the castle, according to Mr. Hasted, had some remains visible near Saye's Court, in Bromfield, on the bank of the Thames, near the Mast Dock. By a female heir this place came into the possession of the family of Saye, and was then called the Manor of West Greenwich; by which name it was granted by Geoffery de Saye, with the advowson of the church, &c. to the Knights Templars. His son Geoffrey regained the possession of Deptford, by an exchange of Sadlescombe, in Sussex. This honor came afterwards by another female heir to the family of Heron; it was then held by De la Pole, duke of Suffolk, from whose family it came to the crown in the reign of Henry VII. It was granted by that monarch to Oliver service; which portion was thereupon called a Knight's Fee; because that a servant in the war, whom the Saxons called a Knight, had it allotted unto him as the fee or wages of his service. Neither, at the first, had they these their fees, but at the lord's pleasure, or for a time limited; and therefore both these kinds of military and husbandinen dwelling upon the town or colony of the lord, were, as in reason they ought, under the censure and will of their lord respecting the lands they occupied; who therefore set them laws and customs, and in what manner they should possess these their lands; and as any controversy rose about them, the lord assembling the rest of his followers, did by their opinion and assistance judge it. Out of which usage, the Court Barons took their beginning, and the lords of towns and manours gained the privilege of holding plea and jurisdiction within those their territories over their tenants and followers; who thereupon are at this day called Sectutores, in French Suitres, or Suivre, to follow. But the Saxons themselves called this ju risdiction Sacha and Socha, signifying thereby causarum actionem, and libertatem judicandi; for Sacha signifieth causa, in which sense we yet use it, as when we say For God's sake; and Socha signifieth Liberty or Privilege, as Cyric-socne, libertus ecclesia. But by this manner the lords of towns, as ex consuetudine regni, came to have jurisdiction over their tenants and followers, and to hold pleas of all things touching land. But as touching cognizance of criminal matters, they had not otherwise to meddle therewith, than by the king's charters. For, as touching the king's peace, every hundred was divided into many Free-borgs, or Tithings, consisting of ten men, which stood all bound one for the other, and did amongst themselves punish small matters, in their court for that purpose, called the Lete; which was sometime granted over to the lords of manours, and sometimes exercised by peculiar officers. But the greater 1 Oliver St. John, and at the death of his son it reverted to the crown; and was granted in the latter end of the reign of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Richard Browne, who died in poffeffion, 1604. Mary, the sole daughter of another Sir Richard Browne, bart. having married John Evelyn, Esq. in 1647, this estate went into that family, in which it still continues in the person of Sir Frederick EveJyn, bart. of Wotton, in Surrey. The manor, however, is still vested in the crown, and the stewardship has been held with that of Greenwich. Mr. Evelyn, the author of several eminent works, particularly on gardening, made this his favourite spot; his gardens here, are said to have been the wonder and admiration of the times; and what he prided himself upon was a hedge of holly, which he thus describes, with a great degree of enthusiasm, in one of the later editions of his Silva, published by himself in 1704. "". Is there under heaven a more glorious and refreshing object of the kind, than an im pregnable hedge of about four hundred feet in length, nine feet high, and five in diameter; which I can shew in my now ruined garden at Saye's Court, (thanks to the czar of Muscovy) at any time of the year, glittering with its armed and varnished leaves; the taller standards, at orderly distances, blushing with their natural coral? It mocks the greater things were also carried from thence into the Hundred Courts; so that both the streams of civil justice, and of criminal, did there meet, and were decided by the hundreds, &c. as by superior judges both to the Court Baron and Court Leet. A very important lesson is conveyed to all jurymen, by one of the laws of king Ethelred, which says, "Let the courts be holden in every hundred, and let twelve men of the elder sort, together with the rive (of the hundred) holding their hands upon some holy thing, take their oath that they shall neither condemn any man that is innocent, nor quit him that is guilty." Canute the Great ordained, "That a man was not to be delayed above three court days from having his right: for if he were, he might then resort to the county; and if he obtained it not there, within four courts, then he might seek unto the king." This is the origin of removing causes into superior courts.-Antient Government of England. rudest rudest assaults of the weather, beasts, or hedge-breakersEt illum nemo impune lacessit." "It is said," obferves Mr. Lysons, "that Peter the Great, czar of Muscovy, to whom Mr. Evelyn lent his place at Saye's Court, whilst he was studying naval architecture in the adjoining dock-yard, in 1698, used to amuse himself by being wheeled through this hedge in a wheelbarrow. Though the royal tenant paid very little respect either to his landlord's trees or hedges, I think, by Mr. Evelyn's description of his holly, and the exulting manner in which he speaks of its being proof against the rudest hedge breakers, that the czar rather chose any other hedge than this for his amusement." The house and gardens are now demolished, and there is no trace remaining of Saye's Court, which was pulled down in 1729; the parish workhouse is built on the site! Deptford has to boast of having been the residence of the earl of Nottingham, lord high admiral, and the destroyer of the Spanish Armada. The Gun tavern is supposed to have been his house, over the chimney-piece of which, his armorial bearings, encircled with the Garter, are carved in wood. In Deptford was also a magnificent house belonging to Sir Thomas Smith, farmer of the customs to queen Elizabeth, and ambassador from James I. to Russia; the house was burnt down in 1618. Cowley, the poet, was a resident for some time in this town. There are two hospitals belonging to the corporation of the Trinity House. The old hospital was built in the reign of Henry VIII.; it was rebuilt in 1788, and the number of apartments increased from twenty-one to twenty-eight. This structure joins the church-yard of St. Nicholas. The New Hospital is situated in Church Street. Sir Richard Browne, in 1672, gave the ground, after the expiration of a short term; and Capt. Maples, in 1680, gave 1300l. towards the building. This structure has fifty-six apartments, and forms a spacious quadrangle, the statue of captain Maples being in the centre; a plain building on the east side serves as a chapel and hall, to which the brethren VOL. V. No. 105. L of of the Trinity House resort annually on Trinity Monday, in procession, and afterwards go to St. Nicholas's church. The pensioners in both hospitals consist of decayed pilots and masters of ships, or their widows. The single men and widows receive about 187. per annum; the married men about 28. Of the origin and foundation of this corporation we have given an account in Vol. II. p. 213. Deptford received its first consequence and gradual increase of population from THE ROYAL DOCK YARD. This noble arsenal was founded by Henry VIII. and is esteemed one of the most complete repositories for naval stores in Europe; and the number of hands which are conconstantly employed in the several branches of this important object of national strength and security, is immense. The vast storehouse we are describing, forms a grand quadrangle on the east, west, and south sides; and a double front towards the north was added in the year 1721. A spacious storehouse parallel, and of the same length to the buildings abovementioned, having sail and rigging lofts, have been recently finished. Lord Barham, (Sir Charles Middleton) in 1780, caused a range of smaller storehouses to be erected; so that the whole extent of the yard covers about thirty-one acres; in which are a double and a single wet dock, and three slips; a bason, and two mast ponds. A large smith's shop contains twenty forges for anchors, &c. mast houses, sheds for timber, a mould loft, various workshops and houses for the officers, who are a clerk of the cheque, storekeeper, master shipwright, and assistants, clerk of the survey, master attendant, surgeon, &c.; for on account of its proximity to the metropolis, this dock yard has no commissioners, being immediately under the inspection of the Navy Board. The treasurer of the navy usually resided here during the reigns of James I. and Charles I. The number of artificers and labourers, rig. gers, &c. are supposed at three thousand. In this yard. were were built the Cambridge, of eighty guns; the Impregnable, of ninety guns; and the Windsor Castle, and the Neptune, both of ninety-eight guns. This is the station of the royal yachts *. THE VICTUALLING OFFICE stands on the site of a large range of storehouses, formerly called THE RED HOUSE, on account of being built with bricks of that colour, which was burnt down in the year 1639, and all the stores destroyed. Upon being rebuilt, it was included in a grant to Sir John Evelyn, in 1726, being then described as eight hundred and seventy feet in length, and thirty-five in width, and were rented by the East India Company. The crown re-purchased them * On the 4th of April, 1581, queen Elizabeth visited captain Drake's ship, called The Golden Hind. Her majesty dined on board; and after dinner, conferred the honour of knighthood on the captain. A prodigious concourse of people assembled on the occasion; and a wooden bridge, on which were a hundred persons, broke down, but no lives were lost. Sir Francis Drake's ship, when it became unfit for service, was laid up in this yard, where it remained many years; the cabin being, as it seems, turned into a banqueting house. "We'll have our supper (says Sir Petronel Flash, in a comedy called Eastward Hoe! written by Ben Jonson, and others) on board Sir Francis Drake's ship, that hath compassed the world." It was at length broken up, and a chair made out of it for John Davis, Esq. who presented it to the university of Oxford." Lysons. Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. IV. p. 254. Phillipot is chargeable with a small mistake in asserting that nothing was left of this vessel in a short time; the chair made and presented to the university is, however, a sufficient evidence to the contrary. This appears from a copy of verses composed by the celebrated Cowley upon this incident.-The well adapted and pleasing lines here referred to, are as follow: To this great ship, which round the world has run, In her new shape this sacred port allow. Drake and his ship could not have wish'd from fate, For, lo a seat of endless rest is given, To her in Oxford, and to him in Heaven. |