Plate LXXX.
VILLAGE CROSS, BRIGSTOCK, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (1586).
197.—School at Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire (1622).
During the reign of Edward VI. a large number of schools were founded, and there are numerous examples left of those built during the next fifty years. There is a good specimen of the late sort at Shrewsbury; and of the smaller kind, such as were founded in villages, that at Burton Latimer, in Northamptonshire, is one of the quaintest (Fig. [197]). Its features are quite simple; mullioned windows, on which are inscribed the date 1622, and the names of donors or, as we should now call them, subscribers; steep gables with finials at the foot; the ordinary excellent chimney of the district, and a rather elaborate doorway surmounted by a curved gable; such are the means employed to produce this attractive little building. Of other kinds of buildings, which come under no class because there were so few built, may be mentioned the pretty little mill at Bourne Pond, near Colchester, and the Hawking-tower in Althorp Park, Northamptonshire. The former (Fig. [198]) is built chiefly of flint, but mixed with the flint are bricks, tiles, and stones. The stone embellishments are somewhat elaborate and varied, and the curious curved and broken outline of the gables points to the Low Countries as the source of its birth. The mill is dated 1591, and bears the arms of its founder, who was a citizen of the adjacent town of Colchester. The Hawking-tower at Althorp is probably unique (Fig. [199]). It was built by Robert, Lord Spencer, in 1612 and 1613, and is said to have been erected by him as a token of gratitude for having been raised to the peerage; but if so, the acknowledgment followed the event at an interval of ten years. There is no suggestion of the kind in the only inscription upon it, which runs thus, "This Staninge was made by Robert Lord Spencer 1612 et 1613." It not only bears the arms of Lord Spencer, but also those of the sovereign, very cleverly modelled. The plan (Fig. [200]) comprises on the ground floor an entrance, a room with a fireplace, and a staircase, which leads up to the floor above, where the walls were pierced with a number of arches, through which the spectators could watch the sport. These arches have been built up in order to render the place habitable, and one or two rooms have been added at the back with a like purpose, but a little care enables the original arrangements to be made out with tolerable certainty.
198.—Mill at Bourne Pond, Colchester, Essex (1591).
199.—Hawking-tower, Althorp Park, Northamptonshire (1612-13).