Mr. URBAN, WR RENTHAM Hall, in the county of Suffolk, was the seat of the antient family of Brewster from the reign of Edward VI. to 1797, when, by the sudden death of the last heir male, this venerable mansion, and the estates belonging to it, became the property of Mrs. Meadows and John Wilkinson, esq. aunt and first cousin of the deceased, by whom the whole was sold in 1910 to Sir Thomas Gooch, bart. The Brewsters were gentry of consideration in their coun ty for a long period; but they ap pear to have attained their highest elevation during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, to whose party Robert Brewster, esq. the then possessor of Wrentham Hall, was a warm adherent. He sat in the Long Parlia ment which dethroned the monarch, for the borough of Dunwich, in the room of Henry Coke, esq. disabled for his loyalty. The writ issued for his election, by vote of the house, bears date Sept. 2, 1645. Among the five gentlemen of Suffolk to whom the representation of that county was granted by Oliver Cromwell and his officers in July 1653 (the assembly commonly called Barebone's Parliament) appears the name of Francis* Brewster. In the parliament of the succeeding year, Robert Brewster, esq. of Wrentham, sat again for Dunwich: and in that of September 1656, he was one of the ten representatives of Suffolk, and voted for conferring the title of King upon the Protector. To preserve the memory of an antient family, and their residence, wirich has recently been taken down by the present proprietor, you are requested to insert this brief account, and the view of Wrentham Hall which accompanies it. (See Plate I.) T. B. * If this is not an error of the compilers of the Parliamentary History, for Robert. GENT. MAG. April, 1811. "The 14th day of December, Received of Mr. Ed. Cave the sum of Fifteen Guineas, in full, for compiling and writing "The Life of Richard Savage, esq." deceased, and in full for all materials thereto applied, and not found by the said Edward Cave, I say, received by me, SAM. JOHNSON." I Mr. URBAN, March 25. you HAVE no doubt but will rea dily admit the following detached Remarks on Antient Manners, when * Father of the late worthy Alderman. informed informed that they were selected by book called Youth Behaviour, translated the late Rev. Dr. Lort. 126. b." "In those days (temp. Henry VI.) it was thought sufficient for Noblemen's sons to wind their horn and carry their hawk fair, and leave study and learning to the children of mean people. See Caxton's Life in Biographia Britannica." "Bolton Village and Castell is 4 miles from Midleham. The Castell standithe on a roke syde; and all the substaunce of the lodgings in it be included in 4 principall towres. Yt was an 18 yeres in building, and the expencis of every yere came to 1000 marks. It was finished or Kynge Richard the IId. died. "One thinge I muche notyd in the Haulle of Bolton, how Chimeneys were conveyed by tunnelles made on the syds of the wauls bytwixt the lights in the Haull, and by this meanes, and by no covers, is the smoke of the harthe in the Hawle wonder strangly convayed. Moste parte of the tymber that was occupied in buyldynge of this Castell was set out of the Forest of Engleby in Cumberland, and Richard Lord Scrope, for conveyaunce of it, had layde by the way dyvers drawghts of oxen to cary it from place to place till it cam to Bolton. There is a very fayre Cloke at Bolton, cum motu solis, &c. lunæ, and other conclusions. From Leland's Itinerary, viii. 19." "In Selden's edition of the Fleta (see Book 2.) every thing minutely described appertaining to the office of every household servant of our old nobility; Cook, Ox-driver, Shepherd, Swineherd. "Fleta was written in Edward the Second's reign; best edition 1685." "J. Loccenii Antiquitates Sueo-Gothicæ, in quibus prisci ævi Sueorum et Gothorum mores, status regni, et institutiones, cum hodiernis comparantur. Upsaliæ, 1670, 8vo.-See Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. II. and the 1st vol. 1. vi. p. 30." "The Exchange (that arsenal of choice vanities) is furnished with a daily supply and variety of beauty spots cut out in diminutive moons, suns, stars, castles, trees, birds, beasts, and fish. King James affirmed that whoever used these patches either was, or would be, a whore. "When yellow starched bands and cuffs were in fashion, Lord Chief Justice Coke commanded the common Hangman to do his office in that dress, and thus put a stop to the idle fashion.-From a from the French by Francis Hawkins, a boy of ten years old, 1663, 12mo. p. 60." Sir William Temple says, vol. I. p. 268, I think I remember, within less than 50 years, the first noble families that married into the City for money, and thereby introduced by degrees this public grievance, which has since ruined so many estates by the necessity of giving great portions to daughters, impaired many families by the weak or mean proof that warmth and spirit that is given ductions of marriages made without any them by force of inclination and personal choice, and extinguished many great ones by the aversion of the persons who should have continued them. Quoted by Brown in his Estimate of the Times'." "In the time of the Great-grandfather of the present Duke of Devonshire, Wine handed round on a salver after dinner. Then the Duke withdrew. Company entertained with strong beer by the Steward, and smoking. Hence the origin of Salver Wine. "Lambeth Palace; old customs broke through. Chaplains entertain." "Sir Wm. Cecil, in a letter to Sir N. Throckmorton at Paris, May 1561, says, The Queen wishes some Goldsmith might be induced to come hither, with furniture of Agrets, Chains, Bracelets, &c. to be bought both by herself and ladies here to be gay in this Court towards the Progress. He shall be free of Custom for all he shall not sell." Mr. URBAN, Feb. 12. YOUR Correspondent John Forbes, in p. 24, has favoured your readers with a copy of a Licence for Lent, granted in Scotland; and speaks of an antient branch of revenue arising from thence, which no longer exists in that country. Perhaps the same Act of Parliament, which passed since the Union, and authorized Clergymen in this country to grant Licences of this kind, gave the same power to the persons in Scotland who issued the Licence which your Correspondent copies. It may be amusing to some of your Readers if you will insert the following Licence grauted in England in the year 1639, by the Rector of the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, London. I have copied this Licence verbatim from the oldest Register of the above-named Parish. "Whereas Mrs. Mary Anthony, the wife of John Anthony, of my parrish, Dr. of Phisick, hath bine along time sick, and is now in great weakness of body, wherby 1812.] Licences for Meat in Lent.-St. Bartholomew's Register. 315 wherby it is very priudiciall (prejudi- THO. WESTFEild, S. T. D. What the usual fee to the Clergy was for such grants, I do not know. The Churchwardens received on behalf of the Poor for such Licences to common people a Noble, 6s. Sd.; but from great personages 11. 6s. 8d.; as will appear from the following items, which I have carefully copied from the original account of the receipts and disbursements of Dr. John Anthony (the husband of the above-named Mary Anthony, to whom the Licence was granted) who was Churchwarden of the above-named parish in the year 1631. Description of IVINGHOE, BUCKS. (Concluded from page 210.) N the North and South ailes of the families of Duncombe and Neale. In the centre of the N. aile is a plain high table-tomb, the stone of which is inlaid with several brasses of effigies and inscription.-Near it a handsome table-tomb, inclosed with iron rails, Neales, with the arms only carved at with a gray slab on the top, for the top; above which is placed a mural monument of white marble, of excellent workmanship, supported by an1 6 8 gels' heads, with the following inscription: £. s. d. 068 068 068 "Here lyeth the body of Deborah, 068 late wife of Francis Neale, esq. one of the daughters of John Kidgell, gent.; who departed this life March 26, 1714, in the 66th year of her age. She had issue three daughters, Marthanna, Deborah, and Frances; whereof Marthanna, who died an infant, lyeth buried by her. In memory of whose piety towards her God, charity to her neighbours, loving deportment to her said husband, and motherly care and affection to her children, he the said Francis Neale, her said husband, hath caused this monument to March 29. It. of Mr. Barkham for the same 068 There is remaining in errerages from my Lord of Middlesex for the poore upon his Licence xxs, And from my Lady Bennett VIS. VIIId." The following items also appear in this Churchwardens' accounts for the year 1631: "It. given to divers poore schollers and ministers 086 006 050 July 17. It. for a pint of Sacke for a Minister that preached - 006 It. given to the Workmen of the Church for Breckfaste Nov. 6. It. for the thanksgiving for the Queen's delivery 008 006 be erected." Against the E. side are two piscina for holy water in the wall; above which, over a pointed window, are two circular windows intersected with stone circles, something like a Katharinewheelwindow. On the opposite side are two long laucet windows, in which two or three pieces of painted glass still remain, and a few pieces in some of the other windows. On the N. side is a large window, three lights, long mullions, pointed and ramified head. On the floor, a stone to the memory of the Blackheads, on brasses, with their effigies, in very good preservation. tion. The stairs up the tower, and to the temporary ringing-floor, stop up the view from E. to W. through the lofty arches of the tower, which stands on four nassy columns or piers. In the floor beneath is a large blue stone, the oldest in the Church, date 1368, supposed to be Norman-French by the inscription, which, as well as the effigies, are on brass. In the South aile near the tower is another table-tomb, for the Duncombes, covered with a marble slab of a hard green mottled cast, with inscriptions and effigies on several brasses; close to which is a piscina on the E. side: on the other side of a banister-rail, on the floor, a blue stone with this inscription: "Here lies the body of William, the son of John Duncombe, of Barley-end, gent. and Sarah his wife; obiit 9 Septembris, 1739, ætatis 11." Above, on the S. side another piscina. The windows in this aile are the same as the N. aile. The Lucys of Barley-end, the last family in that house, lie buried here also; but no stone nor a memorial. The Chancel is divided from the other parts by an oak screen, painted and gilt, with six of the Apostles pourtrayed at the bottom, three on each side of the folding doors. Within, are old oak stalls; two on each side of entrance, against the screen, for superiors, and a long seat, with a front, on each side against the wall. In the centre of pavement a stone as follows: "Here lieth the body of Henry Cooley, gent. who departed this life March the 28th, anno Dom. 1714." Against the N. side, above it a mural monument of white marble, of exactly the same form as in the North aile, and of equal workmanship, with this inscription: "Near this place lies interred among his ancestors, the body of Henry Cooley, of Seabrooke, in the parish of Chaddington, in the county of Bucks, gent. son of Francis Cooley, gent.; by whose death he became heir and next successor to Henry Cooley, his late grandfather, of grateful memory, whom he truly represented in all virtuous qualifications. He married Mary, the daughter of Wm. Jarman, of Little Gaddesden, gent. with whom, but the short space of one year before, Death dissolved the bands of their inviolable affections, and parted the most united and happy paire; leaving issue by her, Henry, his only son and sole heir, an infant about a month old. He was a person pious in his life, peaceable in his conversation, and just in all his dealings; a most dutiful son to his mother, tenderest of husbands to his wife, the best of masters to his servants; and is deservedly lamented by all that knew him. He departed this life the 20th day of March, anno Domini 1714, in the 35th year of his age. "Thus quick the nimble sands between them run, [was done; Time turn'd the slender glass, and all Death them cut off the fruitful branch, [grow." and so Left all our hopes from one fresh bud to Above the other, in the pavement, another for the Cooleys, but not legible. Near to which, in the N. wall, is a very antient altar-tomb, under an arch, with a rich cornice, on which lies a stone effigies, in episcopal or canonical robes; his head rests on a pillow laid angle-ways upon another laid straight; his hands in the attitude of prayer, arms bare to his elbow, and a kind of apron, pointed at the bottom, to his knees upon his vestment, over which is a kind of gown, and a wig very much like what is called a Welsh wig. No inscription is to be discovered: it is generally supposed to be the tomb of the founder of the Church, or somebody from the abbey of Ashridge, called the Bonhomes. Some have said, that it is Peter Chaceport. I suspect that the tomb was not originally placed here, but removed from another part of the Church. The arch and figure do not correspond, the figure appearing more antient. Within the rails at the South corner of the table, a small stone for "Wm. Eastbury, Vicar, died Oct. 1st, 1728, aged about 80 years," There are a few ornamental tiles (one inscribed, "I. C. 1706.") in the pavement, which is two steps higher than the other part of the chancel. There is no altar, nor piscina here; a painted table only, of oak, rather curious, and always covered with fine The walls above and green cloth. around it, on each side, are miserably daubed to represent wainscot. large E. window above, four lights, ramified head; two windows on the S. and one on the N. The roof is open to view, ornamented with angels, full length, each bearing shields charged with a cross or circular A wreath, wreath, with stone corbels like the Church. Two stone crowned heads project from the walls, one opposite the other; an iron staple over each. The view of the West window here would have a fine effect, if not obstructed by the ringing-floor through the arches of the tower. The ringing, floor, I should suppose, might have been on the floor above, as the clock there might be otherways disposed of, having no dials. In this floor are de posited an iron frame, which the pan went into, fixed on a high pole for a fire-beacon, which used to stand on a bill near the town, called Beacon Hill; and a windlass for lowering the bells. Two lancet windows light this story, and may be traced in the wall; a number of arches filled close up, appareatly windows, or openings, formerly; if so, the tower then must have been handsome, with circles similar to St. Alban's. The story above is occupied by a peal of five heavy bells and a Saint's bell. The tenor is a very fine one, both in tone and shape, about 33 cwt. richly ornamented about the crown, with the following inscription round that part, "Sana Marit Christi Plebesque Religio Vana 1618." Be neath, "P. B.-H. K. Churchwardens." -On another, "Sambosa Polsada Monde Maria Vocala, 1635." On another, "I. R.-C. 1695."-On another, "William Duncombe, Francis Neale, esqrs. Churchwardens: Chandler made me, 1718."-On another, "Richard Hall made me, 1746; William Hayton, esq. Richard Sawell, gent. Churchwardens." The sixth, or Saint's bell, hangs in one of the belfry windows, no inscription. Though the tower is large, one of the bells is necessarily hung above the other. Above is to be seen the frame-work of the spire, sound oak timbers well-framed together; but it has considerably weakened the top of the tower. the E. side, the parapet is much out of the upright; over the window, it is tied together with iron bolts, &c. One window of two lights, stone mullions on each side. Rooks burrow in the walls. On The view of this Church, in your last number, is from what is called the Warren stile in the church-yard; and is a S. W. prospect. The Church does not stand due E. and W. according to the points on the ball, which were placed by compass about 20 or 30 years ago. In the place called the Warren, are traces of foundation of Bishop Blois's palace, or seat. There are many intrenchments on the Hill near this place, and a deep long place, called Incombe or Ingcombe Hole, about 600 paces long, and between 30 or 40 feet wide, and the same in perpendicular depth, sloping on each side to the angle of 45, covered with a fine turf: it is in the shape of a horse-shoe; and tradition states it to have been occasioned by the blood of the Danes! Anintrenchinent crosses it, which does that or any thing else away. In my humble opinion, it may have been a quarry, used by the Romans for making the Icknild road; this part being all rag-stone, of which roads are now usually made. Tradition likewise states it to have been made by the Romans within their Camp to screen their men. That there was formerly a Camp here, the works thrown up prove; but such an excavation could never have been intended as a place of refuge. Another tradition may also here be noticed, viz. that the women went out of the towns in the night, and slew all the redhaired men (the Danes) whilst asleep in their Camp. Combe Hole, on the other side of the Hill, is deep, long, and serpentine, and a spring of water issues out in the middle. In the vicinity is a romantic place, called Wurd's Comb, full of fine wood belonging to the Earl of Bridgwater, with three farm houses and cottages in it. Near this is the Ivinghoe Coursing-ground. Nearer the town, is another deep place, called Brook Comb Bottom. These four places with the name of Comb, it may be presumed, furnish a proof of a Camp having been here, as Combes, Comb, as well as Comp, in Saxon signifying Camp, A Barley End House, the seat of the Duncombes before mentioned, is an old building (in the shape of a half H.) with a lath and plaster front. branch of this family lies at Battlesden in Bedfordshire*, Mrs. Lucy, the last occupier of the house, lies buried in the S. W. corner of the S. aile. It is now the property of the Earl of Bridgewater, who is building a most magnificent mausion, in the Castle and Church Gothic style, in Ashridge Park. * See Topographer, vol. I. p. 494. At |