A Little North Of This Part Of The Country Rises The River Stour,
Which For A Course Of Fifty Miles
Or more parts the two counties of
Suffolk and Essex, passing through or near Haveril, Clare,
Cavendish, Halsted, Sudbury, Bowers,
Nayland, Stretford, Dedham,
Manningtree, and into the sea at Harwich, assisting by its waters
to make one of the best harbours for shipping that is in Great
Britain--I mean Orwell Haven or Harwich, of which I have spoken
largely already.
As we came on this side we saw at a distance Braintree and Bocking,
two towns, large, rich, and populous, and made so originally by the
bay trade, of which I have spoken at large at Colchester, and which
flourishes still among them.
The manor of Braintree I found descended by purchase to the name of
Olmeus, the son of a London merchant of the same name, making good
what I had observed before, of the great number of such who have
purchased estates in this county.
Near this town is Felsted, a small place, but noted for a free
school of an ancient foundation, for many years under the
mastership of the late Rev. Mr. Lydiat, and brought by him to the
meridian of its reputation. It is now supplied, and that very
worthily, by the Rev. Mr. Hutchins.
Near to this is the Priory of Lees, a delicious seat of the late
Dukes of Manchester, but sold by the present Duke to the Duchess
Dowager of Bucks, his Grace the Duke of Manchester removing to his
yet finer seat of Kimbolton in Northamptonshire, the ancient
mansion of the family. From hence keeping the London Road I came
to Chelmsford, mentioned before, and Ingerstone, five miles west,
which I mention again, because in the parish church of this town
are to be seen the ancient monuments of the noble family of Petre,
whose seat and large estate lie in the neighbourhood, and whose
whole family, by a constant series of beneficent actions to the
poor, and bounty upon all charitable occasions, have gained an
affectionate esteem through all that part of the country such as no
prejudice of religion could wear out, or perhaps ever may; and I
must confess, I think, need not, for good and great actions command
our respect, let the opinions of the persons be otherwise what they
will.
From hence we crossed the country to the great forest, called
Epping Forest, reaching almost to London. The country on that side
of Essex is called the Roodings, I suppose, because there are no
less than ten towns almost together, called by the name of Roding,
and is famous for good land, good malt, and dirty roads; the latter
indeed in the winter are scarce passable for horse or man. In the
midst of this we see Chipping Onger, Hatfield Broad Oak, Epping,
and many forest towns, famed as I have said for husbandry and good
malt, but of no other note. On the south side of the county is
Waltham Abbey; the ruins of the abbey remain, and though antiquity
is not my proper business, I could not but observe that King
Harold, slain in the great battle in Sussex against William the
Conqueror, lies buried here; his body being begged by his mother,
the Conqueror allowed it to be carried hither; but no monument was,
as I can find, built for him, only a flat gravestone, on which was
engraven Harold Infelix.
From hence I came over the forest again--that is to say, over the
lower or western part of it, where it is spangled with fine
villages, and these villages filled with fine seats, most of them
built by the citizens of London, as I observed before, but the
lustre of them seems to be entirely swallowed up in the magnificent
palace of the Lord Castlemain, whose father, Sir Josiah Child, as
it were, prepared it in his life for the design of his son, though
altogether unforeseen, by adding to the advantage of its situation
innumerable rows of trees, planted in curious order for avenues and
vistas to the house, all leading up to the place where the old
house stood, as to a centre.
In the place adjoining, his lordship, while he was yet Sir Richard
Child only, and some years before he began the foundation of his
new house, laid out the most delicious, as well as most spacious,
pieces of ground for gardens that is to be seen in all this part of
England. The greenhouse is an excellent building, fit to entertain
a prince; it is furnished with stoves and artificial places for
heat from an apartment in which is a bagnio and other conveniences,
which render it both useful and pleasant. And these gardens have
been so the just admiration of the world, that it has been the
general diversion of the citizens to go out to see them, till the
crowds grew too great, and his lordship was obliged to restrain his
servants from showing them, except on one or two days in a week
only.
The house is built since these gardens have been finished. The
building is all of Portland stone in the front, which makes it look
extremely glorious and magnificent at a distance, it being the
particular property of that stone (except in the streets of London,
where it is tainted and tinged with the smoke of the city) to grow
whiter and whiter the longer it stands in the open air.
As the front of the house opens to a long row of trees, reaching to
the great road at Leightonstone, so the back face, or front (if
that be proper), respects the gardens, and, with an easy descent,
lands you upon the terrace, from whence is a most beautiful
prospect to the river, which is all formed into canals and openings
to answer the views from above and beyond the river; the walks and
wildernesses go on to such a distance, and in such a manner up the
hill, as they before went down, that the sight is lost in the woods
adjoining, and it looks all like one planted garden as far as the
eye can see.
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