth. Burton

(page 284) mistaking a passage in Leland, who seems equally to have mistaken another in the Seala-Chronicon, says,

" This Elizabeth, at the time when Robert Bruce, having slam John Lord Comyn, of Bodenaugh, proclaimed himself

King of Scotland, crowned the said Robert Bruce at Scone, her son Alexander being then absent in England, at his

manor of Whitwick, to whom that office, by inlieritance, appertained !" It will be sho^vn, further on, that it was not

Elizabeth, daughter of Roger de Quincy, and that the ofiice did not ippci-taiu to her son.

II On the same pretence, if the heir to a feudal tenure was abroad at the time of his father's death, the estate, and

even the title, were often granted to the next brother. One instance of this has been given before, in the first note

to page 22.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 99

re«-ard the Earl of Buchan for some past services, and insure his readiness for future ones,
than by allying him with the English nobility, and giving him a large stake in the country,
through the possessions that w^ould accrue. Elizabeth, therefore, uith the Royal sanction,
soon became Countess of Buchan.

Alexander III., King of Scotland, was killed by a fall from his horse, March, 1285-6
His leaving no issue, and his sister, the Queen of Norway, dying the same year, leaving
only an infant daughter, commonly called the Maiden of Norway — who was grand-niece to
Edward, gave fresh vigour to the English King's long-cherished designs with regard to
Scotland. He proposed a marriage between the ilaiden and his eldest son ; and though
there were some terms in this treaty highly objectionable to the Scottish Regency, their
scruples were overcome by Comyn, who was, in fact, one of the Regents, and the marriage
treaty was signed at Brigham, June 18th, 1-290.

The prematiu-e death of the Maid of Norway frustrated one hope of Edward, but only to
give birth to another. He immediately saw bis opening in the numerous competitors that
now asserted their claims to the Scottish throne, and calmly calculated on appropriating
" the Lion's share."

The origin of this diversity of claim is extremely simple. William the Lion, who suc-
ceeded to the Crown in 1 KJo, had a brother, David, Earl of Huntingdon. In 1214, William
transmitted the Crown to his son, Alexander II., who was succeeded by his son, Alexan-
der HI., in 1249. Failing, therefore, the descendants of this Monarch, the Crown reverted
to the posterity of David, Earl of Huntingdon. By referring to page 12, it will at once be
seen that the issue of this Earl's marriage with Matilda, sister of Ranulph de Blondeville,
were : — 1. Margaret, married to Alan, Lord Galloway, whose daughter Dervorgoil married
John Baliol, and bore to him another John Baliol. 2. Isabella, married to Robert Bruce,
Lord of Annandale, whose son was a competitor for the Crown. 3. Matilda, s. p. 4. Ada,
married to Henry de Hastings, grandfather of John de Hastings, the third competitor.
Besides these, as will be seen by the Pedigree, given in a note on the following page, there
were many other claimants.

Edward, who was the referee or mediator in this dispute, chosen by the recommendation
of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan (Alexander, his father, had lately died), decided in favour
of Baliol, or rather declared himself Lord Paramount, and Baliol his deputy. On Baliol's
resignation — brought about by the contumelious conduct of the English King, and a sus-
picion of his latent intentions — Bruce expressed hopes of being allowed to supply his place.
" What !" said Edward, " have we nothing to do but to conquer kingdoms for you ?"

Amongst the principal claimants after Baliol were Robert, grandson of the first claimant
of that name, and John Comyn, of Badenoch, commonly called the Red Comyn. Both
these powerful Barons had taken part with William, but after the defeat at Falkirk, with the
hope of preserving their English estates, both had submitted to Edward, and even borne
arms against their countrymen.

Bruce, who in early life seems to have had no fixed principles, subsequently made over-
tures to Comyn to join in a common eflbrt to expel the usurper, and afterwards settle the
sovereignty between themselves. This John Comyn, whose mother was Marjory Baliol,

100

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

sister of the King of Scotland, and who was by his marriage (for he, too, had been provided
for by Edward) connected with the royal family of England, is represented as a person of
designing and treacherous character, and under an exterior of the most finished dissimula-
tion, and with manners polished to the highest degree of refinement, concealing all the
worst features of the feudal character. He hated Bruce for his success in retaining Edward's
favour, while he himself had endured royal frowns, and been heavily mulcted. He accord-
ingly laid a letter from Bruce before the King. Edward for a while doubted Comyn's
information but resolved to probe the matter to the bottom. In order, therefore, to ensure
Bruce's presence in London, unforewamed by any suspicion that his overtures had been
betrayed, the King convoked a Parliament, to wliich he summoned Bruce as Earl of Car-
rick. Ignorant of Comyn's treachery he attended without scruple. Edward, anxious to

David I., King of Scotland, died 1124.:

Henry, died before his fatUer.:= .

Malcolm IV., died
in 1165, s.p.

William, died
in 1214.

Florence, Earl of Robert Pynke-
HoUand, claimant, ney, claimant.

David, Earl of=
Huntingdon.

Henry, natural Isabella. = Robert de Ros.
son. I

I
Margaret.

Alexander 11.:^ .

Patrick Golithly, | |

claimant. Robert, William. = Isabel, of claimant.

obt.s.p. I Belvoir.

Dunbar, Earl William de Vosci,
of March, claimant.

I
William de Ros, claimant.

Marjory.
Nicholas de Scules, claimant.

Alexander III. = Margarct, sister of
I Edward I.

Alexander, died s. r.

David, died an infant.

Margaret. r^Eric, King of Norway.

I

Margaret, "the Maid of Norway," betrothed to Prince Edward, died an infant.

: Matilda,
eldest dau.
and co-
heiress of
Ranulph
Blonde-
ville, Earl
of Chester.

.John, the Scot, Earl of
Huntingdon and Ches-
ter, died s. p., 1244;
poisoned by his wife,
Helena or Avisa, dau.
of Llewellyn, Prince of
Wales.

Margaret. = Alan, of
Galway.

Isabella.^ Robert Bruce.

I

Ada. = H. Hastings.

Robert Bruce, cteim-^ Isabel, of John Hastings, claim-
ant. I Gloucester. ant.

I
Robert, King of Scotland.

Christiana, mar. Earl of Albe-
marle; died 1219, s. p.

Devorguilla.= John Baliol.

Marjory, died s. p.=John Comyn, claimant.-

Hugh, died 1272, s. p. Alexander. John Baliol, tiaiman*.

' John Comyn claimed as the descendant of Donald VII. and not as husband of Marjory do Galway.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 101

judge of his guilt or innocence by the impression the unexpected charge might make upon
him, turning suddenly to Bruce, asked if he knew the seal. With well-dissembled astonish-
ment the Earl calmly replied that the letter was a forgery, and that though the seal was a
good imitation, he could, if allowed a short interval to send for his seal, at once prove it,
and offered to pledge his whole estates to prove the truth of his denial. The King was
completely deceived by this seeming integrity, and gave him leave of absence from Par-
liament in order to procure the documents necessary to prove the forgery. But apprized
by his kinsman, the Earl of Gloucester, he flew with all speed to Scotland, accompanied by
a single attendant.*

On the borders of Scotland, encountering a person that appeared studious to avoid him,
Bruce was determined to ascertain the cause ; a sudden suspicion darting into his mind
that the stranger's errand concerned himself. He immediately seized him and searching
his person found fresh letters from Comyn, inclosing further detail of the conspiracy. To
slay the unhappy envoy and to possess himself of the despatches was the work of a moment.
Hastening with all speed to the Castle of Lochmaben, the residence of his brother Edward,
he laid before him his discovery. It was then agreed to request an interview with Comyn.
It happened, fortunately for Bruce, as explaining his sudden return to Scotland, that the
English .Justiciary was about to hold a Court at Dumfries: to which he, as Lord of Annan-
dab, and Comyn, as Lord of Badenoch, were bound to attend. They met, by appointment,
in the Chapel of the Grey Friars, at Dumfries, February 4, 1305 ; and it is probable, from
the place fixed upon, that Bruce did not contemplate the horrid act which resulted and
which, ever after, was a source of extreme bitterness to him. Bruce was accompanied by
Sir Christopher Seton, Sir James Lindesay and Gilpatrick of Kirkpatrick. Comyn only
by his brother. Sir Robert Comyn. They met with mutual embraces. Hemingford says
they kissed each other ; and their attendants having retired outside, they walked up to the
high altar, where Bruce probably thought he should elicit the truth. He at once accused
his associate of having betrayed him to Ed\vard. " It is a falsehood you utter," said Comyn,
and Bruce, without another word, instantly stabbed him with his dagger. He fell on the
steps of the altar ; and Bruce, alarmed at the atrocity, hurried to his friends on the outside.
" Is all well ?" said Seton, observing unusual agitation in the looks of Bruce. " Well or ill,"
replied the latter, " I know not — but I doubt I have killed Comyn." " And is that a thing
to be left in doubt?" cried Gilpatrick. "I shall make surer work." Upon which, with
Seton and Lindesay, he ran back into the Church ; and finding Comyn still breathing, and
supported by the Monks, who had removed him behind the screen of the altar, they barba-
rously despatched him with repeated wounds ! slaying, at the same time, his gallant brother,
vainly endeavouring to defend him. Bruce's course was decided by this shocking act. He
immediately commenced that extraordinary career which has linked such military glory with
his name. He was crowned King of Scotland at Scone, in March, 1306 ; and now occurs
another event, which, to those considering the recent slaughter of Comyn, will appear as
strange as it was romantic.

* Wyulon's Chronicle, Vol. II., page 121).

102 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

The Countess of Buchan, the wife of the young Alexander Comyn,* who had succeeded
his brother John, eloping from her husband, at Charley (whither he had fled out of the way
of Bruce), and bringing her war horses and a train suited to her rank, anived in Scotland,
reached Scone two days after Bruce's coronation, and instantly demanded that the ceremony
should be repeated. She claimed, in fact, the hereditary right, as a descendant of Macduff,
of placing the King on the throne. Bruce at once complied with the request, and the repe-
tition of the ceremony infused fresh energy into his followers. A most ungenerous and
ungallant act of our exasperated Edward towards this high-spirited woman must not be
omitted here. Having fallen into the hands of the English soldiers, she was roughly con-
veyed to the Castle of Berwick. On an outer tun-et of this Castle Edward immediately
caused a cage of wood and iron to be erected, and in this singular prison, most strictly
guarded, and forbidden to hold communication with any one but the woman to whose keep-
ing she was intrusted, did this high-spirited lady continue for four years ! " Suspended,"
says an English Historian, " as a spectacle of eternal disgrace to all passers by." There
was one other person, at least, equally disgraced by this refinement of cruelty. But treachery
or cruelty characterised almost every act of this heartless usurper in Scotland. One of the
first acts of his son, ashamed of this barbarity in his relentless father, was to remove the
Countess of Buchan to the Monastery of Mount Carmel.

The slaughter of the Earl of Badenoch, at Dumfries, had naturally roused the vengeful
feelings of all the Comyus, and probably Alexander Comyn's hatred of Bruce was consider-
ably augmented by the desertion of his wife. Hearing of Bruce's illness, at Slaines, he
advanced against him with a powerful body, comjjosed of English and his own retainers,
and with that fury which hatred and revenge were so calculated to inspire. Bruce, all worn
as he was by disease and privations, felt all his energy re-kindled by the news of his own
nephew. Sir David de Brechin, being leagued with Comyn ; and ordering his armour and
war-horse, neither of which he had used for many months, he was lifted into the saddle,
and, supported by a soldier on each side, headed himself the onset on Comyn. The conse-
quence, says Tytler, was a total rout of the forces of the latter — the retreat of their discom-
fited leader into England, and his shortly subsequent death — I believe, at Charley.

But Bruce's hostility to the Comyns did not stop here. He conducted his army into
their extensive Highland district, Buchan, wasted it with fire and sword, and committed
such indiscriminate havoc that for fifty years aftervi'ards men talked with hoiTor of the
hanging or depopulation of Buchan. t

It may give the reader a fair idea of the cruelty of the then prevalent system of warfare,
to say, that thirty of the family of Comyn were beheaded in one day and buried in one

* Nichols, in tlie Quincy, Comyn, and Beaumont Pedigree, omits the names of the wives of both John and Alex-
ander Comyn (the sons of Alexander Comyn and Elizabeth de Quincy). The wife of the latter, however, as may be
seen in Mr. Fraser Tytler's valuable History of Scotland (from which I glean much of the above account) was Isabella,
sister of the Earl of Fife. Her brother -wns of the English party, and consequently Bruce's first coronation had lacked
that part of the ceremony always performed by the descendants of Macduff,
t Barbour, in his " Bruce," says : —

" That eftcr that weill fifty yer
Men menyt the herschip of Bowchane."

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 103

grave. Scott (Tales of a Grandfather) says the spot was marked by a stone inscribed
" The Grave of the PIeadless Comvns."

The foregoing account — not wholly irrelevant, it is hoped — will explain what I have
often found very imperfectly understood, viz. : that it was not Comyn of Buchan — our Forest
Comyn — but his relative of Badenoch, who was Brace's victim; and that it was not Eliza-
beth de Quincy, Countess of Buchan (as has often been supposed), but Elizabeth or Isa-
bella, daughter of the Earl of Fife, and wife of Elizabeth de Quincy's son Alexander, who
re-crowned Bruce at Scone and suffered the shameful punishment of being confined in a
cage.

In 1306, Alan la Zouch (husband of Helen, at whose house at Tranent Eleanor de Fer-
rars was staying when carried otlby Douglas) confirmed to the Prior of Charley a messuage
at Sheepshed, the Milneleghs juxta Charley and thirty acres of land there.*

Three years after this William de Segrave was elected Prior ; the permission of Sir
William de Ferrars having been first obtained. f

In 1346, the Prior (on the aid granted for knighting Edward of Woodstock) was assessed
for half a quarter of one Knight's fee, in Charley, parcel of the Honour of Winton.J

In 1371, Sir William de Ferrars, of Groby, Knt., died seised of the advowson.

In 1383, Richard llatley was presented to the Priory by Richard II., as guardian of the
lands, and heir of Sir Henry de Beaumont, Knight., deceased ; and in the next year, John
Lord Beaumont, the heir mentioned, had livery of his lands. §

In 1387, Sir Henry de Ferrars, of Groby, Knight, held, at his death, the advowson : and
six years afterwards, Joan, his widow, died, having held the advowson in dower, of the
King, by Knight's service. ||

In 1444, Sir William de Ferrars of Groby, Knight, died seised of the advowson ; and
in 1457, Edward de Grey, Knight, Lord Ferrars of Groby, was seised of it. It was then
valued at five marks. Sir John Bourchier, Knight, who married Elizabeth, widow of
Edward Lord Fen'ars, consented, in 1465, with his Lad}-, to the union of this Priory with
that of LTverscToft.1I

For the tithes of sheaves and hay, in Oldfield, Dunthorne-hill, and the old Birchwode
(parts of Charley situated in Barrow) a composition of (is. 8d. had been paid by the Prior
of Charley to the Abbot and Convent of St. Mary de Pratis, in Leicester, ever since 1307 ;
and after the union it was agreed, as appears fi-om Charyte's Rentale, that the Prior of
Ulverscroft should in future pay this composition.**

Oldfield and Long-wong, together sixty acres, were in 1466 demised by Sir Thomas
de Erdington, of BaiTow, Knight, to the Abbot and Convent of St. Mary de Pratis, Leicester,

• Esch., .34 Edward I., No. 187. t Reg- D.ilderby, Ann. 9. % Rot. Aux., 20 Edward III.

§ Rex priESentat Ricardum Hatley ad prioratum de Charley, Line. dicEC. ratione custodis terrarum et haeredis Henrici
de Beaumont, chevalier, defuncti. — Pat. 6 Ric. II., p. 1.

II Esch. 17 Richard II., No. 24, Leic.

H Dr. Hutton, ex Libro Memorandoram temp. Johaimis Chedworth, Episcopi Lincoln.

** 6s. 8d. was paid as a pension to the Bishop of Lincoln, from the Priory of Charley.

104 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CIIARNWOOD.

for a term of forty years, on the annual rent of one red rose — a tenure which, as Nichols
suggests, arose from the political principles of the granter; and it is remarkable that the
grant continued till the very year of the restoration of the House of Lancaster.

Thomas Massey, Clerk of the Priory of Ulverscroft, was the last Priest who celebrated
mass at Charley.

Sir Andrew Judd* afterwards purchased, from the Crown, a lease of Charley, and soon
transferred it to Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk (beheaded in 1553). After this a capital
mansion called Charley, with waters, royalties, &c., belonging to it, which had formed part
of the possessions of Ulverscroft Priory, were leased to William and Richard Standish,- for
a fine of £'50. and an annual rent of £9. 19.s. 4d., for the term of eighty years.

It is not quite clear how Charley came into the hands of its next possessor, Mr. Bennett
Wilson, who sold it to Henry Turvile, Esq., of Aston Flamvile — who sold it, about 1605,
to his relative. Sir Richard Waldron, Knight. Sir Richard died here, February 16, 1617,
seised of the lordship. His eldest son, Thomas (afterwards knighted) died seised of it,
January 11, 16'27-8, leaving by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Viscount Beaumont, Thomas,
son and heir, aged three years and a half — three other sons, Edward, Charles, and Richard,
and one daughter, Mary, afterwards wife of Thomas Farnham, Esq., of the Nether Hall,
Quorndon.f The last Thomas (afterwards knighted) was the owner in 1647. His daugh-
ter Frances mamed her cousin, Thomas Farnham, Esq.

In 1689, Thomas Cosyn, Esq., of Hillesley, Gloucestershire, died Lord of the Manor of
Charley, aged eighty-eight. He married Frances, eldest daughter of William Trye, of
Hardwick, Gloucestershire, great-grandson of John Trye, Esq., whose wife was Elizabeth,
one of the co-heiresses of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

Charley afterwards became the property of George Wrighte, Esq., of Gothurst, Bucking-
hamshire, son of Sir Nathan Wrighte, of Brookesby, the Lord Keeper.J From Mr. Wrighte,
the manor, with all its rights and privileges, was purchased, about 1770, by .John Vickars,
Esq. ; from whom, by a marriage with his daughter Mary, it descended to George Bosworth,
Esq., of Brampton, whose grandson is the present possessor.

Doubts have frequently been expressed whether the Earl of Buchan actually erected
any mansion at Charley. It has even been supposed that he merely occupied a part of the
Priory. This supposition seems hardly reconcileable with the name long applied to the
place — Erleshall^ — or with some appearances of ancient foundations distinct from the
Priory ; neither is it probable that a small religious house, erected for only three Friars
Eremites, should afford accommodation for such a person as the Earl of Buchan. Exten-
sive artificially-formed mounds and terraces (rarely the accompaniments of a Monastic
foundation) still to be traced, afford further reason for concluding that the Earl's Hall,
though very near to the Priory, was, in fact, a distinct and a much larger edifice. The
foundations of a circular building, probably a tower, are still perceptible on the western side
of the lake, and here, I conjecture, the ancient Hall stood. So late as 1553, as appears

• Lord Mayor of London in 1550.

f One of tins lady's daughters was married to Henry Waldron, Esq., of Farnham Castle, Co. Cavan, Ireland.

X His sister Dorothy married Harry Grey, third Earl of Stamford. \ So called in Charyte's Rentale.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 105

from what has alread3' been stated, Sir Andrew Judd had a " capital mansion" here.
Whether this could have been that erected by Comyn, cannot be ascertained. The house,
in the time of the Waldrons, was evidently one of no mean pretensions.*

The present house, called Charley Hall, is evidently an erection of the last century. It
may be then that Whitwick Castle, another possession of the Comyns, becoming untenant-
able, or the quiet little glen of Charley, and the spiritual comfort to be derived from the holy
Monks, presenting to Comyn (long harassed by the factions in Scotland) a more congenial
retirement, that he then erected the mansion called the Earl's Hall. Be this as it mav, I
cannot believe that such a name could possibly have originated from the mere occupancy
of rooms in the Priory ; and a careful examination of the place itself, and of the records con-
nected with it, can scarcely fail to impress any one that the Hall was a separate mansion.
However, whether contemplated as an ancient monastic foundation, or as the residence of
the Comyns and many other distinguished persons, Charley is a place of great interest to
the topographer, the tourist, and the antiquarian. Embosomed, as it once was, in majestic
woods, with the Priory and Earl's Hall as its centre, it must at one time have been the
Chartreuse of the Forest ; even now, the scene is full of beauty. The lake — the streamlet
that feeds it — the remaining woods and rocks, and the few farm houses and cottages that
form the hamlet, render the little dell one of the most charming spots imaginable.

Several stone coffins, and I believe one of lead, have been discovered at various times
near the spot on which the Priory stood. One was taken up from beneath the floor of Mr.
Orgill's kitchen, a very short time ago. A spot very near is called the Giants' Graves. The
coin of Robert Bruce, engraved below, now in my possession, was found in making a drain
near the Hall. The locality in which it was discovered renders it historically valuable.

Mr. Mackay, who published a " Tour through England" in the time of George I., says,
" by the coats of arms in the windows of most of the Churches in this county, and some old
monuments, I perceived that gieat, noble, and ancient families, had their residence here :
and was particularly pleased at Loughborough and Charley, to see the arms of Comyn, Earl
of Buchan, to whom Edward I. gave the lordship of Charley, with a Forest twenty miles'
circumference, for his assistance to his designs in Scotland, and married to one of the co-
heiresses of Roger de (Juincy * * * but the family being entirely rooted out of Scotland by
the Bruces, for their treachery to their native land, the son of the great Comyn retired to
his estate at Charley : and having an only daughter, married her to Lord Beaumont, a great
family in these days * * *. They inclosed Beaumont Park, in Charley Forest. They were
pretty even with the Bruces for extirpating them from Scotland, for as Robert de Bruce was
Earl of Huntingdon before he was King of Scotland, and that county joining this, the
Comyns plagued the Bruces so that they were forced to change their names to Cotton."

' A gentleman informs me that he finds, in the note-book of an ancestor, accoimts of sums of money lost at cards,
at Charlev, to Lord Swords, brother-in-law to Sir Tlmmas \Valdron.

106 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

GROBY.

(Groohy, anciently Grobi.J

Hugo de Grentemaisnell tenet in Grobi 6 carucatas terre, 3 bovatis minus. Terra est 4 carucarum.
In dominico sunt duae; et 10 villani cum 1 sochmanno et5 bordariis : habent 3 Caracas. Silva ibi 2 leu-
caram longitudinis et dimidia; leucffi latitudinis. Valuit 20 sulidos : modo 60 solidos. Ulf tenuit has 2
terras (Ralebi et Grobi) cum sac^ et socS.. — Domesday, jol. 232, a. b.

Here was an ancient Castel, whose walls, as I find in old records, were beaten down by command-
ment of Henry II. Here also had been a very faire Chappell, but all these goodly buildings are now
rainated and gone. — Burton.

Groby, the head of the second division adopted in the aiTangement of the Parochial
History of the Forest, is situated on the Via Devana, in the parish of Ratby, and nearly in
the centre of the tract lying between the Forests of Charnwood and Leicester. Its antiquity,
its privileges, and its connexion with the noble families of FeiTars and Grey, render it a
place of peculiar interest. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, six plough lands minus
three oxgangs* with sac and soc, were held by Ulfi and valued at twenty shillings. These,
in Domesday book, were stated to be worth sixty shillings, and were then held by Hugh
de Grentesmaisnell, afterwards created by King William Rufus Baron of Hinckley and
High Steward of England.

From Hugh Grentemaisnell this manor passed to Robert Blanchmaines, by his marriage
with Petronella, daughter of Hugh. Robert Fitz Parnell, son of Blanchmaines, had two
daughters, one of whom, Margaret, carried the manor by marriage to Saer de Quincy, Earl
of Winchester, to one of whose granddaughters it came as her portion of the inheritance
when that noble family failed in the male line. She married AVilliam de Ferrars, Earl of
Derby, and bestowed this manor on her second son William de Ferrars, who was in conse-
quence created Baron of Groby by Edward I.f

The Baron paid the King a fine of forty marks, and held the lordship in capite by the
accustomed services. He also assumed the arms of his maternal grandfather, Roger de
Quincy, till the male line of the elder house (the Lord Ferrars of Chartley) became extinct.
He married Joan, daughter of Hugh le Despenser, and had issue by her William his son
and heir, and Anne, married to John Lord Grey of Wilton. He died in 1287, leaving his

' Yeoman, earle or vassal knave,
That was of wealth an ox to have,
He made them all to keep a plough,
So that the realme had com enow.
And so arose from such command
That oxgang measure was of land.

The mightier and the wealthier peers
That herds of oxen had and steers.
Drove many ploughs, and hence appears
A ploughgate land for aye synsyne,
A certain measure was of kinc.

Wijnton.

t Groby est de feodo Wintonise, quie est pars Leicestrie ; et Dominus Wilhelmus de Ferrer tenet manerium de
Groby et habet in dominico tres carucatas terre in eadem et duo moleudina aquatica et duo vivaria et quatuor parca
• * » *. Item partem bosci de Chemewode in quo est libera chacea. Et dictus Willielmus tenet, &c. » • de douo
Margarete de Ferrer, comitisse de Ferrer faciendo inde servicium debitum et consuetum : Habet etiani visum fraiici-
plcgii pertincns ad regale, retoma brevium, et omnes alias libertates, sicut et Comes Leicestrie. — Jm/uisitio, 1279.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 107

son William, then aged seventeen, and Eleanor* his second wife surviving. The jurors
found that the said William held the manor of Groby with the appurtenances, of the King
in capife, by the service of half a Knight's fee, and that the capital messuage in Groby,
with the gardens in Groby and Ratby, and dovecots, were worth yearly 20.9. And there
were at Groby -204 acres of demesne arable land, and at Burgh, which is part of the manor
of Groby, four acres of arable land, every acre of which was worth yearly (id. ; also there
were badlands worth 2*. ; 15 acres of meadow worth 30.?. ; and a piece of meadow called
Ley Field worth yearly 40.v. ; also at Groby a Park, the pasture and pannage of which was
worth yearly ti().s-. 8f/., and the underwood of the said Park was worth yearly 6.v. 8d. ■ also
at Bradgate a Park, the herbage and underwood whereof was worth yearly 40.?.; also there
were certain outwoods in the Forest of Chamwood, the pasture of which was common and
the pannage was worth ;35«. ; two pools, the fishing of which was worth yearly 40.?., two
mills upon the said pools worth 46.?. 8f/. ; a rent of assize of the freeholders there at three
times in the year, of £7. 5s. id. ; a rent of assize of the Forest of Chamwood of new grubbed
up ground, of £7. 6.?. 4rf. ; a rent of hens of the said Forest 9.v. ; five pounds of pepper, nine
pounds of cummin seed, five pairs of gloves, one ounce of silk, one dozen of knots of kal-
cedon, six dozen of iron arrows, one clove gillyflower, worth yearly 7*. 7d. ; and also 48
vergerers, who held 43 yard lands and a half in villanage ; 25 of which yard lauds and a
half pay yearly 13.v. id,, and the 18 residue thereof pay yearly lO.v., making the sum of £-26. ;
and every one of the said customary' tenants ploughed once in the winter time and once in
Lent with his neighbour, the lord finding them victuals, and every ploughing is worth 3^. ;
and every one of them gardened at the said seasons, and every gardening was worth Id. ;
also the copyholders used to reap, cut, and carry the hay of 15 acres of meadow in Groby,
the same being worth -id. ; and they used to mow and lay together the lord's demesne
lands, which were reputed to be nine score and six acres, yearly, which service was valued
at 62.?. ; also they used to carry the com in the autumn, which was 6s. Sd. ; there were two
customary tenants who held two yard lands and paid yearly 26?. 8d. ; cottagers who paid
yearly 61*. lOd. ; also there were 17 acres of arable land in Middlehani, which the customary
tenants farmed at lis. 4f/. ; also the pleas and perquisites of the Court of Groby and
Leicester, which was the share of the said William, were valued yearly at £S.

William, the second Baron, was summoned to Parliament in 1293 as Baron Ferrars of
Groby, and died in 1324, leaving his son Henry heir.

This Henry married Isabel, youngest daughter and one of the co-heiresses of Theobald

* Mr. Fraser Tytler, generally so accurate in his facts, and other Historians seem at fault about this lady. Mr.
Tytler appears to have considered her a daughter of Lord Ferrars. Her maiden name was Poynings. To this
Eleanor (16 Edward I.) the King assigned the manors of Stubbing and Woodham Ferrars, Co. Essex, till she should
have her dowry set forth. This being soon after assigned her (on her taking oath that she would not re-marry without
license) she went into Scotland there to obtain her dowry of such lands as belonged to her. Bemg at Tranent (the
Manor-house of her kinswoman Helen la Zouch in that realm) William de Douglas, the companion of Wallace, took
her thence against her will and carried her to another place. On this, a complaint being made to Edward, he sent his
precept to the Sheriff of Northumberiand to seize the goods and chattels of the said William de Douglas which were
then in that bailiwick. But shortly after (19 Edward I.), in consideration of £100. fine, the King granted Douglas
the benefit of her marriage. — See Dugdale's Baronage, page 277.

108 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

de Verdon. He procured the privilege of a market at Groby, to be held every Friday, and
a yearly fair on the eve and day of St. George and two days after, which grant is dated
March 1-2, 1337-8, and dying in 1343 was succeeded by his son William.

This William dying in 1371 the estate came to his son Henry, who died in 1388,
leaving a son William, who died without issue male in 1444, his only son Henry having
predeceased him. This Henry left an only daughter Elizabeth, married to Sir Edward
Grey, eldest sou by the second wife (Joan, daughter and heir of William Lord Astley, of
Broughton Astley) of Reginald de Grey, Lord Grey de Ruthyn, who in 1410 recovered in
the Court of Chivalry against Sir Edward Hastings, the right to the name and arms of
Lord Hastings. It is singular that, after a lapse of more than four hundred years, these
families and honours should unite in the person of the present Earl of Rawdon, son of the
Marquis and Marchioness of Hastings.

Edward Grey, Lord FeiTars of Groby, died December 18th, 1458, seised of the manor
of Groby with the appurtenances, held of the King as of the honour of Tutbury, by the
service of half a Knight's fee, and Sir John Grey, Knight, his son and heir, was then aged
more than twenty-five years.* The inquisition states that Edward Grey, Lord Ferrars, held
the manor of Groby, &c., in right of Elizabeth his wife, by the gift of Margaret de Ferrars
to William her son, whose cousin and heiress the said Elizabeth was, viz. : — son of William
the son of Henry — the son of William, son of the said William the son of the said Margaret.

The issue by the marriage of Edward Grey with the heiress of Grobj' were Sir John
Grey, Knight, who married the celebrated Elizabeth Widvile or Woodville, Edward the
second son (created Lord Lisle by Edward IV. in 1475, in right of his wife, daughter of
Sir John Talbot, and sister and heir of Thomas Viscount Lisle, and advanced by Richai-d HI.
to the same dignity), Reginald and Anne.

Strongly attached to the House of Lancaster, Sir John Grey (for he is little known as
Lord Ferrars — probably from his not surviving his mother) was slain at the battle of St.
Albans, February 17, 1460). He left two sons — Sir Thomas Grey, who in 1460 succeeded
as Lord Ferrars of Groby, and eleven years afterwards was created Earl of Huntingdon, and
subsequently, viz. in 1475, Marquis of Dorset, K.G. — and Sir Richard Grey, whose melan-
choly fate we shall shortly have to record. The vicissitudes of their illustrious and high-
minded mother seem first to require notice.

To trace Elizabeth Widvile from her girlhood, when she wrote that remarkable journal
of her daily duties and daily feelings,t to her closing scene, would occupy too much space.

• Lady Ferrars survived her husband, Sir Edward Grey, and afterwards formed a second alliance with
Sir John Bourchier, Knight.
t Thursday Morning (May 10, 1451). — Rose at four o'clock, and helped Katherine to milk the cows : Rachael,
the other dairy-maid, having scalded one of her hands in a very sad manner last night. Made a poultice for Rachael,
and gave Robin a penny to get her something comfortable from the apothecary's. Six o'clock. — Breakfasted. The
buttock of beef rather too much boiled, and the ale a little the stalest. Memorandum to tell the cook about the first
fault, and to mend the second myself, by tapping a fresh barrel directly. Seven o'clock. — Went out with the Lady
Duchess, my mother, into the court-yard ; fed five and thirty men and women ; chid Roger very severely for express-
ing some dissatisfaction in attending us with the broken meat. Eight o'clock. — Went into the paddock behind the
house with my maiden Dorothy : caught Stump, the little black pony, myself, and rode a matter of six miles, without

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 109

A mere sketch must therefore suffice : — Daughter of tlie Duchess of Bedford by her second
liusband, Sir llicliard Widvile, Ehzabeth in her nineteenth year entered into an alliance of
pure affection with Sir John Grey, and no period of her chequered life was perhaps so free
from care as the few years she passed — chiefly at Grobj — with the husband of her choice.
After his untimely death, the overthrow of his party and the forfeiture of his estates, the
situation of this widowed lady and her two youthful sons was one of extreme hardship.
She was sojourning with her parents at Grafton, in Northamptonshire, when Edward IV.,
hunting in that neighbourhood, chanced to pay the Duchess a visit of respect : and the
opportunity of presenting herself before the King, and entreating his pity for her impoverished
and fatherless boys, seemed too good to lose. The sight of so much beauty, heightened by
her diffidence and her tears, at once made way to the Monarch's too susceptible heart. He,
in turn, became the suppliant, and his advances being repulsed with that dignity and pro-
priety which inflexible virtue was sure to prompt, only served to bind him more closely in her
chains. He that evening informed the Duchess that " the red rose had again been victorious."
The marriage, very shortly after (May 1, 1464), was privately solemnized at Grafton,
and not publicly avowed for some months. In the following year she was solemnly crowned
at Westminster, and in 14(j6 obtained the King's license to complete the foundation of
Queen's College, Cambridge, begun by the Queen of Henry VI. That Edward, during the
nineteen years of their union, loved her with all the affection of which his volatile nature
was capable, is shown by the gentle influence she exercised over him, and by the favours
and dignities he conferred on her relatives. Her father, in the year after the marriage, was
created Earl of Rivers, and this and other distinctions showered on her family appear to
have given the Earl of Warwick and many of the old nobility great dissatisfaction, and to
have been the source of much prejudice and rancour against the Queen. Her father and
her brother John fell victims to this envious feeling, being summarily executed by the rabble
headed by Sir John Conyers and Sir Henry Nevil, in 14tt8-9.*

either saddle or bridle. Ten o'clock Went to dinner. John Grey one of our visitants— a most comely youth—but

what's that to me ? A virtuous maiden should be entirely under the direction of her parents. John ate very little

stole a great many tender looks at me — said a woman never could be handsome, in his opinion, who was not good-
tempered. I hope my temper is not intolerable ; nobody finds fault mth it but Roger, and Roger is the most disor-
derly serving man in our family. John Grey likes white teeth— my teeth are of a pretty good colour, I think, and my

hair is as black as jet, though I say it— and John, if I mistake not, is of the same opinion. Eleven o'clock. Rose from

table, the company all desirous of walking in the fields. John Grey would lift me over every stile, and twice he
squeezed my hand with great vehemence. I cannot say I should have any aversion to John Grey : he plays prison-
bars as well as any gentleman in the country, is remarkably dutiful to his parents, and never misses church of a Sunday.
Three o'clock. — Poor farmer Robinson's house burnt down by an accidental fire. John Grey proposed a subscription
among the company, and gave a matter of no less than five pound himself to this benevolent intention. Mem. Sever
saw him look so comely as at that ?noment. Four o'clock. — Went to prayers. Six o'clock. — Fed the poultry and hogs.
Seven o'clock — Supper at the table ; delayed on account of farmer Robinson's fire and misfortune. The goose pie too
much baked, and the loin of pork almost roasted to rags. Nine o'clock. — The company almost all asleep. These late
hours are very disagreeable. Said my prayers a second time, John Grey disturbing my thoughts too much the first.
Fell asleep about ten, and dreamt that John had come to demand me of my father."

• Nichols states that it was the Northamptonshire men who committed this barbarous outrage on the Widviles :
the Encyp. Lond. (Art- England) says the bad feeling of the populace against them was roused by their appropriation
of the revenues of the Hospital of St. Leonard, at York.

110 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

The Queen herself was obliged, from the troubles of the times, to take sanctuary at
Westminster two years after, and it was during her seclusion here that her son Edward was
born. A few years of comparative quiet were now enjoyed by this illustrious Lady, but in
1483 it was suddenly interrupted by the King's death. Scarcely had the first gush of grief
for her royal consort's departure abated, when her maternal sensibilities were called upon
to endure most severe trials. The Protector seized her son, the young King, her brother,
Lord Rivers, and her son by her previous marriage. Sir Richard Grey, and conveyed them
to Pomfret Castle. On learning this painful intelligence, attended by her eldest son, the
Marquis of Dorset, and taking with her the Duke of York and the five Princesses, she again
sought the sanctuary of Westminster. Her sorrows were but in their commencement ! She
had now the affliction of losing by death the lovely Princess Mary, who had been betrothed
to the King of Denmark. The Archbishop of Canterbury, won over b}' the Protector's
cajolery, soon after induced her to surrender the Duke of York, on the specious pretext of
his being wanted at his brother's inauguration. The Queen parted with him with undis-
guised reluctance, having a strong presentiment of his fate, and bedewing him with tears
bade the almost heart-broken boy an eternal adieu ! The cool-blooded assassination of her
two near relatives. Sir John Grey and Lord Rivers, at Pomfret Castle, and that of her sons,
the King and Duke of York, in the Tower, followed in quick succession. AVell might she be,

" Like Niobe — all tears."

The marriage of her daughter the Princess Elizabeth, with Henry VII., might have beeu
expected to restore her to her position and influence in society, but it did not. Henry, in
fact, could never forgive some apparent vacillations in her conduct in having lent herself as
an instrument to the abandoned Richard HI., to procure a Papal dispensation for the mar-
riage of the latter with that daughter whom the politic but heartless Henry had now made
his Queen.*

For a short period after the battle of Bosworth Field, the Queen Dowager left her asylinn
at Westminster, but being condemned in a pr(emunire by her royal son-in-law, for this
alleged consent to Richard's views, and on other frivolous charges, she was confined to tlie
Monastery of Bermondsey, where in 149-2 she ended her varied and most eventful life, and
at length found " a quiet portion" beside the remains of her royal husband, in St. George's
Chapel, at Windsor. Her last will, which appears to be a true transcript of her feelings, as
well as a faithful description of her situation, is here given : —

Will of Elizabeth, JVidoiv of Edward IV.
" In Dei nomine. Amen. The xth dale of Aprill, the year of our Lord Gode

JMCCCCLXX.XXII."

" I Elisabeth, by the grace of God quene of England, late «if to the most victoroiuse
prince of blessed meraorie Edward the Fourth, being of hole mynde, seyiug the worlde

* It is asserted that the Queen Dowager, eager to recover her lost authority, neither scrupled at this proposed in-
cestuous alliance, nor felt any horror at marrying her daughter to the murderer of her three sons and brother, and that
she even wrote to her son, the Marquis of Dorset, and to all her partisans, desiring them to withdraw from the Earl of
Richmond. But it is more than probable that Richard, steeped in guilt as he was, procured this seeming sanction by
threats and promises with regard to her other children.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. Ill

SO transitorie, and no creature certayne whanne they shall departe frome hence, havyng
Almyghty Gode fressh in m3'nde, in whome is all mercy and grace, bequeith my sowle into
his handes ; beseechyng him, of the same mercy, to accept it graciously, and our blessed
Lady queue of comforte, and all the holy company of hevyn, to be good meanes for me.
Il'm, I bequeith my body to be buried with the bodie of my lord at Windessore, according
to the will of my saide lorde and myne, without pompes entreing or costlie expensis donne
thereabought. It'm, where I have no wordely goodes to do the queue's grace, my derest
doughter, a pleaser with nether to reward any of my children, according to my hart and
mynde, I besech Almyghty Gode to blisse her grace, with all her noble issue : and, with as
good hart and mynde as is to me possible, I gave her grace my blessing, and all the forsaide
my children. It'm, I will that suche smale stufe and goodes that I have be disposed truly
in the contentacon of my dettes and for the helth of my sowle, as farre as they will extende.
It'm yf any of my bloode wille any of my said stufe or goodes to me perteyning, I will that
they have the prefermente before any other. And of this my present testament I make and
ordeyn myne executors, that is to sey, .John Ingilby, priour to the Chartour-house of Shene,
William Sutle and Thomas Brente, doctors. And I besech my said derest doughter, the
queue's grace, and my sone Thomas marquis Dorsett, to putte there good wills and help for
the performans of this my testamente. In witness whereof to this my present testament
I have sett my scale ; these witnesses, .Tohn Abbot of the monastry of sainte Saviour of
Bermondesley, and Benedictus Cun, doctor of fysyk. Geven the day and yere abovesaid."

The other children of Elizabeth and Edward, not mentioned in the foregoing account,
were Cicely, married to John Lord Wells ; Anne, to Thomas, Uuke of Norfolk ; Catherine,
to William Courtney, Earl of Devon ; Margaret and George, who died infants, and Bridget,
who became a Nun at Dartford.

I return to Elizabeth's son by her former marriage — the Marquis of Dorset. From this
young nobleman's near relation to Edward V., the Usurper had procured his attainder, and
had conferred his estates on his brother the Viscount Lisle. Having taken sanctuary, he
privately quitted the country and fled to Bretagne, and subsequently joined the Earl of
Richmond in Paris, where he assisted in devising the plan of the descent of the latter upon
England. After the battle of Bosworth Field he was restored to his estates, but neither the
services he had rendered the Crown nor his relationship to the Queen consort secured him
from the jealousy of Henry, who committed him to the Tower : but shortly released, took
him again into favour, and honoured him with the Garter. The Marquis afterwards ren-
dered important services in the army. By his mamage with Cicely, daughter and heiress
of William Bonvile, Lord Harrington, he had seven sons : Edward and Anthony, who died
young ; Thomas, who succeeded him in his titles and estates ; Richard, John, Leonard
(Deputy of Ireland in 1536, beheaded in 1541), and George, a Clergyman ; and eight daugh-
ters. This Marquis began some new works both here and at Bradgate. He died Sep-
tember 20, 1501.

Thomas, the second Marquis, took up his chief residence at Bradgate, preferring that
situation both to Groby and Astley ; I therefore reserve the remaining notices of this noble
family for their more appropriate place, under Bradgate.

112 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

In " The laborious journey and serch of Johan Leylande for Englande's antiquities geven
of hyra as a newe yeare's gyfte to King Henry VIII. in tlie xxxvii yeare of his raygne" — is
the following mention of Groby: — "From Brodegate to Groby a mile and a half much by
Woddenlande. There remayne few tokens of the olde castelle more then that yet is the
hille that the kepe of the castelle stoode on — very notable but there is now no stone worke
upon it. And the late Thomas [marquesh filled] up the diche of it [with earth, entending]
to make a herbare there. The ould part of the worke that now is at Groby was made by
the Ferrares. But newer workes and buildings ihere* were erectid by the lorde Thomas
first Marquis of Dorset : eniong which workes he began and erected the fundation and
waulles of a greate gate-house of brike and a tour but that was left onfinished of hym and
so it stondith yet. This lorde Thomas erectid also and almost finished ij tomes of brike in
the fronte of the house, as respondent on eche side to the gate-house. There is a faire large
parke by the place a vi miles in cumpase. There is also a poore villagef and a little broke
by it. And a quarter of a mile from the place, in the botom, there is as faire and large a
pole as lightely is in Leyrcestershire. There issueth a broket out of this lake that efter
cummith by Groby and dryvith a mylle and efter resortith to Sore river."J

No vestiges of the Castle of which Leland speaks are now visible, except perhaps the
mount on which it stood, which rises about twenty feet above the level of the adjoining
ground, and is of an oblong shape, sixty-two feet in length and forty in breadth : the moat
or fosse which surrounded it is now filled up, though traces of it are still discernible on the
north side. The Castle which stood on this mount, like most of the Norman Castles, must
have consisted of a square or oblong tower or keep only : and as it was demolished by the
command of Henry II., in 1176, it was probably one of those small Castles (exceeding in
number eleven hundred) which were erected in all parts of the kingdom during the turbulent
reigns of Stephen and his predecessors. It is however probable that, notwithstanding the
destruction of the Castle, the Ferrars still continued to reside at Groby; for in the orchard
adjoining the present mansion are the ruins of a wall and arched door-way, seemingly
belonging to a more ancient edifice than the present house. Massive fragments and remains
of mullioned windows are also lying about. These, from the shape and ornaments, evidently
belonged to a jjeriod colemporary with the present building. The house, as it now stands,
is built partly of brick and partly of stone, with square-headed mullioned windows. The
tower, which is described by Leland as having been left unfinished, sliU remains in the

* It is singular that after the word "there" Nichols adds, from Mr. Burton's transcript of Leland, " at Bradgate ;"
and, strange to say, arrives at the conclusion, "from personal inspection of the ruins at both places," that Bradgate
was the place meant ; though Leland's printed editions and manuscript have only the single word "there"; The
wonder is, that any person having seen the two places, and compared them with Leland's description, could for a
moment doubt that Groby was meant ; or that Burton could interpolate, and Nichols adopt, words so utterly at vari-
ance with the description,
t Nichols erroneously supposes this to be Newtown I^inford, instead of Groby. He appears to have been chiefly led

wrong by the Park of " vi miles in compase ;" forgetting, perhaps, that Groby had at one period/our Parks.
J; The description seems to show that in Leland's time the pool was of much greater extent. It probably extended

nearly to Toot Hill.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 113

same state ; there are also two other towers in a more perfect state."* It is occupied by a
highly respectable tenant of the Earl of Stamford, and the Courts of the Barony are still held
in the old hall, which is very capacious and in excellent preservation. The ancient Chapel
belonging to the mansion was once celebrated as a piece of beautiful architecture, but so
mingled are the ruins that its precise site cannot now be correctly ascertained. Mr. Cartef
mentions a tradition respecting a vaulted passage from the Castle to Bradgate. There is
another respecting a similar subterranean communication with Leicestei', and the villagers
of Newtown Linford still give credence to the tradition of another with Ulverscroft Priory.
" In these," adds Mr. Bloxam, " I can find no foundation except in that love of the mar-
vellous so common in Roman Catholic times, and so peculiar to the lower classes of this
kingdom." ■*

Some facts which have come under my notice in the course of my researches into the
Forest history, induce me to suppose that Charnwood and Leicester Forests were, at a very
early period, one Forest : or if not, that they together embraced the whole tract which is
now intermediate, and that the ancient Castle of Groby was oriyinallij rather a hunting
tower than a baronial fortress. ;]; One reason for such a conjecture is the Peculiar Exempt
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, never yet satisfactorily accounted for, which has from time im-
memorial appertained to Groby. This, I imagine, may possibly have originated in the
following cause stated by Sir Henry Spelman : — " In agrorum dimensionibus Foreslee olini
non veniebant. Perinde nee villas proprie accepere nee paraecias : nee de corpoi'e alicujus
comitatus aut Epixcoputus^ habita; sunt." If, then, this conclusion is well founded, the
origin of the Peculiar, and the absence of villages within the present boundaries of the
Forest, will at once be explained. || The name of the village itself, which is derived from
Grove, and the present woodland character of a great portion of this intermediate tract,
parts of which, as Martenshaw, Sheet Hedges, &c., seem never to have been subdued, have
also weight in leading me to hazard this opinion. There is another reason — Toot Hill is
the name of a hill in the heart of the Forest near Charley ; it is also the name of one near
Groby. The word " Toot" signifies to peep — to spy — to watch. On these spots, in early

• From " A Description of Bradgate Park and the adjacent country," by the Rev. Andrew Bloxam, M..\., late Fellow

of Wadham College, Oxford — an interesting little work, of which it is impossible to speak too highly.

f Carte's MS., British Museum.

J It is suggested to me by a gentleman to whom this conjecture has been submitted, that " the deed given under
Charley, by which Ranulph de Meschines conveyed to King Henry I. Charnwood Forest and his woods adjoining
Leicester Forest, shows that these Forests were distinct so early as the reign of that Monarch." If, however, as has
before been shown, they were parts of the ancient Forest of Arden, this deed rather favours the idea of a previous
subdivision than militates against it. See Addition to Groby in page 116 of this work.

§ Forests were not formerly reckoned in the admeasurement of lands : as they could not, properly speaking, con-
tain either villages or parishes, or be member of any County or Bishopric. " If tythes doe lye in any Forrest, as the
Forrest of Windsor, Rockingham, Sherwood, &c., which is out of any parish, the King shall have them by his pre-
rogative, and not the Bishop of the Diocesse or the Metropolitan." — Hughes' Parson's Law, p. 68. Ed. Land. 1641.

II This absence of villages, and the assignment of the Forest to the parishes of Barrow, Groby, \VTiitwick and
Sheepshed, will have before occurred to the reader. The Forest was, doubtless, so assigned, soon after the Forest
rights passed from the Crown to Lords of Manors, on the disafforestation of Charnwood by King Henry 111., 12.34.

Q

114 PAKOCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

times, the ladies and the less active spectators of the chase used to place themselves, to
obtain glimpses of the Forest hunting.*

Whatever weight these conjectures may have with the reader, the whole tract between
the two Forests, including, as it does, the site of an ancient Castle — this Peculiar Exempt
Jurisdiction — the great lake — the altar-stone at Markfield, and the ancient encampment at
Ratby, will be found full of topographical and antiquarian interest. Every thing combines
to show that Groby and the surrounding district was of great consequence long before the
Conquest — most likely in the times of the Mercian Kings — and to so remote a period as that
am I inclined to refer its Peculiar Jurisdiction, hereafter to be described.

An Act was passed in 1789 for inclosing about 500 acres of open fields in the liberty of
Groby, in the parish of Ratby. The manor is of gfeat extent, comprising Groby, Newtown
Linford, Bradgate, Holgate, Mapplevvell, Swithland, Rothley Plain, Cropston, Ansty, Glen-
field, Ratby, Newtown Unthank, Botcheston, Stanton-under-Bardon, parts of Desford and
Markfield, and a large tract of Charnwood Forest. The Earl of Stamford exercises a right
of free warren throughout nearly the whole of it. It is held of the King by the service of
half a Knight's fee, as of the Honour of Tutbury.f Steward's Hay, the residence of William
Mai'tin, Esq., is the abode of the Earl of Stamford during his occasional visits to the
neighbourhood. His Lordship is said to have great attachment to the ancient abodes of his
noble ancestors; and the late Lord Grey was so devoted to Bradgate and Groby, which
their memories have almost consecrated, as to have entertained the idea of restoring at least
one of them. The Pool — it deserves the name of Lake — forms a very fine sheet of water ;
it was formerly about eighty' acres in extent, but has been reduced by successive encroach-
ments of reeds to about half that size. It is of an oval form, with slightly indented bays
and projecting points of sienitic rock on its margin. With its little island, its fringe of sedge,
and the numerous varieties of aquatic birds that frequent it, the Pool at all times presents a
most pleasing object. By the inhabitants of a district affording no other expanse of equal
size and beauty, it is naturally regarded as a wonder, and various legends respecting its
original formation are current in the surrounding villages. The Abbot and Monks of St.
Mary de Pralis, at Leicester, enjoyed, from the gift of their founder, the privilege of fishing
in Groby Pool four stated days in a year. J These days, by admirable forethought, were
fixed to be on the eves of the four great festivals of their patron Saint.

The delightful summer residence of Miss Pares, situated near the Pool Head, has many
of the charms of a dwelling by the Cumberland Lakes. The village is of a very neat and
picturesque character, and the scenery, particularly on the western side, where the sienite

« Benscliif, on the Forest, and Baun Hill, near Groby, are also cognate words ; derived, perhaps, from some ancient

Forest custom.

t An account of this Honour may be found in Sir Oswald Mosley's " History of Tutbury" — one of the most pleasing
monographs the Midland Counties have produced.

t Item habemus ex dono Fundaloris nostri singulis annis unum cervum die Assumptionis Beatae Mariae : et alium
cervum in Nativitate Dei Genetricis Mariie ; et licentiam piscandi in magno vivario suo de Groby quatuor diebus per
ann: scilt. vigilii Purificationis B. Mariae, Annunciationis B. M., Assumptionis B. M., et Nativilatis ejusdem. — Dug-
dale's Monasticon, Vol. I., page 309.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHAUNWOOD.

115

protrudes in wild irregular masses amongst rich herbage and foliage, is of a very varied and

pleasing nature. The extensive quarries of granite, slightly varying in its texture from that

of Mountsorrel, are well deserving attention. The geology, however, as well as the botany

of this neighbourhood, will be found noticed at length under their respective heads in the

Appendix.

PECULIAH OF GROBY.

The Lord of the Manor of Groby is entitled to an exempt ecclesiastical jurisdiction,
which he exercises by a Commissary or Conservator, who is empowered to appoint Surro-
gates, Proctors, and Apparitors. The Court of the Peculiar has cognizance in all spiritual
and ecclesiastical causes, and in matrimonial causes and divorces, and all other causes of
which cognizance belongs to the Ecclesiastical Courts, according to the laws of this realm ;
and the correction and punishment of excesses and crimes of all persons in the Peculiar, as
well Clergj' as Laity, whose reformation belongs to the Ecclesiastical Court. The Commis-
sary is also empowered to hold synods, and visitations of the Clergy and Laity ; and to grant
matrimonial licenses, faculties, and lawful dispensations. Also the proving or disproving of
the testaments or last wills of all persons dying within the Peculiar, and the committing of
the administration of the goods of deceased persons belonging to the Court of this Peculiar ;
which is entirely exempt from the authority or interference of the Bishop and Archdeacon,
and the appeal therefrom immediately lies to the Court of Arches.

The Rectors, Ministers, and Churchwardens of the following places, attend at the Com-
missary's ordinary visitations : — Glenfield, Anstey, Ratby, Newtown Linford, Swithlandj
Cropston, Stanton-under-Bardon, and the Oaks Chapel, on Chamwood Forest.

By the Act for inclosing this Forest, the Commissioners' award is directed to be deposited
in the Registry of this Court.

The records of the Peculiar are extant from the year loG5 ; and the following persons
appear to have held the offices of Commissary, Surrogate, and Registrar : —

Commissaries.

1565 Richard Browne, 1st.

1575 William Stoughton.

1591 John Chippendale, L.L.D.

1622 John Presgrave, Clerk.

1646 John Angel, M.A.

1G66 Thomas Case, L.L.D.

1670 Richard Werge, M.A.

1672 William Foster, L.L.D.

1701 George Newell, L.L.B.

1741 John Wilson, B.D.

1751 Joseph Hooley, M.A.*

1784 George Iliffe Foster, M.A.

1799 William Pares, L.L.B.

1810 Robert Martin, M.A.

1827 The Hon. and Rot. H. D. Ers-

kine, M.A.

1835 Robert Martin, M.A.

• Father of the preseDt .\rchbishop of Cau-
terbury. who spells the Dame " ex antiquo"
Howley.

Sl'rrogates.
1595 William Ludyard.
1608 GUbert Smith, M.A.
1672 John Herrick.
John Rogers.
1675 Nicholas Folkingham, M.A.
1679 John Burrows, M.A.
1682 Theophilus Tapper, B.D.
168.3 Samuel Collins, M.A.
1685 Joseph Darby, M..A.
1687 Robert Alefounder, M.A.
1689 John Coleman.
1697 William Fox.
1705 Edward Stokes.
1715 Reuben Clark.
1735 A. Brooksby.
1741 John Tomlinson.
1747 Walter Crompton.
1750 Joseph Hooley.
1799 Robert Martin.

Registrars.
1609 Henry Presgrave.
1658 William He)-ward.
1666 Edward Nowell.
1672 George Saville.
1672 John Birkhead.
1 683 Thomas Wadland.
1 698 Thomas Levet.
1720 John Ward.
1731 Richard Stephens.
1745 Norrice Cradock.
1764 Thomas Pares.
1801 Samuel Miles.*

* By the recent death of this respected [uan
and able antiquary, this office is at the present
time vacant. He rendered Mr. Nichols very
valuable aid in his ?Teat Work, and had at one
period the intention of favouring the public with
his own collections on the antiquities of the
county.

116 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

In a state of the Archdeaconry, taken in 1564, Groby and its dependencies are thus
mentioned : —

( Dominus Robcrtus Grace, vicarius de Whitwyck, liabet iurisdictionem 1 Parochia de Rotbie in qu^

(iROWBYE. s , /

( peculiarcm ejusdem, et est manerium consistens de 1 sunt familiffi 21

/Dominus Edmundus WooUaston, vicarius insfitutus ibidem, non )

1 ■ , > in qu4 parochia sunt familioe 27

Rotbie. — ' r^^iaet J

\ et dicta parochia consistit de [" hamlet' de Bocheston in qua

sunt familiae 5

Newton Parva hamlet' in

quSl sunt 4

Capella de Newton Lynford
1^ in qu& simt familia; 27

SwyxHLAND — in qua sunt familia; 30

I Anslye Capella — in quk sunt familia? 24

THURC ASTON. I

( Hamlet' de Cropston — in qua sunt familiffi 13

Stanton. — Hamlet' de Stanton (subtus Bardon) in quS. sunt familiae 14

( Consistit in Manerio de Growbie, Howlegates, et Hoi- ) in qua sunt familia' prfeter
Newtonne Lilford. i 1 ■ ■ ,-,

I gatewarde I manerium dommte regmse . . 47

Addition to Groby.

Since the foregoing notice of Groby was sent to press, the Rev. Robert Martin, of Anstey
Pastures, has most obUgingly communicated to me a valuable original document from tlie
pen of the late learned Antiquary, Mr. Samuel Miles — the result of that gentleman's
researches in the Duchy of Lancaster Office in 1806. This document so strongly confirms
the opinions advanced in pages 11.3 and 114, respecting the Forests of Charnwood and
Leicester having, at an early period, been one Forest, that I most gladly avail myself of the
opportunity of making one or two extracts from it here. Mr. Miles says, " A grant of very
extensive privileges was made by King John in 1199, to Robert Fitz Parnell, the last
Norman Earl of Leicester, which I find is designated, in the Records of the Duchy Office,
' The Creation of the Honour of Leicester :' to which Honour a Forest of very larr/e e.ttefit
was most unquestionably appendant, comprising (as I am well satisfied) the Woodlands of
Whitwick, Groby, and Sheepshed, with their members, besides other woodlands exiendiu<i
fo Hinckley, and inrlndiiKj various intermediate places ; to which Forest it appears that
Charley, or Charnwood, comprising (as I conceive) a small part of what is now known by
that name, was afterwards annexed." Again — " It is clear that part of the Forest or Chace
which belonged to the Honour of Leicester, was held by Simon de Montford as distinct
Forest or Chace, and continued to be called Leicester Forest : and the other part of it,
which was allotted to Saer de Quiucy, appears to have been afterwards usually called
Charley or Charnwood Forest, though it for some time certainly was also called Leicester
Forest." — The manor of Groby has continued in one family ever since the Norman Conquest !

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNVVOOD. 117

BRADGATE.

Oh ! there are souls that come, — and such -was thine —

So clothed in greatness from the Almighty's hand,
They breathe and are immortal I All divine.

In starry brightness on the earth tliey stand ;
Pure spirit-flames ; then back to their own land !

Leaving to Time's succeeding tribes to greet

The spot once touched and hallowed by their feet. — W. Howitt.

Bradgate, to which, perhaps, greater celebrity attaches than to any other place in con-
nexion with Charnwood, adjoins the south-east corner of the Forest. The manor having
formed part of the possessions of the Earls of Leicester, passed to the Ferrars, and from the
latter to the Greys, so nearly in the same manner as Groby as to render any description of
the mode in which it passed wholly unnecessary.

The name appears to be derived from the Broad Gate, which was in early limes the
principal entrance of the Earls of Leicester into the Forest, and which stood on the spot
now called Holgates, but anciently the OUIgaten, and latterly, when the Park became of
greater importance than the Forest, and had an entrance at that point, was very naturally
changed into Hallgates, which last name I have retained in the map that accompanies this
book. The road from Leicester Castle to the ancient Forest would thus seem to have lain
through Thurcaston, the appropriately-situated residence of the Falconers, who appear to
have attended the Norman Kings, and subsequently the Earls of Leicester, in the chase.*

Bradgate Park — for there never was any village of that name — forms one of the belt of
Parks which almost wholly encircled the Forest ; to which, indeed, they owed their origin,
either as offering facilities for more champaign or free hunting than the thick woodland per-
mitted, or as furnishing additional protection to the Forest itself. This belt was formed by
the Parks of Groby, of which there were four, extending altogether several miles on the
southern border — of Bardon, Whitwick, Graeedieu, Garendon, Burleigh, Loughborough
(two), Beaumanor, Quorndon, Swithland, and Bradgate. Groby and Bradgate, from their
greater contiguity to Leicester Castle, may be presumed to have been the first inclosed ;
the latter is certainly of great antiquity. The following agreement made between Roger de
Quincy, Earl of Winchester,t and Roger de Somerj', Baron of Dudley, about their mutual
hunting in Charnwood Forest and Bradgate Park, will show that it was imparked previ-
ously to 1-217 : —

"This is the Agreement made at Leicester on the day of St. Vincent the Martyr, in the
•■Jlst year of the reign of king Henry, the son of king John (before sir Roger de Turkilby,
master Simon de Walton, sir Gilbert de Preston, and sir John de Cobham, justices then
there itinerant), between Roger de Quincy, earl of Winlon, and Roger Somery : To wit ;
that the aforesaid Roger de Somery hath granted for him and his heirs, that the aforesaid

* See under Thurcaston.
f For "Earl of Winchester" Nichols writes " 'Ea.rl oi Leicester ," and for "Charnwood Forest" "Leicester
Forest, which are manifestly wrong, both from the body of this deed and its reference to that given in page 16 of
this work.

118 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

earl and his heirs may have and hold his park of Bradgate so inclosed as it was inclosed in
the Octaves of St. Hilary, in the 31st year of the aforesaid king Henry, with the deer -leaps
[saltatoriis] then in it made. And for this agreement and grant, the same earl hath granted,
for him and his heirs, that the same Roger de Somery and his heirs may enter at any hour
on the forest of him the earl, to chase in it [ad bersandum] with nine bows and six hounds,
according to the form of a cyrograph before made, between the aforesaid Roger earl of
Winton and Hugh de Albiniaco earl of Arundel, in the court of the lord the king at Lei-
cester. And if any wild beast, wounded by any of the aforesaid bows, shall enter the afore-
said park by any deer-leap or otherwise, it shall be lawful for the aforesaid Roger de Somery
and his heirs to send one man or two of his, who shall follovv the aforesaid wild beast, with
the dogs pursuing that wild beast within the aforesaid park, without bow and arrows, and
may take it on that day whereon it was wounded, without hurt of other wild beasts in the
aforesaid park abiding ; so that, if they be footmen, they shall enter by some deer-leap or
hedge ; and if they be horsemen they shall enter by the gate, if it shall be open ; and other-
wise shall not enter before they wind their horn for the keeper, if he will come. And far-
ther, the same earl hath granted for him and his heirs, that they for the future shall every
year cause to be taken a brace of bucks in the buck-season, and a brace of does in the doe-
season, and them cause to be delivered at the gate of the aforesaid park to any one of the
men of the aforesaid Roger de Somery and his heirs, bringing their letters patents for the
aforesaid deer. The aforesaid earl hath also granted for him and his heirs, that they for the
future shall make no park, nor augment the park beyond the bounds of the hunting ground
of the aforesaid Roger and his heirs, besides the antient enclosures of the aforesaid forest.
And the aforesaid Roger de Somery hath granted for him and his heirs, that they for the
future shall never enter the aforesaid forest to chace, save with nine bows and six hounds ;
and that their foresters shall not carry in the wood of the aforesaid Roger de Somery and
their heirs, barbed arrows, but [sagittas barbatas, sed pilettas]. And that his men of Barwe
and foresters, within the Octaves of St. Michael, at the Park ford, shall do fealty every year
to the bailiffs of the aforesaid earl and his heirs, and other things which to the aforesaid
forest belong, according to the purport of the cyrograph between the aforesaid earls of Win-
chester and Arundel before made. And this agreement is made between the aforesaid earl
and the aforesaid Roger de Somery, saving to the same earl and his heirs, and to the afore-
said Roger de Somery and his heirs, all the articles in the aforesaid cyrograph made between
the aforesaid earls of Winchester and Arundel contained. And farther, the said earl hath
granted for him and his heirs, that the one or two of the men of the aforesaid Roger de
Somery and his heirs, who shall follow the aforesaid wild beast wounded, with the dogs
pursuing it into the aforesaid park, with the aforesaid wild beast, whether they shall have
taken it or not, may, with the aforesaid dogs, freely and without hindrance, go out through
the gate of the aforesaid park. And the aforesaid earl and his heirs shall cause some one
of their servants to give notice to the aforesaid Roger de Somery and his heirs at Barwe,*

• " At Barwe." — This expression seems strongly confirmatory of the correctness of the opinion previously hazarded
respecting the probability of a mansion having been situated in the Park of Barrow, or at least somewhere in that
extensive parish.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 119

on what day he shall send for the abovesaid deer to the aforesaid place at the aforesaid
times ; and this notice they shall cause to be given to them six days before the aforesaid
day. In witness whereof each to the other's writing hath put to his seal. And it is to be
observed, that the time of buck-season [tempus pinguedinis] here is computed between the
feast of St. Peter ad vincula [August 1st.] and the exaltation of the Holy Cross [Sept. 14] ;
and the time of doe-season [tempus firmationis] between the feast of St. Martin and the
purification of the Blessed Virgin."

The present Park is bounded by a wall of nearly seven miles in length, and is also sub-
divided into several walled lawnds, some of which are of very ancient inclosure. The
whole surface is of a very varied character, in which wildness greatly predominates. The
little glen on the south-western side, called the Hocky Valley, is extremely romantic. The
mansion, of which the ruins still form an object of such interest, is deserving of particular
notice. Of this Leland makes the following remarks : — " From Leicester to Brodegate, by
ground well woodded, 3 miles. At Brodegate is a faire Parke and a logge lately builded
there by the Lorde Thomas Gray, Marquise of Dorsete, father to Henry that is now Mar-
quise." Hence it may be concluded that the mansion was erected about the year 1530.
The former Marquis, however, began some buildings here in 1501. This house, according
to the same authority (Lehuid), was chiefly erected out of the materials of the Manor House
of the Earls of Warwick at Sutton Coldfield ; for he says, " After that the Earldom of War-
wicke was attainted and came to the Kinge, the toune of Sutton, standinge in a barren
soyle, fell daily to decay, and the market was cleane forsaken. Wingston, by authoritie of
his ofBce, soidd the tymbre of the Mannour place, and had part of it himselfe. The hall
selfe was after sett up at Brodegate, the Marquise of Dorsett's house at Leicester, and there
yet stondeth."*

It was inhabited by the family and their successors until the early part of the last cen-
tury-, when it was destroyed by fire, and left in the state in which it now stands. Throsby,
in his " History of Leicestershire," mentions that James the First was entertained here for
some days ; but there are no certain accounts respecting his visit. Nichols, who published
a description of the progresses of this King, in mentioning the various palaces and houses
of the nobles where he sojourned, takes no notice of Bradgate ; and it is therefore most pro-
bable that he never visited it. It is certain, however, that King William was entertained
here for some days : the account states that he rode from Leicester through the open fields
by Anstey, which was also then uninclosed. The following account of the destruction of
the house is taken from Throsby's Leicestershire : — " It is said of the wife of the Earl of
Suff"olk, who last inhabited Bradgate Hall, that she set it on fire, at the instigation of her
sister, who then lived in London. The story is thus told: — Some time after the Earl had
married, he brought his lad)' to his seat at Bradgate; her sister wrote to her, desiring to
know how she liked her habitation, and the country she was in : the Countess of Suffolk
wrote for answer, ' that the house was tolerable, that the country was a forest, and the
inhabitants all brutes.' The sister in consequence, by letter, desired her to set fire to the

• Leland, Vol. IV., page 187.

120 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

house, and run away by the light of it : the former part of the request, it is said, she imme-
diately put in practice, and thus this celebrated and interesting mansion was consigned to
the flames."

PRESENT APPEARANCE OF BRADGATE.

I shall now proceed to give a detailed account of the ruins, as they exist at the present
day. On approaching them from the west, we perceive the remains of two towers, one of
a square form, the other an irregular polygon ; these are now only connected together by a
low ruinous wall ; they and the rest of the edifice are built of brick, with coins at the angles,
and cornice mouldings of soft red sandstone ; the mullions and facings of the windows,
which are square headed, are also of the same materials. To the south of these towers are
the remains of the bakehouse, the ovens of which may still be discerned ; over it were pro-
bably the servants' chambers, the fire-places of which still exist to the height of three
stories, and this part of the ruin is surmounted by a large angular-shaped chimney, with a
projecting cornice of brick. A few feet to the north-east of the bakehouse are the remains
of the kitchen ; of this nothing more is now apparent than the capacious fire-place, and a
portion of the wall. The above buildings are evidently of older date than other portions of
the ruins, and formed part of the mansion existing during the period of Lady .Jane Grey's
residence here. The great hall appears to have been on the north side of the house ; and
here the remains of a wall and square-headed windows, partly overgrown with ivy, are still
to be seen. What a casual observer would probably take for the entrance door, appears to
have been a bay or projecting window reaching down to the gi-ound; all the mullioned tra-
cery, however, is demolished. The entrance door, which likewise projected, was much to
the westward of these windows, and may still be traced out. Eastward of the hall a long
range of buildings extended towards the north, the foundations only of which now remain ;
these inclosed the court on the east, the great hall and other oifices on the south. The east
front, the foundations of the buildings of which may be traced, looked out on the Plaisance,
and here no doubt were the more private and most comfurtable apartments of the family.
At the south-eastern corner of the mansion, and connected formerly on the north and east
with other buildings, are the remains of an octagonal tower, with square-headed windows,
mostly divided by a niullion, the facings and architrave mouldings of which are of stone ;
and a little to the westward of this is

THE CHAPEL.

This is the only part of this once extensive mansion which is now covered in; it joined
other buildings on the east and north sides, and was formerly lighted by a large square-
headed window on the south, divided into twelve compartments by mullions and transoms,
the six lowest of which are now bricked up; and on the west by two square-headed win-
dows of smaller dimensions, both of which are also bricked up, and the mullions of them
destroyed ; above the large window on the south side is a smaller one, which like the rest
is now blocked up. All these windows have stone dressings, and a horizontal moulding of

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 121

stone runs along the west and south sides of the building. On entering the Chapel, wc find
the interior to be quite plain, the length from north to south thirty-five feet, the breadth
twenty-one feet. It was repaired by order of the present Earl of Stamford, and in a vault
beneath the pavement the remains of several of his ancestors are deposited ; but with the
e.\ception of a monument on the east side, the Chapel contains nothing worthy of observa-
tion, and is totally devoid of pews or ornament of any kind.

An oblong slab of blue slate, divided into long hexagonal pieces, lies over the entrance
to a vault, on which is the following inscription : —

p. <5.

CTjc rt Ijonblc STfjos (Stev

bavon of ®rotit> bisct. ilStoolJbil anD tarl of Stamforfl

late 5.orI( Iteut of Srbonsfjirc anB Somcrsctsijire

B teD JTanp ti)c 3 1 st 1 7 1 9 agcD 6 7 gears

tift rt f)onb\e

i«aro countfSB Ootoager of StamforU

Bicti ilol) loti) 1722 aecD oi wears

This vault likewise contained the body of Lady Diana Grey, daughter of Thomas, Earl of
Stamford, by his first wife Elizabeth.

On a table tomb on the east side of the Chapel, beneath an enriched pediment, supported
by two Ionic pillars richly carved, and under a covered arch, the soffit of which is panelled
and carved, repose the recumbent effigies of Henry Grey, created Baron of Groby by King
.James the First, and of Anne his wife, daughter of the celebrated Lord Burleigh. He is
represented as equipped in a complete suit of plate armour, over which is a rich mantle
with a funded cape, fastened by a clasp in front over the breast, below which it falls open
to expose the armour. He is bare-headed with mustachios and a long beard, and his head
reclines upon a helmet surmounted by a crest. His armour consists of a gorget and breast-
plate, with taces and tassels attached, cuisses or thigh pieces, genouilleres or knee caps, and
jambs. The lower parts of his legs are destroyed; at the bottom where his feet rested, are
his gauntlets, composed of over-lapping plates ; his arms and shoulders are likewise cased
in plate down to the wrist, but the gi-eater part of the right arm is destroyed. The whole
of the suit is richly ornamented. His lady is represented as habited in a long bodiced goH n
closely fitting to the waist, and from thence falling in ample folds to the bottom of the feet ;
over this is a large mantle, with a fuiTcd cape open in front ; her head is covered with an
ornamented cap, and rests on a double cushion, and a long veil falls behind ; her neck is
encircled by a raff, and from it are suspended ornaments reaching nearly to her feet ; her
sleeves are loose, with close cuffs at the wrist. The hands of this figure are destroyed,
but they seem to have been held up in prayer. The west side of the tomb is divided

122 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

into three compartments, within which, surrounded by scroll work, are many armorial
bearings.*

The plaisance or pleasure ground (mistaken by Throsby, and often miscalled a tilt yard)
lies on the eastern side of the house, and is about ninety yards in length by eighty in breadth,
surrounded by a raised ten'ace, the broad walks of which, though now covered with verdant
turf, may be still traced out. A moat, which is crossed by a stone bridge of two arches,
separates the plaisance from what was formerly a garden or orchard, though few traces of
its having been such now remain. To the north of the house is a fish-pond ; and adjoining
to this, running in a parallel line with the north, is a moat, beyond which is a straight walk
beneath an avenue of beautiful Spanish chesnuts ; there are also some aged mulbeiTy trees
about the ruins, and a great variety of scarce wild plants.

Having given this description of the ruins, which I chiefly glean fi'om the Rev. Andrew
Bloxam's work already referred to, I resume my notices of the noble family of the proprietor.

Henry, the third Marquis, was only thirteen when he succeeded his father. In Febru-
ary, 1540-7, on the coronation of Edward VI., he was appointed Lord High Constable of
England for three days only : in 1550, Justice Itinerant of aU the King's Forests. His first
wife was Catherine, daughter of William Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, by whom he had no
issue. He married secondly Frances, daughter and co-heir of Charles Brandon, the gay Duke
of Suffolk, by his third wife, Mary, daughter of Henry VII., and widow of Louis XII., King
of France. In compliment to the Lady, he was in 1551 created Duke of Suffolk.f Here
were born, issue of this marriage, the Ladies Jane, Mary, and Katherine Grey. The fate of
two of these interesting sisters has already been briefly noticed under Beaumanor ; that of the
eldest. Lady Jane, has been so fruitful, so sad, and yet so delightful a theme for historians,
poets, and biographers, that little that is new can be said upon it, and probably that little
would not have been deemed necessary, but for the late attempt of an anonymous writer to de-
tract fi-om the rare merits and extraordinary attainments of this most gifted and guileless girl.J

*1. Arms of Grey. Barry of six, argent and azure, in chief three torteauxes, and label of five points ermme.

2. Grey, impaling Windsor. Gules, a saltire argent, between twelve cross crosslets, or.

3. Windsor.

The pediment of this monument is surmounted by an escutcheon or shield, surrounded by scroll work,
containing the following quarterings, surrounded by a crest : —

1. Grey (before described.)

2. Hastings. Argent, a maunch sable.

3. Valence. Barry of eight, argent and azure, an orle of martlets, gules.

4. Ferrars, of Groby. Gules, seven mascles conjoined, or, three, three, and one.

5. Astley. Azure, a cinquefoil ermine.

6. Woodville. Argent, a fess and canton gules.

7. Bonvilc, sable, 6 mullets argent, round pierced gules.

8. Harrington, sable, A fret, argent.

Supporters, two unicorns ermine, armed, crested, and hoofed or, motto, "A ma puissance."
t Trin. Rec., 6 Edward VI., m. 9.
1 The writer alluded to thinks the statements respecting Lady Jane " exceed the grounds of credibility, and are
nearly allied to those Monkish romances of Saints and Martyrs invented by craft to impose on credulity." He calls
Ascham's encomiums " indiscriminate and garrulous," and strongly questions his veracity. — Beauties oj England and
Wales, Vol. IX., page 398.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

123

Linked in our memories with every name distinguished for feminine excellence, that of
Lady Jane has by most people been regarded as synonymous with all that is eminently
talented and virtuous. The critic that attempts to prove Troy a poetical figment, and the
topogi'apher who wishes to lower the general estimate of the character, talents, and acquire-
ments of Lady Jane Grey, are equally the object of one's dislike. Fortunately, her reputa-
tion rests on better authority than that of the cynic who wrote the notice in the lieautiea
of England. It may, indeed, be with truth asserted, that the biography of no nation can
produce a female character combining, at so early an age, such transcendant attainments
with such exalted virtues.*

SHORT PEDIGREE OF LADY JANE GREY.

Showing her descent from Edward IV.; and that of both her parents (Henry Grey, 3rd Marquis of Dorset,
and Frances his wife), from Elizabeth Widvile.

Sir Jolin Grey, succeeded as Lord Ferrars of=Elizabeth Widvile, eldest daughter^ Edward IV.;
Groby, 1458; and was slain at the battle of I and co-heir of Sir Richard Widvile, I 2nd husband.
St. Albans, Feb. 17th, 1460-61 ; 1st husband, afterwards Earl Rivers.

Anne, only=Sir Thomas Grey, suc-=Cicely, dau. Sir Rich'
daughter cecded as Lord Ferrars and heir of ard Grey
of Groby 1461 ; created
Earl of Huntingdon
August 24, 1471, and
first Marquis of Dorset
of the family of Grey,
Apr.18,1475; K.G.and
a Privy Counsellor to
Henry VII. Died Apr.
10, 1501 ; bui-. atAstley.

of Henry
Holland,
Earl of Ex-
eter ; died
s. p. — 1st
wife.

Wm. Lord beheaded

Bonvile and at Ponte-

Harrington. fractCas-

—2nd wife, tie, 1483.

4. Eliza-
beth.

: Henry VIL

1. Edward V. j smothered

2. Richard. | 1483.

3. George.

5. Catherine.

6. Cicely.

7. Ann.

9. Mary.
10. Margaret.

Eleanor,=
dau. of
Oliver
St.John,
died s. p.
1 St wife.

I
: Thomas Grey, sue-:
ceeded as second
Marquis of Dorset,
&c., 1501; Chief
Justice of all the
King'sforestsl524,
K.G.; died 1530;
buried at Astley.

r

: Margaret, dau.
of Sir Robert
Wotton,ofBoc-
ton, in Kent,
and widow of
WilUam Med-
ley.— 2nd wife.

I
Arthur,
mar. to
Cathe-
rine of
Arra-
gon.

I
Henry VIII.

Margaret,
married
James IV.,
of Scot-
land, in
1502.

Louis XII. =
of Prance,
died s.p. —
1st hus-
band.

I
: Mary. = Charles
I Bran-
I don,
Duke of
Suffolk.
2d hus-
band.

Catharine, daughter of= Henry Grey, succeeded as third Marquis of Dorset, &c.,^ Frances, eldest daughter and

William Fitz Alan, 1530; Constable of England 1547 ; Justice of the King's
t Earl of Arundel ; died Forests 1550; Warden of the East, West, and Middle
s.p. — 1st wife. Marches 1551 ; cre.ated Duke of Suffolk Oct. 5, 1551;

K.G. ; attainted and beheaded Feb. 23, 1553-4.

heir of Charles Brandon, Duke of
Suffolk; died Nov. 21, 1559;
buried in Westminster Abbey. —
2nd wife.

Lady Jane Grey, married Guilford Dudley, Catherine, mar. 1st, Henry Herbert, eld. son of William, Mary, married

4th son of John, Duke of Northumberland ; Earlof Pembroke; divorced. — 2ndly, Edward Seymour, Martin Keys,

was proclaimed Queen on the death of Ed- Earl of Hertford, by whom she had 3 sons and a daugh- of Kent ; died

ward VI., and beheaded Feb. 12, 155.3-4. ter, and died a prisoner in the Tower, Jan. 26, 1567. 1578.

* Aschara, the tutor of Elizabeth, in his Latin Epistles, speaks of her as the most erudite and accomplished woman
of the times, and frequently dwells on the surprise he felt when visiting Bradgate, on finding her reading the Phcedo
of Plato, while the rest of the company were hunting in the Park. Aylmer, her own tutor, the chief pillar of early
Protestantism in Leicestersliire, bears equally strong testimony to her virtues aud erudition. Sir Thomas Chaloner,
also her contemporary, states that " she was well versed in Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic ; and that she excelled also
in the various branches of ordinary feminine education — played well on instrumental music, sang exquisitely, wrote
an elegant hand, and excelled in curious needlework ; and with all these rare endowments, was of a mild, humble, and
modest spirit." Fuller, the historian, who lived about a century after her, says, " She had the innocency of child-
hood, the beauty of youth, the solidity of middle, the gravity of old age, and all at eighteen ; the birth of a Princess
the learning of a clerk, the life of a saint, and the death of a malefactor for her parents' offences."

124 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Admiration of the life, and pity for the unmerited death of this extraordinary Lady, have
been evinced by the thousands of pilgrimages to the place of her birth — pilgrimages which
will be continued while a love for what is greatly good shall animate British bosoms. For
what but " the sweet memory" of Lady Jane has invested Bradgate with such a charm ?
It is not, confessedly, the ruins — it is not the Oaks — or the scenery of the Park — it is mainly
the association of the spot with the name of the ten days' Queen — whose character will con-
tinue to be a theme for praise when " The Beauties" are forgotten; and whose fate, in all
gentle breasts, will be mourned

" Till Pity's self be dead!"

There prevails, even amongst educated persons, a singular confusion of ideas respecting the
grounds on which Lady Jane was induced to lay claim to the Crown* Many look upon it
merely as a baseless scheme, concocted by the ambitious Dudleys and the Duke of Suffolk.
Her right, perhaps, has never been so prominently put forward as it deserves. It was
grounded on her direct descent from Edward IV. and Henry VII. — (see Pedigree on pre-
ceding page) — on Henry VIII. having, by statute, declared the illegitimacy of his daugh-
ters, Mary and Elizabeth, and excluded the descendants of his sister Margaret (wife of
James IV. of Scotland), and on the will of Edward VI., in which he named Lady Jane Grey
his successor.

Further, either Mary or Elizabeth must have been illegitimate by the canon law, and
both had been declared so by Act of Parliament : it became, therefore, a question for the
casuist to decide whether Lady Jane Grey was not the rightful claimant. Certain it is, her
claims did not rest on grounds so frivolous as they have sometimes been described, but were
of a nature at least to command attention at such a juncture.

Queen Mary herself seems, indeed, to have tacitly acknowledged this, for it is nearly
certain that she would have spared the lives of Lady Jane and Lord Guilford Dudley but
for Sir Thomas Wj'att's ill-timed and unfortunate demonstration in her favour. If, therefore,
allowance be made for parental feeling — for a natural anxiety to favour infant Protestantism
— and for the uncertainty about the rightful successor — the Dukes of Northumberland and
Suffolk will appear far less culpable in their attempt to secure the Crown for Lady Jane than
they have generally been represented. It may even be questioned whether they were not
actuated much more by a sense of duty, than by the promptings of ambition. But I am
anticipating : — Lady Jane and her husband, to whom she had been married about a year,
were at Sion House at the time of the young King's death. Her consent to her own pro-
clamation was only extorted by the most earnest parental entreaties. Her philosophy on
this occasion was no less wonderful than the fortitude with which she endured the last most
trying scene. Had she been dazzled with the splendours of a throne, and mounted it with
the eagerness so natural to her youth, half the glory that invests her name would have been
dimmed.

The night before her execution, after having long been engaged in her devotions, she

• I remember the question being asked on the spot so hallowed by her memory, and in a party consisting of several
not unknown to literature, and all confessed they had no clear conception on the subject.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF ClIARNWOOD. l->!'>

took up a Greek Testament, and having attentively perused it for some time, she wrote, on
some blank pages at the end, that " most godly and learned exhortation" to her sister, Lady
Katherine, which has justly been admired as one of the most surprising epistles ever penned
by a person on the very verge of eternity.* She also wrote a letter to her father, full of
tenderness, respect, and affection, and having performed this last sisterly and filial duty, she
again knelt in prayer, and then sank into a tranquil sleep.

Heylin thus describes her conduct on the last morrow: — "The fatal morning being
come, the Lord Guilford earnestly desired the officers that he might take his farewell of her :
which, though they willingly permitted, yet upon notice of it she advised the contrary,
assuring him that such a meeting would rather add to his afflictions than increase that quiet
wherewith they had possessed their souls for the stroke of death, * * * that it was to be
feared her presence would rather weaken than strengthen him ; that he ought to take courage
from his reason and derive constancy from his own heart ; that if his soul were not firm and
settled, she could not settle it by her eyes nor confirm it by her words ; that he should do
well to remit this interview to the other world ; that there, indeed, friendships were happy
and unions undissolvable.* * * All she could do was to give him a farewell out of a window
as he passed towards the place of his dissolution."

This farewell — the spectacle of her husband's headless body, and all the other most
mournful trials of that hour, were endured with a serenity and fortitude which Christian
hope alone could impart. " She knew," she said, " she was upon the point of meeting with
him in a better conjuncture, where they should never find the like intermission of their joys."

Another writer thus depicts her closing scene : — " The Lady Jane, whose lodging was
in Master Partridge's house, did see his [her husband's] dead carcasse taken out of the cart
as well as she did see him before alive going to his death — a sight, as might be supposed,
to her worse than death. By this time was there a scaffold made upon the greene over
against the White Tower, for the Ladie Jane to die upon, who being nothing at all abashed,
neither with fear of hir own death, which then approached, neither with the sight of the
dead carcasse of her husband when he was brought to the chappell, came forth, the lieutenant
leading hir, with countenance nothing abashed, neither her eies any thing moistened witli
teares, with a booke in her hand wherein she praied untill she came to the said scaffold :
whereon when she was mounted, this noble young ladie, as she was indued with singular
gifts both of learning and knowledge so was she as mild and patient as anie lamb at hir
execution, and a little before her death uttered these words : ' Goode people, I come hether
to die, and by lawe I am condemned to the same. The facte, indeede, against the Queue's
highnes was unlawful and the consenting thereunto by me ; but touching the procurement
and denyne thereof by me, or on my halfe, I doo wash my hands thereof in innocencie before
God and the face of you good Christian people this day.' (And therewith she wrung hir
hands in which she had hir booke.) Then she sayd, ' I pray you all, good Christian people,
to here me wj'tness that I dye a true Christian woman, and that I looke to be saved by none
other mene, but only by the mercy of God in the merites of the blond of his only sonne

• I have been informed that the Greek Testament, -n-ith this most interesting autograph, is still in the possession of

the Earl of Stamford.

126 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Jesus Christ : and I confesse when I dyd know the word of God I neglected the same, and
loved myselfe and the world, and therefore this plage and punyshment is happely and wor-
thely happened unto me for my sinnes. And yet I thank God of his goodness that he hath
thus given me a tyme and respet to repent. And now, good people, while I am alyve I
praie you to assyst me with your praiers.' And then she knelyng dovm she turned to
Fecknam, saying, ' Shall I say this psalm ?' And he said ' Yes.' Then she said the psalm
of Miserere mei Deux in English, in most devout manner to the ende. Then she stoode up
and gave hir mayde. Mistress Tylney, hir gloves and handkercher : and hir booke to Maister
Thomas Bridges, the lyvetenante's brother. Forthwith she untyed hir gowne. The hang-
man went to hir to have helped her of thervvith, then she desyred him to let her alone ;
turning towardes hir two gentlewomen who helped hir of thervvith, and also hir frose paste
and neckercher, geving to her a faire handkercher to knytte about hir eies. Then the
hangman kneeled down and asked hir forgeveness, whome she forgave most willingly. Then
he willed hir to stand upon the strawe, which doing she sawe the block. Then she said, ' I
pray you dispatche me quickly.' Then she kneeled down, saying, ' Wil you take it of before I
lay me downe ?' And the hangman answered her, ' No, Madame.' She tyed the kercher
about hir eies ; then, Ji>eliii(/ for the hlocke, said, ' What shall I do ? Where is it ?' One of
the standers-by guyding hir iherunto, she layde hir head downe upon the blocke and
stretched forth hir body, and sayde, ' Lord, into thy handes 1 commend my spirite.'* Thus
perished, in the bloom of youth, this most amiable and gifted lady — (on the 12th of Febru-
ary, 1554) — over whose fate we may well exclaim, in the words of a modem poet — •

" Oh deeply ^v^onged, yet unresenting ! wise

Beyond thy day and people — it is past 1
What now are all thy sorrows ? Centuries

Of death's enduring calm are on them cast.

Hushed in thy bosom, yet in ours they last ;
And to the youthful eye thy name appears
A household word, — still honoured by its tears." — Howitt's Lady Jane in the Tower.

The Duke of Suffolk, the father of the Lady Jane, was beheaded on the Saturday follow-
ing : and on the 28th of the following April, her uncle, " the Lord Thomas Greie, was be-
headed on Tower Hill ; a proper gentleman, and one that had served right valiantlie both
in France and Scotland, in the dales of the late Kings, Henry and Edward. "f The Lord
John Grey, now become the head of the family, was soon after taken, tried, and condemned,
but " through the painful travail and diligent suit of the Lady Mary Grey, his wife (who, as

* The portrait of Lady Jane engraven in Nichols, from Vertue, owing partly to the unbecoming hat and inelegant
dress in which she is painted, gives a very poor idea of her personal loveliness. There is an original at Althorpe, by
Lucas de Heere, which Dibdin had engraved for his Bibliographical Decameron, and which he pronounced one of the
most precious cabinet pictures in the kingdom. The Earl of Stamford has also a very fine original painting of her,
which is engraved in Lodge's Illustrious Portraits. One of exquisite beauty was, in 1807, in the possession of the late
Mr. Harrington, of Breaston, Derbyshire, who procured it from Risley Hall, a seat of a branch of the Greys. It was
probably the same picture that attracted such general admiration in the late Mechanics' Exhibition at Derby.

t Holinsbed, Vol. III., page 1117.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 127

a sister of Anthony Viscount Montacute, had peculiar interest with the Court), his pardon
was obtained."* He was also, as if in acknowledgment of the wrongs done to his family,
soon afterwards received into gi'eat fa\our with Queen Mary — had a grant of the herbage
of Bardon Park — and on the 4th of April, 1559, another of the site of a capital messuage
called Pergorc or Pergoe, in Essex, with Pigge's Grange and a Park — part of the ancient
and royal manor of Hovering at Bower. In 1504, being suspected of having encouraged
Hales in the publication of an obnoxious pamphlet, he was for some time kept in confine-
ment at the Court, and did not long survive it. He was buried at Pirgo, having left sur-
viving Sir Henry, his successor, then aged seventeen, Margaret, married to Sir Henry Capel,
Knight, and Frances, to Sir William Cook, Knight, of Gidea Hall, Essex.

Sir Henry Grey, who had the advantage of being pupil to the learned Erasmus, married
Anne, daughter of William Lord Windsor, of Bradenham, by whom he had four sons —
John, Henry, Ambrose, and George, and two daughters.

He continued to reside at Pirgo till the beginning of the reign of .lames I., when being
already (by failure of issue to the daughters of his uncle Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk) Lord
Bonvile and Harrington by descent, he was created Baron of Groby, by letters patent,
July 21, 1603. Having sold his property at Pirgo, he fixed his residence at Bradgate;
here he long enjoyed all the pleasures of retirement, and dying in 1614 was interred at
Bradgate, and was succeeded by his grandson Henry, son of his eldest son Sir John Grey,
and of Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Nevil, Lord Abergavenny. This Henry, Lord Grey
of Groby, married Anne, daughter and co-heir of William Cecil, Earl of Exeter, in whose
right he became possessed of the Castle, borough, and manor of Stamford, whence he took
the title of the Earldom, with which he was honoured by Charles I., March 26, 16-28. In
the following year he obtained from the King a gi'aut to himself and Daniel Britton, of cer-
tain lands in Chamwood Forest adjoining his Park of Bradgate; and continued, says
Nichols, to enjoy in this dehghtful retirement the comforts of domestic felicity, till the fatal
disturbances of the times called forth his exertions in far diiferent scenes. The Earl took,
indeed, a most prominent and decided part on the side of the Parliament, and his eldest
son, the Lord Thomas Grey, was one of the most zealous and active military supporters of
the same cause, while one of the younger sons was not less zealous in that of his Royal
master. The services rendered to the Parliamentary forces by die Earl and Lord Grev,
naturally drew down upon them the resentment of the lloyalists — accordingly, we find the
Countess of Stamford stating in a petition, Dec. 10, 1645, that " her husband's estates in the
counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, and Leicester, had been plundered and spoiled
by the enemy, whereby she was in great want, and requested some maintenance for herself
and her children." The sum of £'500. a year was accordingly voted by the House of Com-
mons for their support, out of the estate of Sir Henry Bedingfield.f

Thomas Lord Grey far outwent, though he probably greatly led, his father in zeal for

• The Duchess of Suifolk, the daughter and mother of a Queen, formed, as has been shown under Beaumanor, a second
marriage -with Mr. Adrian Stocks, and died in 1559.

t Journals of the H. C, Vol. IV., p. 376.

128 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

the interest of the Parliamentarians. He was by far the most strenuous supporter of that
side in the county of Leicester, in which he had the chief military command. He sat in
the Painted Chamber on the 1st, 15th, 17th, 18th, 20th, ^^nd, -iSrd, 24th, 26th, 27th, and
29th of .January, and every day in Westminster Hall, on the trial of the King, tlie warrant
for whose execution he also signed. He appears, however, cordially to have hated Crom-
well, who was equally distrustful of him, and had him anested by Col. Hacker, as a dan-
gerous person, and conveyed to Windsor Castle. On again recovering his liberty, he placed
himself at the head of the fanatics, called " Fifth Monarchy Men," who confederated to
seize Thirsk in Scotland, and proclaim the Kingdom of Christ ! He was again arrested,
with several of his associates, on the eve of the day on which they intended to announce
" the new Kingdom" — and only obtained his freedom by giving security for the payment of
a very large penalty, should he ever again act against the Government.* His turbulent
spirit, however, was soon afterwards (in 1657) quieted by death.

The Earl of Stamford survived his son many years, and appears greatly to have regretted
the last violent measure of his party. He was walking, says Throsby, in the Park at Brad-
gate, anxiously waiting the return of a messenger sent to Leicester to inquire the result of
the King's trial — " Well, Thomas," earnestly asked he on meeting him, " King or no King ?"
" No King" was the reply — "then," added the Earl, " no Lord Grey !" The Earl died in
1673, and was interred at Bradgate. He was succeeded by his grandson, Thomas Lord
Grey, the son of the nobleman above described, and of Dorothy, second daughter and co-
heir of Edward Bourchier, fourth Earl of Bath.

The second Earl of Stamford became a strenuous opponent of Popery and arbitrary
power. He opposed the rescinding of the order for the impeachment of the three impris-
oned Lords, and voted against the reversal of the attainder of the Viscount Stafford. Having
by these and other acts incurred the displeasure of the King, he was arrested at Bradgate,
early in 1685, on a charge of High Treason, and conveyed to the Tower; " but where,
when or how, or upon what evidence, or for what matters," he states, in his petition to the
House of Peers, " he knows not." A day, however, at his earnest request, was fixed for his
trial, but in the interim the Parliament was prorogued and he obtained his liberty on bail,
and was included in the general pardon of March 10, 1685-6.

The Earl married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Daniel Harvey, of Combe House,
Surrey, from whom he was separated, in consequence, it is said, of her unpardonable
folly in setting fire to Bradgate Hall, as already menlionedf — and married secondly, about
1695, Mary, daughter and co-heir of Joseph Maynard, Esq. Having been a zealous pro-
moter of the Revolution, he was in great favour with William HI., by whom he was made

* Ludlow pays Lord Grey the compliment to ascribe this engagement to pay a penalty, to an honourable feeling.
He says, "this he chose to do rather than engage his parole, thereby hazarding only the loss of so much money, and
preserving his honour and integrity."

f Nichols states that only a small portion of the house was injured, as the fire began in the north-west tower, over
which was a reservoir, supplied by leaden pipes from a fine spring in Lea Wood, about two miles across the Forest.
The Countess, with her infant daughter. Lady Diana, however, narrowly escaped with their lives. — Wesl Goscote,
l>. G70, from which portion of his work a great part of the account of the family is taken.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 129

a Privy Counsellor, and appointed Lord Lieutenant and Custos of Derbyshire. He was
also honoured in 1696 by a visit from his Sovereign, at Bradgate, for whose better passage,
according to a still current tradition, a bridge was erected over Anstey brook, and a large
room with a bow window fitted for the reception of his royal guest. The stables were also
erected on this occasion, in the short space of nineteen days.* In the year following he
was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Lord Lieutenant and Custos of
Leicestershire, and at the funeral of Queen Mary he bore one of the banners. After having
gi-eatly impoverished his estates by his zeal and attention to the public service, the Earl
died January ."31, 1719--20, in the 67th year of his age, and was buried at Bradgate. He
had four children by his two marriages, but all having died infants the title and estates
descended to Harry Grey, eldest son, by the second wife, of John Grey, third son of Henry
the first Earl. The third Earl of Stamford married Dorothy, daughter of Sir Nathan
Wrighte, the Lord Keeper, and dying in 1739 left two surviving sous, Harry his successor,
and .John, Member for Bridgnorth in 1754, again in 1761, and for Tregony in 1768.t

Hany Lord Grey, who succeeded his father as fourth Earl of Stamford, had previously,
viz. in 1737-8, been elected one of the representatives of the county of Leicester. He
mamed Mary, daughter and heir of George Booth, Earl of Warrington, and dying in 1768
was succeeded by his son George Harry Grey, the fifth Earl, born October 1, 1737. This
nobleman, while Lord Grey, had twice represented the county of Stafford in Parliament,
and at the coronation of George HL was one of the six eldest sons of Peers who supported
the King's train : while his sister. Lady Mary, assisted in bearing that of Queen Charlotte.
He manned, in 1763, Henrietta Cavendish Bentinck, second daughter of William, Duke of
Portland, and was created Baron Delamere of Dunham Massey in 1768, and Earl of War-
rington in 1796.

Having now traced this distinguished and interesting noble famil_y through its heads
and some of its ramifications down to the present excellent and venerable Peer, I again
briefly notice the Park, and then proceed to describe the other members of Groby.

A passing notice of the Park must now suffice. Its extent has akeady been described ;
its varied features of stem moorland wildness — its venerable and gnarled oaks — its undu-
lating surface, interspersed with rock, and wood, and streamlet — the beautiful views afforded
fi'om its Prospect Tower, called " Old John"| — and above all, the quiet beauty of the Rocky
Valley — are, truly, objects that no pilgrim tourist can behold without delight; and when to

• In this Royal Progress his Majesty was at the Duke of Newcastle's, at Welbeck, Monday, November 4; at the
Earl of Stamford's, at Bradgate, November 5 ; at the Duke of Shrewsbury's, at Egford, on the 6th; at Barford on
the 7 th ; at Oxford on the 8th, and at Windsor on the 9th.

f He married Lucy, second daughter of Sir John Danvers, of Swilhland, Bart., but left no issue.

]; A windmill formerly stood here, and like the present building served as a distinguished land-mark in the county.
The origin of its name was this : — when the mill was in existence, an aged man, who usually went by the name of Old
John among the villagers, was its occupant, and met his death in the folio-wing unfortunate manner : — at the coming
of age of the present Earl, an immense bonfire was made in the Park, in the middle of which was erected a large tree
or pole, surrounded by tar barrels, faggots, &c. ; the pole being burnt through at the bottom, suddenly fell among the
surrounding crowd, and accidentally striking the poor old man, killed him upon the spot. The building was therefore
named in remembrance of him.

S

130 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

all is superadded the remembrance, " amid these scenes the Lady Jane strayed — studied —
wept" — that person must be a stranger to the sensibilities of our nature whose mind fails to
derive deep enjoyment from such a spot. The author of the " School of the Heart" — the
Hulsean Lecturer of the last and present year— thus rapturously speaks of a visit to Bradgate
in that month in which Englishmen have been said to " hang, drown, shoot." " The glooms
of November ! ! — Take us to our Forest scenery — set us down in the deep valley of Ulvers-
croft, or in the fantastic glen on the Newtown Linford side of Bradgate. Look at that
ruined tower — how its sombre majesty is set off and duly cinctured by ash, and elm, and
oak, with their gloomy masses of colour ; the yet unscattered mist just frames the picture for
you — the bare hills are all shut out — and alone in their beauty — the Abbey and its nursling,
the fann, and their old ancestral woods lie there in quiet decay ; the leaves ever and anon
floating down, and the slow winding cattle being the only moving objects in this vale of
peace. Now to Bradgate. — Did gilding ever surpass the glories of those fern-covered hills ?
— Yon oaks, of a thousand shapes and hues — (and under them, in all her beauty and inno-
cence, the Lady Jane has wandered) — this fragrance from the decaying year — this babbling
stream, that collects the brooding mist — yon old crumbling gables and turrets that pierce
the dull distance — these are your November glooms. And look at the deer — not fhe smooth,
sleek ijentlemen of the undulating paddock, misnamed a Park — but wild, and bold, and
stately as they move among the bright fern or under the ancient oaks ; and the tivinkle,
twinkle of innumerable rabbits, as they hide themselves at our approach. Now the curtain
of mist has been lifted : the glorious sun is high. Mount you pile of grey rocks — ^look
round you on wood and wold — on tower and town — on many a happy home, with its
coloured fringe of timber — on the cloudless, boundless, and all-covering sky, and then tell
us of the glooms of November !"*

I cannot dismiss this unavoidably long notice of Bradgate without mentioning the kind-
ness and liberality of the noble proprietor, in allowing the public free ingress into the Park
on two days a week. Till lately no such limitation was made ; but after the wanton mis-
chief and shameful improprieties that have been perpetrated, (when will English people
learn better ?) it is rather to be wondered at that the gates should be open at all, than that
there should be such a needful limitation.

* This very just description of the noble deer that adorn this domain reminds me of a beautiful volume,^ lately
published under the title of " Sketches of Deer in Bradgate Park, by an Amateur" — a work of which the neighbour-
hood may well be proud. It is in the highest style of tinted lithography, and the subjects have all Landseer's happy
closeness to nature. It is, I believe, the production of John Martin, Esq., of Stewards Hay, who has not only evi-
dently made companions of the denizens of the Forest, but deeply studied their habits and the peculiar scenery of the
Park. There is also a beautiful vignette to the volume, presenting a very faithful representation of the ruins of the
mansion : —

" .\ merry place, they say, in days of yore.
But something ails it now."

PAROCHIAL HISTOKY OF CHARNWOOD. 131

THURCASTON.

(Titrchitek'nfone, Tltiirkiteleslon, Thurkeston.)

Luw Thuicaston's sequestered bower. — Mason's Address to Hurd.

This lordship was also one of sixty-seven which Grentesmaisnell held in this county.
From him it came by marriage to Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester. In the Itinerary of r2H0,
this place, with Wanlip, Bradgate, Cropston, and Newtown Linford, answered collectively
as one vill.

'' The manor," says Burton in his manuscript " (as is evident from an old Feodary book),
was gianted by Robert, Earl of Leicester, about the time of Henry XL, to William, one of
his followers, to hold of him by this service, viz. : — to keep his falcons ; which office gave
unto his posterity the surname of Falconer, who thereupon bore Argent three falcons, gules."
It will appear, however, that this " old Feodary book," cited by Burton, is at variance with
the real fact; and it is remarkable that the error should have escaped our later County His-
torian. The Falconers did not, as will be seen, derive their name from one of the family
having held the office of Falconer to Bossu : on the contrary, it seems plain both from the
Pedigree subjoined, and from a statement of the tenure of the manor, shortly to be given,
that they bore that name in the time of the Conqueror. Should this view be correct, it will
sei-ve to show the high importance of the Forest at the time of the Norman Conquest ; as it
may fairly be inferred that it was either William himself, or Hugh Grentesmaisnell, who
conferred the office which gave the Falconers their name and the grant by which they held
the manor, and that Robert Bossu's grant was only a confirmation.

" In 1344, John Fauconer, Knt., was the owner of Gayton, co. Stafford, Bretrichfield,
Little Longden, Tolynsey, Yeldersley, Oxendon, Raynham, and tenements called Mapple-
well, CO. Derby."* This John Falconer, who was of Thurcaston, occurs as a witness to
four deeds of William de Ferrariis, without date, of lands in Charnwood Forest, and is there
called Miles.f

In 1346, Thomas le Falkener, on the aid then granted to Edward of Woodstock, the
King's eldest son, was assessed lO.s. for a quarter of a Knight's fee in Thurcaston, parcel of
the honour of Leicester. J

In 1355, William Stoke, Bishop of Rochester, gave to John Falconer the manors of
Thurcaston, Bretrichfield, and Clayham, and tenements in Maplewell, co. Derby.

In 1384 occurs the statement already alluded to, as proving that the name and office
were antecedent to the times of Robert Bossu : — " By the grave advise of the counsel! of the
most dreade lorde the kinge of Castile and Ligion, duke of Lancaster, &c., it is declared
that his tennant and servant John Fawconer, of Thurcaston ; that whereas he houldeth the
maunor of Thurcaston of the said lord, as of the honour of Leicester, contayning fower yard
lands holden of the Forest of Weynostre, by petty serjeaucy : that is to say, to keep two

« Esch., 18 Edward III. f Le Neve, Norroy, 17-22. X Nichols, VoL III., page 1055.

132

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

falcons gemell of the sayde lord's ; so that he the sayde John Fawconer doe bring to the
sayde dreade lorde for every falcon lid. the day, and a pu3Tie liverey hound a halfpeny a
day : and doe find to his oune body III suites of apparell by the year, and for his portion
II rokes. And when he shall be in the howse of his sayde lord, he shall have for himself
and his people, meat, drinke, wine, hay, and otes for three horses, &c. If none of the said
three horses remayne in the howse, in his said lord's service, he shall have the valewe ; and
if he be in flight with the falcons with his lord, he shall find every XV dayes a quarter of
wheat and a quarter of pees and Cs. in money pour la cidsijne. And it hath pleased the
said counsell to declare, that the said services hath bin done to the said lorde and Ahee
senvoure de Mounteford, countesse of Leicestre, by Thomas Fawknor and his auncestors at

PEDIGREE OF FALCONER, OF THURCASTON.

(from NICHOLS.)

Arms : — Argent, three falcons, Sable.
Jolm Falconer, temp. William the Conqueror.= Philip, Lord of the Manor of Thurcaston,=

Leonard Falconer.*

Ralph Falconer, of Clayham.=

Galfrid, Lord of the Manor of Thurcaston.= .
I

Galfrid, Lord of the Manor of Thurcaston.^ .
(Without date.)

I
William Falconer.=

Robert Falconer.=

Ralph Falconer. =

William Falconer.:

Thomas Falconer, 30 Edw. I.

Sir John Falconer, of Clayham, Knight. = Margery, daughter and heir.

William Falconer, of Clayham and Thurcaston.= .

I
Margery de Sancey.

Thomas Falconer, 24 Edward 111.:= Agnes.
I

William Falconer.

William Falconer, 30 Edward III.=r Elizabeth.

^1

Sir John Falconer, of Thurcaston and Clayham, Knt., 50 Edward III. and 4 Richard II.^Katherine,
Sir William Falconer, of Thurcaston and Clayham, Knt., 14 Henry IV. = Cecilia, 4 Henry IV.

Elizabeth Falconer, dau. and heir.= William Cotton, of Ridware Hampstall, co. Stafford.

• By the deed given, this should have been Scanard. But the whole Pedigree is singularly at variance with
Nichols' and Burton's statements; indeed, it may be inferred from it, that the Falconers first obtained possession of
Thurcaston by niamage with the heiress of the lord of that place.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 133

all tvmes after the Conquest ; that is to say, by William Faucnor the father to Thomas, by
John the father to William, by Robart father to John, by William father to Robart, by Raffe
father to William, by Scanard father to Raffe, by Henry father to Scanard, by William
father to Henry, temp. Will. Conq. ; which William Fauconer, son and heire to John Fawk-
nor, knt., did doe unto the queen of Navare in his tyme, and after to Earl Thomas, that
deceased at Pomfrctt, and after to Earle Henry his brother, and did acknowledge by fayelty
the said services, that they gave not any thinge in ayde to make his sonne a knight or to
marry his daughter necessary ; nor suite of courte : and yett it was shewed that the said
lord might distrayne for reasonable ayde, and to make his sonne a knight, against the tennur
aforesayd : for which the said John humbly besought the said grave councell that right be
donne him, or God and in charity. Anno 1348, 8 Ric. H."*

The above document is, in every way, one of great interest : showing, as it does, the
almost regal state of the Earls of Leicester and the nature of feudal services.f

Elizabeth Falconer, daughter of Sir William Falconer (see Pedigree in preceding page),
carried the manor by marriage to the Cottons or Colons of Hamstall Ridware (temp. Henry V.)

In 1478, John Coton, Esq., died seised of the manor of Thurcaston, held of the King as
of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Richard Coton was his gi-andson and next heir. This
Richard married Joan, daughter of Sir William Brereton, Knight, and by her had Thomas
(who had only issue Elizabeth, who died s. P.) and four daughters : — Maud, married to Sir
Anthony Fitzherbert, of Norbury, co. Derby, Knight, one of the Justices of the Common
Pleas ; Eleanor, the second, married to William Venables, Baron of Kinderton, Nottingham-
shire ; Catherine, the third, married to Richard Grosvenor, of Eaton, Cheshire ; and Isabel,
married to John Bradboum, of Hough, co. Derby. The inheritance descending to these
four daughters, upon partition made, this manor with the advowson was allotted to Mr.
Grosvenor, whose heir. Sir Richard Grosvenor, Knight and Baronet, aliened it to William
Palmer, of London, Esq., whose descendant. Sir George .Joseph Palmer, Bart., is still its
possessor. J

From the Falconers, therefore, the present Marquis of Westminster, the Earl of Wilton,
and Lord Robert Grosvenor, ^I.P., derive descent: and it appears probable, from the fol-
lowing inscription, in raised letters, still legible on an outside beam of a house in this vil-
lage, that a branch of the family resided here : —

THYS HOWS WAS BOYLDED ANNO D'NI 1568 IN YE I. \'ER OF YE
RAIGN OF OWRE SOVERAIGN LADYE QUENE ELIZABETH BY' ME NYCHO-
LAS GRAVNO.

A branch of the Falconers of Thurcaston appears to have been seated at Glaiston,
Rutlandshire, about 1604; and Thomas Falconer held, in 1630, the manor of Snaieston,

• Visitation of Staffordshire in 1583; Harl. MSS. 612, 8, f. 33.

t It appears by Burton's manuscript that " Robert Falconer, a descendant of the house of Falconer of Thurcaston,

was seised of lands in Anstey in the time of Henry VI."

J Nichols, Vol. III., Part II., p. 1055 (quoting Shaw's History of Staffordshire for his authority). — An epitaph of

Joan Cotton, in the Church of Hampstall Ridware, dated 151 7, exactly confirms the above statement.

134 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Leicestershire, by marrying Elizabeth, relict of Edward Charnells, Esq.* — I cannot help
noticing here a remai'kable parallel case with respect to the name of a noble Scottish family
— the Falconers of Halkertoun — from whom descend the Earls of Kintore, Lords Falconer.
Of these Debrett says, " the Falconers of Halkertoun derive their descent from Ranulphus
filius Walteri de Lunkyir, who obtained the office of King's Falconer from William the Lion,
trom whom he got a grant of the lands of Luthra, Balbegno, &c., near the Castle of Kincar-
dine, where King William frequently resided: from tl its office he assumed the name of
Falconer." So precisely similar were the two cases, and, till within the last century, so
nearly alike were the arms borne by the two families (Falcons, gules), that they have more
than once been confounded, and even have been conjectured to have had a common ancestor
about the lime of Henry the Second. It is remarkable that the Scotch Falconers are stated
to have obtained their office and name in the same reign that the " Feodary book," cited by
Burton, states the English family of that name to have obtained theirs. Can it be that the
coincidence with regard to time, led to the error into which Burton, guided by the Feodary,
evidently fell, in fixing the rise of the Falconers of Thurcaston so late as the time of Henry
the Second? Or can it be that William the Lion, after his return from the English Court
(where Tytler says he long sojourned), imitated the custom he had observed of having a
Royal Falconer ? Or that he induced one of the Falconer family to introduce falconry into
Scotland? Many Falconers claiming descent fi'om the Scottish family have long been
settled in England, and have intermarried with some of our best families, as will be seen by
the note subjoined. t

• See Nichols' West Goscote, p. 1045. — The Rev. John W. R. Boyer, long the respected Incumbent of Quorudon
and Woodhouse, and now Rector of Swepstone, descends, through his mother, from the ancient family of Charnells —
at one time one of the most considerable in this county.

f John Falconer (grandson of Lord Halkertoun, of Halkertoim) married Mary Dalmahoy (granddaughter of
Sir John Dalmahoy, by his wife Barbara Lindsay, niece of the Earl of Crauford). He was the author of "Cryp-
togamia Patefacta" — was a firm adherent to James II. — was confined in Edinburgh Castle and attainted — and having
escaped, died in James's service at St. Gcrmains en Laye. His lady having left him on account of a difl'erence in
religion, brought her two sons, William and James, to Chester, of which place William afterwards became Recorder.

William married his first cousin, Rachel Wilbraham,
and had issue by her Thomas, Editor of the Oxford
Strabo (obt. s.p.), and William, M.D. of Bath, who by

Henrietta, dau. of Edmonds, Esq., of Worsbro'

Hall, had an only son Thomas, married to Frances Raitt,
and a daughter Mary,^ manied to the Rev. Charles
Mainwaring, of Bomboro' Hall, Cheshire. This Thomas
Falconer, who died in 1839, left issue — 1. Wdliam, now
Rector of Bushey, Hertfordshire; 2. Thomas, a Barris-
ter; 3. Alexander Pytts; 4. John David; 5. Handle
Wilbraham, M.D., Bath;^ and two daughters; one of
whom, Henrietta, is the lady of J. A. Roebuck, Esq.,
M.P.

James, R.N.,^ the other son of the above-named John
Falcone!', married, in 1724, Elizabeth, dau. of W illiam
Inge, of Thorpe Constantine, Esq. (the able Antiquary),
and had by her one daughter, Elizabeth, mar. to Thomas
Pennant, Esq., of Downing, Flint, (the celebrated Natu-
ralist)— and one son James, D.D., late Prebendary of
Lichfield and Archdeacon of Derby, who married Miss
Hall, of Hermitage, co. Chester, sister of the lady of Wil-
liam Inge, Esq., grandson of the above gentleman of that
name. Archdeacon Falconer left four daughters, co-
heiresses, of whom the present Mrs. Pearson,* of Hill Rid-
ware, co. Stafford, is the eldest, and Lady Miles (wife of
Colonel Sir Edward Miles, who distinguished liimself in
the Siamese war) is the youngest.

3 Died 1738— buried in St. Mary's Chapel, Chester.

4 Mother of the present Christian Advocate at Cambridge.

The Earldom of Kintore, had the present Peer been without issue, would have devolved on a member of one of these

families.

1 Called " The Flower of Cheshir

2 Now of Tenby.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 135

I have dwelt thus long on the family or ikmilies, because falconry was one of the pur-
suits of the middle ages that probably threw a greater charm over the real landscape than
even that it has imparted to pictorial representations. It has added, too, its share to poetical
description. Rogers beautifully alludes to such a scene as must have often been witnessed
on the borders of our ancient Forest : —

" All announced

The chase as over : aud ere long appeared
Their horses, full of fire, champing the curb.
For the white foam was dry upon the flank.
Two in close converse, each in each delighting.
Their plumage waving as instinct with life,
A lady young and graceful and a youth
Yet younger, bearing on a Falconer's glove,
As in the golden, the romantic time,
A falcon hooded."*

As the birth-place of Bishop Latimer and the Lord Keeper Wrighte, and the Incumbency
of Hard, before he was raised to the mitre, Thurcaston deserves a more lengthened notice,
but I have merely space to remind the reader of the celebrity that attaches to the village
from its connexion with these excellent men. Nor were they the only worthies of whom
Thurcaston has reason to be proud ; the Wrightes, the Alfounders,t the Hills,J the Arnalds,§
Rectors of this place, were men of distinguished talents and virtues.

THE CHURCH

is a venerable structure, and contains many ancient and modern monumental inscriptions.
The font, at which Latimer was made a member of the Church, which he afterwards so
eminently adorned, is naturally an object of gi-eat interest to the stranger. In the east
window of the north aisle is the representation of a Castle, which ilr. Nichols conjectured
to have been that of Mountsorrel ; above it is

Burton says there were, in his time, many armorial bearings in this Church : and
in the north-east window a shield, Argent, three falcons gules, beside a figure kneeling,
under which were the words

• Italy, page 134.

f Descended from John Alfounder, who distinguished himself at Bosworth Field on the side of the Earl of Richmond.

I The Rev. Richard Hill, B.D., founder of Thurcaston School.

§ Richard Amald, B.D., a distinguished Divine ; his son William was in 1776 appointed Preceptor to the
Prince of Wales and Duke of York.

136 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

SWITHLAND.

fSicythelonde, SwUhelounds, Swethlond.)

This lordship is situated between the Forest and Rothley Plain, and appears to have
been in early times a member of Groby, to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of which it is still
subject. It is not separately noticed in Domesday book, but must have been included, Mr.
Nichols supposes, in the General Survey, under some of the adjacent lordships of Hugo de
Grentesmaisnell, as he bestowed the Church on the Abbey of St. Ebrulph. The name of
the village seems to have been derived from Swith, a cleft slate; by which name thin
cleavings of slate are still called in the North.

From Grentesmaisnell the lordship descended regularly through the Earls of Leicester
to Margaret, sister and co-heiress of Robert de Bellomont, the last Earl of that race : which
Margaret brought it in marriage to Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winton, though the right to it
was afterwards contested by the representatives of her sister.*

In 1-255 (Nichols, from a note of, in the Visitation of 1619, erroneously states in r27())
Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winton, granted to Robert le Waleysf divers liberties, view of
frankpledge, &c., for his land in Swithland : " yielding therefore to us, at our Court of
Groby, yearly £22. 4.v. Sd." This is the first connexion of the Waleys family with this
place, as far as I can ascertain. I have been enabled to correct the date from a copy of the
deed, adduced with several others in evidence at the Forest Inclosure, and shall also have
it in my power, by the same means, to reconcile several discrepancies in Nichols' account
of this manor. J

Among these deeds there occurs, a.d. 1277, a "Record of a Chapel," built by Robert
Waleys, Lord of the Manor of Swithland, by which the Abbot and Convent of St. Ebrulph,
patrons of the Mother Church, dating from " Dinton farm, on the Tuesday before the feast
of the Apostles Simon and Jude, a.d. 1277," gave leave that "by License from the Bishop
of Lincoln he might have a Chaplain at his own proper charges," in the Chapel lately built

in his Court of Swithland the ^Mother Church, in their patronage, being secured in

all things and indemnified.

* Nichols says his sister ; but the following extract, which he gives from the Plac. de temp. Ric. II., in Recept.
Scacc. Ret. 6, seems to warrant a different pronoun. " Assisa venit recoguitura si Robertus Comes Leic' frater Mar-
garete uxoris comitis Winton seisitus fuit in dominico suo ut de feodo de centum acris terre, cum pertinentiis, in Swith-
land, diequoobiit; et si prffidicta Margarota propinquior heres ejus sit; quam terram Willielmus Falconer tenet;
Qui venit et dicit assisa inde non debore, quia pra'dicta Margareta habet sororem que adeo magnum jus habet in
terra ilia sicut ipsa Margareta, de qu^ non fit mentio in brevi," &c.

t This family was very early located at Wanlip. Walleis, Wales, Waleys, Welles, Walshe, le Waleshe, le Whal-
leys, Welsh, and probably Wallace and Wallis, are all different modes of spelling the same name. Bishop Welles is
often spelt Walleis.

t I beg to assure the reader that I notice these errors of our confessedly gi-eat Historian neither in a captious nor an
exulting spirit ; feeling, in my own humble labours, the great difficulty of avoiding inaccuracies, it has more frequently
been a cause of surprise that Mr. Nichols, in such a work as his, was generally so accurate, than that occasional mis-
takes should be detected.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 137

In 1314 occurs a grant from Edward II. to Oliver le Waleys, son of Robert, of free
warren in Swythelaiid and I)alby-on-the-Wolds, with reservation of "that part within the
metes of our Forest."*

In l:3-27 a discharge from Oliver le Waleys to the Parson of East Bridgford, of £-2-2. As. Sd.
(the exact sum which his father was to pay at the Court of Groby), for the Manor and Court
of Swilhland, with the view of frankpledge, and with the Park of (iuerndon, " which he
holds of me," &c.

In 1346 John de Wayleis (on the aid granted for knighting Edward of Woodstock) was
assessed •2s. for a twentieth part of a Knight's fee in Swithland, parcel of the Honour of
Win ton.

In 13(j-2 occurs a " Grant from Sir John Waleys, Knt., to Nicholas Waleys his brother,
of the manor of Swithland and Brounshay." The heirs of this John Waleys, in 1371 held,
of William de FeiTars of Groby, 27 virgates of land in Swithland, which in 1387 it was
found that Henry de Fcrrars of Groby, Knt., was seised of, and which Sir John de Walcote,
Knt. (son of Geoffrey de Walcote, of Walcote, in the parish of Misterton) then held; he
having married Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of the above Sir John Waleys.
Sir John Walcote left two daughters, co-heiresses, Margaret (Nichols says Elizabeth) and
Alice. The former, he states in the pedigree of Walleis (Vol. III., p. 1047) to have married
John Danvers, and makes her husband possessed of a moiety of the manor in right of his
wife, in 3 Henry VI. (1425) — while he states, from the Danvers pedigree engraved in brass
in Swithland Church, that this John Danvers was born in the 30th of Henry VI. (1452) !

Now among the documents in my possession above referred to, I find a copy of a deed,
dated 2 Henry VI. (1424), and indorsed "Deed of Partition of the Manor of Swithland,
between Margaret and Alice, the daughters and co-heirs of Elizabeth Walcotte," by which
it is evident that Margaret was, at that time, wife of Thomas Asheton, and .\lice wife of
Richarde Hubarde.t

In 9 Henry VI. (1431) Thomas Asheton and Margaret his wife granted their moiety of
the manor to John Charyte and others, by whom it was conveyed to Thomas Asheton for
his life, and after his death to John Danvers and his sister Agnes in tail ; but if they both
should die childless, then " to the right heirs of Sir John Waleys, Knt." In a subsequent
deed, dated 1460, John Danvers confirmed this moiety, " which I had of inheritance after
the decease of Margaret my mother,'" to Thomas Faraham, Esq. and William Leyke, as
Trustees. It appears, therefore, that John Danvers was the first husband of Margaret (not
Elizabeth) Walcote — that he died leaving two children, John and Agnes — that after his
death his relict entered into a second mamage with Thomas Asheton — and that the deed

• Some of the witnesses to this grant were the most remarkable men of their times. Adomar de Valencia, Earl of
Pembroke; Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex; Hugh le Despenser the elder; Ralph Bassett, and
John de Cnimbewell.

-j- It would seem that Elizabeth Walcotte had, after the death of her first husband, Sir John Walcotte, re-married
William Byspham ; for, by a deed dated 6 Henry IV., 1405, that person and Elizabeth his wife couTeyed " our manor
of Swytheland," &c., to John Leventhorpe, Geotfrey Powtrel and others, as Trustees; and another deed shows that
the said Trustees, in 1428, conveyed the same to Alice, wife of Richard Hubard, and Margaret, wife of Thomas Asheton.

138 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

of 1435 was to secure the said Thomas a Ufe-interest in the estate, his wife Margaret being
then dead.

John Danvers, son of the said John and Margaret, married Anne, fourth sister of Sir
Ralph Shirley, though in the Danvers pedigree in Swithland Church (hereafter to be given)
her name is written " Margaret." Both Sir Joseph Danvers, the compiler of the above-
named pedigree, and Mr. Nichols, were misled by a note upon the Herald's visitation of
1619, where Mr. Francis Danvers had remarked (Nichols, Vol. III., p. 1053), "I find not
that the said John Danvers married this Margaret, otherwise than by conjecture ; but I find
that at the death of this Margaret, the half manor of Swithland was given by certain feoffees
to TJiomas Aston during his life, without impeachment of waste, and after his death to John
Danvers in tail. Francis Danvers." From this " Deed of Partition," already referred to,
no doubt can exist that the Margaret through whom the manor of Swithland came to the
Danvers family, was one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Elizabeth Walcote : and
that Nichols called her Elizabeth — confounding her with her mother. These extraordinary
mistakes may perhaps justify this long attempt to rectify errors by no means trivial.*

The above Francis Danvers died owner of the chief part of Swithland in 1631 ; and was
succeeded by William Danvers, Esq., who died in 1686 ; and whose son Henry died in the
following year, and grandson Samuel in 1693. Joseph Danvers, Esq., son of Samuel, next
succeeded. He represented Boroughbridge, Bramber, and Totness, in different Parliaments ;
was advanced to the dignity of a Baronet in 1746; and dying October 26, 1753, was suc-
ceeded by his son, Sir John Danvers, Bart., who married Mary, the eldest of the two daugh-
ters and- co-heirs of Joel Watson, Esq., of London, by whom he had four sons and two
daughters. He died Sept. 21, 1796, and bequeathed the greater part of his landed estates
to his only surviving child, Mary, wife of the Hon. Augustus Richard Butler (second son of
the Earl of Lanesborough), who afterwards, by royal license, took the name of Danvers.
,Tohn George Danvers Butler Danvers, Esq., the offspring of this maniage, and heir pre-
sumptive to the titles and estates of the Earl of Lanesborough, is the present justly-respected
owner of both moieties. So much of the history of this ancient family will be found in the
epitaph and pedigree, that a longer account here seems altogether uncalled for.

An Act for the inclosure of the parish was obtained in 1798, in which George HaiTy,
Earl of Stamford and Wanington, is described as Lord of the Manor and Ecclesiastical
Peculiar Exempt Jurisdiction of Groby, and the Hon. A. R. Butler Danvers as entitled to
divers manorial rights and privileges within the said parish.

THE CHURCH

is a very venerable-looking edifice, erected, doubtless, prior to 1277: when, as has before
been shown, a license was granted to Robert le Waleys to erect a private Chapel in his own
Court at Swithland. The Danvers Chape], built by Sir Joseph Danvers in 1727, is appro-
priated to the interment of that family. On the brass plates of a flat stone in the vestry is

* In the pedigree of Danvers of Frolesworth (Vol. IV., p. 189), the correct name Margaret is given; but lier father
is incorrectly called William, though in the Walcote pedigree (ib. p. 318) he is properly named John.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 139

the figure of a female, veiled, and standing with her hands lifted up in the attitude of prayer,
and beneath the figure the fallowing somewhat unintelligible inscription : —

'ji)ot in conrlabc jacct Uqnt» Scott camcrata,
amru: Brtjota Dominf jFcrrcrs borttata;
^utBquis cvis qui transtcnss, qucso, funDc prccata :
Sum quoD cris fucramquc quofl t» ; pro me, prccor, ora.

■' In the cast window of the Chancel," says Burton, " is her picture in glass, drawn to the
life in the same habit, with a ring on her finger. This Agnes Scott, as I guess, was an
Anchoress, and the word Antri.v in this epitaph coined from Anlriim, a cave wherein she
lived ; and certainly (as I have been credibly informed) there is a cave near Leicester, upon
the west side of the town, at this day called Black Agnes' s Bowers The tradition gave
rise to a beautiful short poem (given in Nichols) from the pen of the late Lieutenant John
Heyrick.* The reader will not blame me for departing from my rule with regard to monu-
mental inscriptions, in another instance connected with Swithland. The epitaph of Sir
John Danvers, in capital letters, on white marble, is of so extraordinary a character, that it
would be wrong to omit it. It was erected in the life-time of him to whose memory it is
inscribed.

THE BODY OF SIR JOHN DANVERS, BART.

Who departed this life about the 18th century

was deposited under the small blue stone at the foot of this monument.

He was the only son of Sir Joseph Danvers, Bart, by Frances

his wife, daughter of Thomas Babington, of Rothley Temple, in

this coimty, Esq. Sir Joseph was the son of Samuel Danvers, Esq.

by Elizabeth Morewood, an heiress, of Overton in the county of

Derby ; who, surviving her husband, married John Danvers, of Prescott

Manor, in the county of Oxford, Esq., the only sou and heir of Sir

John Danvers, of Whichwood Forest, in the said county. Knight.

Sir John was the only brother and heir of Henry Danvers

Earl of Danby, a General Officer, and Knight of the Garter, founder of

the Physic-garden at Oxford, a fast friend and loyal adlierent of

Charles the First ; in whose reign and service he died without issue.

These two brothers were sons of Sir John Danvers, Knight, by

Elizabeth, daughter of John Nevill Lord Latimer, son-in-law of

Queen Katherine Parr. The Earl was the fnend of the King; but

Sir John was the friend of the Constitution ; and in the violent

struggles which ensued, sided with that band of Patriots who

thought Liberty could not be too dearly bought though at the

expense of Royal blood. His death happening before the Restoration

sheltered him from persecution; but his son, who was an infant when

the King was beheaded, saw his paternal estates, to the amount of

ten thousand pounds a year, in the counties of Oxford and Wilts,

in the hands of strangers. The small portion of his patrimony which

escaped the rapacity of the Court, that son left to Sir Joseph Danvers

• Henry Skott occurs as a witness to grant of the manor of Swytheland, 14'2S, 6 Henrj' VI. John Scott, of Swithland,
is a witness to the deed of 14G0, before cited.

Et genus et proavos et qua; non fecimus ipsi
Vix ea nostra voco.

140 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

for life, and to Sir John in tail. He was happy in his choice; Sir Joseph
was an able supporter of the Protestant cause. He was in Parliament

near thirty years in the reign of George the Second ; was a Deputy

Lieutenant and acting Justice of Peace for this county ; and, with his

wife, lies buried in a tomb in this church-yard. Sir John, his son, thought

proper to tread in the steps of his Protestant ancestors, and seized

every opportunity of shewing his attachment to their religious and

civil principles. His bounty beautified this Church and rebuilt the

Parsonage. In all political contests he uniformly gave his support to

The friends of the Protestant interest and assertors of Revolution

Principles, deeming them in conjunction the best pledges and securities

for his temporal welfare and eternal happiness.

Stemmata quid faciunt? quid prodest, Pontice, longo
Sanguine conseri, pictosque ostenderc vultus
Majorum?

Nobilitas sola est atque unica Virtus.

PEDIGREE OF THE DANVERS FAMILY.

Placed by the side of Sir John's tomb, in Swithland Church.

1. Norman Alverse, a Brabanter. He came into England in aid of William the Conqueror, Anno Domini 1066, and

married one of the daughters of Toroid, son of Jeffery the Saxon.
'2. Hugh Danvers lived in the time of Henry I., and married Felice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Sankville, of

Frolesworth, co. Leicester.

3. Bertram Danvers, of Frolesworth, co. Leicester, married Alice, the relict of Robert de Barton.

4. Hugo Danvers, of Frolesworth, co. Leicester, was born the 18th of Henry HI.

5. Stephen Danvers, Lord of the Manor of Frolesworth, co. Leicester. He was bom 4-3 Henry 111.

6. Robert Danvers was bom the 8th of Edward I.

Nicholas Danvers married Isabella, the daughter of Sir Robert Burdett, Knight, 14 Edward II.
Joan Danvers, daughter and heiress, married Joseph Armory, of Maldon, co. Essex, 15 Edward III.

7. Robert Danvers, of Shackerston, co. Leicester.

8. William Danvers, of Shackerston, co Leicester, was born the 6th of Edward II.

9. Henry Danvers.

10. John Danvers was bom the 29th of Edward HI.

1 1 . John Danvers Avas born the 16th of Richard II.

12. John Danvers, by the right of his wife, of Swithland, co. Leicester, was born the 30th of Henry VI., and married

Elizabeth,* the daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Walcot, Knt.

13. Thomas Danvers married Alicia, the daughter of Venables, Baron of Kinderton, 20 Henry VII.

14. John Danvers married Margarct,t the daughter of Sir Ralph Shirley, Knt., of Staunton, co. Leicester.

15. Francis Danvers married Margaret, the daughter of Kingston, of the county of Gloucester.

16. John Danvers, of Swithland, co. Leicester, was born the 2nd of Edward VI.; married Isabella, the daughter of

Richard Coke, of Trusley, co. Derby.

» This has been shown to be an error. f This, too, lias been shown to be an error for Anne.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 141

Anna, married Fr. Mulso, of Twywcll, co. Northampton.

Elizabeth, married Mounsal, of Burton, co. Northampton.

Dorothy, married Arthur Beresford, of Shackerston, co. Leicester.

17. Francis Danvers married Elizabeth, daughter of John .Skeavington, of Fiskerwich, Stafford ; died 1631 .

John Danvers married the daughter of Allen, and died Oct. 26, 1674, aged 77 years.

Francis Cumberford, of Oxley, co. Stafford, married Elizabeth Danvers.

18. William Danvers married Elizabeth, thef daughter of Thomas Babington, of Rothley, Nov. 1618; died 1656.

William Danvers married the daughter of Harpur, of the county of Derby.

Ann Danvers married Hallows, co. Nottingham.

Margaret Danvers married Gabriel Taylor, Gent., of Wales.
Catharine Danvers married Josias Beesly, Gent., 31st March, 1655.
Elizabeth Danvers married William Palmer, of Wanlip.

19. Henry Danvers married the 13th of March, 1664, Ann, the third daughter of Joseph Coke, of Melbourne, Knight,

and relict of Henry SachevercU, of Morley, co. Derby.

20. Samuel Danvers married Elizabeth, the daughter of Joseph Morewood, merchant, of London, by Elizabeth Blun-

dell, co-heiress of Woodcock, of Shenfleld, co. Berks, December 20, 1683; died 1693.

Anna Danvers married John Palmer, of Wanlip.
Eleanor Danvers.

21. Joseph Danvers was married Dec. 7, 1721, to Frances, the second daughter of Thomas Babington, of Rothley,

CO. Leicester.

Frances Danvers. Lucy Danvers.*

Catherine Danvers. Fanny Danvers.

22. John Danvers was married Oct. 10, 1752, to Mary Watson, the daughter and heiress of Joel Watson, Esquire, of

London, merchant.

Susannah Danvers. William Danvers, Joseph Danvers.

Mary Danvers. Henry Danvers. John Watson Danvers.

The living is in the patronage of the Crown, and the present Rector is the Rev. Edward
Thomas Paget, M.A., a relative of the Marquis of Anglesej*.

The residence of the owners of Swilhland was, till the present generation, situated near
the Church. It was a considerable pile, but so surrounded on all sides, even in front, by
stables, dovecots, and high walls, and so close to the public road, that the present proprietor
has judiciously pulled it down, and erected on higher ground a mansion more suited to the
taste of the age. The site has been well chosen, affording many interesting views of the
surrounding country, particularly of the Eastern Forest. Nor should the wondrous slate-
quarries on the Forest side be forgotten. Under the able management of the respectable
family of Hind, the working of these has been brought to a degree of perfection which,
added to their excellent quality, has rendered Swithland slates an article of demand in all
parts of the kingdom, while the numerous excavations have greatly added to the picturesque
character of the locality in which they are situated.

* Married to Colonel the Hon. John Grey, uncle to the Earl of Stamford, and died in 1 799.

142 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

ROE CLIFF

(Roeclyffe, Roucliff.J

RoECLiFF is an ancient manor appendant to that of Swithland, but lying within the
boundary of the Forest. It is said to have derived its name from the circumstance of its
having been a stocking or hunting-ground for the roe in the days of the Earls of Leicester.
That it was a lawnd or vivarium seems also extremely probable from the following account
of its ancient boundary, a part of which was evidently a high embankment sun-ounded with
oak palings : —

" Fines Manerii de Roeclyffe : — Imprimis incipiunt ad angulum istum saMs de Swythe-
lond qui spectat ad Septentrionem et orientem et sequendo agger antiquum, terri congestum,
quod extendit se occidentahter ad angulum occidentalem ejusdem saltus : et abhine sequendo
prsedictum agger terrenum ad angulum meridionalem ejusdem : et inde orientaliter sequendo
praedictum agger ligneis roboreis septum, ad roborarium inter saltum prsedictum et Forestam
ad angulum salt<is de Swythelond ubi incipiunt, &c., ut in inquisitione," &c.*

RoeclifT, with some adjacent property, was purchased from the Danvers family by the
father of its present possessor, Sir William Heygate, Bart. It was, at that period, one of
the dreariest and most neglected spots on the Forest; it has now, by a judicious combina-
tion of landscape gardening and farm culture with the wild natural scenery, become one of
the most beautiful. A handsome and finely seated mansion (now undergoing considerable
extension and improvement), sheltered by thriving plantations — most picturesque pleasure-
grounds, and a well-cultivated farm, are the present features of the domain which, in the
last century, might appropriately have been described in three words —

■' Lapis omnia nudus."

The whole may justly be termed the worthy Baronet's own creation. The happy taste
which knows how so gently to blend landscape gardening with all the stem characteristics
of mountain scenery as to produce a harmonious and beautiful whole, is well exemplified at
Roecliff Manor.

Benscliff (where was discovered the Celt engraved in these pages and described under
Antiquities), Bradgate Park, Swithland slate quarries, Long Dale, and many of the most
striking features of the Forest, are all in the immediate neighbourhood of Roecliff: and there
are points of view afforded from various parts of the domain, from which, perhaps, Charn-
wood presents some of its loveliest forms. It should be added that, when the mansion was
being erected, it was confidently predicted that the severities of the winter and the general
keenness of the Forest breezes would render it almost uninhabitable. No opinion could be
more eiToneous. The air is, in a remarkable degree, genial and salubrious, and the wild
vernal flowers are always considerably earlier than those in the valleys ; so that " the poet's
glowing thought," with a slight modification, may not unaptly be applied to Roecliff : —

" There will the mom her earliest tears bestow,
There the first roses of the year will blow."

* From an ancient document produced at the Forest inclosure.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 143

ULVESCROFT, OR ULVERSCROFT.

(Osohewroft, Olveacroft, Woolvescro/t, IVoiilstorp, Oulvescroft, Alwayscro/te Ullescro/I,

Ullescross.)

I do love these ancient ruins !

We never tread upon them but we set

Our foot upon some reverend history ;

And, questionless, here in this open court

(Which now lies open to the injuries

Of stormy weather) some do lie interred.

Loved the Church so well, and gave so largely to't.

They thought it should have canopied their bones

Till doomsday ; but all things have their end,

Churches and cities (which have diseases like to men)

Must have like death that we have. — Wehster'a Duchess of Malfy

Ulvescroft is an extra-parochial lordship, situated in the southern extremity of the
Forest, two miles west of Bradgate, and is at the present time, as it must have been in the
olden day, the most interesting domain within the boundary. It contains 1358 acres, and
its Royalty over the Forest extends over nearly 700 acres. " At Ullescroft," says Burton,
" standing on Charnwood Forest, in a dearne and solitary place, Robert Blanchmains, Earl
of Leicester, temp. Hen. II. founded a small Priory for Eremites of the Order of St. Augus-
tine, which (besides the lands given to it by the founder) had the manor of Carlton Curlew,
in this county ; 12 messuages and 12 yard lands in Shenton ; the advowson of the Church
of Boney, co. Notts., and those of Syston and Radcliffe in this county."* Mr. Nichols,
however, from a sentence occurring in a Bull of Alexander III., dated 1174, shows that the
Prior}' was founded by Robert Bossu.f

Leland appears to have fallen into a still greater error on this subject, for he styles
Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winton, fundator jirhmis, and the Marquis of Dorset fioidafor
modennif:.X Certainly both the Earl and Margaret his mother bestowed very considerable
benefactions on the Priory. §

In 1271 Earl Roger died seised of the advowson, and Eleanor de Vaux, his third wife
and relic, daughter of William de Ferrariis, Earl of Derby, held both this advowson and
that of Charley in dower. || William, the first Lord Ferrars of Groby, younger son of the
above Earl of Derby, by his second wife, Margaret de Quincy, daughter and co-heir of

* Burton's manuscript.
t The sentence is " Praeterea jura, dignitates et libertates illas quas ecclesia nostra d quadraginta retro annis usque
nunc rationabiliter noscitur habuisse," &c., which forty years deducted from the date of the Bull would plainly refer
the foimdation to the time of Bossu.

X Collectanea, Vol. L, page 34.
§ The Countess gave to Prior Walter and the Monks " totara terram qua? continetur in Riehul et in BissopehuU
in longitudine usque vetus fossatum a Legabroc usque ad sepem Orchardic. — From the Carta: Antiqua Harl. Manu-
script, 112, c. 27.

II Esch. 53 Henry III., No. 36, Leic.

144 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Roger, Earl of Winton, succeeded, in right of his wife, to the Patronage, and was himself a
gieat benefactor to the Priory.*

On an Inquisition taken at Lindeford in 1361, it was found to be of no prejudice, &c., if
William de Ferrars granted 67 acres of waste in Groby to the Prior and Convent of Ulves-
croft;t and in 1369 he obtained licence to bestow on the same Prior 7 messuages, with
lands in Anstey, Cropston, Bradgate, and Stanton-under-Bardon.

In 1361 Bennet de Ulvescroft gave 12 messuages and 1-2 yard-lands at Shenton, by
consent of Thomas de Astley and Elizabeth his wife, to the Priory.

William, the third Lord Ferrars of Groby, by his last will, dated June 1, 1368, be-
queathed his " body to be buried in the Conventual Church of our Lady at Ulvescroft," and
gave ,£100. to be distributed to the poor and for his funeral expenses, "whereat must be
five tapers, four morters, and twenty-four torches." Both this Lord and his son held the
advowson, as did William the fifth and last Lord Ferrars of Groby, who died May 17, 1455,
and was interred here.

In 1465, as stated under Charley, the Priories of Ulvescroft and Charley were united. J

In 15'25 King Henry VIII. gave a lease for twenty-one years of the manor of Cheyles-
more, Warwick, with the herbage of the Park and coneys there, to Geoffrey Whalley, Prior
of Ulvescroft; rent £13. 9s. 5c?. § This favour has been said to have been conferred in
return for the hospitable entertainment afibrded to Henry on his being benighted in the
Forest. Tradition speaks of high carousal on the occasion. ||

In the dissolution of the smaller Abbeys, &c., in 1534, Ulvescroft was of course in-
cluded : but either on account of the reception given to the Sovereign, or through the
following singular recommendation from one of the Commissioners for visiting Religious
Houses, addressed to the Lord Cromwell, the order for its suppression was rescinded, and
it was especially re-founded by King Henry Vlll. : —

" The sure knowledge I have had always in your indifference giveth me boldness to

• " Concessi * • • quindecim acras, et dimidiam terre » » * infra Forestam de Charnewod, et cum haybote ad
eandem terram includendam ; videlicet duas et dimid. jacentes juxta clausum de Haldermauhawe ex parte occiden-
tali, et quinque juxta croftum dicte domils de Ulviscroft * « * et quinque juxta clausum molendini dicte domus et
ires inter le Leyefeld et clausum Novae villa; juxta terram que vocatur Ulfpychala" — and again, by another deed,
" octo acras et dimidiam acram terre jacentes inter campum ejusdem Prioris quod vocatur Bischopeshull ex una parte
et Forestam meam de Chamewode ex altera * * » cum heiebote per visum forestariorum meorum." — See two deeds
given in Nichols, under Ulvescroft.

f Ad quod dampn. 34 Edw. III.
J Tanner (Not. Mon. page 241) states, evidently incorrectly, that they were united by the Earl of Winton, in the

time of Edward 11.

^ Dugdalo's Warwickshire, page 90.

II In the Letters Patent granted by the King for the continuance of the Priory, occur some expressions that seem
somewhat confirmatory of the belief that the favour may have been obtained in consequence of some act of hospitality
shown to himself. The letters say, " Nos, volentos dictam domum de Ulvescroft * * * pro diversis causis nos ad
presens spccialiter moventibus, in suo pristine essentiali statu, &c., permanere, continuare, &c., * * ut * * * hospitali-
tatem et alia pietatis opera ibidem uberius exerceant, de gratiil nostra spirituali ac ex certa scientii et mero motu
nostria ordinavimus, &c., &c., quod predict' domus, &c., &c., in perpetuum continuabit," &c. It is true the expres-
sions may be nothing but the usual phraseology.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 145

write to you in the favour of the house of Woulstorp ; the governor whereof is a very good
husband for the house, and well beloved of all the inhabitants thereunto adjoining ; a right
honest man, having eight religious persons being Priests,* of right good conversation and
living religiously — having sincere qualities of virtue as we have not found the like in no
other place ; for there is not one religious person there but that he can and doth use either
embrothering, or writing books with very fair hand, making their own garnements, carving,
painting, or graffying ; the house without any slander or evil fame, and standing in a waste
ground very solitary, keeping such hospitality that, except by singular good provision, it
could not be maintained with half so much land more as they may spend ; such a number
of the poor inhabitants nigh thereunto daily relieved, that we have not seen the like, having
no more land than they have. God be ever my judge as I do write unto you the truth, and
none otherwise to my knowledge, which very pity alone causeth me to write ! The premises
whereof considered, in most humble wise I beseech you to be a mean unto the King's
Majesty for the standing of the said Woulstorp, whereby his Grace shall do a myche gra-
cious and a meritorious act for the relief of his poor subjects there ; and ye shall be sure
not only to have the continual prayers of those religious persons there, but also the hearty
prayer of all the inhabitants within four or five miles about that house. And this, for lack
of wytt, I am told to write unto you in the pleynes of my heart, as unto him that of all
living creatures I have most assured and faithful trust in. So knoweth our Lord God ; who
have you in his most merciful tuition !

"From Garadon (Garendon), the XIX day of June.

" 1 our bounden bedeman at commandmant,

" George Gvffard."

A copy of the letters patent dated the 30th of January, 1536-7, gi-anted to the Prior of
the Priory of the Holy Trinity and Blessed Mary, of Alwayscroft or Olvescroft, is still in
possession of the Lord of the [Manor, the Rev. A. Lyon Emerson. After reciting the Act of
the previous year, enacting that all Monasteries, &c., not possessed of lands, &c., beyond
the clear annual value of £-200. (Ulvescroft, according to Speed, was valued at i'lOl. 3.s. 10{d.),
should in right belong to, and be at the disposal of the Crown, the letters direct and declare
that " the said Priory of Alwayscroft, of the Order of St. Augistiu, shall for ever continue in
its same body corporate, and without suppression or dissolution." By the same letters Ed-
ward Dalbye was appointed to continue Prior.

Notwithstanding this, the Prior and his brethren were induced formally to sun-ender and
deliver up the Priory into the King's hands, Sept. 15, 1539. The site and demesne lands
were at that time of the yearly value of £20. 16s. Ad. ; out of which, with other deductions,
there was an annual pension of 60s. to the Prior of Shene, Surrey. Various old documents
show their possessions, advowsons, jurisdictions, franchises, &c., to have been considerable.
Their personal property, also, was of some account ; they had three hundred beasts, one
thousand sheep, and sixty swine. Pensions both to the Prior and the brethren were, how-

* These were — Edward Dalby, Prior; Richard Eglate ; Thomas Mason ; 'William Bland ; Thomas Wymondeswold ;
William Smythe; William Belton; George Smylhe. — They subscribed the Ring's supremacy Sept. 17, 1534.

146 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHABNWOOD.

ever, assigned — to the first ^-20., and to the others sums varying from £6. to 40s. each.
The outlay of the Monastery, when the smallness of its revenue is considered, seems ahiiost
unprecedented. A regular hunting establishment of hounds, greyhounds and hawks, with
all the necessary officers, such as Huntsman, Falconer, &c., was kept up. Ten quarters of
malt were brewed weekly, and the needy poor of the surrounding villages were relieved to
an extent that makes one cease to wonder that the Poor-law of Elizabeth should be so
closely consequent on the suppression of Monastic Institutions.

It appears by what is incidentally mentioned in several deeds of a comparatively later
date, that Prior Dalby, before the final dissolution, foreseeing probably the insecurity of his
tenure, had leased the Priory to Sir Richard Cromwell, Knt., who, after the siuTender, sold
the lease to Sir Andrew Judd ; the fee simple had, in the meantime, been granted to the
Earl of Rutland by the Crown. This too, by purchase from the Earl, became the property
of Sir Andrew, who in 1550 sold the estate to Henry Duke of Sufiblk, by whose attainder
the site of the Priory, &c., again reverted to the Crown. A record in the Exchequer, dated
1554, proves that Fredeswide Strelley, relict of Robert Strelley, Esq., and one of the Ladies
of Queen Mary's Privy Chamber, was the next possessor of Ulvescroft and Charley, which
she obtained by letters patent from the Queen, " to be held of the said Queen in capite by
Knight's service ; to wit, by the fortieth part of one Knight's fee, and at the yearly rent of
£20. at Lady-day and Michaelmas, in equal portions." But the Prior, previously to the
dissolution, having, as above shown, demised various lands upon lease, the lands given to
Mrs. Strelley were not specified in the letters with sufficient exactness to prevent a dispute
respecting the lauds belonging to the late Priory and the hereditary lands of the late Duke
of Suffolk. This dispute, at Mrs. Strelley's petition, gave rise to a commission under the
great seal, dated Feb. 26, 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, " personally to view, enquire, and set
out by the oaths of proper persons, taken before jurors, the lands which had belonged to the
late Priory of Ulvescroft and those in the manors of Groby, Whitwick, Markfield, Shepe-
sheved, Newtown and Bowmanor, then in the possession of Adrian Stocks, Esq. and Frances
his wife, in right of the said Frances, and for the life of the said Frances, who was wife of
the said Henry Duke of Suffolk, and at her decease reverting to the Crown, in consequence
of the said Duke having been convicted of high treason." The Commissioners were —
Andrew Noell, Henry Sayvyle, William Fawnte, George Vhicent, John Hunt, Michael
Purefoy, George Sherarde, and Libeus Derby, Esqrs. Some of the facts elicited by this
commission throw so much light on the later history of the Priory, and on the habits of its
inmates, that their non-insertion here would be inexcusable.

Thomas Massey, Clerk, the last Sub-Prior of the Priory, of the age of 65, sworn and
examined, saith to the first interrogatory, " that 51 years ago he came to the said Priory,
and there remained two years and a half before his profession there, and there hath inhabited
ever since till the dissolution of the said house : and knoweth the house of Charley, for he
celebrated the holy mass there sixteen years altogether upon Easter-day." To the third
interrogatory he saith, " that to his knowledge he never knew or understood any of the said
Priors to suffer any other person but their own ser\ants to fell, lop, or carry away any wood,
thorns, furzes, &c., within any of the woods, lands, or wastes belonging to the said Priory,

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 147

but divers times he hatli known divers offenders in the premises who have asked the Prior
there for the time being forgiveness, and have been forgiven." To the sixth he saith, " that
the said Prior, time out of mind, hath had a common without number ajjpurtenant to the
said Priory, in all places throughout all the Forest of Charnwood, at all times and by the
whole year, for all their oxen, kine, sheep, goats, horses, swine, and all other cattle and
pawnage, likewise for all their swine ; insomuch, that at the first survey, before the surren-
der, &c., they had belonging to the Convent 300 head of beasts, 1000 sheep, and 60 swine,
and for the staff holding the Prior of Ulvescroft had always a shepherd and a swineherd,
who did nothing else, but followed and looked to the cattle without contradiction ; whereas
he knoweth not that any other commoner, except the Abbot of Garrodon and the Prioress
of Gracedewe, had any shepherd or swineherd." To the seventh he saith, " that the said
Priors, during all his time there, have kept hounds, greyhounds, and hawks of their own,
and did hunt, course, and hawk throughout the waste of Charnwood unto the saulte of the
Parks of Bradgate, Groby, and Loughborough ; that is to say, fallow deer, roe, foxes, hares,
&c., and likewise did hawke at the partridges and pheasants, and for those purposes they
kept a huntsman, and thej' had a special grant from Roger Therle of (iuencye, lord of Groby,
to hunt at their pleasure by these words, usque ad saltum ; and that they had free fishing
in Blackbrooke from Charley to Shepeshed mylne, by a grant made by a deed, which several
deeds this deponent kept and perused." To the eighth he saith, " that he left all the deeds
and grants belonging to the said Priory in several boxes and coffers at his departing out of
the said Priory, at the surrender thereof, to the Commissioners for the King, Doctor London,
Master George Gifford, and Master Robert Burgoine ; and that about a year after the dissolu-
tion, the said boxes, &c., were found broken open, and most of the evidences spoiled or
destroyed."

William Bampkyn, of Belton, aged 57, who had been servant at the Priory for forty -nine
years, with the exception of one year that he had served the Lord Leonard Grey, saith,
among other things, " that upon a time, about forty years past, Lord Thomas, Marquis of
Dorset, was offended with Prior Whalley for his said hunting; which the said Prior under-
standing, went to Bradgate to the said lord Marquis, and, amongst others, took the said
deponent to attend him, and delivered him a box to carry, wherein was a grant from one of
the ancestors of the said Lord, of the liberty of hunting, &c., to the Priors of Ulvescroft.
Upon which being produced, this deponent heard the Marquis say thus : — " Well, Prior, I
have put my red deer forth latehj ; spare them, I pray thee, and spare not the fallow deer."
He likewise saith, " that Prior Dalby and Sir* \yilliam Eland, and all the Canons except
Sir Thomas Massey, Sir Thomas Mason, and Sir Richard Eglatt, were common hunters."

Robert Conyngham, of Horsepool Grange, co. Leicester, Gent., sworn and examined,
deposeth, among other things, " that he hath known the Priory of Ulvescroft and capital
messuage of Charley by the space of twenty-six years, and was seiTant there to Prior Dalbye
at the surrender, &c., and that he dwelt at Charley one year after the said surrender, with
the said Master Dalbye, and so removed again with him to Ulvescroft (the said Master Dalbve

* Clerks were usually honoured -n-ith the prefix of Knighthood in those times. The custom was long retained in
some forms in the Universities.

148 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

ihen being farmer there ! first to Sir Richard Cromwell then to Sir Andrew Judde) ; and
after the death of the said Master Dalbye, this deponent was farmer of Ulvescroft by the

space of eight years or more that he doth right well know the said hills, wastes,

and outwoods, within the Forest of Chamwood, mentioned in the third interrogatory ; that
is, Bishop's Hill, Stanywel Hill, Moseley Plain, Hamercliif and New Close, and the Rede-
syke nigh an old mere of stones there, and the hill now called Little Bawdon Castle, other-
wise called the Mount of Alderman Haw, BlackclifF Hill, Green Hill, and every of them.
And he knoweth the bounds of the said hills and outwoods ; and that the said hills, &c.,
ever to his remembrance, &c., were the proper grounds of the said late Priory, and so have
always been reputed, &c. But he knoweth of no wood being sold by the said Prior, foras-
much as the whole topvvood and underwood growing upon the said wastes, &c., were scarce
sufficient to suffice the kitchen, brewhouse, &c., and for hedging the said closes ; and as for
felling any trees by the root, not any other owners of outwood in the said Forest or waste
used commonly so to do, because then the spring wood would have been utterly lost, which
the Prior ever desired to maintain, and would ever command his servants to fell none but as
high as a man, lest the goats and other cattle should hurt them. And that never since his
memory and knowledge of the said ground, any man that ever he knew did, without the
consent of the said Prior, fell, &c., or cany away any of the said wood, gorse, &c. ; whereas
in all other places of the Forest of Charnwood, as well in the late Duke of Suffolk's outwood
as in all other men's, the commoners of the Forest do and may, by their custom, fell gorse
at their pleasure, &c., but only in the said outwoods belonging to the said Priory : which
privilege the late Duke, after he had bought Ulvescroft, observed and kept, because it be-
longed to Ulvescroft." He further mentions " a cross called Sir Robert's Cross, at that time
defaced, as being in a plain on the Forest, near Little Bawdon Castle." He further con-
firms the evidence of William Bampkyn with respect to the breaking open, scattering, &c.,
of the deeds belonging to the Priory; and states that he " gathered up many of the said
writings, which Sir Andrew Judde caused to be copied into English."

Hugh Poole, of Markfield, yeoman, cellerer and servant to the said Priory till its disso-
lution, aged 68 years, saith, " that he knew the mylne now called SharpclifT, and the dam
now re-edified, and that there was a building in Bam Leys, which he knew to have been
burnt when King Henry VHI. went to Turwin and Turney (Prior Whallcy's mother then,
for fear of the plague at Markfelde, dwelling there), and that he hath seen the walls of an

old house and a well which remains on Packmanheys That the Priory every year

had a penn on Green Hill in the lambing time, and that the Prior had goats going at
Brown's Goat-house ; that in Prior Whalley's days there were few red deer on the Forest,
and that the Prior would ever will his servants to spare them but not the other; he hath
brought many fallow deer home to the house at Ulvescroft which they had taken ; and at
divers times, with his lennards tliat he kept, hawked at the hcathcock, pheasants, &c., &c."

William Worrell, of Syston, saith, " that he lived with the Parson of Markfelde, who was
brother to Prior Whalley, and after dwelt and was servant to the Prior of Ulvescroft, and at
his Parsonage of Syson."

William Syson, of the old Bede House of Leicester, aged 7-2, who was first carter, and

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 149

afterwards baker and brewer at the Priory, saith, " that when he dwelt there, and master
Ballon was cellerer, master Belton besought the Lord Thomas Marquis Dorset, about forty
years now past, that because their outwoods, by means of baking and brewing for the said
Lord Marquis (brewing divers times ten quarters a week), and by means of great expense
of wood which they had in their chambers, kitchen, and other houses of office, whilst the
Lady Elinor, wife to the said Lord Marquis lay there, by means whereof their outwoods
were sore spoiled, that it might please his Lordship to grant unto them some of his woods
to fell ; wherefore the said Lord Marquis gave land unto the said master Belton and house
of Ulvescroft accordingly."

Thomas Taylor, ten years servant at Ulvescroft in Prior Whalley and Prior Dalbye's
days, saith, " that all the said time of ten years that he was wainman there, he did no other
work almost, but only with a wain and a cart cany home such wood, furze, and thorns, as
were felled by seven persons kept constantly (it work for that purpose, to the number of from
four to eight loads a day, and so for the most part of the year ; and that all the woods the
Priory had without would scarce serve, and within the Prior saved his wood."

Long (and perhaps to some readers tedious) as the foregoing extracts may be, I am not
aware of the existence of any records of the Forest, or any description of monastic life about
the period of the Dissolution, that can be of greater value or of higher interest. The injus-
tice and bad faith of the reigning Sovereign — the vicissitudes of the Prior, from a state
something like baronial luxury, to that of a common farmer — and above all, the sudden
withdrawal of extensive charities, present a painful picture of the means had recourse to in
bringing about the Keformation — means which even those who rejoice at the change
efl'ected can scarcely fail to deplore.

Mrs. Slrelley having no issue, entailed the estate, in 1565, upon her nephews John,
Bennett, William, and Francis Wilson, and their heirs I'espectively. In 1609 Bennett
Wilson, Esq., and his nephew Ambrose Wilson, sold Ulvescroft,* then containing 1358
acres, and of the clear annual rent of £260. 14«. 4fZ., to Robert Peshall, Esq., Bamster at
Law (brother to Sir John Peshall, Bart., of Gorzely, Staffordshire), whose only daughter
Elizabetli carried it by marriage to Sir llobert Bosvile, Knt., of Byana. William Parkin
Bosvile, Esq., of Ravenfield Park, co. York, was owner of Ulvescroft at the time of the
inclosure, and after the death of Mrs. Bosvile, in 1809, it came to the Rev. A. Lyon Emer-
son, its present possessor. The lordships of Ulvescroft and Charley are the only entireties
of parishes within the Forest.

" The remains of the Priory," says the Rev. Andrew Bloxam, " are the finest of the kind
in Leicestershire ; and the lofty tower, with the combination of ruins, when viewed from the
surrounding hills, presents a scene of highly picturesque beauty ."f But little of the original
building, erected in the time of Henry II., now remains ; nearly the whole of the present
edifice being of the decorated style which prevailed in the fourteenth century. Three stone
sedilia, in what was the chancel, and a stone pulpitj in a thick buttress of the Refectory,

* Charley, as shown in the proper place, had been previously sold by Mr. Bennett Wilson,
t " Guide to Bradgate" — which gives a very accurate and highly interesting description of the architectural beauties

and peculiarities of this Prior)'.
I From this a portion of Scripture, or legend of a Saint, used to be read aloud by one of the Monks, during meals.

150 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

the Prior's Hall — and traces of cloisters, and of the Chapter-house, will afford a great treat
to the lovers of the past, or to the admirers of ancient ecclesiastical architecture. The mind,
indeed, that does not derive extreme gratification from this most romantic valley and most
picturesque ruin, must belong to one of those unenviable persons who " look without seeing."
It is to be regretted, however, that flaming red pantiles, roofing some of the ancient build-
ings, should be allowed to detract much from the general effect of the whole !

The environs of Ulvescroft are rich in sylvan scenery and in objects worthy the attention
of the topographer. Copt Oak, a trysting tree of the olden time, stands on the high grounds
on the west. On this spot (it may have been under this tree) Erick the Forester is said to
have harangued his forces against the Norman invaders. It was long a place of assembly
on matters connected with the Forest, or perhaps a Svvanimote Court ; and here, too, in the
Parliamentary troubles of 1642, the Earl of Stamford assembled the trained bands of the
district. This oak was once surrounded with a coped wall — hence its name. Another, in
the neighbouring wood of Stony Wells, was similarly guarded. — Ulvescroft Cottage, on
the Forest border, is the elegant but unostentatious residence of Thomas Pares, Esq., a large
Forest proprietor, owning the well-cultivated farms of Baldwin Castle and Charley Knoll.
— Thomas Denning, Esq., Lord of the Manor of Loughborough, had long an occasional resi-
dence in " the Prior's House," and is also a Forest proprietor. — The Pilgrims (a most
appropriate name in connexion with a Monastic house) have long been highly respected
freeholders and occupiers on the domain.

1 add, in the conclusion of this notice of Llvescroft, what ought, perhaps, to have been
inserted in its commencement — some speculations on the origin of the name. Some writers
have entertained the idea that it was so called " because there stood a cross before its
entrance" — but this would only account for the termination. Others have supposed it to
have originated in the circumstance of the district having, in early times, been infested with
wolves. But neither of these reasons can be considered satisfactory. I entertain little
doubt that LHvescroft was part of the possession of Ul/i, who, it will be recollected, is men-
tioned in Domesday book as having lands in Groby (of which this valley was a part) ; and I
am confirmed in this opinion by a deed of William, the first Lord Ferrars (given in page 144),
where an inclosure between Leyfield and Newtown is called C^Z-pychala, and in other deeds
Ul/-pycha.\n. Ulvescroft therefore seems the more correct, as it certainly is the more eupho-
nious name. I need make no apology for introducing here a beautiful poetical allusion to
this na))te and place, from the pen, I believe, of a venerable and eminent living divine, whose
writings have had a most extensive and beneficial influence on the spirit of the age, and
whose benevolence has long become proverbial : —

"Through Charn wood's breadth their passage lay.

But fearful -was the snowy way,

For oft in cavities profound

Down sunk abrupt a rocky mound :

And loud through ice the torrent roar'd :

And hard to find the treacherous ford ;

And bogs no stag in June may pass.

In white were veil'd — a fluid mass :

And safe on Bahdon's craggy side

The trooping wolves might yet abide,
From " Kotbley Temple, a Poem in three Cantos," published anonymously in 1815. but generally ascribed to the Rev. Thomas Gishorne.

And still with midnight ycUings howl
To comrades that on Beacon prowl.
Or follow on the scent of blood
From BiRCHwooD Hill to Timberwood:
While IvESHEAD, starting from repose,
Mourns to Lubcloud his purple snows.
Such yells on Baldwin's rock aloft.
O'er meads and folds of Ulverscroft,
Still would the wakeful Friars hear.
And tremble for their wonted cheer."

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 151

WHITWICK.

(IVitewic, IVifwicke, Mliytewyke, Whitwike, IVhytwyck.)

Hugo tenet de H[ugone de Grentemaisnell] dimidiam carucatam terre in Witewic. Terra est dimidia
carucae. Ibi est 1 bordarius. Silva I quarentenae longitudinis et dimidia latitudinis. Valet 2. Solidos.
— Domesday, fol. 233, a. 1.

Whitwick, the head of the third division of Chamwood, is situated in a valley abutting
on its western boundary, and is overhung on one side by the wildest and boldest features of
the Forest. " This Mannor," says Burton, " is very large and great, having many villages
members of the same.* It was belonging to the ancient Earles of Leicester, who had heere
a Castle and a Parke. It came after (by enter-marriage of one of the heyres generall) to
Quincy, Earl of Winchester. And by Elizabeth, youngest daughter and co-heyre of Roger,
Earle of Winchester, it came to Alexander Comyn, Earl of Boughan or Bucquan in Scot-
land, her husband, to whom King Edward I. ('21 Edw. I.) granted liberty of a market and a
faire to be kept here."t

It appears from ancient records that Whitwick was, occasionally at least, the residence
of that noble and potent baron Hugh de Grentesmaisnell, who had here a Castle and a
Park. J This ancient Castle seems first to require notice, and it is to be regretted that, as
in the case of the neighbouring and probably nearly coeval fortresses of Groby and Mount-
sorrel, few vestiges and few records of it remain. The Castle was situated on a small mount
- — the whole summit of which it evidently must have occupied — nearly in the centre of the
town — of which it doubtless was the origin.

The site is so similar in extent and form to those of the Castles just referred to, as to give
ground for the conjecture that it was erected at nearly the same epoch, and probably for
the same purpose. Traces of what appears to have been the Keep are the only remains at
present existing, but more extensive ruins were standing in the recollection of aged persons
of the neighbourhood. With the brook at its base — with the ancient Church, originally, in
all likelihood, an adjunct to it — and with the bold and abrupt front of the Forest rocks on
the north and east — the Castle must have been an object of solitary gi-andeur. In 1-205,
William de Senevill was appointed Keeper of Whitwick Castle (in right of Petronella,
Countess of Leicester), and to give to the King John his son and heir as a pledge (obsidem)
for the safe keeping thereof: as also Richard, another son of his, but this he would not.§
The Castle and Lordship, by a marriage with Elizabeth (Quincy, already described, tame
in 1-278 to Alexander Comyn, and it may be concluded from the circumstances of their son
having afterwards removed to Charley, and from Henry Lord Beaumont, the next possessor,
having erected Beaumanor, that Whitwick Castle about this time was either demolished, or

* Whittington, Hugglescote, Donington, Swanington, Ravenstone, Stanton-under-Bardon and the Park, Markfield,
Bocheston, and Newto^Tne Unthanke.

f Burton, page 304. — But Nichols properly states this grant to have been made to John Comyn, son of Alexander.

X Nichols' West Goscote, p. 1112. § Fines, 6 John.

152 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

had become too ruinous for a residence. An Inquisition taken at Lutterworth in 1427, on
the death of Elizabeth, wife of Henry de Beaumont, plainly shows that the Castle was then
in ruins ; that there were no buildings on the site, and that its worth by the year was —
" nihil."*

The same Inquisition affords further confirmation of the Castle having for some time
ceased to be a residence, by naming a great number of houses, ruined or vacant for want of
tenants (defectu tenentium), which may fairly be supposed to have arisen from the removal
of a great baronial establishment.f

The Castle Hill was purchased in 1707 by William Holliday, of Thringstone, from the
widow and daughters of William Osborne, of Shenton, in this county ; and continued to
belong to the family of Holliday till 1802, when it was sold to Henry Cropper, Esq., of
Bunny, Nottinghamshire, and of Loughborough : father of Joseph Almond Cropper, Esq.,
Barrister at Law, of Pennis, in the parish of Fawkham, Kent, and of Pope's Villa, Twick-
enham, in whose possession it still remains.

The manner in which the Comyns became located on Charnwood, and possessed of ex-
tensive estates in its precincts, has been explained at such length under Charley, that I need
here only remind the reader that the issue of the maniage of Alexander, Earl of Buchan,
with Elizabeth de Quincy, youngest daughter and co-heir of Roger, Earl of Winchester,
were three sons — John, Alexander, and William. In 1290 it was found that Alexander
Comyn, Earl of Buchan, held not any lands of the King in capite, because he had enfeoffed
John, his son and heir, seven years before, in the manor of Whitwick, with the appurte-
nances, and in all other lands and tenements which he had in the counties of Leicester and
Warwick, to hold of him by the service of half a Knight's fee ; and that John Comyn was
then aged thirty. J

An extract from the Register of Garendou Abbey, with reference to this John Comyn, is
of too great importance, from its connexion with Forest rights, to be omitted here. The
original, in Latin, will be found in Nichols, under Wliilwick.

" Plea between tis and John Comyn, respecting the killing of our hogs, in the time of
pannage, in the year 1291."

" And the aforesaid John Comyn, for himself and the others [his servants, Richard and
others, hereafter mentioned], saith that they have done no injury; because he saith that he
himself hath a certain privilege (libertatem) in the Forest of Charnewode of driving, once every
year in the time of pannage, all the hogs then being in that Forest to his Park in his manor

* " Item quod est ill situ manerii de Whytwick quoddum castrum vetus ct ruinosum in quo nulla sunt edificia, quod

nihil valet per annum."
t This Inquisition also makes mention of a singular kind of service, called Berrys — " viginti novem opera hominum
vocata Berrya pro bladis," value \d. each. The same custom prevailed at Belton a centuiy after, and was there
called " Beurypps." The value of labour had then doubled — that of thirty-seven men being valued at 7s. 2d. At
Gracedieu, also, the same custom seems to have been in use. It is there called " Benereps." — See Bailiffs' Accounts
Augmentatioyi Office*

X Esch. 18 Edward I., No. 12, Leic.

.SJ:^'&^'^^i^

Y7>3i]7W] CK SlKllUlKeM

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 163

of Wytewyk oi' Schepshed,* in order to see who has more hogs in the Forest than he ought
to have : and if they find more there than any one ought to have, whosoever they might be,
he ought to have pannage for them by reason of the same privilege. The aforesaid Richard
and others, as the bailiffs of their hird, took, as was their right, the hogs of the aforesaid
Abbot, and all other hogs found, to his own manor, namely Schepeshed. And one of them
saith, that if the aforesaid hogs or any part of them have been killed, this was the Abbot's
own fault : because he, the Abbot, refused to ask to have his own hogs quietly delivered to
him, according to the custom (legem) hitherto used in the said Forest. And as to this he
throws himself upon his country.

And the aforesaid Abbot says that the aforesaid John ought not to take his hogs when
found on the Forest, nor drive them to his aforesaid Park ; but he truly saith, that the afore-
said John and others did take his said hogs, and with malice slay them, as above alleged :
and he requests that it may be inquired into by his country how this is. And John and the
others likewise. Therefore, let the jury attend before the King within fifteen days from
St. Hilary's day, wherever" &c. It appears from the Ahbrevialio Placitorun that the
number of hogs killed was one hundred, and that the jury decided that John Corny n had
done right.

" In I.31'2 Master William Coniyn, of Buchan, having obtained of his brother John
Comyn, deceased, some time Earl of Buchan, a grant of two parts of the manor of Sheep-
shed, the towns of Markinfield, Whitenton, Bochardeston and Newton, as also a moiety of
Ratbye and the town of ^Vhitewyke, with the Park of Bardon, all in the count)- of Leicester,
in fee, without the King's license, had the King's pardon for the same."t This William,
having no issue, rendered them to the King in behalf of his two nieces, Margaret and Jo-
hanna,! daughters and co-heiresses of his brother Alexander.

A few years after this, viz.. May 12, 1330 (but whether by virtue of this suiTender or not
does not seem clear), Edward III. confeiTed the manor of Whitwick upon Bartholomew de
Burghersh, one of his retainers ;§ " in order," says the grant, " that the said Bartholomew
may be able more decently to support himself in our service." The grant, however, con-
tained a reservation of the King's right to resume the manor at pleasure on paying a full
equivalent, and we find Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, seised of it at the time of his

• This word, in the original, appears to be " de Wytewyk ut ftt'ffjfp," which Mr. Nichols confessed his inability

to decipher. I could cite many ancient deeds in which Sheepshed is so abbreviated, and it will be shown hereafter that

Sheepshed was a member of the manor of Whitwick. Under Garendon (p. 797 ), Mr. Nichols properly concludes that

what appears in the Chartulary to be Meuton, must mean Sutton — a case perfectly parallel. The M is a flourished .S.

f Pat. 6 Edward II., pars 2, m. 5 ; as quoted by Nichols.

X So states the Inquisition, which Nichols gives at length : though in the paragraph immediately following it he
calls them Alice and Margaret — and in the Quincy pedigree he gives tliree daughters to Alexander Comj-n, viz. ; —
.Alice, married to Henry Lord Beaumont, Katherine to the Earl of Athol, and Margaret to the Earl of Ross. He
also omits their mother and their uncle William ComjTi. Alice is by several writers called the only daughter of the
Earl of Buchan.

§ Who married Elizabeth de Verdon, granddaughter of Roesia, foundress of Gracedieu Abbey. See Dug. Baron.
Vol. I., p. 474. In Mr. Nichols's pedigree of Verdon (III., 640) this name is omitted; as also in the Verdun pedi-
gree (IV., 279), which professes to be drawn from Dugdale's Warwickshire, page 29. The latter dates Roesia's
foundation of Gracedieu 1229.

X

154 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

death, in 1340. From this period the manor, with its members, continued to be the posses-
sion of the Beaumonts till 1461-2, when on the attainder of William Lord Viscount Beau-
mont, King Edward IV. granted the manors and lordships of Whitwyke, Bocheston, Newton,
Hoclescote, Donynton, North Markefield and Ernesby (which Katherine, Duchess of Nor-
folk [see under Beaumanor] held for the term of her life, with remainder to William Lord
Viscount Beaumont), to William Hastings, Esq., and his heirs.* It was then held by homage
only. After the death of Lord Hastings, Richard HI. granted it to Francis Lord Lovell
and Joan his wife, sole sister and heir to John Viscount Beaumont, but Lord Lovell being
attainted in 1485 it again fell to the Crown.

The manor " of ^Vhytewyk, with its members and appurtenances in the county of
Leicester, together with all the lands which the King possessed in Whytewyk, Swanyngton,
Donyngton, Hokelscote, Newton Unthanke, Bocherdeston, Roteby and Markfield, and the
advowson of Markfield," next became the property of Thomas Grey, JNIarquis of Dorset, by
exchange with King Henry VIII., to whom the Marquis conveyed, in lieu of it, the manors
of Lee Bankers and ShrofTold, with the advowson of Lee Church, in the county of Kent.
The indenture of this exchange is dated May 12, 1512, and the King reserved to himself
and his heirs the Park of Bardon.f

From the Marquis of Dorset the lordship descended to Henry Duke of Suffolk, his son,
on whose attainder, in 1554, it again reverted to the Crown.

In 1612 King James I. granted the manor, with Bardon Park, in Charnwood Forest
(" tarn infra quam extra forestam de Charnewood"), to Sir Henry Hastings, Knt., and Henry
Cutler, Gent., in consideration of the sum of £4000. J The manor has ever since continued
in the Hastings family.§

THE CHURCH

From the view of Whitwick Church, given in these pages, the reader will at once con-
clude that it is a very ancient edifice. Its fine sombre-looking tower, without the usual
embattled parapet, and relieved by windows of a quaint and singular character, produces a
striking effect ; it more resembles the larger Churches of Normandy than the ordinary village
Churches of this country. Tradition reports it to be eight hundred years old — nor is the
eleventh century an unlikely era for such an erection. The body of the Church is in strict
keeping with the tower, and the interior has few proofs of the mischief too frequently per-

* Pat. 1 Edward IV., pars 1, m. 25.
f Nichols gives this Indenture at length, from " Originalia in the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's Office :"
though, by a singuhar oversight, he states in the paragraph preceding it, that Whitwick "was given by Henry VIII.,
I.'i.SO, to Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, in exchange for the lordships of Grafton and Hartwell, co. Northampton,
to be held by him and his heirs in socage by the rent of £5. 5s. -Id. per annum." Whereas, both under Beaumanor
and Sheepshed, he had correctly stated that Grafton and Hartwell were exchanged with Henry VIII. for Lough-
horough and Sheepshed !

X Harl. MS.S. 3881, f. G96.

^^ On the petition of the Rev. John Piddocke, Leonard Piddocke, Ellis Shipley Pestell, Henry Cropper, Thomas
Fenton, and John Roper, Esqrs., the principal proprietors, an Act for the inclosure of certain waste lands called Whit-
wick Moor, was obtained in 1803.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 155

petrated by injudicious Cliurchwardens. — A tomb without an inscription bears the mailed
and much mutilated effigies of a man of gigantic stature. The figure is seven feet in length,
which is much too short for the cuiTent traditions respecting the size and strength of the
redoubtable Knight, Sir John Talbot* of Swannington, to whose memory it is believed to
have been erected. Sir John died in 1365, in his fortietli year. The Matriculus of 1220
describes Robert Talbois as Parson and William Shawell Vicar, and the latter as paying to
the former one pound of aromatic incense.

It is stated in the Magna Britannia, page 1376, that this was one of the places in which
Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln in 1-235, showed his dislike of impropriations by
restoring to tlie Vicar the great tithes which had been appropriated to his see, and consoli-
dating them to the living for ever.f Nichols mentions this fact, but thinks it applies to the
mother Church of Whitwick ; whereas Osgathorpe (mentioned in the ^latriculus of 1-220, |
under the name of Angodeston, elsewhere written Angodesthorp, as a Chapelry of Whitwick)
is the place intended. It is noticed in 1344,§ " Osgathorpe solebat esse capella nunc verd
Ecclesia parochialis," though it is remarkable that the name of Osgathorpe does not appear
among the list of the livings whose institution or ordination is extant among the records at
Lincoln. II — The living of Whitwick, as parcel of the Honour of Lancaster, 51 belongs to the
Crown. The present Incumbent is the Rev. Francis Merewether, M.A.

The village, from its great extent and the variety of trades carried on in it, has lost all
the characteristics of a rural population, yet the situation is one of gi-eat natural beauty.
The Castle Hill — the venerable Church — the Roman Catholic Chapel — some very antique
houses, and the bold range of rocks overhanging it on the north and east, are objects of just
admiration to every stranger. The environs, as will shortly be seen, are highly interesting
— the Geologist finds a fine field for study in the collieries and the porphyry rocks — the

* A laue aud wood near Whitwick are still called by this name ; and the following couplet is a common proverb there : —
" Nought remains of Talbot's name
But Talbot Wood and Talbot Lane."

f The good Bishop regarded appropriations " as robbing God of his honour, the Priest of his maintenance, and the
people of their souls." The evil had indeed become very great : for, " from making appropriations to Monasteries,
Deans, Prebendaries, &c., the example went on to parish Priests, who in populous and rich places obtained a Vicarage
to be endowed — and casting upon them the care of souls, they had the Rectory appropriated to themselves and their
successors as a sinecure for ever." — Magna Britannia, page 1376.

X Nichols, Vol. I., page Iviii. § Nichols, Vol. I., page Ixiii. || Nichols, Vol. I., page xcix.

H It may not be amiss to add here a brief description of this Honour. "Landed Honours," says Lauder, "originally
belonged exclusively to the Crown, but were afterwards gi'anted in fee to noblemen That the Honour of Lan-
caster existed before the Conquest, is demonstrated by an agreement (still preserved) made between King Stephen
and Henry Duke of Normandy. Soon after the Conquest three noblemen held the Honour of Luncasier, as it was
then termed : but Roger of Poictou — the first person whose name is recorded as its possessor — forfeited it for high
treason. Stephen then gave it to his son William. After this it was held by several great personages, till Henry HI.
conferred it on his second son Edmund Plantagenet (Crouchback), when it became an Earldom, in consequence of
the possessor being an Earl by birthright, — The title of Duke of Lancaster was created in favour of Henry Plantage-
net, whose daughter and heiress Blanche married John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III., from whom it descended
to his son Henry IV., who decreed that the title and revenues should remain to him and his heirs for ever, as a dis-
tinct and separate inheritance from the Crown." — (See Sir T. Dick Lauder's edition of Gilpin, Vol. II., p. 25.) —
Henry Plantagenet married Isabel, sister of John Lord Beaumont.

156

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Antiquarian revels on the site of the Castle and amid the architectural singularities of the
Church — and the lover of unmolested nature finds, from Pelder Tor to "forlorn Gracedieu,"
scenes which, when viewed for the first time, he can scarcely believe to belong to Leicester-
s]iire. — In this parish, and about two miles north-east of the village, is the Swammote Rock,
on which, in early times, the Courts of the Forest were held. The reader or spectator
must draw largely on his imagination to bring before his mind's eye a picture of one of these
assemblages in such a wild and desolate a scene ! Below it is a spot bearing a name the
origin of which caunot, perhaps, be more satisfactorily explained than by the following

LEGEND OF LADY ASLINS POGL :—

Below the Shakpley Rocks, in a low vale,
A mirror to the mountain, lies a lake
Called by the rustics " Ladv Aslin's Pool."
The milkmaid, when within that spacious field
She herds the kine, to drain their swelling teats.
Ever avoids that spot — and drives her charge
To the remotest corner. There she kneels.
And oft, extracting still the foaming flood,
Tunis stealthy looks to where the waters sleep.
Often, perchance, if thro' the bushes flit
White calf, grey colt, or e'en the twinkling rabbit,
She starts— o'erturns her pail, and awe-struck flies
For safety to yon cottage. There she tells
How Lady Asliii's ghost has glided thro'
The bushes of the lakelet ! Shepherd boy
Counts his still flock, when pastur'd in that field.
An hour before the time : lest, in the gloom,
The Lady Aslin walk and glide before him.

Of many a grey-haired sire and aged dame.

But last of one who, in a sheltered cot

By Charley's ancient Priory, has endured

The storms of eighty winters, I inquired

" Who was the Lady Aslin ? Why the pool

From her had borrowed its age-lasting name ?"

None knew— none cared to know, save the old sire
I spoke of. He, inclined upon his spade.
His bald head all uncovered- the few white locks
That lingered yet below the capital
Of the still fine, but time-worn human column.
Waving like streamers in the moimlain gale-
Narrated this, in answer to my quest :—
" Aye, Sir, these hills are rugged— and men's minds.
In these poor school-less spots, are rugged too—
A stranger asked mc, not an hour ago.
When, why, or how these craggy steeps were formed
On which we toil to gain our daily bread-
I've had my thoughts, but scholarship and I
Were never close ac/uaiiiiance. My lost mother—

'Tis sixty years this April since she changed

That house for one on everlasting hills,

Where rain, and storms, and tears ne'er fall" — (and then

He wiped his furrowed cheek.) — "That mother knew

A mart of book-learnt wisdom — would have taught

Me, her sole son, but that I better loved

To spend the livelong day upon these hills —

That ever were a wonder and a joy —

And when came night, or storms, or frost-bound winter,

I loved old stories from her fluent lips.

But sought not lore from books — mens' books to me

Seem'd like the mines I've delved in —

Monstrous masses of earthly rubbish for a little coal.

My mother's tales were music ; oft she told

The one you ask — 'The hapless Lady's Pool.'

I'm eighty — but remember her sweet tales

Far better than our gifted Pastor's truths

Delivered yesterday." And then he told

The story, which, divested of its length

And somewliat altered from its homely phrase

And age's expletives, I tell to you : —

"There was a Castle in old Whitwick Park,

And Goisfrid Aslin held it of the King ;

He was the Bluebeard of those ancient times :

A tyrant, who could steep his hands in blood

And eat, and sleep, and pray without ablution.

He married Gertrude Lyne — if that be marriage

Where a stern father, fearful of the power

His neighbour lord has o'er him, says ' Obei/' —

And buys his safely by his daughter's tears.

Goisfrid had paramours — the Castle Court

Abomided with his jillflirts. His poor lady

Was scorned and outraged ere the second moon

Had beamed upon their bridal. Goisfrid toyed

Beneath her window with some flaunting quean,

And gloried in his shame. That night his couch

Was lone 1 As lone, but colder far the Lady Aslin's —

'Twas in that dark, deep Pool."

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. IT)?

A large tract of Forest between this spot and the Oaks Chapel is chiefly the property of
Kirkby Fenton, Esq., of Thorpe Hal], Yorkshire, who has erected upon it a very tasteful
huntiug-box, called Onebarrow Lodge. This gentleman may with justice be termed one of
the greatest improvers of the Forest. When he came into possession of the estate, it was,
with a trifling exception, rugged rock or moorland ; in a very few years he has brought
several hundred acres into a state of high cultivation — is rapidly inclosing more — and has
planted nearly 100,000 Forest trees on tracts where heath and feni lately formed the onl}'
foliage.* — One of the finest Forest scenes is the gorge formed by Onebarrow Hill.

Contiguous to this estate is Charnwood Heath, the properly of Thomas Gisborne, Esq.
Mr. Gisbome, too, is a Forest improver ; indeed, he took the lead soon after the inclosure,
at an enormous outlay of capital, in the most modern system of agriculture. The Hanging
Stone — already described under Antiquities — and the rocks called the High Towers or Tors,
are remarkable features in this locality. Bordering on Mr. Gisbome's estate, and till re-
cently a part of it, is the tract long called the Tynte or Tin Meadows ; now known under
the more lofty name of Mount St. Bernard.

THE MONASTERY OF MOUNT ST. BERNARD.

Now the midnight chant is stealing,

Mass and requiem breathing near ;
Hushed the blast, as if revealing

Sounds to earth that Heaven might hear. — Roby.

Whatever may be the prevailing differences of opinion on " modes of faith," the topogra-
pher or historian is bound to present, so far as he is able, a faithful picture of the locality
which he professes to describe. To write the History of Charnwood Forest without some
mention of what has now become one of the most remarkable features in it, would be an
omission justly affixing on any writer a charge of bigotry and unfairness. I rejoice that I
am enabled, by the kindness of a talented Roman Catholic geulleman, to present an
original and faithful notice of the Monastery and brotherhood of Mount St. Bernard, which
will be far more interesting and valuable than any description that could have proceeded
from my own pen.

" The Abbey of St. Bernard, in Charnwood Forest, was founded in the year of our Lord
1835 ; exactly three hundred years having elapsed from the suppression of the larger Monas-
teries by King Henry the Eighth, in the year of our Lord 1535. This Abbey belongs to the
Cistercian Order, which is one of the most celebrated Orders of the Western Church.

" It may not be amiss here to give a brief sketch of the origin of this famous Order ; it was
founded in the year of our Lord 1098, by an English gentleman of the name of Stephen
Harding, a man of eminent sanctity and great learning. He is known in Church History

• Mr. Fenton has, with great taste, preserved, wherever practicable, all the striking rocky prominences on his estate
— a forbearance which I feel the more boimd to record, because in too many instances proprietors of the Forest have
shown, in this respect, a much-to-be-regretted preference of the utile to the dulci. — The rick-yards at Onebarrow
Lodge, and at Mr. Green's adjoining Hermitage Farm, show a remarkable produce for the number of acres cropped.
The stacks in the former are thatched in the cupola form, a mode not elsewhere in use in this county.

158 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

by the title of St. Stephen, Abbot of Citeaux. He was bom in the county of Dorset, and
received his education in the Monastery of Sherbourne, in the same county. The learned
Alban Butler tells us, in the fourth volume of his Lives of the Saints (p. 166), that Stephen
Harding, having left England, travelled to Paris and Rome in order that he might learn
more perfectly the means of Christian perfection, by visiting the most famous Monasteries
of France and Italy. On his return from the latter country he visited the Abbey of Molesme,
in the diocese of Langres, in France, not very far from Lyons : he was so edified with the
great piety and fervour of the Monks of that house, that he determined to remain there.
But afterwards, a relaxation of discipline by degrees creeping into the community, he,
together with St. Robert the Abbot, and the blessed Alberic, and other devout Monks, left
this Monastery, and retired into the desert of Citeaux, five leagues from Dijon, where they
built themselves a poor Monastery of wood, upon some land given them for the purpose by
the Viscount of Beaune. In this Monastery the celebrated Cistercian Order, so called from
the name of the desert Citeau.v, or Cistercia in Latin, commenced in the year of our Lord
1098 ; an Order which has been famous in the Church of God ever since. Nothing can
surpass the accounts which the Ecclesiastical writers of the day give us of the piety and
fervour of these Holy Monks ; they restored, in a degenerate age, all the most perfect usages
of the Primitive Church, reviving those wonders of God which the great St. Athanasius has
related to us concerning St. Anthony, St. Pacomius, and the other famous solitaries of Egypt
and Syria in those early times of Primitive Christianity. The fame of their virtue soon
spread through Christendom, and in the course of a very few years there were numerous
Monastei-ies of the Order established all over the Western Church, some of the most remark-
able of which existed in this kingdom. Who is there who has not heard of Fonntains
Abbey, in Yorkshire ? of Riveaux — of Kirkstall — of Bolton, in the same county ? — of the beau-
tiful ruins of Tintern, in Monmouthshire, and of many other glorious Abbeys, which here in
Eno-land belonged to the Cistercian Order, the venerable and picturesque remains of which
still refresh the devotion or gratify the curiosity of Christian travellers and antiquarians }

"The Cistercian Order is a branch of the Benedictine, and it professes to observe the rule
of St. Benedict without mitigation. The Monks of this Order never eat flesh meat, fish, or
eggs, and the only animal food of which they partake is milk and cheese. Their Lent is
much longer than that observed by the rest of the Church; it commences on the I4th of
September, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and terminates at the Festival of our
Lord's Resurrection. They observe manual labour, tilling the ground with their own hands ;
they keep almost a perpetual silence, never speaking except to the Superior or by his per-
mission. They sing the whole Divine Ofiice, or the Canonical Hours, rising all the year
round at two in the morning, and on the great Festivals at midnight, for the celebration of
Matins ; they celebrate the Holy Eucharist every day with great solemnity ; they spend
much time in mental prayer and meditation ; and above all, they are exhorted by their holy
rule to aim at the highest practice of Christian virtue, at the closest imitation of the divine
example of our Lord Jesus Christ, such as we find it in the Holy Gospel. They are com-
manded to be most assiduous in studying the Sacred Scriptures and the writings of the
Holy Fathers of God's Church. They are taught that they should ever keep themselves in

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 159

the presence of God, and that to His divine honour and glory they must dedicate every
action, thought, and word, and every moment of their lives ; that without this interior con-
secration of themselves, all their outward actions, however holy and praiseworthy, will avail
them nothing.

"As has been already said, the Cistercian Abbey of St. Bernard, in Chamwood Forest,
was founded in the year 1835 — a tract of wild desert land having been purchased for that
purpose from Thomas Gisbome, Esq., M.P. for the county of Derby, of which not more
than from thirty to forty acres were in a state of cultivation when the Monks entered upon
it. This house is an affiliation from the Abbey of Melleraye in Brittany, in France, and is
at present subject to the jurisdiction of the Very Rev. Vincent Ryan, Abbot of the Cistercian
Abbey of Mount ^lelleraye, in Ireland, which is also an affiliation of that same house.

" The Monks who commenced this foundation were the Reverend Father Odilo Woolfrey,
Presbyter ; Father Bernard Palmer, Presbyter ; Brother Luke, Brother Xavier, and Brother
Augustine, Lay Brethren. They lived for more than a year in a miserable cottage, the roof
of which was in a most ruinous condition, so that they were exjjosed to all the inclemency
of the weather. But after this, by the charitable gifts of the Faithful, they built a humble
Monastery and Chapel, together with some farm buildings ; these buildings are intended to
form the Abbey Grange.

" In the year 1839 the Earl of Shrewsbury made a most munificent gift to the Monks of
St. Bernard's, which enabled them to build a very beautiful Monastery at the foot of the
large rock on their land, which is now termed the Calvary ; this Monastery is built in the
early Lancet Gothic style, under the directions of Augustus Welby Pugin, Esq., the most
celebrated Gothic Architect since the middle ages. It is situated in a picturesque valley,
surrounded on all sides by great rocks, and perfectly secluded from the world.

" The Monks are well skilled in agriculture, and they have succeeded in bringing a large
tract of desert land into good cultivation. They are very charitable to the poor, many hun-
dreds of whom, from the neighbouring villages, receive daily relief at the Convent gate. It
is a part of the Cistercian rule to give hospitality to strangers, for whom comfortable apart-
ments are provided in the Abbey."

To add much to this " simple narrative" would be superfluous ; but it is right to say
that Mount St. Bernard, whether as offering a fair picture of Monastic life, or as embellish-
ing scenery of singular wildness and beauty, or as presenting the somewhat unusual occur-
rence of a partial re-possession of a district in which, three centuries ago, there were four
similar Institutions, has of late been an object of great and increasing curiosity — strangers
from all parts of the kingdom have visited it dming the last and present summer — it has this
year been honoured with a Royal visit.* And, however differing in creed, it must be owned
that few leave the spot without finding their prejudices somewhat softened by the bland and
courteous welcome of the lowly Cistercians.

High Cademan, of which a view is given, the Shai-pley rocks, and the whole of the range
from that point to Timberwood, afford a picture of rugged wildness rarely to be met with in
the neighbourhood of a highlj' cultivated district.

* So states "An Appeal to the Catholics of England." — Dolman, 1842.

160 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

BARDON.

Bardon Park, situated on the south-west side of Chamvvood, is one of the fifteen ancient
Parks which, as has before been stated, formerly encircled the whole Forest. In the Inclo-
sure Survey the Forest boundary is made to exclude the whole of this Park, but it has
already been shown, under Whitwick, that a considerable part of it was originally icilhin
the Forest — [" infra Forestam."]

This domain contains 1225 acres, and was imparked previously to 1300, as is proved by
an Inquisition on the death of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan (see page 144, under Whit-
wick), to whose mother, Elizabeth, daughter of Roger de Quincy, it appears to have come
as part of her share in the partition of the inheritance. From this it may be concluded that
it was a part of the possessions of Grentemaisnell. In 1312 Master William Comyn, the
Earl's youngest brother, obtained inter alia a grant of Whytwyke, with the Park of Bardon
in fee.* It then passed by marriage of William Comyn's niece to Henry Lord Beaumont,
and probably continued in that family till the attainder of Viscount Beaumont, in 1461.
In 1528 King Henry VIII. granted it to Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset. It again reverted
to the Crown in 1552, on the attainder of Henry Duke of Suffolk.

In 1569 Queen Elizabeth granted to Sir Henry Hastings, Knt., and Henry Cutler, Gent.
(with the manor of Whitwick), " Bardon Park, in Charnwood Forest and without;''' by whom it
was alienated to the family of Hood, originally seated at Wilford, near Nottingham, but resi-
dent at Bardon in the time of Henry VIII., though not seised thereof till the reign of Elizabeth.

In the male line of this family Bardon Park remained till the death of the last possessor,
William Hood, Esq. , Barrister at Law, by whom it was bequeathed to his nephew Robert
Jacomb, Esq., who has since assumed by Royal License the name and arms of Hood. This
gentleman, the present justly-esteemed proprietor of the estate, has lately pulled down the
ancient Hall, and erected (from the beautiful designs of Robert Lugar, Esq.) a new mansion,
on a more elevated situation, about half a mile from the seat of his ancestors. The character
and style of the new house may be considered Elizabethan, formed on a limited scale of
accommodation, and of simple decoration, in accordance with the wishes of the owner.
Backed by the far-famed hill, and looking over the gentle slopes of the Park-like grounds
in front, Bardon Hall, when viewed from the Ashby road, has an imposing effect.

Stanton-under-Bardon (called in a Grant of Ernald de Bois [JVest Goscote, p. 815]
" Stantona de sub Monte Bardoni") is a small township belonging to Thornton, lying south of
the hill from which it takes its name. The Queen is Lady of the Manor, and Charles March
Phillipps, Esq., and the Earl of Stamford, are the principal proprietors. The whole of the
lordship was conferred by William Harcourt, in 1148, on Garendon Abbey: and the large
part of it, now in the possession of Mr. March Phillipps, passed to his ancestor. Sir Am-
brose, from the Duke of Buckingham, with the other estates connected with Garendon, at
the Dissolution.

Battle Flat, a manor of 180 acres, of which the Marquis of Hastings is Lord, and
Thomas Roby Burgin, Esq., chief propi'ietor, is in this township. It is said a battle took
place here between the Royalists and Parliamentarians, in 1645.

* Pat G Edward II., pars 2, m. 5.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. IRl

BARDON HILL.

' We reserved

The tribute of our homage till arrived ;
Turning our eyes away from where we felt
Sublimity was throned, to contemplate
The Beautiful which we had left behind
Reposing in the valleys."

Bardon Hill, which has been styled the " Olympus of Leicestershire," demands some-
thing more than a passing remark. Burton thus describes it : — " This hill is in the bottome
of a large circumference, rising up (not very steepely) to a great height, being (as I take it)
one of the highest of that ranke, very rough and full of wood, within which are quarries of
hard stone, which some take to be a kind of lime stone. The top thereof yeeldeth a very
pleasing and delicate prospect, especially to the west and south-west : this hill having beene
scene not fane from Glocester, above 40 miles' distance." To this tolerably accurate de-
scription, the old Historian adds his opinion of the "natural cause of hils," which was,
" that a vegetative substance or matter being 7iaturally united or drawne together, hatli
by the force of the sunne and other planets, growne to that proportion" ! ! !*

The author of " The Agriculture of the Midland Counties," Mr. Marshall, gives the fol-
lowing just description of Bardon and the Forest range: — "The Charnwood hills are too
striking a feature to be passed over without especial notice. AV'hen seen obscurely they
appear like an extensive range of mountains, much larger than they really are. When
approached, the mountain style is still preserved, the prominences are sharp, distinct, and
most of them pointed with rugged rocks. One of these prominences, Bardon Hill, rises
above the rest : and though far from an elevated situation, it probably commands a greater
extent of surface than any other point of view in the island. It is entirely insulated, stand-
ing, in every way, at a considerable distance from lands equally high. The horizon appears
to rise almost equally on every side : it is quite an ocean view, from a ship out of sight of
land. The midland district, almost every acre of it, is seen lying at its feet. The Sugar
Loaf, in South Wales — the mountains of Shropshire and North Wales are distinctly in \\g\\
— and the Derbyshire hills, to the highest Peak, appear at hand. An outline, described
from the extremity of this view, would include nearh/ one-fourth of England and JVales.
It may be deemed one of the most extraordinary points of view in Nature."

No lover of what is wild and wonderful in nature can visit this commanding eminence
without feelings of mingled awe and admiration. The recollection that it was one of the
High Places where the Bards (hence its name) hymned the praises of their Sun-god and
their heroes, and where Druidical superstition received its votaries and offered its victims,
is one of the many associations connected with Bardon. The almost imbounded range of
vision, extending (from an elevation of 852 feet above the sea level) over a panorama of five
thousand square miles, strikes all that behold it for the first time with extreme astonish-
ment. The studies in Botany, Geology, and Entomology, which the hill affords, are highly

• Burton, page 28.
Y

162 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

interesting to the Naturalist. Science, too, has occasionally chosen Bardon for her seat.
An eminent x\stronouier of the last century* here fixed his instruments, in order to aid in
some of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the time ; and during the last summer, the
Ordnance Office caused to be erected on the summit of this hill an immense conical pillar
of stones, which now forms a station of great importance in the Trigonometrical Survey of
England, still in progress ; two Officers, with a few privates, being at the present moment
encamped here, after a visit of several weeks. Another recent circumstance to which I am
about to advert, has imparted fresh celebrity to Bardon.

Royal Visit to Bardon Hill.

On Tuesday, August ith, 1840, Bardon Hill was honoured with the first Royal visit
since the days of Edward III. Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, accompanied by her
sister, the Duchess of Saxe Weimar, and attended by Earl Howe, Lord Curzon, the Ladies
Curzon, and by several of the ladies attached to her household, formed what is called a
pic-nic party, to enjoy the romantic scenery and extraordinarj' views of this far-famed emi-
nence. About eleven o'clock part of the establishment belonging to the Earl arrived in one
of the Royal carriages, and began to make preparations for the reception of the distinguished
party. A fire was soon made in the neighbourhood of the Summer House : on which, by
the aid of a triangle of sticks, the necessary adjuncts to a cold collation were speedily pre-
pared, and towards one o'clock the cortege, consisting of three carnages, was seen approach-
ing the foot of the hill. Her Majesty, in a dress of elegant simplicity suited to the occasion,
supported by Earl Howe, and her Royal sister by Lord Curzon, ascended the steep with
great apparent ease. The visit having been kept sti'ictly private, two small parties from
Leicester and Loughborough were the only persons besides the Royal party at that time in
Bardon. These, on her Majesty's approach, arranged themselves on each side of the path
leading to the Summer House, and greeted the justly-beloved Royal Lady with every mark
of warm and respectful loyalty. On arriving at the summit, upvi'ards of an hour was spent
in the enjoyment of the wonderful prospect, of which her Majesty frequently expressed her
admiration — Lord Howe pointing out the many remarkable near and distinct objects which
the fineness of the day brought within the reach of view.

The Queen's repast was laid out on the grass on the east side of the Summer House,
but her Majesty, finding the sun oppressive, wished to remove to the adjoining shade — and,
setting the example, took up the first dish, and was followed by the rest of the party, all
bearing some portion of the viands. A spectator describes this scene as one " reminding
him of the days of old romance." The place selected by the Queen for the rural banquet
has since been named " Adelaide's Bower." It should be added, that so condescending
was the illustrious Lady, that on Mr. Mason, of Loughborough, informing her that another
party had done themselves the honour to drink her Majesty's good health, the Queen imme-
diately replied, " I hope you have drunk that of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert." Mr,
Mason, respectfully bowing, assured her Majesty they had done so. "Then," replied the
Queen, "on their behalf and on my own I sincerely thank you."

• Mr. Ludlani.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

163

It is gi-atifying to me, as, I doubt not, it will be to my readers, that I am enabled, while
this sheet is preparing tor the press, to add some particulars of another honour conferred on
our Forest by this Illustrious Lady. On Saturday, August 13, 1842, her most gracious
Majesty (who was again on a visit to the Earl Howe, at Gopsall) was pleased to keep the
anniversary of her fiftieth birth-day at Bradgate Park. A sumptuous pic-nic was provided
— the trout (for w Inch the Bradgate streamlet is so famous) being literally made to leap out
of the water into the fiying-pan. The Queen Dowager herself selected the s])ot for the
refection under the fnie old oaks between the Ruins and the brook ; and whilst it was being
prepared, perambulated with her suite (amounting to twenty " lords and ladies gay"), and
Mr. Martin of Stewards Hay and his son, around the remains of the old mansion ; examined
the Chapel and all those spots which tradition has particularly connected with Lady Jane
Grey, and at length returned to the rural banquet that had been prepared for her. It is
needless to say how heartily her Majesty's health was responded to, ]:)roposed and elegantly
prefaced as it was. by Lord Howe " under the Greenwood tree ;" suffice it to add, that the
Queen expressed herself delighted with every thing about this deeply interesting spot, and
announced her determination to re-visit it on the first opportunity. The carriages were
ordered round to the village of Newtown Linford, and her Majesty proceeded on foot up the
Rocky Valley — continually stopping to remark the different points of view, and to direct
the attention of her ladies to them. On entering the carnages orders were given to drive
through the woods to Stewards Hay, where the Queen was received by ^Irs. Martin and
family, and where the whole party made a considerable stay. Here her Maiestj- was
pleased to accept a copy of " Sketches of Deer in Bradgate Park"* from the hands of the
" Amateur," and to say that "it would long remind her of the happy day she had spent at
Bradgate."

I introduce this account, though somewhat out of place, with the more pleasure, because
it conveys (what is calculated to gratify a neighbourhood taking so deep an interest in what
concerns tliis Illustrious Lady) a proof of Her complete convalescence ; and because her
Majesty is, I believe, the first Royal Personage that ever visited the Ruins.

It has already been conjectured that James I., and shown that WilUara III. was at
Bradgate in its days of glory. An original document, kindly forwarded to me by Mr. Her-
rick, removes all doubt about James having visited both Bradgate and Beaumanor in one
of his progresses in 1617, when he was accompanied by his Queen.

' See note imder Bradgate.

164 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

MARKFIELD.

Hugo de Grentemaisnel tenet de Comitissa Juditil 4 carucatas terre in Merchenefeld. Ibi 2 carucfe
fuervmt. Nunc 7 sochmanni, cum 2 bordariis, habentibi 3carucas. Valent lOsolidos, modij 20 solidos.
— Domesday, Jol. 236, a. 2.

Markfield is a considerable village situated ou the southern border of the Forest.
" This mannor was some time the ancient inheritance of the old Earles of Leicester, and (by
marriage) it came to the Earle of Winchester,* from whom (also by mamage) it came to
Alexander Comin, Earle of Bucquan, in right of Alice his wife."t The advowson, however,
fell to the portion of her sister, Helen la Zouch. Maud, daughter and co-heir of the last
Alan Lord Zouch (great grandchild to Helen, wife of Alan la Zouch, and daughter of Roger
de Quincy), \x\wn partition of her father's estate, in 1314, brought the advowson to Robert
de Holland, her husband. In 1340 Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, died seised of
Markfield, as a member of Wliitwick-X In 1413 Henry de Beaumont, Knight, died seised
of the manor of Markfield, as a member of the manor of LoiKjhboroiigh.^ In 1427 Eliza-
beth, wife of Henry de Beaumont, died seised of Markfield, as a member of IJliihcick.
February 18, 1461-2, Edward IV. granted the manor (which Catherine, Duchess of Norfolk,
had held for term of life, with remainder to William Viscount Beaumont) to William Hastings,
Esq., and his heirs. From William Lord Hastings, lineal ancestor to Henry Earl of Hun-
tingdon, who was lord thereof in 1642, the lordship of Markfield passed lineally to the late
Earl of Huntingdon, who bequeathed this and his other Leicestershire possessions to the
Marquis of Hastings.

The lordship, containing 2292 acres, was inclosed in 1769 : Francis, Earl of Huntingdon,
being described as Lord of the Manor. The living is in the gift of the Marquis of Hastings.
The Rev. Richard Williams, M.A., is the present Rector.

Markfield Knoll and Cliff Hill, which are shown in the map to be isolated masses of
sienite, are perhaps as deserving the epithet of picturesque as any portion of the Forest. —
The Altar-stone has been refen-ed to under Antiquities. In that Chapter, too, will be found
some speculations ou the name of this place — a name which, from its affinity to Mercliland
and Mercia, is particularly worthy the attention of the Antiquarian.

* Margaret, relict of Saer de Quincy, gi-anted to Stephen de Segrave and liis heirs, about 1220, the liberty of car-
rying one hundred and forty loads of wood in a year from Charnwood Forest to Segrave manor : and also the privilege
of feeding one hundred hogs on the Forest without paying pannage : by the homage and service of presenting a pair

of gilt spurs on New Year's-day She also gave him three acres of land in the Forest near Markfield, at Lit-

tleheth, with some adjoining land abutting on a toft belonging to Ulvescroft, for the purpose of erecting proper sheds
for twenty cows and a bull, and their produce under three years of age : with commons on the whole Forest to as
great au extent as was enjoyed by the homagers resident on the Forest : and the liberty of taking from the Forest for
fuel (ad focum suum), and of erecting a stye (porchariam) for any less number than one hundred hogs, to be fed on
the Forest during the whole year, free from pannage ; to be held by homage only, and au annual acknowledgment of
one pound of ciunmin. — See Segrave Chartulary.

t Burton, page 188. J Esch. 14 Edward III , No. 24, Leic'. ^^ Esch. I Heniy V., No. 45, Leic".

II Esch. 6 Henry VI., No. 49, Leic".

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOU. 165

GRACE DIEU.

Gratifi Dei, G raced e tee.

Beneath yon eastern Ridge, the craggy Bound,

Rugged and high, of Charnwood's forest ground;

Stand yet, but, stranger! hidden from thy view.

The ivied Ruins of forlorn Grace Dieu;

Erst a religious House, which day and night

With hymns resounded, and the chanted rite :

And when those rites had ceased, the spot gave birth

To honourable men of various worth ;

There, on the margin of a streamlet wild.

Did Francis Beaumont sport, an eager child;

There, under shadow of the neighbouring rocks.

Sang youthful talcs of shepherds and their flocks ;

Unconscious prelude to heroic themes.

Heart-breaking tears, and melancholy dreams

Of slighted love, and scorn, and jealous rage,

With which his genius shook the buskined Stage ;

Communities are lost, and Empires die,

And things of holy use unhallowed lie ;

They perish — but the Intellect may raise.

From airy words alone, a Pile that ne'er decays. — Wordsworth.

Grace Uieu, uow only a picturesque monastic ruin, is situated in a secluded little valley
on the edge of the Western Forest : and, superadded to the same appropriateness of site
which distinguishes the neighbouring religious houses of Ulvescroft and Charley, has that
charm with which the gi-eatly- gifted of past times so often invest the place of their birth.

The greatest poet of the age, in the inscription* above given, has so truthfully described
this romantic spot, as to present in glowing numbers a far better idea of the ruins, and of
the glorious memories still associated with them, than could possibly be conveyed by any
prose of mine. The name (which like those of Valle Dei, Valle Crucis, &c., is at once
poetical and expressive of humble trust) was given to the place by Roesia de Verdox, on
her founding here, in 1-240, " a Monastery of Nuns, of the Order of St. Austin, to the honour
of St. Mary and the Holy Trinity." This eminent lady, who plentifully endowed her foun-
dation, was the daughter of Nicholas de Verdon :t on whose death, in 1-2.31, she, as sole
heir, paid seventy marks for her relief and livery of the lands of her inheritance, as also that
she might nut be compelled to marry. But it appears that she was at that time a widow ;
for the King, in 1-2-24, had specially written to her, recommending her to marry Theobald le
Butiller (a branch of the noble Irish family of Butler), and also to her father, desiring him
to back le Butiller's suit. Yet though she mamed a person of so distinguished a family,
neither Roesia nor her descendants bore his surname, but still retained that of de Verdon.
She died in 1-247.

* From a tablet in the grounds of Cole-Orton Hall, inscribed " To the Memory of Francis Beaumont."
t This Nicholas, in 1218, became one of the Sureties that Marmion should be a faithful keeper "of Tamworth Tower

and Toun."

166 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

Dugdale gives the following Charter of the foundress, dated 1242, when Bishop Grosse-
teste confirmed the foundation : — " Know, present and future people, that I, Roesia de Ver-
dun, have granted, and by this my Charter confinned, to God and St. Mary and to the
Church of the Holy Tiinity of Tlie Grace of God at Belton, and to the servants of Christ,
the Nuns in the same Church serving God, in pure and perpetual alms, for me and my heirs,
and for the souls of my parents and of all my ancestors, and of my husband's, all my manor
of Belton, with the advowson of the Church of the same place, and all other the appurte-
nances and liberties which I and my ancestors ever used to have in the said manor ; to have
and to hold of me and my heirs, in pure and perpetual alms, freely, quietly, peaceably, and
entirely, in demesnes, villanages, meadows, pastures, woods, the Park, warren, mills, men,
rents, services, sequels, and all other things to the said manor belonging, without all exac-
tion, service, and peculiar demand. And I, Roesia, and my heirs, will for ever acquit the
aforesaid Nuns of the Royal service which belongs to the said manor, with the appurtenances
abovesaid to the same Nuns in the aforesaid Church serving God, against all nations. And
that this my gift, grant, confirmation and warrantization, may obtain perpetual firmness, I
have thought fit to corroborate this my present writing with the putting to it of my seal.
Witnesses — Sir Richard de Harecourt; Sir Ernald de Bois ; Sir Ralph Basset, of Sapcote;
Sir Richard, of Normanville ; Sir Adam, of Quartermars ; Sir Miles de Verdun ; Roger
Gernun ; Sir Adam de Newport ; Master Thomas de Verdun, then Rector of Ibestoke ;
Henry de Hertshorn, and others."*

As from the rules of their Order the Nuns of Grace Dieu were prohibited from leaving the
limits of the Nunnery, King Henry HI., by his Royal Charter, gave the Abbess liberty to
constitute an attorney in all cases in which they had cause to sue or be sued.f Agnes de
(jreslev appears to have been the first Prioress, but either from her resignation or death
Mary de Strelton, with the appropriation of the foundress, was elected in 1243, and shortly
after the Prioress and Convent obtained permission for a market and fair at their manor of
Belton. t

Amicia, widow of Ancher de Freschenville,§ Sir William de Wastneis, Lord of the Manor
of Osgathorpe (1279), || and John Comyn, Earl of Buchan in 130(>, w^ere all great benefactors
to this House. H

In 1356 it was found to be of no damage to the King or any other, if the King give leave
to Sir John de CrophuU, Knt.,** and Margaret his wife, to enfeoff Ralph de Cro])hull, Parson
of Cottingham, and Richard de Makkeley, Clerk, in the advowson of the Priory of Grace-

* Mr. Peck's translation of the origmal Charter, in Mon. Any., Vol. I., p. 933.

t Prynne's " Exact History," Vol. III., p. 100. J Carta, 28 Henry III., m. 4.

§ .She gave them certain lands and villans at Staveley Woodthorpe, co. Derby.

II He gave them common pasture for their cattle at Osgathorpe.

t Buchan gave them 100 acres, "devasto sue in Whytewyke et Shepesheved .... fossato et muro includere et

parcum inde facere," and 45 acres of meadow and 1 \ of wood in Belton, which he had of Elias de la Grcne and John

Morell, of Belton.

• * Summoned to the " Cone, quorundan Magnat. tenend. apud Westmonast." 35 Edward III., as appears by some

manuscript notes in Brooke's (Somerset) copy of Dugdale.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. Ifi7

Uieu.* The Crophulls were descended from the foundress, and were sealed at Suttdii-
Bonington.

From this period till 1534, little is known of this Priory. In that year a King's writ
appointed a Commission to visit the Religious Houses of this county. The visitors thus
appointed were Dr. Leigh and Dr. Laytun, and John Beaumont, Esq., of the adjoining
parish of Thringstone. In the " Compendium Compertorum," which gives their reports, is
found the following entry with respect to this house : —

" Gr.\ce Dieu Moxiauum.

. (Elizabeth Hall, )

Incontmentia, { , , , . x^, ., , > Pepererunt.
(Lathanna Ekesildena, ) '

^ ■ . . ( Habent in veneratione zonam et partem tunicas Saucti Francisci qua;
Superstitio, J , ,■ v • -, ,

* ( (ut creditur) parlunentibus conducunt.

Fundator — Dominus Ferys.

Redditus annuus centum et novem marcte.

Debet domus xx lib."

This accusation of a violation of their Monastic vows, thus made against this secluded
Sisterhood, is a severe one ; but, happily for their posthumous reputation, the report of the
Commissioners presents, on the face of it, strong reasons for doubting its accuracy. It con-
tains gross misstatements. It makes " Dominus Ferys," instead of Roesia de Verdon, the
founder — it fixes the annual revenue at nearly ^£30. under the valuation given in Speed —
it appraises the goods and cattle belonging to the Priory at prices which, even for those
times, were unprecedeutedly low fSee note, i^age 168^, and all this /or a reason that cannot
he mistaken.

Then, one of the Commissioners (alas that he should have borne the noble name of
Beaumont !) subsequently proved himself utterly unworthy of all credibilit}- : having con-
fessed to forgeries and " misdemeanours" against Lady Powis and the State to the amount
of £-20,861. f He was, besides, a party most deeply interested iu procuring a false report ot
this Nunnery, as is proved by his having had conveyed to him, " the very ne.it day after
the surrender" the whole of the site of the Priorj' and the demesne lands !

Again, Catharine Hall and Catharine Cheseldyne (Ekisildena), notwithstanding this
alleged incontinence, were pensioned off at the dissolution with the largest pensions allowed
to the Xuns : to which they certainly could have had no claim after a proved violation of
their vow.

The Commissioners valued the stock and furniture belonging to the Priory and its Grange
at £1-25. 7«. Ad. " Of this sum," says the report, " there remayneth a specyalty of £90. Qs. 6d.
upon John Bewman, Gent., for money by him due for the guddes and caltell of tlie seid
Priory by him bought." The bells, white plate, lead, and other things remaining unsold,
fell, however, into the hands of this most dishonest Commissioner, as may be inferred from

• Ad quod dampnuni 30 Edward III., No. 12, Leic'. f See Nichols, under Thiingstoae.

168

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

the following memorandum, added to the report : — " Mem. that the seid John Bewman was
put in possession of the scite of the seid Priory, with the demaynes to yt apperteinyng, to
our lorde the Kinge's use, the 28 day of Octr., in the 30 yere of our seid soveraigne Kyng
Henry VIII."*

Agnes Litherland, the Prioress, and fourteen Nuns, having probably been allowed, as in
other cases, a year of grace, finally surrendered the Convent, October 27, 1539. Sir Hum-
phrey Foster, Knt., apparently as a screen for Beaumont, had in the interim obtained a
grant of the site of the Priory, with the demesne lands and the Grange, by the service of a
fom'th part of one Knight's fee, and an annual rent of 50';., and immediaiely conveyed the
whole to Mr. Commissioner Beaumont ! !t

The following account of " Pencions allottyd to the late Prioress and Convent, by the
Commissioners," is interesting, as showing the names of the Sisterhood : —

Fyrst to Annes Lytherland, late Priores, 2 0 0

Ann Grasley, sub-Priores 2 0 0

Kateryn Chesyleyn 2 0 0

Margaret Powtrell 2 0 0

Kateryn Baker 2 0 0

Elizabeth Hall 113 4

Dorethy Englyshe 1 13 4

Margaret Knottford 1 13 4

Amy Gyllott 1 13

Amy Ashby 1 13

Emme Michel 1 13

Eliz, Prestbury 1 13

Jolian Barwell 1 13

Eliz. Farnham 1 13

Agnes Cosby 1 6

Eliz. Trotther 2 0

Rewards, varying from GQh. to 30.s-., were likewise given to the Prioress and the Nuns ;
and from -20.5. to 20f/., to 38 servants of the Priory.

" Mr. Beaumont," says Nichols, " was soon interrupted in his newly-acquired property,
by a claim of the Earl of Huntingdon" — on which he addressed a letter to Lord Cromwell,
couched in terms of cringing servility, stating his fear of Lord Huntingdon to be very gieat,
and that he had "had secret wamyng to wayre a privy coate.":]: In 1541 he was cited to
show by what title he held the site of the Priory ; and he appears to have answered this
citation satisfactorily, for he still retained possession. In 1550 he was elected Recorder of
Leicester, and in the same year was appointed Master of the Rolls. In 1551 he levied a
fine with proclamations of this lordship, to the use of King Edward VI. and his successors ;
and in 1552, when on his " misdemeanours" becoming fully detected, he surrendered this
and other estates ; Francis, Earl of Huntingdon, by the King's letters patent obtained a
grant, in fee farm, of the capital mansion of the Manor-house of Grace Dieu, with the whole
manor of Grace Dieu and the Grange called Myral Grange, and several other lands, all lately

* The valuation of the different items given in the inventory is exceedingly curious : — " C attell at the Priory and
in the Forest there— 12 oxen, £10. ; 8 kyne, and a bull calf, 66s. 8rf. ; 24 beasts in the Forest, £7. ; 7 calves, 15s. ;
6 horses, 66s. 8rf. ; 34swyne, praysedat26s. 8rf. ; sum of the whole, £25.15s. At Merrell Grange, 12 drawing oxen and
steres for the plowe and wayne, £8. 9s. ; 10 kyne and a bull, £4. 10s. ; 5 yerlyng calves, 20s. ; 5 wenyng calves, 13s. 4rf.;
b mares and 1 fole, 40s. ; 30 sviyne and pigges, sould for 33s. 4ii.; the whole, £18. 15s. %d. Grayne at the Priory.—
In the West bame, 7 qrs. of whete, 6s. the quarter, 42s. ; two bays of barley, 24 qrs., at 3s. id., £4. ; one bay of oats,
Sqrs., at 2s. 4d., 18s. 8rf. ; onebay of pese, 4 qrs., at 2s. 8d., 9s. 8rf. In the Est bame, 15 qrs. of whete, at 6s., £4. 10.;
1 bay of rye, 4 qrs., at 6s., 24s. ; 10 qrs. of barley, at 3s. 4rf., 33s. id. ; 52 lodes of hay, at 2s. fid., £6. 18s. 8rf." &c. &c.
t See Nichols' West Goscote, p. 653. J Cotton MSS., Cleopatra IV., 132.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 169

part of the possessions of John Beaumont, Master of the Rolls* He did not long survive
the loss of his reputation and estates, but in five years after Elizabeth, his widow, claimed
and regained possession of Grace Dieu. The glory shed around the spot by the succeeding
Beaumonts may well be said to have wiped away this, the only stain, that ever sullied the
lustre of their escutcheon. Of these good and gifted men my space only permits me to give
a mere enumeration, instead of the lengthened notice which their virtues, and their contri-
butions to literature deserve.

Francis Beaumont, eldest son of the Master of the Bolls, and of his second wife, Eliza-
beth, daughter of Sir William Hastings, succeeded to the estate on the death of his mother.
He had been educated for the bar, and in 1.593 became one of the Justices of Common Pleas,
and was afterwards knighted. Burton speaks of him as " that grave, learned, and reverend
Judge, Francis Beaumont, Esq."t

Sir Francis Beaumont married Anne, daughter of Sir George Pierrepoint, of Holme, and
dying April 22, 1598, left by her three sons — Henrj', John, and Francis. Henry, who was
only sixteen at his father's death, was knighted by James I. at Worksop, in 1603, on his
Majesty's journey from the Scottish to the English capital. He died in 1606, leaving his
lady (Barbara, daughter of Anthony Faunt, of Foston, Esq.) then pregnant. This posthu-
mous child proving a daughter (who afterwards married first .John Harpur, Esquire, and
secondly Sir Wolstan Dixie), the estate devolved on John Beaumont, Sir Francis's second
son, who married Elizabeth Fortescue (a descendant of George, Duke of Clarence, brother
of Edward IV.), was created a baronet in 16-26 and died in 1628, having obtained consider-
able reputation both as a poet and a soldier. His poem of " Boswortli Field," publisiied,
with several minor poems, by his son, in 1629, was praised by Jonson, Drayton, and several
other contemporary writers.

Francis Beaumont, the great Dramatic writer, whom Wordsworth calls

That famous youth full soon removed

From Earth, perhaps by Shakspeabe's self approved —
Fletcher's associate — Jonson's friend beloved —

the third son of Sir Francis, was bom at Grace Dieu in 1.586, and died in his thirtieth year :
having, in conjunction with Fletcher, a.ddcd /iff i/-i /tree plays to English Dramatic literature,
and written many poems of exquisite pathos and beauty. | His brother. Sir John Beaumont,

* The rent paid by the Earl was £24. 13s. i^d.—Hil. Rec, 2 Eliz., Rot. 19.

t In the margin of a copy of Burton, formerly belonging to William Inge, Esq., of Thorpe Constantine, occurs the
following manuscript note : — " One Judge Beaumont living at Grace Dieu, two men came before him for justice — and
one of the men prayed the ground might open, and he might sink, if what he attested in his own cause was not true —
and the ground immediately opened ; but the Judge, by pointing with his finger, ordered them to go oflf, and it closed
again; and that place will now sound on being struck on, as Robert Beaumont, of Barrow-upon-Trent (who married
one of Sir Thomas Beaumont's co-heirs, and had his part of the estate) aflirmeth."

+ He married Ursula, daughter and co-heir of Henr)- Isley, of Sundridge, Kent, by whom he had two daughters ;
one of whom, Miss Frances Beaumont, died after 1700, having long been in the enjoj-ment of a pension from the Duke
of Ormond, in whose family she had resided. Many of her father's unpublished poems, in her possession, were lost at
sea, in a voyage from Ireland.

Z

170

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

the first baronet, left by his wife, Elizabeth Fortescue, seven sons and five daughters. The
sons were — John, his successor, Francis (another poet of the family who afterwards became
a Jesuit), Henry, Gervase, George, Thomas, and Charles, all of whom except Thomas died
unmarried.

Sir John Beaumont, the second baronet, the Editor of his father's poems — himself also a
poet — was as remarkable for astonishing feats of strength and agility as for his cultivation
of the elegant arts. He fell at the siege of Gloucester, 1644, bravely fighting for his Royal
Master, and was succeeded by his brother Thomas, the third baronet.

Sir Thomas married Vere, daughter of Sir William Tufton, brother of the Earl of Thanet,
and dying in 1686 left four daughters : of whom Cecily, the eldest, inherited Grace Dieu,
and man'ied her distant relative, Robert Beaumont, of Barrow-upon-Trent, Esq. Mr. Beau-
mont sold the estate to Sir Ambrose Phillipps of Garendon, whose lineal descendant, Charles
March Phillipps, Esq., is its present possessor.

A few remarks on the present state of the Ruins and Precincts seem needed. — Next to
those of Ulvescroft, they may safely be pronounced the most picturesque in the county ;
even though havoc was long at work in despoiling them, and though they are now converted
to ignoble uses. The ground plan can still be traced ; even the boundary of the garden,
which Burton says " the Nuns made in resemblance of that upon Mount Olivet Getli-
semane"* is still defined. The spot, from its beauty as well as its associations, has often
been a favourite haunt of Wordsworth, who, in the Dedication of his " Poetical Works" to
the late Sir George Beaumont, thus speaks of it and of the inspiration he caught there : —
" Several of the best pieces were composed under the shade of your own groves, upon the
classic ground of Cole-Orton, where 1 was animated by the recollection of those illustrious
Poets of your name and family who were bom in that neighbourhood ; and, we may be
assured, did not wander with indifference by the dashing stream of Grace Dieu and among
the rocks that diversify the Forest of Chamwood."

Grace Dieu Manor-House, the tasteful residence of Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps,
Esq., and its adjoining Roman Catholic Chapel (both near the Ruins), add considerably
to the beauty of the rich landscape that adorns this part of the Forest.

• Burton mentions a similar imitation of Mount Sinai by tlie Abbot of Burtou-upon-Trent, sliU called Sinai Park.

THE TOMB OF IIOESTA DE VERDUN.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 171

BELTON.

f Bel hi ton, Beletun.*)

Belton is a fleliglitfully-situated village on the northern border of the Forest — of the
boldest scenery of which it commands some strikingly beautiful views. In the time of
Edward the Confessor it contained six plough lands and a half, of the yearly value of ten
shillings. At the lime of the Conqueror's Survey it was the possession of Hugh de Gren-
temaisnell, and was then valued at OO?. The land was equal to four ploughs, and two were
employed in the demesne, and four bondmen. Twenty-five villans, with one Knight and
four bordars, had also eight ploughs. There was a wood one mile long and half a mile
broad,t part of which remains to this day.

The ancient and noble family of De Verdon long held this lordship, till Roesia bestowed
it upon the Convent of Grace Dieu. At the Dissolution it was granted to Sir Humphrey
Foster, who soon after sold it to John Beaumont : at least, so states Mr. Nichols. But it
would appear fiom what he gives elsewhere, that Foster merely held the manor till Beau-
mont could with a better show of decency put in practice the arts which had obtained him
Grace Dieu. Nichols]: gives the following " Copy of the particular for a grant to John
Beaumont, Esq., 36 Hen. III., as preserved in the Augmentation Office. John Beaumont
dothe desyre to bye of the King's Majestic the manors, lands, tenements, parsonages and
other heredytaments, which be conteyned in the partyculers hereunto annexed, and be of
the clere yerely valew of fortye-nj-ne pounds tenne shillings and too pence, and not above,
the tenthes thereof deductyd. In wytness whereof, unto thys bill annexed unto the party-
culers of the same lauds, the said John Bcamounte hath set hys sealle and subscrybit hys
name, the xxvth day of June, in the syx and thyrtythe yere of the raigne of our most drad
soveraigne lord Kyng Henry theight, by the Grace of God, of England, Fraunce, and Ire-
land, Kyng, deffeudor of the fay the, and in earthe supreme head of the Church of England
and also of Ireland. " By me, John Beaumoxt."

This is followed by two valuations of laud and wood, respectively signed by Robert
Burgoyn and William Cowper. The former has appended to it this " Memorandum. It is
requisite and necessarie that all the wodds gro}-ng upon the waste or common within the
Foreste of Charnewode, which doth extend or lye within the precincte of Gracedewe,
Belton, or elsewher in the same Foreste, belonging to the late Monasterie or Priorie of
Gracedewe, may be reserved for the Kyng's Majestic, &c., for and towards the mayute-
nance of his Gracys lands, tenements, milnes, &c., belonging to divers the late Monasteries
and Priories in the county of Leicester dissolved. Also the advowson of the Vicarage of
Belton belongth to the Kyng's Majestie, by reason of the late Priorie of Gracedewe foresaid ;
but whether his Grace hath the gufte thereofF by reason of the premisses, or by reason of
the Parsonage then impropriated to the said Priorie, which is not here in value, I kuowe
not. Pleasith yt yoiur Mastershipp to be advertysed that the premisses be no parcel! of eny
manor, grange, or Parsonage, wyche doth e.vcede the clere yerely value of £xl. ; neither

* For the origin of this name, see Chapter on Antiquities. f Domesday, I'ol. 233. X ^^'est Goscote, p. 663.

172 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOU.

dothe adjoyne to eny of the Kyng's Majesties houses which ben kept or reserved for the
accesse and repayre of his Highness; uor eny of them byn within V or VI miles of eny of
his Grace's Forests, chaces, or Parks, that I knowe off. Ferder, there have not byn eny

other fines gevyn, &c And for the town of Belton forseid, in as much as I can knowe,

there will be no fynes specially mentioned. Also, I knowe nott that the King's Majestie
hath the gyfte of eny spiritual promotion, &c. — nother that any of the fermors or eny other

])erson adjoynyng, have desyred to purchase the same Ferther, I have not to my

remembrance delivered eny values of eny of the premisses to eny person but to John Bemt-
moiiiid Esquyere, who brought me your warrant for the same.

" Per me, Kob'tum Burgoyx."

The other statement is interesting, as showing the quantity of wood and the uses to
which it was applied. " Belton oute wood conteynith CCCC acres, whereof is waste C acres,
growing by parcels of C yeres growith, reserved for tymber for thyrlie tenantz holdyng of
the seid manor by copye at wyll of the lorde, to repayre llieir tenements which they have
had in the seid wood by custome of old tyme used, therefore not valued ; which CCC acres
are to be solde to .John Beamond Esquyer, togyther with the forseid manor and CCIIII
acres resydue, being all tyraber, lyeng togyther ; and abuttyth uppon a close called Tlte Lees
on the West, and uppon a close called Rofherhatve on the North, and uppon a lyttel dyke
which departeth the lordeshypp of Shyppeshed and the seid wood on the Est, and uppon a
hj'ghwey ledyng through the same wood next above Loughborough highwey on the South;
reserved to the Kynge's llighnes by the advyce of Syr Rycherd llyche, Knyght, Chauncellor
of his Grace's Courte of Augmentations and the Couucell of the same, to repayre the Kynge's
Highnes' lands in the countye of Leicestre or elsewher. — In a close called Botherhawe is
by percells X acres of XXX yeres growith, valewed at xiiis. iiiifZ. the acre, which is in the
hoole £vi. iii.s. iiiif^. " Per me, Will'm Coupek."

"July anno regni Hen. VIII. xs.x\i.° pro Johaune Beamonle."

It need scarcely be added, that shortly after this manoeuvring, this most corrupt Com-
missioner and (subsequently) Judge was put in possession of Belton ! However, in 1553,
he was obliged to surrender it with his other possessions to make satisfaction for the gross
pecuniary delinquencies which he committed while blaster of the Rolls.* Edward VI. then
conferred the manor and the advowson of the Rectory on Francis, Earl of Huntingdon,
whose son Henry sold it to Sir Francis Beaumont. It was afterwards the possession of the
Eyres, and was sold in 1793 to Edward Dawson, Esq., of Long Wliatton, whose son, Ed-
ward Dawson, Esq., of Whatton House, is the present proprietor. The patronage of the living
belongs to the Marquis of Hastings. The i)resent Vicar is the Rev. Robert Blunt, M.A.t

Fynes Place and Lk Motk were ancient mansions here : the latter was probably the
residence of the De Verdons. There were also three Parks, called the Great, the Little,
and the Hill Park. The great Fair obtained for this place by Roesia de Verdon, as men-

» See under Grace Dieu, p. 167, 168; also Nichols, under Thringstone.
t It may be named as a singular coincidence, that Mr. Blunt descends from the de Verdons, ancient lords of this
place, through Margaret, the third daughter of John de Verdon, who in 1329 married Sir William le Blunt, common
ancestor of the Blounts and Blunts.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 173

tioned under Grace Dieu, is still one of considerable importance. The tenants of Belton
paid annually one mark for common pasturage on the Forest.

THE CIIUKCH,
which is the one seen in the distance in the engraving of the Monastery of St. Bernard, is.
both from its style and situation, a fine object. It contains several ancient monuments, the
chief of which is the beautiful tomb of Roesia de Verdon, removed from Grace Dieu at the
Dissolution* (see engraving). Many of the Beaumonts lie interred here. An acrostic epi-
taph on Hamlet Toonef is singularly curious.

Amongst the Vicars, the Rev. John Bun-owsJ (16"00) and the Rev. Theophilus Hastings,
ancestor of the present Earl of Huntingdon, were remarkable men : the one for his erudition
and extensive benevolence, the other for his wit and eccentricities.

* In 1839 Lord Shrewsbury and Mr. A. L. Phillipps, by consent of the then Vicar, Mr. Eddowes, opened the
tomb of Roesia de Verdon, and obtained his permission to remove her bones to the new Chapel at Grace Dieu ; which
permission, however, was withdrawn on the same evening, on Mr. Eddowes supposing that there might be some
inconvenience to himself in consequence.

t He was of a very old family long resident here : one of whom married the daughter of Sir Robert Markham, Bart..

and another a Leake, of Wymeswold. Mr. Henry Toone, solicitor, of Loughborough, is a descendant.

J From him descend the Burrows' of Stockwell.

Additions to TiirRCASTOx.

In the Falconer Pedigree (p. 132) Mr. Nichols, whom I followed, eiToneously wrote Claij-
ham for Cayliam, or Keyham, co. Leicester, where Thomas Falconer was seised of lands in
1346; John Cotton in 1478; and RobertHubbard in 180-2. — (See Thurcaston and Swithland.;

A.NSTEV and Ckopston, the ibrmer a Chapelry and the latter a Hamlet belonging to
Thurcaston, are omitted for want of room. The same must be said for Newtown Linfokd,
which, on account of its Church (in which the Commissary of Groby holds his Court), de-
served a lengthened notice : and for Rothlev, which from its great importance was intended
to have a chapter devoted to it.

Note. — The coimters below were found near Rothley Temple, in 1830, together with 21 others. The larger one is
"Billon" or black money, in imitation of the groat of base silver called Billon, coined in France by the English. The
3 fleuis de lis, which were first used in lieu of seme of fleur de lis by Henry V. of England, while Prince of Wales, in
the 6th year of his father's reign (Ruding, Vol. II., p. '2Hj, show that this piece caimot have been coined earlier than
that year, 1405. But its weight, GO grains, shows that it was not coined earlier than 1412, nor later than 14G4 : for
the weight of the groat was reduced from 72 to 60 grains in the former of those years, and further reduced to 48 grains
in 1464 (Ruding, Vol. /., p. 33^ ; since which time it has never been raised in weight. — The smaller, which is brass,
shows the Lions of England, as they have been borne in the Royal Arms since the reign of Stephen.— They have been
shown to one of the Curators of the Coins at the British Museum, by whom both are said to be older than the Nurem-
berg Tokens, so commonly to be met with. One of these, remarkably well preserved, was foimd a few years previ-
ously at Rothley, with the motto HEVT RODT MORGEN TODTT, meaning " To-day alive, to-morrow dead."

174 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

SHEEPSHED.

(Scliepeshede, Schepeshered* Shepyslied, Schepished, Scepeshefde Regis, Sej)shed,
Shepshed, Sheepshead, i^c, ^c.

Goduinus tenet de Rege in feudo 2 hidas et dimideam in Scepevesde et 4 carucatas terrjE. Osgot
tenuit cum sac^ et sock. In dominico habuit 2 carucas et 2 servos ; et 30 villani, cum 12 bordariis,
habent 19 Caracas; et 20 sochmanni cum 2 militibus et 6 villanis et 4 bordariis habent 21 Caracas. Ibi
moluium de 5 solidis et 1 acra prati. Silva 1 leuca longitudinis et 4 quarentenarura latitudinis. Hanc
terram Tastam invenit. De h^c terra exeunt 6 librae ad praecepta episcopi Baiocensis pro Servitio Insulse
dc Wiih.— Domesday, fol. 230, h 2.

Sheepshed, the head of the fourth and last division of the Forest adopted in these pages,
is situated close to its northern border. The numerous variations of the spelling of the
name — variations which, indeed, still prevail — might lead the etymologist to doubt its true
origin. It seems clear, however, that it is derived from the Forest Bercariaf or Slteep-shed,
once standing on the spot : and a pronunciation, as well as a mode of spelling, in accord-
ance with this derivation, has of late years become nearly general. The village is populous
and the lordship of great extent — stretching, like Banow, to the centre of the Forest, and
embracing a considerable portion of it.

Sheepshed, in the Ecclesiastical division of the county, is situated in the Deanery of
Ackley, or Akeley : from an ancient Park of which name, lying in this parish, this Deanery
was so called. J

Sheepshed appears to have been, at an early period, of considerable ecclesiastical con-
sequence. It was the Church of the Deanery' — it was the head of a Soke§ — it was, as is

* It is remarkable that the most frequent mode of spelling Swineshead, or Swineshed (Lincoln), was Swinesheved
in old Avritings ; and there can be little doubt that shed is an abbreviation of sheved (sheaved), that is, thatched. —
See the Rev, Dr. Yerhurgh's History of Sleaford.

f These bercaries included folds, wash-pits, and every other necessary appendage to a sheep farm. They were of
great antiquity, and the privilege of erecting them was deemed one of considerable importance. — See Dr. Oliver's
History of the Sleaford Guilds, p. 33.

X I have no hesitation, even in the absence of positive proof, in making this unqualified assertion. The origin of
the names of all the other Deaneries is satisfactorily accounted for : they all bear that of their respective Hundreds
with which they are also co-extensive. This, following the same rule, should be the Deanery of West Goscote : but,
without any reason having ever been assigned for the exception, it has, for time immemorial, been called the Deanery
of Akeley. Acle, or Ackley, or Okeley Park, situated in this parish, was conferred by one of the Earls of Leicester on
the Abbey of St. Mary de Pratis. The Abbey had, besides considerable property, the tithes, the Church and soke of
this place — which seems, indeed, to have been their chief dependency in this part of the county : and hence arises the
probability that the name of this Park was given to the Deanery to avoid the confusion that would have resulted from
there being two Deaneries of Goscote. I submitted this opinion to a well known Ecclesiastical antiquarian— Mr.
Stockdale Hardy — who at once admitted that, if any place called Acle could be proved to have been in the Deanery
(uf which he was not aware), it must unquestionably have been the origin of the name. It is written .4c/e in the
Matriculus of Bishop Welles, 1220.

S There are, indeed, grounds for believing that this soke had two others, those of Brackley and Halso, in some way
dependant upon, or connected with it : — " Concessimus canonicis totam decimam de pannagio et venditione nemoris
utriusque Soche de Schepished, Brackley, et Halso." — Grant of Alan la Zouch. The terms " de utr^que socha," &c.,
occur in grants of the founder of Leicester Abbey. The true meaning of the word soke, which origmally signified a

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 175

shown by the extract prefixed to this Chapter, either in the possession or jurisdiction of
Odo, Bishop of Bayeiix ; the brother of the Conqueror — and it subsequently became, as will
be shown, much connected with Leicester Abbey. The extract further shows that there
was a mill here, valued at o.s. a year. This mill, with other possessions and privileges, was
conferred on the Abbot and Convent of St. Mary de Pratis by Saer de (Juincy, Earl of
Winton, with the whole of the grinding for the soke (viz.: the parishes of Hathem, Dishley,
Whatton, and Lockington),* andybr his oivn house there. He also undertook that neither
himself nor any of his heirs should thenceforward erect any mill within the territory of
Sheepshed or Hatheni.t The possessions and privileges which the Abbot and Convent
obtained here were valuable and somewhat singular. They had the Church, and all other
Churches in the soke — they had tithes;]; — they had common over the whole Forest for their
tenants, with housbote and heybote§ for their houses in Sheepshed, and timber for their
mill — they had, of the gift of Roger de Quincy, the right shoulder of every wild beast (cujus-
libet feraj) taken in the Park of Acle — and they had view of frankpledge and common fine.

The Church — the most singular and venerable fabric within the precincts of the Forest —
seems also to justify my attaching great ecclesiastical importance and high antiquity to
Sheepshed. It was confen'ed on Leicester Abbej' by Robert Bossn,|| but it appears, by its
style of architecture, to have been erected long anterior to this time.

It was doubtless the ancient Forest that first gave importance to Sheepshed ; and having,
as 1 conjecture, from the interlining of the word " Regis" added to its name in Domesday
book, been a hunting residence for Royalty before the partition of the Forest, it continued
to derive consequence from the subsequent possessors, the Earls of Leicester and Winton.

The Park of Acle appears to have been of considerable extent, comprising the whole of
the tract lying between Little Haw and the present Oakley or Akeley Wood, as well as the
wood itself. The appearance of the gi'ound bears evidence of its having been a very ancient

plough, is, coufessedly, obscure. It is also frequently ambiguous. " In hoc diflferebant inter de sac et soc. Sac pri-
vilegium eratsive poteslas cognoscendi causas et lites dirimendi. Soc, territorium sive praecinctus in quo saca et csetera
privilegia exercebantur : .Soc, curia ; Sac, causarum in ipsfl. curii cognitio." — Hickes, That is, sac was the Court —
soc, or soke, the territory over which the jurisdiction was exercised. In law Latin soca is used for a seigniory enfran-
chised by the King, with liberty of holding a Court of his socmen or socagers. Littleton says, "whatever is not
tenure of chivalry is tenure in socage." Grose defines socage "an exclusive privilege claimed by millers, of grinding
all the com which is used within the manor or township in which their mill is situated."
• See Register of Leicester Abbey.

f This passage shows that the Earls of Winton, and probably the Norman Earls of Leicester, occasionally resided
here. The manor, indeed, early ceased to be a Royal manor, and became limited to the Honor of Leicester, or at
least devolved on the owner of one moiety of that Honor.

X They had also tithe of the assarts on Chamwood Forest. — See Rentale.
^ Housbote was fuel; haybote, materials for fencing.
II As the number of Christians increased, so first Monasteries, then finallie parish Churches were builded in every

jurisdyction ; from whence I take oure Deanerie Churches to have their originall, now called mother Churches

the rest being added since the Conquest, either by the lordes of everie towne or zealous men, loth to travell farre and
willing to have some ease by building them neere hand. Vnto these Deanerie Churches also the cleargie in old time
of the same Deanrie were appointed to lepaire at sundrie seasons, there to receive wholesome ordinances and to con-
sult upon the necessarie alfairs of the jurisdyction. — HolUnshed, Reprint, page 227.

176 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

inclosure, and a portion of it being still called Kirk-hiU might give some reason for con-
cluding that a Church may at an earlier period have stood there. Little Haw was another
but smaller Park in this parish, and was probably used for fattening deer. There is a
tract formerly called Henley, lying between the town of Sheepshed and Garendon, called
fifty years ago " The Yeanleys," now " The Inleys."* Oxley Grange is another old inclo-
sure ; it lies between Sheepshed and White Horse Wood. Oxele occurs in an Inquisition
(given below) taken at Newtown Linford in the 13th of Edward I.

The boundaries of this extensivef and remarkable parish, as translated from the Register
of Leicester Abbey, may not be unacceptable to those readers connected with the neigh-
bourhood.

" Beginning at the bercary of Lontherburg', the boundarj- goes to the heyweye and thence

to Charleston And thence through the middle of Charley inclosure. And thence

through the middle of the ancient Hall of Charley, which is called Erleshall. And thence
to Rohay Well. And thence to Conston Cross, and thence to the Reynstones. And so on
to Tynte-medowe, leaving Grenewode on the left hand. And so on to Clepston. Thence
to Fayrewey — and thence to the Erlesdyke, close by Beltonwode, following the Erlesdyke
as far as between Walhyrne, Beltonwode and Deryntonhaw. And thence to Wytonylde.
And thence to Lonelyreyne, and so on to Oldedyke ford — and thence to Mydelslecheds —
and thence to Gothous lydyaw : then to the Gonhull, and so to Thorpe Lydgate, by follow-
ing a C7-os.s."J One of these ancient crosses, formed as was often the custom, either by
cutting or raising the earth, may still be seen in Nettle Hill, nearly opposite Nanpantan.

From the Earls of Winton the lordship jjassed to the three daughters of Roger de Quincy,
whose respective marriages with Ferrars, la Zouch, and Comyn, have been so often referred
to. These ladies made partition of the lordship. Two parts, in 1309, were the possession
of William Comyn, who obtained them in fee from his brother .John, Earl of Buchan ; these
parts then passed by marriage to Henry Beaumont, and continued to be a possession of that
family till 1463, when they were forfeited by the attainder of William Viscount Beaumont,
and conferred by Edward VI. on William Hastings, his Chamberlain, to be held of the
King by homage only, in lieu of all services. After the execution of Lord Hastings, in 1483,
Francis Lord Lovel, nephew of William Viscount Beaumont, obtained from Richard III. a
grant of these two parts, his family having apparently inherited the other portion by descent

* Usque vctcrcm campum de Geroldoni^, qui vocatur le Halow, juxta Henley. — Orel's Chartularij of Garendon ;
Nichols, Vol. III., p. 8.34, col. 1.

f It contains 5171 acres.
:|; The following shows the parts within the limits of the Parish Church of Sheepshed; — " Inquisitio faeta apud
Lindeneford, Dominici in crastino Translationis Sancti Thomae Martyris aimo rcgni regis Edwardc XIII., per breve
domini super limilibus parochiarum ecelesiarum ahbatis Leycestrie, per Johannem de Anesty Rob'tum Curther de
eadem, Thomam Dannct do eadem, Rob'tum le Sawere de eadem, Rob'tum filium Johannis de Groby, Rob'tum
Molendinarium de eadem, Henricum Gea do Bradgate et eetcros; qui dicunt super sacramentum suum quod Haldel-
neshay, Wormingys, Tenterwode, Middelraken, le sykc usque Halywele Lawcdyke forde et idem usque Hyweycside
quae est ad barcariam de Loughteburg predictam, Sryebrokishe ride, el Calange, Oxele, tota warda Godeberti, Srym-
toneshawe, Crophyrst, Birchwode, Milnellys [cum] parcubus de Acley et Litlehau sunt infra limites parochie ecclesiffi
prffidicti Abbatis Leyc' in Schcpepyshed. — Nichols' West Goscote, p. \^\\.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 177

from Alan la Zouch. On the death of Lord Lovel (killed in Stoke Field, 1485) the entirety
again reverted to the Crown, and in 150-2 two parts of this lordship, with the manor of
Loughborough and the advowson of the Churches, were granted by Henry VIIL to Thomas
Grey, Marquis of Dorset, in exchange for the manors of Grafton and llartwell. By the
attainder of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, in L533-4, they again became vested in the Crown,
and were sold by Queen Elizabeth, in 150'1, to Henry Manners, Earl of Rutland. Francis,
Earl of Rutland, died possessed of these said parts in 1():32, after which they passed with
Garendon to his grandson George Villiers, the second Duke of Buckingham.* The other
part of Sheepshed (the possession of the Levels) had been conferred, in 1485, on Sir John
Savage, of Clifton, co. Chester, Knight, who commanded the left wing at Bosworth Field —
as a reward, cum aliis, of his services on that memorable occasion. Sir John Savage,
gi-andson of the above, sold Sheepshed to Thomas Duport, Esq. Henry Duport, Esq., was
owner of Sheepshed in 1619. The manor, with nearly the whole of the freehold, soon
afterwards became the possession of Sir Ambrose Phillipps, by purchase from the Duke of
Buckingham's Trustees. There was at that period a large number of copyholds, but on a
trial at law, about twenty-five years ago, it was decided that the Lord of the Manor was not
bound to renew the lives in the leases, so that nearly all the copyhold property has now
become the freehold of the present Lord of the Manor, Charles ]\Iarch Phillipps, Esq.

The parish, as has been stated, extends far into the Forest ; in fact, this lordship and
those of Barrow, Whitwick, and Newtown Linford (a member of Groby), all converge to,
and nearly meet at the central point, Charley ; an extension which they doubtless acquired
when the Forest passed from the Crown to the Lords of Manors, in the lime of Henry H.
A considerable tract in the Sheepshed portion of the Forest, near the part where the Earl's
Dyke is most readily traced, is still called Leicester Plain : which name it probably derived
from the Earls of Leicester, and which must have formed, in early times, an important part
of their hunting ga'ounds. The Earl's Dyke must have been a work of considerable magni-
tude; and though the precise period of its formation can only be conjectured, its object was
apparently to serve the double purpose of a well-defined boundarj' and mutual deer fence
between the Earls of Leicester and Chester. Its bank was, doubtless, surmounted by paling.

IvESHEAD, in this lordship, is, after Bardon and Beacon, the noblest of the Forest hills.
It is isolated from the general range, and when viewed from some points presents a bold
and mountain-like outline, with a double summit, resembling Sadde-back. The eastern of
these summits is now crowned with one of the Ordnance Station Towers. Swains' Hill —
a name which suggests the probability of the spot having been a Swanimote Court — lies at
the foot of Iveshead; and at a little distance from the latter stands The Hangman's Stone,
which furnishes the subject of a Legend appended to this Chapter. Scout-house Hill,
another eminence in Sheepshed parish, is said to have been so named from its having had
upon it, in early times, a lodge for deer-watchers or scouts. It is marked with a gallows
in Wild's map of Charnwood : having been the spot on which John Harris, of Sheepshed,
in 1730, and William Warner, of Garendon, in 173-2, suffered the penalty of death — the

* Two parts of Sheepshed -were held of the King, in capite, in 1320: as parcel of Groby in 1326: as member of
Whitwick in 1340 : as parcel of the Honour of VVinton in 1346 : of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1407.

A a

178 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

former for the murder of Warner's father, and the latter (his associate also in this crime) for
returning from transportation for deer stealing.*

The parts of Sheepshed now forming an appendage to the Garendon domain will be
described under the latter place.

THE CHURCH,

which is dedicated to St. Botolph, is well worth the attention of the curious in ecclesiastical
architecture. It was evidently erected at two different periods, the older portion being built
of Forest stone and the more recent one of freestone. It contains several fine monuments of
the Duports, the Beaumonts, and of the Phillipps family.

Vicars. Patrons.

Gilbert, 1-2-20

Simon de Reylestou, 1-252 Prior and Conventof St. Mary dePratis,

William de Wivelstone, 133i ) Leicester.

John Hutchinson, 1534.

Peter Ollerenshaw, from 1569 to 1621.

Robert Palmer, 1647 to 1658 i

RobertLawrance, Minister, buried Dec. 30, 1664 j "

Robert Port, 1665 ; buried Jan. 26, 1671 j

WilUam Rose, Feb. 14, 1670 \^'' '^^°°^^^ Beaumont, Bart.

Thomas Barradaile occurs Vicar 1689 -.

John Robinson, March 13, 1698 I

Richard Kay, March 19, 1701 P"' ^°^^™'^ PhiHipps.

William Antill, Sept. 21, 1703 j

Gervase Bradgate, Sept. 21, 1713 ,

Wall Parker, Nov. 26, 1717 William Phillipps, Esq.

Thomas Heath, M.A., Feb. 2, 1735 )

William Farnham, Oct. 3, 1765 Samuel Phillipps, Esq.

Charles Alsopp, June 12, 1777 Sir William Gordon, K. B.

Joseph Harriman Hamilton, 1831 C. M. Phillipps, Esq.

* The circumstances coiuiected with this shocking deed present some rather peculiar features, William Warner,
senior, who had saved some property in the service of the Garendon family, had a house in the Park. He was a
widower, and had a son and daughter. The son, suspecting him of an intention of marrying one of the domestics at
the Abbey, hired or persuaded Harris, who was the lover of the sister, to murder the old man. Old Warner left the
servants' hall at eleven o'clock at night, and was discovered the next nioniing inhumanly murdered in the centre of
the Park. The son impeached Harris (who had hitherto borne a good character) and claimed the King's pardon, but
being indicted for deer stealing he was transported. Returning from transportation he was apprehended at Castle
Donington, and at the Assizes next following ordered for execution on the spot where his confederate or victim was
then hanging in chains.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

171>

LEGEXD OF THE HANGMAN'S STONE.

It happen'd but twice in the tide of time,
And but once since the Conqueror came,

That all Shepeshed men were in bed at ten,
And ail Whytwyk wights the same.

There were fat red deer in old Bardon Park —

Fat hogs on the great Ives Head —
Fat goats in crowds on the grey Lubclouds —

Fat sheep in the Forest shed.

There were coneys in store upon Warren Hill,

And hares upon Long Cliff dell ;
.\nd a pheasant* whirred if a foot was stirred

In the Haw of the Holy Well.

There were trout in shoals in the Charley Brook,

And pike in the Abbot's Lake,
And herons in flocks under Whytwyk rocks.

Their nightly rest would take.

All these were the cause why the Shepeshed men

And the Whytwyk wights the same.
Never slumber'd when the clock told ten,

But watch'd for the sylvan game.

What matter that Warders and trusty Regarders

Look'd well to the Forest right ;
The .Shepeshed encroachers were aye practis'd poachers.

And their day was " the noon of night."

If the smaller prey did not hap in their way.

What matter ? The sheep and deer
Were a goodlier meal, and the verb to steal

Was neuter or nameless here.

John of Oxley had watch'd on the round Cat Hill,

He had harried all Timber Wood;
Each rabbit and hare said " ha I ha !" to his snare.

But the ven'son he knew was good.

A herd were resting beneath the broad oak —

(The Ranger he knew was abed :)
One shaft he drew on his well tried yew,

And a gallant hart lay dead.

He tied its legs, and he hoisted his prize,

And he toil'd over Lubcloud brow ;
He reach'd the tall stone standing out and alone.

Standing then as it standeth now.

With his back to the stone he rested his load.

And he chuckled with glee to think
That the rest of the way on the down hill lay,

And his wife would have spiced the strong drink.

That rest of the way John of Oxley ne'er trod :

The spiced ale was untouched by him ;
In the morning grey there were looks that way,

But the mountain mists were dim.

Days pass'd and he came not — his children play'd

And wept — then gambolled again ;
They saw with surprise that their mother's wet eyes

Were still on the hills — in vaiu ! — • « » • *

A swineherd was passing o'er Great Ives Head,

When he noticed a motionless man ;
He shouted in vain^no reply could he gain —

So down to the grey stone he ran.

All was clear. — There was Oxley on one side the stone.

On the other the down-hanging deer ;
The burden had slipp'd, and his neck it had nipp'd :

He was hanged by his prize — all was clear I

The Gallows still stands upon Shepeshed high lands.

As a mark for the Poacher to own,
How the wicked will get within their own net :

And 'tis still call'd " The Grey Hangman's Stone.'

* Much uncertainty prevails respecting the period of the introduction of the pheasant into England. The following
extract from a Grant of Edward the Confessor to Randolph Peperking, in the Records of the Exchequer (Encyp.
Londinensis, Art. Pheasant), will prove that it was much earlier than is generally supposed : —

STtlje etiiuarii Sorting

l&alif gibcn of mr JTorfat anD ftrrpingf,

®f tfje IjunDvrii of Clljflmfr anD Dancing,

Zo KanDulpi) Prpftiitng anD fjis ftmBltng,

Si23it1) ijarte anD IjinDf, Dot anD bocfet,

fBixc anD foi, tat anD bvotlit,

825ilDt fointU. toitJ) Jis floritc,

JTeaant t)m anD ftsant totUt,

SQiti) g;rtfnf anD toilDt atob anD stotftt, &t. *:.

180 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

GARENDON-GERALDONIA.

( Gerondon, Gerouldon, Garendon, Gereweden, Wereweden, Garendedon, Garraden,

Garraton.J

Abbatia de Gerendon, filia de Waverley. — Monasiicon, Vol. I., p. 68.

Garendon, from its former consequence as a Religious House, its present beauty as a
private residence, and its extensive connexion with the Forest, justly claims a distinguished
place in this History. To do ample justice to the Abbey and the noble domain that now
surrounds it, would, however, require a volume instead of the few pages which the plan of
this work, already much extended beyond the originally contemplated limit, will allow.

Garendon Abbey, according to Burton and Dugdale, was founded by Robert Bossu,
Earl of Leicester, A. D. 1133. Other writers have assigned a later date to the foundation,
viz., 1169.* This discrepancy may have arisen from a circumstance which seems to have
escaped the notice of Historians, viz. : — that the Abbey was not originally erected on the
site which it afterwards occupied, and on which the present mansion stands. This fact of
a previous site seems highly probable, at least, from a passage in the Garendon Chartulary,
in the possession of the Ord family, where Roger de Quincy permits the Abbot and Convent
" to inclose with a fence and ditch all his wood of Kntt (Knightlhorpe), and the whole space
from the hedge on the western side of the Goat-house to the head of the Thweyt towards
the Forest, where their Abbey was anciently founded." — f Ubi Ahhatia eoriim antiqui-
tusfiiitfiindata.) Another passage points to the present Hermitage Plantationf as the
probable spot on which the Abbey was originally begun ; for it is shown by the note sub-
joined that " the Thweyt" (the locality of which is now lost) was to the west of what is still
called Thorpe Brand.J Want of water, greater eligibility of situation, or even, as in the
case of Dale Abbey, some supposed miraculous intimation may have led to the removal.
Or it may have arisen from the dispute about the right to the domain of Garendon, which
appears to have existed between Bossu and William Gerebert, the latter asserting that the
lordship, of which Garendon was a member, had been unjustly taken from his father; but
still willinglv granting it for the foundation of the Abbey fad fundament ion Ahbatie //bens
concedo), and jiromising, if the Divine Mercy should ever enable him to recover the manor,
that he would greatly augment the possessions of the Monks. §

* Knighton, who was followed by Tanner in the first edition of his Notitia Monastica, states 1169.

f The name seems to afl'ord some clue. So far as I can learn, it has been for time immemorial given to this place, and

Hermitages are known to have been the original commencement of many Religious Houses.

X Geoffrey, son of Ralph de Louteburg, granted to the Abbey of Garendon all his right in the wood of Thorpe
Anker and Garendon, " a fossato inter campuni de Thorp et campum de Gerandon usque ad le Brende ; et a le Brende
usque ad le Thweyt : et a le Thweyt usque ad hayam subter caprinam ab occidentali parte, qua descenditur ad Ab-
batiam.

§ See the Carta Gereberti from the Garendon Chartulary (Nichols' West Goscote, p. 814>, which on several
accounts is singularly curious. It is without date, but is addressed to Alexander, who was Bishop of Lincoln from
1123 to 1147, and it is therefore conclusiveof the last foundation of the Abbey having taken place between those periods.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 181

The Abbey was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and for the Cistercian Oudkr, whose
strict rule has been so fully described in the notice of Mount St. Bernard as to render it
unnecessary for me to dwell upon it here. Unfortunately there is extant no engraving of
this mitred Abbey, but that it was an edifice of considerable size and consequence may be
gleaned from various circumstances incidentally mentioned in the voluminous records still
preserved respecting it, as well as from the Inventory taken at the Dissolution. The founder
endowed it with five carucates and three yard lands in Garendon, two in Ringlethorpe,
certain lands in Dishley and Ravenstone, the wood of Sheepshed (a mile and a half long
and a mile broad), and Michelholm, in the lordship of Lockington, for a fishery in the Trent.*

But if the founder's grants to the Abbey were neither numerous nor extensive, those of
succeeding benefactors were so. Ernald de Bois, his Senesch;il, with the permission of the
Earl, gave to the Monks of Garendon the whole village of Bittlesden, Bucks., that an Abbey
of the same Order might be there founded.t Bossu, however, further assisted the Monks of
Garendon, by procuring for them from Ranulph, Earl of Chester, a perpetual grant of the
Castle and vill of Mountsorrel, the lordship of Charley, a large portion of Chamwood Forest,
and Holy Well Haw. They obtained, also, from the same Ranulph, the privilege of common
pasture for all their cattle in Barrow. Margaret, Countess of Winton (sister of Bossu), was
a large benefactress. Roger de Quincy, William Earl of Warwick, the Despensers, the
de Burghs, the Mowbrays, the Harcourts, the Rosels of Rempstone, &c., &c., conferred
many gifts and grants, several of which are coupled with the condition that they should be
buried in the Abbey, with the obsequies usually performed for one of their departed Monks.
But a mere enumeration of the benefactions coufeired on this Abbey would occupy so many
pages that it must suffice to refer the reader to the copious and well-digested account given
by Mr. Nichols, who, in addition to abstracts and analyses of the two valuable Chartularies
in the possession of the Marquis of Lansdowne and Mr. Craven Ord, gives, from an In-
spcvimits of 1340, an exemplification of one hundred and ninety-nine gifts and grants to
this house. Among the many things worthy of notice in these Chartularies and the Register
are : — the gift of a burgess in Leicester, who should buy them bread and lodge them :| the
gift of villans, with their chattels and sequel :§ the release of a villan from his homage,
which was granted for the sum of 5.y. :|| the grant of the whole salvinage, &c., of all the wild
beasts in the inclosure of Knit, to fence in, hunt, and take : an exemption of this Abbev
from pontage, pavage, and murage, through the whole realm :1[ the particulars of a compo-

* "In nianerio meo de Loclientun in Michelholmio ad faciendam unam piscariam locum competentem in Trente."

I'ide Chartam Fundatoris.
t An old manuscript cited by Burton under Thorpe Arnold, says, " Tempore Regis Stephani Eraaldus de Bosco
seneschallus Roberti comitis Leicestriae fundavit Abbathiara de Bittlesdon," on which Dugdale remarks, " Ita incepta

et fundata est Bittlesden anno Gratioe MDCXLVII anno XIII a fundatione de Gerondon :" which furnishes

another confirmation of the year 1133-4 being the date of the foundation.

X Grant of Robert Bossu.
§ Grant of Roger de Quincy. " Sequela" meaning the little treasures which bad taste and worse feeling has, of
late years, led people to call " encumbrances." The word is, perhaps, descriptive of the then prevailing modes of life ;
the whole family /oWouiin^r the villan to his labour.

II The lord was Robert Putrell (Poutrell) and the villan Robert of Hoton.

182 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

sition of three marks for tithes due from the Monks to the Parson of Prestwolcl, for their
lands in that lordship :* a mandate of Henry HI. (1254) to the Abbot to receive and enter-
tain Jewish converts for two years :t a singular gift of Quenilda, wife of Ralph Stabularius,
which recites that before her marriage she had given on the altar of Dishley Church, all
her right and claim to lands held by the Monks in Costock — the Monks in return agreeing
to maintain her for life — and after her man-iage she quit-claims these lands to the Monks
(the witnesses to this quit-claim are all females — Petronilla, Edalina, Giva, Emma, and
Agnes) : an exemption for the Cistercian Order from being cited into the Secular Comts,
and from the episcopal authority of any Bishop (p. 819) : a writ from Edward I., dated
Kynges-Clypeston (Clipstone in Sherwood), XVI" die Octobris (16th of October), anno
regni nostri XVIII., shortly before which Edward had probably hunted in Chamwood :
an exception in favour of the Abbot of Garendon from the order prohibiting any Cistercian
going beyond the seas. — An indenture of Henry de Beaumont — " To all those wich these
li'es indented schall se or here, Henr' of Beaumo't erle of Boghan, constabull of the Scottis
and Alys his wyfTe, gi-etyng in Gode : know ye hus to have gyflTen and granted licence for
us and owre heires to monk William of Erie and monk Robert his sun, that thei mey gyffe
all their londes and ten'tys wich thei have in the tonne of Alton and Rawnston (whiche
londes and ten'tys be of oure fee) to thabbat and monkys of the Abbe>- of Garadon," &c., &c.
In addition to these may be named some " peculiar and especial" grants and privileges
from Popes Lucius II., Alexander IV., and Anastasius III.

From the same source, too, is derived the following: — " In the year of our Lord 1219,
Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winton, and Robert son of William lIarcourt,J and William Earl of
Arundel, set out to the Holy Land : and before they arri\'ed there, the Lord Saer de Quincy
being seized on the way by a grievous illness, having summoned his attendants, entreated
them and bound them by an oath that after his death they would burn his heart, and having
carried the ashes to England, would bury it at Garendon" — which was done. He died in
the month of November, and his body was buried at Acre. Roger de Quincy, his son, died
A.D. 1264, and was buried in the Abbey Church of Garendon. Margaret, Countess of
Winton, sister of Robert Earl of Leicester, and mother of the above Roger, was buried at
the entrance of the same Church.

The following list of the Abbots of Garendon is partly taken from Nichols' Abstract of
the Register, and partly from other sources : —

Galfridus Abbas occurs with Robert Bossu as witness to a grant of Camerarius de
ClintonS.. He may therefore be concluded to have been the first Abbot.

Tliurstan occurs as Abbot in 1176.

• This is of considerable interest, as showing the liability of the Cistercians to pay tithes. Mr. Carte (see a note
in Nichols' West Goscote, page 787) was of opinion that they were only liable for lands rented by them: but the
original composition, and Hugh Malet's grant, clearly show that the lands they held in Prestwold were their own
property,
t Reginald, Abbot of Garendon, was severely wounded by night on his sick couch, by one of these convicts, in 119G,

which led to their expulsion. — See Chartulary.
+ This William gave to the Monks of Garendon the lordship of Stanton-undcr-Bardon, very shortly after the foimdation

of the Abbey.

* PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 183

1189, Obiit Tuistanus Abbas Gereldunae. Successit Wilheluius Prior ejusdem domtls*

1195, Wilhehnus Abbas Gereldunae diraisit abbatiam suam. Successit Wilhelnins
Abbas Miravallis.t

119(), Regiimldus Abbas Geroldonia; graviter vuhieratus est in infirmatorio suo nocte
propter quod niissum est per generale capitulum Cistertii ut omnes conversi ejusdem loci
di spergerenlur. J

1-219, Adam Abbas septimus Wavcrle ecssit; successit ei Adam Abbas Gereldonis.

1-2-26, Cedente Wilheluio subrogatur Keginaldus Prior Geroldoniae ejusdem domus Abbas
decimus.

1234, Cedente Reginaldo, subrogatur Andreas Prior de Garadon ejusdem domds Abbas
undecimus.

Simon was Abbot in the reign of Henry III. Robert de Thorp 1-274. Thurslan appears
to have succeeded.

Roger occurs in 1-281. Eustace was his successor.

In 1-295 Johannes Abbas Gereudonise profitetur obedieutiam episcopo Lincoln, et bene-
dicilur 8 kal. Junii.

In 13-20 John de Sutton was Abbot.

In 1349 William de Sanct4 Cruce, late Abbot of Garendon, was, at the King's instance,
made the first Abbot of St. Mary de Grace, or East Minster, London, founded by Edw. III.

Thomas Syeston, alias Shepyshed, was Abbot in 1510, and held that office till the Dis-
solution, in 1536.§

There were at that period fourteen Monks. The Abbey was valued by the Commis-
sioners at £129. 6s. 8d. clear annual value. The Valor Ecclesiasticus makes it £159. 19.s. lOrf.

But the numerous Granges belonging to this Abbey afford, perhaps, better evidence of
the extent of its possessions than mere numerical statements. These were — Dishley, Rin-
gelthorpe, Systonby, Alton, Ravenstone, Stanton, Burton-on-the-Wolds, Goadby, and Holy-
well, in Leicestershire, Rempstone and Costock in Nottinghamshire, and Heathcote in the
Peak of Derbyshire.

It was in 1540 that Henry VIII. by his letters patent (in consideration of the sum of
£•2356. 5s. lOc^.) granted to Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland, the site and late domain of
Garendon Abbey, together with the manors of Garendon, Dishley, Wymeswold, Sheepshed,
Weston, Swithland, Burton Undershawe, Worthington, Mountsorrel, Thorpe Acre, Leicester,
and Cortlingtock ; the Rectories and Chantry of Garendon and Dishley ; the Manor of
Sutton Bonington, Nottingliamshire, and the Manor and Grange of Ravenstone, in the coun-
ties of Leicester and Derby ; with all rights and privileges to which the said Abbey was
in any way entitled. ||

A branch of the Digby family appears to have occupied the Abbey soon after; for
Francis Digby, of Garendon, Gentleman, on the 30th of November, 1551, received a pardon
from Edward VI. for having counterfeited the lawful coin of the realm.

Subsequently, the Earls of Rutland seem to have made Garendon theii' occasional resi-

* Annales Waverl. f Ibid. + Ibid. j The Abbots of Garendon sat in Parliament.

II See Grant, &c., copied by Nichols, p. S38, from Peck's manuscript of the original, at Garendon, 1730.

184 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

dence; for Sir Thomas Beaumont, in his " Shepherdesse" (written about 1621), after highly
extolling, in the song of one of the Charnwood shepherd bards, the personal and mental
graces of Catherine, Marchioness* of Buckingham, the daughter of Francis, Earl of Rutland,
says :—

" Her father, high in honour and descent,
Commands the Sylvans on the North of Trent ;
He at this time, for pleasure and retreate,
Comes down from Belvoik — his ascending seate —
To which great Pan has lately honour done :
For there he lay — so did his hopeful son.
But when this Lord, by his accesse, desires .
To grace our dales, he to a house retires
Whose walles are watered by our silver brookes.
And makes the shepherds proud to view his lookes."

Sir Thomas Beaumont's poem, in addition to its many " happy conceits," is valuable as
incidentally affording, at least, a poet's testimony on a subject on which historians have not
agreed, viz. : — that the union of the magnificent favourite with the " Beauty of Belvoir"
was one of mutual affection, and neither forced on an unwilling lover by the lady's noble
father, nor effected by any unworthy stratagems on the part of Villiers. Arthur Wilson and
other writers have attempted to show that it was a stolen match ; that Buckingham " having
taken off the Lady Catherine from her father's house, detained her for some time in lodgings,
and only married her when alarmed by the threats of the Earl that his greatness should not
protect him if he wounded the honour of the family." Mr. Jesse, in his Memoirs of the
Court E)i(jhind, says " the affair is altogether involved in mystery." Certainly the beauty
and wealth of the young heiress — the richest in the kingdom — forbid the supposition that a
parvemo like Buckingham, even when basking in the full sunshine of the Court, should not
consider her a fitting match. The probability therefore is, that the objections were on the
Earl of Rutland's side. That the Duke was a kind and affectionate husband is indisputa-
ble. Sir Henry Wootton says, " he loved her dearly, and well expressed his love by be-
queathing her all his mansion houses — a power to dispose of his whole personal estate, and
a fourth part of his lands in jointure. t The Duchess, who was in a room above her husband
at the moment he was assassinated by Felton, manifested the excess of her feelings on the
occasion in a way that showed the strength of her attachment.!

The slight connexion of the Duke of Buckingham with the Forest does not call for any
lengthened notice of him in these pages, but I cannot with so much propriety omit some
mention of his mother, who may be said to be a native of it. Of this remarkable lady

• Nichols, Vol. III., p. 200, states that George Villiers, Marquis of Buckingham, was married in 1620, and created Duke
in 1623; though in the Villiers Pedigi-ee, on the preceding leaf, he dates his marriage in 1626 and his death in 1628.

t Reliq. Wotton, p. 236.
J Lord Carleton, in a letter to the Queen, thus describes the scene ; — " The Duchess of Buckingham and the
Countess of Anglesea came forth into a gallery that overlooked the hall, where they might behold the blood of their
dearest lord gushing from him. Ah 1 poor Ladies ! such was their scrcechings, tears, and distractions, that I never in
my life heard the like before, and hope never to hear the like again." — Jesse.

^4^ if* , / ^

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 185

Mr. Jesse says : — " The Peerages, ever complaisant, speak of her as having been the daughter
of Anthony Beaumont, of Glenfield, in the county of Leicester, Esq." Her own importance
at the Court of James, and the grandeur achieved by her family, may render her actual
origin a matter of interest. Roger Coke, in his " Detection of the Court of England"
informs us, on the authority of his aunt, who was connected by marriage with the Villiers
family, that she was a kitchen-maid in old Sir George Villiers' establishment ; that he became
enamoured of her, and persuaded his lady to place her about her own person ; and adds
that, after the death of his wife. Sir George presented her twenty pounds to improve her
dress, which appears to have produced such a wonderful effect that shortlj' afterwards he
married her. Weldon styles her " A gentlewoman whom the old man fell in love with and
married." Arthur Wilson's account is somewhat different. The old Kjiight, he informs us,
was on a visit to his kinswoman Lady Beumont, at Cole-Orton, in Leicestershire, where he
found " a j'oung gentlewoman of that name, allied and yet a servant, who caught his affec-
tions, and whom he afterwards took for his wife." Her name was undoubtedly Beaumont,
and however distantly, she was certainly connected with the Leicestershire family.* " By
the death of Sir George Villiers, in 1606, she was left a widow, with only £-200. a year.
She was afterwards twice manied ; first to Sir William Rayner, and secondly to Sir Thomas
Compton. The unexampled rise of her son was a new era in her existence ; it raised her
from an impoverished country lady to be the proud manager of a Court. On the 1st of July,
1618, she was created, by letters patent. Countess of Buckingham in her own person: an
unusual kind of distinction, of which the last example was in the days of Queen Mary. The
Countess did not leave her family in the back-ground — and if beauty be deserving of rank,
the honours conferred on them were not ill bestowed."t

Her youthful grandchildren — the issue of the marriage of the Duke with Lady Catherine
Manners — were the constant pet companions of James I. For hours every day would the
Monarch romp with them, though he had been remarkable for cold reserve towards his own
little ones. The author of Aulicus Coquinaria3 styles them a race " handsome and beautiful"
— an hereditary advantage, says Mr. Jesse, if we may judge by many a fair face of later
times. — The Countess of Buckingham, the extraordinary mother of an extraordinary son,
ended her days at the Gate House, Whitehall, in 1632, and was interred iu Westminster
Abbey.

Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, whom Nichols erroneously calls the Duchess
Dowager, formed a second marriage with the Earl of Antrim. The King disliked the match,
but forgave the widow of his beloved friend. Buckingham left four children by her. —
Charles, who died an infant ; George, the witty Duke, who succeeded him ; Francis, who

* Nichols, in the Villiers Pedigree (East Goscote, p. 198), styles her " Lady Mary Compton, daughter of

Anthony Beaumont, seventh son of William Beaumont of Cole-Orton," which leads one erroneously to conclude that
she was " Lady Mary" when Sir George married her ! i Jones, in his account of Cole-Orton Hall, makes her " the
daughter of Francis Beaumont."

f Besides the unexampled rise of her son George, she lived to see her eldest son Viscount Purbeck ; her third.
Earl of Anglesea ; and her daughter Countess of Denbigh. Of the two half brothers of the Duke (the sons of Sir
George Villiers, by his first wife, Audrey Saunders) William was one of the first Baronets; and from Sir Edward,
President of Munster, descend the Viscounts Grandison and the Earls of Clarendon and Jersey. — Jesse.

i3b

186 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

fell in the civil wars ; and Mary, married to the Duke of Richmond* After the death of her
father, the Earl of Rutland, in 1632, the Duchess became possessed of Garendon in fee ; and,
by a fine, conveyed the estate to Trustees, who re-conveyed it to her son.

George, the second Duke, having been declared a traitor by the Roundheads, Garendon,
together with the manor of Sheepshed, &c., &c., was sold June 10, 1652, under an Act of
Parliament, for the consideration of ^354. 11*. b\d., to John Thurlowe, John Hunt, and
Nathaniel Waterhouse.f The Duke, however, recovered possession in 1657, chiefly by the
interest of Lord Fairfax, whose daughter he had married after having been rejected by one
of Cromwell's daughters.

In 1682 the mansion house was the residence of John Barwell, Esq., of Kegworth, and
at this period the lordships of Garendon and Sheepshed were purchased of the Duke of
Buckingham for the sum of 3£28,000.,J by Ambrose Phillipps, Esq., at that time an eminent
Barrister of the Middle Temple, but shortly after knighted and appointed King's Sergeant.

[I had prepared for insertion here a copious, and indeed an elaborate account of the
PniLLirrs family, who from their long and honourable connexion with the County, and
particularly with the Forest, have an especial claim to notice in these pages, but want of
space obliges me to omit it. A sketch of the celebrated poet, Ambrose Phillipps, is omitted
for the same reason.] §

An anxiety to improve and adorn the estate, and to ameliorate the condition of the large
population connected with it, may be said to have been hereditary in the Phillipps family.
Ambrose Phillipps, Esq., grandson of Sir Ambrose, called, while on his travels in Italy,
" The handsome Englishman," erected the tasteful triumphal arch that graces the Sheep-
shed entrance, and also the obelisk and temple. He, too, designed, and his brother Samuel
erected, the chaste garden-front, which has been so generally admired. Sir William
Gordon, K.G., who mamed the widow of the last-named gentleman, appears to have treated
the fine timber of the estate as unsparingly as the Duke of Buckingham had previously done
— in the Park alone he felled trees that realized £'5000. (and in other parts of the domain
ii4,500. more) ; so that the present well wooded state of this beautiful Park of 400 acres,
is a matter of surprise to those who know how it has been denuded.

But great as has been the spirit of improvement in the owners of Garendon, it was
reserved for the present greatly and justly -esteemed possessor, Charles March Phillipps,
Esq., II to add the crowning grace, by the addition of so large a part of the contiguous Forest
as probably to have doubled both the value and beauty of the domain. H

* Jesse's *' Court of England.^'

f From a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, intituled " Purchasers, &c., of the Estates of the Royalists, in the years

I651-I654."— iVicAote.
J The Duke is said to have delayed the execution of the conveyance till he had cut down timber to the amount of

£5000!— Sroy's Tour.

§ Their descent from the de Lisles, great benefactors to the Abbey, is a coincidence deserving mention.

II Who represented the Coimty of Leicester in several Parliaments.

H Some of the Chamwood farms belonging to the Garendon estate, especially those called The Hurst Farm and
Inglebury Lodge, respectively occupied by Mr. Cumberland and Mr. Webster, are little inferior either in quality or
cultivation to the best farms in Leicestershire.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 187

With a taste and judgment that cannot be too much admired, ]\Ir. ^larch Phillipps has
formed from liis Forest Lodge green drives of some miles in length, extending to Five Tree
Hill and Xanpantan. These, winding through thriving plantations of larciies, laurels, and
rhododendrons, amidst most picturesque rocks, and formed of closely shorn Forest turf,
afford a luxury unsurpassed by any estate in the kingdom.

The accompanying sketch of Long Cliff is taken from a part of one of these green rides,
and may serve to give a faint idea of some of the beauties of this part of the Forest; but
neither the pencil nor the pen can adequately describe the exquisite distant and varied pros-
pects which, through the vistas of these line plantations,* are constantly presented to the eye.

Loughborough, when viewed from the summit of Long Clitf, has a noble, city-like
appearance, and may remind the spectator of the loveliness of situation ascribed to it bv
Camden, from the circumstance of its contiguity to the Forest. t — From this point, too, the
trains of the Midland Counties' Railway may be observed, almost uninterruptedly, from
Sileby to Derby, and form a pleasing object darting across the grand panorama.

The wonderful changes in the effects of the Forest landscapes, caused by the vaiiations
of the atmosphere, can scarcely have failed to be noticed by those at all acquainted with the
district. These changes, during March and April of the last year (when I was a sojourner
on the Forest), were so striking and so varied as often to fill my mind with perfect astonish-
ment ! At one period a fog, acting as a magnifier, threw an uncertainty and even a witchery
over the hills that were singularly pleasing. At another, snow might be observed lying
on the mountain tops, while verdiu-e and warm sunshine cheered the valleys. Then, ap-
pearances very like what are called " dissolving views," would present themselves. Often,
the mists would brood on the steep hill sides, while the peaks were gilded with the risiuf
or setting sun. Again — the peaks were hidden in a cap of clouds, while the slopes and
low grounds were all brightness.

And now the mists from earth are clouds in heaven :

Clouds slowly castellating in a calm

Sublimer than a storm : while brighter breathes

O'er the whole firmament the breadth of blue,

Because of the excessive purity

Of all those hanging snow-white palaces.— H'n/so;!.

The rainbow, always more grand and vivid in mountain districts, is peculiarly so on
Chamwood. From the summit of Long Cliff I noticed one of such extraordinary brilliancy
and beauty as I never before beheld ; one base of the mighty arch (it was near sunset) rested
like a pillar of fire on the top of Buck Hills, while the other shed all the prismatic colours,
with a vividness quite new to me, over the groves of Gareudon. The peculiar purple haze
which often invests the Forest hills is exceedingly beautiful. Nor should the fem fires

• The Long Cliff Plantation is not yet of twenty years' growth, and the larches are not inferior to those of an equal age
in the celebrated Forest of Athol.

t Nunc veri) secundum locum a Leicestrii inter omnia hujus comitates oppida sibi suo jure vindicat, sive amplitu-
3inem, sive structuram, sive etiam sylvarum amoaiitatem spectes; sub ipso enim Saltus de Charnwood sive Charley
longe expanditur. — Camden^ p. 389.

188

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

now, alas ! becoming yearly a greater novelty — be forgotten. One evening, while I was
making some astronomical observations from the top of Long Cliff, one of these suddenly
flashed out near Whittle Hill, and, almost simultaneously, another on Ives Head. The
effect was extremely fine ; the busy, but blameless incendiaries, were plainly discernible,
and presented to the imagination a tolerable jjicture of the Persian Fire-worshippers.

The Forest air seems to claim some notice. — No person can visit Charnwood without
immediately becoming sensible that he is in a fresher and purer atmosphere than that which
surrounded him in the valleys. Invalids are quickly aware of the bracing effect of the
Forest breezes, and persons affected with asthma find almost instantaneous relief. What
is called " change of air" may, therefore, be enjoyed by the inhabitants of Leicestershire
without going out of the county, and the change will probably be found as great and as
efficacious as a removal to places a hundred miles distant.

I regret that I neglected to make observations on the barometer and thermometer during
my abode on Charnwood ; neither can I learn that any person has so carefully done this, as
to furnish any data. The result, I am persuaded, would greatly tend to confirm the grow-
ing opinion of the extreme salubrity of the Forest.

Near Long Cliff is the hill of Nanpantan* — beneath which is the neat Forest cottage of
Thomas Warner, Esq., and under the Buck-hills is that of William Paget, Esq. The Sweat-
ing Tree, which created a great sensation a few centuries ago, stood between the Outwoods
and the Holy-well, on the spot now occupied by Mr. Giles's cottage.

The following lines of Bancroft, a Midland County Poet of the seventeenth century-
omitted in their proper place — form a suitable pendant to the description of Grace Dieu : —

Gracedew, that vuider Charnwood stand'st alone

As a grand relicke of Religion,

I reverence thine old (but fruitful) worth,

That lately brought such noble Bcaumonts forth,

Whose brave, heroic Muses, must aspire

To match the Anthems of the Heavenly quire.

The mountaines crown'd with rocky fortresses
And sheltering woods secure thy happinesse :
Thou highly favour'd art (though lowly plac'd)
Of Heaven, and with free Nature's bounty grac'd
Herein grow happier, and that bliss of thine
Nor pride o'ertop nor envy undermine 1

He thus addresses the surrounding Forest : —

Charnwood ! if all thy stones were turn'd to bread,
(As once the fiend did such a motion make)

It would be more than ever Xerxes fed,
Or Tcnariffe and M\x\a. both could bake ;

And hungry Churles that rail at Souldiers
Would rend up Rock-bread and turn Pioneers.

• It deserves to be recorded as a singular fact, that John Cartwright, Esq., caught at this place, in 1837, two sea
birds, seldom seen south of the most northern part of Scotland, whose short wings and heavy body would incline one
to doubt the possibility of their arriving so far inland. Mr. Churchill Babington, to whom Mr. Cartwright allowed
me to send one of them, has inserted it in his short supplement to the " Ornithology of Charnwood Forest." — (Se^
Appendix, p. 7.3.)

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD. 189

HOLY-WELL HAW.

(Hole-welle, Haliwell, Haliwella, Halliwellhaga, Huluvella.)

A little, lowly Hermitage it was,

Down in a dell, hard by a Forest side.
Far from resort of people that did pass

In travel to and fro ! A little wide
There was a little Chapel edified.

Wherein the Hermit duly went to say
His holy things, each mom and even-tide;

Thereby a crystal stream did gently play,
Which from a sacred fountain welled forth away. — Spenser.

Holy-well Haw, ouce a lonely little Hermitage, but now a farm house, on the borders
of the Forest, derives part of its name from a well, to the waters of which, even in recent
times, considerable virtues have been attributed. The adjunct Haw, which the reader will
have frequently noticed in these pages, simply signifies an inclosure.* The precise date of
the foundation has not been clearly ascertained ; it existed, however, as a Hermitage, pre-
viously to 1180, as appears by the gi'ant of Robert de Jort, by whom it was, perhaps, origi-
nally erected as a sort of HospUium for wayfarers crossing the Forest.f

The Garendon Chartulary says " Heremitorium de Halliwellhaga dedit nobis Robertus
de Jort et decern acras terre in cauipo de Wymundewaldi."

In the Testa de NeviU the Abbot of Garendon is said to have held, in 1-240, " unam
vicariamj [vaccariam] cum quodam parvo bosco: et appellatur Haliwelle Hawe de feodi
Robert! filii David."

"In 1326," says JVIr. Nichols (Vol. III., p. 12-2), when speaking of this Hermitage, "the
Abbot of Rocester, in Dovedale, obtained leave to remove the Chapel of Holy-well to a
Chantry founded in the Abbey Church at Rocester for the soul of Robert Cotes :§ and it was
then found that the said Abbot held a virgate of land in Holy-well for the use of the said
Chantry." This is utterly wrong, as may at once be seen by a reference to Tanner's Notitia,

* It perhaps literally means only a fence ; and hence the thom most used Lq fencing is termed Aau'thom.

t Prfeterea et Heremitorium de Hallwell-haw concessi et confirmavi in perpetuam eleemosinam ita plenarie in
longitudine et latitudine sicut habuerunt anno Incamationis MCLXXX. Teste Gilberto de Segrave, &c. Ranulph,
Earl of Chester, confirms this grant, and speaks of the place as " defeodo meo de Haliwell-hac/d." — See Chartulary.

J Nichols (Vol. III., Part I.) suggests that this word should probably be " ftercariam." He was somewhat nearer
to the truth than the Testa, but it is singular that he, so conversant with the Garendon Chartularies, should have failed
to see what was the right word. " Item unam vaccariam que vocatur Haliwell que taxatur ad LVlIs. Illlrf." are the
words of one of his own extracts from that source.

§ It was probably similarity of name and of loneliness of situation that led Mr. Nichols to consider that Holy-well
Haw Hermitage was the Chantry founded for the soul of Robert Cotes : but Tanner is quite conclusive to the con-
trary, quoting letters patent (19 Edward II., p. 1, m. 10). " Rex concessit abbati de Koucestre in Dovedale quod

ipse capellam de Halywell in Com. Waru-ic a loco illo amovere et cantariam pro animabus Roberti de Cotes

et Ricardi Fylon in eSidem capelli dudiira ordinatam in eccl. convent, ipsius Abbatis de Roucestre facere et susten-
"tare." And under Rocester he gives — " Pro Cantarii Roberti Cotes et Ricardi Fitton in capelia de Halliwell siti in
loco solitario et periculoso propter latrones super regiam stratam de Watling Strele transferendi usque ad eccl. conv.
in Roucester."

190 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

under Haly Well (p. 583) and Rocester (p. 497), where it plainly appears that it was Haly
Well, in Warwickshire, whence the Chantry, founded there for the souls of Robert Cotes
and Richard Fitton (elsewhere Fylon), was removed to the Abbey of Rocester. The Chantry
thus removed was on Watling Street (super regiam stratam de Watlyng Strete), and not
near Charnwood. — Holy-well Haw is, however, mentioned in the Garendon Register as
hemgjuxtd veterem viam ; called also via Regia. — (See p. 18, and the notes on p. 189.)

In 1330 it a])pears by a precept from King Edward HI. to the Sheriff of the county,
that the Abbot of Leicester had purchased, in 13-29, from Henry, Lord Beaumont, a certain
parcel of wood in Holy-well Haw, for which the Abbot had paid £-28. to the said Lord
before his having entered into rebellion : and the same having been seized by the King on
account of the attainder, the Sheriff was directed to restore it to the Abbot.

As in the case of the neighbouring Hermitage of Alderman Haw, it is not ascertained
at what period this Hermitage ceased to have any resident Monks ; it appears, however,
from the Garendon Register, that it had long before the Dissolution been used as a Vaccary.

The Hermitage is now a part of the possessions of Charles March Phillipps, Esq. A
Gothic doorway and a few other portions of ancient building appear to be remains of the
original fabric. The Holy-well still sends forth its most pellucid waters as in the days
when it was regarded as a Bethesda. The whole scene is singularly quiet and beautiful ;
Spenser's lines, indeed, most accurately describe it.

I gleaned the leading parts of the following Legend of Holy Well from an aged person
at Whitwick, where the name of Comyn, as connected with the ancient Castle of that place,
" a matter of five hundred years ago," is still mentioned. The popular idea seems to be,
that the Comyns were great giants. One of them, said my informant, attempted to carry off
one of the Ladies of Groby Castle, who left that place for security, intending to take sanc-
tuary at Grace Dieu. Going, however, by a circuitous route, to avoid Charley and Whit-
wick, she was benighted, and would have perished in the Outwoods, but for one of the Monks
of the Holy Well. The anachronisms and violations of history occumng in the narrative
need not be pointed out to the intelligent reader. There is, however, as observed below,
some truth mixed up with what is evidentlj' fabulous. The tradition may, in fact, have
arisen from Douglas's carrying of!" Eleanor Ferrars. — (See under Groby and Charley.)

I may be permitted here to express a hope that the " legendary lore" with which I have
occasionally endeavoured to relieve these pages, may not, in any way, lead the reader to
attach less importance to statements professedly historical. It seemed hardly right, indeed,
that the topographer should leave wholly unnoticed all matter of a merely traditionary
nature ; partly because of the portion of truth frequently mingled with these tales, and
partly because they may be considered as somewhat characteristic of the Forest peasantry.

A popular writer, Mr. Featherstone, in his " Legends of Leicester," has introduced, with
good effect, some of the traditions of Charnwood, and a series of "Legends of the Forest"
formed the leading Chapters of the London Magazine in 1825,* but those which are given
in these pages have not before appeared in print.

* One of these, entitled "The Archer of Ulvescroft," was obligingly forwarded tome by a stranger (I presume
the author), through the hands of Mr. Moore. It is so interesting, that nothing but its having previously been pub-
lished couid justify my omitting it.

PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

191

LEGEND OF

The oaks of the Forest were Autumn-tiiiged,
And the winds were at sport with their leaves,

When a Maiden traversed the rugged rocks
That frown over Woodhouse Eaves.

The rain fell fast — she heeded it not —

Though no hut or home appears ;
She scarcely knew if the falling drops

Were rain-drops or her tears.
Onward she hied through the Oktwoods dark —

(And the Outwoods were darker then :)
She feared not the Forest's deep'ning gloom —

She feared unholy men.
Lord Comyn's scouts were in close pursuit,

For Lord Comyn the Maid had seen,
And had marked her mother's only child

For his paramour, I ween.

A whistle, a whoop, from the Buyk Hylls' side.

Told Agnes her foes were nigh :
And, screened by the cleft of an aged oak,

She heard quick steps pass by.
Dark and dread fell that Autumn night :

The wind-gusts fitful blew ;
The thunder rattled : — the lightning's glare

Showed Beacon's crags to view.

The thunder neared — the lightning played

Around that sheltering oak ;
But Agnes, of men, not God afraid,

Shrank not at the lightning's stroke !
The thunder passed — the silvery moon

Burst forth from her cave of cloud,
And showed in the glen "red Comyn's" men.

And she breathed a prayer aloud : —

" Maiden mother of God ! look down —

List to a maiden's prayer :
Keep undefiled my mother's sole child —

The spotless are thy care." » » » ♦ *
The sun had not glinted on Beacon Hill

Ere the Hermit of Holy Well
Went forth to pray, as his wont each day.

At the Cross in Fayre-oke dell.
Ten steps had he gone from the green grassy moimd

Still hemming the Holy Well Haw,
When, stretched on the grass — by the path he must pass-

A statue-like form he saw !
He crossed himself once, he crossed himself twice.

And he knelt by the corse in prayer :
" Jesu Maria ! cold as ice —

Cold — cold — but still how fair !"

THE HOLY WELL.

The Hermit upraised the stiffened form.

And he bore to the Holy Well :
Three Paters or more he muttered o'er.

And he filled his scallop shell.
He sprinkled the lymph on the Maiden's face,

And he knelt and he prayed at her side —
Not a minute's space had he gazed on her face

Ere signs of life he spied. • » • » »
Spring had invested the Charnwood oaks

With their robe of glist'ning green,
When on palfreys borne, one smiling mom,

At the Holy Well Haw were seen

A youth and a Lady, passing fair,

Who asked for the scallop shell ;
A sparkling draught each freely quaffed.

And they blessed the Holy Well.
They blessed that Well, and they fervently blessed

The holy Hermit too ;
To that and to him they filled to the brim

The scallop, and drank anew.
" Thanks, Father ! thanks !— To this Well and thee,"

Said the youth, "but to Heav'n most,
I owe the life of the fairest wife

That Charnwood's bounds can boast.
The blushing bride thou seest at my side,

(Three hours ago made mine)
Is she who from death was restored to breath

By Heav'n's own hand and thine.
The Prior of Ulvescroft made us one,

And we hastened here to tell
How much we owe to kind Heav'n and thee,

For the gift of the Holy Well.
In proof of which — to the Holy Well Haw

I give, as a votive gift,
From year to year three fallow deer.

And the right of the Challenge drift.
I give, besides, of land two hides.

To be marked from the Breedon Brand :
To be held while men draw from the Well in this Haw

A draught with the hollow hand."
The Hermit knelt, and the Hermit rose,

And breathed "Benedicite" —
" And tell me," he said, with a hand on each head,

" What Heav'n-sent pair I see ?"
" This is the lost de Ferrars' child.

Who dwelt at the Steward's Hay ;
And, Father, my name — yet unknown to fame —

Is simply Edward Grey."

192 PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CHARNWOOD.

CONCLUSION.

With Holy Well Haw the reader is brought to the point from which the circuit of the
Forest, adopted in the Parochial History, commenced ; and also to the close of the bodj' of
the work ; and however distrustful of the reception of my own portion of these labours, I
can refer him to the contributions of those gentlemen with whom it is my pride to have my
name associated, in the full confidence that the Appendix will be regarded as a valuable
accession to the sciences of which it treats.

Should the historical part of the book be considered too diffuse on some points, and too
barren on others, it must be borne in mind that the records of the Forest, as a Forest, are,
unfortunately, extremely scanty and unsatisfactory ; while it may fearlessly be asserted, that
no county district of equal extent has, connected with it, such an extraordinary array of
names of high historical interest. This consideration will at once account for the seemingly
undue preponderance of biographical matter. Indeed, I could scarcely, with clearness,
have been less prolix on some of the remarkable characters introduced : particularly on

" her most gentle — most unfortunate :
Crowned but to die — who in her chamber sate
Musing with Plato, though the horn was blown
And every ear and every heart was won,
And all, in green array, were chasing down the sun !"

It would have been gratifying to be able to adduce historical proof of some points which
now rest on conjecture or tradition — but my inability to do this did not appear to warrant
the suppression of all matter of this nature.

The reader will have been enabled, it is hoped, to draw from the copious details pre-
sented to him, a tolerably correct idea of the Forest, both in remote and recent times. To
those acquainted with the locality it will have required but little exertion of the imagination
to picture what it must have been in the times when it was a part of the Great Forest of
Arden : or in those times when our Kings, and the Earls of Chester and Leicester, the Fer-
rars, the Comyns, the Beaumonts, the Hastings, and the Greys, found in its recesses some
compensation for the absence of the one sole more exciting scene — the battle field.

The gradual decay of the sylvan honours of the Forest will have been gleaned from the
\\liole work, rather than from any separate chapter.

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APPENDIX.

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

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APPENDIX.

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

The centre of England is occupied by a wide and fertile plain, stretching through the
counties of Nottingham, Leicester, South Derby, Warwick, Worcester, Stafford, North Shropshire,
and Cheshire. This plain appears such only when viewed on a large scale; its surface is not
absolutely flat, but slightly undulated into long sweeping ridges and gentle slopes, never rising
or falling much from a certain mean level, and presenting, when viewed from a moderate height,
a plain horizon. Rising from this plain are several detached ranges or clusters of small hills or
elevated grounds : of these the hills around Dudley, those south of Atherton, and Charnwood
Forest, are the most remarkable. Charnwood Forest lies between the three towns of Leicester,
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and Loughborough. It comprises a cluster of hills which rise boldly, although
to no great elevation, above the surrounding country, having well-marked features, not only con-
trasting it with the adjacent plain, but differing one from tbe other. We should, without any
previous knowledge of its structure, distinguish the rounded and massive forms of its sienitic hills,
from the lighter and more delicate outline of the slates, and these from the rough and craggy
ridges bristling with rocks of the porphyries and greenstones. Its aspect, therefore, alone, is suffi-
cient to assure the geologist that he will find something in it of interest, since he knows that every
feature and outline of the surface of the earth, depends either on the nature of the rock within or the
conditions under which it has been placed, both of which things it is his object and hope to dis-
cover. To the geological student, indeed, especially to one who has never studied the lower or
older rocks, the district of Charnwood Forest offers peculiar advantages; he here gets, within a
small space, a sufficient number of the most striking characters of the slate rocks and their asso-
ciates, neatly exposed and arranged, without being overwhelmed by the accumulated difficulties
and novelties of the larger and loftier districts of Wales, Cumberland, or Cornwall.

The physical geography of Charnwood Forest is seen by a glance at the ordnance map of the
district; it consists of some ranges of low hills, running nearly N. N. W. and S. S. E., and some
detached or projecting masses. The two highest points are Bardon Hill and Beacon Hill, each
of which rises about eight hundred and fifty feet above the sea, and about seven hundred above the
level of the Soar, at Leicester. The general level of the surrounding country is about two hun-
dred feet above the Soar; so that on approaching the boundaries of the Forest, the sensible height
of its two highest points is about five hundred feet. This will not apply, however, to Bardon Hill,
as viewed from the Ashby-de-la-Zouch side; the coal field of that neighbourhood is also above the
general level of the surrounding country, and Bardon Hill only rises three hundred and fifty feet
above the level of the railway at Snibston.

Charnwood Forest forms a small centre of drainage, the brooks running every way from it; all
of them, however, fall into the Soar, with the exception of those on the flanks of Bardon Hill,
which run into the Sence, and thence into the Anker. As both the Anker and the Sence, how-
ever, flow into the Trent, the whole must be included within the basin of drainage of that river.

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FORMATIONS.

The oreological structure of the district is rather more complicated, and presents greater variety,
than might be expected from its small extent. It comprehends the following formations: —

Aqueous Rocks.

1. Lias.

2. New red sandstone.

3. Coal measures.

4. Mountain limestone.
6. Slate rocks.

Igneous Rocks.

1. Sienite.

2. Porphyry, greenstone, and their varieties.

AQUEOUS ROCKS.

1. Lias. — Of this large and important formation, so conspicuous a feature in the geology of
England, the base or lowest part only is seen in our district ; it consists of alternations of thin
beds of light-coloured limestone, with beds of dark blue laminated clay, or shale. The following
sections of quarries at Barrow-upon-Soar, and the village of Hoton, will give a good idea of its
character : —

HOTON.

/ Limestone .... 8

1. Raffle I Shale 10

' Limestone 8

2. Shale

3. Top floor, limestone

4. Shale

5. Hurs, coarse limestone ....

6. Shale

7 . Pockey, granular limestone

8. Shale ,

9. Little floor, limestone

10. Shale

11. Bottom floor, bluestone, flintstone, blue lime

stone

fl.

?,

2

0
6
0
10
0
8
2
3
6

6

8

0

4

0

.3

n

n

0

1

e-
1

20

BARROW.

/'.

1. Shale 6 0

2. Rummels, limestone 1 0

3. Dark shale 4 0

4. Limestone 0 6

5. Shale 1 0

6. Limestone 0 8

7. Shale 1 2

8. Limestone 0 5

9. Shale 1 6

10. Limestone 0 9

11. Shale 4 0

12. Limestone 0 6

13. Shale 7 0

14. White hurls, limestone 1 0

28 6

It will be perceived that these sections, while preserving a general resemblance, have not an abso-
lute uniformity. The beds of limestone thin out and come in again in various directions, so as to
vary both in number and thickness, and in the thickness of the beds of shale between them. The
limestone of Barrow is celebrated for its quality of setting under water, and is largely exported.
It is also well known for the abundance and beauty of the fossil fish and ichthyosauri which have

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 5

been found in it, a collection of which is generally kept on sale by Mr. Lee, of that place.
Various other points along the line of the limestones are likewise rich in organic remains (more
especially Corllingstock, I believe), and, were they examined by persons residing on the spot,
would no doubt richly repay their trouble.

2. New red sandstone. — Immediately below the lias are found beds of red marl, generally
spotted and streaked with white, or pale green. These marls frequently contain beds of sofl
sandstone, of the same colours, and some beds of a conglomerate of small pebbles. In the upper
parts, however, the beds are almost entirely marl ; and at a probable depth of about one hundred
and fifty or two hundred feet below the lias, a great quantity of gypsum is found. This gypsum
is nearly continuous, if not quite, from Leicester, by Syston, to Burton Bandals, near Loughbo-
rough ; it occurs generally in the state of a compact white amorphous sulphate of lime, lying in
one or two thick beds. In the marls above and below these beds are found many large nodular
blocks of gypsum, and almost innumerable veins traversing the beds in every direction, and being
frequently fibrous and crystalline. Some distance below the gypsum the marls become more
scarce, and give place to the sandstones, w hich gradually pass down into a mass of light greenish
brown sandstone, that forms the Dane Hills, near Leicester. Below this are more red sandstones
and conglomerates, with occasional beds of marl. How far the upper portion of the new red
sandstone of England can ever be divided according to the analogies of the formation in Germany
is at present uncertain, and the neighbourhood of Charnwood Forest does not seem likely to throw-
light on the question ; for our purposes, at all events, it is best to consider it as one continuous and
coherent mass, the upper part of which is the most abundant in clay, the lower the most arena-
ceous. The thickness of the whole formation is an important practical question, which it will be
best to consider hereafter.

3. Coal measures. — This important and valuable formation consists of an alternation of indu-
rated clays and sandstones with beds of coal. The character of these three materials continually
varies. The argillaceous parts are sometimes in the state of soft, unctuous potter's clay, some-
times sandy and laminated, when they are called shale, sometimes hard and compact, when they
are denominated "clunch," or "bind," sometimes light-coloured, or even white, and sometimes
black, and sufficiently bituminous to burn sluggishly. They often contain balls, or thin seams of
ironstone, consisting principally of carbonate of iron. The sandstones vary from a sofl earthy rock
to a hard gritstone, composed of quartz pebbles ; and the coals, from a drossy bituminous shale,
called batt, to soft, tender, or sulphureous coal, hard bright stone coal of good quality, or in some
instances, even cannel coal. The argillaceous portions, principally indurated clay, are by far the
most abundant material; next in abundance come the sandstones; and at different distances
between the alternating beds of these two, lie the thin seams of coal. In the deep sinking, at Moira
colliery, a detailed section of which is given by Mr. Mammatt, in his " Geological Facts of the
Ashby Coal Field," the coal measures were pierced by a shaft to the depth of one thousand and
forty feet, and by boring, about two hundred and fifty feet farther. The following is an analysis
of the section : — The total number of beds, of all substances, passed through in one thousand and
eleven feet, is four hundred. Of these, forty-one are coal, many very thin ; about twenty sand-
stone, chiefly thick ; and the rest clay, shale, clunch, or bind, with occasional thin seams of iron-
stone. Of the beds of coal, the main coal has a thickness of fourteen feet; another bed has a
thickness of four or five feet; thirteen beds have a thickness of two or three feet; eleven are only
from one to nine inches in thickness, and the remainder are between one and two feet. Below the
main coal five beds have been bored through, one of which was six feet thick and the rest about

6 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

three : making a total number of forty-six beds of coal, with an aggregate thickness of one hundred
feet. The hard sandstones are some of them twenty or thirty feet thick, but are very variable in
extent, being much more abundant in some places than others; their aggregate thickness in the
deep sinking, before mentioned, being not more than one hundred and fifty feet. We thus get a
thickness of one thousand feet of argillaceous matter, with about one hundred and fifty or two
hundred feet of arenaceous beds, distributed about it in irregular cakes and patches, and one hun-
dred feet of carbonaceous matter, in thin and regular seams. It is deserving of notice, that the
beds of coal, although they alter their thickness and quality in different localities, are yet much
more persistent than the shales, and these than the sandstones; moreover, the irregularities in the
beds of coal do not seem to have originated in themselves, but to have been produced in them by
irregularities in the deposition of the other materials. Thus, a bed of coal three or four feet thick
in one place, is split up in another into two or three beds, of one or two feet in thickness, by the
intervention of bands of shale, which, though extremely thin at first, insensibly thicken till they
remove the beds of coal to considerable distances apart, or even obliterate one or other of them
entirely. Again, the difference in the thickness of the beds of coal is frequently apparent rather
than real ; as the main, or fourteen feet coal, is in fact made up of several beds, which rest one on
the other, without the intervention of shale or sandstone. All these circumstances are highly in-
structive, when we come to speculate on the origin of the coal measures. The shales and sand-
stones contain a great abundance of fragments of various plants ; of these, Mr. Mammatt gives
nearly a hundred plates in his work before mentioned : to which, and to Lindley and Hutton's
Fossil Flora, the reader is referred for their descriptions. Those figured by Mr. Mammatt are
chiefly stigmaria, sigillaria, calamites, lepidodendron, and ferns.

4. Mountain limestone. — The mountain limestone of this district puts on very various aspects,
differing both from the general character of the mountain limestone of F,ngland, and from itself,
in different quarries. It is sometimes a hard blue limestone, nearly pure carbonate of lime, in
thick regular beds ; sometimes the beds are separated by partings of shale, and the limestone be-
comes nodular and concretionary. Again, it contains in some places so much carbonate of mag-
nesia, as to become a yellow subcrystalline magnesian limestone ; and lastly, in Gracedieu quar-
ries, it in some places loses altogether the character of a limestone, and becomes a blotchy red and
yellow sandy and indurated marl, called by the quarrymen " dirt." This variable character joins
with other circumstances to show the debased condition of the formation, that it is here approach-
ing its original boundary, and on the point of disappearing altogether ; it is still, however, the
representative of the true mountain limestone, and contains the crinoidea, producta, enomphalus,
and various fossils of that formation, and of no other. Its appearing in the state of magnesian
limestone is by no means an uncommon occurrence, since even in the heart of Derbyshire, and in
Yorkshire, large beds of magnesian limestone are found, forming an integral portion of the moun-
tain limestone, and surrounded by beds composed only of carbonate of lime. Wherever this is
the case, the fossils are almost always found in the state of casts, as they appear at Breedon ; the
shell having disappeared, and its external and internal form alone remaining in the rock.

5. The slate rocks. — To this formation we forbear applying any particular term ; because,
although from its mineral character it appears analagous to the Cambrian rocks of Professor Sedg-
wick, we have no other evidence by wliich to class it. In the present state of geological science,
when our ideas regarding the older rocks have undergone such a revolution, and our knowledge of
them has so much increased — when Cornwall, for instance, once considered the only "primitive"
district of England, is found to contain nothing older than the old red sandstone, it would be highly

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 7

injudicious to depend on mere mineral character as conclusive as to the age of the slates of Cham-
wood. No organic remains have as yet been discovered in them, and their entire isolation from
their congeners, precludes our having recourse to the best of all evidence, that of superposition ;
it is therefore uncertain whether they belong to the Devonian, Silurian, or Cambrian systems, the
probability only being in favour of the latter.

The slate rocks of Charnwood vary from a coarse grey wacke conglomerate to fine-grained roofing
slate. The rock called greywacke consists of a dark-coloured highly indurated clay, containing
small pebbles or fragments of crystalline rocks, firmly aggregated together. It is evidently a me-
chanically-formed rock, the result of the wearing down of previously-existing crystalline rocks by
the action of water, and the deposition of the debris or fragments in that fluid. In the production
of the finer-grained slates, the same process has gone on to a greater extent ; the particles having
been worn down into the finest mud before they were finally deposited. It is perfectly possible,
and highly probable, that volcanic eruptions may have taken place in the bed of the seas in which
the slates were formed, and their accumulation have been thus assisted in two ways ; namely, by the
actual ejection of volcanic dust and ashes and lava into the water, and the rending and shatterino-
of the older rocks making them an easier prey to the action of the currents. But whatever may have
been the source from which the materials were derived, we see that their original arrangement and
deposition was a purely mechanical process ; the particles being strewn out in regular layers, one
above the other, according to their relative specific gravities and other circumstances. This is often
perceptible even in hand specimens of slate rock. We can see bands of different texture traversing
the rock, alternately with and passing into one another by imperceptible gradations, but always
preserving the same straight lines and the same relative distances, and being evidently the result of
the tranquil deposition in water of coarse particles at one time and fine at another, with every gra-
dation between the two. This is just what we observe in most stratified rocks, and it generally forms
the grain or bedding of the rock along which it splits most easily, precisely from the circumstance
of there being less mutual coherence in the particles deposited at different times, and forming dif-
ferent layers, however short the interval between each, than in those deposited at the same time,
which form one layer. In slate rocks, however, we are struck by the circumstance that, although the
grain of the rock and the lines of deposition are distinctly visible, there is no longer any tendency
to split in their direction ; but on the contrary, in some other, transverse, and often at right angles
to them. This tendency to split is called "cleavage," and is entirely independent of the original
bedding and structure of the rock ; sometimes coinciding with the stratification, sometimes as
widely as possible apart from it. Not only is it independent of the stratification of the rocks, but
of their position, preserving often the same angle with the horizon and bearing of the compass
through large districts and great mountain masses, in which the beds incline at various angles and
in various directions ; sometimes, on the contrary, changing its angle or bearing, while that of the
beds remains the same. It is most strikingly developed in the finest-grained beds, which can be
split along its direction, sometimes to almost any degree of thinness, while the coarse-grained beds
split indeed only in that direction but rudely and roughly, forming coarse slabs. In some of the
quarries in which fine slate is got, it is almost impossible to detect the original bedding of the rock,
except by observing the light-coloured marks or bands which may be seen on an old and weathered
face of the quarry, and which are sometimes so faint as to require particular lights to detect them.
In other parts, where the variations in texture are more marked, alternations of variously-coloured
stripes of purple, blue, green, or white, frequently not more than an inch wide, and perfectly
parallel to each other, are perceptible at first sight, and at considerable distances ; these are tech-

8 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

nically called "the stripe, " and always give the true bedding and dip of the rock, and are often
discernible on weathered surfaces, even through the coat of lichens with which they are covered.
Associated with the regular greywacke and clay slate of Charnwood Forest, we have flinty slate, a
hard, smooth, fine-grained rock, containing much silicious earth, ringing with a metallic sound,
and rarely cleavable into thin slate ; and also quartz rock, a pale grey or yellowish brown, finely
granular rock, rarely if ever traversed by a true cleavage, but split up in various directions, by
minute joints, and breaking into rude cubes or prisms, having a deep red external surface.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

1. Sienife.— This rock consists of a congeries of imperfectly developed crystals of quartz and
feldspar, with or without hornblende, mutually imbedded in and intertangled with one another.
It is usually of a pink or reddish brown colour, from the colour of the feldspar, but it assumes
many hues and varieties both of texture and other characters. It contains, occasionally, a few
specks of mica, when the rock becomes a true granite.

2. Porphyry. — If one of the mineral constituents of sienite were to remain compact or uncrys-
tallised, while crystals of the other were disseminated about it, the rock would be called a por-
phyry. Porphyry is a term applied to any rock which contains disseminated crystals in a compact
base, the kind of porphyry being determined by the nature of the base. When the disseminated
crystals are rounded, or almond shaped, and seem as if they had been formed in cavities or cells
of the base, the rock is termed amygdaloid. When the mineral constituents form a congeries of
small crystals, of an uniform colour and close aggregation, the rock is called greenstone ; and when
the crystalline structure is so fine as to be invisible to the naked eye, and the rock appears com-
pact, it is called trap, or basalt. All these varieties, and many intermediate ones, frequently occur
in the same district of rocks, and a perfect passage might be traced in different parts of Charnwood
Forest, from compact trap into sienite. Frequently, the only way to distinguish a crystalline rock
from a granular slate rock, or greywacke, is carefully to examine a fresh fracture with a pocket
magnifying-glass, in order to see whether the crystalline particles have sharp edges, and are in
their original state of close intertangled aggregation, or with rounded edges, like grains of sand
rolled and compacted together. Sometimes, however, it is impossible to decide what to call the
rock, more especially in detached specimens ; for if a mechanically-formed granular rock be, after
deposition, subjected to heat, the change produced upon it may vary in every possible manner,
according to the degree of heat, and also according to its own constituent parts, and their different
proportions and conditions, so that the same degree of heat may render certain portions of the
same rock entirely crystalline without producing any such change on other portions. For all these
difficulties the student must be prepared, and not suffer them to dishearten him, resting assured
that use and practice will imperceptibly enable him to overcome them.

JOINTS.

There is one structure common to both igneous and aqueous rocks, which may be advantage-
ously studied in Charnwood Forest : and that is, the jointing of the rocks. All rocks are more or
less jointed or traversed by divisional planes, in various directions, by which they are naturally
cut up, as it were, into blocks of greater or less size, according to circumstances. In stratified
rocks there are generally two principal sets of joints perpendicular to the beds, and crossing each
other at right angles ; there are, however, often others in different directions, and they commonly

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 9

increase in number in proportion to the hardness and fineness of the rock. In igneous rocks thej'
are very numerous, and often very rejfular, and they occur at all angles with the horizon, and
frequently quite horizontal ; they give to the sienites very often the appearance of regular bedding
for considerable distances, and in the slate rocks are very deceptive, as it is often impossible to
distinguish them from the beds without the aid of the stripe or other indications. The coal is
traversed by a peculiar jointing, the f;ices of which are called by the workmen "slynes ;" these pre-
serve a remarkable regularity in tlieir bearing by compass over particular districts, as does also the
more general system of joints in all rocks, as will be observed hereafter. The cause of this general-
jointed structure is at present but imperfectly understood : it is, however, of the highest utility, as
without it, it would be impossible to quarry any hard stone whatever.

RELATIONS AND LOCALITIES OF THE FORMATIONS.

Having thus given a slight sketch of the nature and characteristic circumstances of the mate-
rials which are to be found in Charnwood Forest, it remains to describe their several localities,
and their actual and relative positions. We shall thus get an idea of the solid geometry, — of the
internal anatomy, as it were, of the district, — and shall be able to entertain some speculations on
the relative dates and modes of action of the causes by which the rocks have been formed and
placed in their present positions.

If we take an ordnance map, or the map affixed to this work, and, commencing about a mile
south of Sheepshed, just south of the old canal, draw a line through the following places, we
shall describe a boundary that will nearly coincide with that of the old Forest, will be approxi-
mately that of the new red sandstone, and will enclose all the slate rocks of the district. Follow-
ing the canal to its termination, near Forest Gate, the boundary pursues a waving line, sweeping
outside the ridges and a little up the valleys, down to Woodhouse Eaves, Swithland slate quarries
and Holgate Lodge ; running close round Bradgate Park, it curves up the valley of Newtown
Linford for some distance, returns through Sheet Hedges Wood, sweeps round the sienite of
Groby and runs thence close to Markfield, turns up the valley between that place and Cliff Hill,
thence by Horse-pool Grange, Stanton, and Battle-flat Gate, to Hugglescote ; from this place it
follows up the brook to Whitwick Waste, and thence down another brook to Whitwick, runs
through the lower part of that village to the back of Gracedieu, passes between the slate and the
limestone to the corner of the turnpike-road, and sweeps outside the little ridge of Ringan Hill,
to Blackbrook. Here the boundary of the new red sandstone becomes irregular, and some portion
of it runs up the valley of Blackbrook into the very heart of the Forest ; the slate, however, again
appears in White Horse Wood, outside of which lies the new red sandstone, which continues
thence along the canal to the point where we first took it up.

On the southern part of the district thus circumscribed are four patches of sienite ; namely.
Cliff Hill, Markfield Knoll, Groby, and one at the lower end of Bradgate Park. On the northern
side, the ridge called Ringan Hill and the neighbourhood of the old reservoir, a tract almost a
mile long and half a mile wide, is composed of quartz rock, the remainder of the enclosed district
consists of slate rocks and porphyries.

A large outlying lump of sienite is found at Mountsorrel, which extends from that village to
Kinchley Hill, and from Rothley to tlie immediate vicinity of Quorndon. Outside the bounda-
ries thus described, the new red sandstone stretches away in every direction, till it passes on the
east beneath the Lias, and on the north-west is broken through by some patches of mountain

10 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

limestone and the coal 6eld of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. We will first examine the rocks enclosed
within this boundary, then briefly notice the coal field and its associated rocks, and afterwards
examine the relations of the overlying red marls and sandstones.

In traversing the northern part of Charnwood Forest, we should be struck by one of its prin-
cipal features, a beautiful and fertile valley, proceeding each way from a central point called
Bawdon Castle, and dividing the Forest into two equal portions. One of these valleys runs south-
east, and contains the picturesque ruins of Ulverscroft Abbey ; the other, and the most marked
and decided valley, runs north-west, between Ives Head and High Sharpley, and contains the
new Church called the Oaks Church. A beautiful prospect is afforded from the heart of the Forest
over the country to the north-west, Breedon Hill being a conspicuous object in the middle dis-
tance, and the faintly-marked hills of Derbyshire closing the horizon. If we draw a slightly
curved line from White Horse Wood along the north-east side of this latter valley, close under
Ives Head, by Bawdon Lodge, down the little valley called Long Dale to Holgate Iiodge, we
shall trace an important geological feature, the anticlinal line, namely, of the slate rocks of Charn-
wood Forest. An anticlinal line means that line from which the beds "dip" or decline on either
hand. The ridge of the roof of a house may be said to be an anticlinal line with regard to the
slates that cover it. In nature, however, an anticlinal line does not always form a ridge, but is
often marked by a valley, which is what we should expect, if we recollect that it is the line along
which previously horizontal beds have been reared into an inclined position by some powerful
force ; and that, therefore, it is likely that along that line the beds must frequently have been
broken through, and great destruction been caused, more especially if they still remained under
water, and were exposed to its currents. From this line in Charnwood Forest the beds dip on
either hand : those on the north-east being inclined to the north-east, those on the south-west
plunging towards the south-west.* — (See sections No. 1 and 2.)

In examining the facts on which this assertion is founded, we will commence on the northern
side, and make the circuit of the Forest, giving the details of each remarkable spot as a guide to
the student, and as enabling him to compare his observations with our own. — A mile and a half
south of the village of Sheepshed is a large and conspicuous quarry, in a high hill called Moorley
Hill. This is a very instructive spot ; the stone is a coarse-grained greywacke, generally of a grey
colour, but marked with a pale red and white "stripe" on the weathered surfaces, which is pecu-
liarly distinct and cannot be mistaken. This stripe indicates the bedding of the rock, which is
found to dip at an angle of thirty-five degrees true north-east.f The cleavage is but imperfectly
developed, but it is nearly perpendicular to the beds. Three regular systems of joints are ob-
servable, besides many irregular ones. The lines of bearing of these are —

Joint A N. 24° E Perpendicular.

Joint B North Ditto.

Joint C N.SO" W Ditto.

A small quarry may be found in a hill about a quarter of a mile west of this, close to some brick-
yards, in which the rock is similar but of a coarser grain, and where the beds dip at an angle of

» This anticlinal line was first traced by Professor Sedgwick, from whose personal instructions delivered on the spot
we derive great part of our knowledge of tliis district.

f The bearings in this article will always be true, an allowance of twenty-four degrees having been made for the

variation of the compass.

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 11

seventy dep^rees to a point fifteen degrees north of true east. This must be in the immediate
neighbourhood of the anticlinal line, as near Finny Hill Lodge the dip is south-west, and just
opposite the west end of White Horse Wood a little quarry on the road side exposes a quartzose
rock, which from some indications appears also to dip south-west, but enough of it was not exposed
to make the observation certain. — Returning along the boundary of the slate rocks towards the
east we find, on a hill called Nanpantan, a small quarry which shows a dip of forty-five degrees
true north-east : and a little below, at Forest Gate, there are two small quarries, one one each side
of the road, which, taken together, are very instructive. On the north side of the road a shallow
cutting in a compact slate rock is observed, with a very faint and imperfectly-developed cleavage,
but greatly cut up by joints in many directions. At first sight the stratification is imperceptible,
and one of the sets of joints would be likely to be taken for the bedding in one part of the quarry,
were it not traversed by another set of joints which is equally like bedding in another part of the
quarry. A careful examination of the face of the rock discloses a few faint streaks of colour here
and there, scarcely a quarter of an inch wide and rather irregular; they result, however, from dif-
ference of texture, and represent the true stratification of the rock. They dip north-east at an
angle of eighty-five degrees, and if any doubts should remain of their being true marks of strati-
fication, it would be dispelled by visiting the quarry on the other side of the road, where the rock
is seen to become more and more distinctly marked till it exhibits a clear, well-characterised stripe,
with precisely the same inclination, namely, north-east, at eighty-five degrees. The joints are not
so much inclined to the horizon as the beds, and do not preserve a very marked regularity. Over
the rough edges of the slate beds in the first quarry lies a thickness of six or eight feet of red
marls and slialy sandstones, belonging to the new red sandstone formation, in a perfectly horizon-
tal and undisturbed position. Diagram No. 1 represents these facts. — Passing up the valley of
the brook to the Buck Hills, we find the Little Buck Hills to consist of slate, dipping north-east,
at an angle of forty-five degrees, but at the foot of the Great Buck Hill, near the brook, is a small
quarry of a true close-grained greenstone, which, no doubt, is a portion of a larger mass in the bod v
of the hill.

The Whittle Hills are composed of a compact greenish grey flinty slate, of a very close and
smooth texture, split up near the surface by a vast number of fine joints into small pieces forming
rude prisms. This rock is extracted in small shallow excavations, and the pieces are shaped and
polished and converted into hones, or whittles, as they are locally called. Hence the name of the
hills. A very considerable trade is carried on by the few cottagers in the neighbourhood, most of
the fine hones used in the Midland Counties at least, if not elsewhere, being derived from this
spot. The beds of the Whittle Hills dip nearly north-east, at about forty-five degrees.

In the rocks at the summit of Beacon Hill the several characters of the slate are well expressed.
The stripe is clear, and the surfaces of the beds are often exhibited, and are strictly parallel to it.
They dip twenty degrees north of east, at an angle of forty degrees. The cleavage is perpendicular
to the horizon, and strikes twenty degrees south of east.

Joints. — A N. 20° W Perpendicular.

B N. 20° E Ditto.

C N. 70° W Ditto.

D N. 70° E Irregular.

In Broombriggs and Sly Hills, the continuation of the ridije of the Beacon, the slate is rather

12 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

of a coarser grain than that of the Beacon, the dip is much the same, but the principal joints vary,

being

A N. 5° W Perpendicular.

B N. 85° E Ditto.

Or nearly true north and south and east and west.

Near the church at Woodhouse Eaves the dip of the rock is sixty degrees, east twenty-five
degrees north ; the cleavage dips north-east, at eighty degrees, its strike being exactly east thirty-
five degrees south. The joints, though very numerous, are not sufficiently symmetrical to be
worth measuring.

At Swithland the slate rock acquires a much finer grain than in the northern parts of the
Forest, and consequently has a much better and more regular cleavage ; it becomes, therefore,
fine roofing slate, and is largely quarried for that purpose. There are three quarries near the
road, only one of which is now worked. The stripe is generally faint, but on some of the old
weathered faces of the quarries it may be detected, and thus the lines of bedding be distinguished
from the joints. The beds dip east thirty degrees north, at about forty degrees. The cleavage is
nearly perpendicular to the horizon, and strikes east twenty-seven degrees south.

Joints. — A Nearly N. and S Perpendicular.

B N.N.W Ditto.

Flakes of chlorite may frequently be detected on the surfaces of the cleavage planes.

Beds of red marl rest in the hollows and wrap round the peaks of the slate rocks, and in one
place the slate was followed under the red marl, whicli was left in a low arch as a roof, till a por-
tion fell and caused the death of a man. These beds will be mentioned more particularly when
we come to consider the relations of the new red sandstone to the Forest rocks.

There is another large slate quarry* in Swithland wood, where the dip of the rock is nearly
due east, the cleavage striking north fifteen degrees east, and dipping at an angle of seventy-two
degrees. We arrive here near the extremity of the anticlinal line, where the rocks have not been
so violently rent asunder, and where they accordingly begin to bend round and arch over, and the
two sides to coalesce. Accordingly, having arrived at Old John Hill, although we have undoubt-
edly crossed the anticlinal line, we find the dip of the rocks to be south instead of south-west,
while the last-mentioned pit in Swithland wood is east instead of north-east. No doubt, at some
intermediate point, either at the surface or beneath the covering of new red sandstone on the east,
the dip would be found south-east, and thus a termination of the anticlinal line arrived at in this
direction. However that may be, the slate on the summit of Old John dips sixty degrees nearly
due south, the cleavage being nearly perpendicular and striking with the strike of the beds, or
nearly east and west. About one-third of the way down the hill, blocks of sienite are met with,
and near the old pool on the south edge of Bradgate Park, the rock is found entirely to consist of
sienite, which occupies a space of about a quarter of a mile across. The junction of the slate and
sienite is not exposed. About a mile and a half south of this, at the village of Groby, another

* The slates, when quarried and split and trimmed, are divided into large slates and small slates. All those whose
surface exceeds one hundred square inches are called large, those below that size being called small. The large slates
sell for 2s. 6rf. a score, the small for 2s. &r/. per hundred, reckoning the long hundred, or six score. The men's wages
vary from 2s. to 2s. 6d. a day, but their work is much cut up now by the Welsh slates being brought so near them as
to impede the sale.

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 13

large mass of sienite is found, lialf a mile across, forming a low dome, surrounded on one side bv
new red sandstone, and on the other by slate rocks, as is supposed. It is largely quarried in the
centre, near the village, but there is no exposure near its junction with the slate rocks. It is a red
coarse-grained sienite, very hard and durable. It is traversed by many joints in various directions •
occasionally a set of these will be so symmetrical, as at first sight to give the rock the exact ap-
pearance of stratification for a considerable distance ; w hen viewed on the lar^e scale, however
this symmetry disappears, and the rock, when examined closely, has no grain or appearance of
lamination. At one corner of the large quarry a portion of new red sandstone may be seen resting
horizontally on the sienite in an undisturbed position.

Between Groby and Markfield, in a field on the left hand side of the road is a slate quarry,
from which fine roofing slate is extracted. The beds dip south-west, at an angle of thirty deurees.
The cleavage is perpendicular, and strikes west fifteen degrees north. One symmetrical set of
joints strikes north fifteen degrees east, and is perpendicular to the horizon, while another, having
the same strike, is only inclined at an angle of twenty degrees to the horizon, dippino- westerly.
The latter joint is called a slipper by the men, and when we examined the quarry it formed its
floor. Beds of new red sandstone are seen in the side of the quarry, resting horizontally on the
upturned slate. At the cross roads, opposite Markfield Knoll, is a small quarry, from which road
stone is extracted. It consists of a greywacke slate, alternating with bands of a small greywacke
conglomerate. Instructive hand specimens may be procured from this quarry, showing the vari-
ations in texture, or the alternations of fine and coarse-grained bands producing the stripe; these
are traversed by the cleavage at an angle of about sixty degrees, the surface produced by the

cleavage being smooth in the fine-grained portions and rough and uneven in the coarser parts.

The beds dip thirty-four degrees, south twenty-three degrees west. Cleavage strikes west thirty
degrees north, perpendicular.

Joints. — A X. S° W Perpendicular.

B KuUows the dip of the beds.

A bed of trap rock is also seen in this quarry, apparently conformable to the slate rocks. This
slate dips towards the sienite of Markfield Knoll, which is immediately adjacent, and shows no
sign of any local disturbance. The sienite of the Knoll is of a greyer hue than that of Groby,
but does not otherwise differ much from it. Separated from Markfield Knoll by a little
valley is Cliff Hill, which consists of similar sienite. Both of them are round-backed eminences,
with no exposure of rock around their bases, or in their immediate neighbourhood, to o-ive any
idea of the nature of their relations with the surrounding slate rocks. So far as neo-ative evidence
goes, however, there is no appearance of any local disturbance, which we should have supposed
could hardly fail of appearing iiad the sienite been violently erupted through the slate. On the
contrary, the next hill to Cliff Hill, called Billa Barrow Hill, exposes beds of slate at its summit
which dip quite regularly south twenty-five degrees west, at an angle of thirty-five deo-rees. No
further exposure of rock takes place along the boundary till we arrive at Hill Top, about a mile
farther on. Here the slate rock, with a well-marked stripe, dips eighty degrees, south thirty de-
grees west. Proceeding towards the interior of the Forest we find those remarkable bosses of rock
called the Rice Rocks, dipping nearly south-west, and the same inclination wherever a bit of slate
rock is visible ; as, for instance, at Copt Oak, where there is a small quarry at the back of the
church, and another by the road side going to Charlev Knoll.

14 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Not far from Copt Oak is a broad-backed eminence, called Hammercliff. This is an interest-
incr locality. Its summit consists of a red-coloured sienite, not unlike that of Markfield Knoll,
but perhaps a little less crystalline. This sienite passes into a porphyry which mantles round it
and forms the slope of the hill on every side. The porphyry has a dark grey base, with light-
coloured disseminated crystals, and is somewhat different in appearance from the other porphyries
of the neighbourhood. Like the other sienitic hills, Hammercliff is comparatively isolated, sloping
regularly down on every side, and exposing no junction with the neighbouring slate rocks.

The wooded eminence of Bardon Hill is composed entirely of greenstone and porphyry, of a
fine orain and intensely hard. Similar rocks probably extend a good way round the base of the
hill, as there is a small deserted quarry in the fields, below the farm house called Robin Butts, the
stone of which is compact earthy trap rock, having much the aspect of an altered rock, but pre-
senting no appearance of lamination or bedding.

Green Hill, just north-east of Bardon, seems to be entirely composed of igneous rocks. The
most abundant rock is a porphyry with a dark compact base and Cjuadrangular crystals of feld-
spar. This, however, sometimes contains roundish amorphous crystals of quartz, having an inter-
nal structure imperfectly radiated, and being apparently formed in cells in the rock. Portions of
this rock are a true amygdaloid, but when viewed en masse on their weathered surfaces have every
appearance of a gritstone containing small cjuartz pebbles. Here and there crystals of quartz and
feldspar are intertangled in this rock, which in those spots assumes the characters of a sienite.

Along the ridge from Green Hill to High Towers all these varieties of true igneous rocks are
found, with some others, mingled in inextricable confusion with various slate rocks. Hand spe-
cimens may be got, not three inches across, one side of which shall be a slate rock of the finest
grain, and with no appearance of crystallization, while the other is a perfect congeries of small
crystals, forming a complete greenstone. There is frequently a gradation also from one into the
other, a few detached crystals first appearing in the slate, and gradually becoming more numerous
on one side and disappearing on the other. Wherever a considerable mass of fine-grained slate
rocks exists, it is invariably highly indurated and siliceous, becoming in some cases almost a horn-
stone. One mass of slate rock, of which a space three or four yards across was exposed, seemed to
dip towards the south-east, so that it had probably suffered some local disturbance ; in general,
however, the beds of slate, wherever they were clearly shown, were found to preserve their regular
inclination. One large projecting crag of rock, of which diagram No. 3 is a sketch, exhibited
some beds of hard flinty slate, with an imperfect cleavage, nearly perpendicular to the horizon,
and a clearly developed dark purple stripe, dipping about fifty degrees to the south-west; over
this slate lay some thick masses of the amygdaloidal porphyry just described. The base line of
the porphyry seemed perfectly conformable with the uppermost bed of the slate, being separated
fiom it by a seam two or three inches thick of brittle splintery rock, apparently belonging to
the slate.

The crags between Tin Meadow and Whitwick consist entirely of porphyry. This is a well-
characterised rock, consisting of a dark green base, with disseminated crystals of light flesh-coloured
feldspar, of a regular form, and here and there an amorphous crystal of quartz. At the back of
the village of Whitwick are some quarries in a more close-grained porphyritic greenstone. High
Cadman, High Sharpley, and Great Gun Hill, consist of porphyries like those already described,
with intertangled masses of slate rock more or less altered from their original condition. At the
west end of High Sharpley is a mass of slate that has a chloritic aspect and texture, and might be
called chlorite slate. It is impossible, however, to disentangle all the varieties, so as to give any

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 15

intellioible description of their characters and conditions. Similar rocks probably form the slope
of the hills towards Gracedieu, but in tlie gorge of the old reservoir we are arrested by a total
change in the mineral character of the rock. We have here, instead of slates, a well-characterised
hard, fine-grained quartz rock, of a pale yellow and grey colour. It lies in regular beds, and fre-
quently exhibits clear lines of lamination and a perfect " stripe." It no longer, however, splits
readily along the lines of lamination, and though it has no regular cleavage it breaks in various
directions into rude cubes and prisms. The larger blocks are traversed by a great number of fine
hidden joints, crossing each other more or less nearly at right angles, and when struck with a
hammer they break along these into pieces not larger than a man's fist. Although these joints are
imperceptible at first sight, their faces, when opened, have a brick red colour which soils the fin-
gers, resulting from the oxidization of the iron contained in the stone. This quartz rock does not
differ in any essential particular from the quartz of Hart's Hill, near Atherstone, or of the Lickey
Hill, near Broomsgrove. The beds dip west twenty degrees south, at an angle of sixty degrees :
they occupy a space about a mile long by half a mile across, appearing on the road near the
Turnpike Gate, and forming the little eminence there called Ringan Hill. Immediately north-
east of the gorge of the old reservoir are some quarries of soft red sandstone, lying Cjuite horizon-
tally, and the cutting of the road between Blackbrook and White Horse Wood exposes several
beds of light yellow and red sandstone, with beds of marl, all belonging to the new red sandstone,
and this formation seems to stretch thence up the valley into the heart of the Forest. — The little
quarry mentioned before as opposite the corner of White Horse Wood, shows a quartzose rock
which seems like a passage from the regular compact cjuartz on the west into the greywacke slate
on the east side of it.

The sienite of Mountsorrel does not differ essentially from that of Groby. It is very largely
quarried near the village, and forms a very durable stone. Xear the lane at the corner of Buddon
Wood is an old quarry, in which a dyke of porphyritic greenstone is seen cutting through the
sienite. It is perpendicular, twelve or fourteen feet across, runs due east and west, and has clear
well-defined edges or walls separating it from the sienite. There is occasionally a small space
between the trap and the sienite, filled with a soft crumbling rock, apparently the debris of the
sienite. In one part, a large mass of the sienite was incorporated with the greenstone in the centre
of the dyke. Another small quarry, at the south-west corner of the Common, called Simpson's
Quarry, shows also a small trap dyke similar to the last, but not more than four feet wide. It is
also perpendicular, and has the same bearing, namely, true east and west. The joints of the
sienite did not always traverse the trap, which last had joints that did not affect the sienite.

We proceed now briefly to describe the position of the other rocks lying below the new red
sandstone, namely, the mountain limestone and the coal measures. Close on the north-west
corner of the Forest, at Gracedieu, is a series of old and recent lime quarries, of no great depth,
in a patch of limestone, that may be, perhaps, from three to five hundred yards across. In the
quarries at present worked there is an alternation of impure mottled concretionary stone, slightly
calcareous, hard blue carbonate of lime, and yellow dolomite, or magnesian limestone. The beds
are very irregular, thinning out rapidly, and none of them persistent through any great extent.
They dip, on the whole, about north north-west, at an angle of twenty degrees. Over them, on
their western side, lie several feet of soft red sandstone, perfectly horizontal, and belonging to the
new red formation.

On a line running true north north-west from Gracedieu are four other patches of limestone,
namely, at Osgathorpe, Barrow Hill, Breedon Cloud, and Breedon Hill. The two latter are far

16 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

the largest, and consist almost entirely of dolomite or magnesian limestone. Breedon Cloud,
however, contains some beds of carbonate of lime. Its beds dip, on an average, about forty-eight
degrees, west five degrees north, but are slightly bent and contorted in some places. Breedon
Hill is traversed by a vast number of joints, which at first sight obscure the stratification. This,
however, may be distinguished by lines of a cellular structure, which are rather numerous, and
always parallel to the beds. The dip varies, in different parts of the hill, from forty-flve degrees
to seventy degrees, but is always towards the same point, namely, west fifteen degrees south. If
the anticlinal line of the Forest be produced towards the north, it will run nearly, but not quite,
parallel to the line along which these patches of limestone are arranged. The two lines would
intersect each other a little beyond Breedon Hill, and would be farthest apart at Gracedieu. Now
there can be no doubt that the inclined position, or the elevation of these portions of limestone, is
due to the action of the same force which elevated Charnwood Forest. And we see that, in pro-
portion as the line of the limestones approximates to the produced anticlinal line of the Forest,
the dip of the limestone becomes greater in amount, and its direction more nearly coincides with
that of the slates. — The dip of Breedon is south of west, at an angle exceeding fifty degrees, that
of Cloud Hill a little north of west, at an angle not exceeding thirty-five degrees, that of Gracedieu
is nearly north north-west, and does not exceed twenty degrees. The position of the beds of
Breedon, therefore, is almost entirely the result of the force which acted along the anticlinal line,
but that of the beds of Gracedieu is partly the result of that force and partly owing to an original
inclination towards the north, which they probably had at the time of their deposition.

About a mile and a half west of these limestones is another more considerable exposure of the
formation, extending from Staunton Harold through Calke Park to Ticknall. This is a low,
irregular, dome-shaped mass; or it may possibly be a low ridge, traversed by a slight anticlinal
line, running north-west and south-east. At Ticknall, the mountain limestone consists of hard
beds of blue limestone in the lower part, over which are several feet of shale, alternating with
limestone, and upon these lie a few beds of limestone completely dolomitised and resembling that
of Breedon. The limestone here dips nearly north-east, at an angle of about fifteen degrees; upon
it rest several feet of variegated marls, quite horizontal. An abundance of fossils, more especially
the large producta hemisphoerica, is found in these quarries. In Calke Park, near the Upper
Pool, is a small quarry in the higher or doloraitic limestone, where the beds dip south-west, at an
angle of about fifteen degrees. These beds thus plunge in the direction of the coal field immedi-
ately adjacent, under which they must of course pass, and of which they undoubtedly would be
found to form the base, should it be ever penetrated. — At Dimminsdale, between Calke and
Staunton, the limestone is seen to rest in a long low arch, as it is horizontal in the centre, while
on the west side it dips slightly to south-west, and on the east to the north-east, at an angle often
degrees. Parts of this limestone are also dolomitic, and it contains bunches of galena or lead ore,
which are extracted in what is technically called a pipe work ; the ore being followed by a small
horizontal gallery or pipe. — The side of this little valley apparently consists of shale, and at the
top of the banks some hard blocks of stone, like millstone grit, are found ; so that we have here a
representation, on a small scale, of the whole of the lower part of the great carboniferous formation
of the North of England. Round the northern side of this tract of limestone, as well as round the
bases and between the detached pieces of limestone before mentioned, the new red sandstone
sweeps in level beds, concealing their connexion from our sight.

We have neither time, space, nor materials, for entering into the details of the coal field, and
therefore can only refer our readers to Mr. Mammatt's work, mentioned before, in which they will

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 17

find all those that have been hitherto published. The following, however, is a slight sketch of its
leading- features: — The coal field forms an irregular basin, its beds rising, so far as is known, on
every side from its deepest portion, which is Moira colliery. The lower beds seldom rise to the
surface of the ground, their outcrop being concealed by the new red sandstone, which sweeps
round the coal field with a very irregular boundary, concealing every thing from sight that does
not rise above its level. The whole coal field seems to be divided into two irregularly-shaped
basins or troughs, by an anticlinal line, that runs somewhere from Smisby by Ashby to Willesley
or Packington. The portion west of this line is called the Moira coal field, that east of it the
Coleorton coal field. Tiie Moira coal field crops out most decidedly towards the south, namely,
around Measham. Along the northern edge the inclination is more gentle, and its eastern
boundary is much broken by faults. The Coleorton coal field, on the contrary, crops out en-
tirely towards the north, inasmuch as in that direction the mountain limestone appears from be-
neath it. The bottom coals are worked at Lount : from which point, taken as an apex, the coal
measures form an irregular triangular trough, inclining gently towards the south or south south-
east, and having its edges bent up to the north-east and south-west respectively. The base of this
triangle is not known, as the coal measures gradually sink towards the south beneath the new red
sandstone, and are worked beneath it at various depths. At Snibston they passed through one
hundred and seventy feet of red marls and sandstones, and twenty feet of trap rock, before they
came to the coal measures. At Whitwick colliery they pierced one hundred and sixty-five feet
of red sandstone, and sixty feet of trap, before they reached the coal measures. The trap is very
irregular both in thickness and extent; it turns the coals to coke, and hardens the coal measure
sandstones, when it comes in contact with them, but we believe it does not affect the new red
sandstone.

At Ibstock one hundred and twenty-six feet of new red sandstone was found, but at Heather
it is entirely absent, while at Bagworth colliery, the most southerly point at which coal has been
obtained, they passed through no less than three hundred and fifteen feet of alternations of red
and white sandstones belonging to the new red formation. Very few faults occur in the Coleorton
coal field, %vhile in the Moira field they are very numerous, and of great extent. A great fault
runs in a directly straight line from Bamborough through Moira colliery, Swadlincote, and Spring
Wood to the Decoy in Bretby Park, a distance of five miles. It causes a downcast on the east of
four hundred and twenty feet, the same beds being that much lower on one side of the fault than
they are on the other. — (See section No. 3.)

The main coal at Moira is fourteen feet thick, but consists of two portions, the upper and the
lower, of which the former only is worked. Towards the north-west these two portions become
separated by a bed of shale, which thickens from ten inches at Swadlincote to nearly sixty feet,
which is its thickness at Newhall. Here the lower coal is the best, and is the only one worked.

It is probable that what is called the main coal, at Coleorton, which is six feet thick, together
with another six feet coal, separated from it by about sixty feet of shale and stone, also represent
the main coal of Moira. In the southern part of the Coleorton field this upper six feet coal di-
minishes in thickness and quality, and the lower coal only is worked. If this view be correct, it
is the same coal which is worked as the " main coal" in every part of the whole coal field, however
various may be its thichness, or the thickness and quality of the beds above and below it.

On all the rocks hitherto described we have found resting, at one point or other, beds belonging
to the new red sandstone ; we will now notice their relations a little more particularly. If we
consider the new red sandstone as divided into two portions, the upper part consisting principally

18 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

of red and variegated marls, with gypsum, the lower chiefly of red and white sandstones, we find
the latter occurring on the west and north sides of Charnwood Forest, the former on the east side.
The beds which mantle round and obscure the edges of the coal field are part of the lower division ;
they are quite unconformable to the coal measures, the level beds of the one resting on the up-
turned edges of the other. Even where the inclination of the coal measures is very gentle, we
find the beds of coal gradually rising, and, as it is called, cropping out successively into the new
red sandstone. The same is the case with the mountain limestone, the highly-inclined beds of
Breedon, &c., rising abruptly from the level beds of new red sandstone that sweep around them.
On the west side of the Forest, as the hills rise very boldly, the new red sandstone is not seen
actually upon the slate rocks : but on the east side the slope is more gentle, and accordingly we
see beds of red marl, belonging probably to the upper part of the formation, resting horizontally
on the slate rocks at various points. In the small quarry at Forest Gate, about six or eight feet of
this formation reposes on the sharp edges of the slate, as shown in diagram No. 1. In the little
valley of Woodhouse Eaves it runs considerably within the boundaries of the slate rocks, lying in
llie hollow of the hills. The top of the red marl is here worked for brick-making, and it has been
sunk through in the wells of the village, and found to alternate with regular thin "floors" of white
sandstone, as is frequently the case. In Swithland slate quarries it is seen resting horizontally on
the upturned edges of the slate beds ; and it is here worthy of remark, that the stratification of the
red marl conforms to the uneven surface of the slates, rising up on the slope of its peaks and sink-
ing gently in its hollows, showing its deposition to have been very gradual and tranquil, and also
that the slate rocks had been both upheaved and worn into peaks and hollows before the deposition
of the red marl. Red marl runs up all the valleys of the Forest on the east side, some distance
beyond its general boundary ; and indeed it is scarcely possible, without actual excavation, to say
how far it intrudes into them. In the very heart of the Forest, by the road side from Copt Oak
to Charley Lodge, are brick-pits in a red diluvial clay, which is nothing more than the washing
of the red marl beneath. This is shown by a considerable excavation in a field four or five hun-
dred yards on the north-east, where the red marl is seen with regular white floors of soft sandstone
and a horizontal stratification. The valley hence round Charley Hall is evidently filled with
red marl, as may be deduced from the richness of the land, contrasted with that of the slate
rock. Several old marl-pits may be found in the valley, and one is now open near a large new
house not far from Charley Church, which is called, I believe. Upper Blackbrook. There are
some brick-pits at a considerable height above the valley, in a lane opposite White Horse Wood,
the bottom of which exposes a regular floor of the fine light-coloured sandstone characteristic of
the red marl. This floor, or thin bed, dips towards the valley, or about west, at an angle of eight
or ten degrees, which is no doubt the original position in which it was deposited, and not due to
its subsequent elevation. In the valley below, as shown by the cutting on the road side, are some
thick beds of light-coloured sandstone, alternating with red sandstones and thin beds of marl,
and evidently belonging not to the upper, but to the lower or second division of the new red sand-
stone of this district. There are two remarkable circumstances connected with these beds of
marl and sandstone thus reposing on Forest rocks. The first is their horizontality, compared
with the highly-inclined position of the beds on which they rest. The second is the height at
which they are found, being considerably above that to which the beds of the formation generally
attain in the surrounding country.

We have now only to notice the position of the lias on tlie extreme east of the district. The
boundary of the lowest bed of this formation passes at the back of Bunny old wood down the

GEOLOGY OF CIURNWOOD FOREST. 19

valley between East and West Leake, sweeps round Normanton Hills and Stanford Hills through
Stanford Park, to the little brook just north of the village of Hoton. Here the boundary is some-
what obscure, but it passes somewhere east of Hoton, between Prestwold and Burton, and comes
clown to the bank of the Soar, just north of Barrow. From Barrow it runs down to Sileby and
Cossington; it tlien turns up the right bank of the Wreke to Ratcliif, where it crosses the river
and runs in an undulating line by Rearsby, Queniborough, Barkby, Humberstone, to Evino-ton,
and thence nearly south-west towards Warwickshire.

The very undulating line wliich defines the boundary a few miles north and south of Barrow-
upon-Soar, is not due solely to unequal denudation. Barrow is one of the most westerly points of
the lias, yet it is there lower and more near the level of the Soar than at many places fiirther east,
or in the direction of the general dip of the formation. This could not be, unless it were brought
down by faults, or affected by local curvatures and changes of dip. There may be some small
faults, but we believe that the lias and red marl of this district are affected by slight anticlinal
and synclinal lines running in the direction of the general dip of the formations, or nearly east
and west, and producing small curvatures, bending the beds into long ridges and furrows, as it
were, or causing several shallow parallel troughs, the sides of which dip gently north and south
respectively. At the quarries near Hoton this is certainly the case, the beds in the quarries
dipping slightly to the north, while those in a cutting on the road side, at a short distance in that
direction dip south. Careful examination would, I believe, show the same thing to take place at
Barrow.

DILUVIUM.

Although we have now briefly described the characters and position of all the solid reo-ularly
bedded rocks that enter into the structure of the district under examination, there is yet another
mass of materials we must examine before we enter on any speculations concerning the causes
which have produced the rocks or the forces which have acted on them. Resting on the ren-ularly
bedded rocks, indiscriminately, here and there are found piles of sand or gravel, or masses of clay,
sometimes a few inches thick, sometimes a hundred feet. Various names are given to this accu-
mulation of earthy matters, — diluvium, diluvial drift, gravel, superficial drift, erratic block group,
and others, all more or less applicable to particular cases, but none of them unexceptionable when
generally applied. Perhaps the term diluvium, if taken in a general sense, and not restricted to
the action of diluvial agency, at any particular period or in any particular manner, is, after all
the best. It is obvious that there must be considerable difficulty in separating and classifyino-
that which has been produced irregularly and partially, and which is left in a confused condition.
The diluvium, however, of the neighbourhood of Cliarnwood Forest may be classed into three
divisions. The eastern drift, the quartzose gravel, and the Forest drift. By the eastern drift is
meant, simply, that the formations from the ruins of which it has been chiefly, if not wholly de-
rived, are now found on the east of our district. It consists, generally, of dark blue clay, or coaree
light-coloured sand, containing pebbles and fragments of lias limestone and lias fossils, oolitic
limestones and oolitic fossils, lumps of hard chalk, chalk flints and chalk fossils.

The quartzose gravel consists almost w holly of quartz pebbles and sand. The pebbles are
perfectly rounded and smooth, the sand frequently very fine. Long and continued attrition in
water is the only agency that could reduce hard pieces of quartz into this condition. The fossils
and fragments of the eastern drift, on the contrary, are but slightly worn, and some of them are

•20 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

uninjured. In the quartzose gravel there are sometimes found pieces of mountain limestone, small
pebbles of coal, and occasionally dark pebbles, that may be fragments of slate rocks. The quartz
pebbles are by far the most abundant, and are of three kinds, — white subcrystalline quartz, from
veins, probably from Charnwood Forest, hard fine-grained yellow and liver-coloured quartz rock,
like that of Blackbrook, in Charnwood Forest, Hartshill, near Atherstone, or the Lickey, near
Bromsgrove, and a granular quartz which, from an occasional vegetable marking, is apparently
derived from the sandstones of the coal measures.

The Forest drift consists of large blocks of sienite, porphyry, and slate rock, scattered over the
face of the country, and generally lying naked on the ground and unaccompanied by any other
materials.

The eastern drift is most abundant on the south and east of the Forest. The ridge of high land
from Thurcaston to Glenfield is almost entirely composed of it. South of Leicester, along the
whole line of the railway to Rugby, there are the most enormous accumulations of it. Many of
the deep cuttings of the railway are wholly in diluvium, and do not even reach the bottom of it.
The quartzose gravel is most abundant on the west and north of the Forest ; it lies in great abun-
dance over some part of the Ashby coal field, and on the hills overlooking the valley of the Trent.
The Forest drift lies chiefly on the soutii of the Forest. An occasional block may be seen to the
north or east ; one large block of Forest rock was observed in the village of Wymeswold, and they
may be observed occasionally on all sides of the Forest. Over the table land, however, called
Leicester Forest, large blocks of slate and sienite are very numerous. They are frequently as
much as a yard in diameter, and though most commonly well rounded, they occur sometimes quite
ano-ular and unaltered in form from what they may be supposed to have been wiien originally
tietached from their parent rock. As we recede from the Forest they undoubtedly become less
numerous, smaller, and more perfectly rounded ; and, as far as we are aware, cannot be traced to
a o-reater distance than about twenty miles towards the south, and not nearly so far in any other
direction.

CONCLUSIONS AND SPECULATIONS.

We have hitherto confined ourselves to geological description, we must now entertain a little
o-eological history. Having examined the characters and conditions of the things as they are, we
must deduce a few conclusions and enter on a few speculations as to the causes which produced
them, and to which these characters and conditions are owing. — In the first place, we know that
the slate rocks were formed under water, and that that water was part of an ocean. In Charn-
wood Forest we have no direct evidence of this fact, but we deduce the conclusion partly from the
structure of the slate rocks, which agrees with that of other rocks formed by the deposition of
sediment in water, and partly from analogy, since slate rocks similar to those of Charnwood Forest
exist in other parts of England and Wales, and these often contain an abundance of marine shells
and corals. Now, as much of the sediment which formed the slate rocks must have been very fine,
in order to produce rocks of so fine a grain, and as there are innumerable alternations of fine and
coarse-grained beds, and the total thickness of tlie rocks is very great, so great indeed as to be
unknown, tlie time required for the production of these rocks must have been very great. Because
we cannot conceive any circumstances which could at once fill a large body of water with fine
earthy matters, and cause it to be suddenly deposited, much less can we understand how any
natural causes could produce a frequent alternation of depositions of fine and coarse sediment,

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 21

with every gradation between the two, in a limited space of time. Moreover, from the very nature
of their formation, these beds must have been originally horizontal, or nearly so, as it would be
impossible to deposit large beds of fine sediment on a great slope.

Associated with the slate rocks are certain other rocks called porphyry and sienite; these we
know to be igneous rocks, or to have been once in a state of fusion or intense heat. — Of this, also,
there is no direct evidence in Cliarnwood Forest, beyond their mineral structure: and we deduce
the conclusion in this case, also, partly from this structure and partly from analogy. The crys-
talline condition of their several parts could only liave resulted from their particles having once
had free motion among themselves, and having been at liberty to arrange themselves according to
the chemical laws ; in other words, from the rock having been once fluid. And we know that flu-
idity to have resulted from heat, because in other localities rocks identical with these can be proved
to have once had intense heat, from the eflect they have produced on surrounding rocks, and from
other arguments. A trap rock, which differs but little from porphyry, has changed coal in contact
with it into coke, in Whitwick colliery.

Some of the beds of porphyry seem to be interstratified with beds of slate, in a regular manner,
as if they had been poured out over those beneath them while these formed the bed of the sea, and
had been afterwards covered by the gradual deposition of those above them. Other masses of
porphyry cut through the beds of slate and enclose large pieces of them, and the slates are highly
indurated and partly crystalline, as if they had been subject to intense heat. It appears, then,
that during the time these beds of slate were being formed, volcanic action was going on among
them at frequent intervals, and great additions made to their mass by the intrusion of large streams
of melted rock or lava, and the ejection of volcanic ashes and powder. As this volcanic action,
however, took place beneath the pressure of a great superincumbent mass of water, its results would
necessarily be very different from any we can observe in subaerial volcanoes. The volcanic ashes
would be held some time in suspension by the water, and by the action of its currents would be
strew n out over large areas, in a regular manner, being deposited at last as beds of fine mud or
clay, which from subsequent pressure, and perhaps from the subsequent general action of heat,
would become highly indurated, and form hard compact rock. The lavas, also, as they would
cool under great pressure, would be more perfectly crystalline, and form much heavier and com-
pact rocks, than those formed by lava streams cooling only under the pressure of the atmosphere.

It appears, then, that the porphyries, taken as a mass, were contemporaneous with the slate
rocks, also taken en masse, and that the two had a partly common origin. Of the age of the sie-
nites, however, we have not such clear evidence, inasmuch as their junction with the slate rocks is
nowhere exposed. It is often found to be the case, that where granites or sienites and slate rocks
come together, the granites are newer than the slates, forming the centres from which the slates
incline, and being, in fact, the tangible result of the very power by which the slates have been
upheaved. It might therefore, at first, be supposed that this was the case in Charnwood Forest,
and that the sienite was produced at the time the anticlinal line of the slates was formed, and at a
time long posterior tO the formation of the slates themselves ; such, however, we believe not to be
the case, and we incline to regard the sienite as contemporaneous with the porphyries, or nearly
so, from the following considerations. In the first place, in Hammerclifl^ Hill the porphyries pass
into sienite with such an apparently imperceptible gradation, as would force us to believe them
at least to have been produced at the same time, and to be parts of the same mass of melted matter,
assuming different forms, according to slight modifications in its conditions of cooling. In the
second place, no sienite is seen along the anticlinal line of tlie Forest, and no local disturbance is

22 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

exhibited in the dip or strike of the slates in the immediate neighbourhood of the lumps of sienite
at Groby and Maikfield. The sienite, therefore, must have existed before any inclination was
o-iven to the slate rocks of the Forest, and it could not be connected with the disturbing power
that produced that inclination, or we should either have found it where the greatest disturbing
force acted, namely, along the anticlinal line, or where we do find it we should have found some
disturbance.

Ao-ain, the small sienite hills which protrude through the new red sandstone, some miles south
of the Forest, namely, at Enderby, Croft, Narborough, Potter's Marston, and Sapcote, and the
occurrence of sienite in an abortive sinking for coal at Kirby Muxloe (if the latter circumstance
be correct), show a very general extension of sienite beneath the new red sandstone far from the
Forest. Now at some places this sienite seems on the point of passing into porphyry ; at none is
there any evidence of the age of its production ; and its whole bearing and character seem to us
to favour the supposition of its being nearly, if not quite, contemporaneous with the slates and
porphyries, and of its having formed with them a connected ridge of primary rocks, at a period
long anterior to the formation of any of the secondary rocks by which it is now covered and sur-
rounded.

Taking for granted that the sienite existed before the movement which produced the anticlinal
line, its age is certainly thrown back very near to that of the slates, since we believe it possible to
show, or at least to render it highly probable, that some movement of elevation took place in the
slate rocks of Charnvvood Forest, along the general direction of their present anticlinal line, long
anterior to the formation of the carboniferous group.

For this purpose, however, it will be necessary to enter a little on the general geological struc-
ture of Eno-land and Wales. — The carboniferous formation of the north of England consists of an
immense accumulation of shales, sandstones, limestones, and coals, of which the coal is generally
found at the top and the limestone at the bottom. The whole series may be divided into three
groups. — 1. Coal measures. 2. Millstone grit. 3. Mountain limestone.

The same groups mav be applied to the carboniferous formation of Gloucestershire and south
Wales, but here the two lower portions are much thinner than in the north of England. To make
amends for this, the old red sandstone, which in the north of England is partial and almost want-
ino-, swells out in the south to an amazing bulk, and becomes a large and important formation.
Beneath the carboniferous and old red sandstone formations are found shales, sandstones, lime-
stones and slate rocks belonging to the Silurian and Cambrian formations. We see, then, that
both in the north and south of England the coal measures are separated from the Silurian and
Cambrian systems by a vast body of other rocks, and we know that all these rocks were formed
under water, and that a great part, at least, were formed in the sea. Along a band of country,
however, extending from Radnorshire to Leicestershire, and including the coal fields of Shrop-
shire, south Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, the upper part only of the carbonif-
erous system is found ; namely, the coal measures, which rest upon the Silurian and Cambrian*
systems, without the intervention of either millstone grit, mountain limestone, or old red sand-
stone. On the north side of the Shropshire coal field, indeed, as on that of Ashby-de-la-Zouch,
small patches of mountain limestone are found, but evidently of a debased and unimportant cha-
racter, thinning out towards the south, and but the thin remnants and extreme boundaries of the
great formation on the north. On the south of the Shropshire coal field, also, old red sandstone

• The term Ciimlirian is applied liere provisionally to the slates of Hartshill and Chamwood.

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 23

is found, but tins is also very thin, compared witli the bulk it attains as it recedes from the coal
field towards the south. It appears, then, that along the line running through these four midland
coal fields, there is an old ridge of rocks, which existed as a range either of shallows or of islands
in the old sea, in which the old red sandstone and mountain limestone were deposited, and that
from this ridge the sea became deeper on either hand. Whether any points of this range, such as
Charnwood Forest, ever reached above the water, and actually formed an island, on which grew
the luxuriant vegetation now entombed in the coal measures, we cannot ascertain : but that the
range generally had a considerable elevation above the general bottom of this old sea is nearly
certain.

Another direct argument in corroboration of this conclusion may be deduced in the following
way: — All the lines of greatest disturbance in the four coal fields before mentioned, both in the
coal measures and the rocks beneath them, are parallel, or nearly so ; ranging between north and
south and north-west and south-east. It follows, from what we know of geological dynamics, that
the first production of these lines was a simultaneous one ; that the force, whatever it was, which
first produced these parallel fractures, and marked out the directions along which any subsequent
elevating force must necessarily act, extended over the whole area, including the four coal fields,
at one and the same time. Now in the Shropshire and south Staffordshire coal fields, the coal
measures rest sometimes on one part of the Silurian formation, sometimes on another ; disturbing
and denuding forces therefore had been at work on the Silurian rocks before the coal measures
were deposited. Even in particular localities, the two things are unconformable, or rest in dis-
cordant positions. On the north end of the Wren's nest, near Dudley, the Dudley limestone
plunges at an angle of sixty or seventy degrees beneath the coal measures which sweep round and
abut against it, lying at an angle of not more than ten degrees with the horizon, as may be seen
in a large open work in the ten yard coal close by. Great fractures and elevations in the Silurian
rocks, then, were here produced long before the deposition of the coal measures, which consequently
gives an equally ancient date, at least, for the movements throughout the district, and therefore for
the first movements in the slate rocks of Charnwood Forest. Could we strip off the new red sand-
stone from the Coleorton coal field, we should most probably see the coal measures resting con-
formably on mountain limestone between Lount and Gracedieu, and abutting unconformably
against the slates and porphyries between Whitwick and Bardon.

Still another argument might possibly be deduced, from the great amount of denudation which
took place among the hard rocks of the Forest anterior to the deposition of the new red sandstone,
and which it is difficult to think could have been produced in a limited period of time.

Resuming now our history, we may say that, after the deposition of the slate rocks and the
formation of the porphyries, there elapsed a very great and unknown period of time. During the
earliest part of this period, the igneous rocks were cooled and the aqueous rocks consolidated. The
jointed structure of both was also produced ; but whether by a purely mechanical process, or by
an action obeying higher and more general laws, we do not at present know. During some part
of this interval, also, the whole mass of the slate rocks, in common with the other slate rocks of
England and Wales, were subjected to the action of a very general and powerful, though myste-
rious force, which entirely sealed up and compacted together the original lamination and line of
bedding in the slate rocks, and gave them, as a mass, a tendency to split in other directions, often
with the greatest regularity and the most perfect parallelism. The compass bearing of these
cleavage planes, which thus traverse the slates, varies in different places : but taking the whole
Forest together, it is most frequently found to strike about twenty degrees north of west and south

24 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

of east, or north north-west and east south-east. The angle the cleavage planes make with the
horizon is also found to vary a little, but they are always highly inclined and frequently perpen-
dicular. They pay no respect to the angle which the beds make with the horizon, being equally
perpendicular whether the beds are highly or slightly inclined. Hence another argument may be
di'awn for the early period at which the beds had acquired some inclination, since it appears to
have been before they were traversed by the cleavage, and they must have been traversed by the
cleavage before the existence of the shales of the coal measures, or why were they not also affected
by this cleavage ? At all events, from the arguments before given, it is highly probable that,
during the long interval which elapsed after the formation of the slates, they were acted upon by
elevating forces, as well as by the secret agency which produced the cleavage.

What was the exact condition of the district in other respects, during any part of this interval,
we do not know. It may have been an island; but whether above or under water, it was sur-
rounded by a deep sea, in which were formed immense accumulations that are now limestones,
shales, and sandstones, teeming with fragments of organic beings, this ancient sea's inhabitants.
A small portion of these accumulations is seen in the mountain limestones on the north-west of
the Forest. This extensive sea seems gradually to have been filled up or made shallower, and
either converted into a fresh-water lake, or, as is more probable, to have been swept over by the
outpouring of some vast river draining a neighbouring continent. Heaps of sand and mud, and
the wreck and ruin of matted Forests, rank with more than the luxuriance of a tropical vegetation,
were at all events brought in by some mighty and continuous tide, and being deposited in its
depths were converted into the coal, shale, and sandstone, that now compose the coal measures.
These have a thickness of more than a thousand feet, and must of themselves, under any conceiv-
able circumstances, have occupied immense periods of time in their formation. It is probable
that, during that time, little or no disturbance was given to the rocks by elevatory or other forces.
In a neighbouring district, indeed, in the coal field of Warwickshire, we know that the whole of
the coal measures, and some of the bottom beds of the lowest part of the new red sandstone (the
rothe todle liegende), were deposited tranquilly and without interruption, since we find the beds
of the red sandstone passing down by a regular gradation into the coal measures, the point of
junction being marked by some thin beds of fresh-water limestone, and the whole mass partaking
of the same inclination, and affected by the same dislocations. It must have been, therefore, some
time after the close of the carboniferous period, that the great and general movements of elevation
and disturbance took place, which, in common with all the other carboniferous districts of Eng-
land, acted on the Charnwood Forest district, gave to the slates additional elevation and a fur-
ther dislocation, set on edge the mountain limestone of Breedon, Osgathorpe, and Gracedieu, as
well as that of Calke and Ticknall, raised up, cracked, and broke through the coal measures in
various directions, and heightened or produced all the different faults, anticlinal lines, and dis-
turbances, which are now found in these several formations. Still the district was beneath the
level of the sea, and it may easily be conceived that these powerful movements in the solid matters
of its bed must be accompanied with frequent and strong currents in its waters. We find, accord-
ingly, tliat powerful denuding forces were at work at this time, by which the broken fragments of
the rocks were swept away and rolled into pebbles, and their surfaces for a long time worn down
and the netritus converted into sand or clay, forming the conglomerates, sandstones and marls of
the new red sandstone formation. This formation is nothing more than an ancient marine dilu-
vium, on a large scale. Of the quantity of materials destroyed to form its beds we may acquire
some notion, when we consider that all, or nearly all the valleys in the hard rocks of Charnwood

GEOLOGY OF CHAHNWOOD FOREST. 25

Forest were scooped out, and immense portions of the coal measures removed, before it was de-
posited. If we were to draw an accurate section of the Forest, and continue tiie lines of its beds
from their present broken edges till they met near the anticlinal line, and thus formed one lofty
unbroken ridge, we should get a measure by which to estimate how much has been carried off
from this ridge to form the present comparatively low and eroded surfixce of the ground.* Now
all this was carried away, and even more than this, before the new red sandstone was deposited :
because all the present valleys contain new red sandstone, lying in level beds, sweeping up them
and conforming to their outline, and to a certain extent filling them up and rendering the depres-
sion less than it would be were the surfixce of the slate rocks universally exposed. If we pass from
the Forest to the coal measures we find evidence of an almost equal amount of degradation. If
we look at section No. 3, it will be seen that, on one side of the great fault there exhibited, the
beds are four hundred and thirty feet higher than on the other, but the present surface of the
ground shows no such elevation, all that part therefore marked by dotted lines must have been
removed. But even on the other side of the fault, the beds existing immediately below the surface
of the ground are not the highest beds of the formation ; there has, in all probability, been some
beds above them, which have been removed. And if we look at the whole coal field, and see its
broken and distorted position, the lower beds coming out to the surface in one place, lying hun-
dreds of yards below other beds in another place, — we are compelled to ask ourselves what has
become of the remainder of these beds ? Wherever we find beds that we know once to have been
horizontal, and to have been covered by others in a horizontal position, coming up successively
to the surface of the ground, and there ending suddenly, we must be assured that they are but a
part of what once existed, and that the remaining portion, however vast may have been its extent,
has been removed by denudation.

There must have been, then, in the Ashby coal field, as in all others, a most enormous destruc-
tion and denudation of once existing materials, to produce the present surface: and though the
whole of this may not have taken place before the deposition of the new red sandstone, yet much
of it did, and it is of the very ruin and rubbish of this denudation that the new red sandstone is
formed. Many of the pebbles in the neighbouring conglomerate beds of the new red formation
consist of coal measure sandstones, which preserve their vegetable markings, some of them of
pieces of mountain limestone, perfectly rounded, others may be derived from some of the Forest
rocks, but the majority are of quartz. It is at first sight difficult to say why, when we find so
many quartz pebbles in the new red sandstone, we should not find an equal number of slate, or
even of porphyry or sienite, but I think a reason may be found in the different characters of these
rocks. The porphyries and great part of the sienites consist of enormous compact blocks, which
water may wear down, indeed, but could never break, and no ordinary current could wash awav.
The slates are more easily broken into small pieces, but those pieces are comparatively flat, sharp,
and very angular, so as easily to be converted into shingle, but not easily rolled to anj- great dis-
tance. These shingles, by constant mutual attrition, would be ground down into fine mud or
sand, and would scarcely ever be so rounded as to be called pebbles. The quartz, on the con-
trary, though very hard, is traversed by so many fine joints, as to be easily shivered by a slight
blow, or even to fall to pieces under the influence of the weather, and it breaks into small cuboidal
blocks, not larger than a man's head nor smaller than his fist. Whichever way these blocks rest

* If, in sections No. 1 and 2, the lines of stratification in the Forest rocks be produced upwards, till they nearly
meet, a distorted image of their original condition -will be produced, because the scales of height and length arc neces-
sarily different in drawing any section, in order to reduce it within reasonable horizontal limits.

26 GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

they present an equal surface to the water : a slight current would set them in motion, a very little
wearing down of their corners would give them a spherical figure, they would then be easily rolled,
and soon converted, by their mutual attrition, into the smooth, perfectly rounded quartz pebbles,
so common in the conglomerates of the new red sandstone and the gravel which is derived from
them. If, therefore, a district consisting of slates, porphyries, and quartz rock, were now sub-
jected to the action of strong tides and currents and the dash of a heavy surf, the parts farthest
removed and rolled into pebbles would be the quartz rock, while the slates would be more proba-
bly re-converted into their original clay.

It is in the lower beds of the new red sandstone that we find the greatest abundance of con-
glomerates, as if there were a particular period during which the pre-existing rocks were most
fractured, or were acted upon by the strongest currents ; and the higher beds of new red sandstone
gradually become more and more fine, as though the sea were becoming more tranquil and more
clear, till at last it contained nothing in suspension in any part of it but the finest mud or clay.
At one particular period the water held in solution a large portion of sulphate of lime (perhaps
derived from the bursting out of hot springs), which being precipitated, formed the beds of gypsum
found in the upper part of the red marls. At length the sea ceased altogether to deposit red marls
or sandstones, but occasionally threw down some thin bands of very fine blue clay, and sometimes
preci))itated a still thinner band of carbonate of lime, the two things alternating with each other
and spreading over various small limits, according to the varying conditions of the water, or the
detritus it contained. The inhabitants of the sea at this time were entirely different from the
beings that peopled it when the mountain limestone was formed. Of the multitude of corals and
univalve and bivalve shells found in that formation, not one occurs in the lias, but on the con-
trary, both bivalve and univalve shells of different species and even different genera. The fish
enclosed in such numbers in the limestones of the lias, are generically distinct from the fish the
fragments of whose scales and teeth are found in the coal measures and mountain limestones. No
reptiles' bones have ever yet been discovered in the two latter formations, while in the lias innu-
meralile ichthyosauri and plesiosauri, marine lizards of enormous size and strengtii, have left their
skeletons in the now solid rock, and like Ossian's heroes might say to the stones —

" Daughters of the streams, now reared on high, speak to the feeble after Sehna's race have failed."

After the epoch of the deposition of the lias we have no record left of what took place in our
district during an enormous interval of time, whose lapse is measured by the formation in other
parts of our island of the higher secondary rocks, and by the production of the whole of the Ter-
tiary rocks. At a comparatively very recent period, however, the district has been again traversed
by currents of water, which probably causing still further denudation over the slate rocks and
coal measures, has also greatly worn down and eaten away the beds of lias and new red sandstone
themselves. The detached patches of red marl in the valleys of the Forest were probably once
more extensive than they are now. The original surflice of the new red sandstone was probably
a nearly perfect plane, rising gently on every side towards the Forest, filling its valleys and
mantling round its sides, leaving none but the higher peaks exposed to view. Over this nearly
horizontal plane lay the lias, equally, if not more horizontal, thinning out and ending probably
towards the Forest, but approaching it much more nearly than it does now. To produce the ex-
isting undulating surface, all the lias west of its present irregular and broken boundary, and much
of tlie new red sandstone beneath, has been removed by currents of water, scooping and hollowing

GEOLOGY OF CIIARNWOOD I'OIIE.ST. 27

it out, and prodiicinjr the present valley of the Soar and its collateral valleys. Portions of the
higher beds of new red sandstone, namely the variei^ated marls, protected by the solid rocks around
them, have been left in the Forest to show the heij^ht the formation once attained,* and to mark
the destruction caused by the denuding forces. When this denudation took place we cannot pre-
cisely say, but probably just prior to or during the time the gravel was deposited. The quartzose
gravel on the north-west of the district is, indeed, little else than the conglomerate beds of the new-
red sandstone, partially stirred and redintegrated. It is often exceedingly difficult to say which
is a modern gravel bed and which is an old conglomerate. Occasionally, however, a chalk flint
or a lias fossil may be detected in quartzose gravel, and we may then conclude that this gravel
was stirred by the currents of the modern diluvial period. It may easily happen that, in the same
gravel-pit, the lower part has never been moved since the time of the new red sandstone, while the
upper has been acted upon by modern currents, and yet no perceptible difference be apparent
between the two. That the currents which brought in the great accumulations we have called the
eastern drift, proceeded far beyond the boundaries where much of that drift is to be seen is certain,
as chalk flints are occasionally scattered over the surface.f We accordingly find, in some gravel-
pits, a mixture of the eastern drift with quartz pebbles. The subject, however, of the diluvium,
and the currents of water or other causes which produced it, is a far too wide and intricate one
to be discussed within our limits. Neither shall we do more than touch on the tempting subject
of the Forest drift. Mere currents of water can certainly hardly be supposed to have transported
huge blocks of sienite or slate for miles from their ancient abodes, over an undulatino- surface of
ground, composed of soft and yielding materials. The agency of icebergs is the most probable
hypothesis, but though we have sailed among fields of ice for weeks, and could sometimes have
counted fifty icebergs from the mast head at one time, we do not consider ourselves warranted in
giving an opinion. The subject is at present one beset with difficulties, and among other geolo-
gical desiderata, a good description and explanation of the gravel beds or diluvium, or the erratic
block group, is one of the most desirable.

The speculations here entertained may perhaps appear to those who enter on them for the first
time, as useless or extravagant. They could not possibly commit a greater mistake. Our very
existence as a great commercial nation is based upon our mineral wealth, more especially the
abundance of our coal and iron. So vast, however, is the drain on the coal fields at present
worked, that already do we begin to look forward to the time when these supplies may fail. So
greatly, too, does the existence of coal at a particular depth beneath the surface add to the value
of land, that the imagination of the possessor becomes inflamed with the bare possibility of its
being the case, and he too often loses the substance in grasping at the shadow. Even in these our
days, in spite of all the warning of geologists, men are led on by the over ardent or the desio-nino-,
to squander their money in search of coal where its existence is improbable or even impossible.
Even for the purpose, then, of regulating or restraining private speculation, it is of importance
thoroughly to understand the structure of the neighbourhood of the mineral districts. But it be-
comes a question of the most vital interest to the existence and future prosperity of the nation at

* It is not meant that even the highest beds of the new red sandstone ever attained the same general height over
the suiTOunding country which they have in the Forest, as they would naturally be deposited on a gentle slope, rising
higher on the sides of the hUls than elsewhere.

f I foimd one large chalk flint (among several other instances) near Ashbourne, containing the cast of an inoeera-
mus, and lying loose on the surface of the ground. In some red clay at Compton, near Wolverhampton, many lias
and oolitic fossils were found, some years ago. — J. B. Jukes.

•28

GEOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

large, when we come to consider in what places and at what depths the coal measures may exist,
where they are not visible at the surface of the ground ? To determine this question it is neces-
sary particularly to examine the boundary faults of the present coal fields and to understand their
nature, and also to have accurate ideas not only of the general relations of the coal measures and
new red sandstones, but also of the particular relative positions they may occupy in particular
localities. It is desirable to ascertain all the possibilities of the case : what may be the possible
thickness which the new red sandstone may ever attain, and what may be the possible or probable
rocks on which it may rest. To acquire this knowledge we must speculate, we must reason, we
must theorize, as it is called. We must rise from the mere observation of the rocks themselves to
an inquiry into the causes that produced them, before we can ever hope to make mining operations
more than a mere mole-like groping in the dark, and give it the characters of scientific certainty
and assurance. The two most important practical cjuestions on which geological science must
shortly be brought to bear in the central districts of England are, the nature of the boundary faults
of our present coal fields and the possible thickness of the new red sandstone.* As we are not,
however, now writing a mineral report, we will enter no farther on the subject, but hope that what
has been said may be of use to the student, or of interest to the general observer, in their excur-
sions about the wild hills and interesting neighbourhood of Charnwood Forest.

'''""'^ \ \,r1 :i!!l|v;^

THE H,\NGrNG STONE ROCK, NEAR THE OAKS CHAPEL.

' It has been reported that, at the experiment at New-found Pool, near Leicester, they pierced to a depth of 1000 feet
in the new red sandstone without passing through it.

LAND-SLIP ON CHARNWOOD FOREST.

The following singular piece of solemn nonsense, though -nTitten with all the gravity of sober truth, is taken
from the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum. Nichols terms it an " obscene pamphlet," and
only barely mentions it. Its absurdity is its chief recommendation to these pages, in which it would
certainly have found no place had it deserved the epithet Mr. Nichols applied to it. Perhaps a better
specimen of the state of geological science in the seventeenth century could not be adduced. I have in
vain tried to discover who the "Two Lovers of Art" were — a literary fnend thinks "J. W." might be
Bishop Wilkius, author of a " Voyage to the Moon ! !" -. —

A Brief Relation of a Wonderful Accident, a Dissolution of the Earth, in the Forest
of Charnwood, about two miles from Loughborough, in Leicestershire ; lately done, and dis-
covered, and resorted to, by many People, both old and young.

Published by two Lovers of Art, J. C. and J. W., MDCLXXIX.

(quarto; containing six pages.)

TO THE READER.

To your ingenuous acceptation, we communicate these our observations ; not for ' filthy lucre's
sake,' but for public satisfaction, and truth's sake; being provoked thereto by some persons of
quality. Considering the evil custom of erroneous reports, and the fearful rumours of ignorant
people.

Read, and judge charitably, without critical and incredulous censure : here is no wandering
prolixity, nor superfluous embellishment of eloquence, but a scrutiny into the proper antithesis,
apparelled with necessary language. Be candid, not cunning. — Vale.

The figure is almost circular, posited in a declining position to the horizon ; it being the end
or fragment of a hilly body, and contains about two acres of ground.

In its upper division, or primary breach, the lower or fallen part of it, lies a yard (in some
places) beneath the unmoved body. About three parts of this circular wonder shows symptoms
of the efficient cause; and the rest shows little, or no defect.

About three paces from the upper breach, or prime division, is a second trench all down one
curve of the circle, aforesaid, and some second fractures be on the other side these ; over the prime
trench, or breach, lieth a narrow pathway ; the fallen part, whose hypotenusal should fall upon
the true angular point (if it had a perpendicular fall) is subverted, and turned aside one foot or
more.

Between the prime breach and second curvery fracture, the earth shows a perpendicular descent
or down-right falling, because it doth thrust itself within its former bounds; on the other side of
the curve, which is higher ground, the parts of the earth fallen, and unfallen, show the distance of
a foot ; which, if it should be raised to a parallel, with its former bounds, would differ half a yard.
The sine for these curves is the radius or total sine.

30 LAND-SLIP ON CHARNWOOD FOREST.

The lower part of the periphery (or arch opposite to the primary breach) is rolled in, with an
overshooting of its bounds ; as if it were driven, being light in substance, and stones (in some
places thereof) thrust forth themselves. This lower curve contains about half the radius for its
versed sine.

The unbreached part of the periphery lies on the lower side of the hill, in respect to the hill's
ridge.

Some persons judge water to be the cause of the breach ; others say wind.

The latter we account proper, and consider both, in method and manner following.

1. — That it was not water.

2. — That it was occasioned by wind.

Reasons ne(jative, and affirmative, that it was not ivater.

1. Water doth naturally run in a channel hasting forward, yea, and that when the ground is
level ; but, where the ground descendeth, through which it is to pass, there it forceth with a more
direct course, and speedy stream ; not dilating itself, but rather drawing its body into more narrow
bounds.

2. If water had been the cause, then it should not have run in a round figure, where the hill is
so much descending; unless some artificial pipes had been laid, which by the attractive power of
the air should draw the water up again ; which if fancy, or any person's supposition, should incline
to, yet nevertheless it would have more powerful force in its descent, than ascent.

•3. Had water (by its violent billows) caused this accident, it would either have done it by an
eruption outwards, or a dissolution of the earth within ; whereby the upper superficies should have
fallen in, or sunk within its counterminal sides. Indeed, some part of the ground we allow to be
depressed, but another part is not, but rather heightened, by rolling up ; and, how any thing
should produce contrary effects to its nature is marvellous !

4. Had water been the cause, by demolishing the entrails of the earth then (running in a
channel), the breach should be opposite to its current; and should, from hence, the current of
water be guessed to fall where the ground is fallen in, all down one curve of the circle, then should
not another breach considerable appear from its production, and the earth would have been over-
shot or carried that way as the current of water ])ast ;* but the earth is carried that way where no
such falling-in appears.

That it ivas wind.

1. Because it is so improbable to be water; we judge wind might be the cause, forasmuch as
it is its property to produce such effects.

2. For wind being gathered, and straitened within the bowels of the earth, in order to an
earthquake, doth at last (by a volatile motion) break or burst forth in some place or other, with
great violence ; rending, twisting in, and burying the earth within its own bowels ; and in its mo-
tion, arching, flying, and searching about, might (very naturally) cause this breach.

3. Because the lower part of the periphery, which is overshot, lies rolled in, huft, or blown,
darting from its swollen (or enlarged) pores, stones of a considerable weight; as also the root of a
tree, which is turned up in the primary breach.

* I may just mention here that I copy the orthography, whether correct ornot. — A.

LAND. SLIP ON CHARNWOOD FOREST. 31

4. This being the front of a hilly range, the earthquake might come running along, and there
disburden itself; and that moreover, as it is free from rocks, the ground solvible, and consequently
the pores more easily extended.

Arguments corresponding u'ilh the former reasons.

1. If water had been the cause; then from a slant descent or ascent, the breach would have
shown itself in a right-lined, or serpentine figure, and more especially in a right-lined figure, its
surface having declination.

But this breach is circular, and declining, contrary to a right-liued, or cucular figure.

Therefore the cause could not be water.

2. Water was not the cause, but rather wind ; for wind is volatile, light, and forcible, and
known to be of circular motion : where it is straitened, and wants liberty to disburden, or disperse
itself into its own element, it searches a passage ; and, by operation is (by philosophers) accounted
the cause of earthquakes ; it vents, and turns up the earth in its delivery thence.

But, in this breach, the figure is circular, diversely fractured, blown of huft up, and writhed,
which are the symptoms of an earthquake.

Ergo, wind was the proper and true cause.

Now it remains, that we answer three objections, and conclude.

1. Some may say, had there been an earthquake, why was it not discerned, felt, or discovered,
by one or other ?

2. Though towns be not very nigh, yet there be some inhabitants on the Forest nigh resident ;
and would not they have been sensible of some motion or noise which accompany earthquakes ?

3. There be many trees, not far off; would not some of them have received prejudice by over-
turnin"-, or rocks, where you suppose the windy commotion ran along ?

Answer to the Objections.

1. Had there been any inhabitants dwelling on the said hill they might then have felt it.

2. As for them that dwell nigh, they might very well be insensible of noise, or motion, which
might happen in the night; and because earthquakes (more general ones) have been experienced
to operate in one part of the town, and not in another part of the same ; or in a various manner,
in a little distance; no wonder then if such inhabitants perceive it not.

3. As for the trees, how should they be prejudiced where the earthquake came not? But,
had trees stood where the breach was made, they would probably have been overthrown, as the
root of a tree aforesaid ; and, as for the rocks not being removed over the windy passage, they
might be spared for the same reason that the ground in those places was; and both spared,
because the disturbance hastens along to the front, as a stone to its centre.

SINGULAR APPEARANCE IN THE LAKE AT GARENDON.

The following account of a singular appearance in the Lake near Garendon Abbey, is a proper pendant to the
foregoing account of the " Dissolution of the Earth." There are, besides, some statements in it which
render it historically interesting, as showing the prevailing superstitions of the times ; —

The most strange and wonderful Apparition of Blood in a Pool at Garraton, in Lei-
cestershire, which continued for the space of four days ; the redness of the colour for the space of
those four days every day increasing higher and higher, to the infinite amazement of many hun-
dreds of beholders of all degrees and conditions, who have dipped their handkerchiefs in this
bloody pool ; the scarlet complexion of the linen will be a testimonial of this wonderful truth to
many succeeding generations.

Printed at London, by J. H., 1645.

Whoever shall consider these sad times, wherein not only the son riseth against the father, the
brother against the brother, and the spirit of dissention and war is spread over the whole face of
the earth, but such prodigious and wonderful things have appeared as no age before have ever
seen or heard of; he must confess that he liveth now in the evening of time, and in the last age of
the world, wherein all things do begin to suffer a change. I will not trouble you with any thing
which in this nature hath heretofore been delivered to you. The sword at Plaisto flourishing
without hands, and the great stone clambering up the stairs, and whatsoever there is strange or
wonderful, are but sluggish miacions compared to this, which doth the rather prefer itself to your
observation ; because in the business of Plaisto there were to be seen for the most part but some
knavish lights, and as it were the hocvs pocus of a spirit : but in this which shall now be repre-
sented unto you, the immediate anger of God, in great characters of blood, is most apparently to
be read. At Garraton, a town in Leicestershire, not far from Loughborough, is a great pond of
water, which for many generations hath been known to be there time out of mind : it is above an
acre in the length, and about an acre in the breadth. It was made at first to satisfy the thirst of
the cattle, which from the commons and pastures thereabout, did daily resort unto it ; and some-
times it allayed the drought of the poor and thirsty traveller ; but now (as if it were another ele-
ment) it altered both its nature and complexion, for the beasts did refuse to drink thereof; and
some few days afterwards being passed, they would not come near the water ; which the country-
men and inhabitants who were owners of the cattle thereabouts perceiving, they rejiaired to the
pond to see what the reason of this strange thing should be. Amazed at the novelty of this sight,
they departed from the place. They make a relation of it to their friends ; and one neighbour
brings in another to behold this wonderful chance. The noise is spread over all the country ; and
in thronging numbers they make haste to see it. The water, which at first began to look but
reddish, doth now look higher and higher; and as the people came in it did increase in colour.
This continued for the space of four days, the country, far and near, who had notice of it, coming
in to be spectators of it. It waxed more red the second day than it seemed at the first; and far
more red the third day than it did on the second ; and on the fourth day it grew a perfect sanguine.

SINGULAR APPEARANCE IN THE LAKE AT GARENDON. 33

Tliere is no wonder in this nature but carrieth some devotion in it. The people stand round about
the banks of the pond ; and, from looking on the water they look up to heaven, from whence they
believe that the wonder came. With reverence they discover this miracle of the water turned into
wine ; but of the water turned into blood, they never heard of that wonder before. Some of them,
more hardy than the rest, would undertake to taste of it, to understand if it were already as much
in taste as in complexion ; but they were severely charged by those that did stand by them, and
were told that they might follow the more wise example of the beasts ; for, since the cattle refused
to drink of the water, by so doing they would now show themselves more brutish than the beasts.
The water still continueth in its bloody colour, and had all one standing face of blood ; and withal
it seems so thick, that if a high wind had blown, it is believed that it would very hardly at all, or
else very gently have moved. Every day brought in new observers to behold this admirable pool ;
and who had but seen it the day before could not be content with one day's wonder, but must
come the next day to behold it againe. It was the object of all the eyes thereabouts ; and on
their return homewards the subject of all their discourse : the knights, the gentlemen, and the
ladies, the peasants and their families, stood all close together round about it ; and being overcome
with the amazement of the sight, there was no regard unto degrees or distinctions of persons ; and
it seemed they learned this instruction from the pond, which they now make use of, that they were
all but one blood. From the observations of the blood, they fall into the consideration at last, of
the bloody times wherein they live ; and being so near to Loughborough, they grow in discourse
of how much blood hath been spilt by the lord of Loughborough his means, who, being there the
great agent of the King, hatli robbed many house-keepers in those parts of their goods and their
treasure, and, which is far more dear to them, many of their children's lives. Report in the way
is made how many families hath he robbed of their fathers, and how many he hath left without
their children. They report from the beginning all the skirmishes that have been made in those
parts, and all the battles that have been fought, and all the sieges that have been laid and raised ;
and passing from one devouring business to another, they do curse the proceedings of the civil
war. The true narration of this water turned into blood may be put into succeeding calendars;
and it may be printed in its own rubrick. In our days did this prodigious sight appear; and
afterwards the crimson colour of the pond did begin to change, and every day to look paler and
paler, until at length it by degrees turned unto its first complexion of water, the bloody substance
sinking down and by its own weight settling itself in the bottom of the pond. In the mean time,
the rumour of this flying up and down the country, there being above one thousand witnesses to
justify the truth of it. One Master Neale, a gentleman of good account, living at Great Leake
in Nottinghamshire, being travelling on his occasions to London, and hearing the report of it to
be commonly spoken, as he did ride upon the way, though it was four miles out of the road, he
resolved to see it ; and, making haste, easily overcame the length of the way, out of a desire to
enjoy the novelty of the sight. Being arrived, he sat a long time on horseback at the entrance
into the pond musing and looking on it (for it was just at that time when the water did begin to
return to its first complexion), and perceiving the red substance in the nature of a filmy body to
descend towards the bottom, he did put spurs to his horse, who did fling back, and snorted, and
was unwilling to go into the pond ; but after he had forced him to enter a little way into it, and
stirred towards the bottom of the water with his cane, he perceived clots, as it were, of congealed
blood in great abundance to rise up ; and having staid upon the top of the water for a little space,
to descend afterwards by degrees again. Not able to satisfy himself with any reason from whence
this wonder should arise, he departed ; but the country people resolving to examine and dive into

34 SINGULAR APPEARANCE IN THE LAKE AT GARENDON.

the cause thereof, they had a meeting amongst themselves for that intent, and concluded at it to
have the pond drained, it being believed that the enemy had thrown some carcases into the pond
to stain the water, and to bring thereby some sudden destruction upon the cattle. This belief
beino' entertained, the sluice is opened, and now the water comes tumbling forth as if it were glad
of its liberty, and was afraid to stay any longer in the portentous place ; where, before it was in a
swift torrent, it made good its passage as if one part were in emulation to overtake the other ; and
the latter strove with the former for the honour of proceeding ; and to perfect the work, wherein
some deeper places of the pond the water stood still, and could not disadvantage itself into the
channel, the countrymen, some with scoops and some with pails, did carry forth the water. With
many hands they overcame the task, which seemed at first almost impossible. And the pond
being drained, and found nothing but fish, of which in divers kinds there were gi"eat store, and
these fish seemed still to be very good, and nothing the worse for that miraculous accident which
bad made red the water. We may learn by this what God can do ; who, in a most wonderful
way, can express his power without the least damage to his creatures. Howsoever, the pond
being drained dry, which may increase the wonder, the blood in many places was discovered in
extended degrees to be like so many scarlet carpets on the bottom of the pool, to the unspeakable
amazement of the beholders ; and indeed they may well put wonder on it ; for though, in our own
Chronicles and in other Histories, we have read sometimes of clouds that have rained drops of
blood, which though it is very wonderful, yet, because philosophers have undertaken to give a
natural reason for it, it subtracteth something from the greatness of the wonder : but this, as no
cause can be assigned for it, so no story as I remember can example it ; but being as far beyond
nature as example, it sheweth itself to proceed from the immediate power and the hand of God.
I will not presume to give you the interpretation of it ; nor say it is suitable to the present condi-
tion of these bleeding times; neither will I be so hardy as to affirm, that the four days wherein
the water every day seemed to increase in the redness of its colour doth signify the four years of
the war, which now are already or nearly expired, and that as the water every day, for the four
days, exceeded one another in the defines of its sanguine dye, it looked every day redder than
before, so the war for these four years hath every year been one year more bloody than the other ;
surely it will prove good news, could I from hence assure you, that, as after the four days being
ended, the water did begin to return in its first genuine colour ; so the fourth year of this war
being expired, the kingdom shall again return to its ancient blessing and habit of peace; and
that as the water bringing its first cleanness, the blood did sink down and vanish away, so now
the crying sin of blood shall be washed away from this kingdom by the cleanness of a new life
and by the tears of true repentance. There were many of the town of Garraton, both men and
women, and of the inhabitants of the country thereabout, who dipped their handkerchiefs in this
pond when it was of a bloody colour ; and the linen retaining the complexion of blood, it will be
u testimonial to succeeding times of this most strange and wonderful accident, and of the truth of
what we write.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

The following catalogue of wild plants, found in Chamwood Forest and its vicinity,
will give a general idea of the Botany of the Forest. The greater number of the flowering
plants have come under the immediate observation of the Compiler ; for others he is indebted
to authority on which he can rely ; pailicularly to a friend residing near the Forest. The
list of Cryptogamia, in particular, would not have been so full as it is, but for his assistance.
The Compiler has had comparatively few opportunities of detecting these minuter, but not
less interesting treasures of Creation, his residence being at some distance from any portion
of the Forest. Swithland slate quarries, the \Miitwick rocks, and Bardon and Beacon hills,
would doubtless afford many other species to an ardent investigator, whose time was wholly
at his own disposal.

In the following list, those plants which are marked with an asterisk, have been com-
municated by the same friend, who has also given several new stations for many of the
plants which had been noticed by the Compiler.

The species are named, and the arrangement made, from Sir W. J. Hooker's British
Flora, the best authority on the subject.

Class 1.— MONANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Hippttris vulgaris. Common mare's-tail. Groby pool.

Class II.— DIANDRIA MONOGYMA.

Ligustrum vulgare. Privet. In hedges.
Veronica serpyllifoUa. Thyme-leaved speedwell.

scutellata. Marsh speedwell. Groby pool.

anagallis. Water speedwell. Ditto.

beccabunga. Brooklime. Common.

officinalis. Common speedwell. Dry banks.

montana. Mountain speedwell. Moist woods.

• chamadrys. Germander speedwell. Common.

hederifolia. Ivy-leaved speedwell. Common.

* agrestis. Green procumbent field speedwell; varying with ciliated or hairy fruit.

Common.

polila. Grey procumbent field speedwell. Common.

arcensis. Wall speedwell. Common.

Pinguicula vulgaris. Common Butterwort. Near the reservoir, Swannington, very sparingly-

38 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Lycopus europcEua. Common gipsywort, or water horehound. Groby pool, Rothley, &c.

Common.
Circcea lutetiana. Common enchanter's nightshade. Woods.
Fraxinus excelsior. Common ash.
Lemna Irisulca. Ivy-leaved duckweed. In ponds at Groby, Osgathorpe, and Loughborough.

— minor. Lesser duckweed. In ponds. Common.

* gibba. Loughborough.

DIGYNIA.

Anthoxanthum odoratum. Sweet-scented vernal grass. Common.

Class IIL— TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Valeriana dioica. Small marsh valerian. Ditches and marshy meadows.

— - officinalis. Great wild valerian. Ditto.

*Fedia olitoria. Corn fields about Thringstone.
* dentata. Ditto.

his pseudacorus. Yellow water iris, or com flag. Groby pool.

Scirpus lacustris. Lake club-rush, or bull-rush. Groby pool, Loughborough, and Rothley
Temple.

selaceus. Bristle-stalked club-rush, or bull-rush.

sylvaticus. Wood club-rush. Sheet-hedges wood, Loughborough, Rothley, &c.

Eleocharis palustris. Creeping spike-rush. Groby pool.

acicularis. Least spike-rush. Ditto.

• fluitans. Floating spike-rush. In shallow ponds.

Eriophorum angustifolium. Common cotton-grass. Groby pool, and near Kite-hill.

pubescens.-f Groby pool.

Nardus slricta. Mat-grass. Moors and heaths.

DIGYNIA.

Alopecurus pratensis. Meadow foxtail. Common.

agrestis. Slender foxtail. Cultivated fields.

geniculaiis. Floating foxtail. In wet and marshy places.

Phalaris arundinacea. Reed canary-grass. Groby pool. Common.
Phleum pratense. Common cat's-tail, Timothy grass. Common.

* nodosum. Near Pocket gate, &c.

Milium effiusum. Spreading millet-grass. In woods.
Calamagroslis epigejos. Wood small reed. In woods. Rare.
Agrostis vulgaris. Fine bent-grass. Common.

alba. Marsh bent-grass. Pocket gate. Common.

Catabrosa aquaiica. Water whorl-grass. Groby pool and Gracedieu.
.lira ccespilosa. Turfy hair-grass. Common.

flexuosa. Waved hair-grass. Heaths.

t Found at Swannington witli shorter hairs, and blacker glumes. This seems to be tlie plant which has been mistaken
by various Botanists for Eriop/iomm gracile. — t'. B.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 39

Aira carynphyllea. Silvery hair-grass. Barren grounds.

priecox. Early hair-grass. Ditto.

cristata. Local.

Melica uniflora. Wood raelic-grass. Shady woods.

cceridea. Purple melic-grass. Boggy heaths.

Holcus mollis. Creeping soft-grass. Common.

lanaliis. Meadow soft-grass. Common.

Arrhenalherum avenaceum. Common oat-like grass. Hedges. Common.

Poa aquatica. Reed meadow-grass. Groby pool, and Osgathorpe.

fluitans. Floating meadow-grass. Common.

rigiila. Hard meadow-grass. Barren grounds, Gracedieu, &c.

compressa. Flat-stemmed meadow-grass. On dry walls, Sheepshed.

trivialis. Rougbish meadow-grass. Common.

■ praienxis. Smooth-stalked meadow-grass. Common.

annua. Annual meadow-grass. Common.

memoralis. Wood meadow-grass. In woods.

* distans. Distant meadow-grass. Thringstone and Cloud wood ; differing from the marine

forai.

Triodia decumbens. Decumbent heath-grass. Heathy pastures.

Briza media. Common quaking-grass. Common.

Dactylis glomerata. Rough cock's-foot grass. Common.

Cijnosurus crislaliis. Crested dog's-tail grass. Common.

Fesluca ovina Sheep's fescue-grass. Elevated pastures and hills.

duriuscula. Hard fescue-grass. Common.

bromoides. Barren fescue-grass. On walls.

loliacea. Spiked fescue-grass. Meadows.

pratensis. Meadow fescue-grass. Common.

Bromiis giganteus. Tall brome-grass. Shady woods.

a.'iper. Hairy wood brome-grass. Ditto.

sterilis. Barren brome-grass. Ditto.

mollis. Soft brome-grass. Common.

* racemosus. Thringstone and other places. Not rare.

* arvensis. Near Loughborough.

Avenafatua. Wild oat. Corn-fields, Thringstone. Not plentiful.

pubescens. Downy oat. Pastures.

Jlavescens. Yellow oat. Ditto.

Arundo phragmites. Common reed. Groby pool.

Hordeum miirinum. Wall barley. Common.

pratense. Meadow barley. Common.

Triticum caninum. Fibrous-rooted wheat-grass. Woods and banks.

■ — repens. Creeping wheat-grass, or couch-gra-ss. Common.

Brachypodium sylvaticum. Slender false brome-grass. Woods.

Loliiim pereiine. Perennial darnel, or rye-grass. Common.

TRIGYNL\.

Montia fontana. Water blinks, or water chickweed. Rills and wet places.

40 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Class IV.— TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Dipsacus syhestris. Wild teasel. Road sides and hedges, near Groby.
* piloms. Small teasel. Near Osgathorpe.

Scabiosa succisa. Devil's-bit scabious. Meadows and pastures.
* arvensis. Loughborough, &c.

Galium verum. Yellow bed-straw. Common.

cruciatum. Crosswort bed-straw. Common.

palusfre. White water bed-straw. In ditches.

* uliginosum. White water bed-straw. Sides of ditches.

saxalile. Smooth heath bed-straw. Heaths. Common.

aparine. Goose-grass, or cleavers. Common.

« mollugo. Great hedge bed-straw. Thringstone and Garendon. Not uncommon.

Asperula odorata. Sweet woodruff. Woods, Gracedieu.

Sherardia arvensis. Blue sherardia. Corn-fields.

Plantago major. Greater plantain. Common.

media. Hoary plantain. Common.

lanceolata. Ribwort plantain. Common.

coronopus. Buck's-horn plantain. Iveshead, Lower Blackbrook, &c.

Cornus sanguinea. Wild cornel, or dog-wood. Woods and hedges.

Parietaria officinalis. Common pellitory-of-the-wall. Bradgate ruins, Gracedieu, &c.
Alchemilla vulgaris. Common lady's mantle. Pastures.

arvensis. Field lady's mantle, or parsley-piert. Common.

Sanguisorba officinalis. Great burnet. Meadows.

TETRAGYNIA.

Ilex aquifolium. Common holly. Common.

Potamogeton pectinatus. Fennel-leaved pond-weed. Groby pool. Common.

gramineus. Grassy pond-weed. Ditto. Rare.

« zosterafolius. Grass wrack-like pond-weed. Rothley.

* oblongus. Swamp at the source of the rivulet, running from Kite-hill to the Reservoir.

* densus. Opposite-leaved pond-weed. Common.

crispus. Curled pond-weed. Ponds.

perfoliatus. Perfoliate pond-weed. Groby pool, Loughborough, &c.

lucens. Shining pond-weed. Ditto.

natans. Broad-leaved pond-weed. Common.

Sagina procumbens. Procumbent Pearlwort. Common.
apelala. Annual small-flowered pearlwort. Common.

Mcenchia erecta. Upright maenchia. Banks of Groby pool, Reservoir, and near the Oaks Chapel.
Radiola millegrana. Thyme-leaved flax-seed. Near the Reservoir; also near Whitwick, by
the road side.

Class V.— PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

*Echium rulgare. Viper's bugloss. Gracedieu.

*Pulmonaria officinalis. Lung- wort. I have received a specimen said to be from Gracedieu.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 41

*Lycopsis arvensis. Field Ijugloss. Beaumanor and Gracedieu.
Lithospermum officinale. Common gromwell. Woods. Not common here except at Gracedieu.

arvense. Corn-fields. Local.

Symphytum officinale. Common comfrey. Groby pool, Gracedieu, &c.

Myosotis pahistris. Great water scorpion-grass, or forget-me-not. Moist ditches and sides of
ponds. Groby pool. Common.

cccspitosa. Tufted water scorpion- grass. Gracedieu, and the Reservoir.

arvensis. Field scorpion-grass. Common.

versicolor. Yellow and blue scorpion-grass. Dry banks.

Cynoglossum officinale. Common hound's-tongue. Woods.

Anagallis arvensis. Scarlet pimpernel, or poor man's weather-glass. Corn-fields.

tenella. Bog pimpernel. Groby pool, and in boggy meadows.

Lysimackia vulgaris. Great yellow loose-strife. Meadow in front of the new Monastery.

nemorum. Yellow pimpernel, or wood loose-strife. Woods.

niimmularia. Creeping loose-strife, moneywort, or herb twopence. Marshy places

Primula vulgaris. Common primrose. Common.

elatior. Oxlip. Woods.

veris. Cowslip. Common.

Menyanthes trifoliafa. Common buck-bean, or marsh trefoil. Groby pool. Rare.

Erythraa centaurium. Common centaury. Dry pastures, Thringstone. Sparingly.

Hyoscyamus niger. Common henbane. Bradgate ruins, and Gracedieu.

.itropa belladonna. Common dwale, or deadly nightshade. Near Gracedieu.
*Verbascum thapsus. Great mullein. Gracedieu.

Holanum dulcamara. Woody nightshade, or bitter-sweet. Hedges.
* nigrum. On the Leicester side of the Forest.

Conrolndiis arvensis. Small bind- weed. Corn-fields and hedge banks,

sepiinn. Great bind-weed. Hedges.

Jasione monlana. Annual sheep's-bit, or sheep's scabious. Dry heathy pastures.

Campanula rotundifolia. Round-leaved bellflower, or harebell. Common.

patula. Spreading bellflower. Lane near Buddon wood. Rare.

latifolia. Giant bellflower. Woods. Sheet-hedges wood and Gracedieu wood.

Lnnicera periclymenum. Common honeysuckle, or woodbine. Common.

Khamniis calkarlicus. Common buck-thorn. Woods. Gracedieu.
* frangula. Alder buck-thorn. Pocket-gate.

Euonymiis europwus. Common spindle-tree. Woods. Cloud wood.

Viola hirta. Hairy violet. Near the Reservoir, and Cloud wood.

odorata. Sweet violet. Common.

pahistris. Marsh violet. Bardon hill, and Reservoir.

canina. Dog's violet. Common.

* Var. flavicornis. Yellow-spurred violet. Heaths. Common.

tricolor. Pansy violet, or heart's-ease. Common.

Rihes rubrum. Red currant. Woods.

— — - grossularia. Common gooseberry. Woods.
* nigrum. Black currant. In a hedge at Thringstone, not truly wild, as is neither R. ru-
brum nor grossularia in this county.

42 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

DIGYXIA.

*Of,i/iana amarclla. Field gentian. Gracedieu.

* pneumonanthe. Near Whittle hill, at the edge of a bog.

*Cuscu(a epithymum. Forest rocks, near Gracedieu, growing on heath ; called, from the threads
by which it wraps itself about other plants, " Devits guls."

Hijdrocotyle vulgaris. Marsh pennywort. Groby pool, and marshes about the Whitwick rocks.

Sanicula europaa. Wood sanicle. Woods.

Helosciadhim nodijlorum. Procumbent marsh-wort. Rivulets and water-courses.

repens. Creeping marsh-wort. Rivulets and water-courses.

Sisoii amomum. Hedge bastard stone-parsley. Hedge banks, Belton, &c.

Mqopodium podagraria. Gout-weed, or herb gerarde. Waste places and ruins. Bradgate.

BiniiumJ/exuosum. Common earth-nut. Pastures. Common.

PimpineUa saxifraga Common burnet saxifrage. Dry pastures.

magna. Greater burnet saxifrage. Near Groby pool.

Slum angustifolium. Narrow-leaved water parsnip. Ditches and water-courses, Rothley.

CEnaiithe Jistiilosa. Common water-drop- wort. Ditches. Common.

peucedanifolia. Sulphur-weed water-drop-wort. Groby pool.

phellandrium. Fine-leaved water-drop- wort. Groby pool and Rothley Temple.

JEthusa cynapium. Common fool's parsley. Garden weed.

Silaiis pratensis. Meadow pepper saxifrage. Meadows.

Angelica sylrestris. Wild angelica. Marshy woods.

Pastinaca saliva. Common wild parsnip. Near Groby, and Bardon.

Heracleum sphondxjlium. Common cow-parsnip, or hog-weed. Common.

Daucus carota. Wild carrot. Near Groby.

Torilis anthrisciis. Upright hedge-parsley. Common.

nodosa. Knotted hedge-parsley. Gracedieu. Common.

* infesla. Spreading liedge-parsley. Common.

Scandix pecten. Shepherd's needle. Corn-fields.

Anihriscus sylrextris. Wild beaked parsley. Common.
* vulgaris. Common beaked parsley. Waste ground. Not rare.

Ckierophyllum lemulentum. Rough chevil. Common.

Conium maculatum. Common hemlock. Common.

Chenopodium poli/spermum. Many-seeded goose-foot. Banks of Groby ])ool.

* acutifolium. Cossington. A variety of C. polyspermum.

* olidum. Cole-Orton.

* ficifolium. Cole-Orton.

bonus Henricus. Mercury goose-foot. Waste places.

rubrum. Red goose-foot. Dunghills, and under walls.

• album. White goose-foot. Common.

Ulmus campestris. Common small-leaved elm. Common.

montana. Broad-leaved, or wych elm. Common.

* suberosa. Cork-barked elm. Common.

Viburninu opulus. Common guelder rose, or water elder. Woods.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 43

Sambiiciis ebulus. Dwarf elder, or danewort. Near Beaumanor.
nigra. Common elder. Common.

TETRAGYNIA.

Paniassia palas^tiis. Grass of Parnassus. Groby pool, and Tin meadows.

PENTAGYNIA.

Linum cafharticum. Puroing- flax. Common.
* perenne. Scattered plants in the neighbourhood of Thringstone.

HEXAGYXIA.

Drosera rotundifolia. Round-leaved sundew. Near the Reservoir.

POLYGYXIA.
^Mtjosurus minimus. Common mouse-tail. Slieepshed ; one specimen.

Class VI.— HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Berberis vulgaris. Common barberry. Woods. Not a native.
PepUs portula. Water purelane. Marshy places. Whitwick, &c.

Galanfhus nitalis. Snowdrop. Bradgate ruins, and Gracedieu wood.

Narcissus pseicdo-narcis.iu.i. Common daffodil. Bradgate ruins, and Gracedieu.

Convallaria majalis. Lily-of-the-valley. Gracedieu wood and Buddon wood.

* multiflora. Solomon's seal. A specimen was brought me, along with Pvh/g»iu<iii

bistorta, and other plants, from White-horse wood ; but I could never find it there.
*FritiUaria melcagris. Fritillary. Worthington.
*Acorus calamus. Sweet sedge. Between Loughborough and Zouch mills.

Allium vineale. Crow garlic. Near Groby pool, Thringstone, and Gracedieu.

vrsiiium. Bear's garlic. Sheet-hedges wood.

Hyacinthus-noH-scriptus. Wild hyacinth, or bluebell. Woods.

Jnnciis glaucus. Hard rush. Common.

effusus. Soft rush. Common.

cong/omeralus. Common rush. Common.

acutiflorus. Sharp-flowered jointed rush. Common.

lampocarpus. Shining-fruited jointed rush. Common.

uliginosus. Lesser bog jointed rush. Common.

* Var. subverticillatus. Charnwood heath.

compressux. Round-fruited rush. Common.

biifonius. Toad rush. Common.

squarrosHS. Heath rush. Heathy bogs.

Luzula sylvatica. Great hairy wood rush. Sheet-hedges wood.

pilosa. Broad-leaved hairy wood rush. Sheet-hedges wood.

campeslris. Field wood rush. Pastures.

>t congesta. Whitwick rocks; a variety of the last.

44 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

TRIGYNIA.

Rumex crispus. Curled dock. Common.

sanguinetis. Green-veined dock. Gracedieu wood. Common.

acutus. Sharp dock. Common.

obtusifolius. Broad-leaved dock. Common.

maritimus. Golden dock. Banks of Groby pool.

aceiosa. Common sorrel. Common.

acefosella. Sheep's sorrel. Common.

* hydrolapaihum. Great water dock.

Triglochin palustre. Marsh arrow grass. Groby pool, Gracedieu, &c.

POLYGYNIA.

Alhma plantago. Greater water plantain. Ponds, and margins of streams.

Class VIIL— OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Acer pseudo-platanus. Greater maple, or sycamore.

campeslre. Common maple. Hedges.

Erica tetralix. Cross-leaved heath. Common.

cinerea. Fine-leaved heath. Roecliff and Sharpley. Not common elsewhere on the

Forest.

Calluna vulgaris. Common ling. Common.

Vaccinium myrtillus. Bilberry, or whortle-berry. Woods.

Epilobium hirsutum. Great hairy willow-herb. Common.

parriflorum. Small-flowered hairy willow-herb. Common.

montaiuim. Broad smooth-leaved willow-herb. Common.

telragonum. Square-stalked willow-herb. Groby pool.

palustre. Narrow-leaved marsh willow-herb. Groby pool.

Daphne laureola. Spurge laurel. Sheet-hedges wood.

TRIGYNIA,

Polygonmn hislorfa. Bistort, or snake-weed. Meadow near Newtown Linford Church.

ariciilare. Knot-grass. Common.

* aeiculare. Several varieties occur about Thringstone, one of which is quite prostrate,

with the stipules very much torn.

convolvulus. Climbing buck-wheat. Common.

amphibium. Amphibious persicaria. Groby pool.

persicaria. Spotted persicaria. Common.

hydropiper. Biting persicaria. Groby pool.

TETRAGYNIA.

Paris quadrifolia. Common herb Paris. Sheet-hedges wood, Gr.acedieu, &c.
Adoxa moschalellina. Tuberous moschatell. Hedge banks and shady places.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 45

Class IX.— ENNEANDRIA HEXAGYNIA.

Bniomus umbellatus. Flowering rush. Groby pool and Rothley Temple.

Class X.— DECANDRIA DIGYNIA.

Scleranfhiis aHniius. Annual knawel. Corn-fields.

Chrysoplenium alternifolium. Alternate-leaved golden saxifrage. Near Groby mill.

oppositifolium. Common golden saxifrage. Near Groby mill, Gracedieu, &c.

Saxi/raga granulata. White meadow saxifrage. Meadows.

(ridactylites. Rue-leaved saxifrage. On walls and rocks.

Diaiitlnix dclloides. Maiden pink. Rocks near Groby.

TRIGYNIA.

Stellaria media. Common chickweed, or stitchwort. Common.

holostea. Greater stitchwort. Common.

graminea. Lesser stitchwort. Common.

glauca. Glaucous marsh stitchwort. Groby pool.

uligiiiosa. Bog stitchwort. In rills and ditches.

Areiiaria trinervis. Three-nerved sandwort. Shady woods, and under hedges.

serpyllifolia. Thyme-leaved sandwort. Rocks.

rubra. Purple sandwort. Rocks.

PENTAGYNIA.

Cotyledon umbilicus. Wall pennywort. Swithland slate quarries.
Sedum acre. Biting stone-crop, or wall pepper. Walls and rocks.

refle.rum. Crooked yellow stone-crop. Walls at Bradgate, and Gracedieu Abbey.

Oxalis acefosella. Common wood sorrel. Woods.

Agroslemma githago. Corn cockle. Corn-fields.

Lychnis flos-cuculi. Meadow lychnis, or ragged Robin. Common.

dioica. Red or white campion. Common.

Cerastium ivlgatum. Broad-leaved mouse-ear chickweed. Common.

— ■ — viscosum. Narrow-leaved mouse-ear chickweed. Common.

* . — . — semidecandrum. Little mouse-ear chickweed. Common.

aquaticum. Water chickweed. Common.

Spergula arvensis. Corn spurrey. Corn-fields. Common.

nodosa. Knotted spurrey. Groby pool, and Gracedieu.

Class XL— DODECANDRIA MONOGYNLA..

Lythrum salicaria. Spiked purple loose-strife. Groby pool, and Loughborougli.

DIGYNIA.
Agrimonia eupaioria. Common agrimony. Common.

46 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

TRIGYNIA.

Reseda liileola. Dyer's rocket ; yellow weed. Cloud wood lime quarries.

DODECAGYNIA.
Sempervivum tectorum. Common house leek. Cottage roofs.

Class XII.— ICOSANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Prunus insititia. Wild buUaee-tree. Hedges.

spinosa. Black thorn, or sloe. Hedges.

cerasus. Wild cherry. Woods.

PENTAGYNIA.

Cratagus oxycaiitha. Hawthorn, or May. Common.
Fyrus mains. Crab. Common.

aucuparia. Quicken tree, mountain ash, or rowan tree. Common.

Spiraa ulmaria. Meadow-sweet. Queen of the meadows. Common.

POLYGYNIA.

Rosa spinosissima. Burnet-leaved rose. Rocks near Groby, and Gracedieu wood.

canina. Common dog rose ; including several varieties. Common.

arvensis. Trailing dog rose. Common.

* tomentosa. Osgathorpe.

Rubus idaus. Raspberry. Woods.

fruticosus. Common bramble, or blackberry. Common.

corylifolius. Hazel-leaved bramble. Common.

cassius. Dewberry. Common.

* Koehleri. Koeler's berry. Very common about Thringstone, and very variable.

* rhamnifolms. Thringstone, &c.

* rhamnifolms. Var. cordifolius. Ditto.

* suberectus. Swannington, &c. This part of the county seems very rich in the genus ;

probably another species or two might be added to the list, but their extreme difficulty of
determination is a sufficient reason for not doing so.

Fragaria vesca. Wood strawberry. Common.

Potentilla anserina. Silver weed. Common.

argentea. Hoary cinquefoil. Rocks near Groby pool, and Buddon wood.

reptans. Common creeping cinquefoil. Common.

fragariastrum. Strawberry-leaved cinquefoil. Common.

Tonnentilla officinalis. Common tormentil. Common.

Gevm urbanum. Common avens. Common.
* rivale. Brook avens. Swannington.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 47

Class XIII— POLYAXDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Papaier argemone. Long prickly-headed poppy. Corn-fields, Gracedieu and Rotliley.

rhtras. Common red poppy. Ditto.

t dubiuvi. Doubtful poppy. Ditto.

Chelidonium majiis. Common celandine. Bradgate ruins.
Tilia europaa. Common lime, or linden-tree.

parvifolia. Small-leaved linden-tree. Woods.

Nymphwa alba. Great white water lily. Groby pool, and the Soar, near Kegworth.
Nupliar liilea. Yellow water lily. Groby pool, Rothley, &c. Common.

POLYGYNIA.

Thalictrum flainnn. Common meadow rue. Groby pool.

Anemone nemorosa. Wood anemone. Common.

Ranunculus aquatilis. Water crow-foot. In ponds and streams.

* fluitans. Rothley/ and probably elsewhere.

* circinnaius. Ditto.— Both this and R. fluitans have been falsely supposed varieties

of R. aqualilis.

hederaceus. Ivy crow-foot. In ponds and streams.

lingua. Great spearwort. Groby pool.

flammula. Lesser spearwort. Ditto.

ficaria. Pilewort crow-foot. Common.

auricomus. Wood crow-foot. Common.

. sceleratus. Celery -leaved crow-foot. Ditches and pools.

acris. Upright meadow crow-foot. Common.

. repens. Creeping crow-foot. Common.

bulhosus. Bulbous crow-foot. Common.

-hirsutus. Pale hairy crow-foot. Near Groby, and Sheepshed.

arvensis. Corn crow-foot. Corn-fields.

Caltha palustris. Common marsh marigold. Common.

Class XIV.-DIDYNAxMIA GYMNOSPERMIA.

* Mentha sylvestris. Not very uncommon.

hirsuta. Hairy mint. Common.

arvensis. Corn mint. Common.

pulegium. Pennyroyal. Banks of Groby pool.

Thymus serpyllum. Wild thyme. Common.

Origanum rulgare. Common marjoram. Bradgate ruins, and Cloud wood.

Teucrium scorodonia. Wood germander, or sage. Woods.

Ajuga reptans. Common bugle. Common.

Ballota nigra. Black horehound. Common.

Galeobdolon luteum. Yellow weasel-snout. Woods near Groby. Common.

Galeopsis ladanum. Red hemp nettle. Swithland slate-pits.

48 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Galeopsis tetrahit. Common hemp nettle. Corn-fields.
Lamium album. White dead nettle. Common.

purpureum. Red dead nettle. Common.

* incisum. Loughborough.

* amplexicaule. Loughborough, and Sheepshed.

Belonica officiiialis. Wood betony. Woods. Common.

Stachys sylvatica. Hedge wound-wort. Common.

* ambigua. Ambiguous wound-wort. This has been some time known as a native of

this part of Leicestershire, but is very doubtful as a species; probably a variety of S. palus-
iris. I have not found it, but have some specimens from the neighbourhood. — (Vide
Smith's Flora.)

pahistris. Marsh wound-wort. Groby pool.

* arvensis. Thringstone.

*Nepeta cataria. Gracedieu.

Glechoma hederacea. Ground ivy. Common.

Marrubium i-ulgare. White horehound. Ives Head.

Clinopodium vulgare. Wild basil. Common.

Prunella vulgaris. Self-heal. Common.

Scutellaria galericulata. Common skull-cap. Groby pool.

minor. Lesser skull-cap. Beacon hill, Ives Head, and Charnwood Heath.

ANGIOSPERMIA.

Bartsia odontites. Red bartsia. Common.
Euphrasia officinalis. Common eye-bright. Common.
Rhinanthus crista galli. Yellow rattle. Common.
.Melampyrum pratense. Common yellow cow-wheat. Woods.
Lathrcea squamaria. Greater tooth-wort. Gracedieu wood.
Pedicularis palustris. Marsh red rattle. Groby pool.

sylvatica. Dwarf red rattle. Moist heaths.

Antirrhinum majus. Great snapdragon. Bradgate ruins.
Linaria cymbalaria. Ivy-leaved toad flax. Ditto.

vulgaris. Yellow toad flax. Near Gracedieu.

Scrophtdaria nodosa. Knotted fig-wort. Woods.

aquatica. Water fig-wort, or betony. Groby pool.

Digitalis purpurea. Purple foxglove. Common.

Class XV.— TETR ADYNAMIA SILICULOSA.

Coronopus ruellii. Common wart-cress, or Swine's-cress. Waste grounds.

Capsella bursa pastoris. Common shepherd's-purse. Common.

Teesdalia nudicaulis. Naked-stalked teesdalia. Rocks. Not very uncommon.
*Lepidium campestre. Common pepper-wort. Thringstone.
*Cochlearia armoracia. Horseradish. In waste grounds here and there ; not indigenous.

Draba verna Common whitlow-grass. Common.

BOTANY OF CIIARNWOOD FOREST. 49

*Camelina sativa. Common gold-of-pleasure. Near Thringstone, in 1833; since extinct.
*Alyssiim calycinum. Between Broad and Chamber hills, in 1836; since extinct.

SILIQUOSA.

Caidamine amara. Large-flowered bitter cress. Near Groby pool, and Graeedieu.

praleiisis. Common bitter cress. Common.

hirsu(a.-f Hairy bitter cress. Common.

Barbarea vulgaris. Yellow rocket. Common.
Nasturtium officinale. Water cress. Common.

terrestre. Marsh nasturtium. Groby pool, and Rothley Temple.

amphibium. Amphibious nasturtium. Groby pool. Common.

Sisi/mbritnn officinale. Common hedge mustard. Common.

thalianum. Common swale cress. Common.

* Sophia. Flax weed. Cole-Orton.

Erysimum alUaria. Jack-by-the-hedge, or garlic treacle-mustard. Common.

Cheiranthus cheiri. Common wall-flower. Bradgate ruins, and Graeedieu.

brassica napus. Wild navew, rape, or cole-seed. Corn-Helds. Common.

* rapa. Turnip. Naturalized.

*Raphanus raphanislrum. Wild radish. Swannington, 1841.

Sinapis arrensis. Wild mustard, or charlock. Corn-fields. Common.

Class XVI.— MONADELPHIA PENTANDRIA.

Erodium cicuiarium. Hemlock, or stork's-bill. Near Groby pool, and Graeedieu.

DECANDRIA.

Geranium pratense. Blue meadow crane's-bill. Near Groby, Thringstone, &c.

, lucidum. Shining crane's-bill. Near Ulverscroft ruins, and Buddon wood wall.

Robertianum. Herb Robert, or stinking crane's-bill. Common.

. molle. Dove's-foot crane's-bill. Common.

pusillum. Small-flowered crane's-bill. Common.

dissectum. Jagged-leaved crane's-bill. Common.

POLYANDRIA.

Malra sylrestris. Common mallow. Common.

rotundifoUa. Dwarf mallow. Common.

moschata. jNIusk mallow. Near Groby, and elsewhere. Not uncommon.

Class XVH.— DIADELPHIA HEXAXDRIA.

Corydalis claviculata. White climbing corydalis. Bardon bill; abundant on Whitwick range.
Fumaria officinalis. Common fumitory. Corn-fields.

+ Two species, both common, are comprehended by British Botanists mider this name. — C. B.

50 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOKEST.

OCTANDRIA.

Polygala vulgaris. Common milk-woit. Common.

DECANDRIA.

Ulex europaus. Common furze, whin, or gorse.

nanus. Dwarf furze. Heaths.

Genista tinctoria. Dyer's green-weed, or woad-waxen. Heaths.

anglica. Needle green-weed, or petty whin. Heaths.

Cytisus scoparius. Common broom. Heaths.

Ononis arvensis. Common rest-harrow. Heaths, Thringstone.

Anthyllis vuhieraria. Common kidney-vetch, or lady's fingers. Near Gracedieu.f

Orobus tuberosiis. Tuberous orobus. Woods.

Lathyrus pratensis. Meadow vetchling. Common.

Vicia cracca. Tufted vetch. Common.

saliva. Common vetch. Common.

angustifolia. Narrow-leaved crimson vetch. Thringstone. Common.

sepiiim. Bush vetch. Common.

Erviim hirsidum. Hairy tare. Common.

tetraspermmn. Smooth tare. Swannington. Common.

Ornithopus perpusillus. Common bird's-foot. Common.

Melilotus officinalis. Common yellow melilot. Common.

Trifolinm repens. White trefoil, or Dutch clover. Common.

pratense. Common purple trefoil. Common.

medium. Zigzag trefoil. Thringstone. Common.

arveuse. Hare's-foot trefoil. Near Groby pool, Thringstone, and Gracedieu.

fraqiferum. Strawberry-headed trefoil. Near Groby.

* subterraneum. Subterraneous trefoil. Gracedieu.

procmnbens. Hop trefoil. Near Groby.

Jiliforme. Lesser yellow trefoil. Common.

* striatum. Striated trefoil. Lower Black-brook, and Swithland.

Lotus corniculatus. Common bird's-foot trefoil. Common.

major. Greater bird's-foot trefoil. Common.

X- tenuis. Thringstone, in the Parsonage field, 1833 ; it has since disappeared.

Medicago lupulina. Black medick, or nonsuch. Common.
* maculata. In a field against the rocks at Thringstone.

Class XVHL— POLYADELPHIA POLYANDRIA.

Hypericum quadrangulum. Square-stalked St. John's wort. Sides of rivulets and water-courses.

perforatum. Common perforated St. John's wort. Common.

humifusum. Trailing St. John's wort. Common.

hirsutum. Hairy St. John's wort. Common.

pulchrum. Small upright St. John's wort. Heaths.

f I have not been able to find it there. — C. B.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 51

Class XIX.— SYNGENESIA (EQUALIS.

Traijopogon pratensis. Yellow goat's-bearcl. Near Groby, Tliringstone, &c.
iSonchus ari'ensis. Corn sowtbistle. Corn-fields. Common.

oleraceus. Common sowtbistle. Common.

*= asper. Rougb sowtbistle. Confounded with the last. Common.

Lactuca virosa. Strong-scented lettuce. Gracedieu lime-works.
Preiianlhes muralis. Ivy-leaved wall lettuce. Swithland slate-pits.
Leontodon taraxacum. Common dandelion. Common.
Aparifia hispida. Rough bawk-bit. Common.

autumnalis. Autumnal hawk-bit. Common.

Thrincia hirta. Hairy tbrincia. Gravelly places.

Hieracium pilosella. Common mouse-ear hawk-weed. Common.

sylvaticum. Wood hawk-weed. Woods, and rocks at Thringstone, &c.

paludosum. Succory-leaved hawk-weed. Gracedieu wood.

sulauddm. Shrubby broad-leaved hawk-weed. Woods.

mnbellatmn. Narrow-leaved hawk-weed. Woods. Bardon.

Crepis lectorum.f Smooth hawk's-beard. Common.

Hypochffris radicata. Long-rooted cats-ear. Common.

Lapsana communis. Common nipple-wort. Common.

Arctium lappa. Common burdock. Common.

Serratula tinctoria. Common saw-wort. Common.

Carduus nutans. Musk-thistle. Near Groby.
<■ marianus. Milk-thistle. About Gracedieu ; a single plant, occasionally.

Cnicus lanceolatus. Spear ])lume-thistle. Common.

palustris. Marsh plume-thistle. Common.

arfensis. Creeping plume-thistle. Common.

eriophorus. Woolly-headed plume-thistle. Near Groby, and Cloud wood.

pratensis. Meadow plume-thistle. Bardon hill, and Pocket gate.

< acanthium. Cotton-thistle. I have seen — in Mr. Bloxam's Herbarium, I think — a

specimen from Mountsorrel.

Carlina vulgaris. Common carline thistle. Bardon hill.

Bidens tripartita. Trifid bur-marigold. Groby pool.

Eupatorium cannabinum. Common hemp-agrimony. Groby pool, Gracedieu, ice. Common.

Tanacetum vulgare. Common tansy. Near Groby.

Gnaphalium uliginosum. Marsh cud-weed. Common.

minimum. Least cud-weed. Near Groby pool, and Black-brook.

germanicum. Common cud-weed. Common.

•^ .-irlemisia rulgaris. Mug-wort. Not uncommon.
«: absinthium. Wormwood. Gracedieu.

Erigeron acris. Blue fleabane. Wall near Gracedieu ruins.

Tussilago farfara. Colt's-foot. Common.

f The Crepis tectorum of English Botany and British authors is really C. virens L. — C B.
The rare Crepis biennis is found in great abundance at Norton juxta Twjxross, in this county.

r2 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Petasites vulgaris. Common butter-bur. Near the mill, Groby pool.

* hybrida. This is merely the fertile plant, but is much rarer than the other form. It

has long been known as an inhabitant of the vicinity of the Forest; as at Gracedieu, &c.

Senecio vulgaris. Common groundsel. Common.

sylvalicus. Mountain groundsel. Common.

* tenuifolius. Near Black-brook toll-gate.

jacobtea. Common rag-wort. Common.

aquaticus. Marsh rag-wort. Common.

*Solidago virgaurea. Golden rod. Buddon wood.

Pulicaria dysenterica. Common fleabane. Common.

Bellis perennis. Common daisy. Common.

Chrysanthemum leucanthemum. Great white ox-eye. Common.
* segehim. Corn-fields.

Pyrethrum parthenium. Common feverfew. Bradgate ruins.

inodorum. Corn feverfew, or scentless May-weed. Common.

Anthemis cotula. Stinking camomile. Corn-fields.

Achillea ptarmica. Sneeze-wort yarrow. Pastures.

millefolium. Common yarrow, or milfoil. Common.

Centaurea. nigra. Black knap-weed.

* scabiosa. Near Sheepshed.

Class XX.— GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA.

Orchis morio. Green-winged meadow orchis. Common.

mascula. Early purple orchis. Woods.

lalifolia. Marsh orchis. Near Groby pool, Gracedieu, &c.

maculata. Spotted palmate orchis. Meadows. Common.

* conopsea. Pocket-gate, Bardon, and Swannington.

Habenaria viridis. Green habenaria. Near Thringstone.

bifolia.j- Butterfly habenaria. Woods. Bardon, Oakley, and Cloud woods. Rare.

*Neoltia spiralis. Lady's tresses. Near Sheepshed. Rare.

Listera ovata. Common tway-blade. Woods.

* JVidus avis. Oakley wood, and Cloud wood.

Epipaclis latifolia. Broad-leaved helleborine. Woods.

palustris. Marsh helleborine. Near Groby pool, and Pocket-gate.

Class XXI.— MONtECIA MONANDRIA.

Euphorbia helioscopia. Sun-spurge. Gardens and waste ground.

e.rigua. Dwarf sun-spurge. Corn-fields.

peplus. Petty sun-spurge. Gardens.

amygdaloides. Wood sun-spurge. Gracedieu wood.

Callilriche verna. Vernal water star-wort. Ponds.

* plalycarpa. Near Thringstone.

ZannichelUa palustris. Horned pond-weed. Groby pool.

fThe Leicestershire species is not the true H. bifolia, but H. cMorantka. — C B.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 53

TRIANDRIA.

Typha lalifolia. Cat's-tail, or reed-mace. Ponds.
Sparganium ramosum. Branched bur-reed. Ponds.

simplex. Unbranched ujjright bur-reed. Rothlej' Temple.

Carex pulicaris. Flea carex, or sedge. Beacon hill.

intermedia Soft brown carex. Groby pool.

dimlsa. Grey carex. Moist pastures.

vulpina. Great carex. Near water-courses.

■ slelliilata. Little prickly carex. Beacon hill.

oralis. Oval spiked carex. Pastures.

* remota. Distant spiked carex. Not uncommon.

sylvatica. Pendulous wood carex. Woods.

Pseudo-cypenis. Cyperus-like carex. Groby pool, and Sheepshed.

paltescens. Pale carex. Meadows, Swannington.

"^ flava. Yellow carex. Beacon hill. — Common on wet heaths, as well as a dwarf form,

which I suppose is Carex tederi of authors.

bineri'is. Green-ribbed carex. Beacon hill, and very common on the Whitwick range.

■ prtecox. Vernal carex. Meadows.

pilulifera. Round-headed carex. Beacon hill.

panicea. Pink-leaved carex. Common.

recurva. Glaucous heath carex. Common.

ctpspitosa. Tufted bog carex. Groby pool.

acuta. Slender spiked carex. Ditto.

paludosa. Lesser common carex. Ditto.

riparia. Great common carex. Ditto.

ampullacea. Slender beaked bottle carex. Groby pool, and Reservoir.

hirta. Hairy carex. Common.

— ■ — • Jiliformis.f Slender-leaved carex. Beacon hill.

TETRANDRIA.

Liltorella lacustris. Plantain shore-weed. Groby pool.
Alnus glutinosa. Alder. Common.
Urtica urens. Small nettle. Common.

dioica. Great nettle. Common.

PEXTANDRIA.

^Bryonia dioica. Red bryony. Mountsorrel, &c.

POLYANDRIA.

*CeratophyUiim demersum. Horn-wort. Rothley Temple.

f Carex paniculata, penduta, and strigusa, are found in woods near Staunton Harold.

54 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Mijriophylliim spicatum,.-\ Spiked water milfoil. Groby pool, Gracedieu, &c.
Sagittaria sagiUifolia. Common arrow-head. Groby pool, Rothley, &c.
Arum maculatum. Cuckoo pint, or wake Robin. Common.
Quercus robur. Oak. Common.

* sessiliflora. Sessile fruited oak.

Fagus sylvatica. Beech. Common.

Beiula alba. Birch. Common.

Carpinus betuliis. Hornbeam.

Corylus avellaiiu. Common hazel nut. Common.

Class XXII.— DICECIA DIANDRIA.

Salix vitellina. Yellow willow, or golden osier. Woods.

fusca vat: repens. Dwarf silky willow. Beacon hill, and Bardon.

viminalis. Common osier. Common.

aquatica. Water sallow. Woods.

aurita. Round-eared sallow. Woods.

caprea. Great round-leaved sallow. Woods.

* helix. Loughborough.

* fragilis. Common.

* triandra. Loughborough.

* alba. Common.

* acuminata. Common.

TRIANDRIA.

Empelnim nigrum. Black crowberry, or crakeberry. Heaths.
Ruscus aculeatus. Butcher's broom. Sheet-hedges wood.

PENTANDRIA.

Humulus lupulus. Common hop. Hedges near Groby, Thringstone, &c.

HEXANDRIA.
Tamus communis. Common black bryony. Hedges.

OCTANDRIA.

Popuhis alba. Great white poplar, or abele. Woods.

tremula. Aspen. Woods.

nigra. Black poplar. Woods.

ENNEANDRIA.

Mercurialis perennis. Perennial, or dog's mercury. Woods,
f .1/. alterniflornm is found in tliis county, in a pond adjoining the road side between Twycross and Appleby.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 55

MOXADELPHIA.
Taxus baceata. Common yew.

Class XXIII.— POLYGAMIA MONCECIA.

Alriplex patida. Spreading halberd-leaved orache. Waste grounds.

angustifoHa. Narrow-leaved orache. Ditto.

Class XXIV.— CRYPTOGAMIA FILICES.

Polypodium ndgare. Common polypody. Common.

Aspidium lobatitm. Close-leaved prickly shield-fern. Hedge bottoms and woods.

aculeatum. Soft prickly shield-fern. Ditto.

Jilix mas. Blunt shield-fern. Common.

spinulosum var. dilatatuin. Broad prickly-toothed shield-fern. Common.

Aspleniiim tnchomanes. Common wall spleenwort. Swithland slate-pits, and Gracedieu.

ruta muraria. Wall-rue spleenwort. Bradgate stables.

adiantum nigrum. Black-stalked spleenwort. Rocks.

filix fcemina. Short-fruited spleenwort. Heathy places.

* Var. with a purple stem. Very fine at Chamwood Heath, in 1^40.

Scolopendrium vulgare. Common hart's-tongue. Shady rocks near Sheepshed and Beacon hill.

Pteris aquilina. Common brakes. Common.

Blechnum boreale. Northern hard fern. Heaths.

Ophioglossum vulgalum. Common adder's-tongue. Near Gracedieu, and Thringstone.

Lycopodium clavatum. Common club-moss. Near the Reservoir, and Kite hill.

inundatum. Marsh club-moss. Near the Reservoir.

* selago. In the cutting of the old canal, near Ticker lane.

Equisetum arvense. Corn horse-tail. Common.

limosiim. Smooth naked horse-tail. In ponds.

palustre. JNIarsh horse-tail. Marshy places.

hyemale. Rough horse-tail. Brook near Gracedieu lime-works.

syliaticum. Gracedieu wood.

fluviatile. Roe Clift'.

PART II.

MUSCI.

*Phascum subitlatiim. On sandy soils, Osgathorpe, &c.

alternifoUum. Ditto.

cuspidatiim. Cloud wood.

56 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Sphagnum oblusifolium. In bogs.

squarrosum. Ditto.

acutifolium. Ditto.

cuspidatum. Ditto. — The limits between all the four species are very inconstant.

Gymnostomum ovatum. On the ground, in light soils.

fruncalulum. Ditto.

pyriforme. Ditto.

Anictanglum ciliatum. Banks of Grobj' pool, and Gracedieu.
Tetraphis pellmida. Bardon hill, and Gracedieu.
Encalypla rulyaris. On light soils, Gracedieu and Cloud wood.
Weissia lanceolata. Banks.

controversa. Ditto.

cirrata. On old rails and posts.

Cirimmia apocarpa. Rocks. Gracedieu wood, &c.

pulvinata. Walls and rocks. Common.

Didymodon purpureus. Walls.

flexifolius. Near the Reservoir.

Trichostomum lanuyinosum. Swithland slate-pits. Rare.

. heterostichum. Rocks. Bardon hill, and Thringstone rocks.

aciculare. Bardon hill, and near One-barrow Lodge.

Dicranum bryoides. On banks.

adiantoides. Ditto.

faxifolium. Ditto.

glaucum. In bogs.

* flexuosum. Cloud wood, and Breedon.

scoparium. Banks. In fruit at Bardon.

* squarrosum. Thringstone. Rare. — I hardly know whether the plant was D. xquar

rosum or pellucidum ; it was found barren, and I have mislaid the specimens.

. varhtm. Banks.

heteromaUum. Ditto.

Tortula enervis. Thringstone. Rare. Also at Cloud wood, Breedon, and other places.

muralis. On walls. Common.

ruralis. On thatched buildings. Common.

subulata. On banks.

uiiguiculata. On the ground.

fallax. Ditto.

CincUdotus fontinaloides. Flood-gates, Groby pool, and Gracedieu brook. Rare.
Polytrichum undulalum. On moist soils.

. piliferum. On walls.

juniperinum. Beacon hill.

. commune. Banks and woods.

aloides. Banks.

nanum. Ditto.

Funaria hygromelrica. On the ground.
Ortholrkhum anomalum. Rocks. Breedon.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD 1-OREST.

57

OrthutrUliinii affine. On trees, in woods.

diaphanum. Ditto.

striatum. Ditto.

Lyellii. Bardon hill.

crispum. On trees, in woods.

Bri/um androgyimm. Banks.

palustre. Bardon and Beacon hills.

argenteum. Gravelly soils. Coleorton, in fruit.

capillare. On banks.

caspititium. Ditto.

nutans. Ditto.

alpinum. Near One-barrow Lodge.

ventricosum. Bogs.

roscutn. Wood near Ulverscroft cottage.

ligulatum. Woods and banks.

hornum. Old banks.

piinctatum. Banks of streams, and ditches.

Barlramia pomiformh. Banks, Gracedieu. Common.

ithyphylla.\ Gracedieu.

fontana. In bogs.

Leucodon sciuroides. On trees.
Neckera pumila. On trees, in woods.

Anomodon curtipendulum. On old banks, and Bardon hill.

riticulosum. Ditto.

Daltonia heieromalla. Trees.

Fontinalis antipyretica. Rocks in Groby pool, and swamp at the source of a rivulet running

from Kite hill to the Reservoir.
Hypnum trichomanoides. At the bottom of trunks of trees.

complanaium. Ditto.

undulatum. Bardon hill.

denticulatitm. Swithland slate-pits.

medium. Near Rothley Temple.

serpens. On the ground.

murale. On walls.

purum. On banks.

piliferum. Sides of ditches.

Schreberi. Bardon hill.

sericeum. On rails, thorns, and trees.

lulescens. On banks.

albicans. Ditto.

alopectirum. In woods.

dendroides. In marshy meadows. Reservoir, and elsewhere.

+ The B. ithyphylla in Mr. Bloxam's list is on my authority, but I fear it may be a variety of B. pomiformis, as it
grows along with it, and the specific diflferences are but slight.— C. B.

58 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Hypnum curvatum. Trunks of trees.

myosuroides. Bardon.

spleiidens. Dry banks.

proliferum. Ditto.

prtelonyiim. Hedge bottoms.

rutabidum. On the ground.

velutinuin. On stones.

riiscifoUum. Common in water.

striatum. Woods.

confertum. Stones and rocks.

cuspidatum. In marshy meadows.

cordifolium. In bogs.

loreum. Bardon hill.

triquetrum. Woods.

breviroslre. Bardon hill. Rare.

squarrosum. Banks.

Jilicinum. In bogs.

fluitans. Groby pool.

* aduncum. Not uncommon in the boggy parts of the Forest, about the Whitwick range.

cupressiforme. On banks.

molluscum. Ditto.

HEPATIC^.

Riccia crystalUna. Bardon hill.

Marchantia polymorpha.

* conica. Not rare.

* irrigua? Gracedieu wood, by the brook, 1840, but barren. The absence of fruc-
tification makes me a little uncertain about the name ; but authentic specimens of M. irrigua,
from Dr. Taylor, coincide exactly with the general appearance of its frond.

Jungermannia asplenioides. Banks.

emarginala. Rocks in Sheet-hedges wood.

nemorosa. Bardon hill.

undulata. Bardon brook.

albicans. Rocks in Sheet-hedges wood.

complanata. Trees.

bidentata. Ditch banks.

■ platyphylla. Bardon hill.

ciliaris. Rocks near Groby pool, and Thringstone rocks.

dilatata. Trees.

iamarisci. Trees.

Blasia. Clay banks, and sides of ditches.

epiphylla. Ditto.

furcata. Trees.

_ pubescens. Rocks.

BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 59

LICIIENES.

*B(Bomyces rufiis. Gracedieu, &c. Not very unfiequent.
*Calici urn sessile. On Pertusaria communis.

* tymptiiiellum. Timber. Common.

* chrijsocephalum. Charnwood Heath. Rare.

* curium. Charnwood Heath.

* sp/uerocephalum. Charnwood Heath, and Thringstone.

*Aiilioiii(i (jxjrosa. Seemingly an imperfect state of 0/)e^(a/)/ia. Common.

* astroidea. Ditto.

Opeqrapha epipasla. Trees.

riifesceiis. Ditto.

atra. Ditto.

varia. Ditto.

scripta. Ditto.

Verrucaria epidennidis. Trees.

* . cinerea. Charnwood Heath.

* alba. Confounded with V. gemmafa. Not yet published as British. On Maple,

at Gracedieu, &c. Common.

* punctiformis. Common.

« leucocephala. Charnwood Heath.

* clopima. Gracedieu brook. New to England.

* iimbriiia. Ditto.

liridula. Thringstone.

* Eudocurpon Jluviatile. (E. miniatiim, (i. Hookeri.) Stones in Gracedieu brook.

* pallidum? Mountsorrel. Rare. Perhaps this may not be correctly named, but it

can certainly belong to no other species in this catalogue.
*Pertusaria communis. On stone at Charnwood Heath. Common.

* . Var. lejaphlaa.

* fallax. Not rare.

*Theloti-cma lepadinum. Charnwood Heath.
Lepraria viridis. Rocks, and stone walls.

Jlara. Ditto.

alia. Ditto.

nigra. Ditto.

* Jolilhus. Stone walls. Not rare.

*Spiloma sphwrale. Aery common on the AYhitwick range : but no lichen — a fungus.

* decolorans.

* gregarium. Cloud wood.

* Variolaria vitiligo. Common.

* conspurcata. Common.

* agehea. Gracedieu wood.

discoidea. Trees,

faginca. Ditto.

*Urceolaria scruposa. Gracedieu, &c. Not rare.

60 BOTANY OF CHAHNWOOD FOREST.

*Urceolaria calcarea. Gracedieu.

* Acharii. Near One-Barrow Lodge.

Lecidea fusco-afra. On rocks.

* confliiens. Common.

* lapicida. Common.

* elaochroma. Bark of trees.

* muscorum. Near the Reservoir. This, like L. incana, is the receptacle of several obscure

nearly-allied plants.

geographica. Rocks. Bardon hill and Whitwick range.

* nliginosa. Near Thrinp^stone rocks.

* albo-atra. Common.

* LightfooHi. Bardon, on birch.

* quernea. Barren. Not uncommon.

* incana. Common. A species comprising imperfect forms of several others; any mealy

greenish barren lichen being so called. The best moderns expunge it.

* e.rpallens. On fir bark. Thringstone and Bardon.

* quadriculof. Near the Reservoir.

* coronata. Ditto. Rare.

* rupestris. Breedon and Cloud wood.

* rernaUs. Rothley.

* icmadophila. On heathy ground, about the Whitwick rocks, but neither fine nor abun-
dant.

* marmorea. Whitwick Church.

* polytropa. Whitwick rocks. Common. Allied to, if not a variety of Lcfflwo/ff !■«;■/«.

Lecfinora atra. On trees.

* coarctata. Thringstone. Found on brick. Rare.

* squamulosa. Whitwick rocks, and Bardon.

* .sophodes. Near Ashby.

•X glaucoma. Rocks. Common.

subfusca. On trees.

* crenulata. On old walls, at Rothley. Common. But no true species; probably

spoiled Squamaria saxicola.

raria. Rails.

albella. On trees.

* parella. On rocks. Not rare.

* iartarea. Not common.

vitellina. Rocks.

Squamaria candelaria. On thorns and trees.

murorum. Walls. Rothley Temj)le.

'■■ lanuginosa. Whitwick rocks, 1840.

i cwsia. Rothley.

f saxicola. In exposed places. Common.

Placodium canescens. Bark of trees. Fertile at Thringstone.

Pannelia caperata. Rocks.
K- conspersa. Thringstone.

BOTANY OF CH\RN\VOOD FOREST. 61

Parmelia sa.ralilis. Fertile at Chanmootl Heatli.

* Borreri. Common.

oliracea. Rails; and a dark var. on rocks.

* peilala. Common.

pHlrendenta. Trunks of trees.

* pityrea. Cole-Orton, &c.

steUaris. Trunks of trees.

* cijcloselis. Rothley.

* aleurites. Bardon.

* ■ — ambigua. Bardon.

parietina. On walls.

physodes. Rocks.

"Slicta scrobiciilata. Near Switliland slate-pits.
*Collema cristatum. Common.

* liinosum. Thringstone.

* flaccidumt' Gracedieu wood.

* gratuilatum. Rothley.

* crixpum. Common.

* lacerum. Gracedieu wood.f

Peltidea caiiina. On banks.

rufescens. Ditto.

* spuria. Thringstone rocks.

*Umbilicaria puxtulafa. Near Mountsorrel windmill.

Cefraria glauca. . Bardon hill.

Borrera ciliaris. On trees.

teiiella. Rocks.

* furfwracea. Charnwood Heath, &c. Not uncommon.

Ecernia prunastri. Trees.

Ramalina fraxinea. Trunks of trees.

faxtigiata. Ditto.

fariuacea. Ditto.

Usnea florida. Old rails. Variable and barren.

Alectoria jubata. Bardon and Beacon hills, Charnwood Heath, &c.

Cornicularia aculeata. On rocks.
*Isidium coecodes. Gracedieu wood.

* paradoxum. Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

* corallinum. Thringstone and Bardon. — The two last are certainly nothino; but mon-
strosities of Lecanora parella ; as is the first of Perlusaria communis. 1 very plainly detected
the passage of Isidium corallinum into Lecanora parella, at Bardon, I8;i9.

Sphrerophoron coralloides. On rocks. Bardon hill and Gracedieu.

Cladonia uncialis. Bardon hill.

rangiferina. Ditto.

•f There are also some other species of this puzzling genus found iu the neighbourhood, which I cannot precisely

determine. — C. B.

^}0 BOTANY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Cludonia furcala. Ditto.

* pungens ? Bardon.

* Scyphophorus sparassus. Bardon.

* alcicornis. Thringstone rocks, sparingly.

pyxidatus. On rocks.

* neglectus. Thringstone rocks. Rare. — Proliably a van of S. p)/.r/rfa/MS.

* radiatus. Common.

coriiutus. On rocks.

gracilis. Ditto.

* Jiliformis. Svvannington.

* digitatus. Bardon, &c.

cocciferus. Bardon.

CHARACE^.

* Chara Jlexilis. Reservoir.
vulgaris. In ponds at Gracedieu.

ORNITHOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

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OENITHOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

The following list of birds, found in or near* Charnwood Forest, has been drawn up
almost solely from specimens which its compiler has been able himself to examine, or of
which he has received accounts from trustworthy friends, whose names are uniformly inserted
in their proper places ; by which means, though the catalogue will appear smaller than it
might have been made upon a different plan, it is hoped that it will be found, in general, more
accurate and determinate. Perhaps the list of land birds may be tolerably complete : but
that of the water fowl, as being uncertain or brief visitants, especially the duck tribe and
sea birds, ])robabIy falls considerably short of the number of species seen or killed. When
a station for a bird is recorded without any authority being affixed, or account given of what
has become of the specimen (if killed), the Compiler, in whose possession the bird in most
cases remains, is answerable for the correctness of its insertion.

The species are named from Selby's Illustrations of British Birds, ■2nd Edition, Edin-
burgh, 18;3:3.

St. John's College, Cambridge, January 14, 1842.

LAND BIRDS.

Aqidla Chri/saeta. Golden Eagjle. Killed in Bradgate Park, in April, 1841, and now in the pos-
session of the Earl of Stamford, at Dunham INIassey. Communicated by Mr. Potter.

Halixtos Albicilla. Cinereous Ea<jle. A specimen killed at Swannington, liy Mr. William
Burton. The head and wings only were preserved. These I have seen.

Pandion Halitetos. Osprey. One shot by the Marquis of Hastings, at Donington Park, October,
1841, is in his Lordship's collection. I am informed by the Rev. Robert Blunt, that one was
killed also at Melbourne, some years ago.

Accipiter Fringillarius. Sparrow Hawk.

Falco Pereqrinus. Peregrine Falcon. A very fine female shot five or six years ago near the
Loughborough outwoods. Two, a male and female, were killed at Gopsal, about two years aijo.

subbuteo. Hobby. Near Thringstone, one specimen.

Tinnuriculus. Kestrel.

^Esa7<»». Merlin. Near Sheepshed.

Biitco lulgaris. Common Buzzard. Two shot near Charnwood Heath, 1S39; one is in the pos-
session of Thomas Gisborne, Esq., the other of Kirkby Fenton, Esq.

• Eight miles has been taken as the limit of " vicinity :" no bird seen or killed at any distance from the Forest
greater than this has been admitted. The same is true, also, of the additions made to the Rev. A. Bloxam's Catalogue
of Plants.

66 ORNITHOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Circus cyaneus. Hen Harrier. Thringstone, 1841. Seen, but not killed.

Milvus imlgaris. Kite. Shot from a window at Long Cliff, in the act of watching some young

tame pigeons.
Ofus vulgaris. Long-horned Owl. Heaths ; not very common.
brachi/otos. Short-eared Owl. Woodcock Owl. Frequently found both in the wilder parts

of the moors, and in turnip fields, where the dogs will sometimes point it.
Stri.rflammea. Barn, or White Owl.
Ulula ifridula. Brown, or Tawny Owl.
Hirundo rustica. Swallow.

iirbica. Martin.

riparia. Sand Martin.

Cypselus murarins. Swift.

Caprimulgus Europftus. Goat-sucker, or Fern Owl. Rocky heaths, about Sharpley, Kite-hill, &c.

Alcedo Ispida. Kingfisher.

Muscicapa Grisola. Spotted Fly-catcher.

Lanitm Collurio. Red-backed Shrike, or Little Butcher-bird. Two old birds were shot in Talljot-
lane, 1834; and in the following summer there was a brood of young birds (Bewick's Wood-
chat) in the same neighbourhood, several of which I shot.

Merula viscivora. Missel Thrush.

pilaris. Fieldfare.

musica. Song Thrush.

Iliaca. Redwing.

vulgaris. Blackbird.

torquata. Ring Ouzel. On Strawberry-hill, near Sharpley, in the summer of 1840, I

observed three or four flying about among the rocks ; and had a specimen brought me from
the same place a few years previously.

Cinclus aquations. Dipper, or Water Ouzel. Seen in the shallow pools of the rocky rivulet which
runs from Kite-hill to the Reservoir, when the Forest began to be inclosed, by a relative who
has had frequent opportunities, in Dovedale, of observing the habits of this singular bird.

Sa.vicola CEnanthe. Wheatear.

rubetra. Whin-Chat.

rubicola. Stone-Chat.

Erythraca mbecula. Redbreast.
Phtenicura ruiicilla. Redstart, or Firetail.

Salicaria Locuslella P Grasshopper Warbler. A bird that may very probably be this, is not rare
near Charnwood Heath ; but it lies so close among the sedges and furze, that I have never
yet been able to shoot it.

phragmitis. Sedge Warbler, or Reed Fauvette. Shot at Groby. Communicated by

the Rev. A. Bloxam.

Philomela Luscinia. Nightingale. About Leicester, Rothley, Wanlip, &c.

Curruca cinerea. Whitethroat.

Sylvia hippolais. Lesser Pettychaps, or Chift' Chaff.

trochilus. Yellow Wren.

Regulus auricapillus. Golden-crested Wren.
Parus major. Great Titmouse, or Tom-tit.

ORNITHOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 07

Parus cmruleus. Blue Titmouse.

palustris. Marsh Ditto.

ater. Cole Ditto.

caudatus. Lonij-tailed Ditto, or Bottle Tit.

Accentor modularis. Hedge Sparrow.
MolacUla alba. Pied Wagtail.

Boanila. Grey Ditto.

■ flava. Yellow Ditto.

Anthua pratenxis. Meadow Pipit, or Tit Lark. Common on the heaths.

arboreus. Tree Pipit. Not very rare at Thringstone, and probably found elsewhere, near

the Forest. A bird little known, from its great resemblance to the last; but not plentiful
any where, according to Montague and Selby.

Alaiida arvensis. Skylark.

Pleetrophanes nivalis. Snow Bunting. A specimen shot on the rocks near Whitwick, four or five
years ago, in the transition from the white to the tawny plumage.

Emberiza miliaria. Common Bunting.

citrinella. Yellow Bunting, or Yellow-hammer.

Schteniculus. Reed Bunting.

Passer domesficus. House Sparrow.

Fringilla Calebs. Chaffinch.

montifringilla. Brambling, or Mountain Finch. Several shot, twenty years ago, at

Swannington, by Mr. Grundy, who kept a wounded bird for some time in a cage. It lost all
its yellow and red plumage, and turned dark brown, after being fed on hemp-seed.* He did
not, at the time, know its name, but described its plumage accurately, and on being shown u
stuffed specimen, recognized it immediately. It has since been killed near Glenfield ; and
in January, 1841, during a long snow, several were shot at Castle Donington. For these two
last notices I am indebted respectively to Mr. Bloxam and Mr. Blunt. In the present .Janu-
ary (1842) ten or twelve have been shot near Cole-Orton.

Carduelis spinus. Siskin. In flocks at Thringstone and Rothley Temple, among alders, 1837.

elegans. Goldfinch, or Proud Tailor. The "Goldfinch," however, about Thringstone,

is the provincial, but incorrect name for the Yellow Bunting.

Linaria cannabina. Linnet.

minor. Redpole. A couple shot at Thringstone, 1834, and a small tlock appeared at

Gracedieu, 1841.

Coccothraustes vulgaris. Hawfinch Grosbeach. One shot at Cole-Orton, another at Groby.

chloris. Green Linnet.

Lo.ria curvirostra. Crossbill. In great flocks in the winter of 1S39, splitting the fir cones at

" The Oaks," near Charnwood Heath ; and in some tall firs at Swannington. They were

very tame. I brought down several at one shot.
Pyrrhula vulgaris. Bullfinch.
Slurnus vulgaris. Starling.
Cormis corax. Raven. Generally to be seen on Sharpley, a few years since. Still in Bradgate

Park, as I learn from Mr. Bloxam.

* Bulfinches turn black, according to Selby, when so fed.

68 ORNITHOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Comes corone. Carrion Crow.

comix. Hooded Crow. Seen by Mr. Tomlinson, jun., near Charnwood Heath. Heat-
tempted in vain to shoot it. I have seen specimens, said to be killed near Leicester.

fruffilegus. Rook.

monedula. Jackdaw.

Pica melanolewca. Magpie.

Garrulus glandarius. Jay.

Picus viridis. Green Woodpecker.

major. Great spotted Ditto. Both found in old woods, all round the Forest; but the latter

not very common.

minor. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. NearGroby. Communicated by the Rev. A. Bloxara.

Yunx torqtiilla. Wryneck.

Silta Europtea. Nuthatch. Rothley Temple, and elsewhere, in old orchards.

Certhia familiaris. Creeper.

Trofflodi/tes Eiiropa-us. Wren.

Cuculus canorux. Cuckoo. Five or six of these birds may be heard at the same time, among the

rocks.
Columba Palumbiis. Ring Dove.
Mnas. Stock Dove. Mr. Grundy has shot " Rock Doves" at Bardon, many years back,

which he thought came from the Vale of Belvoir. This would probably not be C. Livia, but

C. Mnas, which is still common in Bradgate Park, as I learn from Mr. Bloxam, and also in

Calke Park, the seat of Sir G. Crewe, Bart.
Phadanus Colchiczis. Pheasant. The hybrid bird, also, between the pheasant and the common

fowl, occurs occasionally in Birchwood, near Charley.
Te/rao Tetrix. Black Grouse, or Black Game. Near Charnwood Heath, Sharpley, &c., in

tolerable numbers, till the last two years. They are now nearly extinct.
Lagopus Scoticiis. Red Grouse. A brood at Tin Meadows, twenty years ago, some of which were

shot by Mr. Grundy, when in search of Black Game. Since then Mr. Gisborne attempted

to introduce the bird from Scotland and the Derbyshire Moors, but without success ; it being

unable to bear the dust of the journey, as the game-keeper thought.
Perdix cinerea. Partridge*
coturnix. Quail. Several killed one season between Whitwick and Bardon, some years

a"-o, by Mr. Grundy, who kept a wounded bird alive for some time. It has not been observed

there since.

WATER BIRDS.

.Irdea cinerea. Common Heron.

Boiaurm stellaris. Bittern. One was shot near Ashby, in 1834, by the late Mr. Joseph Cantrell ;
another, killed at Wanlip, is in the possession of Sir George J. Palmer, Bart. ; a third, shot
at Glenlield, is in the possession of C. Winstanley, Esq., of Braunston Hall.

» It may be added, on the authority of Charles March Phillipps, Esq., that a variety of the Partridge, with white-
breasted horse-shoes, is still met with on Charnwood : and, so far as that gentleman has been able to learn, there
only. — T. R. p.

ORNITHOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST. 69

Numeniiis arquata. Common Curlew. Shot at Ben's Cliff; now at Rothley Temple.

Phteopus. Whimbrel Curlew. One specimen shot near Charnwood Heath.

To/anus hypoleucos. Common Sandpiper. Gracedieu and Groby Pool.

ochropux. Green Ditto. Groby Pool.

Scolupax rtisticola. Woodcock.

■ — gallinago. Common Snipe.

gallinula. Jack Snipe.

Ralliis aqualicus. Water Rail. Tlirinsjstone, Rothley Temple, &c.

Crex pralensis. Corn Crake, or Land Rail.

Porzana. Spotted Crake. Near Leicester.

Gallinula chloropu.i. Water Hen.

Fulica atra. Common Coot. Groby Pool, and Barret Pool.

Ciirsorius Isabellinus. Cream-coloured Swiftfoot. The third and last specimen found in Britain,
was killed near Timberwood Hill, October, 1827. It is in the collection of the Rev. Thomas
Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge, and was lent by him to Mr. Selby, for whose splendid work it was
engraved.* " Bill three quarters of an inch long-, black, and arched towards the tip. Irides
pale yellowish-grey. Forehead and crown of the head pale buff-orange, passing towards the
occiput into ash-grey : below which, backwards, is a triangular spot of black. Over each eye,
and passing round the hind part of the head (below the black spot) is a band of pure white.
From the posterior angle of the eye is a streak of black. Throat and chin pale reddish- white.
The whole of the body sienna-yellow, tinged with ash-grey, palest beneath. Greater cjuills
brownish-black ; outer tail-feathers having a small dusky spot near their tips. Legs long,
with the tibise naked for an inch above the tarsal joint. Toes short ; the outer united to the
middle toe by a rather broad membrane, the inner toe by a smaller one. Claw of the middle
toe pectinated ; a peculiarity belonging also to all the other species." — The specimen which
was first found in Britain was sold to Donovan, for 83 guineas, and is now in the British Mu-
seum. Only two other individuals of the species have ever been found on the continent of
Europe; one in Austria, the other in France. A native of the northern and western parts
of Africa. In shape much like the Lapwing, but smaller by one-third.

Charadrias pluvialis. Golden Plover. Near Charnwood Heath.

Vanellus cristatus. Lapwing, or Pee-wit.

jlnser F Wild Goose. — Some kind of Wild Goose appears frequently on and near the Forest.

In the winter of 1841, I fired at one near Thringstone, but without effect. It was one of
Selby 's three first species; probably A.ferus, the Bean Goose.

Cygmisferus. Whistling Swan. Seen at Bardon, by Mr. Grundy, formerly. Many have been
recently killed near Burton-on-Trent. In the more immediate neighbourhood of the Forest
they are more rarely shot. One killed near Wanlip Hall was added, by the Dowager Lady
Palmer, to ]\Ir. Gisborne's extensive collection at Yoxall Lodge ; and I hear from Mr. Bloxam,
that another has been killed at Groby.

Spathulea clypeata. Shoveller. Killed near Charnwood Heath. In the collection at Yoxall
Lodge.

Auaa Boschas. Wild Duck ; Mallard.

• The extreme rarity of the bird may justify me in copying the description given of this specimen by Mr. Selby, in his
"Illustrations of British Ornithology," Vol. II., p. 219.

70 ORNITHOLOGY OF CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Querquedida Crecca. Common Teal.

Mareca Penelope. Wigeon.

Mergiis Merganser. Goosander. Near Langley. In the possession of R. Cheslyn, Esq.

Podiceps cristatus. Crested Grebe. Groby Pool. Communicated by the Rev. A. Bloxam.

minor. Little Grebe ; Dabchick. Rothley, Groby, &c. ; but not abundant.

Sula Bassana. Solan Gannet. Picked up dead, or dying, near Buddon Wood. In the posses-
sion of Miss Watkinson, of Woodhouse.

Sterna hirundo. Common Tern.

nigra. Black Tern. Both these marine birds are sometimes found at Groby Pool, Cole-

Orton, and elsewhere.

Larus ridibundus. Black-headed, or Red-legged Gull. A specimen in its winter plumage, shot
near Melbourne, is in the possession of the Rev. Robert Blunt, of Belton.

canus. Common Gull. Often seen and shot. Flocks of Gulls, probably L. Rissa, as well

as this, frequently fly over Thringstone, after violent storms. None, except the common
Gull, have fallen into my hands. A very large Gull, which I have not seen, was killed at
Benscliff. This would most likely be L. marinus, the great black-backed Gull.

Cataractes vulgaris. Common Skua. One shot near Wymesvvold, December, 1841. Communi-
cated by Mr. Potter.

Thalassidroma Biillockii. Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel.* One found in Gopsal Park is in tlie pos-
session of the Earl Howe. Communicated by Dr. Kennedy.

Churchill Babington.

■ These birds, with two or three other nearly-allied species of Petrel, are known to mariners as " Mother Carey'i

Chickens."

BRIEF ACCOUNT

OF THE GEOLOGICAL VLSIT OF PROFESSORS SEDGWICK, AIREY, AND WHEWELL,
TO CHARNWOOD FOREST.

BY THE LATE C. ALLSOP, ESQUIRE.

(obligingly communicated EY CHARLES MARCH PHILLIPPS, ESQUIRE.)

[I venture, in the absence of Mr. Jukes, who is gone out, as Naturalist, in a voyage of exploration, to give
the following interesting and important remarks : feeling assured, that even if they contradict any part
of his own "speculations," he will be the last person to complain, providing they at all conduce to
elicit truth, or promote the science of which he is not only a Professor but a devotee. — t. r. p.]

The examination of the eastern ranire of the Charnwood Forest rocks, by Professors Sedgwick
and Airey, and Mr. Whewell, commenced with the sienite rocks at Mountsorrel; and in a stone-
quarry on Rothley Plain (at Simpson's Pit), a fault or dyke was pointed out to them by a friend
of mine, who accompanied them to my house.

At the slate-quarries at Swithland, and on the low range of schistose rocks above Woodhouse
Eaves, their attention, as I understand, was particularly directed to the composition of the rocks,
and the dip which they exhibited to the horizon.

Having understood that the dip, or angle of inclination of the rocks, was an object of particular
inquiry, as soon as they honoured me by placing themselves under my guidance, I took them to
the top of Broombriggs, where the dip is remarkably developed. From thence they proceeded to
Beacon Hill, which exhibits a similar developement, though perhaps not quite so distinctly marked.

Whilst the party was on Beacon Hill, I mentioned to Mr. Sedgwick that there was a small
mass of sienitic rock, at the base of Beacon Hill, on S. W. W. side, evidently in situ ; and I men-
tioned to him this fact, because the general character of the surrounding rocks was either schistose
or porphyritic. He begged that I would immediately conduct them to it ; and when we reached
it, and he had examined it, he pronounced it to be sienite. From this point they proceeded to
Whittle Hill, and after examining the quarry recently opened for the purpose of raising whetstones,
they went to the top of the hill, to ascertain the dip of the rocks that presented themselves there.
From Whittle Hill they proceeded to the northern base of Beacon Hill : and I took occasion to
point out to them the part called " The Falling in," of which I believe there is some account recorded
in a volume of the Harleian Miscellany, and of which the tradition is, that a remarkable subsidence
took place in a rock here situated (about 1680). In a marl-pit, near the northern foot of Beacon
Hill, there is a manifestation of freestone, or millstone grit, in lamina, which was examined by
Mr. Sedgwick, and he pronounced the whole of this valley an oceanic valley.

72 VISIT OF PROFESSOR SEDGWICK., ETC., TO CHARNWOOD FOREST.

Their next attention was directed to the HanginjT-stone rocks, and the range immediately above
Beaumanor ; examining, however, every rock that they passed, with a view to the ascertainment
of its angle of inclination.

The result of the day's inquiry showed that the angle of inclination was invariably towards the
east, on the eastern side of the Forest; and on the following morning, Mr. Sedgwick informed me
that he was desirous of ascertaining the dip of the rocks towards the western side, as he conceived
they might possibly discover an anticlinal line, which would facilitate their inquiries as to the
origin of the rocks.

I took occasion to ask if the rocks in the vicinity of Whitwick had been minutely examined,
and was answered in the affirmative ; but was informed that they were of a porphyritic character,
and from their massiveness exhibited no angle of inclination. It was then agreed that they should
visit a lower range of parallel rocks which were known to be mere schistose.

Benscliff was the first rock that was examined, and the discovery was soon made that the dip
on this rock was towards the ivest. This, as it appeared to me, was a most gratifying result; and
it was not less so, to find that the dip on Black Hill was in the same direction. On the rocks
above Baldwin Castle and Charley, the developement was not quite so complete, from the por-
phyritic nature of the rocks, which effaced the stratification.

From the survey of this lower range of rocks, including the rock upon which the new Chapel
is erected, the inquiry was extended to Ives Head. I did not accompany them to the top of
Ives Head, but from the length of time employed there I concluded some difficulty had arisen ;
and when Mr. Whewell joined me, he admitted they had encountered some difficulty, from the
angle of inclination on Ives Head not being in accordance with their theory ; and that Professors
Sedgwick and Airey were gone to a stone-quarry they had caught sight of at a short distance from
the road, to ascertain if it would furnish them with any additional information.

Whilst this inquiry was going on, Mr. Whewell and I proceeded to a stone-quarry I had dis-
covered on Morley Hill, and here the dip was ascertained to be towards the east ; and this was the
point they were all so solicitous to discover, inasmuch as the dip of the rocks on Ives Head was
towards the ^vest. The ascertainment of the fact of the dip on Ives head being towards the west,
and on the Morley Hill, just below, towards the east, proved that the anticlinal line tr.aversed the
valley between, and entered the Forest here ; and Mr. Whewell pointed out the precise spot which
it miirht be supposed to traverse. Mr. Sedgwick here observed to me, that "the rocks were of
igneous origin, and that the hills were entitled to be called mountains !" " Yes," added Mr. Whe-
well " and here are all the accompaniments of a mountainous chain. Coal measures on the west

carboniferous limestone on the north — and sienitic rocks on the east and on the south ; with an

anticlinal line traversing the centre — accounting for the dislocation of the strata, and referring the
origin of the rocks to igneous agency."

Jiroombriygs, Woodkouse,

„ ,"oi iQ« Charles Allsop.

^ept. 24, 1833.

SUPPLEMENT

ORNITHOLOGY OF CHAENWOOD FOREST.

Circus rvfux. Marsh Harrier, or Moor Buzzard. One killed and another seen at Buddon
Wood, in 1841, by the Keeper of G. J. D. Butler Danvers, Esq.

Curntca atricapilla. Blackcap Warbler. Swannington, Long Whatton, &c.

Silcia sibilatrLr. Wood Wren. Not uncommon.

Freg'dus Gracuhis. Cornish Chough. One killed in Calke Park. Communicated by the Rev.
A. Bloxam.

Limosa ntfa. Bar-tailed God wit. Winter plumage. One shot in the meadows near Swarkestone ;
now at Cole-Orton Hall, the seat of Sir G. H. W. Beaumont, Bart.

Charadrius morinellus. Dotterel. Five brought down at a shot by Mr. Tomlinson, junior, at
Charnwood Heath. Miss Watkinson, of Woodhouse, also has one, taken near Buddon
Wood.

Hiaticula. Ring Plover. Killed at Groby, by the Keeper of the Earl of Stamford,

who has likewise shot the three following birds in the same place.

Fuligula cristafa. Tufted Pochard, or Tufted Duck.

Clangida vulgaris. Golden Eye. Also in Loughborough meadows.

Cohjmbus septenirionalis. Red-throated Diver. The immature bird, or Speckled Diver.

arclicus. Black-throated Diver. Donington Park. Communicated by the Rev.

Tiiomas Gisborne.

Mergulus melanoleucos. Rotche, or I/ittle Auk. A pair of these rare arctic birds were taken
alive at Nanpantan, Nov. 6, 1837, in a turnip field, by J. Cartu right, Esq., of Loughbo-
rough, who endeavoured, without success, to keep them alive on fish and insects.

Lams Rissa. Kittiwake. Bardun, &c.

Churchill Babington.

INDEX.

X, B. — Tin? letter n preceding the figures has reference to the note at the bottom of the pa;

Abbey of Garendon 180

Abbots of tiarendon, list of 182

Abbot's Barn, at Quorndon 72

Abundance of timber ou t'haniwood in 17th century, 8

Acle, or Akeley, Deanery of 174

Park of 175

Acres, number of contained in Charnwood 29

Act of Inclosure, its effects on value of Forest land, 30
Adelaide, the Queen Dowager's visits to the

Forest 162, 163

Age of oaks, extraordinary 10

Albini, Hugh de. Earl of Arundel 15, 17

William de 62

Alderman's Haw 15, 20, 45, 57, 72, 94

AUsop, the late Mr. Charles, memoir of 35

his account of Professors Sedgwick, Airy,

and Whewell's tour over the Forest (Appendix J 71

Altar Stone at Markfield 54

Ancient Cross, formerly at Mountsorrel 70

entrances into the Forest 27

road leading to the Forest 45

Andrate, or Andraste, a Druidical goddess 41, 94

Andrsetes-berie, or Andrates-biLry, a British town

now lost 41,45, 94, 95, 96

Angodeston, Angodesthorpe, or Osgathorpe Chapel, 155

Animals formerly abounding in Charnwood 7

Antiquities of Charnwood 41

Application of Bardon Hill to scientific purposes . . 162
Arden, a Celtic Forest, of which Charnwood formed

part 7, n. 117

Articles of Agreement between Hugh de Albini, Earl
of Arundel, and Roger de Quincy, Earl of
W inton, about the right of hunting in cer-
tain parts of the Forest 15

between the Earl of Winton and Roger de

Somery 16

between Ranulph de Geroniis and Robert

Bossu, Earl of Leicester 65

between Roger de Quincy, Earl of Win-
chester, and Roger de Somery, Baron of
Dudley, about their mutual hunting in
Charnwood Forest and Bradgate Park . . . 117

Anindel, see Albini.

Attachment, Court of 3

Babington Humphrey, Clerk, D. D., founded a Hos-
pital at Barrow 63

the late Thomas, Esq., exertions of to

secure the erection of Churches in Cham-
wood Forest 37

Rev. M. D., his account of the Wood of

Challenge . 17

his conjecture respecting the ring attached

to Celts 42

PAGE

Babington, remarks of, respecting the Park at Barrow, 56

on the " Curia Comitis" 57

Churchill, Esq., Ornithology of Cham-
wood presented by.

his additions to the Botany of Charnwood

(Appendix J 65

Baldwin Castle 45

Baliol, John 99

Bardon Park 160

Hill 161

Baronial Manor House formerly at Barrow 56

Baron Lane, Mountsorrel, anancient Cross stoodthere 70

Barrow, frequency of this name on the Forest 45

upon-Soar, Lordship of 11, 12

Parochial History of 55

Church of 60

Hospital of 62

fossil remains 64

Basset, Sir Ralph, died seised of the manor of Barrow, 59

another, held a Park there 59

Battle of the Standard 20

Battle axe, ancient, found ou Charnwood 50

Battle Flat ...160

Beacon Hill, the Author's discovery of an ancient

Camp there, and speculations concerning it 47

Beacon fires ; remains of masonry ; fortifications ... 48

Tower -18

Beacon Hill, ftirther discoveries ; plan of the fortifi-
cations 49

extent of view from ; curiosities of . . . 90

Beal'manor, history of "3

garland and oaken chair there 84

Beaumont family, origin of 74

Henry de, 1st Lord Beaumont and Earl

of Buchan 59, 74, 86

Alice de, wife of the above 21, 86

Jolui, 2nd Lord Beaumont 74

Henry, 3rd Baron Beaumont 75

Henrj', 4th Baron Beaumont 75

. John,' 5th Baron, 1st Viscount 75

William, 6th Baron, 2nd Viscount 76, 88

■ Elizabeth de 60

John, Esq., obtains a Grant of the pos-
sessions of the Nims of Grace Dieu .... 166

Francis, son of the last 168

Francis, the Dramatic writer 168

Sir John 170

Sir Thomas I'O

Beaumont, Barony of, descends to Sir Brian

Sfapleton, K.nt., and Sir John

Norres 77

Mr. Stapleton's claims to it. . 77

Beiinus, ApuUo wuishipped by the Druids under this
name '11

76

Bellamont, Robert, Earl of Mellent 13

Belmeis, William, Alderman's Haw given by liim

to a Religious House 15

William de, villate of Andrffites-burie given

by him to the Prior of Bermondsey 94

Beltein, a Druidical festival 93

Belton, Manor of 15

given by Roesia de Verdon to the Nunnery

of Grace Dieu 1 66

Parochial History of 171

Benedictine Abbey of St. Severus, in Normandy, had

part of the tithes arising from Barrow 61

Benefaction, singular one to Quomdon 72

Ben'sCliif 10

a Celt found there 42

Bercaries, what they were . . n. 174

Bermondsey, Monks of; exchanged Andrtetes-berie

for Wydeford, in Hertfordshire 94

Prior of, a dispute between him and

the Abbot of Leicester respecting

Alderman's Haw 95

Bernard, St., Monastery of 157

. Monks of, coins found by them on

Chamwood 50

Beveridge, Bishop, a native of Barrow 61

Blackbrook «• 18

Black Prince, held lands at Barrow 55

Blanchmains, Robert, 3rd Earl of Leicester ... 13, 66, 97
Blondeville, Ranulph, 6th Earl of Chester 12, 07

his sisters, Matilda, Mabel, Agnes, and

Hawisia 12, n.68

Bloxam, the Rev. Andrew, his remarks on Bradgate, 122

contributes the Botany of the Forest, in

conjrmction with Mr. Churchill Babmgton

f Appendix) 37

Bois Ernald de, gifts of to the Monks of Garendon, 181
Boss'u, Robert, E. of Leicester, 13, 65, 97, 131, 143, 175, 180

Bosville Mr., his claims 34

Bosworth, George, Esq 1 04

Botany of Chamwood (Appendix ) 37

Boundaries on the Forest, Manors and Parishes haviug 31

Parishes allowed Right of

Common, as being Members

of Parishes having . 31

Boundaries of Sheepshed, from the Register of

Leicester Abbey 176

Bbadgate 11'

Park of 119

present appearance of 120

Chapel 121

Braibroc, Henry, his defence of the Castle of Mount-
sorrel against King Henry III 66

Broad Hill, Mountsorrel, ancient earth works there, 69

Broombriggs 35, 90

Brotherton de, Earl of Norfolk, arms of at BaiTOW . . 62

Bruce, Robert 99

his murder of Comyn, of Badenoch .. 101

Buchan, see Comyn.

district of, ravaged by Bruce 102

Buckingham, Mary, Comitess of, her origin 185

Catherine, Duchess of 184, 1 85

George Villiers, Duke of, her son. ... 186

Budd, the war god of the Druids 41

Burgh, Hubert de ;• 68

Burghersh, Bartholomew, obtains a grant of Whit-
wick from Edward III 153

Burton, Mr., errors of, corrected 112, 143

Burton, mound near that village 63

Callingwood, or the Claimed wood 21

Carausius, coins of, found on Chamwood 51

Cat Hill 59

Celt found on the Forest 42

Chase of Chamwood, to what Manors it belongs ... 4

Chantries, two founded at Quorndon 72

Chapels of Copt Oak and Woodhouse Eaves 39

Charley 6,15,19

history of 97

Hall 105

Charnley identical with Charley 6, 46

Charnwood Inclosure, Award signed Dec. 4, 1829.

Courts on 3

to what Manors the Chace belongs . . 4

woody state of, down to the middle of

the 18th century .• 5

derivation of the name 6

extent of 7

Romans acquainted with it 7

of great note in feudal times 7

its state in the 1 3th century 7

" Roboraria" 8

abundance of timber in it in the 17th

century 8

sylvan beauties of 9

ancient oaks of 10

Territorial description of 11

Burton's description of 11

in what manner the Forest and its

privileges passed to the various owners 1 1

— — Agreements respecting the right of

hunting therein 15

Wood of Challenge 17

— ancient boundaries and modem peram-
bulations of 17

valuation of Forest privileges in the

time of James I 22

Leicester Forest probably identical

with 22

privileges of the Commoners and Cot-
tagers of 23

tumults there 23

Memorial to Mr. Herrick in conse-
quence of them 24

circumference of the Forest 24

Perambulation of 25

Forest Canal 27

Inclosure 29

quantity of land contained in 29

. prejudices against Inclosure of 30

Commissioners 30

grounds on which claims were founded, 80

■■ — claims of the six Lords of the Forest,

and of Mr. Danvers 32

results of the culture of the Forest land, 35

Forest Churches 36

Oaks, Woodhouse Eaves, and Copt

Oak Chapels 39

Antiquities of 41

. Romans on 46

ancient fortifications ^ 47

Beacon Tower 48

Plan of the ancient Camp on Beacon

Hill 49

battle-axe fomid there 50

spear head, and ancient coins 51

ancient mounds on 53

Parochial History of. See Barrow-

upon-Soar, Mountsorrel, Quorndon,
Beaumanor, Woodhouse, Woodhouse
Eaves, Woodthorpe, Little Haw, Map-
plewell, Aldercnan's Haw, Charley,
Groby, Bradgate, Thurcaston, Swith-

77

PAGE

land, Roccliff, Ulvescroft, Whitwick,
Bardon, Bardon Hill, Markticld,
Grace Dieu, Belton, Sheepslu'd, Gar-
endon, and Alderman's Haw.

Charnwood Heath 157

Charter of Koesia du Verdon 165

Chartularios uf Garendun Abbey 180, 181, 182

Charyte (Brother), his Kentale of Leicester Abbey, n. 17

Child, Ayhvin, Monastery founded by 94

Cistercians, origin of the Order of 157

Claims on the soil of the Forest at the time of Inclo-

sure ; on what founded 30

of the Earl of Stamford .... 32

of Earl Moira 32

of Mr. March Phillipps . . 33

of Mr. Herrick 33

of Mr. Dawson 33

of the Hon. A. R. B. Danvers 34

for Messuages, Sites, &c., number of 34

singular one of Great Wigston 34

Claudius, coins of, found on Charnwood 51

ClilT Hill 1G3

Coins, ancient, found on Charnwood 50

at Uothley Temple n. 73

Commissaries of the Peculiar of Groby from 1565 . . 115

Commissioners of Inclosure, names of the 30

appointed to visit the Nunnery of

Grace Dieu 166

Commoners and Cottagers of Charnwood, privileges of 23
Comyn, Alexander, Earl of Buchan, a proprietor of

Charley, incidental history of 98

obtains a Grant of a market and fair for

Whitwick, from Edward 1 ... 151

Alexander, son of the former, cruel treat-
ment of his wife by Edward 1 102

beaten by Bruce ; dies at Charley 102

John, brother of the last 99, 152, 160, 165

William, brother of the two last named, ob-
tains various Grants . . 000

John, of Badenoch, killed by Bruce 101

Constance, of Bretagne 68

Copt Oak, account of 150

Chapel 39

" Copy of the Particular for a Grant to John Beau-
mont, Esq., 36 Henry VIIl." 171

Corrections of Nichols' "Leicestershire." — See
Nichols.

Courts, Forest, on Charnwood 3

Cradork, T., Esq. 39,87

Cross, ancient, at Mountsorrel 70

SirRoberfs n. 18, 148

cut in Nettle Hill, near Nanpantan 176

Crow Hill 10

" Curia Comitis," Rev. M. D. Babington's remarks

on the 56

Dalby, Edward, Prior of Ulvescroft at the time of

the Dissolution 145

Danvers, the Hon. A. R. B., his claims at the time

of the Inclosure 34

• the, notices of 137

Pedigree of 140

Chapel, at Swithland 138

Dawson, Edward, Esq , present proprietor of Belton, 172

Deanery Churches, Iheir origin n. 175

Despenser, Hugh le, held part of Charnwood Forest, 14

-i possessed lands at Barrow. ... 58

Despensers, the, historical notices of 73

Pedigree of 92

Digby, Francis, of Garendon, Gent., pardoned by
Edward VI., for coining 183

Disafforesting, what it implied 2

Dorset, 1st Marquis of 108, 1 1 1

2nd Marquis of 79, HI, 154

Drayton's Polyolbion, description of Charnwood from 9

Earl's Dyke, at Sheepshed n. 18, 19, 177

Edward I., King of England, artifices of, to secure

the Scottish Crown 98

his barbarity to the Countess of Buchan,

wife of Alexander Comyn, of Charley . . 102
Erdington Manor, at Barrow 58

Giles de 59

Sir Giles de 59

Thomas de, died seised of the Manor of

Barrow GO

Sir Thomas de, demised Oldfield and

Long-wong to the Abbot and Convent of

St. Mary, Leicester 103

Erleshall, at Charley 18, 104

Essex, Earl of, held the Manor of Beaumanor by lease, 79

Exchequer, modes adopted to supply it in 1596 .... 84

Falconers, the, ancient family of 131

Pedigree of 132

Falconry 134

Faniham, John de, founded a Chantry at Quorndon, 57

John, monument of 71

Thomas, owner of Charley in 1647 104

Chapel, Piscina there 71

Famhams, the, of Quomdon 70

Fenton, Kirkby, Esq., his improvements on the Forest 157
Ferrariis, Sir Wm. do, held the wood of Charnwood, 21
Ferrars, William de 14, 19

William de, 1st Baron of Groby 21

value of his possessions at the time of his

decease 106

■ William, 2nd Baron of Groby 107

Henrj', 3rd Baron 107

William, 4th Baron, Henry, oth Baron, and

William, 6th Baron 108

Elizabeth 14, 108

Eleanor de, carried off by Douglas . . 103, n. 107

Fitz-Pamell, Robert, Amicia, and Mary 13

Forest Canal 27

Churches 37

Law, Courts, and Customs I

Peasantry, their peculiarities 89

Foresters, their duties 3

Fortification, ancient, on Charnwood 47

Fynes Place, at Belton 173

Gallienus, coins of, found on Charnwood 50

Garendon 15

history of the Abbey ISO

Geology of Charnwood, by J. B. Jukes, Esq. — See
Appendix.

Geroniis, Ranulph de 61,65

Gisborne, the Rev. Thomas, his poem, " Rothley

Temple" 150

■ Thomas, Esq., his Forest improvements. . 157

Gr.ace Dieu, history of 164

Additions to 188

Manor House 1 70

Granges fonnerly belonging to Garendon 18.3

Grenfemaisnell,'Hughde, 13,94,95,106,131,136,151,171

Ivo de 13, 94, 95

Gresley Agnes, first Prioress of Grace Dieu 165

Grey, Lord Leonard 79

Edward, Lord Ferrars of Groby 108

Sir John, slain at St. Albans lOS

Sir Thomas, afterwards Marquis of Dorset . . 108

78

Grey, Sir Richard 1U8

■ Lady Jane, Pedijiree of 123

her title to the Cro-n-n explained, 124

account of her last hours 1 25

her sisters, Lady Katherine and

Lady Mary 79, 122

Lord Thomas and Lord John 126

Sir Henry 127

Henry, Lord of Groby, 1st Earl of Stamford .. 127

Thomas, Earl 127

Thomas, Lord, son of the last 128

Harry, Earl 129

George Hany, Earl 129

Groby 1^

Parocliial History of 106

Peculiar of 115

Additions to 116

Grosvenor, the present Lord Robert, a descendant of

the Falconers 133

Gutch, Rev. Robert, account of an Ichthyosaurusfound

at Barrow, communicated by him to the Author. . 64
Gyffard, George, curious letter of, to Lord Cromwell, 144
Hanging Stone near the Oaks Chapel 43

near Beauraanor 43

Hangman's Stone 44, 177

Legend of the 179

Harcourt, William, gift of to Garendon Abbey 160

" ~ of his

56

Harold, King of England, held Barrow as part of his
possessions

Hastings, Sir Henry, of Humberstone, purchases

the Manor of Whitwick of James I. . .22, 154

Sir William, brief notice of his life 77

Marquis of 108

Dedication of this Work to.

(See Introduction. )

Hermitage Plantation, at Garendon 180

of Holy-Well Haw 187

Herrick family, their descent 80

Historical notices of 80

Lady, beautiful letter of 81

Heygate, Sir William, Bart., his improvements at

Roecliff Manor 142

High Cademan, or Cadman 9, 159

Holy Cross «. 18

Holy-Well Haw 189

Hood, family of 160

Hurd, Bishop, Rector of Thurcaston 135

Ichthyosaurus, remarkable one foimd at BaiTOW. ... 64

Inclosure of the Forest 29

Inventory of the possessions of the Nuns of Grace-

Dieu n. 167

Ives Head 177

Judd, Sir Andrew, purchased a lease of Charley . . . 104

Land-slip on Chamwood (Appendix ) . . .
Latimer, Bishop, a native of Thurcaston ,

Legend of Lady Aslin's Pool

the Hangman's Stone

the Holy Well

Leicester supposed to have been founded by Lear. .

— Forest probably identical with Chamwood,

Earls of. See Bossu and Blanchmains.

Plain

Leland, Mr., error of, corrected

Le Mote, at Belton

Little Haw ( Woodhouse)

(Sheepshed) ,

Long Cliff

Loughborough

90
135
156
179
191

PAGE

Louteburg, Geoffrey de. Grants of to the Abbey of

Garendon "■ 180

Lovel, Francis Lord .... . . 77, 176

M aud, held a third part of the Chase of Cham-
wood 21

Lupus, Hugh, supposed by Nichols to have built

Mountsorrel Castle o5

possessed Beaumanor 73

Manors allowed to have a Boundary 31

Mapplewell 93

Markfield 163

Martin, Rev. Robert, his opinion on the Altar Stone, 000

Massey, Thomas 104

Memoir of the late Charles AUsop, Esij 35

Memorial to Mr. Herrick, from the inhabitants of

several parishes around Chamwood 24

Meynells, the, from whom descended n. 71

Monastery of Mount St. Bernard ) 57

Monument at Quorndon 71

Monuments at Barrow 62

— at Bradgate 121

at Swithland 139

Mountsorrel, Parochial History of 65

— Castle, siege of 67

Mosley, Sir Oswald, Bart., his account of the Wood

of Challenge 20

Nanpantan 187, 188

Nichols, John, his History of Leicestershire highly

comTaendei (Introduction J ...3, n. 136

. errors of, in his History of Leicester-
shire, corrected, p. 14, 21, .30, 56, 58,
67, 74. 75, 91, 98, 112, 117, 131,
132, 136, 137, 138, 1.39, 153, 154, 155,
173, 184, 185, 189, 190.

Norfolk, Margaret, Duchess of, died seised of the
Manor of Barrow 59

Norres, Sir John 77

Henry 77

Norway, Maid of 99

Oak, Copt 10

Oaks Chapel 39

Old John, atowerinBradgate Park, whyso named, n. 129

Onebarrow Lodge 157

Ornithology of Charnwood (^Appendix) ... 65

Osgathorpe 155

Outlawry, a punishment for offences against the

Forest Laws 7

Outwoods 10

Oxgang, a measure of land n, 106

Oxley Grange 176

Palace, ancient, at Woodhouse Eaves 87

Pares, Thomas, Esq., his Forest residence and pos-
sessions 000

Miss, residence of, at Groby 114

Parishes having a Boundary 31

allowed Right of Common 31

Park at Barrow 56, 57

at Quorndon 57

at Belton 00

at Sheepshed 1 75

Park Ford 57

Parks surrounding the Forest, their names 117

Patrons of Barrow 62

of Sheepshed from 1220 178

Peasantry of Charnwood, their peculiarities 89

Peculiar of Groby 37, 115

Pedigree of Danvers 140

79

PAGB

Pedip-ee of Despencer 92

of Falconer, of Thutcaston 132

of Grey 123

showing the claimants to the ScottishCrown 100

Pensions, amount of, allowed to the Prior and Breth-
ren of Ulvescroft, at the Dissolution .... 145

to the Nuns of Grace Dieu 167

Perambulation round Chamwood Forest 25

of Sheepshed, taken at Whitwick

Castle in 1289, notes from 7

Perkins, Rev. Humphrey, founded a School at

Barrow 63

Phillipps, Sir Ambrose, purchases Beaumanor 170

obtains Garendon by pur-
chase 177

Charles March, Esq., improvements ef-
fected by him at Garendon 186

Piscina in Famham Chapel 71

Plague at Markfield 148

Plea between John Comyn and the Abbot of Garendon 152

Posturaus, coius of, found on Chamwood 50

Privileges of the Commoners and Cottagers of Cham-
wood previous to the Inclosure 3.3

Queen Dowager's visit to Bardon 162

to Bradgate 163

Queen Elizabeth leased lands on Chamwood 22

confirms Baidon to Sir Henry

Hastings, Knt., and John Cutler,

Gent 160

Quern, one found on Chamwood 43

Quincy, Saer de 14, 66, 97, 175

singular dying request of 182

. Roger de, Earl of Winton, 14, 15, 98, 136, 143

180, 181, 182

Elizabeth de 14,98

■ — Hawise de n. 21

Helena, or Elena 14

Margaret 14, 98, n. 163

Quou.NDON, Park of 57

Parochial History of 7U

Rabbit Warrens on Chamwood n. 23

Ranger, his otfice 4

Rawdon, present Earl of, families and honours of

Hastings and Grey de RuthjTi unitedin his person, 108

Rawlins, Mr., founded a School at Woodhouse .... 86

Regard, Court of .3

Registrars of the Peculiar of Groby from 1565 115

Riots on Chamwood 23

Rivers, Lord 110

" Roboraria," meaning of 8

Rock, remarkable, on the Mount of Alderman's Haw, 45

RoECLiFF Manor 142

Rohay Well n. 18

Romans, the, acquainted with Chamwood 7

the, on Chamwood 46

coins of the, found there 50

Royal Forests, what they were 11

Roval visits to Bardon Hill 1 62

to Bradgate Park 163

Royalty of the Forest, to what Manors it belongs ... 4
Rutland Thomas Manners, Earl of, purchases the

site and domain of Garendon of Hen. VIII. 183

Earls of, formerly resident at Garendon . . 183

Saltway, a British road 96

Schools, Forest, at Woodhouse Eaves 40

at Copt Oak 40

Scott Agnes, Jlonument of 138

Scout-house Hill 177

Searlesthorpe, derivation of the name 89

Segrave, Stephen, privileges granted to him by Mar-
garet de Quincy ». 163

William de, elected Prior of Charley 103

" Sequela" n. 181

Severus, St., Abbey of, had part of the tithes arising

from Barrow 61

Sheepshed, Parochial History of 174

Shirley, Beatrix, held one-third of the Manor of

Barrow 60

Shrewsbury, Earl of, his gift to the Monks of Mount

St. Bernard 159

Soke, meaning of, obscure n. 174

Solina, a Druidical idol 41

Somery, Roger de 16, 51, 117

Stamford, Earl of, his claims 32

Stanley, Lord n. 78

Stanton-under-Bardon 160

Staplcton, Mr., his claim to the Barony of Beaumont, 77

Steward's Hay 114

Stocks, Mr., marries the Duchess of Suffolk, mother

of Lady Jane Grey 79

Subdivisions of Chamwood 21

Suffolk, Duke of, father of Lady Jane Grey 126

Duchess of 79

Sully, Mabel, held part of Barrow 58

Raymond, dies seised of the same 58

Surrogates of the Peculiar of Groby from 1565 . . . 115

Swains' Hill 177

Swanimote, or Swainmote, a Forest Court 3

S wanimote Rock 1 56

Sweating Tree 188

SwiTHLAND, historj' of 136

Sylvan beauties of Chamwood 9

Talley Court of Exchequer, memoranda from 17

Territorial description of the Forest 11

Tetricus, coins of, found on Chamwood 50

Thurcaston, history of 131

Additions to 173

Timber, former abundance of on Chamwood 8

Times for hunting the beasts of the Forest 4

Toot Hill 113

T)'nte (or Tin) Meadows, ancient coins found there, 50

Ulvescroft Priory 15

Parochial History of 143

Bennet de 144

Vaccarv' at Holy-well Haw 190

Valuations of land and wood at Belton, by the Com-
missioners of Henry VIII 171

Vcrdon, Nicholas de 164

Roesia de, foundress of Grace Dieu Nun-
nery 164, 171, n. 173

Vemometum, a Roman Station, supposed by Gale to

be on Chamwood 46

Vere, de. Earl of Oxford, held portions of the Forest, 21

Veres, de, family of, how connected with Chamwood, 21

Via Devana 106

Views of the Forest from a distance. — Introduction.

Vicars of Sheepshed from 1220 178

of Barrow 62

Vickars, John, Esq., a proprietor of Charley 104

Victorinus, coins of, found on Chamwood 50

Villiers. See Buckingham.

Waldron, Sir Richard, purchases Charley 104

Waleys, family of the 136

Waste, The, Chamwood formerly so called n. 19

Watkinson, the late Mr., researches of at Woodhouse 88
Miss 87

80

Westminster, the present Marquis of, a descendant

of the Falconers 113

Whalley, Geoflrey, Prior of Ulveseroft 144

Whatton, Geofi'rey, an eccentric character 93

Whitwick 15

Parochial History of 151

Widvile, Elizabeth, sketch of her life 109

Sir Richard 109

Jolin 109

Will of EUzabcth WidvUe UU

WoODHOusE, Woodhouse Eaves, and Woodthorpe,

Parochial History of 86

Woodhouse Eaves Chapel 39

Woody state of the Forest do^vn to the middle of the

18th century 5

Wordsworth, William, Esq., lines on Grace Dieu . . 1 64

Wright, Lord Keeper, a native of Thurcaston 1.''5

Zouch, Alan la 14

a Grant of various possessions con-

lirmedbyhim t> '.he Monks of Charley 103

\

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