The neighbourhood of Belvoir Castle is one of great beauty, and it is rich in objects of interest both to the botanist, the naturalist, and the geologist; while to the lover of Nature it presents charms of unusual attraction. In the hills and vales surrounding the castle, nearly the whole series of lower oolitic rocks may be traced, from the white limestone down to the black liassic shales. Capping the hills to the south, which are of greater elevation than the castle, is the inferior oolite, or rather a variety of it called “Lincolnshire limestone,” a hard, light rock, very rich in fossil remains. On these hills the growth of trees is stunted, but the ground is covered with a profusion of lovely flowers. Underlying the oolite is the upper lias clay, rich in fossils and shells. Belvoir Castle itself stands on the extremity of a long northern spur of these hills, upon the middle lias, or marlstone, which caps all the neighbouring heights, and gives their soil a remarkably red tinge. It is very rich in iron, both in veins and in lump ore. The vale of Belvoir, below the castle, towards the north, lies mostly upon the lower lias, which is celebrated for its richness in fossil remains, some of the ammonites here found being of gigantic size. The vale is, however, best known to geologists on account of its sauria, which are both numerous and well preserved. In the old river-ways and hollows of the vale, in the drift, are also found traces of the mammoth, gigantic antlers, and other remains of extinct races of animals, which through untold ages have been hidden from sight.
Our views of Belvoir, we may add, are engraved from photographs, taken specially for the purpose, by Mr. R. Keene, and by Mr. George Green.
Bottesford Church, a fine structure of the Perpendicular period, with a lofty crocketed spire, is mainly interesting as being the resting-place for several of the old monuments of the successive owners of Belvoir, removed hither from the priories of Belvoir and Croxton, and as the burial-place of several generations of the family of Manners. The earliest of the monuments is one which has been variously ascribed to Robert de Todeni and the third William de Albini: if to either, it most probably commemorates the latter of these. Other early monuments are to members of the De Ros family. Among these are William de Ros, 1414; Margaret, his wife; and John, Lord Ros. Among the monuments of the Manners family are those of Thomas, first Earl of Rutland, and his countess, 1543; Henry, Earl of Rutland, and Margaret, his countess, 1563; Edward, third Earl of Rutland, 1587; John, fourth Earl of Rutland, 1588; Roger, fifth Earl of Rutland, 1612; Francis, sixth Earl of Rutland (and his “two sonnes, both which dyed in their infancy, by wicked practice and sorcerye”), 1632; George, seventh Earl of Rutland, 1641; John, eighth Earl of Rutland, and his countess, 1670; and others.
TRENTHAM.
TRENTHAM, the magnificent seat of his Grace the Duke of Sutherland, is beautifully situated not far from the rise of the river Trent, in one of the most charming parts of Staffordshire. Its nearest town is Newcastle-under-Lyme, closely adjacent to the most important centre of British industry, the Pottery district, rendered famous in the world of commerce by its vast productions, which supply every civilised country, and in the world of Art by the “things of beauty” produced by its matchless artists, and which will literally remain a “joy for ever,” in whatever place they may be preserved.
The history of Trentham is not one that requires much attention, for, unlike many other places, it has had no stirring historical incidents connected with it, and its story is therefore one of peace. Its vicissitudes have not been unpleasant ones, not one scene of rapine or war or murder being recorded in its annals; and it has become the “home”—literally the most charming and comfortable of English homes—of one of our greatest nobles, where domestic comforts take the place of state and ceremony, and homelike surroundings supplant unmeaning grandeur.