This town gave name and birth to Nicholas de Farn- CHAP. III. ham, who studied physic at Oxford, Paris, and Bologna. On his return home, after a residence of some years on the continent, he soon acquired such reputation, that Henry III. appointed him his physician. In this post he gave great satisfaction to the king, who, among other favours, conferred on him the bishopric of Chester, from which he was translated to that of Durham. latter he enjoyed nine years, when he resigned the mitre for the pleasures of retirement, reserving three manors for his support. He died in 1257, leaving several works on the practice of physic, and the nature of herbs, which were highly esteemed in that age. The houses. In Castle street are eight alms-houses, erected by AlmsA. Windsor, Esq. in 1619, in honour of the Holy Trinity, for eight poor persons of the Church of England. Farnham Castle, seated upon a hill on the north Castle. side of the town, was originally built by Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, and bishop of Winchester. This fortress was seized by Louis, the Dauphin, and the rebellious barons, in 1216; and some years afterwards was razed to the ground by Henry III. It was, however, soon rebuilt in a style of great magnificence, with a deep moat, strong walls, and towers. During the civil war in the seventeenth century, this post was garrisoned for the king by Sir John Denham, high sheriff of the county; but, in December, 1642, it was taken by Sir William Waller, after a siege, in which the edifice suffered greatly; and such parts of it as remained entire were blown up by that general. In July, 1648, the house of commons directed an inquiry to be made into the condition of this castle, and gave orders that it should be completely dismantled, and BOOK V. rendered incapable of defence. After the restoration, Dr. Morley, bishop of Winchester, expended £8,000 in rebuilding and repairing this edifice; but in the work he displayed neither skill nor judgment, the present structure being mean and inconvenient. It is quadrangular, embattled, and built of brick, covered with stucco, excepting the tower at the west end; and seems to have been patched up out of the building dismantled by order of parliament. It is one of the mansions of the bishops of Winchester, and contains a fine library, and some good paintings. Ancient keep. Contiguous to this edifice are some remains of the keep of the ancient castle. It was hexagonal, and flanked by towers, now demolished. Grose informs us, that in 1761, when the view of this relic was taken for his Antiquities, a flight of stairs led to what was the first story of the building, where there was a kind of platform, elevated about twenty feet from the ground; and that the remains of some chimney-pieces in the ruins of the towers were still visible from this spot. The walls were uncommonly weak, their thickness not exceeding two and a half feet; they were chiefly of stone, interspersed here and there with brick. The whole is yet surrounded with a stone wall, at the foot of which is a moat, now dry and planted with oaks. Adjoining to the castle is a pleasant park of considerable extent, watered by the little river Loddon, which rises in this neighbourhood. In this parish are the following tithings Badshot and Runfold, containing 179 houses and 869 inhabitants. Runwick tithing, 34 houses and 197 inhabitants. Culverlands and Tilford tithing, 74 houses and 457 inhabitants. Wrecklesham and Bourn tithing, with 143 houses and CHAP. III. 758 inhabitants. None of these hamlets contain objects worthy notice. Moor Park Moor park, about two miles south-east of Farnham, the residence of J. Timson, Esq. was originally the seat of Sir William Temple. Here that celebrated statesman breathed his last; and so attached was he to this retirement, that, by his own directions, his heart was buried in a silver box under the sun-dial in his garden, opposite to a window from which he used to contemplate and admire the beauteous works of nature. Moor park is also remarkable as the place where Swift, who here resided with Sir William Temple as his secretary, first contracted his intimacy with his beloved Stella. The house, a large white edifice of simple architecture, stands on the west side of the park; which, though not very extensive, affords several scenes most beautifully romantic. Ludlam's hole. About three quarters of a mile from this man- Mother sion is a remarkable cavern, known by the name of Mother Ludlam's Hole. This grotto lies halfway down the side of a hill covered with wood, towards the southernmost extremity of the park. It seems to have been hewn out of the sand-stone rock, and to have increased considerably in its dimensions since it was described by Grose. The greatest height of this excavation may be about twelve feet, and its breadth twenty; but at the distance of about thirty feet from the entrance it becomes so low and narrow as to be passable only by a person crawling on his hands and knees. Its depth is doubtless considerable, but has been much exaggerated by vulgar report. Its course is not straight forward; but at some distance from the mouth it turns to the left, or to the north. The bottom is paved, and 2 H VOL. II. Two BOOK V. has a passage in the middle for a small stream of clear water, which issues from the bottom of the cave. stone benches, placed one on each side, "seem to invite the visitor to that meditation for which this place is admirably calculated. The gloomy and uncertain depth of the receding grotto, the gentle murmurs of the rill, and the beauty of the prospect seen through the dark arched entrance, shagged with weeds, and the roots of trees, seem to conspire to excite solemn contemplation, and to fill the soul with a rapturous admiration of the great Creator."* From the Annals of Waverley it appears that this cavern was formed in 1216, for the purpose of collecting the several adjacent springs of water for the use of the monastery not above a quarter of a mile distant. • Grose's Antiq. Vol. iii. The same writer gives the following amusing account of the vulgar tradition respecting the origin of this cavern :-" This place," says he, "derives its name from a popular story, which makes it formerly the residence of a white witch, called Mother Ludlam, or Ludlow; not one of those malevolent beings mentioned in the Dæmonologie, a repetition of whose pranks, as chronicled by Glanvil, Baxter, and Cotton Mather, erects the hair, and closes the circle of the listening rustics round the village fire. This old lady neither killed hogs, rode on broomsticks, nor made children vomit nails and crooked pins, crimes for which many an old woman has been sentenced to death by judges, who, however they may be vilified in this sceptical age, thereby certainly cleared themselves from the imputation of being wizards, or conjurors. On the contrary, Mother Ludlam, instead of injuring, when properly invoked, kindly assisted her poor neighbours in their necessities, by lending them such culinary utensils and household furniture as they wanted on particular occasions. The business was thus transacted :the petitioner went to the cave at midnight, turned three times round, and thrice repeated aloud, Pray, good Mother Ludlam, lend me such a thing (naming the utensil), and I will return it within two days. He or she then retired, and coming again the next morning, found at the entrance the requested movable. This intercourse continued a long time, till once, a person not returning a large cauldron at the stipu |