Theobalds.] DEATH OF JAMES I. 381 "My first sermon before King James at Theo- that he despaired of being able to do it justice. "To balds." James died at Theobalds on the 27th of March, 1625, and the blood was hardly cold in his veins when a knight-marshal was seen issuing from the palace to proclaim his successor. His name was Sir Edward Zouch, and when he reached the courtgate, and silence had been secured by the heralds, he solemnly proclaimed James's son Charles as king, but by an unfortunate anl, as many thought, ominous slip of the tongue, instead of styling the new sovereign "the rightful and indubitable heir," he used the words "rightful and dubitable heir," and was corrected in his error by the secretary. March 27th, 1625.-Laud tells us in his "Diary" that whilst preaching at Whitehall this day he heard the news of the death of James I. "The king died at Theobalds about three-quarters of an hour after eleven in the forenoon. He breathed forth his soul most religiously, and with great constancy of faith and courage. That day, about five o'clock, Prince Charles was solemnly proclaimed king. God grant to him,” adds Laud, "a prosperous and happy reign!" Prayers and pious wishes, it would seem, are not always fulfilled. At Theobalds Laud did homage to Charles I. on being made Bishop of Bath and Wells. On the day following the death of King James, Charles took coach at Theobalds with Buckingham, and went to London, and was proclaimed at Whitehall and Cheapside. The usual route by which the king went from London to Theobalds may still be traced by the names of streets on the north side of Holborn: namely, Kingsgate Street, King Street, King's Road, and Theobalds Road. Theobalds continued a royal residence till the commencement of the Civil War, and to this place Charles retired when he found himself no longer safe at Westminster. From here, in July, 1635, he wrote to the Earl of Salisbury to obtain a supply of food for his Majesty's deer in the park from the adjoining parishes, for, owing to great drought, Cheshunt could not furnish a sufficient quantity of hay and oats. Here the king received the petition from both houses of Parliament in 1645, and from hence he, a short time afterwards, set out for the north, and raised aloft his standard at Nottingham. During the contest between the king's forces and the Parliamentarians, the palace was plundered and very much defaced, and the manor appears to have been parcelled out among the officers of the Parliamentary army. Norden, in his account of Hertfordshire in the reign of Elizabeth, states that he found the palace of "Thibauldes, or Theobalde," so vast a subject speake," he says, "of the state and beuty thereof at large as it deserveth, for curious buildinges, delightfull walkes, and pleasant conceites, within and without, and other thinges very glorious and ellegant to be seene, would challenge a great portion of this little treatise; and therefore, leaste I should come shorte of that due commendation that it deserveth, I leave it, as indeed it is, a princely seat." In a survey of the house, taken in 1650, when it was being pulled down, it was stated to consist of two principal quadrangles, besides the Dial Court, the Buttery Court, and the Dove-house Court, in which the offices were situated. The Fountain Court, so called from a fountain of black and white marble in the centre, was a quadrangle, eighty-six feet square, on the east side of which was a cloister eight feet wide, with seven arches. On the ground-floor of this quadrangle was a spacious hall paved with Purbeck marble, and the roof arched with carved timber of curious workmanship. On the same floor were the Lord Holland's, the Marquis of Hamilton's, and the Lord Salisbury's lodging-rooms (for the last-mentioned nobleman was made keeper of Theobalds House by King James in 1619), the council chamber, and the chamber for the king's waiters. On the second floor was the Presence Chamber, "wainscoted with carved oak, painted of a liver colour, and richly gilded, with antique pictures over the same; the ceiling full of gilded pendants, setting forth the room with great splendour; there were large windows, and several coats-of-arms set in the same." These windows opened south on the walks in the great garden leading to the gate going into the park, where was an avenue of trees a mile long. There was also the Privy Chamber, the Withdrawing Room, the King's Bedchamber, and a gallery 123 feet long by twenty-one feet broad, "wainscoted with oak, and paintings over the same of divers cities, rarely painted, and set forth with a frett seelinge, with divers pendants, roses, and fleurs-de-lys, painted and gilded with gold, also divers large stagges' heads sett round the same, and fastened to the sayd roome, which are an excellent ornament to the same." The windows of this gallery looked "north into the park, and so to Cheshunt." On an upper floor were the Lord Chamberlain's lodgings, my lord's withdrawing chamber, and several other apartments. Near the Chamberlain's lodgings, on the east, was a leaded walk, 62 feet in length and 11 in breadth, with an arch of freestone over it; which sayd arch and walk," says the Survey, "looking 66 eastward into the Middle Court, and into the highway leading from London to Ware, standeth high, and may easily be discerned by passengers and travellers, to their delight." On the west of the Lord Chamberlain's lodgings was another walk of the same dimensions, looking westward into the Fountain Court. At the corners of these walks stood "fower high, fair, and large towers, covered with blue slate, with a lyon and vaines on the top of each, and in the walk over the hall, in the midst of the fowre corners, one faire and large turrett, in the fashion of a lanthorne, made with timber of excellent workmanship, curiouslie wrought, standinge a great height, with divers pinacles at each corner, wherein hangeth twelve bells for chiminge, and a clocke with chimes of sundrie worke." The walk from the lower gate up to the middle of the Fountain Court is described as leading "through the severall courtes, so that the figure of Cupid and Venus (which stood between the pillars of the fountain) maye easily be seene from the highway when the gates are open." This walk, continues the Survey, "is so delightful and pleasant, facing the middle of the house, and the severall towers, turretts, windowes, chimneyes, walkes, and balconies, that the like walke, for length, pleasantness, and delight, is rare to be seene in England." The Middle Court was a quadrangle 110 feet square, having on the south side the Queen's Chapel (with windows of stained glass), her presence chamber, privy chamber, bed chamber, and coffer chamber. The prince's lodgings were on the north side; on the east side was a cloister, over which was a green gallery, over 100 feet in length by 12 in breadth, "excellently well painted round with the severall shires in England, and the armes of the noblemen and gentlemen in the same." Over this gallery was a leaded walk (looking eastward towards the Dial Court and the highway), on which were two "loftie arches of bricke, of no small ornament to the house, and rendering it comely and pleasant to all that passed by." On the west of the quadrangle was another cloister of five arches, over which were the duke's lodgings, and over them the Queen's Gallery, 109 feet by fourteen feet. On the south side of the house stood "a large open cloister, built upon severall large faire pillars of stone arched over with seven arches, with a faire raill and balisters, well painted with the Kinges and Queenes of England, and the pedigree of the old Lord Burleigh and divers other ancient families, with paintings of many castles and battailes, with divers superscriptions on the walls." This cloister was standing in 1765, and the mutilated remnants 66 of the "pedigrees," as they then existed, were engraved for Nichols's "Progresses of Queen Elizabeth." The whole house was built, as the Survey states, of excellent brick, with coins, jambs, and cornices of stone. "The basement of the house," observes Mr. John C. Earle, in an account of the palace published in 1869, was faced with fine ashlared limestone, and the cornice, of which a small portion remains, was of the Doric order. The upper storeys were of fine red brick, divided from one another by stone cornices. From what remains of these cornices, it appears that the upper portion of the edifice was of the Ionic or Corinthian order; and it is highly probable that the three classical orders-Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian-were used one above the other, as in many buildings of the same period-Burleigh House, for example, the schools at Oxford, and the second quadrangle of Merton College." Paul Hentzner, a German traveller, has left us. the following description of the gardens of Theobalds, as they appeared in 1598, just after the death of Lord Burleigh :-" Here are great variety of trees and plants; labyrinths made with a great deal of labour; a jet d'eau, with its basin of white marble; and columns and pyramids of wood and other materials up and down the garden. After seeing these, we are led by the gardener into the summer-house, in the lower part of which, built semi-circularly, are the twelve Roman emperors in white marble, and a table of touchstone; the upper part of it is set round with cisterns of lead, into which the water is conveyed through pipes, so that fish may be kept in them, and in summer time they are very convenient for bathing; in another room for entertainment very near this, and joined to it by a little bridge, was an oval table of red marble." In addition to the great gardens were the priory gardens, with other enclosures for pheasants, aviaries, and menageries, for James was very fond of wild beasts, and had a collection of them worthy of a Zoological Garden. In one of his letters to Buckingham, when the latter was at Madrid, we find him inquiring about the "elephants, camels, wild asses," &c. He had always a large camel-house at Theobalds, whilst the tennis-court, stables, kennels, and falconry, were on a scale of magnitude proportionate to the palace. In the gardens of Theobalds was one of those curious contrivances called mazes, or labyrinths, such as we have seen at Hampton Court.* "In the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth," observes a writer in the Archeological Journal (Vol. xv., See ante, p. 171. Theobalds.] 66 DEMOLITION OF THE PALACE. p. 228), Though Theobalds was demolished by order of Parliament during the Commonwealth, and the money arising from the sale of the materials was divided among the army, self-interest or shame restrained in some degree the violence of the destroyers. The commissioners who were appointed by Parliament in 1650 to make a survey of the palace reported that "it was an excellent building, in very good repair, by no means fit to be demolished, and that it was worth £2,000 per annum, exclusive of the park; yet, lest the Parliament should think proper to have it taken down, they had estimated the materials, and found them to be worth £8,275 11s." Notwithstanding this report, the greater part of the palace was taken down, and the materials sold; the royal park was converted into farms, and several "pleasant residences" have been erected where royalty once See "Old and New London," Vol. VI., p. 104. + Ibid, Vol. VI., p. 230. 383 delighted to assemble and enjoy the beauties of a rural retreat. An almshouse adjoining the stables, built probably by Lord Burleigh, continued to be a refuge for the aged poor. It is mentioned in a "Life of the Earl of Salisbury," printed in 1612, that it was occupied by "aged and over-worne captaines, gentlemen by birth and calling." This building, which had the arms of Cecil in front, and was furnished with a hall and chapel, was standing till about the year 1812. The park contained 2,500 acres, and was valued, together with six lodges, at £1,545 15s. 4d. per annum. The deer was valued at £1,000, the rabbits at £15, and the timber at £7,259 13s. 2d., exclusive of 15,608 trees marked for the use of the navy, and others already cut down for that purpose. The materials of the barn and walls were valued at £1,570 16s. 3d. Among the few parts of the palace that were left standing after the dismantlement, about 1650, was one of the chapels, which continued to be used by the Presbyterians till the year 1689, when the site of the palace and the park were granted by William III. to the Earl of Portland. Charles II. had previously made a grant of the park and manor to the man who had seated him on the throne of his father. This was George Monk, Duke of Albemarle. After the death of Monk, in 1607, his son Christopher enjoyed it; but on his death without issue it reverted to the Crown, where it remained until granted to the Earl of Portland, as above mentioned. Somehow, however, the manor of Theobalds did not go with the park and house; but after frequently changing hands, it became, towards the close of the last century, the inheritance of Oliver Cromwell, Esq., the last male descendant of Henry, the Protector's son. From the Earl of Portland the property passed to his son, whom George I. created a duke; and about the middle of the last century the property was sold to one of the Prescott family, who afterwards became possessed of the manor. The last remains of the palace were eventually destroyed, and on their site were erected the houses which now form Theobalds Square, in the village of Cheshunt. About the same time a new park of 200 acres was enclosed by Sir G. Prescott, who also built a handsome brick mansion, on rising ground, about a mile northwest from the site of the palace, and at a short distance from the New River, which runs through the grounds. The new house is somewhat similar in plan to that of St. James's Palace. A considerable improvement and addition was made to it by the late Sir Henry Meux, who held it under Sir George Prescott some years since. Mr. S. Beazley, the architect, dramatist, and man of letters, designed a new staircase here for the Meuxes, who affected to drop the "x" in pronouncing their names, and to sound the name as if it were "Muse" or "Mews ;" and when done, he styled it in jest a "Gradus ad Parnassum," the latter being the fabled seal of the Heavenly Nine. Lord William Lennox wrote the following jeu d'esprit on the name: "There's Meux entire-called Mews the swells among, Though Mieux is better in a foreign tongue; Tant Mieux, why change the sounds? nay, 'tis no myth, summer-house in the garden, as stated above, he is said to have composed many of his hymns. In the Gentleman's Magazine for February, 1836, there is an engraving of "the Royal Palace of Theobalds," derived from a drawing in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. It had been previously known only from a vignette in Pickering's edition of Izaak Walton's "Complete Angler." The embattled gatehouse, with its oriel window above the archway, and the clock-tower and other buildings beyond, recalls to mind to a certain extent the appearance of Wolsey's Gateway and the older portions of Hampton Court Palace. The central tower, with its turrets and cupola, was doubtless a conspicuous object from many parts of the surrounding country; at all events, it would appear to have been visible to Izaak Walton's The property, which is now called Theobalds Park, was bought by Sir Henry Meux in 1882. It is one of the most compact estates for its size of any within the same distance of London. There are several roads through it, but no right of carriage-worthy anglers, Auceps and Piscator, in their walk way to any but the owner, although the public have the privilege of passing through it on foot. along the banks of the Lea; for the former remarks, "I shall by your favour bear you company as far as Theobalds," and the latter shortly after says, "I must in manners break off, for I see Theobalds In a House." Sir Thomas Abney had a house at Theobalds, and here Dr. Watts lived with him for some time before his removal to Stoke Newington.* CHAPTER XL. CHESHUNT. "There the most daintie paradise on ground, In which all pleasures plenteously abownd, The painted flowers, the trees upshooting hye; And that which all fair works doth most aggrace, The art which all that wrought appeared in no place."-EDMUND SPENSER. Situation and General Appearance of the Parish-Its Etymology-Supposed Site of a Roman Station or Camp -Discovery of Roman Coins, &c.The Mound at Bury Green-A Curious Manorial Custom-Census Returns-The River Lee-A Disputed Landmark-Early History and Descent of the Manor of Cheshunt-The Manor of Moteland, or St. Andrew's le Mote-The Great House-The Parish ChurchThe Cemetery, &c.-Cheshunt College-Pengelly House-Cheshunt Park-The Cromwell Family-Other Notable Residents and Seats-Waltham Cross-"The Four Swans" Inn-The Spital Houses-Holy Trinity Church-The Benedictine Convent-Goff's OakSt. James's Church. CHESHUNT, which will now form the subject of our remarks, is both extensive and pleasingly diversified with agricultural and park-like scenery. It is, in fact, undulating, well-wooded, and wellwatered, and irregular in plan. The most populous part of the village, called Cheshunt Street, is built on either side of the great North Road, a continuation of the road from London through Enfield Highway, by Waltham Cross-which, by the way, is really part of Cheshunt-and so on to Ware; so that the inhabitants, if they had happened to have been at their windows on that eventful day, • See "Old and New London," Vol. V., p. 539. would have witnessed John Gilpin's involuntary ride The name of the parish is a curious admixture to the camp, which was situated at Kilsmore, near | ford, a little village at the north end of Cheshunt, Cheshunt Street. Be this as it may, however, the subject has been one of dispute among antiquarians, some asserting that the supposed vallum and fosse in Kilsmore field were nothing more than a cut originally intended for the New River, but laid aside as less convenient than the present channel. This fosse, at all events, has been entirely effaced by a large reservoir, formed by the New River Company; but the farm close by still bears the name of Kilsmore. by Cheshunt Wash. The notion of Cheshunt having been the site of a Roman settlement may seem to be further strengthened by an urn, said to be Roman, having been found here; it is to be seen embedded in the front of an inn called "The Roman Urn," in Crossbrook Street. The urn was found on the spot many years ago, whilst some excavations were being made; but its date is far from certain. Salmon also makes mention of an old tumulus, This supposed fosse and military way induced or Druidical mound, near Bury Green, with * See ante, p. 368. ascending paths corresponding to the four cardinal points; this is also disputed, some topographers |