To the wild herd, the pasture of the tame, Unus'd to bend, impatient of controul, To gain new ground, first taught their rapine law. Both those of English and of Norman race, THOMSON. In memory of the above completion of the glorious fabric of British freedom, a plan was some years ago in agitation, at the head of which were some of the principal gentlemen of the kingdom, to erect a pillar in this celebrated mead; but the attention of the projectors has hitherto been attracted to other objects, and the plan is, for the present, laid aside. On Runny Mead are annually horse races, which are generally attended by their majesties and the royal family; and thus the place has its name, Runny, or Running, Mead. They commence September 4, and continue that and the two following days. A road leads from Egham to the pleasant and opulent town of CHERTSEY, situated on the banks of the Thames, in a fertile spot of well cultivated soil. It is of considerable antiquity, having been the residence of the Saxon kings, and famous for a monastery and burial place of the unfortunate Henry the Sixth, (who was cut off by the house of York,) till Henry the Seventh removed his corpse to Windsor. The hundred, to which it gives name, has the special privilege of exemption from the jurisdiction of the high sheriff, who must direct his writ to its bailiff, an officer appointed, by letters patent from the Exchequer, for life. Chertsey Abbey, was founded in the year 664; but nothing more than part of the walls of that venerable building are now remaining. By the ruins of this abbey, the streets of Chertsey are somewhat raised; which, were it not also for the bank from Egham to Staines Bridge, would, by reason of its low situation, be often liable to be overflowed by the Thames. On the site of the abbey, is a very handsome building of brick, known by the name of the Abbey House. It was built out of the ruins of the abbey, by Sir Henry Carew, master of the buck hounds to king Charles the Second. The charity-school was founded by Sir William Perkins, knt. in the year 1725, for clothing and educating twenty-five poor boys, and the same number of poor girls, and instructing them in reading, writing, arithmetic, &c. The workhouse is commodious for the aged and infirm; the younger persons are employed in winding and spining wool. In the town are five almshouses, under the management and care of the parish officers. The parish CHURCH, dedicated to St. Ann, is a large and spacious structure, with six musical bells. In the year 1787, the laudable institution of Sunday schools, for the religious instruction of poor children, was established in this parish. From the opulence and respectability of this town and its vicinity, the markets are very well supplied with corn, poultry, butcher's meat, &c. on Wednesday. There are four good annual fairs, on the first Monday in Lent for horses, cows, hogs, and toys; May 14, for sheep and lambs, lambs, cows, horses, hogs, and toys; August 6, for black cherries, hogs, horses, cows, and toys; September 25, is a statute fair, for the hiring of servants of both sexes, and also for the sale of onions, hogs, horses, cows, toys, &c. The residence of COWLEY is now a ruinous pile. In this situation the poet refused many preferments at court, to enjoy the calm pleasures of a country life. He had, during the usurpation, visited several European courts, and found he same ambition to rule, the same jealousies of those in power, and the same want of sincerity, was peculiar to them all. He had the utmost aversion to a mean slavish dependence on the great, as appears from the following lines in one of his poems: "Were I to curse the enemy I hate, "Attendance and dependence be his fate." It is now the property of Richard Clarke, Esq. alderman and lord mayor of London in 1785, and the present worthy chamberlain of the same city; who resides at PORCH HOUSE, in this town, near the bridge, in which it is said Cowley died, The principal articles manufactured at Chertsey are, malt, flour, iron hoops, thread, brooms, and bricks. Over the river Thames, from Chertsey to the opposite shore at Littleton, is a very noble bridge, built with Purbeck stone, at the joint expence of the counties of Surrey and Middlesex, toll free, for the erection of which an act of parliament was obtained. It consists of seven arches; was begun by Mr. Brown, of Richmond, in 1783, and finished in 1785, from the architectural designs of James Payne, Esq. of Says, near Chertsey. About a quarter of a mile below the bridge, is the place denominated COWAY STAKES, generally believed to be the spot where Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames when he led the Roman army into the kingdom of Cassivelaunus, who had encamped his forces on the opposite shore. The Britains did every thing in their power to prevent the Romans from crossing, by driving stakes into the bed of the river, river, and fencing the banks with wood; but the discipliné of the legions overcame the bravery of the barbarians. Bede, who lived in the beginning of the eighth century, tells us, that some of the stakes were then to be seen, and were as big as a man's thigh. Mr. Gough has doubted this being the place. Within a mile west of Chertsey, is ST. ANN's HILL, remarkable for its various, extensive, and variegated prospects over the counties of Surrey, Middlesex, Buckingingham, Berkshire, &c. Here is some remaining ruins of St. Ann's priory, subject to the monastery at Chertsey. On the declivity of St. Ann's Hill, is MONK'S GROVE, the residence of Thomas Ludbey, Esq. a neat brick building; the garden seems to have been cut out of the hill at a very great expence by some of its antient possessors, as it is secured from the intruder on the south and west sides by a high perpendicular sand precipice. Above the garden, in the grove, is a piece of ruinous building, of brick and stone. Its appearance seems to justify the idea that it has been a bathing place of the nuns who inhabited the priory, being secretly embosomed in the wood, at some distance from the road. Adjoining this wall is a large bason, about twelve feet square, for the reception of the water, paved and lined with fine tiles; on one side is a spring, capable of much improvement. On the south side of the hill is situated the seat celebrated for the retirement of the late right honourable Charles James Fox, a most compact residence. The gardens and pleasure grounds were laid out by him with taste and propriety. At the bottom of the garden, through a pleasant romantic walk, the grotto, a neat building, was completed in the year 1790. At the back of the mansion was a small dairy, fitted up in a pleasing manner, paved and lined with white tiles edged with green; the cream pans, skimmers, and ladles, of the same; the dressers and stands of marble, supported with fluted pillars, green and white. Nearly adjoining the dairy, was a large handsome green-house, supported by pillars, stored with a most_ca pital collection of odoriferous plants. The lawn and dif. ferent parts of the pleasure grounds pleasingly interspersed with statues of the most celebrated heathen gods, and other warlike heroes, produced in his classic mind the most pleasing effect. The whole forms a complete and charming country residence, well worthy the enjoyment of its founder. BOTLEYS, the residence of the late Sir Joseph Mawbey, bart. an elegant stone mansion, suited to his classic taste, is admirably situated in the middle of a fine park, well stocked with timber and abounding with game. Here is a good piece of artificial water, with a bathing house at the head of it. OTTERSHAW, the seat of James Bine, Esq. a noble stone edifice, was built by Sir Thomas Sewell, many years master of the rolls, and father of the late possessor. One mile south of Chertsey, is WOBURN FARM, the seat of the honourable R. Petre. It is a handsome brick edifice, situated in the bosom of the grounds, surrounded by shrubberies leading round a fine lawn, and extensive circles on the borders of the farm and pleasure grounds, which are laid out with much taste and judgment, are adorned with temples, and a ruin, on elevated situations, commanding the most pleasing prospects of the adjacent country. These are so numerous and diversified, that the scene is constantly and beautifully varied. Half a mile from the house, on the edge of the grounds, is a Catholic chapel, at the back of which is a neat dwelling house for the accommodation of the incumbent. Intermixing with the before mentioned beauties, this estate is agreeably refreshed by a serpentine canal, which, after turning and winding in a pleasing manner through the grounds, terminates in the river Wey, at the distance of a mile. Such are the real beauties and ornaments of this delightful spot, as planned and laid out by the late Philip Southcote, Esq. the inventor of the ferme ornée, and concerning whom Mason, in his English Garden, thus breaks forth: On thee too, Southcote, shall the Muse bestow Couldst |
