house here in a fine park, which is walled round, and vast quantities of stone and other materials were collected by him for this purpose, but the design was never carried into execution. Here also Dr. Ratcliffe built a very fine house, which afterwards belonged to Sir John Fellows, who added gardens and curious waterwork. It passed into the possession of lord Hardwick, who sold it to the late William Mitchell, Esq. It afterwards came into the possession of Theodore Broadhead, Esq. and is now the seat of John Hodson Durand, Esq. The CHURCH has a low embattled tower, and is supposed to have been built in the reign of Richard II. but has several modern additions. It contains an antient tomb of Nicholas Gaynesford, esquire of the body to Elizabeth, queen to Henry VII. in her procession from the Tower to Westminster, previously to her coronation. Gaynesford, and Verney, the other esquire of honour, rode in the procession with the lord mayor of London, and, as described in the MS. in the Cotton library, were "welle horsede in gownes of cremesyne velvett, having mantells of ermyne, and on ther hedes hatts of rede clothe of golde ermyne, the beher forward.”* Within the church are also monuments of modern structure, to the memory of Sir William Scawen, Sir Edmund Hoskins, Sir George Fellows, Sir George Amyand, &c. Carshalton was the occasional residence of the virtuous minister of queen Elizabeth, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton. * The office of esquire of the body is thus described in the Household Book of Edward IV. " Esquiers for the body, four, noble of condition, whereof alway two be attendant upon the king's person to array and unarray hym, to watche day and night to dress hym in his clothes, and they be callers to the chaumberlayn if any thing lak for his person or plesaures; thyre busines is in many secrets, some sitting in the king's chaumber, some in the hall with persones of like service, which is called knyghts service, taking every of them for his lyvery, at night, a chete loffe, one quart wyne, &c." Their allowance for attendance was sevenpence halfpenny per diem, whilst in waiting. Whilst Whilst Dr. Ratcliffe resided at this place, queen Anne was attacked with the illness which was fatal to her; Ratcliffe was summoned to attend her majesty; and being himself also ill with the gout, he declined to attend, in which he was justified, as the summons had not come officially, and he was no favourite with the court physicians. His refusal, however, made him so very unpopular, that after the queen's death, he received several threatening letters, which gave him so much uneasiness, that his apprehensions of the revenge of the populace were thought to have hastened his own end. In a letter, dated from Carshalton, August 3, 1714, he mentions "the receipt of these letters, and declares his intention of not stirring from home.” He died here the first of November following *. The pleasant village of BEDDINGTON is situated two miles west of Croydon, and eleven from Westminster Bridge. Antiently there were two manors in this place, which are thus noticed in Domesday Book: "In WALETON hundred, Robert de Watevile holds BEDDINTONE of Richard Fitz Gilbert; Azor held it of king Edward. It was then rated at twenty-five hides, now for three hides. The arable land contains six carucates. In demesne there is one carucate, and sixteen villans, and fourteen cottagers with five carucates. There is a church and five servants, and two mills of forty shillings, and twenty-four acres of meadow land. A wood with five hogs. In London there are fifteen dwelling houses, which belong to this manor, and yield twelve shillings and threepence. "Milo Crespin holds BEDDINTONE, and William Fitz Turold of him; Ulf held it of king Edward. It was then rated at twenty-five hides, now for three hides. The arable land contains six carucates. In demesne there is one carucate and thirteen villans, and thirteen cottagers with six carucates; there is one servant, and two mills of thirty-five shillings, and twenty acres of meadow land. Lysons's Environs, I. 136. A wood A wood for five hogs. In the time of king Edward it was valued at ten pounds; afterwards at six pounds, now nine pounds and ten shillings. The dwelling houses which earl Roger held have been taken away from this manor; in London thirteen; in Sudwercke eight; they yielded twelve shillings." The first of these manors was named HOME BEDDINGTON, and came with BEDDINGTON HUSCARL, by marriage, into the family of De Carru, or Carew, in the person of Sir Nicholas Carew, keeper of the privy seal, and one of the executors to the will of Edward III. It was forfeited, in 1539, on the attainder and execution of another Sir Nicholas Carew, for a conspiracy. His son, Sir Francis, having procured the reversal of the attainder, purchased this estate of lord Darcy, to whom it had been granted by Edward VI. He rebuilt the mansion house, and planted the gardens with choice fruit trees, in the cultivation of which he took great delight*. The park is still famous for walnut * Sir Francis spared no expence in procuring them from foreign countries. The first orange trees seen in England are said to have been planted by him. Aubrey says, they were brought from Italy by Sir Francis Carew. But the editors of the Biographia, speaking from a tra dition preserved in the family, tell us, they were raised by Sir Francis Carew from the seeds of the first oranges which were imported into England by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had married his niece, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. The trees were planted in the open ground, and were preserved in the winter by a moveable shed. They flourished for about a century and a half, being destroyed by the hard frost in 1739-40. In the garden was a pleasure house, on the top of which was painted the Spanish Invasion. In August 1599, queen Elizabeth paid a visit to Sir Francis Carew, at Beddington, for three days, and again in the same month, the ensuing year. The queen's oak, and her favourite walk, are still pointed out. Sir Hugh Platt tells an anecdote, in his Garden of Eden, relating to one of these visits, which shews the pains Sir Francis took in the management and cultivation of his fruit trees: "Here I will conclude," says he, "with a conceit of that delicate knight, Sir Francis Carew, who, for the better accomplishment of his royal entertainment of our late queen Elizabeth, of happy memory, at his house at Beddington, led her majesty to a cherry-tree, whose fruit he VOL. V. No. 114. ૧૧ had walnut trees. The manor house, situated near the church, is built of brick, and occupies three sides of a square. It was rebuilt in its present form in 1709. The great door of the hall has a curious antient lock, richly wrought: a shield with the arms of England, moving in a groove, conceals the hey-hole. In this hall is the portrait of a lady, falsely shewn as queen Elizabeth: a small room adjoining to the hall retains the antient pannels with mantled carvings; over the chimney is a small portrait of one of the Carews, surrounded by a pedigree. Another room has several portraits of the Hacket family, particularly one of bishop Hacket, by Sir P. Lely. In the parlour at the north end of the hall are some other family portraits, among which is one of Sir Nicholas Carew, beheaded in the reign of Henry VIII. BEDDINGTON, descended by the will of Sir Nicholas Hacket Carew, to Richard Gee, Esq. of Orpington, in Kent, and that gentleman, in 1780, took the name and arms of Carew. Beddington church belonged to the abbey of Bermondsey, to which it was given in 1159, and is dedicated to St. Mary. This structure is supposed to have been built about the reign of Richard II. and is a very beautiful specimen of the architecture of that age. In the aisles are several antient wooden stalls, and the pulpit has some mantled carving. Here are many fine memorials of the family of Carew. Among others is a tablet in a wooden frame against the wall, of the north aisle, with the following quibbling epitaph: had of purpose kept back from ripening, at the least one month after all other cherries had taken their farewell of England. This secret he performed, by straining a tent, or cover of canvass, over the whole tree, and wetting the same now and then with a scoop or horn, as the heat of the weather required; and so, by withholding the sun beams from reflecting upon the berries, they grew both great, and were very long before they had gotten their perfect cherry colour; and, when he was assured of her majesty's coming, he removed the tent, and a few sunny days brought them to their full maturity."-Lysons's Environs of LORdon, Vol. I. Page 56. « Mors |