PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
Sandford-on-Thames.—Small village; church not interesting; remains of preceptory of Knights Templars.
Nuneham Courtney.—Eighteenth-century village, very unusual; Manor-house of Harcourts.
Dorchester.—Old village, with many picturesque cottages; Abbey Church of considerable interest.
Henley.—Picturesque little town; the church, Early English and Tudor; splendid river views; the Town Hall.
Maidenhead.—Large modern town; fine boating centre.
Eton.—The college and War Memorial Hall.
Windsor.—The castle, dating from the Norman period, with many subsequent additions; Town Hall, finished by Wren; a few old houses.
Hampton.—Hampton Court, magnificent palace of Henry VIII.
Kingston.—The church and Coronation Stone; almshouses and Lovekyn Chapel.
(Trunk) No. 11. OXFORD TO WINDSOR.
Town Plan No. 12—Oxford.
OXFORD
The entrance to the 'city of palaces' is through suburbs of a commonplace, uninteresting, or even ugly character, the builders having apparently gained no inspiration from the magnificent examples of architecture which they are gradually hemming in. That such squalid, or, at the best, perky and meretricious streets of houses should have been allowed to encompass the architectural splendours of the great University is a public scandal, and it is to be hoped that before many years have passed some steps will be taken to wipe out the worst of these new abominations. To adequately describe Oxford within the limits of this work is impossible, and it will be sufficient to indicate the salient features which should not be passed over. The city lies upon a low ridge between the Thames and the Cherwell, and is surrounded by a fine range of hills. The imposing array of towers and spires, the many colleges with their historic quadrangles, the avenues and groves and secluded college gardens, the marvellous profusion of carved stonework, all combine to render the nucleus of this ancient seat of learning one of the most beautiful in the British Empire. The Bodleian Library is the hub round which the colleges cluster, and after it has been seen the church of St. Mary the Virgin should be visited, from its long connection with the seat of learning. Near it are the New Schools, the Botanic Garden, and the Clarendon Press, while the Taylor building contains many interesting pictures. Of the colleges, All Souls, Balliol, Brasenose, Christ Church, Magdalen, Merton, and New College, are among the most interesting.
The Cathedral belonging to Christ Church dates from 1160, and is a noble example of Norman architecture. The nave is pure Norman, the chancel Transitional, the chapter-house Early English. The shrine of St. Frideswide, the Bishop's throne, and the grand modern reredos, are particularly notable.
The first village passed after leaving Oxford is Sandford-on-Thames, but the flatness of the country and the presence of a paper-mill with a tall chimney deprive the place of any particular charm beyond what is found in the quietest reaches of the Upper Thames. Sandford Church is not interesting, but there are remains of a preceptory of Knights Templars at the farm by the brook a little to the north-west.
The road continues parallel with the river, and soon passes through the curiously uniform village of Nuneham Courtney. The two lines of picturesque cottages facing one another across the road were built by the first Earl Harcourt, who, disliking the proximity of the village to the manor-house, razed the cottages to the ground after constructing the new ones, which have now been sufficiently toned down by the weather to give a pleasing effect. This same building Earl demolished the old church and erected another near the house, now abandoned for a new one lately put up near the village. He also rebuilt the house (not shown to visitors) in the severely classic style in vogue at the close of the eighteenth century. The grounds and gardens were laid out in part by the popular 'Capability' Brown, and these may be seen on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer. It is advisable, however, if one particularly wishes to see them, to write in advance to Mr. H. Gale, Nuneham Courtney.
About a mile beyond the village, at the cross-roads, there formerly stood a little hostelry called the Golden Ball. It acquired a bad reputation through the murder of a guest by his servant. The landlord, having been found with a knife in his hand in the dead man's bedroom, was condemned to death and hanged, but later on the servant confessed that he had committed the murder which the landlord had intended.
DORCHESTER
is a dreamy old village, beautifully placed upon the River Thames. It contains many quaint timbered houses, some with thatched roofs, and nearly all with some attractive features which make it hard to tear oneself away from the place. The chief object of interest, apart from the cottage architecture, is the huge church, so strangely out of place in such a hamlet. Dorchester, however, has a history stretching right back to the British period. During the Roman occupation the camp here was supposed to be called Dourcastrum, altered into Dorchester in the Saxon period, but this Roman name is uncertain. When Dorchester was the seat of the Saxon bishopric of Wessex, the see included about twenty English counties, but Remigius, the first Norman Bishop, transferred it to Lincoln in 1085. The Saxon church, built in 1036, was occupied as a monastic church in 1140, when a monastery of the Augustinians was founded. In 1200, and also in 1350, extensive additions were made. In the church the Jesse window on the north side is unique, for the figures are carved in stone. The east window is a remarkable example of Decorated work; there is a massive buttress in the centre, and the whole of the spaces are occupied by reticulated tracery. The recumbent effigies, dating from 1200 to 1410, are very interesting, while a brass of the Henry V. period lies in the floor. The furnishing of the interior savours so much of the Roman church that one might easily imagine oneself on the other side of the Channel. One notices a bell conspicuous on the altar steps, and 'sacred' pictures, with candles and half-withered floral offerings in front of them, are placed on the pillars and elsewhere! Is the Bishop of Oxford aware of these strange reversions to the practices condemned by the Protestant Church of England for the last four centuries? The leaden font is of Norman workmanship, and is a comparatively rare object. In the churchyard stands a cross with a restored head.
The ascent of the Chilterns is very gradual, becoming steeper, however, in places, and delightful views are obtained over the surrounding country. The quaint little village of Nettlebed stands upon the summit (1,650 feet above sea-level), and thence the descent to Henley commences. Near Nettlebed many cultivated downs are to be seen, their rounded summits crowned as a rule with plantations—a contrast in this respect with the bare South Downs. These rounded knolls are all that denudation has left of the tertiary sand deposits on the chalk. In many parts beeches flourish, and occasionally brick and timber cottages of quaint aspect are passed.
HENLEY-ON-THAMES
is a charming old town, apart altogether from the prominent position it holds in the boating world, owing to the magnificent reach of the Thames which occurs here. There are many picturesque old houses in the wide, sunny street, and, as at Dorchester, the artist and architect will find much to attract their attention. The Church, standing out boldly near the bridge, possesses an Early English chancel, and the oldest part of the nave is of the same date. Nearly everything else, including the flint tower, is Tudor. A monument to Lady Elizabeth Periam, a sister of Lord Bacon and the mistress of Greenlands (died 1621), is under the tower. There are two hagioscopes and a priest's entrance to the vanished rood-loft. The bridge, with open stone parapets, was built in 1786, after the old one had been carried away by a flood. It is, therefore, much older than the regatta, which was first held in 1839.
The road between Henley-on-Thames and Maidenhead crosses the ground lying in a loop of the Thames, gradually rising from Henley and falling towards Maidenhead. The numerous turnings should be taken with care. About two miles before reaching Maidenhead the Bath road is joined.
MAIDENHEAD
is more a centre for river excursions and boating-parties than a place of any attractiveness in itself. It might easily be mistaken for one of the better suburbs of London, and contains practically nothing of interest. The great railway-bridge, with spans of 128 feet, was designed by Brunel.
ETON
On the left of the High Street, leading to the bridge facing Windsor, are the picturesque Tudor buildings and the huge chapel of Eton College. The great courtyard, surrounded by beautifully mellowed ranges of red-brick buildings on three sides and the chapel on the south, is delightfully picturesque; and the chapel itself, with its enormous buttresses and lovely Perpendicular details, is a noble work within and without. A statue of Henry VI., the founder, stands in the centre of the large courtyard. The famous playing-fields, where it is generally understood that those qualities which won the Battle of Waterloo were developed, extend down to the Thames.
WINDSOR
As one crosses the bridge, the long, imposing line of the castle walls and towers frowns above the red roofs of the little town, generally described as the Royal Borough of Windsor. A steep street winds up to the castle gateway, and as one approaches nearer, the work of Wyatville on the huge pile becomes painfully apparent. In vain does one look for the slightest indication that the whole of the great fortress, including the conspicuous Round Tower, was not built yesterday. This is the tragedy of Windsor, and after the first general glance one learns to expect nothing that tells its age by its masonry or its weathering. Everything, except the timber and brick Horseshoe Cloisters, is encased in harsh grey stone of a drearily uniform grey.
(Trunk) No. 11. WINDSOR TO LONDON.
The way into London from Kingston-on-Thames is over Putney Heath and across Putney Bridge, where it is only necessary to follow the motor omnibuses to reach Hyde Park Corner or any other central point.]
It was probably William the Conqueror who built the first fortress on the wonderfully defensive site raised above the Thames, but Henry III., the builder of Westminster Abbey and much of the Tower of London, who planned the castle on its present vast scale. Edward III., having instituted the Order of the Garter, gave up the lower ward to that distinguished body of knights, and it was he who employed William of Wykeham as his architect or surveyor. The third, and practically the last, great builder was George IV., who gave up the historic buildings, then in bad repair, to the tender mercies of Sir Jeffry Wyatville, with the results already deplored.
(The State apartments may be seen during the absence of the Court, but about a week elapses after the Royal departure before the public are admitted.)
The magnificent Chapel of St. George—one of the three finest Perpendicular chapels in the kingdom—was mainly built by Edward IV., and finished by Henry VII. and VIII. In the choir are the stalls of the Knights of the Garter, twenty-six in number, with their banners above. Edward IV., Henry VI., Henry VIII., and Jane Seymour and Charles I., were all buried in the chapel.
Windsor Park is famous for the Long Walk—three straight miles of elms, planted by Charles II.; for the beautiful artificial lake, known as Virginia Water; and for the mausoleum in the grounds of Frogmore House, where Queen Victoria and the good Prince Consort lie buried. (On one day only—December 14—every year is this open to the public.)
The road keeps near the river, and passes close to historic Magna Charta Island, where the unwilling John Lackland signed the great charter of English liberty in 1215.
STAINES
possesses an important bridge, the descendant of a wooden one which stood there in 1262. The stone bridge, put up in 1792, gave way, and its successor, built in 1803, was a bold engineering feat in the form of a single iron span of 180 feet; but this, too, had to be replaced, and in 1829 the present stone bridge was planned. It was opened in 1832 by William IV. and Queen Adelaide.
After passing the picturesque Hampton Court Green, one reaches Wolsey's magnificent red-brick palace—
HAMPTON COURT
The site had been in the possession of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and it was from the Prior that Cardinal Wolsey obtained a lease in 1514. He demolished the manor-house, then standing, and in its place planned the stately palace, with its several courtyards entered by great gateways of red brick and stone. Here the princely ecclesiastic entertained in a manner so sumptuous that the Court of Henry VIII. was outshone by its brilliance. In 1526, the King having commented on this fact, Wolsey promptly handed over his palace to his royal master, who did not hesitate to accept a gift so pleasing. After Wolsey's death, Henry spent much time at Hampton Court, and rebuilt a large part of the palace.
To chronicle a bare summary of historic events which took place in the castle is not possible here, but in the early period of its existence Edward VI. was born there, and within these old red walls Jane Seymour died, Catherine Howard was disgraced, and Catherine Parr was married. Here, too, Charles I. spent his honeymoon, and afterwards was confined as a prisoner for three months.
KINGSTON-ON-THAMES
on the other side of the river, is a busy little town of some picturesqueness, possessing at one end of its narrowing market-place the famous Coronation Stone from which the place derives its name. The Perpendicular church, which is large and contains a monument by Chantrey, used to have a quaint custom of cracking nuts during the services on the Sunday preceding Michaelmas Eve. So great was the noise of crunching nuts that it was almost impossible to hear the voice of the clergyman.
After ascending Kingston Hill the road crosses Putney Heath, and enters the Metropolis through the now uninteresting suburb of Putney. After crossing Putney Bridge, the motor omnibuses are the best guide to follow.