Clive Holland

“ As we have before said, the chief attraction of Kenilworth nowadays is its ruined castle, a magnificent and impressive red sandstone pile, now overgrown with ivy and, alas, crumbling yearly into greater decay, which in ancient times saw so much of the stir, pageantry, and circumstance of life. And even if some of the legends and tales connected with this truly wonderful building have little foundation in actual fact, there is still much of unimpeachable history and romance welded into its very fabric. ”

“ Few counties have been better sung by poets of the past and present than Warwickshire. And much verse [4] which has never been traced to Warwickshire writers doubtless owes its origin to a district which, “beautiful as some dreamland of flowers and fruits, and kingdom of elfish people,” is taken to the heart of all who sojourn within its borders, be it only for a brief period.
Beautiful, however, as the county is, it has interests quite as fascinating for the historian, student, and archæologist as for the wayfarer and artist. ”

“ Medieval period down to the golden age of Elizabeth taken place within the enduring walls of this ancient stronghold, it is impossible to deal here. But in this ancient feudal castle the student, artist, and lover of the past will recognise one of the finest monuments in England of ancient splendour which yet remains happily largely uninjured by time. In it we have also an almost unique memorial of that transition period when the more severe and forbidding features of fortress–dwellings were being slowly replaced by others of a more domestic if not the less imposing character. ”

“ On Leicester’s death it was found that he had bequeathed the castle for life to his brother Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, and after him to his son by Lady Douglas Sheffield, whom he termed Sir Robert Dudley.
The only portion now habitable of what was anciently one of the finest baronial fortress homes in the kingdom is Leicester’s magnificent gate–house, which many authorities are agreed equals in its size and beauty of architecture many a manor–house itself. ”

“ Hutton, Birmingham’s most famous and completest historian of the past, claims for this city, whose rise has been so phenomenal during the last half century, that history proves its progress has been continuous, and that the town has never suffered a decline. ”

“ Since that time the peace of the fine old grey pile has been undisturbed, and the ninth earl, who was created a marquis in 1812, repaired the house, which had fallen somewhat into decay.
Whether one regards Compton Wynyates from the point of view of an ancient building of romantic and architectural interest, or as a mansion set amid scenery of singular beauty, the place deserves to rank very high indeed among the old houses around which has in past days been woven so much of the glory and romance of England. ”

“ Close to the river and not far from the Memorial Theatre stands Stratford Church of the Holy Trinity, ideally situated, almost embosomed in trees, and approached on the north side by a beautiful avenue of limes. The building, which was a Collegiate Church from the reign of Edward III. to the Dissolution, is a cruciform edifice consisting of a nave with aisles, a chancel, transepts, and a central tower with an elegant octagonal spire, which seems to dominate the whole town when viewed from a little distance. ”

“ One great happening only in the county marked this period as one destined to be ultimately regarded as of worldwide interest and importance. On April 23, 1564, at Stratford–on–Avon, William Shakespeare, one of the greatest poets of any age, was born. A genius not alone destined to reflect undying lustre upon the literature of the wonderfully rich Elizabethan age, but to survive through succeeding centuries of change in men, modes of thought and fashion as no other writer has. ”

“ Kenilworth, which is prettily situated, and lies almost equidistant between Warwick and Coventry, and about five miles direct north of the former town, is reached by the turnpike road passing Guy’s Cliff, the beautiful Blakedown Mill, which existed prior to the reign of Henry II., and Chessford Bridge. Few who visit Kenilworth at the present day would imagine that this quiet, straggling country town, with a population of about four thousand, could ever have played the important part it did in the history and romance of the county and the nation at large. ”

“ The market frequented by dealers in other goods and by the wandering pedlars of the Middle Ages lay around the High Cross, at the northern end of the High Street, in the space which in those days lay between Rother Market and the ancient timber bridge across the Avon.
To these fairs doubtless came the inhabitants from far and near; from the scattered homesteads amid the forest glades of Arden, and from the manor–houses which began in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to spring up upon the lands granted by successive kings to their vassals for services rendered or for political reasons. ”

“ In the fields still toil peasants little differing, in the more retired spots, in mode of life from those who toiled in Shakespeare’s days, gathering the harvest of peas in autumn, or sowing them in spring. ”

“ Whereupon the Countess, beloved of God, loosed her hair and let down her tresses, which covered the whole of her body like a veil, and then mounting her horse and attended by two knights she rode through the market–place without being seen, except her fair legs; and having completed the journey, she returned with gladness to her astonished husband, and obtained of him what she had asked, for Earl Leofric freed the town of Coventry and its inhabitants from the aforesaid service, and confirmed what he had done by a charter. ”

“ From the Leamington of the last few years of the eighteenth century to the flourishing town of to–day is, indeed, a far cry. Then, according to one authority, it was little more than a small sequestered village, to which the mail–coaches came no nearer than Warwick, and any letters or parcels for the inhabitants could only be obtained by some enterprising villager going over to the latter place for them. ”

“ His house on the northern side of Henley Street was one of considerable size, and, indeed, in those days was doubtless esteemed a fine house. As was not inappropriate for the birthplace of one who loved and must have often rambled in the Forest of Arden, it was from thence that came the oak planks and beams of which the house was built,—timbers tough and well seasoned, fit to outlast a thousand years. It was here that to John and Mary Shakespeare was born a daughter, Joan, in 1558 (who, it is probable, died some two years later) ”

“ The flying buttresses supporting the tower are of very great beauty and grace, two springing from each pinnacle of the main tower and resting against the angles of the octagonal lantern, above which rises the beautiful spire to a further height of 130 feet, the total elevation of the whole being just over 300 feet. ”

“ Great as is the attraction of Stratford itself to many, there will be also pleasurable interests found in the old–world villages which lie within easy distance. In them and about them, indeed, there still lingers much of the “atmosphere” of Shakespearian times, and in travelling to them along winding roads and leafy by–ways one breathes the wider air of the Feldon and Arden, and from the summits of their little hills can catch glimpses of the district which Speed, not altogether unwarrantably, referred to as another Eden. ”

“ Though lacking the peaks and deep–set dales of its near neighbour, Derbyshire, which it touches at its northern limit, it is essentially a county of pleasant hills, uplands, and fertile well–watered vales. Some of the richest meadow–land and most picturesque woodland scenery in the Midlands lie within the confine of Shakespeare’s shire.
Few English counties present greater attractions for the student of the past, the archæologist, the rambler, and the tourist than Warwickshire. ”

“ No great occurrence of a military or catastrophic character disturbed its sunny hills and fertile vales. And even during the reign of Edward VI., which witnessed the historical struggle between the Duke of Somerset and Earl of Warwick for power, Warwickshire enjoyed a period of rest and tranquillity, unaffected by the schemes and plotting of John Dudley, who had been created Earl of Warwick by the King. ”

“ One of the truly great events in the history of Birmingham of this period—nay, of any period—was the foundation by Matthew Boulton of the famous Soho works in 1763. He possessed unbounded enterprise, enthusiasm, and taste, and his original business in Birmingham itself as a “toy–maker,” manufacturing sword–hilts, buckles, brooches, and other ornaments, increased rapidly, and he was compelled to transfer it to larger and better premises. It was to Boulton that James Watt ultimately came in despair at not being able to get his newly invented steam–engine well and carefully made. ”

“ But towards the end of Henry III.’s reign it was the scene of some of the most stirring and momentous episodes of the Barons’ War. The struggle between the King and the Barons under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, centred, so far as Warwickshire was concerned, round Kenilworth and Warwick. De Montfort at the outset of the war garrisoned the former castle and placed Sir John Gifford in command. The latter and the troops of the garrison promptly ravaged the country round about, destroying the manor–houses and farms of those who were well–affected to the King. ”

“ In the year previous to the Queen’s visit the plague had committed great ravages in the city, hundreds of the inhabitants falling victims, and the “dreadful dead carts passing constantly through the streets taking their horrible toll from most houses, and picking up those who had fallen of the sickness in the streets.” Thus with the clothing business falling to decay without any substitute being introduced to fill its place, and suffering from the suppression of the religious houses, Coventry was in but a poor state at the time of Elizabeth’s visit. ”

“ There are few lights at night, for it is war time, but at sunset against the pale lemon evening sky its spires are sharply silhouetted, and the lofty chimneys of its restless factories trail diaphanous veils of smoke across the vault of heaven. Even at a distance one hears a murmurous hum of machines, which comes upon the evening air like the hum of innumerable bees.... ”

“ Like Hawthorne, those who have visited Leamington carry away with them pleasant memories of a town which, although owing much to natural beauty of situation, yet owes also not a little to the intelligence and foresight of those responsible for its development, who may be said to have coaxed rather than coerced Nature in their efforts to make the spot one of uncommon rural and urban attractiveness, whilst still mindful of the demands of exigent moderns. ”

“ But in even the spacious days of Elizabeth there was still something of mediæval ways and manners clinging to the life and habits of towns such as Stratford. It is difficult for us, who dwell in the twentieth century, with its almost fanatical cleanliness and idolisation of everything which can be described as progress, to realise the conditions prevailing in places like Stratford, which was probably not worse governed or overseen than other towns of similar size. ”

“ But Leamington of to–day owes a good deal less of its popularity to its springs than it does to its beautiful situation, and the fact of it being such an excellent centre for interesting excursions; whilst hunting people regard the place as an almost unequalled sporting district, from the circumstance that a fashionable life can be enjoyed there in conjunction with hunting six days a week, and the choice of as many packs. Warwickshire, indeed, has been called the third best hunting county in England, and Leamington must take even a higher place as a centre for hunting folk. ”

“ But that there is a great future for this county in the very heart of England when industry has learned its lesson, and enterprise is once more harnessed to the chariot wheels of commerce no one can doubt. ”

“ The site on which Boulton’s house stood is now occupied by streets and terraces of unromantic houses. But the memory of Soho lingers in the name of an open space, and in that of streets and roads.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the desire to modernise Birmingham and to erect buildings with some pretension to architectural beauty seemed to have concerned the inhabitants, and we read, the town “is daily improving in the style of her buildings; there are now architects of the first eminence in the town, and others rapidly rising into notice.” ”

“ Unfortunately industrial unrest, which immediately followed the armistice and extended into several of the succeeding years, prevented Warwickshire from making full use of the enormously increased facilities for output of manufactured articles for which the county has long been famous. Even factories which only needed conversion in comparatively unimportant details to fit them for the struggle to capture the world–trade that waited to be won by enterprise and hard work were left idle or were very imperfectly adapted to the needs of peaceful production. ”

“ The house is surrounded by a moat, which is picturesquely overhung with foliage, and spanned by a bridge admitting to the house through an arched gateway.
Within a mile and a half of the church, and reached by a lovely avenue through Hawk’s Wood, is South Farm, where, on November 22, 1819, was born Mary Ann Evans, afterwards to become famous as “George Eliot.” The building is quite a small farmhouse, having one bay and a gabled east wing, and is coated with rough cast. It stands pleasantly situated a little distance on the right of the Park Road to Griff. ”

“ Room is of less magnificent proportions, it is notable for its fine plaster ceiling and the graceful and appropriate ornamentation of the walls; the wainscotting of which in one place masks a secret passage and staircase, used in former days as a means of escape and also for communication with the floor below. In this chamber are some of the greatest art treasures of the castle, including three oval portraits of the sons of Robert, Lord Brooke, who was killed during the Civil War; a fine half–length Van Dyck of the Earl of Strafford in armour; a Charles II. ”

“ Indeed, the remembrance of Shakespeare’s birth year was likely to remain in the public mind for some considerable period, for it was the year of the Great Frost, when the Thames froze almost solidly from side to side above London Bridge, and a fair of several weeks’ duration was held upon it. Whilst in Stratford there was a recurrence of the plague, which is stated to have carried off at least one in seven of the total [214] population. Fortunately the house of John Shakespeare escaped the scourge. ”