Cowdray Castle, West Sussex
Photo © Mark Percy, 2 May 2007
Cowdray Castle, West Sussex
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Cowdray Castle, West Sussex Photo © Mark Percy, 2 May 2007 |
Cowdray Castle, West Sussex . |
Cowdray House is constituted of the ruins of one of England's great houses, outside the West Sussex town of Midhurst, standing on the north bank of the River Rother. It was gutted by fire on 24 September 1793, but what remains hints at its former glory with significant parts of the walls remaining at full height.
Started in the early 16th century on the site of an earlier building, this noble house became the home of the Browne family, later the Viscounts Montague and a repository of some of the key artefacts from English history. Its heyday was during the Tudor period; architecturally it compared to many of the great palaces and country houses of that time.
It re-opened to the public on 31 March 2007, having undergone a major preservation project.
-- Cowdray House
Very near to Midhurst, in Sussex, which probably received its name from being in the midst of woods (hurst being a Saxon word for a wood), are the remains of Cowdray House, once the splendid seat of the family of Montague. Reduced to its present state by the accident of fire, and not by the hand of time, it still presents a fair front, and might be mistaken for a habitable mansion, standing in a noble park of 800 acres, abounding in fine old trees, particularly Spanish chestnuts.
There was anciently a manor-house at Cowdray, belonging to the Bohuns; but it afterwards became the property of the Crown, and was granted by Henry VII. to John Lord Montague. On the division of his property it passed to Lucy, his third daughter, whose second husband was Sir Anthony Brown, a person of ancient family and Grand Standard Bearer of England. William Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton, the son of this lady by a former husband, was the founder of Cowdray; and W.S., the initials of this nobleman, may be seen carved in stone on the ceiling of the entrance porch. On his dying without issue the estate went to his half-brother, Sir Anthony Brown, whose son, the first Viscount Montague, greatly improved and enlarged the house.
This noble residence was twice honoured by a visit from royalty. King Edward VI., in 1547, in a letter to a friend, speaks of Cowdray as " a goodly house of Sir A. Brown's," where he was "marvellously, yea rather excessively, banketted." And there is an old printed description of the "honourable entertainment" given to Queen Elizabeth, at Cowdray, by Lord Montague in 1591, when she was addressed as "The Miracle of Time," "Nature's Glory," "Fortune's Empress," "The World's Wonder!" — and stepping from the sublime to the ridiculous it states that on the following day she was "most royallie feasted; the proportion ot breakfast was three oxen, and one hundred and fortie geese." During the week of the Queen's stay, she killed three or four deer with a crossbow in the park, and received addresses from persons disguised as "pilgrims, with their russet coats and scallop shells," and "wild men clad in ivie," and "anglers at goodlie fish-ponds." On going through the arbour to take horse for Chichester, Her Majesty knighted six gentlemen, including my lord's second son, Sir George Brown. It may appear remarkable, that, though a determined Papist, he should have received such marks of esteem and confidence from Elizabeth as are implied by his being appointed as her ambassador to Spain, and by her gracious visit at his family mansion.
Lord Montague also brought a troop of two hundred horse to the Queen at Tilbury, commanded by himself, his son and grandson, "when Europe stood by in perfect suspense to behold what the craft of Rome, the power of Philip, and the genius of Farnese could achieve" by the invincible Armada "against the Island Queen, with her Drakes and Cecils."
In wandering over the park at this day, we can scarcely imagine that we look upon the very trees under which sat the lion-hearted Queen. Cowdray was built in the form of a square, in the centre of which was the gate, flanked by two towers. There were throughout the mansion ten bucks, life size, each bearing a shield with the aiTns of England, and under it the arms of Brown; besides others with small banners of arms supported by their feet. The hall and staircase were pictured with the story of Tancred and Clorinda from Tasso.
The parlour was adorned by Holbein, or his pupils. There were two long galleries, in which were, coloured in stucco, the twelve Apostles, life-size; and many family pictures, and sacred and historical pieces, some brought from Battle Abbey. The paintings on the walls were saved during the Civil Wars in the time of Charles I., by a coat of plaster laid over the stucco; but one of the officers quartered here, exercising his weapon against the wall, broke out of one of the groups the head of Henry VIII., which was afterwards replaced.
This beautiful and massive structure was destroyed by fire, September 24, 1793, through a charcoal fire left by a workman, when no individual member of the building escaped injury except the kitchen. The ruins of the west side of this magnificent mansion contain the most perfect traces of the general architecture, and exhibit proof of its amazing strength. Within the quadrangle, and about the prcmipes, lie several fragments of sculpture and broken columns, presenting to the reflective mind fit emblems not only of human glory departed, but of the fate which, even at the time of the lamentable loss, yet impended over the family, by a sad coincidence exemplifying that
"When sorrows come, they come not single spies. But in battahons!"
A few weeks after this stately pile was destroyed, the noble owner, the young Viscount Montague, during the life of his mother, and before the intelligence of the fire could reach him, was drowned, together with his fellow-traveller, Mr. Sediey Burdett, brother of Sir Francis Burdett, in rashly venturing to navigate the falls of the Rhine, at SchafFhausen, in October, 1793. The present family residence is at Cowdray Lodge, a small but elegant house in the park, about a mile from the ruins.
Sir Anthony Brown was a gallant soldier of fortune, who experienced more of the favour of Henry VIII. than fell to the lot of any other subject. In the fourteenth year of Henry VIII. (1523), he was knighted for his valour in the assault and taking of the town of Morlaix in Brittany, when, with the Earl of Surrey, Lord High Admiral, he conveyed from Southampton the Emperor Charles to the port of Biscay, and this seems to have been the commencement of the good and great fortune he enjoyed in his lifetime. We also find through Holinshed, that two years after, being one of the esquires of the King's body, he was one of the challengers during the feast of Christmas before the King and his Court assembled at the Palace of Greenwich for jousts and tournaments and other feats of arms ; the following year he was made Lieutenant of the Isle of Man and the other islands belonging thereto, during the minority of the Earl of Derby, whose family continued to hold sovereign rights in Mona till the Civil War ended them by the fall of the island into the hands of the Cromwellians, after Lady Derby's heroic defence.
In 1539, King Henry made Sir Anthony Master of the Horse, a post considered of a very high character in those days; this office was not a permanent one, but the King, lavishing great favour on Sir Anthony, made him Master of the Horse for life. We have elsewhere spoken of King Henry's grant to Sir Anthony of "the house and suite of the late monastery of Battle in com. Sussex, to him and his heirs and assigns for ever," the greatest evidence yet offered to him of his sovereign's continued regard.
Another instance of the attachment exhibited by Henry towards Sir Anthony Brown may be found in the fact, that in 1140, four years after his marriage with Jane Seymour, who died in childbirth, lie entrusted to Sir Anthony the somewhat dehcate task of representing him at the Court of John of Cleves, whose sister Anne, Henry had agreed to marry, as she was a Protestant princess, and it suited Henry's views at that time to consider himself one also. At Cowdray Castle, before the fatal fire which destroyed that palatial residence many years afterwards, there used to be a portrait of Sir Anthony Brown, in the court suit which he had donned for the occasion of personating his master as bridegroom when he was acting as proxy for him after the marriage ceremony had been performed, one leg being arrayed in white satin for the purpose of being thrust into the bed of the princess, in token of the real husband's rights over his wife.
Horace Walpole, who was at Cowdray Castle in 1749, describing the portrait of Anthony Brown in his wedding proxy suit, thus remarks after his quaint and satirical fashion. "He is in blue and white; only the right leg is entirely white, which was robed for the act of putting into bed to her. But when the King came to marry her, he only put his leg into bed to kick her out," using, by the way, expressions of a most unkingly character, which Walpole discreetly omits.
Sir Anthony died on May 6, 1548, at Byfleet House, Surrey, which he had built for himself. He was buried in the ancient family vault at Battle Abbey, where, in the chancel, is the noble tomb of white marble, once oniamented with gold and colour, although little of either now remains. Two recumbent figures are on the top of the tomb, which is of an altar character. Sir Anthony in his mantle, with collar and star, as a Knight of the Garter, is in full armour, his head resting on a helmet, and at his feet a greyhound, chained and gorged with a coronet of gold. His first wife, Alice, daughter of Sir John Gage, is by his side in robes and coif, her head resting on a cushion, beneath a handsome and very rare canopy, which to this day attests the full beauty of its design and execution. At her feet is a small dog with a collar. Underneath, in compartments, are coats of arms of the families of Brown and Gage, ornamented with several cherubs curiously cut in marble and painted; and around and about the upper edge of the tomb is an inscription recording the date of the death of Lady Alice, but oddly enough leaving out the date of his own, which has led many to believe the tomb was ordered in Sir Anthony's life-time.
Lloyd thus sums up the character of this great man, of whose inte- resting exploits and romantic history a considerable volume might be written. "Three things facilitate all things; 1. knowledge, 2. temper, 3. lime. Knowledge our kniglit had, cither of his own or olhera whom he commanded; in whatever he went about, laying the ground of matters down in writing, and debating them with his friends before he declared himself in council. A temperance he had that kept him out of the reach of others, and brought others within his. Time he took, always driving, never being driven by his business, which is rather a huddle than a performance when in haste; there was something that all admired, and which was more, something that all were pleased with in this man's actions. The times were dark, his carriage so too ; the waves were boisterous, but he the solid rock or the well guided ship that could go with the tide. He mastered his own passions, and others too, and both by time and opportunity; therefore he died with that peace the State wanted, and with that universal repute the statesmen of these troublesome times enjoyed not."
From a Booke of Order and Rules, preserved in MS. at Easebourne Priory, and, no doubt, saved from the fire at Cowdray, we gain a curious insight into the mode of life of a nobleman of position and power in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Here is a most amusing scene: —
"Ten o'clock has just struck, and the household is mustering in the magnificent Buck Hall, it being 'covering time,' or the hour for preparing the tables for dinner. The steward, in his gown, is standing at the uppermost part of the hall, over against his appointed table, surrounded by most of the chief officers and some visitors ; occasionally also travellers, who had availed themselves of the hospitality of those days. The tables are neatly covered with white cloths, salt-cellars, and trenchers, under the supervision of the usher of the hall. The yeomen of the ewry and pantry, conducted by the yeoman usher, pass through to the great dining chamber. When they arrive at the middle of that room they bow reverentially (although no one else be present), and they do the same upon approaching the table. The usher, kissing his hand, places it on the centre of the dining-table, to indicate to his subordinate of the ewry, who kisses the table, where the cloth is to be laid. The yeoman of the pantry then steps forth, and places the salt, trenchers for my lord and lady, rolls, knives "hafted with silver," and spoons, making a little obeisance, or inclination of the head, as each article is laid down, and a low bow when he has finished. The trio then severally make solemn reverences, and retire in the same order as they arrived. Next in succession comes the yeoman of the cellar, who dresses the sideboard or buffet (cup-borde) with wines, flagons, drinking cups, and such vessels as are consigned to his charge. The yeoman of the buttery follows him, and brings up beer and ale, and an-anges the pewter pots, jugs, and so forth, on the sideboard or buffet."
The dinner-time has now fully come, and the lord's commands being taken by a gentleman usher, who knocks respectfully at the door of his lord's apartments, the dishes, with great state and careful watching, are carried forward, and placed upon the table in the dining chamber, where, soon after, the viscount leading the viscountess, and followed by their gentlemen and gentlewomen, proceed to their seats at the table, and the banquet begins. -- Abbeys, castles, and ancient halls of England and Wales, 1872
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