seven days; after which, she went a Progress into Kent; and was again most magnificently entertained at Canterbury by this worthy Prelate in his Palace there. From Croydon, July 21, the Queen proceeded to Orpington, the house of Sir Perceval Hart, Knight of the Body to King Henry VIII. and grantee of the manor of Orpington, where he built a seat in which he magnificently entertained Queen Elizabeth, who, on her reception here," received the first caresses by a Nymph which personated the Genius of the house: then the scene was shifted, and, from several chambers, which, as they were contrived, represented a ship, a sea conflict was offered up to the spectators view, which so much obliged the eyes of this Princesse with the charms of delight, that, upon her departure, she left upon this house (to perpetuate the memory both of the author and artifice) the name and appellation of Bark Hart1;" by which name it is still called, being part of the possessions of Sir John Dixon Dyke, of Lullingstone, Bart. 2 The Queen was three days at Orpington; and in one of those days made an excursion to Mr. Thomas Fisher's house at Plumsted. Lambeth: "Madam I may not call you; Mistress I am afraid to call you; yet, as I know not what to call you, I thank you." Lysons, vol. I. p. 270. Archbishop Grindall, the successor to Parker, soon fell under the Queen's displeasure; and it does not appear that she ever honoured him with a Visit. Whitgift, the next Archbishop, received repeated marks of her favour. No less than fifteen of her Visits to him are recorded. She frequently stayed two and sometimes three days at Lambeth. Sir George Paule, in his Life of Whitgift, p. 103, says, that "that Prelate every year entertained the Queen at one of his houses so long as he was Archbishop, and some years twice or thrice."-It appears by the Churchwardens' Accompts at Lambeth, that the Queen was at the Archbishop's in 1584; in 1585; three times in 1587; in 1591; in 1593; in 1596; twice in 1599; in 1600; and twice in 1602. Various sums of money were given to the ringers on these occasions, from two shillings to six shillings and eight pence. 'Philipott, History of Kent, p. 259. Hasted, vol. I. P. 134. Probably the Duke of Somerset's Secretary, noticed under 1572, p. 310.—In Easter Term, in the 17th year of Queen Elizabeth, Thomas Fisher levied a fine of his lands in Plumsted; and in the 21st year of that Reign, he had the Queen's licence to alienate two parcels of wood, one called the Little Grove, containing by estimation 12 acres, and the other called Shurland, containing 10 acres, and 15 acres of marsh, in the New Marsh in Plumsted. Hasted, vol. I. p. 181. In the "List of Gold and Silver Plate" received during this Progress, printed in a future page, it is particularly noticed that the Queen visited Mr. Fisher, at his house in Kent, and received of him " a bolle of golde with a cover." She received presents also during this Progress, from the Lord Keeper the Lord Cobham, the Townsmen of Sandwich, the men at Dover, the Archbishop, Mr. Sandes, Mr. Tufton, Sir John Baker, Mr. Culpepper, Mr. Guildford, the Townsmen of Cranbrook, the Townsmen of Faversham, the Ladie Cobham, the Lorde Burghley, Lord Treasurer, and the Lady Frogmorton. The Queen next proceeded to her own house, Knolle ', for five days. Thence to Birlingham, the Lord Burgavennie's, where she remained three days; and thence made a visit to Sir Thomas Gresham at Mayfield 3. Queen Elizabeth was possessed of Knole, from her 8th to her 16th year. Hasted, vol. I. P. 342. • Or Berling; which came to the Lords Bergavenny by marriage of Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester, and Lord Bergavenny, to Sir Edward Nevill, in the Reign of Henry VI. At this time it was the property of Henry Neville, Lord Bergavenny, who died 1586, and was buried here with great pomp. The old seat of the Lords Abergavenny has been long neglected, and the park disparked; nor have the family resided here for many generations, their present seat being at Kidbrook, near East Grinstead, in Sussex. Berling Place, which belongs to Lord Abergavenny, seems to have been the antient residence of the Nevilles. There are some remains yet left, particularly a gateway of stone, which reminds us of its former condition. It is now made use of as a farm-house, and lies near the foot of the Chalk-hill. Hasted, vol. II. p. 200. ' Of Mayfield an antient Palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury, a full account is given by Mr. Denne, in the Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, No XLV; with a good view of it by Captain Grose.-The manor and mansion was granted by Archbishop Cranmer in 1525 to King Henry VIII. who gave it in the same year to Sir Edmund Worth, by whom it was shortly after alienated to Sir Thomas Gresham; who had the honour of entertaining Queen Elizabeth in this mansion in her Kentish Progress of 1573. A large room in the habitable part of the building still retains the appellation of "Queen Elizabeth's Room." In the life of Sir Thomas Gresham, in the Biographia Britannica, are the following particulars respecting the furniture of the mansion: "But his chief seat (meaning Sir Thomas Gresham's) seems to have been at Mayghfield in Sussex, one room of which was called the Queen's Chamber, and the goods and chattels belonging to it were estimated at seven thousand five hundred and fifty-three pounds ten shillings and eight-pence." This estimate from an original note, appears to have been extracted from Sir Thomas Gresham's Journal in Manuscript. Whether the goods of the Queen's Chamber only, or those of the whole mansion, were here estimated, is not clearly expressed; but probably the latter; and a very considerable sum it was in those days. The mansion was bequeathed by Sir Thomas Gresham to Sir Henry Nevil, who sold it to Thomas Bray, of Burwash, Esq. whose widow disposed of it to John Baker, Esq. to the widow of one of whose descendants it still belongs for life. The manor is the property of Mr. Pelham. The remains of this mansion are very considerable; the great hall retaining its magnificence even in ruins. It is 68 feet long, 38 broad, and in height fully proportionable; its roof was taken off within the memory of persons now or lately living. The cross arches are, however, still remaining, and give it a most venerable and picturesque appearance. The part appearing like a Gothic door or arch, near the centre of the upper end of the room, is the back part of the archiepiscopal chair of state, and consists of a number of little squares, each containing a rose, elegantly carved. Near the top are what seem to be traces of a Gothic canopy with which it was covered; over it is a niche, supposed to have either contained, or been intended for a statue. The window near it, over the doors, belonged to the Archbishop's chamber; whence he could see what was passing in the hall without being present; a common circumstance in many of the antient mansions. The gate-house Thence to Eridge', another house of Lord Burgavennie's, for six days. Thence to Bedgbury, Mr. Culpepper's, for one day. Thence to Hempsted3, Mr. Guilford's, for three days. Thence to Rye; where the Queen remained three days, and conferred the honour of Knighthood on Thomas Guilford, Thomas Walsingham, and Alexander Culpepper, Esquires. Thence to Sisingherst, Mr. Baker's4, whom she afterwards knighted, (see p. 337), and stayed there three days. Thence to Boughton Malherb5, to Mr. Thomas Wotton's, and remained there two days." Mr. Wotton, by his labour and suit, was not then made a Knight." and porter's lodge remain entire; and there appears to have been a covered way from the mansion to the Church-yard. Eridge, in Waterdown-forest, Sussex, was another seat of the Lords Abergavenny. ⚫ Bedgebury, in Goodhurst, was the seat of an antient family of its name, and passed, by marriage, to the Colepeppers, of whom Thomas sold it to the Hayes. Philipott, p. 171. Harris, p. 134 › Hemsted in Bennenden, was granted by Richard II. to Sir William de Guldeford. From Mr. Guilford's house (where she was August the 10th) the Lord Burghley, in a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury, gave this short account of their journey hitherto: "That the Queen had a hard beginning of her Progress in the Wild of Kent; and, namely, in some part of Sussex; where surely were more dangerous rocks and valleys as he said, and much worse ground, than was in the Peak. That they were bending to Rye; and so afterwards to Dover, where, as he added, they should have amends." I will rehearse also the conclusion that Lord made in his letter, wherein, having mentioned the Earl's noble seat of Chattesworth, that was then, as it seems, in building, or adorning, "I must end with my most hearty commendations to your Lordship, and my good Lady, wishing myself with her at Chattesworth; where I think I should see a great alteration to my good liking. From the Court, at Mr. Guilford's house." Guldeford, esq. the last of the family who possessed this estate, was enabled to sell it by an Act of Parliament in the beginning of the present century; and it was purchased by Admiral Sir John Norris, whose grandson sold it again. It is now possessed by a Mr. Hodges, who hath completely modernized its noble mansion. Lodge, vol. II. p. 113. Richard Baker, of Sisingherst, son of Sir John Baker, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and one of Queen Mary's Privy Council, was Sheriff of Kent, 4 Eliz. and again in the 24th of Queen Elizabeth, when he was a Knight. 5 • Boughton Malherb had been the seat of the Wottons from the reign of Richard II. Several of them had been Sheriffs of the County, as was Thomas in the last of Mary and part of 1 Eliz. and again 20 Eliz. He resided here till his death, Jan. 11, 1587, in his 65th year, having been remarkable for his hospitality, a great lover, and much beloved, of his country; a cherisher of learning; and besides his own abilities, possessed of a plentifull estate, and the antient interest of this family. He was buried in the Church here, where he has a monument against the wall of the chancel. • Mr. Richard Dering's MS. noticed below. vol. II. p. 429. Hasted, Thence to Mr. Tufton's at Hothfield', where she continued two days; and some of her Courtiers were entertained at Surrenden, the hospitable mansion of the antient family of Dering. From Hothfield the Queen departed to her own house, Westenhanger 3, the Keeper whereof was the Lord Buckhurst; and remained there four days. ' John Tufton, Esq. was seated at Hothfield, and was Sheriff of Kent 4 Elizabeth. He married Mary eldest daughter of Sir John Baker, and eldest sister of Richard Baker, mentioned in a former note, and died October 10, 1567, and was buried in Hothfield Church, which was not long after burnt down by lightning. His son John was Sheriff of Kent 18 Elizabeth; and being a person of great interest and abilities, received the honour of knighthood 1603, and the dignity of Baronet on the first erection of that degree 1611, and died 1624. His eldest son Nicholas was created Baron Tufton, of Tufton, in the County of Sussex, 1626; and 1628 Earl of Thanet, from whom the present Earl is the direct descendant, and is possessed of Hothfield-house, where, Dr. Harris says, was a very fine garden and grove, p. 158. The following memorandum was copied by the late Rev. Dr. Pegge from a MS. Account Book of Richard Dering, Esq. "Mem. That the xx day of Auguste, anno 1573, when her Majestie in her Progress lay at Mr. Tufton's, ther lay in my house, Sir William Cecill, Knyght, Lord Burghley, Lord Treasurer of Ingland, and his wife, the Lady Paget and Mr. Carye her husband, Mr. Edward Fitzgaret, Lieutenant of the Pensioners, with divers of their retinues. The Gentlemen of the Store were with her Majestie at three places. First, at Baston Hethe, nighe London [in the parish of Keston]. Next at Keldowne, nighe Sussex. Last at Folkstone Downe, nighe the Sea." • Richard Dering, Esq. of Surrenden Dering, in the parish of Pluckley, succeeded to the paternal estate on the death of John Dering, his father, in 1550. He died in 1612, and was buried at East Peckham with his wife Margaret, daughter of William Twysden, Esq. by whom he had five sons and three daughters. The kneeling figures of himself and wife, in brass, remain on their grave-stone. " Westenhanger belonged anciently to the Aubervilles, Criolls, and Rokesleys. A daughter of the last carried it to Sir Thomas Poynings, whose great grandson was Sir Edward Poynings, Knight of the Garter, Comptroller of the King's household, Lieutenant of Ireland, and author of the famous law called after him. He built the Chapel of this house, as appears by the following inscription, formerly in it, and still remaining on a stone now a step in the house of Mr. Smith of Stanford: . . . . Juil v & xx a l'incarnation nostre Christ et le xii anne du tres ..... hault & tres . . . sant & tres excellent prince nostre . . . . & roy He'ry VIII. & a l'honeur du . . . . dieu & de la glorieuse but dying the same year without lawful issue (his only legitimate child he had by a daughter of Sir Leaving Westenhanger on the 25th of August, the Queen that day dined in Sandown Castle; and thence proceeding to Dover, she was met on Folkeston Down by the Archbishop of Canterbury 1, and many Knights and Gentlemen of the County, by whom she was that evening conducted to Dover Castle, amidst the ringing of bells and roaring of heavy ordnance 2. Of the Queen's Entertainment in Dover Castle, where she continued six days3, I find no other particulars, than that William Lord Cobham was then Constable of that Castle, and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports; and that during her stay there she conferred the honour of Knighthood on Richard Baker, Esq. of Sisingherst, and Thomas Vane, Esq. of Tunbridge. John Scott, of Scott's Hall in his neighbourhood, where the family of Scott have lived in worshipful estimation a long time, as descended from Pashely and Serjeaux by Pimpe; Holland's additions to Camden's Britannia, in Kent), it escheated to the Crown; but that King gave it to his natural son Thomas Poynings, on whose death, reverting again to the Crown, it was by Edward VI. granted to Dudley Duke of Northumberland, and by Elizabeth to Sir Thomas Sackvile, who sold it to Thomas Smith, Esq. He repaired its damage by fire, and his great grandson Philip Viscount Strangfield resided here in Philipot's time. Justinian Champneys, a succeeding purchaser, built a neat house out of its remains, which were very magnificent. It was moated round, the walls embattled, and having nine towers, one of which, with the gallery adjoining, was called Rosamond's, and the long gallery her prison, or rather Queen Elizabeth's, whom Strype mentions " at her own house at Westenhanger." The inner court was 130 feet square, and on the right hand a spacious chapel, built by Sir Edward Poynings 12 Henry VIII. The hall was 50 feet by 32, with a cloister. The house contained 126 rooms, and being sold to a mason for .1000, three quarters of it were pulled down for the materials 1701. The rest is now let for a farm by a descendant of Justinian Champneys. "Costinhangre was Creall's lordship, of sum now corruptly called Westenanger. Poyninges a late held it; the King hath it now." Leland, Itin. VI. 7. It seems a misprint for Oostinghanger. Who had for that purpose come from Bekesbourne, a retired Archiepispocal Palace, in which he took great delight; and, having left the Queen at Dover, he returned thither, and thence proceeded to Canterbury, to prepare for the Queen's reception. Near the edge of the Cliff, there is a very beautiful piece of brass ordnance, twenty-four feet long, which was cast at Utrecht in 1544, and is called Queen Elizabeth's pocket pistol; it is finely ornamented with figures in bas relief, and carries a twelve pound shot. It is said to have been a present from the States of Holland to the Queen. On the breech of the gun are four Dutch lines, thus translated: 'O'er hill and dale I throw my ball, Breaker my name, of mound and wall." Sully, in his "Memoirs," speaks of Queen Elizabeth's having been seen by him at Dover. |